//------------------------------// // 14 - The Reunion // Story: The Lost Connection // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// Ebony Wings ran through the night, turning corners and vaulting over low walls. She had run quite a distance from the quarry, and the sound of police sirens could no longer be heard. She opted to stick to the shadows of the alleyways, seeing as part of her disguise had melted off and her sister wasn’t even in disguise anymore. “I… I still can’t believe… it’s you, sister. Ebony Wings…” Psithyra moaned, a hand over her chest wound. Her burnt shirt was also stained red in many places. “I can’t stand your acting… I thought it was… the worst.” “Hush.” Ebony Wings placed a finger over her sister’s lips. “You focus on regaining your strength, I’ll get us home.” “I never even... invited you to one of my parties!” Psithyra groaned, placing a clawed hand over her face. “Imagine all the trouble that would have saved...” “Parties, dear sister?” “I… I was Mirror Match. From Manehattan.” Ebony Wings raised the eyebrow of her non-disguised side of her face. “You were? My, my. You have been busy.” “Speak for yourself… Acclaimed actress. You’ve made… a good life for yourself, sister. All on your own… Impressive… Chrysalis.” “Shhh,” Chrysalis said, then pulled a phone from her pocket. “Silver Platter? I need to you bring the car around. I’m on the corner of Two-Shoes Avenue and Plum Street. And line the back seat with towels. Things have gotten a little messy.” “Who’re you talking to…?” Psithyra watched her sister. It still all felt like a dream to her. Maybe it was. She still couldn’t believe such a hack was her sister in disguise. “My butler,” Chrysalis said, putting the phone away. “He’ll be here shortly, then we can go home.” “Wait… I’m not in disguise! And your disguise is… lacking…” “Oh, relax, little sister. Silver Platter knows who he serves. The rest of the staff too, so don’t worry about disguises when it comes to them. I’ve got this.” The two of them waited in silence for a moment. “Chrysalis?” Psithrya murmured. “Hmm?” “I… I want to apologize.” The elder changeling looked down to the changeling in her arms. “Whatever for?” “For leaving you back in Trotsylvania. And… for thinking I could replace you.” Psithyra coughed out blood. Chrysalis tenderly stroked her sister’s long purple hair. “Thyra… I forgave you for Trotsylvania years ago. And what’s this about replacing me?” “I was evolving… into a queen. I’m sorry, Chrysalis. The years apart… were too much for me. I developed queenly abilities… powers… that should only be yours.” Chrysalis looked down at her sister with her split face and smiled. “Well, I’m here, so you won’t evolve any further. As for your queenly gifts, I think that you can keep them, so long as you still serve me.” Psithyra’s bloody face lit up in an expression of purest joy. “You… you truly mean that?” “Of course I do. Psithyra, you’re my sister. Did you really think I would be angry at you for getting better at your job?” Psithrya laid back in her sister’s arms like a child. “It feels so good, having you forgive me.” “Sister,” Chrysalis said softly. “I have long since forgiven you. Perhaps the one you need to seek forgiveness from, is yourself.” “I would never have thought you would forgive so easily… You have changed…” Psithyra chuckled, then started coughing violently, hacking out blood. “I… I don’t think I’ll make it, Chrysalis… But, at least I know you forgive me… Thank you, sister.” “Don’t say such things,” Chrysalis said sternly. “You will make it. You have a niece who’s been dying to meet you. Wouldn’t want to disappoint her, would you?” “You… You have a daughter…?” Psithyra coughed again. “You really have changed…” “We all have,” Chrysalis said quietly. At that moment, a long black car pulled up on the curb, the back door popping open without any given cue. In interior was lined with fluffy white towels that did an excellent job of soaking up all the blood as both changelings climbed in. As the butler put the car into gear, Psithyra nudged Chrysalis’ arm. “Chryssie… I found them.” “Who?” “The sirens…” Psithyra sighed. “They’re in worse shape than me…” “Worse than you?” Chrysalis eyed her sister’s injuries. She exhaled loudly, letting her love fill the interior of the limousine. As she watched, the smaller wounds on her sister’s body began to close and heal. “Oh, there’s so much to do…” Psithyra said, putting a hand over her face. “I have to fix their gems, hunt down the rest of the dissenters, and-” “What dissenters?” Chrysalis asked gently, stroking her sister’s hair. “Those ones at the quarry. Especially the man… he could do… irreparable damage to us.” Chrysalis licked her fangs as the car stopped at a red light. “I left that little man in pretty bad condition. I doubt he’ll survive.” Psithyra sat up, gripping her sister’s arm like a vise, bringing her face within inches of her sister’s. “If I survived, then it’s possible he survived too,” she hissed. “We need to shut him down before he exposes us.” “Psssh. You’re a changeling. He isn’t. I’m sure he’s met his match. Besides, you’re not worried about the other two?” “They don’t have the technical know-how to put a target on us. But if Pierce Network survived, we might be in quite a bit of trouble, especially since he’s seen under your disguise.” “I tore his lungs apart. He can’t have long.” Chrysalis waved a hand. Psithyra looked at her sister for a few seconds. Finally, Chrysalis sighed and said, “If he does survive, he’ll have to go to a hospital for injuries like that. And after what I did to him, it’ll be on the news for sure.” “I need to kill him,” Psithyra said through gritted teeth. “He’s earned his spot on the execution list.” “I wholeheartedly agree,” Chrysalis said. “Attempted regicide is a capital offence. I trust you have a plan?” “I do, but first I need to know a few things. One, how old is my niece, and two, do you have an axe I could use?” “You’re in no condition to go anywhere, Thyra.” Her sister wagged a finger. “Just a few minutes ago you were saying you weren’t going to make it.” “But I have to-” “No, dear sister. For once, let me be your hands and feet.” Psithyra looked at her sister in pure amazement. Then she grabbed her and held her close. “This truly is the happiest day of my life.” Morning Blade lay on a bed in the Canterlot hospital, resting after the doctors had worked on stitching up her injuries. They weren’t as bad as Pierce’s, which is why she was already done. Pierce was still in the emergency room in critical condition, having been rolled into the operating theater by a small army of doctors and nurses. They had been in there for hours now, and there was still no word on Pierce’s condition. Keila lay opposite her, her body mostly in bandages from burns she received in the fight, though Morning was more used to seeing her with the bandages than without. Thankfully, the Saddle Arabian couldn’t feel the pain. “So we could say it was a gang attack right?” Keila asked after a few minutes of silence. Because of the state Pierce was in, the doctors had yet to question them what had happened. They still had time to figure an alibi out. “Gangs are common here, right?” “Not in Canterlot…” Morning Blade touched at her cheek, which had a dressing placed over the claw marks Ebony Wings had given her. “Gang attacks are very rare here. Besides. No gang leaves claw marks like that.” “Then we’ll just say it was a… cougar or something. I don’t know what you have here.” “Not a lot of wildlife around here…” Morning said glumly. “Most of it’s in the Everfree forest, and that’s miles away.” “Well, we’ve got to think of something to tell the doctors,” Keila said anxiously. “They’ll get curious eventually and then what will we tell them? That the movie star Ebony Wings came and clawed him half to death? They’d lock us up in the mental ward.” “We could always say we found him like this,” Morning suggested. “Then we wouldn’t have any idea why he’s like this.” Keila shrugged. “Could work. Think they’ll buy it?” Just then, the door to the room swung open, revealing a doctor, who pulled his mask down and joined Keila at Morning’s side. “You two are the friends of Mr. Pierce Network, correct?” The two former Assassins nodded. “Then I have come bearing good news.” The doctor smiled. “Mr. Network will most likely pull through. His condition is stable, but critical. Our best surgeons are working their magic as I speak.” “That’s good,” Morning sighed in relief. “Now, I have to ask...” The doctor pulled out a clipboard and pen. “How did this happen? We need to know as many details as possible to ensure the best possible treatment.” Morning looked at Keila again, then sighed. “We found him at the abandoned quarry like that. We did our best to get him help after that.” “It’s like he was attacked by an animal,” the doctor said, pulling out a sheet of paper and looking over it. “Except animals usually go for the throat, not the chest and abdominal area.” “Well, you’re the doctor, so you know best.” Keila managed a smile. “What do you think could’ve done this to him?” “Well, unless he keeps a collection of exotic pet animals, I can’t think of what might have caused these injuries,” the doctor shrugged. “I suppose the important thing is that he’s going to live.” “How bad is it?” Morning Blade asked. “To tell you the truth, it was mostly touch and go there for a while. But we managed to stop the internal bleeding, and we’ve stitched up most of the lacerations. I’d give a day’s pay to learn what caused them though… perhaps Mr. Network will be able to tell me more once he awakens.” If only you knew… Morning thought, remembering the claws on Ebony Wings’ fingers, the fangs in her mouth. She had a gut feeling that nobody would believe her though, so she just sat back and sighed. “Thank you, doctor…” Morning nodded. “Thank you for saving his life.” “All in a day's work.” He shifted his glasses up. “Now, about you two and your injuries…” Morning and Keila shared a quick glance. They had forgotten about themselves. “Uh…” Pierce Network had dreamt that he had woken in a cold and dark world, with nothing but blue gravel surrounding him. From somewhere in the dark, he had heard laughter, followed by a blaze of green fire. Two fiery eyes and a sickle mouth appeared in the sky above him, before a pair of sharp claws emerged from the gravel mounds around him. Just as they had dug their tips into his chest, he woke up. Pierce panted and breathed, but soon found it was nearly impossible to get a full breath of air. The room around him was clean and white and there were other beds around him as well. Years of being a vigilante and an Assassin had taught him that this was a hospital, a frequently visited place back in his youthful days. There was an oxygen mask strapped to his face and both his arms and legs felt like they were under a pile of rocks; he could barely move them. A nurse, who was by his side, got up and ran outside, likely going to get the doctor. Great… I better come up with an excuse before he asks me. I obviously can’t say I was attacked by Ebony Wings and that she tore my insides up. How am I even still alive? I should be dead… No matter, let’s just see what happens next. Soon, he spotted the bald head of a doctor as he pushed the doors open, rushing to Pierce’s side. “Mr. Pierce, can you hear me?” Was the first thing he asked. Pierce tried to open his mouth, but everything felt dry and hoarse and nothing came out. Instead, he made a simple motion of nodding his head. “You are experiencing weakness and lack of strength, Mr. Pierce,” the doctor went on. “I’m afraid you’ve been out for… almost six days now.” Six days…? It’s been that long…? “You suffered major lacerations to your abdomen and chest, damaging both your digestive system and your lungs. Thankfully, your heart wasn’t damaged and we were able to stitch up the wounds before anything too bad could happen. Now, since neither of your friends seem to know, what happened to you? I’ve never quite seen any injuries like yours before.” Here’s the question… Pierce sighed. For now, he was glad he was unable to talk. He simply moved his head and opened his mouth, unable to utter anything. “Take it easy, you don’t have to answer me immediately.” The doctor got up and poured Pierce a glass of water. “For now, just rest. The worst is behind us, but you’ll need to spend quite some time here, to make sure there aren’t any complications,” he finished, dropping a straw into the glass. “We’ll have to restrict you to mostly liquids during your time here,” the doctor continued. “Your intestines were in pretty bad shape when we rolled you in.” Through the mask, the doctor inserted the straw through a small hole, pushing it till it reached Pierce’s mouth. “Now, try and drink. It may be a little hard at first, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually. Don’t worry, if you are unable, we’ll get it into your system through the tubes.” Pierce sipped through the straw, using as much strength as he could muster to suck the water up and into his mouth. Once the clear liquid entered his mouth, the computer teacher let out a sigh of relief. It felt good for his parched throat. “Yes, good work, Mr. Pierce,” the doctor said with a grin. “And don’t you worry. We’ll help you get back up to top shape again as soon as we can.” Pierce looked back up at a spinning fan as the doctor left, sighing through his nose, watching the mask fog up. He was in no condition to do anything now, but what of Mirror Match? Now with her sister, acclaimed actress Ebony Wings knowing of their existence, surely they couldn’t stay hidden for long, especially not if he was bound to this hospital bed. But then again, there was no way Ebony Wings would show up to kill him in a place as public as a hospital, right? Then he remembered Mirror Match’s power of disguise. If her sister was better, there was always the possibility that anyone who walked through that door would try to kill him. He wasn’t safe here, he wasn’t safe anywhere. Pierce knew what he had to do, but the question now was, could he get to safety? He started with his hands, trying to wiggle his fingers more extensively. After about five minutes, he found he had a lot less trouble than when he had woken up. Moving on to his arms, Pierce tried to push himself up to a sitting position. That action alone proved almost too difficult and his chest began to hurt. Come on, you’re stronger than this, Pierce. You have to move or Mirror Match will find you and you will die. Do you want to die, Pierce? No, you don’t. You’ve made it out of more harrowing situations. You’ll make it out of this one. You’ve lived long. You’ve fought plenty of evil. You can still do this. The computer teacher tried to shake his head. No, this was certainly the most distressing situation he’d ever been in. Mirror Match was no human and she definitely proved that at the quarry. Sweat began to form on his brows and his arms, but soon, after much difficulty, Pierce was sitting against his pillow, breathing in deeply through the mask. Then there was another thing. Morning Blade and Keila. If he was here, then they would be around somewhere in the hospital as well. He couldn’t abandon them. Not again. As if on cue, a familiar white-haired head poked itself around the corner, through the door. “Pierce, you’re awake!” Morning Blade exclaimed, entering the room with Keila in tow. They were both in the same blue gowns as Pierce and they had several bandages and patches on their faces and arms, and probably more underneath their clothes too. Pierce slowly nodded his head, but was still unable to say anything. Maybe he just needed more water. Picking up the glass, he inserted the straw through the tiny port and began sucking up water to the best of his ability. “Here, let me.” Morning held the glass for him. “How’re you feeling?” Pierce lifted a hand and shook it. “Still can’t speak, huh?” Morning looked at him. “Must be the muscles. You’ve been out for six days, Pierce. That’s all you’ve been doing. Lying here. Plus, Ebony Wings sure did a number on you. Far worse than anything we’ve seen. Well, we’re glad you’re still alive. I’m sorry if I made you feel I wanted to kill you. I didn’t mean all of it.” Pierce nodded his head. He knew it had been his own fault that she wanted to kill him in the first place. She didn’t have to be sorry about anything. “Not… your fault…” he managed to scrape out of his mouth. He realized for once in his life, he didn’t have much to say, or really, he couldn’t say much. Just those few words already made him feel out of breath. “Mine…” He pointed at himself. The other two former Assassins looked down at their feet. “It’s not your fault either, Pierce. Who knew that Ebony Wings would come as backup for Mirror Match? None of us could have predicted that.” “We almost had her,” Keila slammed a fist into her palm. “So close to ending that witch… then her big sister had to show up and ruin everything.” “We can’t… stay…” Pierce said, interrupting their thoughts. “Need to… go. Not safe…” “What are you talking about, Pierce?” Morning asked as she inspected the bandages on her wrist. “Disguise…” he coughed, rubbing at his throat. “Could be… anyone. We must leave.” “Oh my…” Keila said grimly. “He’s right. If… the queen can disguise herself to look like Ebony Wings, there’s no telling who she might be. She could be any of the doctors or nurses and we’d never know.” “What do you propose we do?” Morning pointed at Pierce. “He’s in no condition to go anywhere.” “If we leave him here, there’s no telling how long before Ebony Wings shows up.” “For all we know, she could already be here,” Morning said ominously. “We have to profile everyone who comes in with eagle vision. It’s the only way to be sure.” “We can’t do that,” Keila interjected. “We have to sleep sometime, and does eagle vision even work on Ebony Wings and her kind? I’ve never tested it out.” Morning Blade tapped her chin with a finger. “Well then, there’s only one choice remaining. We have to get Pierce out of here before the queen shows up. If she hasn’t already.” Keila took a look at all the medical machinery that Pierce was attached to. “That won’t be easy…” she said slowly. “Nothing…” Pierce croaked. “Is ever easy.” At that moment, a nurse with brown spiky hair poked her head into the room. “Everything alright, loves?” She said cheerily in a Trottingham accent. “Uh, yeah,” Morning replied. “We’re just, um… visiting a friend. Yeah.” “Alright then,” the nurse said, fiddling with the orange goggles around her neck. “Don’t stay too long. I’m sure this gentleman needs his rest.” And with that, the nurse vanished around the corner, almost as if she had teleported away. “O-kay,” Morning continued, rubbing her wrist. It felt so light without a hidden blade strapped to it. “As I was saying, we need to get Pierce, and by extension, ourselves out of here before the queen shows up. And I think I have a plan.” “Oh, really,” Keila said skeptically. “You going to tell us?” “Pierce, do you have a spare phone?” Morning asked the teacher. “I’m thinking if you hack the hospital’s systems, you can get out early. Or at least get transferred to home care.” The man nodded. “Home…” Then he paused. “Wait... Mirror Match... knows where I live. Not safe there...” “Well then…” Keila said slowly. “How about the Canterlot bureau? It’s inconspicuous enough, and I don’t think Mirror knows where it is.” “That sounds good,” Morning nodded. “But first, we need to get you a phone. Pierce, do you have any extra ones?” “Home,” Pierce repeated. “You have an extra phone at your place?” Morning asked. “Several,” Pierce managed. “I… need one of you… to go to my house and get... phone.” “I’ll go-” “No, you stay, Morning.” Keila put a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve got more serious injuries than I do. You stay here and watch him. I’ll go get the phone and come back.” Morning nodded. “I’ll watch over him. No one’s going to get to him on my watch.” “Gotcha,” Keila mock-saluted the other two and scuttled from the room. Moments later, she came back with an embarrassed look on her face. “Um, where do you live again?”