Bred to Love

“Mira, what I’m about to tell you is vital. Stay close to me. If I have to fight, I want you to hide so you won’t be hurt. Do you understand?”

“Yes, of course!” Mira followed closely behind Eclipse as he quickly opened the door. A quick look around showed no one else in the hall. The two dashed out with Eclipse counting the doors as they passed. His mental map had been built over the years he was trapped in the mansion. They came to a junction and ran into Breezy with a thud.

“Hey! What are you doing out here! You aren’t allowed to-” Eclipse swerved around her and chopped her carotid artery, knocking her out. Mira pulled a diamond off of her dress and kissed it, leaving it in Breezy’s palm.

“I’m so sorry… Big sister,” Mira whispered.

They proceeded to take a quick left, passing by the playrooms. Eclipse didn’t slow down as they found a flight of stairs leading up. They ran up and came out in an ornate passage that held paintings of old Griffonian battles, suits of armor, and display cases of a few weapons. Eclipse grabbed a pair of pants and pulled them on. He looked at the cases and gasped at something he saw.

“Gemini!” He busted open the glass and grabbed the twin daggers.

“Eclipse, I know we are escaping, and that you hate Mistre- I mean Miss Satine, but stealing isn’t right!” Mira whined.

“Mira, have you seen the size and sharpness of Satine’s talons? It’s dangerous!” Eclipse broke another case, and took out a pair of titanium battle claws. “Put these on. when you clench your fist, the claws will come out, so keep your hands open, or else you may unintentionally hurt someone. Besides, these were mine in the first place.” He showed Mira a strange mark on the hilt of the weapons.

They ran up the hall and burst into a large ballroom filled with ponies and griffons. They all gasped and looked at the escapees when Satine herself stormed over. “What are you doing out of your rooms?!” she bellowed.

Eclipse lunged for her, but got intercepted by a security guard. That sent the rest of the guests into a panic and they fled. “You WORTHLESS MULE! Do you have any idea who these guests are?!”

“I don’t care! I’m going to end you!” Eclipse yelled and with a shift of his weight, he killed the security guard, only to have more jump out.

As the reinforcements came, Mira clenched her fists and unsheathed the battle claws. She slashed and clawed, pierced and stabbed. She moved like a... Rooster in a cockfight?

Suddenly, her hands and arms attached to her outstretched wings, and her hooves morphed into talons, and large spurs broke through her skin. Her muzzle turned into a beak. Red skin flaps sprouted from the bottom of her new beak, and one large flap above her head. Her eyes became brown and her pupils shrunk. Her ears and mane shrank away. Her fur was replaced by an array of white and black feathers. Her tail was replaced by a long black-green feathered tail.

The guards fled in terror of the beast in front of them: perhaps not a true trained fighter, yet the guards tried to keep their distance from her wild swinging spurs and flapping wings. Eclipse ducked and wove through the stallions with grace. It had been almost two years since he held his weapons, but they still fit and spun like they never left. In minutes, all the guards were either dead or unconscious.

Eclipse pointed a blade at Satine. “Now...It’s your turn.”

Instead of fighting, Satine dashed for a secret door and ducked inside. Eclipse gave chase, but got to it just as it locked. The mansion had a maze of secret passages that only Satine and a few of her choice staff knew inside and out.

Eclipse roared in anger, then turned to... Mira?

"Mira!" Eclipse ran over to the limp white and black figure.

Thirteen Years Earlier...

"Bubbles!" A young green crystal Pegasus lifted a small white and black rooster in the air, nuzzling its neck with her nose. Her blue mane and tail drifted in the wind, tangling in the tall grass. The rooster clucked happily and ruffled his feathers.

Nearby, a small fenced area held a flock of chickens, all clucking and pecking at the ground for seeds. Some ways away, a fox watched in silence.

“Be a good boy Bubbles, I’m trusting you out here,” The pegasus set down the chicken, and flew over the fence to fetch some grains.
With no danger of being caught, the fox quietly padded to where the rooster stood pecking at the ground and waiting for it’s owner. It leaped and caught the chicken by it’s neck.

The filly heard frantic squawks coming from the grass, and dropped her grains. She flew as quickly as she could to the area where she left her precious pet.

“Bubbles! Where are you? Bubbles!” She landed and saw the limply flapping bird in the mouth of the fox. She screamed in horror, and grabbed the unsuspecting fox by it’s head. She grabbed it’s body with her other hand, and pulled.

“Don’t. Hurt. My. BABY!” She clenched her teeth and yelled as she ripped the fox’s head from it’s body.

She threw it and fell to her rooster.

“B-Bubbles? Wake up! Wake up! My baby!” The pegasus screeched and broke out in tears. She picked up the rooster and held it to her neck. “It wasn’t your fault. The mean fox did it. You couldn't have known,”

Her tears mixed with his blood, dripping down onto her chest. Her coat absorbed the mixture, and she felt a chill go through her body.

“Bubbles? Is it you? Is your spirit with me now?” The pony whispered into the unmoving creature in her arms. Her blue eyes glinted with a shade of golden brown, and she took the bird to her home to be burned with the finest crystal wood.

Present…

Mira opened her eyes and let tears drizzle down her cheeks. She was lifted by an invisible force, save for the rushes of white feathers that circled her. Mira’s feathers fell away, leaving her with her crystal coat. Her chicken parts vaporized, and her pupils enlarged again.

She chuckled to herself sleepily. "All for a handful of scratch grains,"

“Mira? Mira? Are you in there?” Eclipse asked, keeping his distance from the swirling case of feathers in case she struck out again.