So far today, Shawn had been enjoying his day so far. He had spent most of his time with Rainbow Dash, Soarin, and the Princesses as they finished one of his favorite movies and also spent some time enjoying each others company. His father now understood the situation that they were in and how he was going to help them; which he was personally thankful for because the snow conduit knew that the thought of trying to hide four conduits was beyond impossible. Especially with the fact that his dad can tell whenever he tried to lie. It was just as obvious like when Applejack got “Discorded” during the season two premiere before the spirit of chaos got reformed.

Now though, both he and his dad were going south down the Interstate 5 Freeway. One of his fathers friends that was part of the National City Police Department wanted to meet up with the Chief of Police to catch up with him.

National City was the second oldest city in the San Diego County and it also considered as an “Immigrant Sanctuary”. Individuals of more than eighteen different racial backgrounds resided here, but the majority of them were of Mexican and Filipino descent. Over twelve thousand families live here in more than fifteen thousand households. This along with the condition of the city had many believe that this city was one of the poorest in the county and that it was a sanctuary for illegal immigrants.

In fact, most people only remember the town because of the “Mile of Cars”. A mile long strip of road that was known as one of the first ever Auto Malls in the world. As in the name suggests, car dealerships of both new and used vehicles were on both sides of the road and anything beyond it mostly consisted of auto repair stores and body shops.

Shawn and his father had just entered through the Mile a few minutes ago and now have reached the other side. The two of them proceeded a little more passed the city’s library and then reached an Intersection between National City Boulevard and East 12 street. Parking on the side of the street, both father and son stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk.

“So, who exactly are we seeing?” Shawn asked his father as he locked the car using his keys.

“Well, you need to be a little more specific when you mean that. You have many friend in the Police Force given your position.”

Shawn was right about that. Many family friends of the Kingstons either had previous experience in the Police, Military, or just met when they were younger. But Nicholas knew exactly who they were meeting. In fact, he was at the street corner to where they were parked at.

The individual that they were going to meet was Ian Blakeese. Head of the National City Police Department and also one of the few people who knew that Shawn was a conduit. He promised though not to say anything so that way he wouldn’t lose his job or ruin his reputation. Physically, he reminded the snow conduit of the actor who played Jesse on the TV show “Burn Notice” based on his physical appearance. He was of samoan descent and was around 6ft 2in with a lot of muscles in his legs and arms. He wore a sleeveless top and a pair of shorts, but his shirt revealed the tattoo’s that he had on his upper arms. One represented the years he served in the marines while the other represented his time on the police force. Talk about being dedicated to your country.

“Nicky!!” He hollered, getting the attention of Shawn’s father with one of the many nicknames the chief had gained over the years as they walked on over to him. When they got there, Nicholas responded with a soft punch in the shoulder.

Sonya was the name of Ian’s eleven year old daughter. She was very kind and sweet, but also was very timid. It reminded the Snow Conduit a lot of Fluttershy since she really liked animals and also spoke in a whisper like tone.

Around now, Nicholas told his son that he didn’t have to stand around and can go on a walk. Taking his advice, Shawn started to walk down E 12 street towards a building named ARTS, which meant A Reason to Survive. It was an afterschool arts center where kids from elementary to high school could go to hang out and also take classes in arts, crafts, music and storytelling. Shawn knew a few people there and had taken classes there before during the days that he didn’t have school. Right now, he was on Summer Break and was glad to be free as a bird right now.

As he approached the door though, he heard some parents talking to each other. He didn’t really care for what the subject was at first, until the conduit heard something that caught his attention.

“Are you sure about leaving your children here on your own? The community had a small scare earlier in the week about a possible Bioterrorist sighting in Kimball Park.”

Shawn’s ears twitched under his jacket hood as he heard the second parent respond. “Small Scare? How is anything with a Bioterrorist a small scare.”

“I heard that the police were looking into it, but they didn’t have enough information on the case to continue it, so they thought that the person who called them in was pulling a prank.”

The Snow Conduit didn’t stay around long after that. Behind the ARTS center was Kimball park, the location of the supposed sighting of the conduit that caused the “small scare”. But the only thing that he did not have was a lot of information on the person. But, as it turns out, the subject of the conversation had already spread like a deadly infection.

“You mean the one last friday? I heard that they were looking for a strange girl that had gold eyes and mint like hair. Possibly from hair dying.”

“No, you dumb***. That’s Celtic or some Sh*t like that. It’s that instrument a cupid would carry. Like a Lyre.”

Shawn himself moved away from there as soon as possible due to the possibility of the conversation there getting violent. Now he had some details. The supposed Conduit was a girl, possibly had mint colored hair, golden eyes, and some kind of Lyre marking. He assumed the mark was something sewn onto her clothes.

Taking out his phone, he began to dial someone he thought would possibly help him with putting all the pieces together. Soon, the caller on the other end picked up.

“Hey Luna. I was thinking that you could possibly help me out with something.”

Shawn sighed a little. This was not going to be easy. “Well, I’ve been hearing a lot about a possible conduit in a local park not far from where my dad and I are. My current assumption is that she might be related to you guys.”

“The only details I were that it was a girl with a mint colored mane and gold colored eyes with a lyre as some kind of mark. Does that ring a bell?”

Shawn sighed. He forgot that since Luna and the other Equestrian Conduits were from a different world, they might not understand figures of speech. “I mean, do you remember anyone within the parameters of that description?”

“Hmm… Mint like mane… Gold eyes… not sure if I-. Hold on…” Shawn was puzzled as he heard Luna stop talking for a moment. He stopped walking along the pathway in the park. The teen could hear talking in the background, but he couldn’t make out who was talking. Then, Luna came back on the other end of the phone.”

“I’m having Soarin continue this conversation. He says that he might be able to help you more than I can.”

“Oh, my apologies.” The Wonderbolt grunted, clearing his throat. “So you say that there is a possibility of a conduit where you are that’s a girl with a Mint like mane and golden eyes? Along with having a Lyre as a mark of some sort?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” The snow conduit replied. “Why? Do you happen to know her?”

“Actually, yes and personally, I’m a little worried for her. Her name is Lyra-.”

“That’s right, and from what I remember from talking to her and her roommate Bonbon, she believes in humans. It even go to the point where she tried to make “Hands” out of Paper Mache.” Shawn now began to try and picture what Soarin told him inside his mind as the snow conduit sat down on a nearby bench.

“That… could be a problem.” The teen said with a concerned edge in his voice. “People that have obsessive traits or personalities might become alone or victims of bullying.”

“I’m more worried about what her powers might be.” Soarin replied over the phone. “I saw her using some unique magic back home that might be a problem if it turns out to be what her powers are. Lyra can use her magical energy to form any object that she can imagine with her mind. What she thinks is what she could temporarily create.”

Now that sounded awesome inside Shawn’s mind. It reminded him of Green Lantern from DC comics (and not the movie with Ryan Reynolds. Ugh…) in which Hal Jordan can use his own Willpower to form anything he could picture with his mind. Still, a power like that would somehow have drawbacks. Especially if it’s left unchecked.

“No, I mean as in fighting alongside her if we are in a certain situation, not-.”

The explosive sound was followed by a few juveniles in saggy pants and street clothes running for their lives in fear as Shawn went towards the sound of the explosion. Upon arrival, the smoke was beginning to clear up as Shawn began to see who was the one that somehow caused this.

It was a Mint haired girl with Golden Eyes and had her hair tied in the back like a ponytail. She wore a light green shirt with a lyre patch sewn on the right side of the shirt across her waist along with some shorts and closed toe sandals. From her position on the ground, she looked at Shawn with a scared expression on her face and a bleeding hand.

At that moment, the sounds of the worried Wonderbolt over the phone were drowned out in Shawn’s head and replaced with the words of the scared girl. In the middle of it all, he only said one word to Soarin as he told him to put the phone on speaker. “Listen.”

The Conduit now sat down in a folded crossed legs position, which frightened the girl.

“What’s your proof?” The girl asked in a scared tone. “Everypony who has seen me so far wants to capture me?”

“They… wanted to turn me into some… “DU...P?” I think… because they think I’m a… Terrorist?” Lyra’s emotions began to get worse as she began to shed a few tears. Being scared was affecting her emotions, her thinking and her speech. Shawn himself held back a sigh to show some sympathy. Doing so, he asked his next question.

She nodded softly. Looking at her hands before looking back at Shawn, she asked him something. “You… won’t turn me in… will you?”

“No you’re more than that, but not a freak.” Shawn told her. “In fact, you’re just like me.”

Showing his hand, specks of snow began to swirl around his fingers as he healed the injuries to Lyra’s hand. Her eyes widened. She had not come across anypony else who had powers like her.

“I once thought the same way until I found friends that helped me. Speaking of friends, one of them wants to say hello.”

With that, Shawn put the phone on speaker and said “Go ahead”. She did not know what was going on. Lyra even thought that the snow conduit was talking to a thin brick.

The mint girls expression changed from scared to overjoyed in a snap! What was once her scared persona had now been tossed aside. Replaced by an overjoyed smile of happiness. Just one question remained.

Shawn could hear Soarin sigh over the phone. “You know the telephones that are being set up in Manehattan and across Equestria?”

“Think of this as their version of that, just portable. I’m back at Shawn’s house with Rainbow Dash and the Princesses.”

“That would be me.” The snow conduit said, answering her question. “Just hadn’t got the chance to introduce myself.”

“Anyways………” Soarin interjected in between the two of them. “I’m letting Shawn take you to us. It’ll be safe there. I promise.”

As the phone call was winding down, Shawn could see some sort of reflection of light bounce off the ground. It was odd. This kind of reflection would only happen if light bounced off some sort of…

Turning around, the snow conduit hung up the phone and saw what he had personally feared. A self created mirror and someone stepping out of it like Bloody Mary. The figure was sleek, but Shawn could not tell if it was male or female because of the black jacket hood that covered it’s face.

“I don’t believe I can let you just take any lost Conduit you can find, Snow Angel.”

Shawn’s powers now came to life in his hands. This individual fitted the exact description Celestia had told her the other day. “You’re the one who’s been kidnapping those Equestrians, aren’t you!?!”

“On the contrary. You see boy, I don’t do anything unless I have a reason to do so.” The conduit shot back. The shards of a broken mirror now formed around the hooded individual’s hands. It looked like this one wanted to fight.

“Ho ho… Silly boy. That’s now how you ask the mirror that knows all.” The sharp feminine voice retorted.

With that, more shards of broken mirrors began to charge violently around her hands. It looked like she was going to fire a barrage of shards as she lifted her hands towards the two of them. Lyra was pleading for Shawn to do something in order for him to protect himself and he did so, but it wasn’t something that she (or the Hooded Conduit for that matter) expected.

To Lyra’s surprise, the tactic actually worked. It was based on a mental observation from the Snow Conduit on one of the lines that the Mirror Mistress had said a few moments ago about being a mirror that knows all. Reminding the teen of the the mirror in Snow White and the Huntsmen, Shawn gambled on the belief that asking the assailant a question in the same fashion would get him some much needed answers out of her. The broken mirror shards fell to the ground as the cloaked figure grinned.

This boy was smart. But she honestly didn’t think he would figure it out so soon.

“Clever little sneak.” She said, “I can’t tell you my name te because it’ll ruin all the fun. But if you want an Alias to call me back, Janus would be fine.” She pointed her hand forward again, but showed four fingers held upward.

The conduit coughed and cleared his throat. Trying to summon the rhyme for his next question like he was performing for an on stage recital.

Again, the mirror conduit was impressed by the words as well as the question. She cleared her throat a little and then began to explain.

“I only bring those that I see to have powerful talents. I don’t need the Elements of Harmony or some solution to fix all problems. I just look for those that have a special talent to be explored. To be able to discover more about.” The Hooded figure then pointed a finger at Lyra as she began to speak again. “For example, Lyra’s materialization based magic back where she is from allowed her to have ESP and Energy Creation powers.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow; testing the theory by concentrating the same way she would concentrate when casting her magic back in Equestria. Within seconds, the Lyre that she was thinking about based on her cutie mark formed in her hands from a mint green colored energy. For Shawn, his thought of her powers being based on Green Lantern were confirmed based on what just happened.

“As for the second part,” Janus continued. “there isn’t a need to be bringing anyone else. I already have enough people here. The hard part for you will be finding them.”

“Well, who they are, you need to find out for yourself. No need to spoil the fun.” The Hooded girl retorted again. “As for where… Well… They can be anywhere. Different Towns, Different States, Different countries. It all depends really. Sometimes, not everyone stick together.”

‘Damn it.’ Shawn mentally cursed to himself. He didn’t get anything useful from that last question. Now he had two more questions to ask and he did not know how to start. Before he could say anything though, Lyra jumped the gun as she formed a question in her head before the snow conduit had time to think.

Upon realizing this, Shawn noticed that the Mint colored girl brought up a very good point. No one… or nopony for that matter, knew how many were brought here by this conduit. But the question seemed like one that he wasn’t sure that Janus would answer. But nevertheless, he prepared himself just in case she did.

“Lets see… You three there… another three there… another two over there… The grand total is twelve. This however, does not include the royal sisters since they came on their own; but it does include the three you found and the two that Delsin Rowe boy found.”

Janus sighed, smiling. Showing the sharp pieces of mirror glass, the conduit made them levitate and glimmer with a bit of sunlight Shining around her. Instantly, Multiple mirages of Janus took form in front of Janus and around both Shawn and Lyra, surrounding them and cutting them off from any possible exits.

“Mirrors are my powers as they are doorways. But the reflection is also important. Just be glad that today, I’m letting you two live. However, it shouldn’t be me that you’re worried about.”

Before Shawn could say anything, she disappeared in a bright and blinding flash of light. When he and Lyra could see again, all that was left was a mirror shard with an attached note.

“Your fire of hope will no longer burn

as the Wheel of fate begins to turn.

For you now, conduit of Snow,

there is one thing you should know.

You need to be worry, not about me,

but more about the DUP

Someone will soon intervene

and let loose the one called Augustine

Shawn was stunned by the note, which acted like a prophetic doomsday message, but put it away once he felt Lyra tapping his shoulder. “Uh… We got company.”

Shawn looked up at what the fellow conduit was talking about. personally though, he was relieved. “Don’t worry, that’s my dad.”

The moment the flash went off, the Chief of Police came running into Kimball Park. He was already done with meeting his friend and was now looking for his son so they could go home. However, he did not expect a mint colored girl to be with him either.

“Dad, this is Lyra. She knows Soarin. As for what happened, we need to get back home.”

“We’re not safe out here. I’ll explain on the way, but right now, we got to head back. Celestia needs to hear about what happened.”

inFAMOUS: Second Storm

by FrostTheWolf

Chapter 9- My heartstrings come undone