Beneath the Surface

by Racingwolf

Chapter 13 - Connections

Early the next morning, Cadance walked through the hallway to Jade River’s room. She lifted a tray of food through the magic barrier trapping the unicorn inside, setting it gently on the floor. The unicorn inside the room ignored it, a reaction that didn’t at all surprise Cadance, much as she’d been hoping for more.

Cadance waited a few moments, then gave a sad shake of her head. She turned to leave, walking past the guards, when suddenly the captive pony spoke.

“I’m surprised the princess herself would bother with this task.” Her voice was scornful, almost mocking. “And the older one even, not the silly one with the books. Strange, isn’t it?”

Cadance paused.

“I just find it amusing, is all,” Jade finished, not looking in her direction.

“I see nothing shameful in bringing you your meals,” Cadance replied, turning around. But this time, Jade didn’t reply. The unicorn still sat facing away from the princess and guards, not even bothering to glance at them. “Remember,” Cadance told her, “we are willing to talk and negotiate if you change your mind. And if there’s anypony specific you’d be willing to talk to, just let us know.”

Jade again said nothing, and Cadance sighed before heading back to the throne room. She’d been wondering if Twilight would have better results, or perhaps one of her friends, but it seemed unlikely that Jade had seen anypony she’d be willing to confide in.

The day wore on into evening, and Shining Armor found himself continuously distracted. Helping Cadance keep the shield up around the castle, making sure it was as strong as possible, was draining his energy, and he was running on very little sleep. Worst of all, his leg was on fire with pain, even with the best medicines the crystal pony doctors could offer. They did help; the pain was no longer debilitating, but it chipped away at his concentration and ability to rest all the same.

Going against the advice of the medical professionals, he distracted himself by taking short walks around the castle, much shorter walks than he was used to due to his injured leg. He had often found himself talking to the guards about the castle’s defenses or the repairs being done and wracking his brain for some sort of way to keep them all safer. It was proving to be a fruitless, frustrating, and anxiety-inducing endeavor, but at the moment he could think of nothing else to do while he was awake keeping the shield up. And he needed to do something to make sure he stayed awake.

One of his walks found him limping toward the guards positioned in front of Jade’s makeshift cell. They gave him a salute as he passed, but for the first time that day, Shining didn’t feel much like talking. Perhaps he’d spent most of his energy already.

“Hey. You!” a new voice called, and he stopped.

It was Jade, and for the first time since she’d been imprisoned, she was standing right at the doorway, at the edge of the magical barrier keeping her contained. It was surprising to see her looking right at him, but still for a moment Shining assumed he had been hearing things due to lack of sleep.

“You, with the blue mane!” Jade shouted again, unmistakably. Her red eyes were boring into Shining’s. “Your princess said that I could speak to anypony I wanted to. You still offering that, or have you decided you don’t want me to talk after all?”

Shining immediately perked up, a spark of hope igniting inside him. He stepped toward Jade’s room. “Yes, that offer still stands.”

“Good,” said Jade. “Because I think there is somepony I want to talk to. And it sure isn’t you or those princesses, by the way.”

“Who, then?” Shining Armor asked.

Jade turned away from him, but still replied. “I know there’s a strange pony among you. The...bug pony. With holes in his legs. I want to talk to him.”

“Absolutely not!” Shining growled before either of the guards could say anything. The reaction had come immediately, thoughts of what Jade could tell them momentarily taking a backseat. “You and the others put him through enough already.”

Jade glanced at him curiously, then gave a shrug. “All right, then,” she said, walking back to her place at the far side of the room. “Guess you’re not so true to your word. Oh well.” She lay down and resumed ignoring him and the guards.

Shining realized that he’d reacted too harshly toward her. Of course he would need to be more careful if he wanted her to speak. He took a deep breath. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea. Thanks to the recent attack, his injuries have gotten worse, and I don’t want to put him through anything more. If there’s anypony else-”

“I’ll talk to him or not at all,” Jade said.

Shining stood there, hating that she was demanding such a thing but knowing it would be unwise to refuse her offer again. In the end, he realized he should at least ask Thorax, though deep down he knew there was no way the changeling would refuse if he thought it would help. “I’ll tell Thorax you want to see him,” he said.

Fifteen minutes later, Thorax was sitting out in the hallway along with Shining Armor and the guards, looking nervous as Shining again apologized for asking him to do this. Shining lifted a heavy blanket in his magic and wrapped it carefully around Thorax, then he looked suspiciously at the unicorn waiting expectantly in the doorway of her room.

“You and the guards need to leave,” Jade said to Shining, her tone indicating that she was not going to debate the matter. “I’ll speak to him alone.”

Shining was about to protest, but Thorax shook his head. “No, it’s…okay,” he said, not sounding entirely confident.

Shining paused for a moment, but in the end relented. Leaning his head down to Thorax, he whispered, “Call out for us if anything makes you feel uneasy, okay?”

Thorax gave a nervous nod.

Shining motioned to the guards, indicating they follow him. They weren’t going to go far, just down the hallway. Far enough that Jade would know they couldn’t overhear her words, but close enough that they’d be able to hear Thorax clearly if anything went wrong. Shining still wasn’t entirely sure the unicorn didn’t have some trick up her sleeve. She seemed awfully calm despite her situation and the separation from her companions. Reluctantly he turned away from her and limped off with the guards in tow.

Thorax watched them go, feeling more anxious now that he was alone with the unicorn. Apparently, he alone had the opportunity to get some form of information from her, and the last thing he wanted to do was mess it up. Jade watched him expectantly as he shuffled closer to the shimmering barrier, careful of his injuries.

“You…wanted to talk to me?” he asked as Jade sat down in front of the doorway.

“I wouldn’t have requested they bring you here if I didn’t,” she said snappily. “And before you ask me anything, I have some questions for you.” She took a deep breath. “I think out of anypony in this castle, you could answer them.”

“Answer…what?” Thorax asked. This hadn’t been what he’d expected.

Jade ignored the question. “Tell me, how were you cursed?”

Thorax was taken aback, unsure at first what she meant. He then realized she was probably referring to Scarlet’s spell, though he wouldn’t have considered that a ‘curse.’ “Well,” he began uneasily, cringing at the memory, “down in the caves, Scarlet found out…found out that I wasn’t actually Twilight, and then she-”

“What?” Jade snapped. “No, not that. I mean, what happened to turn you from a pony into…whatever Comet said you are.”

“I’ve…never been a pony,” Thorax said, confused. “Not really, I mean. We changelings can transform, of course, but we can’t alter our true forms.” He paused, glancing at his shimmering wings. “Well, not much anyway.”

Jade gave him an equally baffled look. “You mean, you were just…born looking like that?”

“Well, no,” said Thorax. “We start out as grubs when we hatch, but in a few years-”

“Okay, stop,” said Jade, waving her hoof for emphasis. “If you changelings aren’t ponies at all, then maybe we don’t have anything in common. Unlike you, I wasn’t born looking like this. And unlike you, I can’t change my form even temporarily.” She lowered her head, the tip of her horn touching the barrier. “Of course they’d have discovered other species while we were away…what was I thinking?” After a few moments, she looked up at Thorax. “I’m done with you. You can leave.”

Thorax felt a stab of shame. It had only been a few minutes, and he’d already messed things up. Jade was closing off communication once again. “W-wait,” he said, moving closer, barely noticing as the blanket Shining had given him slipped off his back and the cold crept in again. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but hoped that he could somehow bridge a connection that would help her be willing to speak. “I didn’t mean anything by it, I was just…confused, but I think I understand. You were cursed by that artifact, and I don’t know what that’s like, but I…”

As he continued to ramble, Jade heaved a sigh. She scrunched her eyes closed, giving the barrier a small kick with one of her forehooves.

Thorax soon realized that she didn’t seem to want to hear him, so he cut off his words, thinking that he was probably just making things worse. With a sigh of his own, he turned to pick up the blanket and find Shining Armor.

“…Wait.”

Thorax stopped, looking back at Jade, who had opened her eyes and was looking toward him again. There was a sort of sadness, a tiredness in her gaze that she must have done a good job of hiding earlier. And there was a certain kind of longing, like she really did want to confide in somepony, but knew better.

“…Don’t leave just yet,” Jade said with another sigh. “I actually have…more questions for you.”

Thorax turned back to her, looking at her hopefully.

Jade gave him a serious look. “If…if there was a way to change your true form, would you take it? Would you take it even if somepony…had to get hurt?”

“What?” Thorax cried. “No, of course not!”

“What if it was…worse than that?” Jade continued, choosing her words carefully. “What if…what if you were cut off from the world, and the only way to-” She broke off, as if realizing she might have said too much. She shook her head.

“I…think I understand what you mean,” Thorax said gently. “I…used to want to change my true form, to be a crystal pony like the others here. But…it turns out, once I befriended them, the ponies here accepted me just the way I was. And well, that means a lot more to me than disguising myself as a pony did.”

Jade sighed. “Touching. But I’m not sure they’d be so accepting of me. At least once the curse is reversed, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to…well, it’ll be fine. Ponies will eventually accept us.”

“And you don’t think that can happen…unless you fix the curse?” Thorax asked.

“Well, it would help to not have glowing red eyes and fangs or look like something out of a nightmare,” Jade scoffed. “But no. It’s not really just about that. It’s just…” She trailed off, wanting to say something else, but holding back.

“I…I know what it’s like,” Thorax said softly, “to think that you’ll never be accepted by anypony. But…that’s not true. Nopony here wants to be enemies, not really.”

To his surprise, Jade gave him a small smile. “I guess if they accept you, they could accept anypony. Maybe even I have a chance. I just wish looking like I do was the only problem I had. Even still, it doesn’t feel that great being different, does it? Don’t you ever wish the holes in your legs could be healed?”

Thorax glanced down at his legs in confusion. “…They aren’t wounds,” he said.

“Right. Sorry,” said Jade.

“I…also know what it’s like to think that…you have to hurt others to get what you need, that there’s no other way. But that’s not true, I can promise you that,” Thorax said.

Jade looked thoughtful at his words, but decided not to comment. “I need some time to think,” she said. “But…I’ll probably have more questions for you later.”

“Okay,” Thorax said. “That’s all right.”

“Yeah. If you don’t mind, you can bring the guards back now,” Jade said nonchalantly.

Thorax did as she requested and called out for Shining and the others, feeling hopeful that he’d gotten her to open up more. She’d seemed receptive to his ideas and maybe, just maybe, there was a way she would be able to convince the other unicorns of the caves that they didn’t have to do this. They didn’t have to sacrifice an alicorn.

Thorax lifted the blanket back over his back as Shining and the guards reappeared. He was anxious to get back to the throne room and the comfort of his friends. It hadn’t taken long for the cold to remind him of its powerful bite.

Repair of the throne room, or at least what could be done for it under the circumstances, was going well. The chunks of crystal from the ceiling and walls had been moved out, certain areas with still-broken crystal in the walls or floor marked off by some of Pinkie’s party streamers. Despite the damage, the room was still stable and there was no risk of collapse. With so many extra hooves helping, the waiting ponies had managed to clean up the room before evening, and Pinkie had even placed some balloons and more streamers over some of the gashes in the walls.

“This is very promising, Thorax,” Twilight was saying as she poured over a book on magical gems that Sunburst had managed to find. “It really seems like she doesn’t actually want to hurt anypony. I imagine there are others who feel the same, despite being ordered to attack us. Not all of them were using strong spells during the fight, after all.”

“They were strong enough,” huffed Rainbow Dash. Her wing had recovered a bit from the spell that had hit it, but not enough to do more than glide. “They really did do quite a lot of damage. Just look at the place!”

Pinkie Pie nodded sadly, glancing over to Fluttershy and her bandaged leg.

“Even still,” said Twilight, “there have to be more unicorns that didn’t participate in the attack, and I don’t think our friend Jade was one of the ones actually trying to cause any injury.”

“Well, we don’t know that,” Rainbow said, crossing her forelegs.

“She didn’t…sound like it,” Thorax said. “From what she said, I don’t think she wanted any of this either. She just thought…she had to. Which is still wrong, but I think she could learn to see things differently.”

“That’s what I’ve been hoping all along,” Starlight said. “This…this may be our way out of this whole mess. Jade is one of them; they’d listen to her far more easily than they’d listen to any of us.”

“I very much hope we can put this whole mess behind us before anything else awful happens,” Rarity agreed, also looking hopeful.

“It does seem promisin,’” Applejack said, “but we do need to remember that the rest o’ Jade’s buddies are out there rarin’ to attack us again. We likely can’t afford to wait too long.”

Rainbow sighed. “Applejack’s right. What are we going to do if they break through again?”

“We’ll be ready for them,” Twilight said. “We know those amulets of theirs are some sort of weak point. And they know that we know. So I think they might think twice. Ugh, if only I had a chance to tell Luna in my dreams.”

Spike looked at her worriedly; Luna hadn’t appeared in her dreams – or anypony’s – for nights. Yet if the cave ponies were still desperate for an alicorn, it meant that Celestia and Luna hadn’t been captured; they were safe for now.

Applejack sighed. “Let’s hope that Jade River has more things to tell us in the mornin.’”

Thorax nodded, thinking back to his conversation with Jade. Tiredness muddled his thoughts, and the ever-present ache of his wounds and stinging pain from the burns kept pulling his attention away. “She said she probably wanted to talk to me later, but right now I just…don’t feel good. I think I’ll try to get some sleep.”

“She’ll talk to you,” Rarity said. “You have already been able to get her to open up quite a bit. Get some sleep for now. I’m sure we can find out more about how we can stop this whole mess.”

“She’s right,” said Twilight, bringing over another pillow for Thorax. “There’s a lot we could learn. Things are actually starting to look up.” Behind her cheerful words, however, she could feel anxiety bubbling underneath. And worse, she knew the others could notice.

Deep in the maze of caverns she had known most of her life, Scarlet stood on a ledge overlooking the underground city her subjects had built over the years. Beside her was Comet, wearing a newly crafted amulet around his neck.

“Attacking them head on is risky now that they know of a weakness,” Scarlet said as she glanced at Comet’s new amulet, then looked down below. “We need a new approach.”

“We could have snuck in,” Comet said, “but we wouldn’t have gotten close to the alicorns undetected. And you know it isn’t as simple as teleporting one out with us. Their magic is just as powerful – more so, possibly – as ours.”

“Yet as powerful magic users, we outnumber them. There are only a handful of unicorns in that castle that can stand up to us. Things went wrong because of your amulet.”

“I…don’t believe it was the amulet alone that was the problem,” Comet said slowly. “Rather, that artifact you gave us…they noticed it too quickly. We didn’t have enough of an element of surprise. And now that element of surprise is lost even if we can find another means of taking down the shield.”

Scarlet gritted her teeth. “I’ll find another way,” she said after a moment. “But I’ll need time. A few days at most. You just keep the ponies in the castle on alert. Prevent them from resting. Wear them down.”

Comet nodded obediently. “Of course,” he said, turning away from the ledge and walking down a dimly lit tunnel. “I was just preparing to head back to the Crystal Empire, actually.”

That night, before most of the ponies settled in to sleep, Jade requested Thorax’s presence again. Though the others had been reluctant to wake Thorax, the changeling readily agreed to go back into the hallway to meet Jade. Pushing back his exhaustion, he spent some time talking back and forth with the pale unicorn, mostly answering her questions. He felt little worry that she would use the information to harm him; she seemed genuinely curious and he knew that, most of all, he needed to trust her if he was to earn her trust in return. And it was starting to seem like she wanted to trust him.

“So…you ran away all on your own, to avoid having to harm others the way your uh…swarm did?” Jade sat back on her haunches, smirking. “That’s…kind of impressive.” She glanced around at her room. “Though I guess with the way these ponies treat outsiders there’s not all that much for me to fear. Other than the fact that I’m…you know, stuck here. But starving yourself for them, that’s dedication. I’ll give you that.”

“Nopony wants you stuck here either, you know,” Thorax said. “It’s just…they’re afraid you’ll hurt them otherwise.”

“Well, that much was obvious,” Jade said. She sat thoughtfully for a moment. “You seem really honest. Well, truthfully, you seem like somepony who couldn’t lie to save his life. So…I believe you. But like I said, there’s a lot…a lot about our curse I can’t just tell you that…well, complicates things. I wish I could do what you did, don’t think I don’t.”

“Well…you don’t have to tell me everything, but…I think we might be able to help,” Thorax replied. “And I was thinking…would you be okay with talking to Twilight? If I was there too? She knows so much about magic, and I think she could figure something out if she just knew more.”

“I doubt that,” Jade said. Thorax’s hopes dropped, but then she continued. “I’ll tell you what, though. If you bring her here and let me ask all the questions, I’ll give it a shot. Only if you’re there. So, you know, I have some sort of hint to tell me if she’s lying.”

“She wouldn’t lie,” Thorax said. “But okay.”

“How about right now, then?” Jade said, smirking. “I’m kind of curious.” She raised her voice, shouting, “Hey! Guards! Get back in here! And bring the alicorn Twilight with you!”

Not long afterward, Twilight had joined Thorax standing in front of the doorway where Jade’s makeshift prison lay. It didn’t escape Twilight’s notice that the books on the Crystal Empire’s history she had brought Jade looked disheveled now. As if she had been reading them.

Jade immediately started listing off questions, most of them seeming fairly mundane. Twilight answered them the best she could without giving away anything about the castle’s defenses. When questions like that came up, Jade seemed surprisingly understanding when Twilight and Thorax declined to answer.

It wasn’t long into the conversation before Twilight realized Thorax looked completely exhausted; it was clear he was in pain and finding it hard to focus. As much as she wanted Jade to talk to them, this was not an ideal time. “It’s…getting pretty late,” Twilight said after a moment. “Perhaps we can continue this tomorrow?”

Jade looked briefly annoyed, but then her expression softened. “Fine. I’ll be here. Not like I can go anywhere else.”

“Oh- but first, can I ask you one question?” Twilight said.

Jade tensed.

“I promise, just one. And it’s not about your…curse,” Twilight said nervously.

“Out with it then,” Jade said.

“Scarlet used a spell on Thorax down in the caves,” Twilight began. “I was wondering if you knew what it was, and more importantly…if there are ways to treat it?”

“That’s two questions,” Jade said, but she looked surprised. “But fine, I’ll give you a freebie. If it’s what I’m thinking of, then yes, I know what it is. Can I…uh, see?”

Twilight looked uncertain, but Thorax only hesitated a moment before holding out his injured leg. Carefully, Twilight used her magic to unwrap a bit of the bandages and the gauze underneath to show Jade a small part of the wound.

Jade didn’t need more than a second before she turned her head away and nodded, saying, “Oh yeah, I know exactly what kind of magic did this. One of Comet’s specialties. Scarlet doesn’t use it often, but she’s good at it. Too good. Better than Comet.”

“Is there anything that…helps with this?” Twilight asked, re-wrapping the bandages around Thorax’s leg.

“Not anything in particular. Just the same things that help with injuries like that caused by other means,” Jade said. “Not much else you can do. Trust me, for something that doesn’t leave lingering magic, that spell is nasty and takes a long time to heal from.”

“Was…she trying to kill me?” Thorax asked, his voice shaky.

Jade shook her head. “No. If Scarlet wanted you dead, you’d be dead. That spell is only lethal at full power and depending on where you’re hit. It’s usually just meant to cause terrible pain and injury. Because that’s the way to use magic, apparently.” She spat out the last words in disgust.

“Why would anypony make a spell like that?” Twilight said.

“Can’t think of a reason?” Jade replied. “If you think like Scarlet does, it isn’t hard.”

“You…said that Comet made it?” Twilight asked.

“He taught it to Scarlet when she was younger. Or so I’m told,” Jade replied. “I’m personally suspicious that Scarlet made it herself and let Comet take the credit so a dark spell wasn’t connected solely to her. But who knows, really.”

“But…will Thorax and my brother be all right?” Twilight asked.

“Your brother?” Jade said.

“Shining Armor,” Twilight answered. “He’s with the guards, and-”

“Oh. Him,” Jade said. “Yeah, they’ll heal eventually, though it’s not a fun process, from what I’ve heard.”

“From what you’ve heard?” Twilight said. “Have Scarlet and Comet used that spell on unicorns in your own cave?”

“Yes, but not often,” Jade said. “You have to really mess up to get punished that way. Like ‘compromising the safety of others’ mess up. It’s still awful, I know. If I had my way, it wouldn’t be used at all.”

Twilight felt another spark of hope at Jade’s words; it really was seeming like the unicorn wanted peace, just didn’t quite believe it was possible. She glanced at Thorax, about to speak to him, but stopped when she saw how tired and listless he looked.

“Look, I’ve already said too much,” Jade said, starting to pace in the doorway of her room. “I just…” She let the sentence hang, biting back words of frustration or anger.

“You…don’t seem so happy about Scarlet being in charge,” Thorax said quietly.

Jade heaved a sigh. “Look, we didn’t attack you just to be destructive. We don’t have much choice, and what choices we do have all point back to the same thing. You all know this already.”

“No, we don’t,” Twilight said. “We don’t know much of anything about this curse of yours. And if we did…maybe we could find a way to help you. A lot has happened in Equestria since you’ve been underground.”

“There are others you could talk to,” Thorax added. “Starlight also knows a lot about magic. And Sunburst has a lot of knowledge too, he’s studied magic of all kinds. I think they could help you.”

“Sure, why don’t I just talk to the whole kingdom!” Jade cried sarcastically, waving her hoof.

“It can be just us for now if you’d prefer,” Twilight interjected. “We don’t have to bring anypony else if you don’t want us to.”

Jade huffed, turning her head away from the princess. “You’re really going to keep up that fake nice act, aren’t you?”

“It’s not an act,” Thorax protested. “Twilight really does want to help. We all want the fighting to stop, so everypony can be safe again.”

Jade gave him a look and considered his words. “Maybe,” she said, “but what about the other alicorn here? What about Celestia and…Luna…in Canterlot? Do they feel the same way?”

“Of course,” Twilight said. “Nopony here wants anypony to get hurt, on either side. We never wanted to fight you at all or-”

“You all keep saying that. But do you think the other princesses would welcome us with open hooves if we were to just give up right now?” Jade shot back.

Twilight’s feathers ruffled. “If we could work out a solution together, then-”

“And they would trust us?” Jade interrupted.

“Why do you feel like you have to fight?” Thorax asked. “I’m sure everypony would much rather all this conflict stop so we can work everything out.”

“After what we’ve done, it’s already too late,” Jade said bitterly. “Scarlet saw to that.”

“But…why does it have to be?”

“It’s not me you have to convince,” Jade sighed. “It’s your leaders. It’s Scarlet. And good luck with that.”

Thorax thought over her words for a moment, then said, “Are you…afraid of what Scarlet might do if she found out you told us anything?”

For a moment Jade look startled, but she quickly regained her composure. “It’s not up to me,” she said. “It was never up to me.” She turned away from the open doorway, her back to the two friends.

Twilight felt crestfallen. “Just think about what we said,” she told Jade. “We want to solve this peacefully. Yes, Celestia and Luna too. In the meantime, I’ll try and see if my friends Sunburst and Starlight can find anything else about old curses. If you could share anything that might be helpful…”

Jade flicked one of her ears. “I’ll…let you know,” she replied, sounding as if she was forcing the words out.

Twilight and Thorax exchanged nervous looks, then Twilight helped the changeling back to the throne room.

“I’m afraid most of the relevant books would be in the Crystal Empire’s Library,” Sunburst said as he glanced from Twilight to Starlight. “Even then, I doubt we’d have anything on a curse that occurred twenty years ago.”

“I know,” Twilight sighed. “I thought the same thing. But if there’s a chance we could find a clue in anything here in the castle’s own library than can give us a lead…I know Cadance has books from all over Equestria.”

“I’m…very familiar with the castle’s library,” Sunburst sighed. “I’m not sure it’s going to be of much help here, but I can keep looking."

“I suppose there’s not much else we can do with the little information we have,” Starlight said.

"Well, that should change soon,” Twilight said, trying once again to sound hopeful. “We just have to convince Jade there is a way to work together instead of fighting. Sunburst, gather up some ponies who don’t mind doing an extra task to help you look through the library. And Starlight-”

At that moment, another powerful spell hit the barrier surrounding the castle, shaking the floor beneath their hooves. There were a lot more startled cries and screams of fear than there had been during the last one, and Twilight winced at the noise. “This is getting out of hoof,” she said worriedly.

“There has to be something we can do to help keep everypony calm,” Starlight said.

Twilight, with Starlight and Sunburst following, walked back to the sleeping area her friends had set up, noticing a terrified Fluttershy and Thorax huddling together while Pinkie tried to comfort a distraught Rarity and Rainbow paced in a circle. Applejack and Spike weren’t there, still attending to some other tasks elsewhere in the castle.

“When will this end?” Rarity sobbed, not bothering to hide the distress in her voice. Her confidence from the previous day seemed completely gone.

“Look, I know everypony is stressed,” Sunburst began, not doing a particularly good job of sounding calm himself, “but we all need to-”

Another tremor rocked the castle, nearly knocking him off his hooves. Amid more cries of alarm Twilight noticed Fluttershy break into tears. “Are you alright?” Twilight asked when the tremor calmed. “How is your leg?”

It took a few moments before Fluttershy calmed enough to speak. “It’s…better,” Fluttershy said softly, though not very convincingly. “But I didn’t get to check on the animals today, and I don’t know how they’re faring amidst all this.”

“They’ll be okay,” Twilight said. “The crystal ponies are taking good care of them.”

“Twilight!” a filly cried out. “Twilight, you have to do something, they’re going to break in again!”

“Please!” a colt next to her cried. “We won’t last in here much longer!”

Soon their cries were joined by many others, aimed at either Twilight or the others gathered around her until the noise was deafening. Twilight found herself lost for words as Starlight and Sunburst tried to calm the crowd.

“Everypony is so upset,” Fluttershy mumbled to herself as she covered her head with her hooves. “I don’t know how much more of this we can take.”

“Jade’s starting to trust us,” Thorax said wearily. “I think she really does want to help, despite everything…” He trailed off, and it was clear he was thinking back to the previous day’s battle.

Fluttershy looked back at him, noticing that something was off. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or the pain, or even just the stress of the whole situation, but he looked worse than he had the past few days. She wondered how much his injuries had been aggravated in the fight when he was thrown. Reaching over, she pulled him close and they both huddled together, shivering under the blankets.

Jade’s cooperation was promising, but how long could they hold out?