The warmth that the shadowy mare presented forced a sob from the girl's chest, the choked noise pressing on her throat and bringing pain as well as relief. The tears were flowing freely now, warm salty liquid tracing dark trails down the lines of her skull, over her pink nostrils, soaking the long black hairs that dusted her chin. Snot pooled in her nostrils, and dripped out; it was not pretty, Flicker's grief. Mirage's comforting embrace was welcomed, but scarcely registered on Flick's radar. The sorrow was crushing her, blocking out much of her awareness of the surroundings. Slowly, though, clarity shoved its way through her foggy mind. She realized that she had sunk into Mirage's shadowy form, her body shuddering against the older mare, face turned away to keep her horn from injuring her... friend? Mother? What was Mirage to her?

Did she really want him to be anything? Did she want to care for anyone, again?

Free. Freedom. What did it mean? Her eyes clenched shut, a bitter smile spreading across her face. Freedom was a lie, the oldest lie in the book. "I guess I am." Her sweet voice was rough with sorrow, but there was some strength in it, some small amount of hope. She raised her head, shifting herself into a somewhat more dignified position and turning to face Mirage. There was a bright glint in her eyes, a determined glow to her silver gaze. For a moment, she thought that it was true. That she could be free, and that the world could, maybe, be ok. Then her gold chains jingled, a high, eerie sound, and the feeling was lost. Flicker looked away, casting her gaze towards the horizon, eyes once more dull and weary. A smile still sat upon her face, but now it spoke of resignation, of exhaustion. She was tired.

"Do you know how I met Ra?" It was not a story she told often, but it was one she thought of with frequency. When his anger smote her, when he beat her down, she thought of it. Of what he had been.

"He saved my life. Dragons held me captive. They had taken me and my brother when we were foals, our parents dead in the war. My brother did not live; and I was near death when Ra found me. He fought them off, and I thought he was the Sun come to rescue me. I adored him, idolized him, followed him. I was an impressionable yearling, and he was my God." Her voice was clear and gentle, fondness mixed with remorse in the bells of her tone. Then she cast her eyes down, and her tone darkened, hurt materializing on the vixen's expression. "But he fell in love. I do not know who she was, or why he never spoke of it. I came to realize, though, that she must resemble me in some way. Perhaps another follower of the Moon; I know not. All I know is that he gave me presents that turned into chains, he saved me from fire and then burned me. I should have run when it began, but I thought I could save him. And now, it is too late." Tears, again - fewer, and from a calmer mare. She stared ahead, leonine tail twitching, deep in the memories of a time when she felt joy.