//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: A Heart of Crystal and Glass 
// by Mani-Roar 
//------------------------------//

I entered the Hive, still reeling from our most recent hunt. The love energy from the ponies we attacked was so rich and filling. It was like the most tender and juicy meal you could ever eat, but we sucked it up through magic instead. The faces of those terrified ponies were fresh in my mind. I could still hear them screaming, begging me to stop. I felt guilty for what I did to them. I watched as their terror turned to curses and then turned to silence. 

“Mother?”

I tugged on her arm just below her shoulder and she turned to face me. I wasn’t tall enough to reach any higher on her.

“What is it, Thorax? Did you not get enough love to eat?”

“No Mother, I got plenty, it's just…”

I was scared of how to word it. I didn’t want her angry at me.

“Why do we attack the ponies? Why do we have to feed on them?”

“Oh, Thorax.”

She rubbed the back of my mane as I leaned into her touch, relieved she wasn’t mad.

“You are such a nice boy. So very kind. But you must understand that the ponies are our enemies. They have been for millenia.”

“But why?”

“They shun us because of our curse. We feed on their love because we need it to survive. And they hate us for it.”

Her eyes went cold and dark as she spoke.

“A long time ago, our people tried to reconcile and make peace. And they threw it back in our face. They called us ‘wrong’ and ‘abominations.’ Even if we didn’t feed on them, they wouldn’t accept us. They would let us starve and perish while they slept soundly in their cozy beds.”

Her face relaxed as she calmed down, making me feel less anxious.

“So don’t feel bad when you drain them. Know that their love is our love. It belongs to us, and we must harvest it by force.”

I looked around the hive. My brothers and sisters ducked in and out of tunnels that were dug into the walls and ceiling. There was always a constant buzz of Changelings moving. Even during sleep time there were Changelings who kept watch and slept in the day instead.

“We could never be friends?”

I looked up at Mother who scowled at me, sending a shiver down my back.

“That’s their word. They use it to manipulate others, and get their way. Don’t use that word.”

I thought for a moment. Something about this didn’t make sense to me.

“Then what are we? What are us hivelings to each other if not friends?”

She smiled wide at me, revealing her massive fangs.

“We are family. Nothing matters except family.”

“Yes Mother.”




****




By the time we got to the small farm village on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, the sun was beginning to set. We had stripped off our formal wear, leaving it in a pile on the floor in the royal hallways. Twilight and I had taken to the skies, carrying Shining Armor between the two of us. It was no easy task. Even with the flight of two massive alicorn wingspans, his bulky weight was a strain on us. We refused to wait for the patrol regiment to join us, despite the Captain’s protestations. It was fortunate that I still knew how to fly. They say you never forget once you learn. Apparently that was true even if you forgot learning it in the first place.

The village houses were made of wood and straw. A far cry from the stone and crystal structures of the capital city. The town was quaint and quiet. It had a beauty and charm of its own that was less grand, yet more peaceful than its urban counterpart. 

It was the creepiest thing I had ever seen.

Quiet was too kind of a word to describe it. This place was dead silent. A stone well stood in the center of the town square, which should have been the richest social hub. There should have been ponies going about their business; closing up shops for the night and preparing for supper. There should have been some kind of movement, some sort of sound.

There was nothing.

Occasionally a breeze would whistle and rustle the trees. What would normally have been a background noise sounded like thunder in contrast to the eerily silent town square. The more I looked at the peaceful houses and shops, the more unsettled they made me. 

“Where is everypony?” Twilight’s voice echoed what I was feeling.  

“I don’t know.” Shining Armor’s expression looked as hard as stone. He checked up and down and all around the empty town. A military stallion at heart, he must have been looking and listening for the enemy to re-engage and ambush us on approach. 

No attacks came, and no one stirred from our arrival as Shining knocked politely on one of the houses. A crystal wind chime dangled over the door frame, and sang some dulcet tones as a breeze blew by. No one came to answer the door.

"Did they all evacuate?" Twilight asked as a chill ran up my spine. Something was wrong yet familiar about this scene. I must have seen or felt something like this before in my old memories. 

"Maybe," Shining Armor shrugged as we walked to the next house over. "But how did they leave so fast?" He rapped on their door as well. The houses were mostly the same shades of beige and light brown. A few crystal decorations here or there was all there was to remind you what empire you were in. 

"Wouldn’t we have seen them leaving on our approach?" I said. Twilight bit her lower lip and gave me a slow nod. "There's no way they all traveled further than we could see from the air. Even if they were chased away in a panic." 

"So where are they?" Twilight asked as we all stared at the front door of the second house Shining had knocked on. No one came to answer this house either.

"Open the door." I said as I swallowed hard. I didn't want to see what was on the other side, but we had to do something. 

"That's a violation of their privacy rights." Shining said, not sounding too confident in his own objection.

"I'll write them an apology letter later." No one laughed at my joke as Shining Armor tried the door.

“It’s locked.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

“Unlock it.” I replied before he could respond. A faint smirk appeared on the side of his mouth.

“So now we’re breaking and entering?” His amused glare almost made me forget how anxious I was.

“No you’re breaking and entering.” I pointed at him. “Twilight and I are watching.” 

“You two better be good character witnesses for me at my trial.” He took a step back from the door, angling his shoulder toward it. After a few taps of his hoof on the gravel walkway, he thrust himself into the door. A piercing crack echoed throughout the sleepy town. I watched as the door burst open in one hit. The deadbolt lock sent splinters flying as it shattered the part of the door frame it was housed in. I knew Shining was strong, but seeing his strength in action was impressive. He had exerted a large amount of force concentrated in a single push. It was enough to get the job done while doing the least amount of damage possible. He wasn’t some unruly brute. He was precise and calculated, in addition to being built like a truck.

An elegant brute.

“I could have tried to pick the lock with magic.” Twilight mentioned a few steps behind us. She didn’t look too eager to enter the humble home. Shining looked at the wood pieces splitting out of the door frame and blushed. 

“We’ll remember that for the next house.” I said with a sinking feeling about the task ahead of us. What none of us had thought (or wanted) to mention was that the only explanation for the empty town was that everyone was inside their homes or business.

And they weren’t moving.

We paused for a moment. Once again it was so quiet I could feel the pulsing of my own heart. The door was open, exposing the house to the elements. Twilight and Shining Armor were staring at each other. It looked like they were communicating telepathically.

Could they do that? No, I lost my memories, but I still knew skills like magic and flight. I would be aware of telepathy magic if it was available. They had just been siblings their whole life. 

“After you, Princess of Friendship?” He asked her.

“Oh no, no…” She frowned at the open threshold to the house. “It’s your empire, I’d hate to impose.” She gestured to the door. We could see the living room coffee table and couch from outside. 

“I’ve already broken the law.” He folded his hooves in protest. “The least you could do is go in first. With your diplomatic immunity and all.”

I rolled my eyes so hard I could feel my eyelids involuntarily blink.

“I’ll go.” I said and stepped over the threshold. It was a quaint little home with hardwood floors and floral decorating. The air was stale and warmer than outside. I could feel the residual heat from an intense magical discharge. Someone had cast something powerful in here, and I was pretty sure I knew what sort of spell it was. At least I did before.

“Nice place.” Twilight said from behind me. I did my best not to jump at the sudden noise. “Reminds me of my first house in Ponyville.” We were all standing in the living room now. A red throw rug sat in the middle underneath the coffee table. I checked our walking path to make sure we weren’t tracking dirt into these poor pony’s houses. 

“I guess we’ll check the kitch-” Shining began, but I interrupted. 

“They’re in the bedroom.” I spoke automatically and stepped towards a short hallway next to the living room.

“How do you know?” Shining asked me.

“I just do.” The hallway was darker than the rest of the house. All I could hear was our hoofsteps as we inched to the bedroom. The air got warmer the closer I got to the door at the end of the hall. It was ajar so I pushed it open with my hoof. 

My mouth dropped at what I saw. Just inches from the door was a pony standing as still as a statue. His body was crystal, but he was so fogged and dulled he looked like smoked glass. His face was aimed straight at me, and his empty eyes stared so far into me I felt a deep embarrassment in the core of my essence. His fully dilated pupils covered so much of his eye there was barely any room for a white rim around his irises. His mouth was cracked agape and drool gathered on his lower lip. I watched in horror as a bit of it overflowed and fell onto the bedroom carpet. 

He kept staring at me. His gaze was as blank as my memories. There was no will or feeling in his eyes. Even statues have some life in them, granted by the artist. This stallion was robbed of even that. A living hump of dead weight. He refused to move except for his slow breathing, which was the only thing that suggested he was alive. I wanted to run away. I wanted him to leave. I wanted to take to the sky, fly far away, and never come back. Anything but this. It was so wrong. Who could have done something like this?

“Cadance!”

Shining Armor’s voice cut into my thoughts as I realized I had been screaming the whole time since I opened the door. 

“It’s alright, we’re ok. Nopony is hurt.” He assured me as I gasped in an overdue breath. He stood behind me in the doorway. Not only had I been screaming out of control, I had blocked the doorway as well. 

“We’re ok.” He repeated. He offered me his hoof, careful not to touch me without permission. “Are you ok?” He asked and I took his hoof into mine. He drew in a quick breath. I don’t think he expected me to let him touch me, and I had eagerly accepted his hoof hold. I felt Twilight’s hoof on my back as well. My family was here for me. 

“We go in together?” He asked and I gave one slow nod down and back up. We walked around either side of the statue pony, raising our held hooves in the air. We passed with our hooves over his head like some sort of ballroom dance, careful not to disturb him as we did. Twilight followed suit once we were fully inside.

The bedroom window was shattered, and shards scattered all over the bed and carpet. I glanced over the edge of the bed and nearly had the same reaction as when I entered the room. There was a mare laying on top of the glass shards and broken window frame. She had a pool of blood under her shoulder.

“She’s hurt!” I yelled, careful to make sure I didn’t lose control of my voice again. Shining Armor rushed over, still careful enough not to cut himself on any of the glass. I gave him space as he knelt down next to her. He felt her pulse and inspected a gash in the middle of her shoulder, just above her chest. 

“She’s breathing ok.” He reassured me. I heard Twilight release a sigh of relief behind me. “Most of this blood is from her shoulder wound and it’s already clotted. She has some other minor cuts, but it doesn’t look like a dangerous amount of blood was lost.” He gently picked her up off the floor to move her somewhere without glass. Twilight and I helped keep her steady as we set her down on the other side of the bed on the floor again. There were too many glass shards to risk laying her on the bed. 

“What happened to them, exactly?” I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer to my own question. I distracted myself by going to the closet and pulling out a fresh linen. “How does the Changeling magic work?” I began shredding the sheet with my magic to use as bandage strips. I suppose I would have to mention the torn linens in my apology letter for this home invasion. 

“The changelings broke in through the window." Shining explained. "The wife was struck by the glass and wood paneling, probably knocking her out instantly. It looks like the husband was completely drained of his love before he could escape his own bedroom."

Twilight bandaged the poor mare's chest wound while I helped hold her in place with my hooves. 

"Is that why he looks…" I swallowed trying to think of how to phrase it, "...like that?"

"Yes." Twilight said. Her face hardened as she gathered pillows to rest the unconscious mare's head on. "We've seen this before. What Changeling love magic does to the victim it leaves behind."

"Can they be healed?" My mind was flush with anger and questions. How could any creature commit such an act upon another? 

"They will heal." Shining Armor looked right at me. "It takes some time, but eventually the capacity to love will return and they'll be able to feel again."

"How long does it take?" My question was met with silence. Shining and Twilight shared that pensive sibling glance that I had gotten all too used to. 

"Uh… are you gonna answer my question or…" I began until Shining Armor finally spoke up.

"It depends on the pony. It takes weeks at minimum, sometimes months or the better part of a year. However…" 

Shining was interrupted by a desperate gasp. Twilight and I shifted in response to a violent movement right beneath us. The mare stood up sharply. She sat up on the floor and thrusted her hooves out, knocking me away.

"Changelings!" She screamed as her voice cracked. "The Changelings are here!" She thrashed her arms about, nearly clocking Twilight on the side of her head. The Princess of Friendship ducked it with little effort. The cute little foal that I apparently baby sat had seen combat before.

"It’s all right, it's all right." I declared, holding my hooves up to show I wasn’t a threat. "They're gone now, you're ok."

Her wild flailing slowed down as she turned to face me. Her eyes focused, recognizing me as she came to her senses.

"Princess!" She cried and tried to stand up to bow to me. Unfortunately, her chest wound got the better of her. She stopped her bow halfway to yelp in pain and grip her bandage.

"Calm down, please." Was the only thing I could think to say. “You’re injured.”

She rubbed her hoof on the makeshift bandage of her own bedsheets.

“You bandaged me, my lady?” Her eyes glistened as she looked humbly upon her ruler. I glanced over to Twilight.

“We both did.” I said, unable to meet her hopeful gaze. She craned her neck to see Twilight and gasped.

“Princess Twilight!” She tried to bow again, and was stopped by her injury. 

Twilight placed her hoof underneath the earth pony’s chin. She gently guided the young mare’s gaze to meet her warm smile.

“Please, rest easy.” Twilight’s voice was like a warm butter. “We can skip the formalities for now. It’s more important that you’re ok.” Twilight looked like an angel comforting a mortal being. She seemed so natural and well spoken in her role as Princess. I was supposedly her elder, her teacher. Yet here she was, so much more elegant and regal with her subjects.

“Thank you, my lady.” The mare thought for a moment and turned to me. “My ladies.” She started to bow again, but stopped herself. Her nervous side smile made me giggle. The levity was short lived as her expression froze and I noticed she was looking over my shoulder. 

“Harvest?” She asked as a cold reality sank into her expression. She scrambled past me, holding her shoulder as she approached the deathly still stallion by the bedroom door. Her orange crystal coat glowed in the low light next to the faded amber of what must have been her husband.

“Oh Harvest, what did they do to you?” She held his cheeks in her hoof and stared into his eyes. The dead dull eyes that had terrified me when I first saw them. She grabbed a shred of the sheet I had torn off the floor and wiped his drool covered mouth. She lovingly dabbed his jaw and cheeks until most of it was dry. Then brushed back some of his mane that was out of place.

“The changelings absorbed all of his love with their terrible magic.” Shining Armor stood from the broken window on the other side of the bed. 

“My Prince.” She acknowledged Shining, still staring at her statuesque husband. “Is he?... Will he?...”

“He’s physically fine.” Shining replied, shaking his head. “But the love draining will leave him emotionless for quite some time. I’m sorry, we didn’t make it in time. We failed to protect you.”

He knelt down, ignoring the glass, and bowed to his own subject.

“I failed you.” His voice turned low and breathy as he bowed his head. 

She opened her mouth to speak, yet remained silent. It wasn’t everyday that a royal bowed to a commoner. Maybe I was too harsh on Twilight after all. This seemed like a different kind of kingdom than I expected. A place where the ruling party truly cared about its ponies regardless of status. However, I had no memories of this or any other kingdom. What sort of kingdom did I even expect to begin with?

“Harvest?” She focused on her husband again. “Can you see me?” She rubbed his neck, massaging his back and shoulders. “Can you hear me?”

We all sat silently as she assessed her mate. Her face scanning for any sign of hope in his expression. A few eternal moments passed before a new voice spoke.

“Rain Flower.” A low baritone voice said. Harvest was conscious. Would his memory be damaged like mine? No, it couldn’t be. He said her name. She chortled as soon as she heard him say it. Her tears melted away as pure joy returned to her face.

“Yes, darling.” She held his face in her hooves. “It’s me. You remember me?”

I couldn’t help but feel jealous. I swallowed back my guilt and avoided looking over at Shining or Twilight. They were probably feeling something similar. I was happy that her husband seemed alright. However, my own ordeal was still so fresh that it stung. 

“Rain Flower.” His monotone voice repeated. There was no life or will in his voice. He was like an unfeeling machine reciting information. 

“That’s right.” She kissed him on the cheek. He made no reaction to her touch. “I’m your wife, and I love you.” 

“Love.” The machine repeated her.

“Of course, darling.” She gripped his hoof into both of hers and squeezed it to her chest. “Oh please tell me the changelings didn’t take it all from you. Do you…?” 

“Love… I don’t...” He stammered. 

“Can you feel anything?” Her eyes begged him. She was emoting enough for both of them as he may as well have remained a statue. 

“I feel your hooves.” His dry delivery could have been a punch line, except nothing about this was funny. 

“But do you feel me?” Her voice went higher, more desperate. “Do you love me?” A question that everyone hopes to find a good answer to. 

“No.” His flat tone slammed into her like a guilty verdict. She shook her head, unable to speak. Her tears flowed once more, dripping down her cheeks and joining her husband’s drool on the floor. 

“He doesn’t mean it.” Twilight chimed in. “It’s the love stealing magic. He’s not able to feel love because they took it from him. It’s not your fault, or his.”

“It’s my fault.” Shining Armor said. “We should have been more prepared. We should have expected another attack. We should have…” 

“Shining!” I interrupted, glaring down at him and he seemed to understand my meaning. He was saying too much. Just like me on the royal balcony, he was letting his emotions run away with him. At least we had the luxury of having emotions.

“We were too late.” He finished. Rain Flower sniffed and wiped her muzzle, forcing herself to look away from her blank lover. I felt my cheeks flush when she looked directly at me.

“No.” She declared, moving slowly toward me. For some reason it made me want to back away. I remained still. “It’s not too late.” She smiled through teary eyes.

“It’s not? Well that’s good.” My eyes darted around the room, landing on Twilight. She looked at me like a filly who showed up to a test she didn’t study for.

“Yes, my lady.” Rain Flower boldly took my hoof in hers. I blinked a few times. “Forgive me for imposing, but your magic. I’ve heard the stories. You can heal the changeling victims who’ve been drained.”

So that’s what was so hard to say. What Twilight and Shining Armor feared would come to a head. 

“My magic?” My eyes went wide and I could feel my heart beating faster.

“Yes, my lady.” She nodded so proud and happy. Cadance could save this mare’s husband. Cadance could bring love back from the dead and restore the broken that was once whole.

I wasn’t Cadance.

At least not really, not anymore. Without my memories I may as well be a stranger in this land.

“Please, my lady, I beg you.” She knelt on the floor, grimacing and clutching her shoulder bandage. “Please heal him. I will pay any debt, any tithe you ask.”

I would never charge her, or anyone, for something like this. In truth it was me that owed her. She deserved a peaceful, undisturbed life. Shining Armor was right. We failed her in that regard.

“Cadance...” Twilight began as I mindlessly walked over to the emotionless stallion. I made myself look in his eyes again.

“I’m sorry, Harvest.” I said. My heart sank into my stomach. There was no change on his face except that he was conscious. The eyes still creeped me out. I was sure they would haunt me the next time I tried to sleep.  

“Cadance, it’s ok if you can’t-” Twilight continued and I cut in.

“I have to try.” I said a little angrier than I meant to. I closed my eyes and focused on my magic.

Love. I tried to focus on love. I could reach out with my magic and feel Harvest’s essence. It was flat and dim, like a two dimensional picture of a dying flame. There had to be a way to manipulate his emotions by adjusting his essence, but I had no idea how to do that. It wasn’t like levitating an object. Emotions and essences are fluid. A trained mage can mess with essences but if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can permanently harm someone. I was hoping, praying that the magic would be intuitive to me. I could still fly and cast regular unicorn magic. If love magic was a part of me then maybe it would come back?

Of course it didn’t. It couldn’t be that easy. Without my memories, the connection to love magic must have been lost. 

“I’m sorry, Rain Flower.” I opened my eyes to see her on the floor clasping her hooves. She was all but praying to me. “There’s nothing I can do.” I looked away in shame.

“I don’t understand, my lady.” She dropped down, prostrating herself on the floor.

“Your injury!” I yelled. She ignored me, and probably her pain too.

“Did we do something wrong?” She groveled. “Did I offend you? Were we not good citizens to you? Were we not loyal to the royal family?”

“No, no you’ve done nothing wrong. It’s not like that…”

“Then why, my lady?” Her words stabbed into my belly. Why couldn’t I help him? It wasn’t fair. “Why won’t you heal him?”

“Because I can’t!” My voice got away from me again. I was on the verge of crying with her.

“You can’t?” Rain Flower’s eyes widened with awful realization. “You mean the stories are lies? Your love magic can’t heal?”

“Well… I…” I was caught. I couldn’t do what this country needed. I couldn’t be the Princess they counted on.

I was a fraud.

“If your love can’t heal…” Suspicion creeped onto Rain Flower’s face. “Does that mean you also can’t…” 

“She’s still sick.” Shining Armor mercifully jumped in.

“Sick?” Rain Flower peeked up from the carpet.

“Yes, did you hear the announcement?” Shining asked.

“I did.” She nodded. “It was broadcast all over the kingdom. But my lady said she was fully healthy.”

“Mostly.” He assured her. “The changeling Queen’s attack had some lingering effects on Cadance’s power. The important thing is that she can still manage the Crystal Heart. We didn’t want the citizenry to worry about her health.”

“I had no idea, my lord!” She planted her face in the carpet again, still lying prone in front of me. “Please forgive me, my lady. It was selfish of me not to consider your health.” 

It was Shining Armor’s turn to make me look like a liar. I suppose he owed me one. I gave him a dry gaze and he shrugged in response. It was certainly better than ponies knowing I had no love magic at all. I had no choice but to play along.

“It’s all right.” I reassured her. “I’m sorry I can’t help him. He will recover, I promise. The draining effect isn’t permanent, it’s just a matter of time.” Shining Armor’s optimism was rubbing off on me. 

“Thank you, my -AH!” She curled up in pain, gripping her bandage as blood seeped out the side. 

“You’re wound!” I levitated her with my magic, and turned her over. I was careful not to put any strain on the injured area. “You have to stay still and let this close properly.” I ripped off more of the torn sheet and began redressing her bandage. 

“My poor Harvest.” She said as I wiped the blood running down her hoof. My fumbling with the makeshift bandages wasn’t doing much good. Twilight came over and took over wrapping and tying the new bandage for me. “He said he didn’t love me.” She closed her eyes and wept quietly.

“He’ll remember that he does.” I said, fully aware of the irony. 

“Yes, my lady. But it hurts all the same. Why didn’t the changelings drain me too? Why did they leave me alone to see him like this?” 

“You want them to drain you?” I asked

“No, I don’t.” She said deflated. “But I do envy him. He doesn’t have to feel his own heart breaking like I do.”

“What will you do now?” I asked and she finally smiled. It was a sad and faded smile, yet it was there all the same. 

“I wait.” She said simply. “You and Prince Shining Armor said it’s not permanent. I’ll wait until the end of time if I have to. For my Harvest to return to me.” She sighed as she leaned her back against the bed. Finally letting herself rest. 

“Harvest is a lucky stallion to have you as a wife.” Twilight said and Rain Flower gratefully looked up at the Princess of Friendship. 

I opened my mouth to say something, anything. I wanted to tell Rain Flower that her love was enough to heal her husband. However I wouldn’t say it. Because I didn’t know what love, or love magic, was capable of. My supposed power was a ghost of an emotion within me.

“Someone’s coming.” Shining said. We all collectively held our breaths as he gazed out the window towards the sky.

“Are they coming back?” Rain Flower looked panicked. “Is it the changelings?”

“No, it’s just the royal guard.” Shining looked over to see all of our distraught faces sigh in relief. “I’ve been expecting them.”

“Ok maybe open with that next time?” I furrowed my brow at him while trying to resist the urge to grin. “Instead of giving us all a heart attack.”

“Oh, my bad.” Shining chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “Well I’m gonna meet up with them and help set up a defense perimeter. Just in case the changelings do decide to come back.”

Before I could say anything, Shining Armor leaped out of the broken window and galloped to the center of town. 

“Rain Flower.” Twilight placed her hoof on Rain Flower’s good shoulder. “Are you gonna be alright here? We need to go see how everypony else in town is doing. There could be more injuries, and Celestia knows how many poor ponies got drained.”

“Do you really think they drained everypony?” Rain Flower gently rubbed her chest bandage. “Is my whole town just like Harvest?” She glanced at her husband. He still hadn’t moved.

“Most likely yes.” Twilight bit her bottom lip. Her soft eyes weren’t suited for giving grim news. “Do you want somepony to stay here with you two?”

“I want to go help everypony.” She stood up on her own, surprising Twilight.

“But, your injury.” 

“I’ll be fine, Princess.” Rain Flower took a few steps to figure out how to put weight on her bad shoulder without too much pain. “If I’m the only one who made it out unscathed…” She looked down at her bandage, “...Mostly unscathed, then it’s my responsibility to take care of them.”

“I’m just worried about you aggravating your injury. What if you…”

“Twilight.” I interrupted her and they both looked at me. “Let her help. She needs this.”

Twilight’s face lit up with realization.

“Alright.” Was all she said. Rain Flower walked halfway out of the bedroom.

“What about Harvest?” I asked.

“He’ll be fine.” Rain Flower turned around in the hallway. She stared long and hard at her husband, once more taking in that empty expression. “He usually does nothing around the house anyway, so this won’t be much different for him.”

I let a few snickers out at that, while Twilight looked taken aback by it. My naive little goody two shoes Twilight wasn’t much for dark humor, but I knew how valuable it could be to keep your mind away from darker places. 

“Harvest.” He didn’t stir at his wife’s call. “Harvest, look at me. Are you listening?” His head ever so slightly twisted in her direction. The first real movement I had seen from him.

“I’m going out for a while. Stay here and don’t cause any trouble, understand?”

“Stay here?” Every word he said sounded exhausted. 

“Yes. I need you to stay here. You can have anything you want from the fridge, including my expensive chocolates.” She thought for a moment. “But don’t eat them all.”

“Ok.” His joyless affirmation fell flat on the room as the three of us exited the house together. \



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