Chapter 3: Beta

"He is a Mutant? But that isn't possible! Mutants only happen in the human world."

"It can happen in Equestria, though it is extremely rare. You are more likely to see Mother and/or Father and talk to them than to come across a mutant." Celestia explained.

"The reason why Alpha is stuck in the Rainbow factory is very complicated. Beta was a mutant, he was an earth pony who could use magic as you and I can. His life was very hard. Bullied and discriminated for most of his life, he was used to being alienated by everypony in at a very young age. His parents tried to help him, but failed trying. He failed school at age 8. Only knowing how to read and being alone, he was very bright for his age. But because he was a mutant, nopony cared.

Celestia stopped as she lowered her head. Luna looked at her, watching her, wondering what happened. "Beta was depressed nearly all his life because nopony wanted a mutant as a friend. He became obsessed with his ability. He would break into the library, here at the castle, every night. He would read all the books on magic, both light and dark magic. He self-taught himself. I knew what he was doing because I watched him. One night, I decided to go and meet Beta myself, a decision I would later hate myself for making."

...

Alpha walked back to his cell. He had been working on his wing with Beta for over a week. The two just completed creating the work plans for it. They had a hell of a time stealing the paper, and the pencils to then have a harder time trying to find a place to find where to hide it. The two went through an hour of arguing where to put it. In the end, they stuffed it in Alpha's locker. He walked into his cell, closed the door, and collapsed on his bed. He was dead tired, but wanted to know something that has been on his mind ever since last week.

"Beta?"

"Yeah?"

"What...Who are you?"

"You really want to know?"

"Please tell me."

"Well, let me start at the beginning. This takes place about 900 years ago. I was born as a normal earth pony with a un-normal special gift. I could use magic. I did not know about my gift until I was about your age. Before then, I was happy. I had a family who loved me, I was excellent at school, I had friends. I was very, very happy. On my 8th birthday, I discovered my gift. It was night-time. My parents allowed me to take an evening stroll, to calm down my mind for school the next day. As I was walked to an empty, grassy field, I looked up to see Princess Celestia fill the night sky with the stars and her sister's moon. I was soon hypnotized with the spectacle. I noticed, when I looked around me to see if any other pony was there watching, a rock, floating beside me. I jumped in fright. The rock fell to the ground. I looked around me, then up at the sky, thinking Celestia or another pony was playing a joke on me. But I was alone. I then had an idea, I tried to lift the rock myself, without touching it. But it wouldn't move. I then looked up at the sky, then at the rock, trying to feel hypnotized like I did when I saw Celestia. And guess what, it worked. I found that when I felt that hypnotized like feeling, I could do magic. I dropped the rock, and galloped as fast I could home. I was energetic, eager to tell my parents. I found out that I had a gift. That I was different, in a good way."

Beta took a deep sigh.

"What Happened?" Alpha asked, worried about Beta's sudden stop.

"I was wrong. So. Very. Wrong. When I told my parents, at first they acted as if I had told them a funny joke. But then I showed them what I could do, and then they became very worried."

"Why?"

"Back then, anypony that wasn't an Earth Pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn, besides the Princess, were shunned by society. They treated them with disrespect, they discriminated and bullied them. My parents took me in, not letting me out as they talked to the Princess herself about me. I was in my room when she came to me. I was looking down at the ground, embarrassed because I thought what happened was not allowed, that I broke a rule that was never told to me. When I looked up, I was expecting my mom and dad to be standing there, looking at me in anger, about to punish me for what I did. Instead, I saw Princess Celestia. I just stared at her. She asked who I was and what I showed my parents. I responded, telling her what I did. Celestia then asked if I could do it again. I lifted a ball near me, raising it to my head. I then flew it across my room, without looking at it, fully mastering how to lift anything and move it with ease. She watched in awe, and once I lowered the ball to the ground, turned around at once and left. After that day, nothing was the same. Word had gotten out that the Princess had met with me in private. Rumors were spread that I did something horribly wrong. My friends started leaving me one by one. I started failing school. It wasn't important to me anymore."

"I'm sorry." Alpha said, trying to comfort Beta.

"Don't be sorry. You weren't alive back then, You couldn't do anything."

Beta took a deep breath and continued on.

"My parents desperately tried to help me at school. They focused on the academic side, but not the social side of my life, the one thing I actually needed help on. I did not say anything because I did not know what to say. They pretended that it was okay, to keep me happy. But as I watched my friends leave me and not come back, I knew something was wrong. That it wasn't okay. I was so angry. I was angry at myself for showing my parents about my ability. I..." Beta stopped to regain his memories.

Alpha was looking at himself through the mirror, as Beta talked. The mirror was what Alpha used to talk to Beta during these types of long conversations. It gave him something to look at. Beta would use his ability of magic to change the reflection so it would show what he looked like when he was alive so when Alpha used the mirror while talking to him, Alpha could see who he was talking to. Alpha would, instead of talking to a reflection, talk to Beta.

Alpha looked at Beta, and saw him trembling, trying not to cry as he told his story.

"I started...cutting myself." Beta admitted, shaking as he tried his best not to break down. "I was so angry and alone. I did not know why I was so alone. My parents told me it wasn't my fault. That I did not do anything in the past to deserve this, that I wasn't being punished. But when I asked why everything was happening the way it was, they replied "We don't know." They always gave me that answer. Adults that were still nice to me gave me that answer. Everypony gave me that answer. I was sick and tired of it. I was alone. I decided to read, get my mind off of the pain. However, the only good books were at The Castle's library (so I was told) and to get in, you had to be part of the either the staff, a guest of the Princess, or become a Guard. Since I was too young to become part of the staff or a Guard, and never thought I would become a Guest of the Princess, I did the next possible thing I knew." Beta looked at Alpha. Alpha saw that although he was crying, he was smirking as well, almost sneering.

"What did you do?

Beta chuckled. "I broke in."

"What?! You broke into the Castle?!"

"No, not the Castle itself, but it's library. When I finally got into the Library, I found out that the books weren't story books. No, they weren't story books. They were Spell Books. I later found out that I had broken into Celestia's Personal and Private library. All her spells, her magic, her power were in the books in front of me. I had no knowledge of that though. I brought a bag with me so I could 'borrow' some books and bring them back home to read. I would then come back after I read them and return them, then I would grab more books and do it again. The first 5 books I took were from the top shelf. Since I already mastered how to use my ability on moving objects, I got the books, put them in my bag, and left under 5 minutes. Took me an hour to get out of the Castle. It's much easier breaking in than breaking out."

"The books I took where about dark magic, very dark magic. The abilities that the Dark magic could do were much darker than what the black pony did to you Alpha."

Alpha listened to Beta as he continued on talking about the power of the dark magic he taught himself how to use. Alpha started to figure out why everypony was afraid of himself when Beta came out.

"She came to me, when I was reading the last book. She told me that "For everything that happens, there is a reason why it happened behind it." That quote changed my life. It made sense! For every action, there is an equal, opposite reaction. But because I believed it wasnt my fault, because my parents told me so, I thought I was innocent..."

Beta stop talking. He was watching Alpha. Alpha did not realize that Beta stopped talking, that he was staring at him, so Beta wasn't surprised when Alpha yelled in shock when he realized that he had stopped talking and was just looking at him.

"Whats wrong?" Alpha asked, calming down from the scare.

"You just figured out what I did, didn't you?"

"Figured out what?"

"Figured out why all Ponies become afraid of you when your mane, tail and eyes turn red. When you let me take over. Why they are afraid of me."

"Yes, I know now why."

Beta lowered his head and screamed. It wasn't a scream of pain, but a scream of anger, of his realization that he may have said too much. That he may have just screwed up his one and only chance at a normal life.

The Mirror instantly shattered as Beta screamed. It turned into shards of glass, floating in mid-air and moved toward the door. Alpha felt empty as he watched the door open and the shards move as they flew into the hallway, leaving Alpha to follow them. Once the shards were in the hallway, it turned left and started moving to the Repair bay, gaining speed as it flew. Alpha struggled to keep up with the moving pieces of glass. He galloped after them as they skipped the lockers, entered the repair bay and went for Alpha's workplace. Alpha raced the shards to his work place and got there first. He stepped in the path of the Shards and closed his eyes as braced himself for the on coming assault of flying glass...

But nothing came. He opened his eyes to see the floating shards in front of him.

"Beta."

No response came.

"Beta, I know you are there."

Still no response.

"Why were you screaming? Are you hurt? Are you okay? Please, tell me what is wrong."

Alpha heard a sigh and looked around himself. He was alone. He then looked at the shards, confident that Beta was in there.

"Beta, please." Alpha begged. "What is wrong?
The Shards started to move around Alpha.

But Alpha would not let that happen.

"Beta! I will not let you leave! Not now, not after what I went through."

"Let me do what I want to do, Alpha."

"No. You are my one and only friend. I am not going to let you go."

With that, Alpha took off his right-wing glove and, using it as a net, caught the unaware floating shards with one swift swing. He then dragged the bag to his cell. He closed the door and released the glass shards. He made sure the door was behind him as he watched the glass shards regroup in front of him.

"Move out-of-the-way, Alpha."

Alpha lowered his head. "Why did you try to leave?"
"Because you know what I did."

"So?! Why should that be a problem."

"I thought you would become afraid of me."

Alpha raised his head. "What makes you think that what you did would make me afraid of you?"

"I killed ponies. I slaughtered them. I slaughtered hundreds of them."

"I know

"Why are you not afraid of me?"

"Because you are my friend. And I will never be afraid of my friend."

Alpha watched as the glass shards floated to the broken mirror and repaired itself, every glass shard joining each other. Once the Mirror was fixed, Alpha cautiously walked to the mirror, making sure that it wasnt a trick, that Beta wasn't trying to leave him. Once close enough to the mirror, Alpha saw Beta looking at him, his eyes were red from crying. Alpha walked to the Mirror and placed his hoof on the glass, as if trying to touch Beta. He watched as Beta looked at him, and placed his own hoof were Alpha's hoof was. When his hoof matched Alpha's, Alpha felt that warm feeling inside him. He smiled, Beta was with him once more.

"Beta."

"Yes, Alpha."

"I swear to the gods, I will never be afraid of you."

"Thank you, Alpha. Thank you for listening to me, and not being afraid of me for what I did."

Alpha walked to his bed. He climbed on the bed and covered himself with the covers,

"That is what friends are for, right?"

"Right."

As Alpha closed his eyes, he felt safe. Secure.

Alpha hasn't felt that way for 4 years. It felt amazing.