A changeling was exactly what Pinfire had worried about. The crystal pony floated in a near void. Her customer had turned exactly like she had feared. Why did she ever let Opaline wear the necklace? Stupid mistake.
During the first hour suspended in the goo within the changeling cocoon she had struggled, swimming nowhere, yet air flowing in just enough for her to breathe.
The second hour, her mind had drifted. There was almost no sensation within the cocoon. The sensory deprivation escalated when the customer left, snuffing the fire and leaving her in darkness.
Pinfire wriggled weakly.
And she considered using what she swore she never would. The things that awful mare had taught her.
No, she wasn’t that desperate yet.
Was she?
Her mind drifted and with the sensory depravation, it conjured images of her old home in such vivid detail she could swear she could smell pine.
She had been young when Sombra’s soldiers came.
Her father had told her to go hide in the back woods. But Pinfire had refused.
“If you won’t go then you must promise to be silent.”
“Yes Papa,” she said. She ducked behind the soft armchair by the fire.
Papa pushed the curtain open an inch, looking through with one eye. He dropped the curtain with a startled yelp.
Someone rapped on the door
Her father glanced at her hiding spot. He glared. Her eyes widened. Little pinfire had crawled farther behind the chair.
She heard her father open the door. Cold flowed into the house. Pinfire was glad she had hidden near the fireplace.
“Where is she?” Came a harsh matriarchal voice.
“She should be at school,” Papa said, “Not that it's any of your business. Who are your friends?”
“Be respectful to the Colonel,” a deep voice boomed. Pinfire shrank in on herself.
“At ease private,” The matriarchal voice said. She sounded smug.
“You’re working for him now?”
“What's better than serving my country? It's better than waiting in the woods for the bugs to eat me.”
“Better in the snow than at the beck and call of a tyrant.”
“Sombra only wants to protect his ponies from outside threats.”
“I didn’t mean the king.”
The matronly voice chuckled. “I’ll be watching. I will be taking my daughter. All able-bodied citizens must serve to the best of their abilities after all.”
“She isn’t going anywhere without me.”
“Hmm, confident, aren’t you?” Her voice raised. ”Sweep the woods. We wouldn’t want to leave a filly in the cold, would we?”
Hoof steps retreated. But soft hoof steps entered sound clicking on the cobblestone.
“Get out of my house,” her father said.
A harsh whisper said, “She’s my daughter. You may have gotten custody under the queen, but new ruler, new rules. I am taking the little gem with me and there is nothing you can do to stop me."
“Then go look for her, or are those soldiers your new lackeys?”
Pinfire peeked around the chair carefully. Papa was snout to snout with a lanky mare with a pale green coat. Her turquoise and white mane and tail were pulled tight in military braids that led to five buns lining the tall mare's neck.
“They need examples of perfection to contrast in the tests. Our little daughter comes from two immaculate crystal pony lines unsullied by other pony kinds. She is the first step to Crystal Empire dominance.” The mare spoke with fervor. She loomed over Papa as she pulled her head up. Her shoulder was at his eye level. Pinfire gasped.
The Mare’s eyes swiveled toward the fire.
Pinfire pressed herself against the back of the sitting chair.
“Ah, of course, it was a ruse.” The mare said. She sounded disappointed, “You should know better, Blue.”
Pinfire heard hoof steps coming her way. Papa slid in front of the fire.
“Don’t touch her.”
“Oh hon, it's cute you think I care what you say.”
Pinfire scrambled behind her father. She saw the pale green mare’s eyes sparkle.
“There you are little filly. My little fire has grown. How excellent.”
Papa lowered his head and stamped on the cobblestones. “Don’t try this.”
“Oh Blue. You know I always get what I want.”
Papa charged the lanky mare. The mare twisted out of his way. He reared up on his hind legs to kick at her. The tall mare swept low, her back leg colliding into his. Papa fell on his side. He moved to right himself. The tall mare pounded a hoof into his ribs. He let out a pained gasp.
“Papa!” Pinfire yelled.
The Mare put her hoof on her father’s head. “Yield the child.”
Papa kicked at the mare’s other legs. The Mare stumbled but kept her hoof on Papa’s head. Her other hoof slammed into his leg. There was a soft crack like the fire log had popped, then her father screamed. The mare smiled. She pressed her hoof into the rib she had kicked.
“You never did know how to take a little pain.”
“Run, Op-Opal,” Papa said.
Pinfire Opal’s eyes filled with tears. She still felt the cold from the open door, but she couldn’t look away from Papa. Tears covered his face.
“Watch carefully filly. This is what happens when you do not listen to me.”
Papa struggled to look Pinfire’s way.
“Look away,” he said.
But she couldn’t.
She watched the pale green hoof smash down behind Papa's ear. She saw Papa’s eyes spark and go glassy. She saw the pale green pony lift her hoof, the red of blood in stark contrast to her pale green fur. The horrible mare smiled.
And finally, Pinfire ran, tears freezing as she plowed through the snow.
Pinfire drifted. She remembered the hooves of the soldiers grabbing her. She remembered ice on her face where tears had frozen. She remembered the cart they had thrown her in, that they had surrounded her on all sides.
The pale green mare had stepped into the back of the covered cart. She had taken a piece of cloth from the curtains inside. She sat and wiped the blood off her hoof with efficient strokes as Pinfire watched.
“You won’t be causing any trouble will you little filly?” The mare said.
Pinfire shook her head.
“Speak up little thing.”
“No.”
The mare looked at her. “No what.”
Pinfire curled in on herself. “No ma’am.”
The mare clucked her tongue. “No mother. Try again. You won’t be any trouble, will you?”
Pinfire curled her tail around herself.
“No…mother.”