Welcome to the Club, Precious
Elma couldn't help it. She chuckled slightly, nevertheless bestowing Kera a confused expression. "Fix you? What... wh-what do you mean, child?"
"Please..." Kera sniffled, trying her best to stand up straight as another tear rolled down her face. "You can do it. I know you can. You've done it before."
"I... I don't know what you mean..."
"Don't... grkkk..." Kera hissed, her upper body heaving in anguish. She stumbled, but caught herself with an oustretched hoof in time to sputter: "D-don't play d-dumb! You're the reason I'm here. You're the reason I'm talking... walking... living."
Elma stared at her. After a deep breath, she murmured, "Kera..."
"I need you to fix me! Right n-now!" Kera began hyperventilating, her knees wobbling. "Don't make me beg you."
"What I did was very impulsive and dangerous," Elma said. "I nearly hurt myself very badly. And to what end?" She tried smiling reassuringly. "Kera, it was your inner strength that kept you preserved all this time. All I did was pull the wool out from over your eyes. Being 'fixed' has nothing to do with it—"
"But you did it!" Kera shrieked. "You totally did! And it's... it's fading..." Kera gave the walls a five thousand mile stare as her breaths came in tiny little squreaks. "I can feel the fire again. I can smell the blood." Her ears folded as she started backing up from everything and nothing. "He's coming... he's coming to g-get me..." Sparks billowed out from her horn. Everything that wasn't bolted down inside the navigation room lifted slowly into the air. "I can see his eye in the starlight... like a beacon... and he's going to f-find me!"
Elma panicked. She batted floating books away, rushed forward, and grasped Kera's shoulders. "Kera! Please! Concentrate! You mustn't—!"
"Eeenngh!" Kera lightly batted Elma's forelimb. The changeling flew across the room as if launched by a cannon. As Elma's vision returned, she looked up to see Kera stumbling against the door to the engine room. By now, the bulkheads were rattling from the sheer energy wafting off of the filly's horn. "Fix me! Quick! Before he makes another pony suffer!" She sobbed into her curled hooves while her mane billowed behind her. "I don't him to get Mommy and Daddy! It's all my fault! It's all m-my f-f-fault!"
"K-Kera...!" Elma winced. She saw the rivets jostling on the doorframe to the engine room. Cursing under her breath, she briskly spun around and climbed up the vertical passageway to the Noble Jury's second floor.
Pilate's ears twitched. Seconds later, his blind eyes opened. He sat up in bed, holding his breath.
"Nnnngh... guh... b-beloved...?" Bellesmith murmured drowsily, turning over beneath the covers. "What... mmmf... what is it...?"
"Do you hear that?"
"I l-left my magical zebra senses b-back in Ledomare, Pilate..."
"Belle, I... I think the ship is shaking?"
"Mmmm?" Belle looked up, eyes thin as paper slits. "Maybe Roarke is finally taking her aggressions out on Zaid."
"Belle, I'm serious..."
With a creak, the door to the cabin flew open.
"Who—?!" Pilate gasped.
Belle looked over, squinting. "Elma...?" She sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Elma Boreal? What's the matter?"
"Please..." Elma stammered between panting breaths. "You two need to come down to the navigation room. Quick."
"What's going on, Elma?" Pilate asked, stretching his hooves and swinging out of his cot. "You sound terribly distraught."
Belle blinked. The bleariness flew out of her eyes in a flash. "Kera...!" She reached to the wall, lit the lamp, and glanced up at the empty bunkbed above them. Jaw agape, she looked at Elma.
Elma merely bit her lip.
Belle flew out of bed and scampered into the hallway.
"Belle!" Pilate wheezed, stumbling to catch up. Elma held his hoof and led him carefully towards the vertical chamber. "Belle, don't go alone!"
"He's right, Belle!" Elma called out.
Belle was already sliding down the ladder between the observation room and navigation. Before she even reached the bottom floor, a strong wave of mana shoved her off the rungs. Her body flew heavily into the makeshift barrier erected in the doorframe to the observation room. "Oooof!" She rolled onto the ground, her mane kicked by an otherworldly wind. She looked up—wincing—and saw a pulsating source of green light inside the navigation room.
"Blessed Spark..."
"Belle! How bad is it?!" Pilate shouted from above.
Elma's voice interrupted. "I'm sorry, Belle! She just came to me after I was finished talking with Eagle Eye! I didn't even realize she had entered the room!" The changeling carefully made her way down with Pilate. The two picked Belle up and braced themselves against the waves of telekinesis. "She asked me to 'fix her!' The poor thing was so frightened and confused! Suddenly, before I knew it, she was starting to have a panic attack!"
"That's one way of putting it!" Pilate exclaimed, then bravely trotted towards the doorway. "Kera! Kera, darling! Please, calm down! We're here, Kera! Everything's going to be alright!"
"Nnnnnghhh!" Kera was curled up in a little ball on the floor, gnashing her teeth as books and blankets and shredded map parts swirled around her. "Mommmmmmy! Dadddddyyy! He's killing everypony! I can't stop him!"
"Oh Spark..." Belle grimaced, her eyes tearing into the magical wind. "She's relapsing."
"I b-beg to differ, beloved," Pilate said, shading himself with an oustretched hoof. "I don't believe she's ever stopped drowning in it."
"She came so close to begging me to help her again." Elma gulped. "Perhaps... p-perhaps it would be for the best if I—"
"No!" Belle frowned. "That is not the solution! Not for you! Not for her!"
"But... but maybe if you just let me—"
"Pilate!" Belle called over Elma's shoulder. "Can you get in there?"
"Yes!" Pilate said through gritting teeth as he trudged bravely against the telekinesis. "I do believe so!"
"If we can just get to her, maybe we can comfort her!" Belle said.
"I'm... tr-trying...!" Pilate marched and marched... and slipped.
Belle braced his body with her own, giving him leverage. "Here, Pilate. T-together!"
"Kera! We're here!" Pilate exclaimed, practically tugging himself one hoof at a time into the center of the magical maelstrom. "Darling, you can relax! You're no longer in Lerris! Nopony is in Lerris! Most expecially you!"
"He won't stop for n-nothing!" Kera squealed. "Mommy! Daddy! You have to go away!"
"We're not leaving you, Kera!" Pilate shouted in a determined voice. "Don't you fret! Your mother and father will be right th—"
"Pilate."
The zebra's ears tilted back towards Bellesmith. His name had barely been whispered against the cocophony. Both mates knew that only he could hear it.
With a neutral expression she said, "We cannot feed it anymore."
Pilate clenched his jaw tight.
"I know it will hurt her," Belle said.
Pilate hung his head. Then, after a heavy breath, he lunged forward, gripping the doorframe to steady himself. "Nnnnngh—Kera!"
"D-Daddy?!" Kera yelped above the noise.
"Kera, they're dead!"
The little foal's eyes popped wide—glowing.
The zebra struggled to shout, "Mommy and Daddy are dead!" He took the blow of a book slapping across his metal plate and grunted, "They died years ago, Kera! You couldn't save them any more than you could save Lerris! But none of it was your fault!" He barely dodged a desk lamp flinging past his skull. "And you know what?! You overcame that tragedy! Your strength and charisma carried you out of that pit and brought you into our arms! Me! Pilate! My beloved! Belle! You came to us and you saved us!"
Kera hyperventilated, lips trembling. "But... b-but..." She gulped. "Mom... Dad... th-they... th-they..."
"They're gone. But you're not! And neither are us!" Pilate hollered. "Kera, please!" He clawed across the floor with his forelimbs and tugged himself towards her with Belle in tow. "Come back to us! We need you! We need the brave little filly again!"
"I... I-I can't..."
"Nothing hurts more than knowing how helpless one can be!" Pilate shouted. "But listen to me! Trust me! There is strength on the other side! You just have to be brave enough to cross it! Nopony else can bridge it for you! Don't stay alone in the dark where our love can only barely reach you!"
"Just... just feel so..." Kera's teeth gnashed. "So... so..."
Pilate nodded. "I feel angry too! And sad!" Pilate stretched a hoof out. "Welcome to the club, precious. Induction is the worst and most painful part..."
Kera's body shook, quivered, and heaved. With a low pitched roar at first, then ascending into a violent wail, she yelled for a good twenty seconds. Every floating bit of debris flew outwards like particles from an exploding atom, colliding with the walls and falling limply to the floor as the green pulsing manastorm finally ended.
All was silent, save for Kera's quiet sobs.
Gathering his breath, Pilate stood up straight with Belle's help. Both rushed into the center of the room and scooped Kera up into their arms, holding her close.
"Kera, I'm so sorry. We're going to get through this, darling," Belle said, nuzzling the filly. "I promise you. You're a strong little pony. You can take on anything."
"It's so horrible..." Kera whimpered, covering her eyes with a pair of hooves. "Every time I dream. Every time I see darkness. He's there."
"We can't allow him to haunt us forever, Kera," Pilate said. "We have to live past the anguish. We have to show that he's not won."
"Just... so... so mad..." Kera hiccuped, burying her face in Belle's chest. "So stupid..."
"Nothing stupid about needing to find yourself," Bell murmured, kissing her forehead. "No matter how many steps it takes..."
Kera said nothing. She simply shivered, surrendering to Belle's and Pilate's embrace.
Eventually, the door to the engine room opened up, and Props stumbled in, clutching a wrench. "Where?! Where are the windigoes?! Hmmm?" She slid her goggles up and blinked at the tender scene. "Oh. You guys. Did Kera eat the windigoes?"
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She accidentally a word.
I bet a future villain is going to take advantage of this emotional issue everyones' favorite little peach colored filly is having.
:(
I heard Windigoes are scooped and placed on a cone.
And comes with different flavors.
That last paragraph.
Poor Kera though.
Well, damn...
I'd never considered that there were some unresolved issues with her biological parents. I don't expect her problems to go away over night, but this was still a good step for her to take.
Holy mother of spit, I actually managed to catch up. 500,000 word binge, anybody?
4587244
Yeah, while they aren't gone yet, maybe this chapter is yet another step closer to finally KILLING Shell.
Seriously, he refused to die, and now he's hanging on 120-some chapters after he finally checked out. His tenacity would be admirable if not, you know, Shell.
Oh, Kera... Let the healing begin.
Villain Sue will always return, one way or another.
Damn, this is a great first step for her. Its going to be a long process that's for sure.
Kera the Windigo Eater: Coming soon to a Jury near you!
4587260
Congratulations! I remember reading 49 chapters – a total of 84 283 words – in a single day (depending on which definition of "day" you're using) to catch up. Good times.
Poor Kera. How old is she, again? I don't remember, but I have younger sister who acts and talks just like Kera.
Also, that part:
Eeeeeesh.
Y'know, even with the heavy amount of dialogue and short descriptions, I could see exactly what this looked like. (That's how you know it's good.)
Kera is pretty magically strong huh?
4587260
welcome to the club, precious
This is a natural assumption. Props is quite the detective.
4587182 Don't eat yellow Windigoes?
Blue don't you DARE use that for a chapter title
4587788 like an air to air nuke
I wonder if they will show up. Windegoes, I mean. (Or however you spell them.)
Damnit...so much for Shell finally being dead...
Relapse is approximately a function of the relative intensity and duration of the incident to the age and maturity of the victim.
On that scale, Kera got Lunad, and Shell is there with Sombra and Smooze.
Props is late to the party? Now thats a deep sleeper. Almost as deep as EE and Elmo.
Yet another chapter title that reminds me of a song not entirely appropriate for the mood:
Wow... Please pull through this Kera!
4587731 Please, she should be taking them out on Rainbow
Shell, die permanently. Please.
When Kera was rampaging, I thought that "Mommy and Daddy" were Pilate and Belle.
aaaaand moment ruined...........
Also, I was right about the mommy daddy thing! yay!
except that i totally thought i was wrong........ yay?
-SPirit
Thank you, Props. Your bit of comedy was a nice touch at the end,
4587689 I remember reading through Austraeoh, Eljunbyro, and most of Innavedr in 3 days.
Ugh... its too much drama, and it comes off as irritating to me. Shell is done, and I think anything more then a reference to him would've been too much IF he had died before Lerris. Now we're trapped with this emotional scarring and massive event in the story that must be addressed somehow. I hope this is the end of this Shell stuff.
Shell must be biologically similar to herpes.
4664270 I don't think you can fully appreciate just how traumatic Lerris has been for Kera. Not once, but twice has Kera had to deal with death in that town. First time, her parents were viciously beaten and pretty much killed in front of her. It was so long ago, she barely remembers it and so it does not affect her as much.
Second time, many years later, Shell took Kera. He burned down the entire town, one building at a time.
He Killed every single villager there. He ripped some to pieces. Burned others. Shot some more others. Any combination of the three, or any two of them, to some more.
With every single moment, he forced Kera to watch. She saw it all. She did not miss a thing. Her Home town! the only town she ever really knew or gave a damn about. So many happy memories. So many familiar faces. All were brought back to her when she came back to Lerris. But then Shell came in, and not only destroyed the town, but he utterly destroyed Kera's psychological image of the town. he tarnished -neigh, DESTROYED!- her memories of the town she once loved...
I don't think once, in all of human history, that exact type of thing has ever actually happened. Though theoretically, in the dark ages, it could have.
But No child can ever fully get over something that evil and traumatic. It haunts their memories. Their dreams. Their daily thoughts. Every moment of their lives...
Any lesser a pony, and Kera would have likely commited suicide. But she didn't.
I'm as sick of Shell as you are, but only through moments like this, does IC have ANY justification for bringing that monster up again.
I somehow doubt this will be the last time we see an episode from Kera about this. Though don't get me wrong, i do hope it is.
The curse that keeps on hurting. Let's hope Kera's will come to terms with her inner demons.
It never gets easier, but you learn to live with it better.
Yes, props, she ate the windigoes.
And now the true healing can begin, just like Pilate and Belle's all those chapters ago...
Now that we are done fixing Kera can we begin piecing back together my emotions induced by this series?
5132495 Preach.
10:31 p.m. MST 6/20/2017
5132495
I think Lerris cut some of US deep too
That would be...pretty friggin scary.
I can easily imagine this becoming a problem. And a bug one.
Keratin is very powerful, but right now she's as unfocused as ever.
8661395
So I'm guessing the words Mother and Father are triggers now?
I get it. She really was stuck back in time, but she didn't understand. Everytime she thought of the two words, she was confused because they are dead but Belle and Pilate are right there. They fed her delusions unwittingly until some point she'd light on the root of the problem
It's taking me a long ass time to read through this series, but by god, I'll catch up with everybody else one day! I'll read and read(and take breaks occasionally) until I will be able to finally comment with you guys!
9203326
I'm not alone! (this series is ridiculously long)
9211323
there is no "to late" to read this serie
10327930
Now that it's updating again, this is probably the best time in years to start.
Hopefully Kera can finally start healing. The poor kiddo needs it.