Unforgiven Bloodline

by mr_minati


Unwanted Attention

The insessent knocking hadn’t stopped for almost ten minutes now. “Facia, can you please let us in?” Spiracles asked. “Let’s talk about it, please? We really need your help!”

Calyx sat on the porch and shrugged. “Maybe she left? You’ve been at that for a while, even I’m getting annoyed, I wouldn’t have stuck around. We could just sit here and wait after all. Danaus will come back with Dad, and… we can appreciate that we’re still alive today. On this beautiful day. ”

Spiracles sniffed and wiped a bit of blood from his nostrils. With Calyx content to lay back and rest, he wouldn’t get anywhere without doing something.. He turned to the door and tried the doorknob, and to his surprise, it was unlocked.

“Really Spiracles?” Calyx asked when she heard the handle turn. She stood up and joined him before the door opened too far.“Is she even in here?”

He shrugged, then both took a look inside. It looked empty from this point, so Calyx quietly limped through the door and moving further in to call for Facia.

“Facia? Are you here?”

No response, the house was dead silent. Calyx, figuring that Facia really did leave, turned to give Spiracles her theory, but what she saw caut the words in her throat. The froon door was slowly closing, and behind it was Facia, eyes raw and bloodshot, carrying a wooden bat raised above her head. The moment Calyx opened her mouth to scream, Facia brought the bat down on Spiracles’s head.

The Young-ling dropped unconscious instantly, and Facia raised the bat again encroaching on Calyx. She backed away from the hippogriff with her tail between her legs until she hit a wall.

“Where's my husband!?” Facia asked menancily. “What did you do to him!?”

Facia swung down, and Calyx narrowly avoided the bat as it crashed into the floorboards. She quickly set some distance between them . “Nonono wait! Danaus is fine, Facia!”

The hippogriff halted, but kept the bat primed to fall. She quickly checked her back to make sure the other changeling was still out, then stared down Calyx. “I gave you two my hospitality and let Dan slip away into a sickening trap. Tell me where's he! Tell me the truth!” she yelled as her feathers bristled and her wings flared.

Her eyes wandered to her downed brother and then to the fearsome hippogriff standing in between. Her claw gripped the bat tightly, and glaring eyes locked on her. Facia was ready for another round. Calyx flared her wings, with her heartbeat raising the pain on her leg was getting ignored. Her head lowered as her body slowly positioned, she was ready to charge forward. Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh. "We're not a threat to anyone," she said raising her head again. "We genuinely like you, you're definitely the nicest and most coolest bird we've ever met."

Facia, after a few blinks, lowered the bat, her feathers laid flat once more and Calyx slowly walked on to her.

“Danaus said he'll be back before sunset, we just have to wait,” Calyx said with a pleading look. Her ears twitched as tapping talons echoed through the house. She looked down to see Facia's talons ticking the floor impatiently, then finally, her claws relaxed.

“Fine, I'll wait,” Facia reluctantly replied.

Calyx let out a breath of relief and glanced over her brother who still lay on the floor.

“However…” Facia started up, making Calyx tense again, “I still don’t trust you. So keep in mind that if my husband doesn’t come back by then, you two will be facing the RAF again and we'll face consequences this time.”

“If that ever happens, Facia, we'll willingly turned ourselves in, believe me.”

“I don't. Let me repeat myself to make it clear.” she moved to a closet nearby and put the bat away, only to return with a rope. "I still don't trust you." She said while stretching the rope.

Calyx gulped and hung her head as the hippogriff cautiously walk to her.


“Again, I’m terribly sorry for taking up your time,” Polistes said, head hung in shame as he trotted along side Danaus through the Blood Oak trail. Just beyond this stretch was Aura fields with Facia and the young-lings.

“Relax, I already told you it wasn’t a problem. You did the right thing to call me just in case, bud. Imprisonment is a guarantee under the RAF,” Danaus smiled, "But you were lucky enough to strike a deal, and lucky to have such wonderful little young-lings.” Polistes nodded back with a shy smile as they passed through Aura’s gates. “I should’ve kept in touch all these years, I could’ve met them ages ago.” Polsties shook his head.

"Hey, I was the dummy for not telling you sooner. But since you insist, we can settle it as a fault on both sides." Danaus laughed softly and crossed the field.

Polistes took a look around. He was amazed by the huge farm the couple had built together, regretting even more the he hadn’t kept in touch with Danaus. However the feeling faded as a bitter thought came to mind. “They must be pissed.”

Danaus raised a brow, “Why is that?”

“The young-lings were chased all the way here because of me. Do you think they’re still angry at me?”

“No, not at all. Just a bit worried and tired. Whoever chased them couldn't keep up apparently, so it's cool. They should be fine now under Facia's care.” They climbed the porch and opened the door for Polistes. "Hey! I’m back! Guess who I brought with me!"

The house was oddly quiet, only the soft notes of the wind chime played along as usual. They expected the smiling faces of excited young-lings to rush them, but that never came. Polistes turned to Danaus with a worried look. Their ears twitched as rustling sound came from a nearby room.

“Facia?” Danaus called.

Polistes bit his lip, there was no immediate response. Danaus cautiously approached the room.

“Yeah, I'm here!” Facia finally answered.

Curiously, Danaus walked into it and immediately dropped his jaw. “W-what in the world is going on here?”

One step behind him, Polistes rushed to the scene. “Calyx! Spiracles!” He yelled at the horror in front of him. His children were tied up and beaten, and Facia was holding the rope. “Oh drag me in boiling oil! There's blood- are you alright Spiracles!?” Polistes hysterically began unraveling the ropes and tending to a dazed Spiracles and a tired Calyx. Facia attempted to slowly back away from the scene and out of the room before bumping into her husband.

“Good graces Facia, what did you do to the children!?” a horrified Danaus asked.

Facia opened her beak to speak, but the sheer weight of shame was caught in her throat. She had nowhere to hide, so she let out a deep breath and sank to her knees with it..

Finally seeing her father had Calyx feeling an indescribable amount of emotion, she’d never missed him so much in her life. The relief of knowing he was safe added to Danaus returning proving her innocence was just too much all at once, and the tears came unbidden.

“Actually Danaus, Facia saved us from your neighbor Toxidia. She knocked my brother out and tied us up,” Calyx explained.

Danaus looked at her confused.

Surprised, Facia turned to Calyx who just slightly nodded to her. “Oh Dan, she came like always, wanting to pick up her dose, and when I told her that today wasn't a good time. She went completely ballistic and broke into the house. I-I couldn't hold her off,” she sniffed.

Danaus quickly took her in his comforting embrace, feeling the slight sting of her talons on his back. "This is unbelievable, of all the changelings on this land!” he exclaimed.

“What kind of neighbor is that, who is she?” Polistes asked as he caressed his two kids.

Danaus frowned. “A changeling who’d better move far away from Blood Oak if she knows what's good for her Can't believe I trusted her...”

Suddenly, Polistes was enveloped in Facia's embrace, her talons slightly scratching his back. "I'm so sorry, Polistes!" He patted her back and winced at Danaus.


The trio crossed through the threshold to the woods of Blood Oak for one last time, and into the plains, taking the long way back home. Though wounded, Spiracles obstinately carried Calyx on his back, and Polistes was loaded up with supplies on his back. Feeling guilty about all that had happened, Facia and Danaus had given them enough to cover their losses and then some, if only to try and make up for the attacks and mistrust.

Night hadn't fallen yet when they spotted the hive across the open plains and the path home was looking clear. Polistes halted and took a good look at the two.

“Hmm, this won’t do. You two still look beaten and battered. We're gonna have to wait until it gets a bit darker out. With any luck, noling will give you a second glance then.”

“Dad, they might ask why we were out so late, y’know,” Calyx added.

Spiracles waved it off. “Yeah, but we can come up with a good excuse for that real quick, sis.”

Polistes nodded. “Mmhmm, now let's sit here and just relax a little okay sweetie?”

Calyx sighed and slid carelessly off Spiracles and into the grass with a thud. “Whatever. Today sucked. I just want to be home already." With nothing to offer to that, Poistes and Spiracles sat next to the limp changeling filly and took in the prairie sunset.

Opening his saddlebag, Polistes and took out an apple. “We don’t have much to cross before we’re there anyways. A short break shouldn’t hurt anything. Either of you hungry?” His kids just shook their heads in response. Shrugging, Polistes took a hearty chomp to the apple, the singular noise audible across the serene plains..

“Pa?” asked Calyx.

“Hm?”

“Are we in some kind of trouble with the RAF or is everything okay now?”

Polistes gulped. “Yes, sweetie. Everything is fine, no need to worry about them.”

A smile lit up Calyx's face as she switched her tail from side to side.

“Provided we don't set a hoof on any municipality of Griffonstone.”

“What!?” Calyx rolled over, now looking at her father upright.

“Well, we’re kind of banned from entry now. So uh… no more trips there. Ever.” He took another bite.

“No! This is terrible, Pa!” Calyx stood up.

“Chill, no it's not,” Spiracles said. “Banning us doesn't mean anything when you can shapeshift into any creature.”

“Ya know. I forgot about that,” Polistes mentioned as he took another bite.

Calyx scowled. “We’re not breaking any more laws, got it!?” Both changeling stallions nodded in unison.

"Speaking of," Polistes turned to his son and frowned. "Tomorrow, you and I are gonna have a serious chat about what you did back at the plaza."

Spiracles lowered his head. "I uh… right. I’m sorry Pa. I'll take whatever punishment you can think of."

Polistes stood shocked. “An apology? From you? Are you sure you’re my son? You’re not some other changeling in disguise, right?"

Spiracles threw his cap on the ground and rolled his eyes. "Come on Pa, we got hit by a shift-disabler today. I couldn’t be some other ling if I wanted to. I… don’t think I treat you very well, so… I’m sorry."

They both look each other in the eyes as Polistes tried to catch some hint of a scheme, but all he saw was sincerity. She smiled and patted the young-ling’s head "Sure, Spiracles. We can deal with the discipline later. Anyways, some good news is that they let me keep the tablets, and the charges were dropped. It wasn’t a good day, but at least everything turned out alright.” He took the final bite of his apple and tossed the core away as far as he could.

“Yeah, but what happens when you run out again?” Calyx asked.

“Well… There's no other choice, Sweetie. Just like before, I’ll ask the Curers,” he shrugged.

“Why can’t we ask Thorax instead?”

“Uuuh…” Polistes rubbed the back of his neck and winced.

“What? We're talking about your health here, Pa. We don’t have the money to go through them, and we really need the help..”

“You don’t exactly know why I… My body is… peculiar. There could be some… unwanted reactions.” The young-lings gave him questioning looks, but he stood up and avoided the stares. “You know what? We can talk about this another time. We’ve been through a lot today, we should just go home and get some rest, alright?” He patted his little-lings.

“Pa, now would be like, the best time to do that. We’ve been through a lot already and we have to wait anyways.” Spiracles pleaded.

“Yeah, I want answers, and I can make life awful for you if I don’t get ‘em.” Calyx pursed her lips.

Polistes squinted his eyes. “Like what exactly?”

“Read badly for him on purpose?" Spiracles suggested.

“You’d really do that?” He asked astonished and disappointed.

“No, we don't have the heart to do that.” Calyx clarified. “But you have to understand that we trust you. We went to some-ling we never met to a place we've never been and ran from the RAF just for you. We love you Pa, and all I ask is that you that trust with us.”

“Tell us the truth, please?” Spiracles begged.

Polistes blinked and the siblings waited, their eyes glimmering with the last rays of the sun. Guilt weighing on his back, he finally sighed and said, “You two really have grown… and I've been more of a fool. I was waiting for a better time to say this, but guess it will never come.” He gestured them to sit down.

“My illness is peculiar like I told you before and that’s the truth. However, it's root is what kept me from ever telling any-ling its real name. What really lies inside my body is the dark Ascaris.” He paused waiting to see if they'd react, but all he got were quizzical looks. “When changelings say that no one could ever fall in love with chief Chrysalis, they said it because of this. The dark Arcaris is a deadly curse she inflicts on her lovers. I should’ve died a long time ago, but I've been cheating it. The real reason the gryphons let me? They didn’t want anything to do with me after they found out I was cursed."

“Oh… this also means that we…” Spiracles paused with ears flat and his father nodded. “Aw crap, the industrial triad was really a thing.” He lowered his head and inspected his mark.

Polistes nodded again. “Now you understand… wait a minute. The triad? You already knew about it?”

“We were told by Toxidia, Danaus neighbor,” Calyx replied. “She revealed herself as our former caretaker.”

“So that’s why you two were tied up there!?” He ran a hoof down his face and groaned. “For goodness sake, see! That just proves it! We can't just go about this to any-ling. There isn’t a changeling alive that doesn’t hate The Old Queen and her factory! They could hurt you two, or even worse!” He hugged them tight. “I could've lost you today...” He trailed off before he had to pull away as a sudden fit of coughs assailed him..

“We're fine, Pa, what about you? Are the tablets working or not?” Spiracles asked.

He nodded as he cleared his throat. “For the past eight years they have been. I should have enough to last a few months for now.” He said in a raspy voice. “That’s enough time to do a lot, I’ll be fine for at least a while.”

The violet and blue hues had started to creep into the sunset as the sun sank beneath the horizon. Night was falling, and it was time to move. The trio stood, and continued the journey toward the hive.

“So, what are you gonna do once you run out? We can’t go to the Curers, and doing something illegal again isn’t gonna work either.” Calyx asked, followed by a concerned nod from her brother.

Polistes ears dropped. “Right now, I don’t know. But like I said, a month is enough to come up with something, so don't worry, sweetie.”

“Okay, but hear me out now, we could still go to Thorax for help.” Calyx pleaded.

Polistes frowned. “Of course not, Am I not being clear enough? What part of ‘The Old Queen’s cursed lover’ don’t you understand?”

“She heard alright, but I'm with Sis here, Pa,” Spiracles added, finally making Polistes halt. “This ain't the factory anymore, and Thorax is really nice. I don’t think anyling at the hive would be that upset about it, so why not give it a shot? It’s not like we have any better options.”

“You two… really think things will work out?” He asked,laughing softly. "Even after learning the ugly truth about your mother, you want to tell every-ling about it?"

"Well, is kinda your fault,” Spiracles started, “Instead of raising us in a secluded place, you went with the hive. We have friends there, and we’re thankful for that. Who we came from doesn’t define who we are, so what does that matter?."

Calyx added, “It’s true that today was awful. From what we learned to what we had to do to what we were put through, it was just one pile of crap after another. But we’ve survived this long. Toxidia didn’t kill us when she had the chance, so who knows? Maybe there’s hope after all.” She turned to Spiracles. “Don't you agree bro?”

He nodded. “Yeah, also, it's not like we're complete strangers to any-ling in the hive, y'know.”

“Exactly, and it's like you said, we've grown. Her blood doesn’t make us her, and every-ling there knows who we are.” Calyx extended her hoof, followed by Spiracles on the other side.

Polistes glanced at each one, they both held the mark of darker times on their hooves, but they smiled in spite of it, determined to do anything for their father. He smiled back and held their hooves.

The night had just begun, the grass was swaying in the gentle breeze and the hive shone bright in the distance.

The father couldn't help but chuckle. “I want you two to know that if your mother were here, she would be incredibly disappointed in you right now.”

“We wouldn't want it any other way, Pa.”