//------------------------------// // Magical influence // Story: Roaring Winds and Rising Tides: Kith and Kin // by vortex123 //------------------------------// Outside the Canterlot library 1 hour later Nicole’s POV When we reached the front desk, we came across the librarian, not that it was a surprise. After a little back and forth, we found out that we needed a library card. In retrospect, we probably should have known that, but Jack and I aren’t exactly in a stable mindset, for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, there was another problem, only citizens of this country could get those cards, which was something even Max didn’t know. When asked about it, she just shrugs, saying “until a few weeks ago, all knowledge was open to everyone. But apparently something changed”. And even more shocking, the ruler of this country wasn’t the one who made that law. The ones in charge are trying to figure out what happened, but until then, people HAD to abide by this law. Thankfully as long as the books stayed in this library, we could read to our hearts content. And don't get me wrong, that was a relief, but…we couldn't understand the language it was in. So we had to have Max translate what any of the books said. I don't know how Jack was handling it, but I was practically dying of humiliation inside. Look, it's nice if you liked or didn't mind having someone read to you, but I loathed it. I also hated having to rely on someone else for such a small task. But even if my pride didn't agree, we did need to learn about the world we're in. After Max got to a book called "The tale of the two sisters", Jack stiffened, I gave him a knowing hug. After a few seconds, I suddenly feel drained, not enough to where I couldn't move though. Looking at Jack, I see he's in a similar state. "You two alright?" Max asked, raising a brow. "We're fine thank you." I say, the draining feeling noticeable in my voice. "Maybe we should take a break, let's get something to eat, maybe that will wake you up a bit." He offered, I go wide eyed. "You don't need to do that!" I say a little too quickly. He gave me a look. "Ok? Well I can at least walk you to wherever you're staying." He said with a shrug. I sweat a little. We didn't have anywhere to stay, nor do we have any "bits", as they call their currency. And since we can't even understand the language, we couldn't really apply for a job, especially since we aren't even citizens of this country, or even world. He frowned, probably having guessed what I was thinking. "Homeless huh? I guess you two can stay at my place." He offered with a smile, before gaining a confused look, then shrugs. That makes me a little suspicious, and apparently, my son feels the same way. "Why go that far to help two complete strangers you saw walk out an alleyway?" He asked what I was thinking. The, what we now know is a pony, shrugged. "I don't really know to be honest. Normally I wouldn't have even walked you to this library, I don't exactly have a butt load of time to kill. But every time I look at you, specifically your eyes, I feel compelled to help you in any way I can." He answered. When he mentioned our eyes, I couldn't help but notice that his had a strange glow to them, only noticeable if you looked closely. The glow was a slight crimson, kinda like the blood mo-oh. OH! …Oooh… Well don't that just make you feel scummy, and by the looks of it, Jack came to the same conclusion. During Max's reading, he told us stories about evil creatures that used mind control to get what they wanted, after putting two and two together, it wasn't hard to figure out what we accidentally did. "Well…it's not like we have any other logical choice." Jack points out. Begrudgingly, I nod in agreement. "We'll take you up on your…'offer'." I say, after all, I'm well aware that this isn't really his choice. "Alright, follow me, we can stop by someplace to eat on the way." He said, walking towards the door. Once he was out of earshot, I speak my mind. "I don't like this…." I whispered. "Not to be disrespectful, but do you have any better ideas? I mean, don't you remember how hard it was to move to America? And that was when you had time to prepare, what with dad and Zoey helping raise money. This is literally our best option, and it's the only logical one at that." He argued quietly. Seeing no way to give a proper counter argument, I sigh in defeat, and we head to the front door. That leads us to now. Walking a bit from the library, I noticed a flurry of bright feathers near what seems to be a castle gate. After it's done, I see a brown pegasus stallion with black hair, and…two human looking girls with blue hair. Just then, I felt a familiar sensation in the back of my head, and immediately look to my left. I visibly flinch at his outfit, you must be pretty brave to willingly walk around dressed like THAT. The group and the gaudy pony seem to talk for a bit, then the pegasus gives the gaudy a card, then the gaudy pony walks off. I'm not sure why, but something compelled me to follow the one with the card. "It's not too far from here actually, we should reach it in…." Max started before most likely noticing me walking away. "Or we could go this way…I guess." I could taste the deadpanning in his voice, causing me to chuckle a little. "Sorry, but something is telling me to follow that pony, I hope you don't mind." I say, giving him an apologetic look, he shrugged before gesturing for me to lead the way. With an appreciative look, and a ping of guilt at the possibility of mind control being involved in his decision, I press on. Maxilla's POV After Mistr-er-Ms. Nicole and Sire-er-JACK continued walking, I followed while letting my mind wander off a little. While at the start, I was only trying to get some love to eat (and boy did I! I hadn't eaten that good in so long!), but then I started to want to bend over backwards to help them. I literally said they could stay at my place, I may be bad at most things a changeling is expected to do, but even I'm not normally that bad. But every time I look into their…mesmerizing eyes, my worries and concerns just disappear. I considered the possibility of mind control, but even I know the emotions someone has when planning mind control, and neither of them had them. Shame certainly wasn't one of them, not unless someone was forcing them, which no one was (as far as I could tell). I was brought out of my thoughts when Nicole suddenly stopped, then slowly looked around the corner we're apparently at. Looking at their body languages, it kinda reminds me of hunting practice back at the hive. I was pretty good at the first half of it, the second half of it, not so much. With no warning, the two dashed away. It took me a few moments to process what just happened, after I finished processing it, I groaned and chased after them. I managed to catch up with then quickly, and effortlessly keep pace, much to their shock. They seemed to be running as fast as they can, which is only 25 miles per hour. Kinda disappointing, but what can you do? After a few moments, we stop in front of an abandoned building…that I'm pretty sure wasn't here yesterday. Why can't this country just be normal for a change!? Just for one week, that's ALL I'm asking! Is that really too much to ask for!? After a few moments, we walk into the building that's obviously a base for an illegal business. We don't make it 5 feet in the building before the door slammed shut. Nicole and Jack snap their heads to the door, while I lazily turned my head towards it. By the door stands two well built ponies in the typical thuggish outfit, they also had the standard scars on their faces, and were pointing some weird object at us. The object was in the shape of an L, it was made of metal, it had 1/4 of a circle at the center of the L, and a weird curved piece in the 1/4 circle. "Well well well. What do we have here?" A guy(?) said, the mask covering his or her mouth made it hard to tell. "What are those things you're pointing at us?" I asked. "It's…some kinda enchanted metal banana called a goon. You point the end with the hole to what you wanna damage, push this…thingy in the center, and weird but painful holes magically appear on what you want." The other one (who was obviously a woman by the sound of her voice) explained. I look closer at the goons, but I don't see any hole, I just see rectangular outline. "Dude's right, this thing can take out a bear!" The masked one said, guess they must be good buddies. "I hate to interrupt your monologue, but that is called a gun." I heard a ladylike voice say, causing everyone to turn to the source. In a small cage sits a small, white cat with pink in the inside of her ears, and small brown eyes. She also has two whiskers on each side of her face. She's wearing a pink bow near the end of her tail. Her top consists of a mustard yellow and pink top with a pink bow tie. She's wearing a pink skirt with this top. "Did that cat just talk?" I asked, confusion clear on my face. The cat gives a little huff. "I'm an Exceed, not a cat! I would appreciate if you didn't call me a cat, thank you very much." She says to me, aggravation clear in her voice. "And yes, I did talk, is that really so surprising?" I didn't get the chance to answer. "How'd you get that gag off?" The masked thug asked, she just deadpans. "You neglected to tie my paws." She said, bluntly. "You have claws, and your wrists are the same size as your paws. Why would I bother tying them when you could just slip out of them or cut them?" He asked her, causing her to go wide eyed. "That response was…much smarter then I thought you could manage." She says in genuine surprise. "What about the gag?" "The straps were made of leather, so you wouldn't be able to cut them off with your type of claws, and it was on you in a way that you wouldn't have been able to slip out of it." He answered again, this time his partner was surprised with the Exceed. "Are you feeling alright? You don't normally think that far ahead." She asked in worry. I'm guessing he was normally just the dumb help, his voice certainly gave that impression. "I'm fine man, let bring them to the boss." The masked one says. His partner slowly nods, most likely still in shock, then they usher us to walk further in. Not wanting to get hurt by the goon (or Gun, as the Exceed called it), we complied, the Exceed being carried in the cage. "Nice to meet you, I'm Maxilla, you are?" I asked the Exceed. She's silent for a moment, then speaks. "Carla." She says simply. Without another word, we continue walking in silence.