> The Marked Ones
>  by Final Draft
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Macabre
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The door at the top of the stairs only opened four times a day; three times for meals, and once for Teacher to come give the younger ones their lessons. These actions occurred at the same time every day, likely since long before my arrival. After so many years of this routine, I’d developed the ability to predict the door opening down to the minute.

There wasn't much else to do in that prison cell. I'd eat my meals, and lie on my bed of straw until the next time the door opened. Exactly sixty minutes after the second meal, the door would open a third time, and Teacher would carefully make her way down, escorted by two of the Royal Guards.

It always seemed a bit unnecessary to have the guards accompany Teacher. We were behind bars, bound in some additional way. The marked earth ponies were kept in magically reinforced cages, the marked pegasi had their wings bound by magic shackles, and the marked unicorns—like myself—had our horns removed, preventing us from using magic.

Besides, none of us would try to hurt Teacher. She was the only one who ever cared about us. At least, that's how I felt. I'd reached the point where her lessons no longer benefited me. I knew my ABCs, I could perform simple mathematics, and I knew the history of Equestria up until my imprisonment. Yet, still I listened.

When she would finally close her book and walk back up those stairs, most would sigh in relief, but not I. I liked to learn, which ironically is part of why I was marked. Once the door closed behind her and the guards, I would continue to practice the lessons until the door opened again for third meal.

After third meal, the door would remain closed until the next day, where the cycle would repeat. Only on the rarest occasion did the door open a fifth time. When it did happen, most of us Marked Ones were asleep. The screams and cries of a young filly or colt (usually colt) would echo across the stone walls as they were escorted down the stairs by two or more guards.

I liked to wonder what the pony's special talent was. Was it setting fires? Was it strangling? Or were they like me?

Regardless of their special talent, it was deemed to be non-contributive to society. Whether it was purely symbolic or actually did anything, the pony would first be marked by a red-hot branding iron. It must only be symbolic; removing a pony's cutie mark, covering it with a layer of scar tissue on either flank. I know it didn't change me.

After being marked, the pony would be thrown into a vacant cell and left for the night, to cry and keep the rest of us awake. That is, unless they were a unicorn. If that were the case, then Celestia herself would have descended the stairs with her guards. 

I remember when she removed my horn, and how I got to look into her eyes. There was no malice, no hate, no loathing—only disappointment. As if her eyes were asking, "Why? Why did you make me do this? Why couldn't you have been normal?"

Define "normal".

One clean slice with her magic cut through my horn and it fell to the floor, leaving me nothing more than a mutated earth pony. It didn't hurt, but I screamed louder than when the brand sank into my flesh. Then I was tossed into the cell, and cried myself to sleep.

No one tried talking to me, to tell me everything was going to be okay. The other Marked Ones simply rolled over and tried to fall back to sleep. It's the same thing I would go on to do every time that door ever opened a fifth time. There wasn't a thing you could say to make it any easier anyway. That was Teacher's job.

I don't know how old Teacher was when I received her first lesson, but she had that kind, old pony voice; knowledgeable and understanding. For all the years I'd been there, she showed up at the same time every day with the same cheerful tone. I'd often wondered if she had a special somepony.

Then came the day she didn't show up: the day the door only opened three times. It made the time between second and third meal seem like an eternity. I wondered if she was dead, or if she had possibly reached the age where she could no longer perform her duties. Alone with my thoughts, I cried for the first time since my arrival.

The next day, the door opened four times, but the third—Teacher's usual lesson time—came almost an hour after it should have. At first, I thought it was Teacher, and she would start her lesson as if nothing had happened the prior day. I listened closely to the hooves coming down the stairs, and knew that that assumption was wrong.

There were only two sets of hooves descending the stairs instead of the usual three. My cell was at the base of the stairs, and the bars were back far enough in the stone to where I could never actually see the door. The guards and Teacher would walk past me every time they entered or left, allowing me a brief glimpse before they were out of my view.

The hooves descending the stairs walked slowly, deliberately taking their time reaching the bottom. I could hear the two whispering to each other, as if they were concerned about us hearing their conversation.

The whispering stopped as the two stepped in front of my cell. Their backsides were to me as they looked out at the other cells. They were both alicorns, but one was much larger than the other. I recognized the large one as Princess Celestia, but wondered who her companion was. Possibly a new teacher?

They stood there, and the smaller alicorn looked around in every direction except right behind her. She seemed…confused…almost fearful of her surroundings. Celestia, of course, kept completely still, staring at a fixed spot on the opposite wall. Me? I took in the sight of the unfamiliar mare, analyzing every little detail I cold see.

She was lavender, with a purple tail that had a streak of magenta thrown into it. Her flanks were close enough for me to touch, and I studied her cutie mark. It was a glorious series of stars, all set around one large one. Oh, how I envied it.

I wanted to touch her, to reach out and get her attention, to get her to turn around so I could see her beautiful face. I wanted to see what lay south of the horn sticking from the top of her head.

"Who are these ponies?" she asked. Her voice only intensified my attraction to her. It was beautiful, and I imagined what it would sound like should she sing. Or what my own name would sound like in her voice. "Macabre…Macabre…"

"These are ponies who cannot function in normal society," Celestia answered.

"W-what do you mean?" my lavender love asked. It was a question I had yet to receive an answer for, or at least an answer that I was willing to accept. We were seen as threats to other ponies, and in some cases, ourselves. Our special talents—the things that make us "unique"—could never be utilized for good. And that is how Celestia worded it to the mare.

"Usually, the cutie mark will appear before any serious damage is done, and the filly or colt can be identified as a threat. We then bring them here, to ensure the safety of our citizens."

"I'm…I'm just not sure this is the right thing to do. They're still ponies!"

The mare was upset, and I could feel the heat radiating off of her. Celestia remained unmoved, and turned to look at the mare. I could see both their faces now, yet their eyes were fixed on each other.

"There's no rehabilitating them, Twilight. A cutie mark is a destiny that cannot be altered. You know that better than most."

Twilight, oh what a lovely name for a lovely mare.

"We have saved Equestria a number of "Sombras" with this process, and I'm trusting you'll do what's right."

Suddenly, both of them were looking at me, and I imagined what they must have seen: a thin, blue stallion with the base of a horn poking through his matted black mane—a stallion that had been locked up since he was a colt for doing something he was born to do—a stallion that longed to go out and do it again…

They quickly looked away from me (similar to how all the fillies in pre-school had when they caught me staring). Celestia extended her wing and draped it over Twilight's back in a gesture of compassion. "Mrs. Chalk Dust will be returning soon, but until she does, I ask that you teach her lessons."

"Lessons?" Twilight asked. "If they can't be rehabilitated, why teach them at all?"

They'd looked at me, so I knew they knew I was there. "I want to learn," I said through the bars. My voice came out shaky, and I wasn't sure if either of them even heard me.

"No matter the circumstances, no pony should be denied an education," Celestia replied, turning to walk up the stairs. She'd heard me, but hadn't cared enough to acknowledge it. Her tail was already out of sight when Twilight turned to follow.

I wanted this mare by the name of Twilight to just look at me once more before she left. I put my left hoof up against the bars of my cell and held it there. Celestia's hoof steps continued to get more distant, but Twilight remained rooted at the foot of the stairs. At last, she finally turned to look at me, and her eyes focused on my hoof.

Slowly, she lifted her hoof and brought it closer to mine. Some level of uncertainty showed in her face, and just as she was about to close the gap, she pulled back. She turned quickly from my cell and hurried to catch up to Celestia. The door at the top closed, and the light that had been streaming in vanished.

I didn’t even eat at third meal. My mind was so distracted by thoughts of Twilight that I didn't feel I needed to. I wanted to be with her, to hold her, to smell her, to taste her…to see her on the inside.

The next morning, I regretted not eating at third meal. By the time first meal showed up, I had been listening to my stomach growl for nearly three hours. I ate so quickly that I ended up sick. Perhaps it was the butterflies in my stomach, for I knew it was a matter of hours until she came back.

The second meal came and went, and I began counting the moments until the door would open. Would she follow the same schedule as Teacher? Would she be teaching something new? I couldn't wait, and I pressed my face against the bars of my cell, trying for the millionth time to see the door at the top of the stairs.

Finally, when it opened, my heart was pounding in my ears, and I could barely hear how many sets of hooves were approaching. One guard—a unicorn, of course—passed by my cell without a glance inside. Next, Twilight sauntered past, levitating a few books in her magical aura. The second her scent hit my nose, I nearly collapsed from euphoria.

A second guard—an orange pegasus—followed her closely behind, and he looked into my cell. His eyes narrowed when he saw me so close to the bars, and I could tell he was wary. I held my ground, and he continued to stare as he walked past. His early distrust of me didn't save him in the end.

Twilight moved to the center of the large room, just outside of my field of view, and I heard the books land on a wooden surface. Teacher must have had a desk set up in the middle of the room, but I had never seen it. There came the sound of rustling pages, and then a brief silence.

"H-hello," Twilight's voice echoed through the cells. "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I'll be filling in for Mrs. Chalk Dust."

The Marked Ones remained silent. Teacher had never addressed us directly before—or even told us her name for that matter. One of the guards mumbled something, and Twilight responded with, "Oh, sorry."

Probably telling her she shouldn't treat us like real ponies. Probably telling her just to get on with the lecture so they could go back to their normal duties.

"Um, I don't know where you left off in your studies, so I'll just start with basic addition and subtraction."

I'd been through the topic almost seven times already. Every time the door opened a fifth time, and another Marked One joined the collection, Teacher would have to start over from the very beginning the next day. I'd get to hear about counting to a hundred, and the difference between to, too, and two, and how Celestia banished her sister to the moon. We never made it past advanced Math, Language, or History before a new Marked One made us start over. There was so much more I wanted to learn, especially science.

"Can any pony tell me what two plus two is?" Twilight asked. Her question was met with complete silence. Teacher never asked us questions because she knew everything. How did Twilight expect to teach us if she didn't know what two plus two was?

"It's four," I said quietly. I hoped Twilight wasn't embarrassed, or that she wouldn't get angry at me for knowing something she didn't.

Her response was not at all what I expected. "Correct!" she said with enthusiasm. I was confused. If she knew the answer, why did she ask? Once again, I heard a guard whispering to her. "What?" she asked, confused. "Then how will they learn?" More whispering.

The orange pegasus guard walked over and placed himself in front of my cell without a word. I tried to look past him, but there was nothing to see anyway. Teacher's desk was too far away to see. I could clearly hear Twilight, however, rustling through pages.

"Um, okay," she said after some delay. "Two plus two equals four. Two plus three equals five. Three plus three equals six. Three plus four equals seven…"

It was just how Teacher had taught, but I felt disconnected. Having been asked a question and correctly giving the answer was exhilarating. I'd been marked too early into my formal education to really know what school was like. Perhaps other teachers taught the way Twilight did?

As the math lecture went on, I silently mouthed the answers as Twilight read the problems aloud. "Five plus five equals—"

Ten.

"—ten. Five plus six equals—"

Eleven.

"—eleven. Six plus six equals—"

"Twelve," I said aloud. The guard turned to look at me, but Twilight continued on. "Thirteen," I said at the same time she had reached the answer to six plus seven. "Fourteen," I said louder to seven plus seven.

At that point, Twilight heard my answers echoing her own, and began taking pauses to let me finish the problems. "Eight plus eight equals…?"

"Sixteen," I responded. Twilight must have smiled, in fact, I know she smiled at hearing me respond every time, and correctly! I answered two more before the guard outside my cage trotted out of my view and Twilight stopped speaking.

I can understand why the guards were so uncomfortable around us Marked Ones. Most of them knew what our "unfavorable" talents were, and they had seen what lay beneath the scars on our flanks. When we did anything aside from sleeping, eating, and listening to Teacher it set the guards on edge.

The whispering continued for a few moments and then I heard the sound of a book being clapped shut. Was the lecture already over?

"The dog can run fast," Twilight's wonderful voice said. "In this example, dog is the noun." Her voice, as wonderful as it was, had become monotone, as if she were reluctantly reading the phrases. I could find no way to contribute, so I sat on my haunches and listened.

I closed my eyes and envisioned Twilight—Princess Twilight—Sparkle's lips as they formed each and every word, each and every syllable. The hour passed by, and I remained completely content just to listen. When it was over though, and Twilight began packing up her books, I opened my eyes to see the pegasus guard glaring at me. He must not have liked seeing me smile.

"Come along, Princess, let's get you out of here," the guard said, looking at me. It wasn't the last time he'd look at me, but it was the last time he'd look at me like that. He turned from me as Twilight approached, and he seemed determined to block as much of my cell as possible.

To my surprise, Twilight nudged past him to look in at me. The look of uncertainty she'd had the night before was replaced with a sort of morbid curiosity. I imagine it's how I looked when I found my first dead bird.

"Ten plus ten equals…?" she asked slowly. It was directed to me, and me alone, not any pony else.

"One hundred," I answered confidently. I realized the mistake I'd made almost immediately, and I felt the butterflies in my stomach fly up to my throat and get caught there. The guard laughed—not a full guffaw, but a quick chuckle. I'd remember it when I was ripping his wings off.

"No," Twilight said with a sickening amount of empathy, "that's ten times ten." But then she closed her eyes and smiled, saying, "We'll work on it." And with that, she allowed the guards to lead her up the stairs, and the door closed behind them.

I just wanted to die, right there. Ten plus ten is twenty—I know that! I've always known that! Why did I screw up everything?! I threw my body against the cold, stone wall at the back of my cell, heaving against it. The pain from the impact wasn’t enough, so I did it again, only harder.

One hundred?! Are you serious?! She thinks you're just another psychopathic imbecile! And that guard? I bet he'd have to look at his hooves to count to four!

Another slam against the wall and the rest is blank. An unknown amount of time later, I awoke to the sound of the door opening. Third meal, I thought, but the angry butterflies had decided to take up residence in my stomach again, killing my appetite.

I rolled over to look out of my cell, feeling the throbbing pain in my eyes from my impact with the wall. Slowly, my eyes adjusted, and I saw something blurry a few inches from my face. It was a plate with a few wilted leaves of lettuce on it. That meant third meal had already come and gone.

I perhaps too quickly stood up and tried to see out my cell for the one-million-and-one-th time. If the door had opened a fifth time, it meant there was a new arrival. But it was far too quiet to be a new arrival. Everyone screamed. Everyone cried. No exceptions.

From what I could tell, only a single set of hooves were descending the stairs. Maybe a castle servant had wandered down by mistake, but that wouldn't make any sense, I'm sure they keep that door extremely guarded.

And then I smelled it; that already-familiar fragrance that only emanated from one particular pony. Her head peered around the corner and into my cell, her eyes opening wider when they saw me already looking at her. It startled her, but it did not scare her away.

"Hello, um, you remember me from earlier?" she asked.

"You're Princess Twilight Sparkle," I answered. "And ten plus ten is twenty."

She smiled and my heart nearly leapt from my chest. Cautiously, she centered herself in front of my cell, allowing me full view of her. Her wings were tucked neatly at her sides, and something was tucked beneath one of them. "May I ask your name?" she asked.

It had been so long since I'd spoken my own name, I had almost forgotten how to form the syllables. "Macabre. My name is Macabre."

Maybe my parents had sensed what my calling in life had been from the moment I was born. Maybe I merely did what I did because of the name. I have no way of knowing.

"How long have you been down here, Macabre?"

Oh, it was as good as I imagined, hearing her say my name. "A very long time," I responded. In all honesty, I didn't know. As good as I was at keeping track of how many times the door opened every day, I was not so good at keeping track of how many days the door had opened.

She nodded and bit onto her lower lip, looking to the side. There was one question she wanted to ask more than anything, but wasn't sure if she should. I knew she would ask, and I was willing to answer if she only stayed to talk a little longer. "Why," she started, "why were you…marked?"

I turned and looked at my flank. It was so long ago the branding iron had sunk into my flesh, that I couldn't remember what the scars were even covering. I think my cutie mark had been of a bird…or most of a bird. In fact, yes, I remember now! It was a bird with its wings spread and its breast torn open in perfect symmetry.

"Why were you marked?" I asked, trying to prolong our conversation. She had come unaccompanied, and all the other Marked Ones were asleep or pretending to be. It was just her and I.

My question confused her, so I pointed to her flank. Realization spread across her face and she smiled. "Oh, how did I get my cutie mark, you mean?"

I nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"I was just a filly when I got this," she said, pressing her flank against the bars of my cell (Close enough to touch!). She went on to explain about a pegasus performing something called a sonic rainboom, then some stuff about a dragon, and some more stuff about Princess Celestia. I listened, but she spoke so fast that it was hard to keep up.

Her story sounded so amazing, and I didn't want to follow it up with mine. When she finished, she stared at me expectantly. "Will you tell me now why you're in here?" she asked quietly.

"Didn't Celestia tell you?" I asked. "We can't function in society. There's no rehabilitating us."

"That is what Celestia told me, yes, but I refuse to believe that." She paused and then moved her face closer to my cell. "Do you believe you can be rehabilitated?"

Did I? Did I honestly think I could change, that I could repress these primal urges I'd been feeling since I was a foal? Looking into Twilight's eyes, I could see there was only one answer she wanted to hear. Before I could give her that answer, her brain had finished analyzing the response I'd given her previous question.

"And I asked why you're here, not everyone else," she said with a hint of agitation. "Maybe you're different from the rest of them, maybe you’re here by accident."

I wanted to laugh. I knew full well I belonged in there after the things I'd done. Nope! No mistakes here, except they should have done it much sooner! Little Windy Loo surely would have benefited from it!

Suddenly, I felt my hoof raise up, and I saw Twilight had reached through the bars and taken hold of it. "And even if there's something you did, it's in your past," she said, staring at me with an intense gaze. "There's good in every pony, and you can change."

Who was she trying to convince? Me or herself?

I looked at our hooves and then up at her. "You want to know how I got my cutie mark?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, subconsciously retracting her hoof through the bars. The absence of her touch was almost unbearable. I wanted to reach through the bars and pull her in with me, and I think she saw that. She took a step back as she awaited my answer.

"If it will make you happy," I said, lying down on the floor. To my surprise, Twilight spun around and curled up on the floor just outside my cell. Our faces were level, separated only by the bars. The object tucked beneath her wing finally came out, and she placed it on the ground between us. It was a book, but all the pages were blank.

"I'm going to write everything down so I can call back on it later, okay?" she asked, removing a quill and inkwell from I-don't-know-where. "I want to know everything."

"Everything about how I got my cutie mark?" I asked again for clarification.

"From the beginning."

I didn't want to lie to Twilight. Telling her about how I got my cutie mark was much easier than telling her about how I was marked. They are, after all, two completely different stories.
> Birds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"From the beginning," she'd said. Well, how much did she truly want to know? I could summarize the events leading up to my cutie mark appearing in around two minutes if I really wanted to. But if that was all the information Twilight was after, she'd have no reason to stay and talk with me further. I didn't want that.

However, I think Twilight saw me as a fascinating specimen to be examined, or a puzzle to be solved. Even if I told her how I got my cutie mark, she would want more. She was like me—she wanted to learn. So I would start with as far back as I could remember…I would start with my parents.

She dabbed her quill in the inkwell and smiled at me encouragingly. "Whenever you're ready," she said.

"I…I…I—"

I took a deep breath and looked away from her. I couldn't think and look at her at the same time, it was just too hard. I'd just pretend to address my untouched meal—it couldn't judge me.  "I was born in a small town outside Manehatten…I don't really remember the name. There were lots of trees, though."

The quill scribbled for a moment, and stopped shortly after I did. I looked away from the wilted lettuce still occupying my plate, to out of my cell at Twilight. Was she bored? Was she becoming impatient with me already? Her eyes met with mine and my lower lip started quivering.

"You're doing fine," she assured me. "You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to. I just need to know what your talent is, and if we can apply it to something good."

"No," I said, managing to maintain eye contact with her. "You have to know everything. You…You want to know everything."

Was it fear that I saw in her eyes? If it was, it was gone in an instant. "It would help if I knew more, yes," she replied.

Could I ever tell her why I was marked? No, I would only tell her about my cutie mark—no lying-—just omitting certain details. I mean, did she need to know about Windy Loo? There were probably still a few guards that knew the story. I bet it kept them up at night, too, knowing what I did. Me? I slept just fine.

So, I took another breath and looked back at my plate. "My parents; they were…bad ponies. (I couldn't blame everything on my upbringing, but maybe Twilight would.) My father's special talent was drinking—that I knew. I don't know what my mother's was. I remember stallions used to come over, and she would hug and kiss them in weird ways. Sometimes I'd watch, but the stallions didn't like that."

Twilight let out a soft, "Oh, Celestia," and looked up at me. There was something she realized that I didn't, but I continued talking to the lettuce leaves.

"If my father came home, I usually hid somewhere. My mother never cared what I did or where I was, but my father didn't like seeing me. Which is odd, because sometimes he looked for me."

There was nowhere to really hide in the building I called home. It was a single floor, two room shack built next to a swamp. Mosquitoes and other insects liked to call it home too, inhabiting all the dark spaces I could hide in. After a while, I learned to put up with the crawly ones and even the bitey ones if it kept me from my father. A few spider bites was nothing compared to what he would do.

"If he found me, I had to listen to him while he yelled. Usually he was yelling while he tried to find me, but I'd cover my ears."

"You're nothing! Do you understand me?" he'd shout. "Look at me when I talk to you!" I had to look into his eyes or he would hit me until I did. He wanted me to see how much he hated me, but I never knew why.

"One night, he was really angry," I said, feeling my heart beating a little bit faster. "He came home while my mother was being hugged by two stallions. I had been covering my ears before he got home, but I could still hear him when he first walked in. There was shouting, and stuff breaking, and then after a long time, there was silence."

The quill hovering on the other side of my cage hadn't moved in quite some time. When I looked up, I half expected Twilight to be gone, but she was still there. She was looking at me with an expression I didn't recognize. It certainly wasn't one I'd ever worn before. Pity? I think that's the one. To her, I was pitiful.

"I-I'm sorry if this isn't important," I apologized.

"It is important," she assured me. I'd gone back to looking at the plate next to me, hoping to hear the quill start scratching against the paper again. "Please, I'm listening, go on," Twilight said quietly. I heard the quill dip twice into the inkwell, followed by silence as she waited for me to continue.

"I came out of my hiding place to look for my parents."

I won't say I had a favorite hiding place, but the place my father never seemed to find me was a hole in the wall behind our stove. I'd never seen either of my parents use the stove, so I knew I was safe there. Sometimes I'd sleep there, sometimes I'd stay there for days.

"My parents were in the other room, and my father was on top of my mother. I'd only ever seen them hug once, but this was different. This time, both of them were really quiet. When my father saw me, he flew off of my mother and started yelling at me. I could see my mother behind him, lying on the floor. She had dark rings around her eyes and hoof marks on her throat. While my father yelled at me, she coughed and cried."

Had I stayed in my hiding spot, he probably would have killed her. I don't know what I would have done then—maybe I would have gotten my cutie mark a different way. Instead of a bird, it would have been my mother on my flanks.

The quill still had not written anything. I knew Twilight was listening, but I don't think she was liking what she heard. She probably regretted ever talking to me, or letting me talk, for that matter. I was determined not to look at her until I was done.

"My father grabbed me and took me outside," I continued. "It was dark, and I couldn't see anything. I tripped, and my father yelled at me. He picked me up then pushed me down. When I didn't get back up, he picked me up again and flew really high."

This time, Twilight did write something down. "Macabre, was your father a pegasus?" she asked when the quill stopped. I was too busy relishing in the fact she'd said my name again to understand her question. "Macabre?" she repeated when I did not answer.

One more time.

"Macabre?"

Her hoof reached through the bars and gently prodded me. The urge to grab it was so unbearable, but I had to resist. I turned and looked at the perfectly manicured hoof just as it retracted back out of my cell. "I'm sorry," I apologized.

"It's okay," she replied softly. "I asked if your father was a pegasus. It just seems odd an earth pony would be born to a pegasus."

"Earth pony?" I asked. "No, I'm a unicorn." I didn't realize how long my mane had gotten, and I lifted the lank, black strands to show her the base of my horn. In the poor lighting of the cell, she couldn’t see what I was showing her, so she craned her neck closer to the bars. I did the same, until our noses were almost touching.

Oh, she smelled so wonderful!

"I see," she said. She lowered her head to her book and made several more notes before looking back up. "And was your mother a unicorn?"

"She was an earth pony," I replied, straining to remember.

Twilight paused, looking at her book rather than me as she spoke. "Macabre…I don't think…" Whatever she was going to say, she kept to herself. I don't know what she thought, or what she didn't think, but she asked for me to continue.

"I…I don't like heights. My father knew that. Once, when I was really young, a balloon got caught in a tree near my house. I wanted that balloon, and my father saw how much I wanted it. He picked me up and brought me to get it, but when I looked down, I started crying."

The only nice thing my father ever tried to do for me, and I ruined it.

"He got mad and left me in that tree all day," I continued, my voice starting to break. I closed my eyes and started shaking. The cell disappeared and I was back up in that tree, hanging onto a shaking branch. If I had eaten anything, I probably would have thrown up in front of Twilight.

"Your parents are terrible!" Twilight shouted, forgetting where she was. The other Marked Ones stirred in their cells, some of which walked to the bars to look out. Their eyes stared through the darkness at my Twilight, and I felt my stomach churn. How dare they look at her?

She didn't notice, because she was too busy looking at me. I was the special one, it was me she cared about. But now I could no longer delay telling her about my talent. "After my father flew me into the sky, he dropped me. And he caught me…then flew higher…and dropped me again."

Twilight's eyes were wide with horror and her mouth was slightly agape when I finally opened my eyes to look at her. It almost looked like she was going to start crying, simply from hearing my story.

"Then came the time he didn't catch me," I said, looking away again. "I remember hitting the water and not coming up for a very long time. Everything went black, and when I woke up, I wasn't anywhere near my house. I crawled out of the swamp and looked around. I was alone, wet, scared, and hungry. The worst part was being hungry."

I was used to living off so little food, it shouldn't have even bothered me to be hungry. But I think after swallowing so much of the swamp water (and throwing it up), I needed something in my stomach.

"I found a berry bush with these big, white berries on it, and I picked as many as I could. Just as I went to eat one, I saw it."

"What did you see?" Twilight asked after I paused. I was too busy visualizing in my head, remembering exactly what it looked like.

"It was a bird," I answered, "curled up under the bush. I stared at it, wondering why it hadn't flown away. I was so interested in it, I forgot about how hungry I was. I tossed a few of my berries at it, and when it still didn't move, I grabbed a stick."

Twilight must have already seen where I was going, and the quill worked rapidly as I spoke. I wonder if she saw the smile that had started to spread across my lips while I recalled all the details of my find. Probably not.

"I'd never seen something dead before. I had often wondered what it would be like to be dead, and in a way, I was jealous of the bird. No more worries, no more pain—just peace. But I was curious as to how the bird died, so I tore it open."

I made it sound like it was such an easy task, but it was one of the hardest things I'd ever done—along with the most enjoyable. I knew unicorns could cast magic, but I hadn't figured out how. My parents never wanted me to learn (probably because they feared what I would do to them if I had).

"I spent hours playing with that bird. I took it apart."

Every feather I removed got easier as I learned to control my magic. When I had gotten to a point where I could see its bare flesh, I concentrated on removing that. It tore away like sheets of paper until I got to the layer of muscle beneath. The fibers of the muscle stretched and snapped apart to form a hole into its chest.

"There was so much inside, and I didn't know what any of it was…but I wanted to know, so I took it all out."

I'd reached the point where Twilight had become uncomfortable. She squirmed a bit, but I was enjoying my memories too much to stop. There weren't many things I could look back on and smile, but that day in the woods was number one.

"There was this little sack inside the bird, connected by a bunch of little tubes. It was big and bulgy and didn't look right, so I cut it open. (I know I said I wasn't going to look at Twilight until I was finished, but I had to so she understood.) Do you know what was inside?"

She shook her head, but I knew she was curious. She was so much like me—I knew we were meant for each other. "What was inside?" she asked when I didn't continue immediately.

"Some of those white berries I was going to eat," I replied slowly. "They were poison."

The look of understanding I had been trying to get from her spread across her face. "You would have died," she said with wide eyes. I nodded and closed my eyes. "So is that how you got your cutie mark? Dissecting the bird?"

"Dissecting?" I asked, not recognizing the word. Teacher had never used it, or if she had, I had missed it.

"It's what you did," Twilight explained. "You took something that was dead apart to better understand it—it's scientific and shows you are very intelligent!"

Oh, my ego at that moment! A compliment from a mare—not just any mare—a mare named Princess Twilight Sparkle! I felt my heart beating faster and all the blood rushing to my cheeks. But I hadn't told Twilight the truth. She had just guessed wrong.

"It's not how I got my cutie mark, though," I confessed.

"Oh," Twilight said. All the warm, fuzzy feelings and confidence that Twilight's compliment had given me quickly disappeared when I heard the disappointment in her voice. I would have loved to lie to her, to have let her believe tearing apart dead animals was my talent. Not that I was ashamed, of course.

"I…" I struggled to continue. "I…left the bird to find some food. That's when I heard some birds singing. There were lots, eating red berries off of a different bush. After taking—dissecting—the first bird," I corrected myself, "I wanted to do it to an alive one to see how it was different."

So much was different—the heat, the smell, the little twitches and contractions. The best part was the little chirping noises they made. Their little, distressed calls for help made me smile while I did it.

"I spent an hour just trying to catch one," I said. "Birds are fast."

"Macabre," Twilight said. I didn't look at her, but I did stop talking. I assumed she couldn't handle what I was going to tell her next—about the dozen or so birds it took until I managed to keep one alive while I took it apart—about how it was that bird that earned me my cutie mark—about how even after figuring out how to do it, I continued. "What you did was completely normal," she said.

It was a good thing she didn't save that comment for any later, or she may have never said it. "If it was normal, why am I in here?" I asked, even though I knew full well why I was in there.

It was because I didn't stop with birds.

She took a long while to reply. "Well, it's normal in a controlled environment, but to the average pony, you were doing something taboo," she said at last. "How soon after that did you get marked?"

"A few months. It was right around the time I went into pre-school." Amazingly, that was the truth, but I would have to exaggerate the next part. "Show-and-tell," I added. She didn't even ask me to go into specifics—her mind led her to her own conclusion of how that day transpired. Replace the bird with Windy Loo, and I'm sure she wasn't too far off.

I heard the turning of a page, followed by several minutes of scribbling. The pages turned three times before the quill finally rested. I wanted to read what Twilight had written, but I couldn't read. Teacher's methods only taught me how to speak and spell.

When Twilight finished writing, she corked the inkwell and sighed. "This should have never happened," she said, looking at me with disappointment. The disappointment was not directed at me, but I couldn't tell that. I thought she regretted ever coming to speak to me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, but she shook her head.

"I told you, you did nothing wrong," Twilight whispered back. (I don't know why we were whispering, but it seemed more intimate to only be heard by each other.) "I'm going to get you out of here," she said with confidence.

"How?" I asked. Twilight smiled and put her hoof on mine.

"I'll find a way."

> Windy Loo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I longed for Twilight to stay, but it was nearly time for first meal, and she insisted she had research to do. Her gentle hooves carried her to the top of the stairs, and the door shut quietly behind her. A faint trace of her scent lingered, and I breathed it in hungrily.

When I could no longer detect her aroma, I slouched back and brought my tail up between my legs. I hugged the mess of tangled hairs and pretended it was Twilight. She was mine, all mine.

A sense of dread slowly crept over me, taking away the pleasant warmth I was feeling. What if she talked to Celestia? What if she found out about Windy Loo? The questions didn't have pleasant answers.

She'll want you locked up even after you're dead. She'll hate you. She'll never understand.

"I'll make her understand," I whispered to myself. She knew more about me than any other pony ever had. And even if she didn't realize it yet, she loved me, and would help me get out. In fact, I bet she already knew of a way I could apply my skills in a constructive way.

But even if there is something you can do, it's probably not what you want to do.

"I'll do it for her."


----


I don't recall falling asleep, but when I woke up, first meal was being slid through the bars of my cell. The guards responsible for bringing us our meals filed back up the stairs and the door shut behind them. I looked down at the plate in front of me with disinterest. Always biscuits and gravy. The hard, tasteless biscuit sat in my stomach like a rock, and the watery gravy did nothing more than make me thirsty. Complaints aside, I was full.

There was nothing I could really do aside from pace my cell at that point. It would be hours before I saw Twilight again, and I still had to get through second meal. That's what I thought before the door at the top of the stairs suddenly opened. It was something that had never happened before, and all the other Marked Ones stood up to look out of their cages.

Over a dozen of Celestia's Royal Guards trotted down the stairs, completely silent except for the rattling of their armor. Several thoughts crossed my mind. Maybe they're just going to kill us, and be done with this nonsense forever. Or maybe they have a bunch of new ponies to mark, and can't wait until after third meal.

"Which one, your highness?" a voice asked from the top of the stairs. I didn't recognize it, I mean, most the guards never even spoke around us.

"The first one on the right," a heavenly voice replied. I knew it was Twilight, but she sounded…uneasy. There was dread in her voice—anxiety, fear, maybe even shame. I wish I could have seen her face, but I knew whatever she was feeling was because of me.

The hinges on my cell door creaked for the first time in a decade, and I was rushed by three guards. They pinned me to the ground and I felt metal shackles being clamped around my legs. She found out about Windy Loo—she must have. Now I'm going to be punished for wasting Twilight's time.

Finally, a blindfold was tied around my head and I was hoisted to my hooves. Yup, I'm being executed, I thought. The guards led me up the stairs (I counted exactly thirty-two steps), and I tripped when I got to the top. I was picked back up and forced to walk blindly.

Two hundred steps down one hallway, sixty down another, up a spiral of fifty steps—Suddenly, I could no longer smell Twilight. She'd split from the group, leaving me with the guards. Without Twilight present, they handled me with much less regard for my comfort. At points, I was dragged great lengths before being allowed to stand up.

When we came to a stop, I heard a door open, and I was pushed through it. Wherever we were had a pleasant aroma, not unlike Twilight's. I heard a pair of hoof steps approaching, and the guards on either side of me grabbed my front legs.

"Do whatever you have to. Princess Celestia isn't going to want this in her presence," a gruff voice commanded. The guards released me without warning and I fell to the floor. Their armor rattled as they spread out across the room. Whatever ponies they'd thrown me to must have been looking at me in disgust, because I could feel their eyes upon me.

I didn't know what to expect as they undid my shackles. Maybe they're going to let me get a running start. The blindfold came off next, and just as my eyes were focusing, a torrent of hot, soapy water dumped over me. Oh, how it stung! I opened my mouth to scream as another wave of the water splashed against me.

It was like they were trying to drown me—the water just didn't stop. I gasped for air only to get mouthfuls of suds, and my eyes burned in their sockets. When it finally stopped, I lay gasping and coughing in a puddle on the floor.

A glob of something cool squirted onto my coat, and I felt the bristles of a brush begin working it into a lather. I was getting a bath, I figured out at last. A second brush started working its way through my tangled mane, yanking painfully almost every inch.

I kept my eyes closed as I lay there, just listening to the scrubbing noises and the occasional whispers from the ponies surrounding me. The two ponies cleaning me were mares, and most likely unicorns. I could hear the distinct sound of magic over the scrubbing noises.

The guards watching me being scrubbed clean remained silent for about the first ten minutes, and then a few got restless. They paced, and made small whispers to each other, usually followed by a quick Ha-ha.

I managed to tune out the sounds of the brushes to listen in on the guard's conversations. One voice in particular caught my attention, and I recognized it as the orange pegasus that had been with Twilight during her lesson.

"So, what's this one's deal?" Orange asked.

"Rookie, believe me when I say you don't want to know," Gruff Voice replied.

"It'd keep you up at night, kid," Guard Three added in. It was followed by one of those quick little Ha-ha's.

"Well, what does Princess Sparkle want with him?" Orange asked, clearly resenting being called kid.

"It's best you don't question my sister, Sentry."

I didn't recognize the fourth voice, but I was surprised to learn it belonged to Twilight's brother. (He and I would get to know each other fairly well, but we were never friends. I think it's because he knew how our relationship would play out in the end, even if he'd rather deny it.)

The scrubbing, rinsing, combing, trimming, and grooming went on for nearly twenty minutes. "Clean" was a sensation I'd never truly felt before, and I enjoyed every part of it. The best part was smelling like my lavender love, and I thought I may pass out from the overwhelming fragrance. Before I had the chance, I was once again lifted to my hooves and a blindfold was put over my eyes.

This time I was allowed to walk without restraints, but the guards pushing on all sides indicated they were taking no chances with me. It was comical really. I possessed no extraordinary strength, and without my horn, what could I possibly do? Most of all, why would I run? I had a very good idea of where they were taking me.

It must have been Twilight's idea to have me made presentable before pitching her idea to Celestia. She's so smart. But the dread in her voice…it wasn't over me…it was over Celestia. She doesn't think Celestia will listen. Celestia knows everything. Twilight knows only what I'd told her.

Even with murder on your hooves, Twilight still loves you, a reassuring voice told me. It was in the past and you'll never do it again.

"Stand right here," Gruff Voice commanded. The little parade of guards came to a stop and I felt them step away from me. A door opened somewhere in front of me and I heard hooves approaching. The hooves of the guards all clicked together in unison as the pony that was approaching walked up to me.

The blindfold around my eyes magically lifted and I could see the smiling face of Twilight in front of me. Her smile quickly faded and she wore an expression of determination. "Please follow me," she said.

I kept my eyes focused on her as we walked toward the opulent double door. The hallway was decorated with large stained glass windows, but I was barely concerned with them. There was no sight I could have passed more glorious than the mare in front of me.

One of the large doors was already open and Twilight indicated for me to pass through. She and the guards followed right behind me, and the door shut behind us. Up at the top of a large staircase sat Princess Celestia. Even she couldn't hide her surprise when she saw me.

"Twilight, why have you brought this stallion before me?" she asked. It was at that point I noticed the fifty or so guards lining the throne room walls. They all stood at the ready as if I may go supernova at any moment.

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat and approached Celestia to bow before her. "Princess," she said, standing back up, "this stallion deserves a second chance."

Celestia's nostrils flared and she stood up on all fours. "This stallion was marked for a reason, Twilight. There's no rehabilitating him."

"I…I don't believe that's true."

The way Twilight defended made me believe it was hurting her to do so. I was just some stallion she'd met in a prison, but Princess Celestia was Princess Celestia: ruler over Equestria. How could she have felt so strongly for my cause as to challenge the most powerful alicorn of all?

"Please," Twilight continued, "his talent—dissecting—he could be a science teacher, or a veterinarian, or—"

"His talent is macabre," Celestia interrupted. "He makes art of it, takes pleasure in it—"

"He was young!" Twilight shouted. Celestia was very taken aback by Twilight's outburst, and she descended the steps to approach her. Twilight continued talking. "I talked with him, I know everything—his parents, his upbringing—it wasn't his fault!"

Celestia now stood over Twilight and turned to look at me. It pained me to do it, but I managed to look her in the eyes. She was judging me, and I tried to show that I wasn't afraid of her. It didn't work—I broke eye contact and stared at the floor after only a few seconds.

"Please bring him back to his cell," Celestia commanded the nearest guards, and they stepped forward.

"Give him a chance," Twilight begged, stepping between me and the guards. "Give me a chance!"

The guards looked from Twilight to Celestia, debating on which princess they should obey. I stood completely still, indifferent to their decision. Going back to my cell would have been preferable to standing around being talked about. I felt like I was in pre-school again.


"I don't want to sit next to him, he's weird!"

"Please, give him a chance. I'm sure you two can be friends."

"No!"

I'm not entirely sure how or why I attended school. After the incident in the swamp, I'd returned home to find it empty. My mother and father were gone, so I remained there, alone. Sometimes, the town fillies and colts would come and throw rocks through the broken windows for fun. I would go outside to join them, (I hated the house just as much as them, and wanted to throw rocks at it too), but they would run off.

One day, I followed them to the schoolhouse. The teacher had spotted me while I hid in the bushes, and made me attend her class. She was nice enough, but my classmates weren't. The only nice one was Windy Loo.

"He can sit next to me," she had said, raising her hoof. The classroom filled with whispers and giggles as I took my seat. "My name is Windy Loo," she smiled, "What's yours?"

She was a pretty, little filly—blue eyes, yellow curls, white coat—but what I truly admired were her wings. They were so big compared to the birds I'd worked on, and I wondered if they worked the same.

"Macabre," I whispered quietly. 

The lesson started and the teacher began writing a bunch of squiggles on the chalk board. I didn't pay attention to any of it, I was too focused on my classmates. Most looked away when I looked at them, but others looked at me angrily. They didn't like me looking at them.

Out at recess, I went back to hiding in the bushes where I could safely watch the others. They paid me no mind as they played on the jungle gym or the swings. I thought about finding a bird to keep myself occupied, or maybe a squirrel.

"What are you doing?"

Windy Loo had spotted me and broken from her group of friends to join me. I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing. She looked at me with a curious smile and then down to my flank.

"You already have your cutie mark? That's so cool!" she had said. "How did you get it?"

I got excited. I can impress her with my talent!

"I can show you," I replied. She was more than happy to follow me as I walked behind the schoolhouse. I’d seen some berries growing on some bushes and knew that there would be birds. Sure enough, as we got back there, there were several brightly colored birds singing and chirping all around.

She thought my special talent was catching the birds, considering how quickly I caught one. "That was really cool!" she had said, watching me hold the bird beneath my hooves.

"Watch this," I said, focusing my magic. She stared intently as I began to use my magic to open the bird up. It chirped and squirmed as it's feathers began to spread apart in the middle. Just as its chest parted, revealing its organs, Windy Loo let out a shrill scream.

"What are you doing?!" she yelled. She pushed me off of the bird and it managed to get airborne before falling into the bushes.

"I was showing you my talent," I had tried to explain, but she looked at me with fear. She didn't understand, and she began backing away from me. Every step I took toward her, she took another back. Finally, she decided to run from me.

I chased her further into the woods, wanting only to explain, or to ask what I had done wrong. She shouted for me to stay away from her, but still I followed. I lost sight of her so I followed the sound of her voice. Suddenly, her cries stopped and I ran toward where I'd last heard her.

When I found her, she was sprawled awkwardly at the base of a large tree. One of her front legs was twisted at an angle it shouldn't have after getting snagged on a root. She was very still, and I approached her with caution. That's when I saw the blood. It was pooling beneath her head, leaking from a large gash across her brow. The culprit was a large, jagged rock jutting from the ground.

I tried calling her name but she didn't respond, so I straightened her body and lay it against the base of the tree. She was still warm, and I pressed my ear against her chest. There was a faint thumping noise as her heart beat weakly.

She wasn't dead, but I didn't know if she would make it. I thought about running for help, but I was too distracted by my curiosity. What do pegasi look like on the inside? Just a peek—that's all I wanted. I knew how to keep birds alive as I poked around inside them, and I'd even managed to close a few up without them dying—I could close Windy Loo back up and no one would know.

The birds chirping, the distant sounds of the playground, even my own pounding heart—it all faded as I focused my magic on the filly's chest. Her coat, skin, and muscle parted slowly, carefully as to not cause too much bleeding. Once the opening was large enough, I pried her ribcage open. Then, little by little, I worked the incision down to the base of her stomach.

At the time, I didn't know the medical terms for the things I was looking at. Lungs were just air sacks, intestines were just tubing, and everything else was just insides. I knew what a heart was though, and suddenly, her heart began pounding rapidly. 

She screamed, and I tried to hold her still as she flailed at me. I pressed myself into the warmth of her open body and felt her exposed heart pulsing against me. The more she struggled, the harder I pressed. Something inside her ruptured, and hot liquids began squirting out.

I tried to find the source and use my magic to fix it, but she used the opportunity to push me off of her. As she stood up, her intestines and several other things dropped from her and hit the ground with a sickening plop! She tried to run, but her broken leg was not willing to support her weight.

When she went down, several of the things that had been hanging from her popped. She lay on the ground in a puddle of blood and other fluids as I simply watched in a mixture of horror and fascination. I knew then that she was truly dead.

If I had left and just kept running, maybe I never would have been caught. Instead, I tried to put her back together. It was like a jigsaw puzzle with a bunch of broken pieces. Maybe, if I clean this up, I can still claim she just tripped, I thought.

All the pieces were laid out around her body, organized by color or shape, or by how much damage had been done. Everything was where I could easily access it, and I got to work. I was so focused on the task that I didn't hear the teacher's voice shouting just behind me.

The details are a bit hazy from that point, but I remember lots and lots of screaming. Most came from my classmates and from those that had gathered to see the remains of Windy Loo being carried out of the woods in several bags. I remember the Royal Guards showing up and asking me all sorts of questions before I was whisked away and marked.



"He was marked for a reason, Twilight," Celestia reaffirmed. "I understand where your heart is, but you don't know where his is."

Twilight looked to me as if I could convince Celestia to let me be rehabilitated. Just let me go back to my cell, I thought, hanging my head in defeat. Suddenly, I felt Twilight's warm embrace around my neck and my legs nearly gave out from the surprise. The guards that had been standing by rushed forward, but were stopped by a single command from Celestia.

"Stop," she said. The guards looked at her in confusion, but obeyed regardless. Celestia sighed and I heard her hooves walk over toward me. "Twilight, you have never questioned my judgment, and I have never questioned yours."

I felt Twilight's hooves slide out from around my neck as she turned to face Celestia. The two alicorns looked at each other, saying more with their expressions than they could with words. Celestia was the one to break the silence.

"If you truly feel that you can find a use for this Marked One, then I will allow it," she said with a small smile. "I know you must already see something in him, but I still ask that you use caution."

I would never hurt Twilight. We were in love, after all. Love. I loved her, and I knew she loved me. No pony would get between us—not Princess Celestia, not her brother, and certainly not members of the Royal Guard.

"Princess Celestia, permission to speak?" It was the orange pegasus again, and he'd stepped forward from the formation. "I personally volunteer to guard Princess Twilight during the Marked One's rehabilitation," the guard said, standing at attention before the alicorns.

Celestia nodded. "I think that is wise."

> Hope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	What do I want to be? What do I want to do?

Twilight, in her infinite wisdom, had compiled a list of professions that could utilize my talent. Granted, the list only contained three things, it was still more than I ever thought existed.

"You could be a veterinarian, a science teacher, or a mortician," Twilight suggested. She levitated a scroll with three series of squiggles on it for me to look at.

"What do they do?" I asked. The squiggles on the paper meant nothing to me, so I looked at her instead. 

"Well, a veterinarian helps sick or injured animals," she explained. "A science teacher, well, is one who teaches science, and a mortician finds out how somepony died and makes their corpse presentable for burial."

I liked the sound of mortician, because it meant I could take apart other ponies, but if they were already dead, there wasn't as much fun. Science teacher was probably the most ill-suited for me; I didn't want to teach, I wanted to learn. Veterinarian seemed like the only suitable profession for my talents—but to only work on animals?

"Veterinarian," I replied after some thought. My answer made Twilight smile. She rolled up her scroll and stood up from the cushion she'd been sitting on. I remained seated, watching her hips sway as she trotted away from me. Orange stood by the door, watching Twilight as well.

After my meeting with Celestia, I had been escorted to another chamber of the palace. It was much smaller, but infinitely more cozy. Twilight informed me it was her private library, and I would be receiving my lessons there. She had set out plush cushions on the floor for us, so very close together. I looked at the indent Twilight had left on her cushion, and thought about burying my face in it to feel her warmth.

Just as the urge passed, Twilight returned, levitating a stack of books that she set down in front of me. She took her seat and I flinched as her side pressed up against me. "Oops, sorry," she said, readjusting herself so we didn't touch.

No, no, no! Why did I flinch? I want her to touch me! I want to feel her against me!

"Okay, so let's start with basic anatomy," Twilight said, opening the first book. She didn’t realize how much anguish I was in. "Here, you'll see the diagram of a bird."

There was indeed a black and white picture of a bird, but the indecipherable squiggles of text around it meant nothing to me. I felt embarrassed that I couldn't read, but I couldn't lie to Twilight. "I can't read," I whispered to her.

She seemed shocked, but understanding worked its way across her face. "I feared that," she said, lowering her ears. "I looked over Mrs. Chalk Dust's lesson plans. It's a flawed way to teach, allowing for no student/teacher interaction. She never showed you the letters, did she?"

I shook my head and averted eye contact. Twilight used her magic, and I heard the sound of a quill scratching against parchment. When I looked over, she had fifty-two squiggles written across the parchment. "Is that the alphabet?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied. She hovered the quill over each of the squiggles as she spoke. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G—"

"H, I, J, K, L M N O P," I continued in song. We went through the whole song together, and a smile spread across both of our faces.

Orange remained silent as he watched us, but his wings twitched a little every now and then. It was something I remembered seeing in birds. Their wings would twitch right before they would attack one another. It usually happened when an unfamiliar bird attempted to join the flock. Is Orange going to attack me, I wondered.

Our lesson went on and Orange did not move from his spot. I bet he wanted to, though.

It took me a little while, but I could finally identify all the squiggles, even after Twilight added numbers as well. Suddenly, everything Teacher had ever taught us took on shape; rather than formless, scattered information, it was clear and vivid. I felt happy. And that made Twilight happy. But of course, there was one who wasn't happy.

"Your highness," Orange said, interrupting me while I read a phrase aloud, "Might I remind you of your other duties?"

Twilight thought for a moment and then jumped up so quickly that she knocked over the pile of books in front of her. "Ah! The tax committee meeting!" she exclaimed. She looked to me in panic. "I have to go! We'll officially start your lessons tomorrow!"

Before I could say a word, she'd already bolted past Orange and out of the library. The door slammed closed, leaving just Orange and I to each other's company. I remained seated on my cushion, but Orange walked over to me.

"Get up," he commanded. He had to be about my age, and I knew he was just a rookie, so his command didn't really intimidate me. However, I obeyed, looking him in the eyes as I got to my hooves. There was no fear in his eyes, nor in mine, only an unspoken dislike for each other.

He commanded for me to follow him, and I allowed him to lead me out of the library. I thought about snapping his neck, real quick like. My magic had been good for lots of stuff, but there were some things that had always been more satisfying to do with my own hooves. It's one thing to hear bones and cartilage snap, but a complete other to feel it.

I refrained from ending his life then for several reasons. First off: he was in amazing shape, and even if I had the element of surprise, he could have easily bucked me to the ground. Secondly: half a dozen guards fell into formation around us to see me back to my cell. Lastly: I had to be good…for Twilight.

They brought me back to my cell and threw me inside unceremoniously. The door at the top of the stairs closed, leaving me to my old routine. I had no idea what time it was, or when the next meal would come.

The other Marked Ones looked at me with wide eyes from their cells, but said nothing. In all the years we'd been there, the door had never opened as many times as it had that day. We knew change was coming, or at least I did.

When third meal came, I was almost asleep. My mind was busy digesting all the information I'd learned and all the events of my day. I heard the clang of my plate being placed into my cell, but I ignored it.

I drifted off to sleep and dreamed of Twilight, and Celestia, and all the guards, and Windy Loo—it was the most vivid dream I'd had since being marked. The context of the dream escaped me by the time I woke up, but I recall it being a good dream.

When I awoke, it was to the sound of my cell being opened and several guards rushing me. This happened every morning for two months. They would shackle me up, lead me for a bath, and unshackle me once I was safely in the command of Twilight.

She was always happy to see me, and would indicate for me to sit next to her. I always made sure to get as close to her as possible. She never flinched when our bodies met, and in fact, she seemed to enjoy the closeness. Nowhere near how much I enjoyed it.

Our lessons progressed at an impressive rate, and one day, she had a surprise for me. When the guards unshackled me, and all of them left the room except for Orange, I noticed a large table set up where our cushions usually were.

"Today, we're going to have a lab!" Twilight said excitedly. She led me to the table, and indicated to the arrangement of medical instruments. "I had my friend Fluttershy give us some specimens to work on," Twilight continued.

In the center of the table was a mound covered by a piece of fabric. Twilight used her magic to lift the sheet, revealing a dead rabbit. My heart started beating rapidly and my breathing became heavy. Twilight didn't notice, and she levitated a scalpel in front of me.

"We're just going to dissect it, okay? There's nothing wrong with what we're doing."

I looked at the scalpel and then to the rabbit. At that moment, I realized just how useless I was. "I can’t do this," I said with a whimper.

"No, it's okay," Twilight tried explaining, but I just shook my head. "Why, what's wrong?"

I brushed my mane aside, indicating to the base of where my horn once was. It was a major oversight. What good is all this knowledge if I can't perform my talent?

"Oh," Twilight whispered. "You can still use your hooves, it's not that different."

Not that different? I could do things with my magic no tool could do! For the first time, I was angry with Twilight, and I looked her in the eyes. Without realizing it, I had picked up the scalpel in my hoof, and light gleamed off the sharp edge. Twilight looked at me and then to scalpel.

"Macabre," she said carefully, calmly, lovingly, "let's just see what you can do without your magic. This is only our first lab, okay?"

So, does she have a plan to give me my horn back? I bet she does, oh, I shouldn't have gotten angry! I let the scalpel fall onto the table and I started shaking. "I-I'm sorry," I apologized, looking down to the dead rabbit.

"It's okay," she said, but I could tell she was uneasy. All it would take is another slip up and I'd be back in my cell for life. I had to trust Twilight. She loved me, after all. "Let's just open up the rabbit, and you tell me what everything is."

I picked up the scalpel again and made an incision just above the rabbit's sternum. Everything looked just as it did from my medical books, and I could visualize the labels next to each organ. "There's the liver," I said, pointing to a brown sack. "Heart, lungs, kidneys, stomach—"

My hoof slipped and the scalpel punctured through the rabbit's stomach. A mixture of partially digested carrots and fluids leaked out. I took a deep breath and backed up from the table.

"I need my magic," I said adamantly.

Twilight took a deep breath and walked over to me. I could see in her eyes that I wasn't going to like what she had to say. "Only Princess Celestia can restore your magic, Macabre. And she won't do that until I can prove you're not a danger to society."

Hadn't Twilight begun to suspect there was more in my past than a few dead birds? Would I have really been locked up if that's all I had done wrong? How did she still not know about Windy Loo? Were they afraid to tell her, or did they think she already knew?

"I'm not a danger to society," I muttered. Orange thought it was funny, and a cough escaped his throat. He didn't even know what I'd done. I bet it was killing him to find out, though.

"No, you aren't" Twilight agreed. "And you weren't even back when you were a colt. If only some pony had taken time to explain to you what was right and what was wrong, this all could have been prevented."

"Then tell Celestia," I said bluntly.

Twilight bit her lower lip and looked over at Orange. If the guard could have voiced his opinion, I bet he would have. No one cares what a rookie has to say anyway. Instead, he just stood still, looking at Twilight and waiting for an order.

"Flash," Twilight said to the guard I will forever refer to as Orange, "watch Macabre while I go speak with Princess Celestia."

"Understood, your highness," Orange replied. Twilight gave me one last smile before the door closed behind her, leaving me alone with Orange once more. He walked toward me and stopped a few feet away. "I'm watching you," he said slowly.

"I'm aware," I replied. I turned from him and looked back at the rabbit. It would have died from the puncture wound to its stomach, but I wondered what actually killed it. There was only so much poking around I could do with my clumsy hooves, and with Orange still hovering over me, I didn't feel like getting too into it. Instead, I grabbed a book off one of the shelves and opened it.

"How did you get marked?"

I looked up to see Orange still staring at me. His gaze was clearly directed at the scars across my flanks. The big, burnt X's of scar tissue probably looked more sinister than my cutie mark had.

He was curious, and I thought about obliging him. But I knew that anything I said to him could be used against me. So instead, I flipped the pages of my book and read about the circulatory system of dogs. I didn't find it terribly interesting, but it kept me from being completely bored.

I heard Orange's hooves walk across the library and over to the dead rabbit. He looked at it and then to the sharp instruments still gleaming on the table. Go on, say something, I thought.

The awkward silence between us only intensified as the time passed, and I began begging for Twilight's return. My mind began forming ways to surprise Orange and take him down before he could react. I'd cut him open and decorate the walls with his blood—hang the entrails from the ceiling—make a hat out of his wings—That could be why he stood separating me from the operating tools. He didn't trust me one bit.

Finally, the door swung open and both Twilight and Celestia walked in. My knee bent without my consent, and I lowered my head to bow at the princesses. I caught the faintest glimpse of Twilight's horn still radiating magic as I raised my head. She'd made me bow to make a good impression.

Celestia looked to me with a smile, but I couldn't tell if it was genuine or not. "Princess Twilight informs me that you are doing well with your studies, and she wishes for your ability to perform magic to be restored."

I nodded. "That is correct."

"I will restore your horn, but there will be increased precautions that need to be taken. If for any reason you use your magic to harm another pony, there will be severe consequences."

I nodded again. "I understand."

Celestia then turned to Twilight. "I leave this matter in your capable hooves now, Twilight." She smiled and her horn began to glow brightly. All the light collected at the tip, and she tilted her head toward me. Her horn tapped my head, and a searing pain erupted from the base of my horn. I could feel it growing back to its full length, and all my magical abilities returning. When the process was complete, I lifted my hoof to feel the horn for myself.

This time, I bowed without the assistance of Twilight. "Thank you," I said humbly.

Don't screw this up, a voice in my head hissed.


--


Additional precautions had to be taken now that I had my magic back. That came in the form of an extra guard watching me around the clock. And what better guard than Twilight's own brother? He attended my lessons and stood in the corner with Orange, but he was much more relaxed than the pegasus. Not because he trusted me, but because he trusted his sister.

However, the first time my horn began to glow, every pony in the room was on edge. Maybe even me. It had been so long, I wasn't sure if I could even use magic like I was once able. But as I worked on the rabbit, all my fear was set aside. It came as naturally as breathing.

Twilight and the guards watched in fascination as the dead rabbit seemed to unzip and shed its skin off of its insides. Maybe fascination isn't the word, but they definitely couldn't avert their eyes. I listed everything I pulled out as I did so, giving information about the health of each organ.

Then, I put it all back inside and closed the rabbit up without so much of a trace it had ever been touched. It almost looked like it could have gotten up and hopped right off the table. Twilight was pleased, and rewarded me with a hug. I wanted to hold her forever, but she broke from me and started excitedly explaining all of her plans.

"Okay, you need to go get some sleep. Tomorrow, we're going to get you an apprenticeship! I've already talked with Dr. Plasters, and he said he'd be interested in seeing your talents. Of course, Shining and I will be with you, oh, and Flash too, but only until you're capable of being on your own."

An apprenticeship? Capable of being on my own? But, I need you…

She must have seen the sad look in my eye. "It'll be okay, this is what we've been working for." She smiled and gave me a reassuring hug. I took a deep breath of her mane, and allowed her to step away from the embrace.

"She sees something in you," Shining Armor said, later that night. He stood outside my cell, keeping a magical shield up to prevent me from using magic. "I don't know what it is, though. I heard what you did to that little filly, and I don't know if I could ever look past that."

It's because she loves me, I wanted to reply. I rolled over to look through the bars and found the guard staring at me. He didn't blink, nor shift as I looked up at him and said, "Hope. She sees a hope."

> Broken
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dr. Plasters ran the Canterlot Veterinary Clinic located in the outskirts of the city. It was quite the walk from the castle, but it was enjoyable. Just to be outside again was a wonderful experience, and I took in all the sights and sounds; the streets were packed with unicorns all wearing fancy clothing, and they popped in and out of the tremendous buildings lining the streets. They talked and they laughed—and they stared.

Shining Armor kept a close eye on me, but I had no intention of doing anything in broad daylight. Besides, I had Twilight on my right to keep me on my best behavior. For all any pony knew, we could have been out on a date, and on our way to some fancy restaurant.

I'll take her somewhere nice, I thought. I'll do that with my first pay check. We'll go out like normal ponies. I'm normal. I'm normal.

My internship would be a paid one, and I would need to use the money to get myself somewhere to live, my own food, and anything else I wanted. Twilight had explained everything to me that morning before we left the library. She said it would be the hardest part of my rehabilitation; reintegrating into society.

When we got to the clinic, Dr. Plasters was already waiting behind the counter. He was an older unicorn with streaks of gray running through his brown mane. His eyes were hidden behind thick frame glasses that always caught the light at an angle that caused the lenses to appear solid white. I immediately wondered what his special talent was, but his lab coat covered his cutie mark.

"Ah, so zis is mein new apprentice?" he asked in a funny accent, looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, his name is Macabre," Twilight said, introducing me. "I appreciate you doing this for me."

"Nein, it is mein pleasure," the doctor said, stepping out from behind the counter to look at me. "Now, come in, come in, let us see vhat you can do." He escorted me behind the counter and into a room full of cages. Twilight and the guards followed close behind.

The cages lining the room contained all sorts of different animals—dogs, cats, birds, bunnies—and their eyes followed me as I walked past them. It's my job to help these animals? 

"Zis is vhere zee animals are kept, and zis is vhere zee operations are performed." The doctor indicated to a door at the end of the room with a variety of warning signs posted on it. "I have a patient ready for us now, just ein moment."

He instructed for us to all put on facemasks and disposable elastic caps that went over our manes before following him into the room. At the center was a metal operating table with what appeared to be a dead cat lying on it. Upon closer inspection, I saw the cat's chest rise and fall.

"Now, you vill vatch vhat I do," Doctor Plasters explained, approaching the cat. "First, vee have sedated zee kitty so it vill not feel anysing." The doctor's horn began to glow and he levitated a scalpel in his green aura. "Zis kitty has a large tumor on its liver, as shown in zis x-ray."

I looked to where the doctor indicated and saw a black and white x-ray of the cat. Nothing looked out of the ordinary to me, but it's not like I'd gotten to take any cats apart at that point. I walked behind the doctor for a better view, and watched as he made the first incision. He worked painfully slow, and I thought about just using my magic to help him along.

But, I remained patient. I couldn't seem too eager until I knew exactly what I was doing. So I watched as he shifted through the organs, using several of his different tools to hold things in place as he worked. I could see the tumor in question, and I wondered how he planned to remove it.

"Now, I vant you to take zee scalpel and do as I say," he said, levitating the scalpel to me. I looked at it and laughed. No one in the room knew what I found so funny.

"You just want me to remove the tumor, right?" I asked, looking at the lump of cancerous tissue.

"Yes, and if you vant to be my apprentice, you vill do as I say," he replied with a bit of agitation. His anger quickly turned to surprise as my horn began to glow and the tumor began to wiggle. The little veins began to move like the roots of a falling tree until the tumor separated from the liver completely. There was no damage, no bleeding, and not a single cancerous cell was left behind.

I levitated the clump of tissue into a metal pan that had been set aside next to the tools, and then I looked Doctor Plasters. "How was that?" I asked. All I could see was my own reflection in his glasses as he looked at me. He couldn't see it, but beneath my facemask was a smug smile.

"V-very good," he said after a moment. "A bit unorzodox, but good nonezeeless."

I watched as he stitched the cat back up and placed it carefully into a cage. He led us out of the room and we disposed of our caps and facemasks. Twilight beamed at me, absolutely radiating pride, and I felt my face growing hot.

We spent the rest of the day at the clinic, and I was educated about everything I would be responsible for. It wasn't a lot, actually. The most I would have to worry about were vaccinations and regular checkups for the Canterlot resident's pets. Surgeries would be a rare treat.

For two weeks, I was escorted back and forth from the clinic for twelve hour shifts. Twilight attended all of them, as did Orange and Shining Armor. It had become clear to them that I was in no danger of harming anyone or anything. So after two weeks, I was finally declared rehabilitated.

There was a small ceremony which Celestia herself attended, commemorating Twilight's dedication to helping others. I was presented to the attendees as some sort of prize vegetable that she'd grown, like there should have been a big blue ribbon on my chest. I didn't enjoy any of the ceremony. Too many ponies asking me questions, and smiling big, fake smiles as they shook my hoof. It took all the control I had not to use my magic.

At the end of the ceremony, I stood at the gate to Canterlot Castle, looking at Twilight and her guards. They all had smiles, (except Orange, of course) and they wished me luck. I wanted to stay, but Twilight told me that she had to help the other Marked Ones.

"I'll come see you every day," she promised me.

And she did, always around the same time. She always knew where to find me, because I never left the clinic. Doctor Plasters rented out the top of the building to me, though I seldom went up there. I would spend all my time behind the reception desk, or assisting the doctor, or watching the stray animals kept in the kennels out back.

After the doctor left, Twilight would show up to keep me company for a few hours. I'd listen to her tell me the progress of the Marked Ones, and I'd tell her about the few things I'd done since her previous visit. As the days passed, she showed up more and more depressed, like something was taking a heavy toll on her spirit.

She assured me it was nothing, and would go on to ask me about my day. I loved her, and just wanted to help her, but I was worried she was disappointed with me. She knew that I never left the clinic, and she knew that I wasn't truly happy.

"It's the other Marked Ones," she finally confessed to me one night. "They don't want to learn! I had one attack me today! Oh, thank Celestia that Flash was there."

I remained silent as I continued organizing the medicine cabinet. Twilight paced behind me, finally coming to a stop.

"Why were you different?" she asked.

"Because I love you."

Her reaction was not what I was expecting. She didn't smile, she didn't run to me with a warm embrace—she just stood there with a confused expression on her face as her brain tried to make sense of what she'd just heard. "Y-you love me?" she asked after a moment.

"Yes, and you love me," I answered. It felt so good to say it aloud, but something wasn't right.

Twilight began shaking her head and backing away from me. "Macabre, that's sweet, but…" she trailed off.

"I did this for you, Twilight," I explained, taking a step towards her. "You make me want to be good—you make it so I don’t want to hurt others."

There was nowhere for Twilight to back up, and I finally closed the gap between us. I could feel her warmth, and I could hear her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She was excited—aroused, and I leaned in for a kiss. There was a magical pop and my lips met with nothing but air.

Twilight stood behind me, looking at me with that sickening look of pity. "Macabre, I'm so sorry if you thought—"

"I know you love me, Twilight," I interrupted. Tears welled up in my eyes and leaked out the corners. I didn't understand why she was lying to me, or why she was looking at me like I was pitiful. "I-I saved up enough money to take you to dinner!" I cried.

She smiled, but it quickly vanished. "That's very nice of you, but…I already have a special somepony."

My heart stopped. Already have a special somepony? Just as she uttered the phrase, the clinic door opened and in walked Orange. He looked at her, and then glared at me.

"Twi, is everything alright?" he asked, shortening her beautiful name to an ugly, three-letter abomination. It was him. It's been him all along.

Twilight looked away from me and composed herself. "Everything is okay, I'll be out in a minute," she said. She waited for him to walk back out before turning to address me. "Can...Can we talk about this another time?"

What good will it do to talk about it? She's been leading me on.

I said nothing and stared at the floor, and I didn't look up until I heard the door to the clinic open and close. Twilight had left me standing there—abandoned me for that stupid pegasus. My legs shook as I walked back to the room of kennels, and I threw my lab coat onto the floor.

Some of the animals started making noises at me, but I drowned it out with my own thoughts. You're nothing but a project to her. Everything she did, she did it for herself! She wanted to be praised by Celestia for succeeding where she didn't dare to tread!

Well, what if I wasn't a success? If I screw up, I'll get to go back and she'll have to teach me again. I can see her every day, all day, forever.

The idea was maddening, so I turned to the caged animals and grinned. I started with an old dog that was barking at me and baring its teeth. My horn began glowing and the dog barked louder until my magic pinched its spine at the exact location to cause paralysis.

I did it to all the animals before ripping them apart. There was nothing medical about what I did that night—no technique or procedure I followed—just straight gore. Whatever organ I felt like grabbing, I ripped out with my magic. Blood spattered the walls and absolutely covered me as the chests and stomachs of each animal burst open.

On that night, I released everything I'd been bottling up during all those years I'd spent in the cell, and it felt good until I ran out of animals. I thought about ripping my own organs out, just to see if I was any different on the inside. Better yet, I'll remove my heart so I can't feel this pain for Twilight.

But I knew that wasn't where the pain stemmed from (Chemicals in the brain and all that nonsense). Removing my heart would have also killed me, which didn't seem like a terrible idea at the time. I would be dead, and it would be Twilight's fault. She'd cry, and mourn, and confess her true feelings for me…

She does love me. I know it. There's just one small, orange problem holding her back.

I don't know how I didn't see it sooner. She was just like my mother—and Orange was just like my father; he had control over her. I bet that he hit her and threatened her not to leave him. Yes, it all makes sense! She's found happiness with me, but can't say or do anything while he's around!

And that's why Twilight wanted to talk later. She needed to get away from him. I had to clean up the mess I'd made before she came back. It had only been an hour since she'd left, and I knew she'd be back that night.

I looked to the piles of shredded and disemboweled animal carcasses littering the small room, and I quickly got overwhelmed. The incinerator could only cremate so much at one time, and it was the only way I could think to get rid of the animals—at first, anyway.

As I looked to the piles of torn flesh and fur, I watched the blood flow out from under them like a river, and down the drain set into the floor. It was only a few inches in diameter, but I figured I could force everything down the drain. I pried open the cover and looked into the darkness.

I couldn't see the bottom, and I had no idea where it led, but it was my only viable option. With the use of my magic, I worked bits and pieces of the mess down the drain. The bones and skulls had to be broken into pieces, and the meat, muscle, and fur had to be compressed to all fit down smoothly, but everything did fit.

Next, I had to clean the blood off the walls, ceiling, floors, and myself. While I was good enough to focus my magic on blood vessels and veins to keep them from bursting, I hadn't quite mastered working with just blood. I could gather individual blood droplets five or six at a time, but gallons had been spilled and it would take me days to clean it with magic.

So I got down on my hooves and scrubbed the room clean with bleach and a rag. It managed to cut days down to several hours, but I was worried that Twilight would show up at any minute. I had to be thorough though, so I just focused on my work.

Once I was sure there wasn't a trace of blood left anywhere, I quickly ran to the hazmat shower and rinsed myself off. The blood flowed through my fur and down my legs, mixing and swirling with the water before going down the shower drain. I stood there, just thinking about Twilight, and what I would do to Orange so he couldn't hurt her anymore.

I had only barely gotten clean when I heard the door to the clinic open and the sound of hooves entering the building. They weren't dainty enough to be Twilight's, and I worried (while simultaneously hoping) they belonged to Orange.

Doctor Plasters poked his head into the room and looked around until he saw me. "Ah, Macabre, you're here early?" the doctor asked. It was already morning. Before I could answer him, he looked from me to the empty kennels. "Vhere are all zee animals?"

"Euthanized," I replied.




---


The day dragged by, and I did little more than stare at the clock and rest. I'd expended so much energy during the night that I could barely keep my eyes open. Doctor Plasters insisted I take the day off, but I had to stay vigilant in case Twilight showed up. Even after the doctor left for the day, I remained behind the reception counter, dozing in and out of consciousness. I was ten minutes away from being able to change the "open" sign to "closed" when a filly and her mother burst in.

"Please, Mister, you have to help!" the filly shouted, running up to the counter. Her mother walked up next to her, holding a gold bird cage up with her magic. Inside the cage was a baby blue bird, barely moving and making weak chirping noises. I'd seen birds just like it at least a dozen times when I was a colt.

"I don't have much time," I said, looking closely at the bird. "Just have a seat, and I'll do what I can." The mare nodded at me and I took the cage's handle in my teeth. As I walked back to the operating room, I could hear the filly start crying to her mother. The clinic door opened and closed, and I thought they might have gone outside to wait.

I put on my face mask and mane cap and removed the bird from the cage. It was just like old times. The little blue bird flapped its wings weakly, trying to get airborne, so I pressed down gently with my hooves. When I was younger, I would just break their wings, but those were different circumstances.

While I held the bird, I grabbed a syringe of low dose anesthetic and injected it. The bird's movements stopped after a few moments and I lifted my hooves off of its wings. It looked dead, but I knew it wasn't. Using my magic, I opened the bird up and looked around.

Sure enough, the bird's stomach was bloated. I made sure to keep everything from bleeding as I carefully cut into the lining. The bird's heart was still pumping, and its lungs continued drawing shallow breaths as I worked. Once I had the bird's stomach open, I removed two partially digested white berries from inside.

I placed the berries into a small metal tray and went to sealing the bird up. The veins, nerve endings, and muscles all had to line up perfectly to ensure the bird didn't die. It was the most difficult part, but I'd had a lot of practice. Some nights, after the doctor and Twilight had both left, I would take a stray animal out of its cage and just experiment with it. Keeping it alive was the game.

There were no games with customer's pets, though. As I got the filly's bird closed back up, I even went through the extra effort of making sure the feathers on its chest all lined up. It was like I was never there.

Slowly, the anesthetic wore off and the bird stirred slightly. It looked to still be weak, but it would recover. I placed it back in its cage and went to give it back to the filly. Both the filly and her mother were still in the lobby, but a third pony had wandered in. Orange. I paid him no mind as I presented the bird to the filly.

"Is he going to be alright?" she asked, looking at the bird.

I nodded and set the cage down to speak with the filly. "Do you have berries growing around your house?" I asked. The filly's eyes went wide, but she nodded. "What color are they?"

"White," she said quietly. "And red, and blue, and pink."

"Only feed him the reds and blues, never white or pink," I instructed. The filly nodded and looked down at her hooves in shame.

"Thank you so much," the filly's mother said, reaching into her purse. I held up my hoof to stop her and she looked at me in confusion.

"No charge," I said, looking down to the bird. It looked up at me and chirped before flying up to sit on its perch.

"Oh, well, thank you, Doctor," she said with a smile. And with that, she and her daughter left the clinic, leaving just Orange and I. As the door closed, I flipped the sign in the window and looked outside.

"The clinic is closed," I said, looking at Orange's reflection in the glass.

"Still like playing with birds, I see," he replied.

I turned to look at him and saw he had a smug smile on his face. Tucked beneath his wing was a manila folder, and I wondered just why he'd decided to pay me a visit. "This is my job," I said, trying to step to the reception counter, but he blocked me.

"And my job is to protect her royal highness," he spat. I pushed around him and he followed me to the back room. "She says you have a crush on her," he said, standing in the doorway.

My muscles tensed and I stopped in my tracks. It was the reaction he wanted from me. He'd come to make fun of me. He wanted me to screw up and get thrown back into that cell.

"I'm not letting you near her," he continued. "Remember what happened to the last filly you tried getting close to? What was her name—Oh yeah! Windy Loo."

"How do you know about that?" I asked through clenched teeth. He had no right knowing that information, and much less right talking about it.

He didn't answer me, but instead continued talking. "Bashed her brains in with a rock then hung her entrails up like party streamers? What? All because she didn't want to be your special somepony?"

"That's not what happened!" I objected.

"I suppose it's better than what you did to your parents."

"M-my parents?"

What does he mean? After I got my cutie mark I never saw my parents again. I returned to the house and found it empty! They never came back!

"I could barely look at the pictures," Orange said, indicating to the folder beneath his wing. "I'm surprised Princess Celestia didn't have you executed. I'm even more surprised she let Twi try to rehabilitate you."

At hearing him refer to Twilight as that three letter slur, I lost it. I closed the gap between us and brought my hoof against the side of his face. As surprised as he was, he recovered quickly and bucked me with his powerful rear legs.

I felt and heard at least two of my ribs crack as his hooves made contact with my chest. My hooves left the ground and crashed against the floor several feet away. I'd never tried to use my magic on myself before, but I couldn’t fight in that much pain. As soon as my horn began glowing, Orange spread his wings and flew at me.

He landed on my stomach with his front hooves and I felt all the air leave my lungs. I gasped for breath as he stood on me, digging his hooves into my flesh. My pained cries made him smile and he stood off of me. "All I have to do is tell Twi that you attacked me, and it's off with you horn, and back to your cell," he whispered. "That is, if I don't kill you right here."

> Fate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Orange paced around me, whipping his tail in my face with every pass. I could barely breathe, and I tried to assess the damage done to me. My ribs were definitely cracked, and I was positive I had some internal bleeding. I'd never tried performing my magic on myself, but I figured it wouldn't be so hard to fix things.

As soon as my horn began to glow, Orange took notice and bucked me as hard as he could. I slid across the freshly cleaned floor and right into a cabinet full of medical supplies. All I could do was hold my hooves over my head as it crashed down on me, spilling its contents everywhere.

Cotton balls and syringes scattered across the floor and Orange scoffed. "Were you going to try to turn me inside out?" he asked.

Oh, how I wanted to. Even if he was hurting Twilight, I couldn't hurt him or I'd go back into my cell. And he knew that. He knew there wasn't anything I could do to him without consequence. It would be his word against mine, and even Twilight couldn't protect me if it came to that.

"I thought you were rehabilitated!" he shouted, laughing to himself. "See, I've known from the beginning you weren't quite right. I'm just not sure why Twi didn't see it. I think it's because she had feelings for you. It's a good thing she has me now, isn't it?"

His words clawed at my brain like an army of ear mites. All I could do was lay completely still beneath the cabinet and listen. I could hear his hooves slowly approaching me (He was probably wondering why I was so quiet.), and a thought occurred to me. Somewhere within the mess scattered around me, I knew there was a vial of sedative.

If I can just find it and a syringe—ah! Here we go!

"Do you know how much digging I had to do to find out about you?" Orange asked with a tone of arrogance. "None of the other guards would tell me. They said it was none of my business."

That's because it isn't, I thought angrily.

He was standing right over the cabinet now, probably smiling down at me like he'd squashed a bug. "So I went looking all through the records, because I knew there had to be some log of you marked freaks." He paused for a moment, and just before I was going to lunge, he walked away from the cabinet.

The bastard isn't done monologuing?! It was almost more than I could take; listening to that…that…that brat! He was acting like a child who'd won a game and wouldn't stop bragging about it. While he'd been talking, I'd managed to fill a syringe with a high potency tranquilizer capable of subduing a manticore. I held it ready in my hoof, just waiting for him to come back to me. He was having fun, getting to play as a big, important stallion who exposed the bad guy. I knew he couldn't resist kicking me at least once more.

"I'm gonna cut you a deal, Mac," he said, shortening my name like he did with Twilight's. "I'm going to forget about this shiner you gave me, but you better be far away from Canterlot by morning."

"And you won't tell Twilight about Windy Loo?" I asked. I tried to make it sound like I was weak, so he would have no problem approaching me again. I mean, I was weak from my injuries, but I was also armed and angry.

Orange laughed, and just as I'd expected, he began making his way back toward the cabinet. "Do you think I went through all this trouble to keep this to myself? Besides, you need a motivator to never come back looking for her."

His hooves stopped just next to me, and I held my breath.

"So, do we have a deal?" he asked, lowering his head to look at me.

He gave me the perfect opening and I lunged, sinking the needle of the syringe into his neck and pushing down the plunger. He screamed as the liquid entered his blood stream and he thrashed at me wildly. His wings flared and the contents of the manila folder spilled out onto the floor.

The syringe was completely empty when it left his neck, and the effects began almost immediately. He landed a few blows on me as I crawled out from beneath the cabinet, but I could see his muscles starting to relax. He went to swing at me as I stood up, and he missed, causing him to fall to the floor. His wings flapped uselessly as the last of his strength left him.

It was just like watching a bird struggle to get airborne after I'd severed its optic nerve. The difference here was that Orange could see, and I flipped him over so he could look at me. His eyes were swimming as he tried to fight the chemicals coursing through his veins.

I smiled down at him, just thinking about all the things I'd wanted to do to him. "You're not going to hurt Twilight any more," I whispered into his ear. "She's mine. All mine."

Orange lifted his hoof to swing at me, but it fell limply back to his side. His eyes went wide, and his breathing slowed. He was conscious, oh yes, but he wasn't going to feel a thing. At least not until that tranquilizer wore off.

"Now, this," I lifted his wings up with my magic, "is for laughing at me when I got ten plus ten wrong!" 

The muscles and tendons connecting his wings to his back ripped as I wrenched them off of him. His body twitched a little and tears collected in the corners of his eyes. Blood spattered the walls, and the now-useless appendages fell to the floor.

"That's just the beginning!" I shouted. My horn glowed even brighter as I tore Orange open like the seam of a cheap dress. It was just like Windy Loo all over again, except I was much, much more skilled than when I was as a colt.

As mad as I was at this stallion, I found myself laughing. I just couldn’t stop. It felt so good to use my talent how I wanted to—how I'd always wanted to! There wasn't any feeling better in the world as I tore that stupid guard apart. The only thing that could compare would be Twilight's undivided love.

And that was something I wanted more than revenge. There was only so much of Orange that I could tear apart before it wasn't fun anymore. Even though I hadn't reached that point, I decided to call it quits so I could tell Twilight the good news.

Orange had watched me the whole while I had worked. He saw me remove his stomach, his liver, his kidneys, his bladder, but he didn't get to see the magic going on inside of him. It took a great deal of focus to keep him alive without those things, and he could never appreciate any of it.

The tranquilizer was wearing off and his muscles began convulsing as his brain finally received the distress signals his pain receptors had been sending. He was feeling everything now, and I decided to give him a good show before he died. Using my magic, I stretched his heart out of his chest and up to his eyes, so he could see it beating rapidly. His eyes panned from his own heart to my face as he gasped in horror.

Without any warning, I tightened my magic on his heart, causing the muscle to explode in our faces. Blood dripped from his mane and his face as he continued gasping like a fish out of water. Finally, his eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped to the floor.

Nothing would stop Twilight and I from being together, and I could hardly wait to see her. I knew she'd be visiting, but that would be another hour, and that was far longer than I could wait. Perhaps I can kill time and clean up this mess, I thought, looking around at my handiwork.

Blood had pooled in the center of the room where the drain was, and I realized that stuffing all the animals down the night before must have clogged it. I don't have time before Twilight gets here. I started to panic, but a thought occurred to me. I’ll just go meet her at the castle! It's not a big deal. Doctor Plasters is off tomorrow and I can clean this up then.

The contents of my file were still scattered around the room, but I was in too much of a hurry to pick them up. I burst out of the clinic, nearly toppling over an elderly unicorn mare. She took one look at me and screamed before running off. I must have looked like I just committed a murder or something.

With the adrenaline finally wearing off, I remembered how badly I'd been injured by Orange. I limped through the streets of Canterlot, trailing a mixture of his blood and mine. I was dizzy, and disoriented, and my head was throbbing by the time I made it to the Canterlot Castle steps. Two guards stood in front of the main gate and they raised their weapons as I approached. One was a unicorn, and one was a pegasus, but I didn't recognize either.

"Twiliiiiiight!" I moaned, nearly falling into a puddle.

"'Stop right there!" the unicorn shouted. He held me back with the head of a spear, pointing it right at my throat.

"Please," I begged, "I need to see Twilight!"

My lab coat had come off during my fight with Orange, leaving my flanks completely exposed. The guards looked at my scars and then to each other nervously. "Inform the captain that we have a Marked One at the gate," the unicorn ordered the other guard.

Just as the pegasus turned to go, Twilight Sparkle herself walked up the path. She was levitating a purple umbrella over her head, but she let it fall when she saw me standing in the rain. "Macabre?" she shouted, galloping past the guards.

I wanted to meet her for an embrace, but she stopped just short of me. The look of horror on her face told me just how bad I looked. I glanced down at a puddle to view my own reflection, but a steady stream of blood coming off of me obscured it.

"W-what happened to you?" she asked, keeping a careful distance. She wanted to hold me—I could see it in her eyes. I was hurt and needed her, but she didn't know what to do.

"It was Ffffff…It was Fffffflllll—" I hated his name and didn't want to say it. Fortunately, Twilight saved me the trouble.

"Flash? He did this to you?" she asked in bewilderment. I nodded and she continued shaking her head. "No! He wouldn't!" Her eyes darted left and right as her giant brain began drawing logical conclusions. She knew that I wasn't lying, and that I had never lied to her before. "Why did he do it?" she asked at last. "And where is he?"

My answer came in the form of a raspy cough, and I collapsed into the mud. I heard Twilight shout something to one of the guards, and then I felt her warm touch on my neck. There was a loud pop, and the cold puddle beneath me disappeared. It was replaced by a warm, soft rug, and I opened my eyes.

I was in a room not unlike the library I'd studied in; there were books everywhere, but mostly in piles rather than on shelves. There was a bed and not much else aside from the books. Twilight stood over me, looking down with big, concerned eyes. "I love you," I whispered, but she shushed me.

She levitated a box of medical supplies out from beneath the bed and a roll of gauze fell out. "Just be still," she whispered to me. She dabbed at my face with a cotton ball drenched in rubbing alcohol, causing me to wince.

"You can just let me do it," I said, attempting to use my magic to close the gash on my head rather than just cover it up. Before Twilight could stop me, I managed only to widen the gash, sending a cascade of blood down my forehead. Turns out, using my magic on myself was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.

"Stop! Just stop!" Twilight shouted, trying to staunch the blood flow. Finally, I let her work on me, deciding just to enjoy her gentle touch. Her eyes were focused, but I could tell there was still a lot going on in her mind. "Did Flash go to the clinic, or did you go to him?" she asked quietly after a long silence.

"He came to me," I replied.

"Do you know why?"

"…Yes."

"It's my fault," she said with guilt. "I told him about your…'little crush' on me."

She finished wrapping my head and she looked at my chest. There were hoof indents from where Orange had bucked and kicked me. My stomach was distended, giving me the appearance of a pregnant mare. It told a story of internal bleeding; a story that Twilight couldn't read as well as I could. "He tried to kill me," I said.

Her eyes jerked away from my bruises to look at my face. "Did you fight back?" she asked, afraid of my answer.

A smile spread across my face. I'd been waiting for her to ask that question so I could tell her the good news. "I killed him," I said happily. "He's dead, Twilight. We can be together now."

All the color in Twilight's face drained and she stared at me with her mouth slightly agape. "You—you killed him?" she asked. She started backing up from me, but I didn't understand why. It was what she wanted! I did it for her!

"I did," I confirmed. "I had to! He was going to kill me, and then he was going to tell you about—!" I bit my tongue and turned away from Twilight.

"Tell me about what?" She was crying now. "What did you do, Macabre?!" I kept my hooves over my mouth and she ran up and pushed me. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"He was going to tell you about Windy Loo!" I shouted. I was starting to cry as well, and Twilight pounded her hooves against my chest, trying to inflict as much harm on me as she could.

"Who is Windy Loo?" she asked, her tone going from sorrow to anger.

It was the question I'd never wanted her to ask. I covered my mouth and shook my head, determined to keep the answer inside. She placed her hooves on my shoulders and began shaking me furiously, asking, 'Who is Windy Loo? Who is Windy Loo?!' over and over again.

"Stop! Please! Twilight!" I begged.

"You're just like the rest! Now Flash is dead and it's because I thought you were different!"

I—I can put him back together—jump start his heart. Oh, it'll take days, but I can do it! I'll do anything for Twilight!

I broke away from Twilight and burst out the door behind me. Where ever she'd brought me was far higher than I'd ever been. A marble walkway extended out into the darkness, and I could see nothing on either side of me. My legs started shaking and my vision began to blur.

In the distance, three figures appeared, slowly approaching me. They were guards, led by Captain Shining Armor. While he stood to confront me, the other two ran past me. Twilight had followed me onto the walkway and had broken down into tears just outside the door. The rain poured down around us as the guards tried to figure out what was going on.

"HE KILLED HIM!" Twilight shouted through her sobs. "HE KILLED FLASH SENTRY!"

But he killed me right back.

I collapsed before Shining Armor could even take a step towards me. The hemorrhaging in my stomach was finally too much for my body to handle, and my systems began shutting down. As I lay there, staring up into the rainy night sky, I contemplated trying my magic once more. But, even I knew I was already living on borrowed time.

Twilight and the three guards cautiously approached and looked down at me. I couldn't make out their faces, but I knew which one was Twilight; she was the closest.

"Mother of Celestia, what happened to him?" I heard Shining's voice ask.

"Flash…Flash attacked him," Twilight answered, but her voice sounded so far away. "It's no excuse for what he did. Come on, get up…"

"I don't think he's breathing, Twily."

"Macabre?!"




Please...just say my name one more time.


---


> Epilogue: Inheritance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A service was held in memory of Flash Sentry: the young rookie who lost his life trying to protect the mare he loved. Hundreds attended. The pegasus' body lay in an open casket for all to see as they paid their last respects. His body showed no signs of the torture he'd endured, and he in fact looked peaceful, almost as if he were asleep. It was all thanks to the skills of a single mortician who had been called in from Manehatten.

While the Royal Guard gave a last salute to their fallen comrade, the mortician was tending to a second corpse; one that would not be receiving any final goodbyes. He used his magic to poke around inside the dead unicorn, shaking his head every now and then. It wasn't the worst he'd worked on, but it was close.

"I never thought I'd see my son again," the mortician sighed, removing the unicorn's ruptured spleen and placing it into a metal dish. "You knew him. Tell me about him."

An alicorn princess stepped out of the shadows to look at the corpse. She cleared her throat and dried her eyes before speaking. "He was sweet," she said with a small smile. "If he'd only had guidance when he was younger, he could have done so much good with his talents."

The mortician nodded in acknowledgement, and continued removing damaged organs. "How did he get his cutie mark—the one beneath this scar." He pointed to the unicorn's flanks.

"Birds," the alicorn replied. "He was good at, well, taking them apart. He was curious as to how they worked."

"And that got him marked?" the mortician asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, it was…" the alicorn trailed off and shifted uncomfortably. "He killed a filly and his foster parents," she finally said. "I didn't know about his foster parents until recently; he'd said he never saw them again."

"How did you find that out?"

"It was the same way I found you," she answered, taking a blood stained folder out from beneath her wing. "Flash had this on him when Macabre…" She trailed off again, holding back tears. "Why did you leave him with such terrible ponies?"

There was a long silence, and only the sound of entrails being coiled into a bucket could be heard. "His mother and I didn't have a choice in the matter," the mortician said when he'd reached the end of the entrails. "She died giving birth to him, and I knew I wasn't capable of raising him alone, so I left him on the first door step I came across."

"You should have put him in an orphanage."

"Had I known what an orphanage was or where to find one, I would have." The mortician turned to face the alicorn and stared at her. He was the spitting image of the unicorn currently laying cut open on the metal table behind him. "I always stayed close by to watch him, but there wasn't anything I could do to help him. Do you know how hard that is, Princess Twilight?"

The alicorn shook her head and kept quiet. Once the mortician turned to go back to work, she walked up next to him. "I'm sorry for your loss." She put her hoof on his shoulder and he tensed up for a moment before letting his muscles relax. "I'm also sorry for asking you to come out here to do this. When I found your name in his file—"

"No, it's okay," the mortician interrupted. His horn began to glow and the corpse's chest closed back up. "I should be the one to do this. It is, after all, all my fault."

Twilight wanted to object, especially after blaming herself for the events that had transpired from her attempted rehabilitation of Macabre. Had she just left him in his cell and taught like she'd been instructed, everything would have been avoided. But was living in sorrow really a better fate?

The mortician draped a sheet over the dead unicorn's body and began levitating his instruments into his bag. The last thing to go into the bag was the bloody lab coat he was wearing. It rolled up over his head and he slid his hooves out of the sleeves. "He loved you, did he not?" the mortician asked, using his magic to remove the individual blood molecules from his coat.

"He did," Twilight replied sadly, staring at the floor in front of her. "And…and I loved him too." It was a confession to herself of something she'd long been denying. Her heart ached for him far more than it did for Flash Sentry. She was expected to go to the fallen guard's service, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him, knowing his death was his own fault.

The clasp on the morticians bag clicked shut and he turned to look at Twilight. He smiled and the bag floated up next to him. "Looks like he inherited my skills and my charm," he laughed quietly. He stared for a moment, hoping to get a look into Twilight's eyes. "You remind me of his mother," he said softly.

Twilight looked up and a weak smile made its way across her face. As she looked at Macabre's father, she felt a little peace settle over her mind. "Thank you," she said.

"Be careful, Princess Twilight," Macabre's father said, stepping past her to leave the morgue. He casually made his way toward the exit, but he could still sense Twilight looking at him. Just as he reached the door, he turned his head and waited.

"Um, Mr. Muerte?" Twilight was still standing where she'd been, pointing her hoof at him. Her head was tilted inquisitively and her voice quivered slightly as she asked, "How did you get those scars?"

The unicorn looked to his flanks at the X's of scar tissue covering either side. They'd been there for most of his life, and he would never forget how he got them, or what they covered. He looked back at Twilight after a moment and chuckled.

"It's a long story."