Crossed Gears

by TheFoxern

8: Shatter

It hurt slightly to leave her after spending hours with her; hours spent skating around the castle simply talking to one another. The way she just sat and watched him slide away down the hall, with that slight smile on her face. She was...she was broken. “I will always side with my foals,” she had said. How long had she spent alone? How long had the world not believed in her, to the point that she reached such a state? He had seen madness first hand. Experienced it. Lived it. And he knew it when he saw it.

“Power corrupts,” he said slowly and took a deep breath. “In more ways than just moral outlook.” The main doors shut behind him and he only slid a short distance before he felt sick.

“Finally.” He could hear her claws click on the ice as she came towards him. “I was not sure if you were going to stay with her or not.”

Those sleek, jet black feathers hurt his eyes. That shiny black beak brought back memories of tearing. The raking of claws. He had let himself become too open to the past. But he refused to shut everything inside again. That was more painful. “Madam Raven.” He could not even come up with an insulting name. It had been beaten out of him to call her anything but that. “Unable to find your little friend?”

The look on her face was sickeningly amused. His heart was beating faster. “Ah if only you knew...there is so much that you do not know.” She was keeping her distance from him. Was she aware of his power? No...she was afraid to incur the wrath of the Snow Queen.

“If you are not going to enlighten me, go away.” He was trying to not be sick. His legs felt weak.

“No, I think not. Not either.” She was still giving him that look. What could he do? There had to be something. Something in his brain that would wipe that disgusting expression from her beak. “I was quite fond of Lady Evale, by the way. I was disappointed she could be killed so easily, by someone such as you.”

Then memories forced their way to the front, demanding to be paid attention to. He seized them. “I met your daughter.” That was the perfect line; the expression practically exploded from her face into anger. “She was doing quite well.” Ellis. It had been a shot in the dark, but he was fairly certain of it now that he saw Madam Raven again. She held the regal air that Madam Raven had had when he first met her. “Quite happy to be away from you.”

“You dare.” Her claws dug into the ice. Perhaps Copper had gone too far? He certainly went a long distance when the blast hit him and went still further when he hit the ice.

But Copper was used to taking a hit like that. She had magic, he'd fought things with magic. He was back up soon after hitting the ice. Being with the Snow Queen had...invigorated him. He felt a lot younger. “I dare? You're the one who's crazy.” It was a bad idea to make her mad but if he could push her correctly she would make mistakes. It was to the point where he almost dodged the second blow.

She was barreling down on him, the ice becoming black and tainted under her as magic flowed from her. “You impotent little thing. How dare you talk to me like that!” A third blow, again he almost avoided it.

“I will talk to you however I wish,” he said, as he got up again. “You have no control over me anymore. Nothing you can do-” she was towering above him now and the stench of her caught his words in his throat.

“You're so pathetic, Copper. What are you expecting to happen? Do you expect the Ice Queen to come save her little foal? Or perhaps you're depending on your lover Queen? That pathetic excuse of a changeling would not dare come near me.” The ice cracked as she reached out towards him. “Or perhaps...you expect your pathetic Princess to help you?” Something inside him was cracking now. “That bedridden bitch couldn't do a thing to save her own skin, let alone her pathetic dog-”

Anger welled within him, the likes that he had not felt before. The blow cracked through the air like a bolt of lightning, followed by a piercing screech from Madam Raven as she tumbled backwards.

“How dare you.” The ice cracked beneath his hooves as he walked towards Madam Raven. Blood was pooling around the mangled mess that had been her arm. “You are not allowed to talk about any,” the ice behind him jutted upward as it fractured and sought ways to get away from him, “of them.” Something inside him had broken. The mental dam that he had built inside over his life had crumbled in another spot. Everything that he had pushed inside. Everything that he had shut inside so that he could keep going. It was forcing itself upon him and he could do nothing to stop it.

Her breathing was ragged as she clumsily tried to mend her arm. “What...what did you do?”

“How should I know?” When had he ever felt this angry? This was pure rage. Hatred. He had never hated anypony this much. She was something that should not exist. She was something that deserved to die, for the pain and torment that she had caused to all those around her. And he realized that he was going to kill her. There was no question about it. He knew it, and from the look on her face, she knew it as well.

With her uninjured arm, she threw some sort of magic at him but he struck it and it shattered in the air; bits of it scattered around, leaving little puffs of smoke. “Where did you get this power?” she panted, trying to back away but slipping on her own blood.

This is what he had gotten, he knew that now. This was the power that the Pony of Gears had given him to defeat Sombra. His rage was blinding now. He could see nothing but her as he approached and the closer he got the smaller she seemed. He got closer, until he was the one towering over her. “If I could give you a fraction of the torment you've given, I would. But I am not cruel and your death,” he reared up, “will be quick.”

Everything shattered.

He screamed, not because of the pain, even though the water burned, but because of anger. She was gone. He thrashed in the water, screaming. Ice formed around him but it exploded in his fury. Cracks formed in the water around him, quickly to be filled back once again. He flailed and shouted as he sank slowly to the bottom. Eventually he was out of breath and too tired to move.

His hooves touched the sand and slowly he collapsed onto it, breathing heavily. He closed his eyes, panting. “I can't do this anymore...” He could hold nothing back anymore. Tears ran down his face as he laid it against the wet sand. So much pain. Too much sorrow. Suffering. Loss. Torment. He stared at the bubble that was around his head, as red streaks of water flowed past. His gaze wandered to the sand and then up the trail of blood. He was bleeding. Badly it looked. He could feel nothing but the burning of the water.

When he looked down at himself, he could see that his scars had split and were bleeding. Would he bleed to death or freeze to death first? He wasn't sure. Before he lost consciousness, he felt the vagueness of rising and the loss of thought.

~

Suddenly all of it was gone and he was looking inside of some sort of a machine. It took him a moment to remember what he was doing but Chrysalis was glad to remind him. “Well? If it's so safe, start it up.”

He had to mentally shake himself. “Give me a moment. This is delicate work and these are cheap tools.”

She scoffed and sat down across from him. “I'm sure it is.”

It took several minutes, silent for the most part, excluding Chrysalis's overdramatic sighs of exasperation. There were quite a lot of similarities. Despite how part of him felt because of this body, he was enjoying her company.

There was a click and the eyes shot open. They looked around in an almost panicked manner, before stopping on Copper and staring. “Yup,” he said, looking down at the clockwork. His hand pointed to where the clockwork had stabbed him. “You got me pretty good but not good enough.” Its eyes did not leave him. He wondered how they worked; how it interpreted what it saw. “You're still pretty busted up, I'm not sure if you can even hear me.”

“Copper.” Its eyes shot to Chrysalis as she spoke. “It's a clockwork. That's not how they work.”

“Well, it can hear.” It looked back at him. “Or is registering we're speaking, since it keeps looking at the speaker...can you speak?” He leaned over it, looking over its face. It seemed...capable of expressions, though they seemed basic. Right now it seemed stuck in 'frown' mode. “Not speaking to me? Or did I break that?” He picked up a tool, examining it in an almost wistful way. “I could tinker until I fix it...or break it more...or-”

“Keep that away from me,” the clockwork said. Its voice sounded surprisingly normal, though it sounded as if it was speaking through an empty can.

Chrysalis' jaw dropped and she stared at it.

“Ah, so you can speak.” He waved the tool vaguely back and forth, watching how it stared at it. “And you have some sort of self preservation...such a fascinating thing you are... What is your name?”

Chrysalis regained her composer and frowned at him. “Copper. It's a machine.”

“Doesn't mean it has no name. I name my creations.” He leaned over the clockwork, staring into its eyes. He had not even thought to look at them. “Now...what is your name? What are you called?”

It did not answer and after a moment, Copper realized why. He put the tool down. “Emily Mark Twelve Point Five Version B.”

“Emily...” Copper said, watching as her expression turned from 'frown' to a 'neutral' shape. “Thank you, Emily.” He straightened up a bit. “My name is Copper Feather. Did you know that?”

“Yes,” Emily said, staring at him. Chrysalis seemed stunned into silence. Everypony but Copper seemed to be at such a loss for words as of late.

“Why did you try and kill me?” For how serious a question it was, Copper asked it quite nonchalantly.

“You got in my way,” she said. Copper decided since it looked and sounded female, he would refer to it as such.

“What was your objective?” He again leaned down and watched her go back into 'frown' mode.

“Objective was to capture the pony known as Scootaloo at any cost. Use force as necessary, leave no witnesses.” He was surprised at how straightforward an answer that was.

“You're being quite helpful,” Chrysalis voiced what he was thinking. “Why?”

“My inhibitor is broken. I cannot refrain from answering questions unless in combat mode. Combat mode is only accessible when being threatened, or initiated during objective when threat is imminent.” Her gaze did not leave Copper and even though it was a machine, Copper knew that look. Somepony had put a lot of effort into her.

“Ask any questions you want,” he said, giving her a smile.

Back to neutral expression. “Why did you not destroy me?” Expression in first person, that felt important to Copper and so he made a mental note of it. “I attempted to murder you.”

“Yes well...you didn't,” he said as he looked back into her open chest, paying attention to how gears moved. “Ponies try to kill me all the time. I've stopped taking it personally.”

This got a look from both of them. “What?”

He blinked. “What? I'm not a very popular pony amongst certain groups. It's hard to go a few days without somepony trying to murder me.”

“Data error... Subject: Copper Feather, ex-military, ex-detective. Drunkard. Threat: none,” Emily recited, as if reading from a list.

He laughed, which got a look from both of them again. “Not anymore. That Copper is gone. But that's beside the point. What is the status of your objective?”

“Objective failed. New objective: await retrieval,” she said, once again sounding like she was reading it from a list. Copper half expected to look at the ceiling and see it written there.

“Await retrieval by who?” That was the important question.

“Retrieval will most likely be by another Emily.”

That wasn't the answer he was looking for, so he decided to ask directly. “Who wanted you to retrieve Scootaloo?”

“Unknown. Anonymous contractor.”

He was almost frustrated at this point. “Who. Built. You.”

Her eyes seemed to glaze for a moment. “Access denied. The Creator builds all. The Creator knows all. Access denied. Shutting down.” Her eyes snapped shut and everything inside stopped moving.

There were several seconds of silence, in which Copper pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “That was useless,” Chrysalis said finally, leaning back in her chair.

“For the most part, yes. Though we know more than we did. Just not enough for it to be useful...” He reached into her head and unhooked the last thing he had done. He did not want her starting back up without him.

“Still. Useless. Are you gonna get rid of it now?” She was looking from it, to him.

He looked at her, wondering if she had gone mad. How could he get rid of something so flawless as this? It was...near perfection. It was a machine like nothing he had ever seen. He would be more inclined to hack off his own leg. “No. There's more I can learn from it.”

“Copper...it's dangerous to have something like this around...you can't-”

“What do you care?” he snapped, glaring at her. “You left me. Him. You left him. You abandoned me,” he shook his head, “him. You abandoned him when he needed you. You let him become what he was when I got him. He is broken emotionally. He had no friends aside from Corser and Scootaloo. And if I had not been here, he would be dead and Scootaloo would be gone.” She remained silent, staring at him. “You have no right to lecture me on what I can and cannot do, after the things that you have done.” He lifted Emily up quite gently and moved her back to the closet. Now that he had spoken with her, she felt more like a pony than a machine. That was odd.

“I had my reasons...”

He spun on her and opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He placed Emily down and closed the door. “Perhaps you did. I don't know what sort of goodbye you gave him, if any...all I know, is the pain and heartbreak that he feels. Both of which I feel were undeserved.” He was staring at the closet door, trying to keep himself calm.

She put her arms around him and he tensed up. “I'm sorry. I had no choice...”

“And now...now you have a choice?” He wanted to shrug her off, to push her away.

“Now there is no choice but to come back...” She raised her left hand so that he could see that upon a finger she had a single ring. He knew it immediately and its subtle beauty. “There were too many things to do before I could...a queen simply does not just...get married...”

Now he understood the heartbreak. Why the thought of her caused him pain. He had proposed to her. “You could have told him.”

“Told him what?” She was clinging tightly to him. Perhaps she did love him? “Told him that I was queen of some creepy species that feeds off the love of others? What would he have done? I would have had to show him to convince him...and I do not think that would have ended well.”

“I don't know what he would have done.” Though a few ideas came to his mind. He would have either accepted it or...or shot her. “But you should have at least tried.” He pulled away from her now, moving back to his desk. He ran his fingers through his hair as he sat down.

“You do not know the kind of pony you were.”

“No. No I don't.” He pushed something across the table absentmindedly. “But the more I learn, the less I like of him.” There was a long drawn out silence before he spoke again, “Now. Do you know how to find the Doctor?”

She folded her arms under her bust, looking at him. There was a long, fairly drawn out silence, before she sighed, “Yes. I do know how to find him.” There was hesitation. “Or...well, I know where to look anyways. He's not easy to find. Especially when you're looking for him.”

“And that would be where?” Copper was a little annoyed she was drawing this out so much. There must have been something that happened between her and the Doctor to make her this hesitant.

“London,” she said, averting her gaze. “At least, that's always where I've seen him...”

His eyes wandered to the closet. Clockworks. “I guess I have to go to London then.” It was not a very difficult decision. But he sighed. How would he do that? Perhaps... “Burrasca...”

The frown on her face was something to be marveled at. “I do not like that you are helping him. Don Burrasca is a criminal.”

“So am I,” Copper said, gesturing to the closet vaguely. “Just having that makes me one as far as Corser is concerned.” He slumped slightly in his chair and took a deep breath. He just felt exhausted mentally. He needed distractions. “I will have to talk to him. I'm sure he and I can work something out.” Suddenly he got up again. “Thanks for visiting but I've got work to do.”

She stared at him. “Copper...what are you doing?”

He grabbed his coat from the hook, though he hesitated a moment. “I don't know anymore...moving forward, I think.” He put the coat on; even though it was slashed up it would still work just fine. “I don't know anymore. At this point nothing really makes sense to me. I just keep going and going. Pushing forward. I'm not sure if there's any point to any of it anymore.” He placed his hand on the gun under his coat. It gave him some sort of comfort. It would not be left behind again.

“And then what? What happens when you're done and there's no forward anymore?” She was very close to him now.

“There is always a forward.” He looked back at her. “Always. It does not end. There is always more to do.”

“You'll kill yourself going like that,” she said softly. She actually looked very concerned.

There was a moment of silence, before he opened the door. “It wouldn't be the first time.” He closed the door behind him, letting the door separate her and him.

~

It was not hard to find The Cat’s Cradle, especially in the daylight. The walk did him good as well. He focused entirely on walking, not letting any of his thoughts wander. Left, then right. Left, then right. He hardly noticed the strange looks he was getting, though eventually it was hard to ignore them. When he got to The Cat’s Cradle Copper simply pushed past the bouncer, who made no attempt to stop him.

The two griffons at the back door did not so readily move out of the way. “The Don isn't seeing anyone today.”

“I'm sure he'll make an exception for me.” He opened his coat, showing both the bloodied bandages as well as his gun. There was no reason to hide it. “Just tell him I need to talk with him.”

There was a slight hesitation, before the griffon on the right moved through the door.

“Ah, Copper.” He turned to see Lyra. “I have to say, that I am ever so grateful for-” she stopped as she took a good look at him. “I...are...are you all right?”

He smiled a bit and nodded. “Oh yes. Fine for the most part.” He wanted to say somepony tried to kill me last night, that's all. But he didn't. It seemed in poor taste.

“Uhm...what happened?” She moved closer, touching the holes of his coat tenderly.

It was odd to see Lyra with such concern on her face. He had not seen her like that before. “Just got into a bit of trouble last night.”

“But you're all right...yeah?” Behind her, he could see Symphony talking to a group to the side of the stage.

He tried to position himself so that Lyra was between him and her. There was this feeling that her seeing him like this would not end well. “Yeah. I'm fine. How is Octavia and the group getting along?”

“Oh they are absolutely wonderful. You should have seen the crowd we had...and the cheering...” Now she had a blissful expression, which was much better than that look of concern. “Oh I simply cannot wait for tonight. It is going to be-”

“Don Burrasca will see you.” The griffon had returned, though he did not look happy at all. Apparently he had been talked at quite a bit before being able to explain why he was there.

“We'll have to put this on hold a bit I'm afraid.” He smiled at her. “I shall see you in a while, Lyra.” He moved through the doors quickly as he caught Symphony moving towards them. Then it was just a quick walk down the hall up to Burrasca's door, which he opened without bothering to knock.

“I know that we are comfortable with each other Copper, but you cannot simply barge-” he stopped immediately, seeing the shape he was in.

“Forgive my lack of formality.” He closed the door behind him and leaned against it. “But somepony sent a clockwork after Scootaloo.” He could see Burrasca's feathers ruffle immediately. “And it tried to kill me as well.” He sat down across from him. It was good to sit.

“A...a clockwork. You are sure?” He didn't move, staring at Copper.

“It's in my closet if you don't believe me. We could go have a look.” Copper tried to not to sound too rude.

“No...I do not think that will be necessary. Though it is rather unfortunate that something such as a clockwork not only got into New York without me knowing...but also attempted murder,” Burrasca said as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and steepling his fingers.

“Someone built it. And someone apparently contracted that creator to kill me,” Copper said as he relaxed in the chair. It was a bit too comfortable all things considered.

Burrasca arched a brow at him. “And how, pray tell...do you know that?”

“I asked it.”

There was a drawn out silence, in which Burrasca was obviously waiting for Copper to explain, but he was in no mood to. “I see...” It was obvious he didn't. “You are a most curious individual. But, I must ask: where is Scootaloo?”

“She is doing errands. I don't know what. Didn't ask.” He could stay in this chair forever.

“With someone hunting her down. You simply let her go?” There was a certain tone in Burrasca's voice that Copper didn't like.

“A fact she is more than aware of. But I am glad to see you still have such concern for her. You have done a fine job in raising her,” Copper said it and actually meant it.

Burrasca did not seem to think of it that way. “I have done what I could for a child whom is not mine. She had gone through a lot.”

“I am more than aware of that,” he said, thinking back to how forceful that memory had been.

“She told you? I did not think she remembered...she never mentioned it to me.” He almost seemed offended, as though Scootaloo telling Copper something, and not him, was an insult.

“No. I was there.” It was time to show a bit of his hand. Show Burrasca that he knew more than he did.

It took Burrasca almost a minute of staring and opening and closing his mouth; his face scrunching up in odd ways as he wrestled thoughts. Finally, he cleared his throat. “It is not often that I am caught off guard to such a degree, Sergeant.”

“My military days are long behind me. My title is Detective now, if any.” He tried very hard to not let the tiredness seep into his voice.

“Still...I understand now why you treat me with such familiarity.” Something had changed about the way that Burrasca looked at him. It was one of respect, but now it had gone a step further. Closer to...admiration. “I'm truly sorry I did not recognize you.”

“I've changed a lot.”

“But...wow.” Burrasca actually sat up straight and Copper noticed now that he had been slumped in the chair. “I have wanted to thank you for that day. You are the very pony who gave me inspiration.”

Copper's brow furrowed. “Inspiration?”

“I suppose it may have looked different from your side but...but to us...” It dawned on Copper how much younger Burrasca must be to him. In his memory, he looked very young. “To us...we were losing hope...and then suddenly...out of the smoke, comes a figure. The city burning and collapsing around him...but that determined look on your face. I will never forget it. The look as though all of it was a mere inconvenience.” This was a side of Burrasca he would have never imagined. One that he was sure nopony had ever seen. “I could never describe the feeling that I had at that moment.”

He was smiling. Truly smiling. It looked as though years were melting off of him. He was obviously much younger than he pretended to be. Suddenly he sank back and immediately after the door burst open. “I don't care what Burrasca said! Move out of my way!” It was Symphony, no mistake. “Now where is- Copper!” She rushed over to him. Well, more stomped out of annoyance towards him. “Lyra said you'd been shot!”

“No. Just stabbed.”

The silence that followed seemed to last a very long time. Minutes, as Symphony stared in disbelief at him, glancing over at Burrasca and back several times. And it was broken by the sound of laughter coming from Burrasca. “Goodness. How nonchalant. Do you often get stabbed?”

“Not often, no,” Copper said with a smile. “But it's ok. I'm fi-” his words caught in his throat as he grit his teeth.

“Don't give me that!” Symphony was jabbing him. “You should be in the hospital! Why aren't you in the hospital?!”

He grabbed her wrist, taking deep breaths. “That...that really hurts.” She recoiled immediately, as if realizing what she was doing. He shrugged open his coat, showing the mass of bandages. “I think you popped a stitch...”

“See? This is why you need to go to the hospital,” she continued, though her voice had lost the sharp edge it had had now that she saw it.

“Nah. Scootaloo's good enough with a needle.” He looked down as the red on the bandages began to spread. “Ah...yeah...I think you popped a stitch.”

“I'm...I'm sorry...” She was staring at it. He was fairly certain he had never seen Symphony like this.

“I'm fine. Just need to rebandage and such,” he said and got up. He looked at Burrasca.

“Yes yes, down the hall to the left. Plenty of medical supplies in there,” he said as he waved a hand vaguely.

Copper smiled and headed out of the room. “Thank you Burrasca. Oh and before I go...shall I assume that you will help me and Scootaloo-”

Then she was there, out of breath. “I told you not to go anywhere!” she said, glaring at him. “And look what happened. You probably reopened your wound. That's just great.”

He couldn't help but chuckle. “One moment Scootaloo, I'm trying to do some business,” he turned back to Burrasca. “Can you get us to London?”

There was a hushed silence in the room, mostly out of sheer confusion. But he finally responded, “Yes. I will get you, Scootaloo and the thing in your closet, to London. It just so happens that I need something done in London.” Copper gave him a look and he smiled at him before continuing. “Nothing illegal. I just need someone to retrieve my daughter.”

“Gilda.”

Again there was silence, but this time stunned. “How...” He shook his head. “No, I should not question the things that the great Detective Feather knows...but yes. Gilda. I am not sure if she is in trouble, but she has not been talking to me.”

“So you want me to go and get her and bring her back here to New York.” He realized his coat was still open and fixed it back over his shoulder.

“Essentially.”

“Sounds easy enough. I'd like to leave-”

Scootaloo cut him off. “A month. At least. You need time to heal, since you won’t go to the hospital. Now, come. We have to rebandage you.” She practically pulled him from the room and was followed by Symphony. “Chrysalis is gone, by the way,” she said as they entered a room that quite frankly looked like a hospital room.

“I'm sure she is.” That soured his mood quite a bit. He was just starting to feel a bit better about everything and then she had to bring up her. “Not surprised...”

“I'm not even going to ask what happened between the two of you.” She pushed Copper onto the seat and began unwrapping his bandages.

“Good. Because I'm probably not going to talk about it.” He closed his eyes and waited for any sort of pain to come. But Scootaloo was quite an expert, undoing bandages and reapplying them with ease.

“I'm sorry Copper.” Symphony's voice seemed to pull him back from wherever his mind was about to go.

“It's fine. They were going to need to be redone anyways.” He wasn't sure if that was true but Scootaloo didn't retort; she simply continued to work. But apparently from the looks of the stitches they hadn't reopened. “But enough about me, how are Octavia and Frederick?”

“Honestly, they're doing great.” There was a bit of hesitation. “Octavia keeps asking about you. Wondering when you'll come to visit.”

Suddenly Copper felt bad. Very bad. He had left without saying goodbye to her and had simply left her here. “Is she here now?” When he thought about it, he actually would very much like to see her. He wondered if this Copper had had feelings for her. He wouldn't have doubted it.

“Yeah. She's in the prep room, eating I think.” That reminded him how hungry he was. How long had it been since he had eaten in either world? Too long.

“Food sounds really good...” he said, rubbing his stomach, which growled.

Scootaloo looked at him. “I think I agree with your stomach,” she said with a smile. “You need to eat.” She backed away and rubbed her hands together. “All right. That should do it for now, just...take it easy.”

He smiled at her and nodded. “All right. I will. Now,” he stood up, picking up his jacket. “Let us go and say hello to the rest, shall we?”

To say that Octavia was happy to see him was an understatement. Copper really wondered what their relationship had been before he had come. She fussed over him quite a lot. Of course she was really worried about the knife wound and the many cuts that he had. There was talk of her getting him a new coat. But she didn't seem to find it weird that he did not go to the hospital. In fact, she didn't even mention a hospital at all.

She looked fantastic, better than he- or this Copper- had ever seen her. There was no sullen expression. There was no tired eyes. She looked happy. Happy to be there, happy to have a place to live, happy to have a place to stay and happy to see him.

Even Frederick was happy to see him. They all ate together and everything felt good. Despite the stab wound.

~

Darkness. Darkness and warmth. A lot of warmth. To the point where it was almost uncomfortable. There was also quite a lot of pain and numbness. Was this being dead? He couldn't quite be sure. It wouldn't be good to base all future experiences with dying on one time. But then again, he could remember very little about the event. Was it warm? He remembered that it was. Though that could have just been the fire. He opened his eyes and was a little caught off guard at the sight of the inside of cloth.

He coughed and closed his eyes again. He groaned slightly as he shifted. “Sh sh...” A hoof was placed on top of him and stroked his mane gently. “It is all right, my little one...” The Snow Queen. He could not help but relax. Though he was a little uncomfortable at the fact he was unable to see. But otherwise he felt...safe, of all things.

But he could not stop crying. “I just don't know what to do anymore...” She was still stroking his mane. It dawned on him that what he was seeing was bandages. Of course they were wet now. He reached back to undo them and found that his right leg would not move. It was a bit of a struggle and he only managed to get it off when the Snow Queen helped him. “How long have I...I been asleep?” His entire leg was bandaged, but not only that...he could see the odd magical glow.

“A long time, my dear.” He looked up into the immensely concerned face of the Snow Queen. “I was worried that you would not wake up.” She leaned and nuzzled him. “You are so lucky that you have such a gift.” She touched his bowtie, where the little stone in the center sat rather unimpressedly.

He closed his eyes and leaned into her. It was odd how such little affection could somehow make everything feel better. Now it didn't matter. Was she really his mother? He doubted it. But for the moment...for now...just for a while...it would be all right to just say that she was. Because right now...

That is what she was.

Author's Note:

((Chapter edited by Amneiger))

Comments

[Razzy]

Even when Copper has the advantage of raw power, Raven still plays him like a fiddle. Do more griffons have magic powers in your verse, or just her? It'd be awesome if there wad more of them.

Poor Noir Chryssie.

I just hope Copper eventually ends up with Chryssie for good.

Cya
Raziel-chan

[TheFoxern]

6789417 I like to think that changelings are just like ponies for the most part, so they feel emotions and everything just like regular ponies.

As for Madam Raven, her magic comes from a sort of genetic defect that in my verse can occur in griffons. It gives them a powerful aura as well as. Due to the things that she's done to Copper (you'll learn more on this later), that aura makes him physically ill.