//------------------------------//
// Cracking the Surface 
// Story: The Bonds of Family 
// by KidatHeart5 
//------------------------------//

	Flurry Heart woke up to the rainbow sparkles dancing in front of her eyes. When her vision cleared, she saw a stained glass dreamcatcher hanging from the window. 
How pretty, she thought as she climbed out of bed.
Her eyes gazed at the ornament in wonder as she focused on the elegant details that made it so special. There was the sun and the moon situated near the topmost curve of the dreamcatcher, a heart in the center, and stylized depictions of a Pegasus, unicorn, and Earth pony lining the bottom curve. There was also a glass triangle resembling a horn sitting atop the multicolored dreamcatcher, wings flanking either side of the disk, and feathers of several types hanging from the whole artwork. Flurry knew the dreamcatcher wasn’t there when she went to bed. On the other hoof, though, it did help her sleep more peacefully. At that thought, she knew exactly who put the dreamcatcher in her room. 
She walked down the stairs and found Mischief sitting at a table while Cauldron Bubbles was preparing breakfast. 
CB happily greeted, “Good morning, Your Highness! Please come join us for breakfast.”
When Flurry sat down, Mischief whispered, “Mom’s only acting like this because you’re a princess.”
She gave a wry chuckle, “The one thing I don’t want to be right now.”
Mischief knew that it wouldn’t be easy asking her a certain question, but he took a deep breath and inquired, “So why did you run? I mean, shouldn’t you be in hiding with guards to protect you?” 
“Yes, I am hiding, just not in the way you would think. By the way, thank you for putting that dreamcatcher in my room last night.”
This surprised Cauldron Bubbles, but she kept on making breakfast. 
Flurry continued, “It helped me sleep well last night. But how did you put it in my room without waking me up? I mean, you’d need magic to do that.”
Mischief said with a smirk as he touched one of his antlers, “Think these babies are just for show? Watch.” 
His antlers became enveloped in a strong malachite green aura and soon various objects in the room floated, each in a green glow.
Cauldron chastised, “Mischief, that is more than enough objects you need for showing off your magic.”
Mischief dared Flurry, “What about you, Your Highness? Care to show what you can do?”
Flurry nervously replied, “I’d rather not. My magic is a bit powerful. I don’t want to break anything.”
As the floating objects were returned to their rightful places, Mischief said, “Ah. Alicorns do tend to have powerful magic. Don’t worry. Mine gets like that sometimes.”
Cauldron Bubbles then put the food on the table as she said, “Let’s eat up, shall we? Don’t want the food getting too cold.” 





Blaze panted as he ran through the Everfree Forest to avoid detection. He got lucky enough when he pretended to be a changeling disguised as him. After he slipped away from Canterlot Castle, he teleported repeatedly for miles to the Everfree Forest until he exhausted his magic. Still, he ran further into the forest in case changelings were on his tail. When he realized that no changelings were after him, his fear subsided along with his running. 
He looked all around and saw nothing but the trees and vines. Even though it was daytime, Blaze couldn’t help but be intimidated by the strangeness of the Everfree Forest. He hadn’t realized how scary the forest could be until that moment. He always had at least one of his relatives with him whenever he went to and from the Everfree Castle. Now, without anyone by his side, Blaze felt scared and alone. He desperately wished for someone to be with him right now.
He gasped when he heard the brush rustling behind him. He turned to the moving bushes and activated his horn to prepare for attack. He stood still despite the anxiety jumping around inside him and waited for whoever was coming to show themselves. Just then, three ponies wearing cloaks stepped out of the brush. 
One pony pulled their hood down and asked, “Blaze?”
The unicorn was surprised to see that it was his cousin Skater! The other ponies pulled down their hoods and revealed themselves as Roller Blade and Apple Butter.
Apple Butter sighed, “Thank goodness you’re all right! We were already on our way to Canterlot when we got word that changelings attacked the city.”
Roller Blade scowled, “I knew it was too good to last.”
Blaze explained, “No, guys! You got it all wrong! These were new changelings. They were like the old creepy ones, but they only belonged to Chrysalis, not Thorax.”
Skater gasped, “You mean she’s back?!”
Roller slit his eyes in suspicion at Blaze, “Wait a minute. Then how do we know that you’re you?”
His sister held her hoof up, “I got this.” She asked Blaze, “You had a magic duel with somepony last month. Who was it and who won?”
The unicorn face-hoofed and groaned, “Why that question? All right, it was Nova Rose and she beat me. Happy?”
A voice then said in the bushes, “That you’d admit it? Yes.” 
Blaze immediately felt his heart leap when Nova stepped into view. He felt sorely relieved that she was all right, although he probably couldn’t say the same about her parents.
He smiled, “Sly Rose.”
Nova, although surprised, replied, “Dumb Blaze.”
Roller asked, “Wait. Are you sure it’s –“
Skater interrupted, “Yes, it’s really Nova. They exchanged their special nicknames, even if the roles might be a bit reversed.”
Blaze asked, “But how did you get here?”
Nova answered, “When the changelings – the bad ones, that is – attacked the Crystal Empire, my parents told me to flee. I put a camouflage spell on myself to avoid capture and teleported my way to Canterlot. But by the time I got there, changelings had already taken over the city, so I used the rest of my magic to teleport here without exhausting my camouflage spell.” She then smirked, “I got here when you were admitting that I beat you in that magic duel.”
Blaze blushed and face-hoofed again as he said, “Look, I wasn’t admitting anything. I was only answering Skater’s question so it would prove that I wasn’t a changeling.” 
Nova said, “And I’m not a changeling, either. None of us are. What we need to do right now is find shelter until this all passes.”
He scoffed, “So that’s all we’re going to do? Just hide somewhere until our parents find us and tell us it’s safe?” He stomped his hoof, “No! We’re going to do something about this!”
Apple Butter said, “But Chrysalis and her new changeling army might’ve taken hold of many parts of Equestria by now. How do you suggest we raise an army, especially if we don’t know who to trust?”
Blaze sighed in irritation, “We’re not going to fight the changelings. We’re going to rid Skyla of her darkness so she and Flurry can mend their bond and fix the Gem of Harmony. That way, we’ll have enough magic to drive Chrysalis and her army back where they came from.”
Nova asked, “But how? Skyla’s up on the moon.” 
Roller Blade said, “Hey, Zecora said that the stars are going to aid in Skyla’s escape, so when she returns, we’ll be ready with some sort of antidote or something.”
Blaze nodded, “Exactly! Just before Chrysalis invaded Canterlot, Grandma told us that Skyla drank some spring water that turned her bad. All we need to do is find that spring, make the antidote, and spray Skyla with it when she returns to Earth.” 
Skater said, “Well, I guess this means we’re going to Zecora’s hut.”





At mid-afternoon, Flurry pored over the books Cauldron Bubbles gave her. She was quite intrigued with facts about famous ponies she hardly knew about. Meanwhile, Cauldron and Mischief were quietly discussing outside the house.
Cauldron said, “Don’t tell me you were thinking about telling her where you really came from.”
Mischief replied, “Isn’t that what you meant by ‘colorful past’? Because you wanted to bring that up during dinner last night.”
Cauldron face-hoofed as she groaned, “That’s not what I meant! I was thinking along the lines of how you got your cutie mark or that time when you first used your antlers for magic.”
“Look, my point is we should be honest with the princess. She seems pretty honest with us.”
“I don’t know. There might be more to her situation than she’s letting on.”
Mischief joked, “Somehow, I don’t think we need bits to make her talk.”
Cauldron gave a mock-annoyed look. 
“Okay, how about this? I’ll talk about me and maybe that’ll get Flurry to talk about why she ran off without any guards.”
Cauldron gave a sly expression, “You’re using her name. I think she’s growing on you.”
Mischief sputtered as he blushed, “Growing in what way?”
“Oh, don’t play coy with me, Mischief. I heard that you put a dreamcatcher in her room last night.”
“Oh, come on! Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do as hosts? Making sure our guests are comfortable? She was pretty upset last night, so I helped her out.”
Cauldron put her hoof to her chin and said, “I suppose when it comes to broken homes, you two can relate. But are you sure you want to tell her this soon?” 
Mischief took a deep breath and said, “If it’ll get Flurry to open up, then…it’s a good option.” He opened the door and walked up to Flurry, who was sitting at the living room table. He peered at the open book she was reading and commented, “Hey, you’re reading Legends of Magic. Can I show you something here?”
Flurry nodded, “Sure.”
Mischief used his magic to flip the pages until they got to a certain section. It had an illustration of a hideous figure that had some features of a pony but also the long body and animal parts a draconequus would possess. This creature was flanked by draconequui on one side and alicorns on the other. Above the figure were storm clouds with icy ghouls known as Windigos hovering above everyone.
Flurry breathed, “The blizzard that took the alicorns and draconequui.”
He nodded, “Yeah.” He pointed to the illustration as he explained, “Legend has it that there was a baby born in the land where the two kinds lived. It was such a hideous beast and it was said to have summoned the Windigos so both draconequui and alicorns could perish.”
The young princess asked, “Really? I thought it was because the two races distrusted each other.”
Mischief shrugged, “Well, either way, the baby brought doom upon them. I have to admit, though, they got some details wrong.”
“Like what?”
“I know the baby definitely doesn’t look like that.”
“How do you know?”
He faced her and said softly, “You’re looking at him.”
Flurry’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth in shock. “You’re…the baby?”
Mischief hung his head as he answered sadly, “Yep.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He got up from his seat at the table and walked across the room. “Don’t be. It was 66 years ago.”
Flurry was stunned to hear that. “66? But you look so –“
“Young? I was born just before the blizzard hit. I have both of my parents’ slow-aging genes. I may not look 66 years old, but I certainly don’t feel 66 years old.”
They both chuckled at that to lighten the mood.
Flurry asked, “So how old would you say you act and look?”
Mischief thought about it before he answered, “About 16. Yeah. 16 is about right.”
Something then occurred to Flurry and she asked, “Wait. Were your parents a draconequus and an alicorn?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah. That explains the antlers and fangs. But if your mom was an alicorn, then why…?”
He gave a chuckle, “Well, draconequui don’t make much sense. That’s why I don’t have Mom’s wings and horn.”
Flurry was tempted to mention her cousin Screwball, but she felt like it wasn’t appropriate at the moment. She almost didn’t want to say what was nagging her mind, but she dared to. “Mischief, you can’t possibly think the blizzard was all your fault.”
To her surprise, he raised his voice, “Yes, it is! I’m the reason my parents and their kin are dead! I brought the blizzard upon the land and doomed them!” He then sighed heartbrokenly, “You can’t possibly understand.”
Actually, Flurry did understand him. What Mischief said about dooming his family sounded very similar to what she had endured with Skyla and the Gem of Harmony. Oh, and the blizzard that nearly wiped out the Crystal Empire.
Before she could say anything, Mischief continued, “I shouldn’t have been saved. If everypony finds out who I really am, they’ll all blame me for the blizzard. That’s why I stay here, away from others.” 
He then began to sing, “I…I hide my light…inside a cloak of night…behind the branches both high and low…The pearl of my heart…locked within a shell…I’m too afraid to let it go…to let it show…And all the stories read…for all the world to see…’Blizzard caused by baby’…
“I fall apart…I fall apart…Apparently I did escape…from the blizzard, yes, it was me…I once was that baby…
“I hide my pain…inside a melody…as if the notes I sing…will set me free…I keep all my dreams…under a lock and key…I’m so afraid that they will fly…away from me…I once was that baby…I once was that baby…I once was that baby…”
He turned away from Flurry so she couldn’t see the tears welling in his eyes. However, Flurry wasn’t fooled, for she knew that he was hurting.
She asked, “Are you okay?”
He answered in a choked-up voice, “I will be.”
“It’s okay to let your feelings out.”
“Not in front of a princess.”
This surprised Flurry, but she asked, “Have you had any royal visitors besides me?”
“No, not really. You’re the first.”
She then chuckled softly, “Well, then you don’t know what a princess is really like. A princess comforts others, even when the one in need is crying.”
“She does?”
“Mom does it all the time. I want to follow her example and help you.”
He faced her and gave a sad chuckle, “As you wish, Your Highness.”
They wrapped their arms around each other in a warming embrace. 





They had to hurry before the sun set. If the moon was up by the time the group got to the spring, it could alert Skyla to their intentions. There was no time to lose. Luckily, Blaze and Nova cast camouflage spells on themselves and the Marendelle cousins so changelings or any other threat could not see them. They had consulted Zecora about curing Skyla. The zebra had given them a magic talisman that could lead them to the spring water that corrupted Skyla. She told the ponies that it would glow redder and redder when they were getting nearer.
Roller panted, “I hope it won’t be long now. I’m getting exhausted.”
Skater agreed, “Me, too. But we’ve gotta do this. For Skyla, for Flurry, and for Equestria.”
Nova said, “Thankfully, the friendship necklace Flurry gave me carries her signature, so Zecora said we could use it to track her down.”
Blaze added, “Since the first thing Skyla’s going to do after she escapes is come after Flurry.” 
Apple Butter shushed, “Shh! Listen! I hear gurgles!”
Skater smirked, “Are you sure you’re not hearing Roller?”
Her twin shot an annoyed glare at her.
Blaze shook his head, “Nope. Those are definitely water gurgles.”
Nova gasped and pointed her hoof at something. “There’s the spring! We found it!”
The group trotted up to the sparkling spring, which was glorious even in the glow of sunset. 
Apple Butter remarked with eyes gleaming with wonder, “It’s…gorgeous.”
Roller Blade said uneasily, “I don’t know. I’m getting bad vibes from this place.”
Blaze said as he pulled out a bag of powder, “Well, it’s a good thing we’re fixing this right now.”
He tipped the bag and let the dusty substance fall into the water. Ripples of yellow magic washed over the spring until it reached the far edges.
When the water became clear again, Nova asked, “So…who’s testing it?”
Roller raised his hoof, “I will. I’m dehydrated enough to pass out from exhaustion.”
Skater rolled her eyes, “Yeah, since somepony refused to take a flask of water and insisted he was stallion enough to make it all the way to the spring.”
Her brother scowled at her, but then he dipped his hoof into the water and drank the amount he managed to get ahold of. The others looked at Roller in nervousness as they waited for something to happen in case the powder didn’t work. 
Roughly ten seconds had passed when Apple Butter asked, “How are you feeling?”
Blaze asked, “Sinister?”
Roller answered, “Well, not really, if that’s what you’re –“ Suddenly, he grasped his throat and choked, “Aack! Oh, no! I think…I think the water’s…making me evil!”
The ponies gasped as the Pegasus collapsed onto the ground. They anxiously waited for a dark, twisted version of Roller to take over his body. Just then, Roller’s frightened expression melted into amusement and the Pegasus burst into laughter.
The rest of the group chastised, “Roller!”
He said as he stood back up, “Sorry, guys. I couldn’t resist.”
Skater grumbled, “I think you’re spending too much time with Uncle Discord when he’s around.”
Nova said, “Still, we got the antidote we need.” She scooped up the water before she continued, “Now all we need to do is find Flurry and wait until Skyla’s imprisonment is over.”
Apple Butter uneasily said as she pointed to something behind Nova, “Speaking of Skyla…”
The ponies gasped as they realized that the moon was rising over the horizon. They cried as they ran away from the spring, “Panic and run! Panic and run!”