//------------------------------// // Chapter 34 // Story: Jumper // by lollipopchica //------------------------------// It was a good thing Chrysalis had already made peace with the fact that she’d mostly be an outsider at this school. Word of Shining Armor and Cadence’s breakup had spread like wildfire. Granted no one knew exactly why the dream couple had broken up but it seemed everyone had their own opinion on the matter. Unfortunate for Chrysalis, she seemed to be at the heart of a few. No place was free of drama now it would seem. Between her mother now exclusively working from home and this new distance between Cadence and their parents, their home wasn’t the peaceful abode it used to be, either. Chrysalis had hoped school would prove to be a refuge. But at this rate, she knew it wouldn’t. “Can we talk?” She had felt his presence behind her before he even spoke. Shining Armor’s emotion was hard not to drown out. “I don’t think now is a good time,” Chrysalis sighed tiredly. Whereas before his absence had hurt, now she welcomed it. She wanted nothing to do with this latest episode of bullshit. “Chryssie, please... I really-” She slammed her locker shut and whirled around to face him. “You made it clear that you wanted nothing to do with me or my sister.” “About that...” He looked sheepish as he scratched the back of his head. “Why’d you break up with her?” Her tone was slightly outraged as she slung her pack onto her shoulder and moved to go to class. “What do you mean ‘why’?! She basically broke up with me first.” Shining Armor defended as he followed her rapid pace down the hall. Other students looked on with interest. “She didn’t mean that...” “Are you really trying to get me to reconcile with Cadence?” His tone was bewildered. Chrysalis gave him a knowing look. “She has her own problems to work out, and I don’t want ‘that’ Cadence.” He hissed rather loudly drawing all sorts of eyes from the other students about. “Look, I just wanna talk to you.” He tried again lowering his voice, wary of all the attention. “Why?” Chrysalis stopped and gave him her undivided attention. “I just want to understand all of this...” He stated this half-truth softly. “That’s too bad.” Her gaze hardened. Is that all he wanted? Why was she wasting her time with this? “You had all last week to talk to me.” She reminded him rather pointedly. “Chryssie, wait!” “Hey!” He’d latched onto her forearm and drug her into a broom closet. “What’re you doing?!” It was the same closet he’d comforted her in ages ago. “Look... I’m sorry about that...” He rolled his eyes. “About all of it. But I’ve had some time to think.” Shining Armor pulled her closer as his tone became serious. “This is crazy!” Chrysalis hissed trying to ground herself in her own feelings. “Do you want a ‘sullied reputation’?” “A what?!” Shining Armor shook his head and used one of his hands to cup her chin. “Look! Can’t we just start over?” His eyes bore down into hers. “Start what over?” She whispered with wide eyes. “Us.” He breathed as if it were so obviously simple. “There is no us!” She turned away and untangled herself from his hold bit by bit. “We were friends at most, and then you showed me that we’re not even that.” There was no fire in her tone, just a quiet acceptance. “That’s not fair!” Shining Armor tried to catch her gaze. “I told you I just needed time.” Couldn’t she see how twisted up in her he was? He’d abandoned a princess of passion for her. Didn’t that mean anything? “Well, now I need time.” She felt it and it frightened her. That Princess he’d broken still had a place in her heart, and she still hoped she’d come back to her one day. “Chryssie... please...” “I have to go to class,” Chrysalis swallowed her true feelings. “We have the same class!” “I guess we shouldn’t be late, then.” The two spilled out the closet to find themselves in the presence of a startled Cadence and Twilight who just stared at the duo in obvious shock. Chrysalis wished the floor would swallow her now. Without waiting for anyone to comment, the Halfling wasted no time fleeing the presence of her hurt sister and her anxious looking friend. She was sure she’d hear about this later. *-*-*-*-* Ardent Gable was a grade below Luna. A non-native to Canterlot, his family had moved to the city two years ago. Tall and lean, Ardent was mostly grey with a splotch of white splayed across his face. With darker hair and eyes, he was a quiet boy who liked to hang back and watch things play out. When she saw him hanging out with Regal and his crew, she had immediately written him off. Not that she’d had a reason to dislike Regal at the time, but he never came off as someone she wanted to talk to. He was too flashy and smarmy for her liking, so she never paid him and his friends any real attention. So seeing Ardent fall into that crowd was somewhat disappointing. He just seemed so thoughtful and mature. She never understood his reasoning for hanging out with such a rambunctious crowd, but she began to understand maybe why he’d stopped. Look at her...” “What do we do?” “Look, I don’t think we should do anything...” “Get out of here you pussy! Cadence is one of the hottest girls in school there’s no way I wouldn’t want a piece of that!” The look on his face had spoken volumes. No one noticed as he faded out of the room. Luna stood leaning against some rando’s car watching the younger boy exit the school with the sea of other students. He looked tired. Pushing forward, she purposefully strode forward and accosted his attention. “Your name’s Ardent right?” He looked taken aback to be acknowledged by her. Everyone knew Luna, and while she was kind and popular, she was also a wild card. Ardent didn’t know what to expect, but he figured it wouldn’t be nice. Why else would she be standing in front him like a lioness. He nodded, “Can I help you?” The heir really studied the boy, noting a jagged scar that stretched from near his ear and disappeared under the collar of his shirt. He had always seemed easygoing before. Now he seemed distrustful and mostly kept to himself. She wondered what sparked the change. “You always have that?” Luna asked mirroring the path of his scar with her own finger across her own flesh. She didn’t remember him with a scar now that she thought about it. Ardent looked weary and the older girl mentally berated herself for her choice of words. “I just wanna talk…” “Everyone just wants to talk,” he snorted. Ardent knew a predator when he saw one. He’d been in the presence of one long enough to know when people ‘just wanted to talk.’ “You’ve never wanted to talk before.” “Sonata told me maybe I should talk to you.” His face paled at the mention of her name. “She lied… whatever she said it’s a lie.” “About you being a hero?” Her tone turned mocking. “Oh yea, I definitely agree.” “If it hadn’t been for Ardent, I shudder to think how much worse it could’ve been.” Even though he hadn’t done anything that night but get the hell out of Dodge, the thought stoked her ire anyway. Ardent could’ve grabbed someone or made an anonymous call. He could’ve fought or screamed or burned that stupid house to the ground. He could’ve done a multitude of things, but he hadn’t. At least not for Chrysalis. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He defended icily. How could he have possibly known that they’d go that far? “I know enough. Why did you leave that night at the party?” Luna could tell by the way he stiffened that he knew exactly which party she was referring to. “If you didn’t have the slightest inkling- why did you leave the room that night?” “I didn’t know he was that kind of person!” He was only sixteen for fucks sake. “I didn’t think… I never thought…” It was the most emotive she’d ever seen him and while part of her recognized maybe this was bigger than she thought, she was angry. “You’d do right to stay away from him.” The sound of his tone brought her back. “And do nothing like you?” Ardent frowned, “unless you want one that matches,” he drug his finger down the puckered flesh. Luna’s eyes widened. Ardent didn’t say anything else as he moved to go on about his day. *-*-*-* Regal looked through the string of messages on his phone as he jumped in his car after a long day of school. Tossing his backpack in the back, he leaned back in his seat a bit as he let the engine idle. CandiePrincess93: I am sorry again about my family RegalKing69: Wasn’t your fault. Your sister’s kind of a bitch, no offense, but that’s nothing new CandiePrincess93: None taken. RegalKing69: And your cousin is crazy CandiePrincess93: What was that?? RegalKing69: What was what? CandiePrincess93: Luna attacking you? What did you do to make her mad like that?? RegalKing69: I’m the one who took a big boot to the chest- How am I supposed to know what goes on in Looney Luna’s head! CandiePrincess93: Don’t call her that! RegalKing69: Obviously it’s true! CandiePrincess93: But you’re okay? Seriously? I honestly didn’t think you’d come. RegalKing69: That’s because you’ve been spending all your time with your boooooy toy CandiePrincess93: Stahp... RegalKing69: I’m just honest The devilish teen thought back to that night and grimaced. Even with the fear he knew he wielded over her, Chrysalis always seemed to get the drop on him. On one hand, it infuriated him, on the other it made him want to have her again. Chrysalis really was a rush of something exciting. Not too many girls knew how to reject a guy quite the way that changeling did. Having her underneath him would make up for all the abuse and humiliation she put him through. Cadence was a cotton candy daydream, he truly wondered how she would compare to her sister. He supposed dreaming was one way to go about it. But why fantasize when you could have the real deal. Regal knew she was willing and if what she’d told him about her relationship was true, he also knew she wasn’t getting what she wanted from that prude Shining Armor. He decided to reach out to the teen, just to tease, not really for a response. Imagine his surprise when she immediately responded.