//------------------------------// // C5 - And Bite It Shall // Story: Trapped In Canterlot // by TartarusFire //------------------------------// Hours they slept. It was not until eight did their restful respite end. She stirred from her rest first, nudging Tracker on the snout as she twisted herself out of his grasp, making sure to scratch him with her horn. She felt off. Her sense of balance was hindered by vibrant colors assaulting her. No matter where she looked colors swirled with sharp clarity. Closing her eyes helped ease her sight, but she fell over onto her father as she lost balance. He woke as the soft thump shook his barrel. "Mmm. How you doing?" He looked down to his left, and saw her dull pinkish red colored fur. "What? Are you alright?" An alarm woke him up futher: her fur is normally a mute gray... Caedes slouched further into his side. "I.. Colors hurt." She let out an umph sound as she rolled over and pressed her face into Tracker’s soft coat. "I don’t feel too good..." "Let me see your eyes." The command was unsettling to her. "Noooo...." "Please? It’ll only take a second." She unburied her nose from him and placed her head sideways onto his leg. She looked up with amber eyes. "Can I close them? It’s t-too warmm.." A chill ran up his spine. Amber eyes. Her original eyes. It was happening again. *** She paced around lost in her thoughts. Angry, violent thoughts shifted and bubbled to the surface. Magic. He used magic on our daughter. She snarled. IS HE A FOOL? No, of course not. He’s an idiot. A traitor who wants more with fewer hardships. And we will all have to face the consequences of his mistakes. Magic here, magic there. It does not matter because we have a perfect solution! Imbecile. The more magic, ambient or otherwise could undo everything. She had been pacing in circles. Every day since her birth she had been in circles. And with direct magic... Damnation to her, all of our sacrifices, and suffering. *** "Just lay in bed sweetie, you’re just going to be sick for a few days. It’ll pass quickly. You’ve had this before," his words practically steamrolled Caedes. "You talk fast, daddy..." He levitated a blanket around her and laid her on a fresh pillow. "I’ll be back soon. Just try not to move too much!" *** Gone, in an instant, Tracker rushed to the other part of the house where the demon was at. But why do you always leave me for her..? Did I do something wrong? How many times have you done this? She rolled over with a sigh and noticed the pain of looking around had mostly gone away. Is it because. Because? Because you tricked me into thinking you love me? Why? Just why? I’m so tired of all this. *** "What’s wrong Tracker?" She could barely hide the sneer on her face. "Why do you look so worried?" There could only be one reason to be this worried. Nothing more troubled him than family matters. "I—Caedes, she’s.. She’s back." He had went to hug Empathy, but she side stepped out of his grasp. "Idiot. Why do you think we never spend time around her? Or... did you use magic on her?" It was as if he had looked into the eyes of a beast. "Tell me you didn’t use magic on her." He didn’t say anything. There was no need. "Damn it!" She bashed her hoof over Tracker’s horn. "Grab the Ingredients! I’ll start making what we already have!" May Cerberus have mercy on your soul Tracker. You’re going to Tartarus for this, and I’ll make sure to send you myself. Only a minute amount of ingredients came from the kitchen. Others were more.. exotic. Most of the came smoked and salted from the basement, along with a thick, brown cloth bag. A leaf of lettuce was thrown in for its nutritional properties. Most of everything else were things no pony should ever consume. They were told it was to help the process and to keep it from wearing off. "Quadruple the amount from the bag, Tracker. We have to stop this, TODAY." She smashed the cutting board in half. "Make sure she eats it all. We can’t have her break out completely, again." He nodded, subservient to the master of this plan, perhaps his life. Everything was in line with her. ...Until today he realized. The bowl bubbled as if it had been boiled. It was pitch black and as savory as liquid blackthorn. In short, it was the potent equivalent of ten meals of the regular gray gruel. "Caedes, I’ve got some." He paused, unsure of what it actually was. "Some medicine to make you better." He pushed the cracked door open. And found her on the floor, eating a piece of cake she had ripped off. It was slathered on her face after having forgone limited bites, having eating nothing for years except gruel. "You shouldn’t eat so much, Caedes. It’s late." He checked the clock; it was nine forty. "You won’t be able to fall asleep with that much sugar." "Don’t care." She buried herself into the next side of the small cake, ignoring him and his words. "Erm, in any case, this medicine will make you feel better." He put the bowl down on the scratchy carpet. "Eat up!" The words were muffled through the cake, but it was a definite tone of denial. He was taken aback, "Really?" Under normal circumstances, she would’ve begrudgingly accepted just due to the fact that he had asked. "Are you mad at me?" A grumbled replay was all he got. "I’ll take that as a yes." He walked around to get behind Caedes. "Come out of that cake now or I’ll drag you out." She did not elicit a response. "Okay then. You asked for it." He started to pull on her tail with magic, but he realized that she was pulling the cake with her. "Really? Come on!" He ripped the cake forward with magic while he held down on her tail, pinning her to the floor. Caedes’s face was covered with white icing and red bits of cake. And she was not happy. "Oh. Well." He sighed from the situation. "You do need to take your medicine sometime soon, soooo...." He scooted the bowl closer, waiting for her to go over and eat from it. And the bowl came a little closer. And closer. And it was at the tip of her muzzle. He nudged it between her lips and started to tilt it. Through the entire minute of urging her to eat from the black sludge, he had not moved. Her frown had only deepened. She was not happy. And when he tilted that bowl, she was very unhappy. His hoof was on the other side of the bowl, moving it upward, and now she hid under her bed. "Caedes?" His fetlock had a small indentation slowly turning red. "Did, you bite me?"