Metaphorical Future

The minutes ticked by, slowly turning into hours as time seemed to merge into one mass of nothingness. Despite his earlier statement about sleep Metaphor had yet to get any. He was still sat in the same position, his eyes closed but sleep escaping him. Pain throbbed in his mind and he could feel himself shaking slightly as the early effects of the dampener started to take effect. He gritted his teeth, grinding them harshly against each other as he continued to try and think of a way out.

Despite the hours he had sat there though nothing had come to mind. He knew all the ins and outs of the base he was in but he also knew the security levels and the history of all prisoners who had tried to escape before. Even ignoring the dampener on his horn and the bars that surrounded him there was more than enough to stop him from escaping.

Even if he did escape what would he do? He had been sentenced by those who he considered allies at the least. It was unlikely he would survive long in the frozen wastes on his own and the Celesteals would just shoot him on sight…so would the Lunarians now. If he managed to escape he would be nothing more than a lone pony against the world.

He raised his head slowly and looked around. The earth filly was curled up at the far side of the cell. She appeared to be asleep but she twitched and shuddered as she did, an occasional murmur escaping her lips. What was going on?

Metaphor felt a well of rage and anger building inside him. The magical suppression didn’t help either, the pain from the pent up magical energy in his body starting to take its effect on his mood as well. Slowly he pulled himself to his feet, almost falling due to a wave of disorientation that passed over him. For a moment he leaned against the cell bars and gave a sigh. He could feel a tear forming in his eye as a single question filled his mind once again.

“Why…?” he murmured to himself.

He moved his head slightly, hitting it against the bars gently as the tear began to grow in his eye.

“Why?” he questioned again as he hit his head against the bars once again.

Clenching his teeth he brought his head back again, slamming it back against the bars aggressively.

“Why? Why? WHY?” he cried, each call getting louder and louder as he continued to slam his head against the bars.

Then it happened. A slight move of his head caused him to slam the magical dampener against the bars. Metaphor stopped dead as if he had just been shot through the heart. Pain raced through his mind, a spike so high that he couldn’t even bring himself to scream at first. As his knees gave way though his voice returned; his scream echoing around the room with explosive force. The earth filly was awakened immediately, looking around in a panicked state as she tried to work out what was going on.

As her eyes finally settled on Metaphor she froze, the sight chilling her to the bone. Metaphor was on the ground, his body rigid in pain as sparks of magical energy ripped across his body. In the brief moments that his eyes shot open in pain she could see that his pupils were aflame with magical energy. He continued to scream, each one accompanied by a sharp twitch or a new bolt of energy.

She had never seen anything like it and that was more than enough to scare her. As she watched a bolt of energy shot from Metaphor, striking the ground not too far from her and leaving a large black scorch on the concrete that made up the cells floor. This was enough to make her panic, she spun, beating her hooves against the bars as she tried desperately to escape. It wasn’t any use though, the bars stood firm and the filly turned to look back at Metaphor.

He lay still now, his twitching having subsided to nothing. The filly remained still, afraid to do anything. What was going on? It was about this moment that the alarm started sounding around the room. As two large earth ponies charged into the room she pressed herself against the back of the cell in a vain attempt to go unseen.

“What’s going on in here?” questioned one of the earth ponies as he glanced around the cell.

“Like it matters,” replied the other, “That idiot unicorn probably tried to break out, you know what they told us about him.”

“Yeah but…woah! Hey get over here now!”

The filly watched as both ponies approached Metaphor on the other side of the bars. For a moment they just looked at his seemingly lifeless body before glancing at each other in a panic.

“Get this cell open now!” cried the first pony.

“That idiot better not be dead!” cursed the second as he rushed to the side of the room and slammed his hoof against the cell release mechanism.

A part of the cell shifted and then quickly swung out of the way as the two ponies entered the cell. The filly didn’t make a move, well aware that one of the ponies was watching her closely as his companion approached Metaphor. He stopped short, examining him from a distance, before approaching and lightly tapping him with his front hoof. Metaphor didn’t move.

“Buck!” he swore, “Nothing, not a thing.”

He twisted his face, raising his hoof once more but this time smashing it hard against the side of Metaphor’s face. The strike caused Metaphor to roll over and hit the ground on his other side with a thud. A metallic tinkle sounded as the dampener from Metaphor’s horn rolled off and settled on the floor a few feet away. The earth pony spun towards his companion, his face twisted in rage.

“Bucking hay seeds!” he sword again, “It had to be my shift didn’t it?! Topspin is going to have my flank for this mark my words!”

“You and me both!” added his companion, “I…wait…Swift? Did you hear that?”

“What?”

They both turned back towards Metaphor. The unicorn was still unmoving but there was a noise coming from him…a chuckle. The noise continued, slowly growing in volume over the next few seconds before suddenly Metaphor moved. His front hooves flicked out, the metal shackles clinking together as they were stretched to this limit. The two earth ponies realised their mistake and both made a jump for the still ground bound unicorn. However the unicorn himself wasn’t as slow as they would have liked him to be.

He sprung up, jumping clear of them as they landed where he had been lying a moment ago. For a moment he stood on all fours staring at the far wall. As he turned though the young filly, who had remained completely still and silent the whole time, finally gave a scream. Metaphor’s eyes were completely black, apart from a burning blue flame in each of them, light seemingly being sucked from the room as he stared at the two earth ponies. His face was twisted in an odd smile, his right cheek swelling up and turning purple from where the earth pony had struck him a moment ago. All of this didn’t seem to matter though as the earth ponies both realised a bigger problem.

“Buck! The magic dampener! It’s gone!” cried the first.

“It must have been shaken loose when you hit him you foal!” replied the second as he began to back off.

They both began backing away, each well aware of the danger they were both now in. Metaphor’s smile broadened turning into a grin.

“Leaving?” he questioned as a faint glow began to encase his horn, “But you only just arrived…”

The two earth ponies bolted, neither seeming to care what happened to the other as they ran for the cell block door. What happened next happened quickly. The whine of metal being twisted beyond its stress limit echoed around the room as several of the cell bars were torn from the ground. One of the earth ponies dared a look behind him as three of the bars sailed across the room towards him.

The screams of both ponies were loud but short lived. The metal bars slammed into the ground, the blood soaked ends embedding themselves in the concrete floor as the magic glow surrounding them finally faded away. Metaphor didn’t even seem to flinch, his smiled appearing once again as he looked at the scene with a tilted head.

The young filly finally reached her limit, screaming as she bolted across the cell towards the door. Metaphor didn’t miss her, easily picking up the filly with his magic as she tried to run.

“What do we have here?” he chuckled as he held her up in front of himself.

“Please don’t hurt me!” she wailed, kicking aimlessly against the magic that was holding her in the air, “No…please…no…you said we had to work together…let me go…please…no…”