//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: Of The Last Millennium // by BlndDog //------------------------------// Chapter 19 “Hey kid, it’s okay. I’m here now.” Morning Rain either didn’t hear him or didn’t believe. He would not let go of his father even to get his hoof bandaged. Lotus had to tend to his wound from behind Summer Rain’s back. He was crying so hard that it was impossible to gauge any physical discomfort, and at last the innkeeper left Scootaloo with instructions to watch him closely. Most of the guests had left immediately in pursuit of the escaped mercenaries. Only eight griffins stayed behind to tend to the wounded, while eight others guarded every side of the building in pairs. Lotus gave her second-floor room to Scootaloo and her brother, and by extension to Summer Rain as well. Summer Rain seemed more confused than upset with his son. He held the boy in his lap and did his best to comfort him, but there was no glimmer of recognition in his eyes. He’s not your dad, Rain. Scootaloo kept her tomahawk at her side. There was something peculiar about the stallion; she didn’t know what, but something was very wrong. It took an hour, but Morning Rain was finally getting tired. His hooves groped the air as Summer Rain pried him off his neck and tucked him in. Scootaloo shuffled off the blanket that was wrapped around her and hopped off the bed, landing lightly on the bumpy floor. Even though it was a pleasant summer evening the breeze from the window felt cold on her back. “Where are you going?” She asked when Summer Rain opened the door. “You’re not running away again, are you?” He jumped at the sound of her voice. His gaze shifted quickly between the two kids, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He backed up one step as Scootaloo approached. He’s not blinking! “What’s wrong, sir?” Scootaloo asked with narrowed eyes. “Are you not feeling well?” “Come with me,” he said when her face was within an inch of his. “I... I can’t tell you anything here. Not in front of him.” He stepped into the unlit hallway and held out a hoof. Scootaloo made sure he saw the tomahawk at her side before she followed him into the darkness. “Summer Rain,” she said as soon as they were out of earshot of the room. “What happened to you?” “Kid, listen,” he stammered, sitting down on the uneven floor. He reached out to pull her closer, but Scootaloo remained just out of reach. “I… I’m not your dad.” “Of course you’re not my dad,” Scootaloo said. “You’re Morning Rain’s dad! Don’t you know him at all? He’s your only son!” “I don’t have a son!” He snapped. Realizing what he had just said, he took his ears in his front hooves and put his head on the floor. “He… He didn’t have kids. He told me so… more than once…” “You’re not making any sense,” Scootaloo said. “Aren’t you Lieutenant Summer Rain from Dredger Company?” “I’m not!” He said. “Well, I am now, but not really! I’m just Summer Rain. I mean, everyone calls me Summer Rain, and I look like Lieutenant Summer Rain…” Scootaloo took a step back and reached for the tomahawk. The stallion sat up and held out a pleading hoof. “I’ll show you,” he said in a low voice. “Just promise you won’t run off and tell your brother, okay? At least not right away?” “Okay,” Scootaloo said with a sigh, taking another step back and squaring her shoulders. The pale stallion stood up and inhaled. Scootaloo bit back a scream when his body disappeared in a vortex of green flames. For a fraction of a second the fire roared in the hallway, illuminating cracked bark and knotted branches without setting anything alight. It burned out as suddenly as it had appeared, and in the place of Summer Rain stood… Nothing? Scootaloo rubbed her eyes to clear the afterimage. The creature that stood before her was almost completely black, almost invisible in the dark hallway. It was slightly shorter than the pony of its disguise and a lot skinnier, with a much narrower face and two long fangs extending past its chin. The layer of fuzz on its shell was just enough to stop it from glistening like metal, and it stared at her with featureless blue eyes. Its lips curled up in a sheepish smile that remained after the transformation was reversed. “You’re a changeling?” Scootaloo said. Her wings shot open involuntarily as memory of the royal wedding flashed thorough her mind. “Yes,” he said, avoiding eye contact like a boy who had just been caught stealing cookies. “Do you see my problem now?” As Scootaloo glared at the benign-looking stallion a terrible thought entered her mind. “Is Morning Rain a changeling too?” “What?” Changeling Summer Rain said before his mind caught up. “Oh. No, your brother is still your brother. I’ve only been using this face for about four years. He’s older than that, right?” Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief, but quickly resumed her aggressive stance. “You have a lot of explaining to do,” she growled. “Where is the real Summer Rain, and what did you do to him? Are you working alone? Where are the rest of the changelings?” “Summer Rain is dead,” he said, hanging his head just like a real pony would. “He died in Percheron Landing four years ago. I made sure of it.” “You killed him?” Scootaloo said, taking one stiff step forwards. “No!” He said quickly, and backed all the way to the end of the hall. “No, not exactly! Just listen to me! I’ll tell you everything! “Many years ago I was a military commander for Queen Chrysalis. Even back then she had her eyes set on Canterlot. I told her it was a foolhardy pursuit. I was exiled years before the invasion of Canterlot! I had nothing to do with that! “Living alone, I had to figure out a lot of things. Changelings aren’t really meant to be with other species, you see. We can infiltrate a community for a while, but it’s never long-lasting. We don’t even have voices of our own, and even a changeling skilled as myself cannot design a body that holds up to close scrutiny. I spent a long time just picking up vacancies: taking somepony’s place when they’re out of town or finding a form and pretending to be a vagrant in a different place. That didn’t always work out; once in a whiles somepony would recognize me and start asking questions. What I really needed was a form from far away, one that I could keep permanently. “I found it in Percheron Landing. I was disguised as a sailor on shore leave; even in a town like that I didn’t dare go out as I am. One night I saw a rather suspicious pony snooping around outside the inn where I was staying (more suspicious than the usual stuff, anyways). I followed him out of the town, all the way to a EUP camp. There I learned that they were planning to attack Percheron Landing. “I went to the town’s Marshal first thing in the morning and told him all that I knew. I showed him my true identity and offered to help him on one condition: that when the attack came he would kill one specific EUP guard of my choosing. “For two weeks I disguised myself as a soldier who was killed in Percheron Landing years ago. I went into the camp claiming to be an escaped prisoner with information. I studied each one of them as I planned the attack with their leaders, and it so happened that Summer Rain took a liking to me. “I was very thorough in my assessment. I asked him all about his work and his family. He told me that he was not married and had no children. His mother’s a senile old mare in Canterlot, and his father had already passed away. He was perfect for my purposes!” “You killed him?” Scootaloo said again. “Somebody did! When the EUP started the attack I went to the Marshal’s house and hid there. I saw the body that evening. It was pretty mangled—he got crushed under a bridge—but it was definitely him. I took his form and left Percheron Landing a few days later, and I’ve been wearing this face ever since.” Summer Rain looked at Scootaloo with pleading eyes. He’s faking it. You can’t trust a changeling! But he looks so real. “What are you going to do now?” Scootaloo asked. Her voice cracked; she cleared her throat. “Morning Rain really cared about his dad. You can’t just leave him again.” “That’s just it,” he said, pulling on his ears again. “I can’t just walk away, but I can’t keep him either! He’ll figure it out eventually, or somepony else will. I don’t want to tell him either. That kid is messed up! The way he was holding that sword, he really meant to kill those griffins!” “I’ll tell him,” Scootaloo said. “Please don’t,” he protested. “Look, I don’t want to upset him at all. He’s had it pretty rough already, if he had to live with this guy here for any period of time.” Scootaloo’s heart sank, remembering Rain’s truth serum-induced outburst. “He’s a terrible bloke, this one,” Changeling Summer Rain continued. He waved one hoof over his face to make it extra clear about whom he was speaking. “In the two weeks that I knew him he was sober just long enough to do his job. He was so angry too; just angry at everything. I had to be really careful with my questions. Your brother never mentioned any of this to you?” “I suspected something,” Scootaloo said. “He never talks about it though.” “Ah, poor kid,” he said, looking genuinely sad. “You see why I can’t just barge in there and tell him the truth? I suppose this Gari character has done him some good, but he’s got a long ways to go yet.” “Can you at least spend the night?” Scootaloo suggested. “It won’t hurt, right? You don’t have to tell him anything; just say you have work to do if he asks.” He considered this for a while, stroking his chin. Finally he nodded. Morning Rain was breathing gently, his bandaged hoof resting on top of the pillow. Scootaloo got onto the large bed beside him and put one hoof on his forehead. He did not have a fever; the clinch pick on the griffin’s wrist wasn’t poisoned after all. The mattress creaked under the weight of the changeling. Scootaloo cringed as the broad feathered wing touched her back. It felt just like a real pegasus wing, except not as warm. Morning Rain smiled and nuzzled the pillow. Downstairs the band took the stage again, this time for a much smaller audience. Lotus’ room was right above the stage, and soothing tones filtered crisp and clear through the gaps in the floor. They were singing “The Vagrant’s Song”; a song that Scootaloo’s father often sang to her. She huddled closer to her brother and closed her eyes. Her heart ached at the bittersweet tune. “… You can’t jump the North Wind like you can a freight train; “So I best be on my way in the early morning rain…” # “Scootaloo! Rain!” Upon hearing that voice all feelings of fatigue disappeared. Scootaloo stood up on the perfectly black floor. Several metres in front of her was a glowing orange line. It ran parallel to a white one on her left side, turning ninety degrees in front of her and continuing on to infinity to her right alongside a cold blue one. On the side of the blue line stood Gari, much as she always looked except for the black crown upon her head and the delicate silver shoes on her outstretched hooves. Scootaloo ran towards the cloaked alicorn, ready to jump into her embrace… And stopped just short of touching her. “That’s close enough,” said a familiar stern voice. “Mom, please.” “You are hurting them and yourself,” said Princess Luna as she appeared out of the backdrop of formless shadows. Gari looked like a filly in play jewellery next to the dark alicorn. “I am sorry Gari, but if you keep fighting me I will have to exclude you from tonight’s discussions.” Scootaloo strained against the invisible boundary, but she slowly slid backwards. “Luna, what are you doing here?” Morning Rain snarled, backing up to run at the wall again. “You better have something important to say!” “Rain!” Gari snapped, taking a step back. “That’s no way to talk to a princess of Equestria!” “It’s no crime,” Rain said. “I don’t need her favor, or anypony else’s!” “I see why you like him,” Princess Luna said to a seething Gari before turning her attention to the two children. “I hope you have been well. I will try to keep this short, as we will be seeing each other very soon.” “Where are you?” Gari interrupted. Her nose was pressed against the invisible wall, making the air in front of her face glow dull blue. “We’re at the Kappa’s Head,” Scootaloo said while Morning Rain bucked at the barrier. “Gari, you won’t believe what happened to us!” “Then we are ahead of you,” Luna said before Gari could get in another word. “Gari and I will arrive at Saltlick by tomorrow morning, and you can easily get there by midafternoon. Head southeast from your position; the salt fields are hard to miss. Ask somepony for directions in the morning. Whatever you have to say, save it for later.” Her horn glowed dull blue, and tongues of fire rose from all the boundary lines. Scootaloo shielded her eyes and squinted at the alicorns. They were fading away from the bottom up. Tears dripped from Gari’s chin. She tugged on Luna’s sparkling ethereal mane; her mouth moved constantly, her ears flapped in agitation, but Scootaloo heard nothing. “Come back!” Morning Rain shouted, though he did not dare approach the walls of fire that cut him off from his mother and his sister. Scootaloo tried to speak, but a sudden terror gripped her heart and choked out the cry in her throat. The fire died down, and the two alicorns became solid again. Drip. Drip. Scootaloo fell to her knees and lowered her head. Something moved into her peripheral vision; she crossed her eyes to evade the terrible visage for another second. “What is it?” Gari stammered, cowering behind her mother. Scootaloo couldn’t close her eyes. The thing stepped into her line of sight, as graceful as ever. White ribs stood out against the blackness of the dreamscape, while its neck and legs were nearly invisible. It circled in front of her and lowered its skinless head. Six eyes rolled wildly in their sockets, finally settling on the cowering filly. “Gari, stay here!” All of a sudden Scootaloo felt weightless. The creature raised its head just as it was struck by a massive blue burst of magic. The blue and orange lines were torn, their loose ends waving in the darkness. Princess Luna stood over Scootaloo and glared at the monster. It struggled to stand, but its hooves turned to pale stone as soon as they were planted. The transformation proceeded quickly, racing up its legs and towards its face. The shell seemed to fill out around its torso, giving it a less frightening appearance. Bony spikes on its back became broad wings. It shook its head as the stone edge reached its neck, but there was no sign of fear in its eyes. In the last second its face changed into that of a mare, and in that form it stayed. “Are you okay?” Luna asked, holding Scootaloo between her hooves. “I… I think so,” she moaned. “What was that?” “Just a nightmare,” Luna said, though her attention lingered on the statue for some time. “You have been through a lot, you and your brother both. But we will be seeing you very soon. Stay strong, and look out for each other. I must be leaving now.” In a single step she crossed the opening in the boundaries. The threads knit together as her tail passed completely into her side. Gari was yelling again, but Scootaloo could hear nothing. The shadows closed in around the two alicorns, and the lines disappeared a second later. “What do you think, Rain?” Scootaloo said at last. “Ice cream!” She was sitting at a familiar long table. To her right sat Morning Rain. Not the real one; here he was four years old with half his face painted green. It was the hottest day of the summer, and Gari had somehow removed all the glass from the big windows of the dining hall. Every child in the room was dripping from the recent water fight in the courtyard. The petrified monster rose out of the table, but it was not as monstrous as before. Its open mouth showed a neat row of fangs, and its eyes were blank like the ones of the Snowdrop statue. The tips of its wings tapered to a sharp point, and on its flank was the all too familiar image of a crescent moon.