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Mouse-art done in Paintshop Pro, cause I’m a peasant.
 
Long back story is long, skip to the end for the TLDR.
 
Long ago in the lands east of Zebra territory Princess Mirage ruled over the kingdom of Mareocco (Morocco.) She was a beautiful alicorn whose symbol was the morning and evening star and whose talent was to change the seasons of the desert and bring the rain.
 
This is the legend, but…what is the truth?
 
Mirage was a unicorn born into the hostile society of the desert nomads. Her mother, a unicorn from Maredonia (Macedonia,) had been politically married to the youngest son of the earth pony nomad chief, who controlled much land in Ponistan, to end the hostility between the two nations. Although the chief and his son valued the wealth and dowry the mare brought to their pockets – they harbored great disdain toward all unicorns, viewing them as weak and dependent on magic. For this reason her mother was forever forbidden to use magic in her new home under penalty of violence. When Mirage was born, there was great sorrow and anger in the nomad camp. Her father was angered that his first foal was born not only a mare, but also a pathetic unicorn. Her mother was consumed with sadness that her foal had been born a unicorn because this was no place for a unicorn filly – she knew her daughters gifts would never be appreciated and her innate abilities would be outlawed under threat of extreme brutality. As Mirage grew, it became apparent that she was not only magically enabled like all unicorns – but she possessed truly extraordinary gifts. One day while she was being punished for using her magic to levitate a cup, her mother thought she saw her daughter scrubbing in the kitchen as she had been ordered, and yet she clearly saw Mirage out playing at the edge of the camp. The illusion was basic, and not difficult for someone skilled in magic to accomplish, but it was this moment that her mother decided that she would risk teaching Mirage everything she knew about magic – regardless of the consequences. Mirage’s mother found her daughter excelled extremely in the area of illusions, so much so that her body-doubles and item clones were soon able to fool everypony, even her mother! Her illusions were so complete that they not only fooled the eyes, but also the sense of touch - they had texture and even weight. Unfortunately, one day her father came upon Mirage’s magic lesson. Enraged, he set upon her mother – intent on beating her horribly. Mirage jumped between the violent stallion and her mother, but was tossed roughly aside by the large pony. Her father then proceeded to brutalize Mirage’s mother…or so he thought. In reality, the mare he violently savaged was not in fact his wife – but an illusion crafted by Mirage. Mirage and her mother then fled the camp, and although her mother knew they would have to return (or risk the nomad’s retribution on Marecedonia) she commended her daughter on her quick thinking, resourcefulness, cunning in using physical actions to hide the act of casting her spell, her magic skill,and…her new cutiemark. Mirage’s cutiemark symbolized her magic and skill with illusion.
 
When Mirage was a young adult, her mother became gravely ill with a magic sickness, but her father and his family would not allow any unicorn doctors into their camp – and as a result, her mother died. Unable to contain her hatred of her father and his family any longer, Mirage set out into the desert, and vowed never to return.
 
Mirage wondered through the desert for days before she came upon the great kingdom of Mareocco, and it was then that Mirage got an idea. She had never been appreciated by her people, never valued or cherished – but here, here she could be anyone, and with her gift of illusion…why not an alicorn? That would get her the respect and adoration she so desired, she deserved to be a princess more than anypony, she would make it so all the other ponies would love her. She cloaked her body in magic and changed her appearance to that of the alicorn princesses – changing everything except her cutiemark which had brought so much pride to her mother; and with her new wings spread wide, walked straight into the Mareoccan capital city. She told the ponies it was she that was responsible for changing the seasons of the desert – bringing the life giving rain and making the flowers bloom. This was, of course, a lie – it was the desert itself that made that possible – but the nomad ponies often laughed about how city ponies thought everything was done by magic. She told them her cutiemark was the sign of the morning and the evening star, an indication of how she was part of both the world ruled by the moon and that ruled by the sun. The ponies of the city gave the new apparent princess a royal welcome and, given her status as an alicorn, invited her to rule their noble land. Mirage, of course, graciously accepted and so began her long and prosperous reign. It did not always go as smoothly as she invisioned. She was prone to anger and frustration and detested the laborious work required of a princess and often found excuses to shirk her duties. Mirage was, however, a master manipulator and able to evade suspicion, hide her flaws and remain a god in the eyes of her subjects through cunning and deception backed by no small measure of magic.
 
After many, many years the alicornAsheSundown’s avatar  
AsheSundown  
Apr 11, 2015  
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Princess Mirage  
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brown  
character  
fanfiction  
fim  
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Description  
Mouse-art done in Paintshop Pro, cause I’m a peasant.
 
Long back story is long, skip to the end for the TLDR.
 
Long ago in the lands east of Zebra territory Princess Mirage ruled over the kingdom of Mareocco (Morocco.) She was a beautiful alicorn whose symbol was the morning and evening star and whose talent was to change the seasons of the desert and bring the rain.
 
This is the legend, but…what is the truth?
 
Mirage was a unicorn born into the hostile society of the desert nomads. Her mother, a unicorn from Maredonia (Macedonia,) had been politically married to the youngest son of the earth pony nomad chief, who controlled much land in Ponistan, to end the hostility between the two nations. Although the chief and his son valued the wealth and dowry the mare brought to their pockets – they harbored great disdain toward all unicorns, viewing them as weak and dependent on magic. For this reason her mother was forever forbidden to use magic in her new home under penalty of violence. When Mirage was born, there was great sorrow and anger in the nomad camp. Her father was angered that his first foal was born not only a mare, but also a pathetic unicorn. Her mother was consumed with sadness that her foal had been born a unicorn because this was no place for a unicorn filly – she knew her daughters gifts would never be appreciated and her innate abilities would be outlawed under threat of extreme brutality. As Mirage grew, it became apparent that she was not only magically enabled like all unicorns – but she possessed truly extraordinary gifts. One day while she was being punished for using her magic to levitate a cup, her mother thought she saw her daughter scrubbing in the kitchen as she had been ordered, and yet she clearly saw Mirage out playing at the edge of the camp. The illusion was basic, and not difficult for someone skilled in magic to accomplish, but it was this moment that her mother decided that she would risk teaching Mirage everything she knew about magic – regardless of the consequences. Mirage’s mother found her daughter excelled extremely in the area of illusions, so much so that her body-doubles and item clones were soon able to fool everypony, even her mother! Her illusions were so complete that they not only fooled the eyes, but also the sense of touch - they had texture and even weight. Unfortunately, one day her father came upon Mirage’s magic lesson. Enraged, he set upon her mother – intent on beating her horribly. Mirage jumped between the violent stallion and her mother, but was tossed roughly aside by the large pony. Her father then proceeded to brutalize Mirage’s mother…or so he thought. In reality, the mare he violently savaged was not in fact his wife – but an illusion crafted by Mirage. Mirage and her mother then fled the camp, and although her mother knew they would have to return (or risk the nomad’s retribution on Marecedonia) she commended her daughter on her quick thinking, resourcefulness, cunning in using physical actions to hide the act of casting her spell, her magic skill, and…her new cutiemark. Mirage’s cutiemark symbolized her magic and skill with illusion.
 
When Mirage was a young adult, her mother became gravely ill with a magic sickness, but her father and his family would not allow any unicorn doctors into their camp – and as a result, her mother died. Unable to contain her hatred of her father and his family any longer, Mirage set out into the desert, and vowed never to return.
 
Mirage wondered through the desert for days before she came upon the great kingdom of Mareocco, and it was then that Mirage got an idea. She had never been appreciated by her people, never valued or cherished – but here, here she could be anyone, and with her gift of illusion…why not an alicorn? That would get her the respect and adoration she so desired, she deserved to be a princess more than anypony, she would make it so all the other ponies would love her. She cloaked her body in magic and changed her appearance to that of the alicorn princesses – changing everything except her cutiemark which had brought so much pride to her mother; and with her new wings spread wide, walked straight into the Mareoccan capital city. She told the ponies it was she that was responsible for changing the seasons of the desert – bringing the life giving rain and making the flowers bloom. This was, of course, a lie – it was the desert itself that made that possible – but the nomad ponies often laughed about how city ponies thought everything was done by magic. She told them her cutiemark was the sign of the morning and the evening star, an indication of how she was part of both the world ruled by the moon and that ruled by the sun. The ponies of the city gave the new apparent princess a royal welcome and, given her status as an alicorn, invited her to rule their noble land. Mirage, of course, graciously accepted and so began her long and prosperous reign. It did not always go as smoothly as she invisioned. She was prone to anger and frustration and detested the laborious work required of a princess and often found excuses to shirk her duties. Mirage was, however, a master manipulator and able to evade suspicion, hide her flaws and remain a god in the eyes of her subjects through cunning and deception backed by no small measure of magic.
 
After many, many years the alicorn illusion had not aged a day – the real Mirage, however, had aged just the same as all other mortal ponies do. One day, the illusion Mirage began to fade until, to the horror of her subjects, their princess vanished. A search of the palace was mounted, only to find a very mortal dead unicorn in Mirage’s private chambers. Examination of the body confirmed it, their cutiemarks matched, and the ponies knew that this unicorn and their beloved alicorn princess were one in the same. Many were angry at their former princess, lying to them for all these years – they could not forgive her deception, while others simply mourned her loss for she had been a wise and just ruler who was not without fault – but always acted with fairness. Regardless of how they felt towards her, it is from her that we get our word “mirage” meaning desert illusion and she and her story has passed into legend.
 
TLDR – actually a unicorn born to a captive unicorn mother in a tribe of unicorn-hating earth ponies in Ponistan. Her special talent is perfect illusion. After her mother dies because her father wouldn’t allow a doctor she runs away and decides she will cover her body in an illusion to make the Mareoccan (Moroccan) ponies in a neighboring nation think she’s an alicorn so she can have the respect and adoration she always wanted but never had. Many years later she died of old age and her illusion faded. Some ponies were very angry, while others thought her deeds as princess meant more than her alicorn status. She was prone to anger and frustration and detested the laborious work required of a princess and often found excuses to shirk her duties. She was, however, a master manipulator and able to evade suspicion and remain a god in the eyes of her subjects through cunning and deception backed by no small measure of magic until her death. Despite her flaws, she was a very just and fair ruler. From her is where Equestrians get their word “mirage” for desert illusion.
 
*the literal meaning of her cutiemark, although is symbolizes her skill with the magic of illusion, is mirage. The “magic” of sunlight and heated air.
 
So…why isn’t she a REAL alicorn, hmm? Well simply put, I disagree with non-moon pony and sun-butt alicorns in cannon. And as this AU takes place shortly after Luna’s banishment, there have only ever been 2 alicorns. No pink wing-horn pony, no Twilicorn, none of that silliness. So then why have one at all? Well, I wanted a magic fly horse - and everyone else has 473 so I figured I deserved at least one.