CH 11 - Only A Miracle
Four Nights Before The Storm
It was a cold winter night in Canterlot, the city’s streets were covered in thick sheets of cold, biting snow. The bitter wind washed away whatever warmth remained in those outside. Like that of a singular changeling nymph cowering under a cardboard box.
Despite his best efforts, he’d been through so much only to gain less than little of what karma had owed to him. Gone was the summer warmth and days he could bathe, gone were the adults who’d ensure he was well fed, and gone were the times he could roam free without a care in the world.
Now, all that he had to look forward to were the brief moments when the wind died down to a level where the possibility of hypothermia was no longer a certainty.
His stomach painfully growled as his body was running on fumes. The constant shivering was burning through what few calories he had. Even now, his body violently shook in an effort to keep itself warm, even despite the barrier protecting him from the wind. Without clothes or fire his core temperature had begun to ice over and he could feel death’s cold embrace loom over his chittering form.
The nymph only had a tiny amount of energy left to draw from. With resignation, he figuratively threw the last log into his furnace hoping that if nothing else it’ll ease his anguish.
“This is it? Isn’t it?” Shellac’s tears left icing trails down his cheeks. “I’ll fall asleep…and I’ll never wake up.”
Death…It was something Shellac didn’t have much direct experience with but over the half year he’d been in Canterlot, it had become something he was constantly running from. An ever looming threat he fought tooth and nail to avoid, and one he’d thought he’d finally escaped.
But now it seemed it had finally caught up with him.
Thus as he sat and continued to freeze, the unanswerable question of what comes next was pushed to the forefront of his mind, coupled with the endless fear of the unknown. Would he be greeted by his true, long lost mother? Waiting in front of a pair of golden gates? Or would he be doomed to endless fall into a black abyss of nothingness?
The latter became too much and the floodgates opened and when they did he didn’t hold back. Crying more comparable to muted wails left him and echoed through the alley. Why should he stop? Nopony cared about him, he was a cockroach. If these were to be his last few hours of life why shouldn’t he unload life’s lashings? He didn’t care if he heard, only the outpour of his woes was of concern to him.
“At least…it won’t be…painful.”
…
“Hello? Is anypony there?”
The voice sliced through his thick cries like a hot knife through butter and his eyes shot open, his mouth shut tighter than a vault safe. It seemed that despite the bleakness, fate had other plans for him.
Whatever happens, there is always hope.
Hearth’s Warming Eve
Even Lance had to admit this was awfully convenient. After the failure of the guards he’d pilfered a few choice items from the house fireplace, thinking he could cause enough panic to force the changeling away from the building, but he never could’ve guessed he’d arrive to him on a silver platter like this.
Honestly, he was mentally praising whoever was watching for this as he might be a lot of things, but even he thought breaking into the house and stealing was going too far.
Target in sight, he knelt down and picked up the loose brick before tossing and catching it like a tennis ball. Looking down at the unconscious changeling with a grin and briefly contemplating caving it’s skull in right then and there. But Raining’s family needed to be locked up never to see the light of day again.
“Guards want hard proof? I don’t think you can get any better than this.”
Lance looked both ways before taking his scarf off and using it to bind the unconscious changeling, then moved to sling him over his back, like a hunter catching game. He was suspicious of how smoothly it was going but not wanting to waste time looking for ghosts he made his way through the snow.
Not long after he saw the bright blue beacon of his sister’s magic and when he came into view her jaw dropped. Her otherwise slitted pupils struck with awe, shock and horror at the creature dangling over Lance’s back.
“You were right…by Celestia you were right.” She trembled, almost sounding disappointed.
“Told ya so. Now let’s get going, I can barely see a thing out here.”
Mirror nodded and brightened her horn as she led the way for him. Following a trail of tinted blue street lights she’d altered so as to not get lost in the storm. Having to clean her goggles every few dozen steps and checking her back to see if Lance was still with her.
At first she wanted no part in this. What Lance was doing was just plain wrong but after another argument she realised it’d be better if she was around to pull crisis control when Lance inevitably committed his arsonist act. Thankfully it seemed such a thing had never happened but even as the jailhouse came into view her nerves didn’t let up. Lance was right but…was he still in the right? Was she doing the right thing?
Lance had isolated Raining for months and now his father was absent. As far as she knew they were taking away his only friend…
But then she remembered the day of the attack and the chaos that had surrounded her. She’d only just learned the shield spell and was a bit clunky with it, but she adapted quickly that day. How her mother kept her within a vice like grip as the two unicorns channelled their energy into the shield. Keeping all manner of green gunk and emerald fire from scorching their forms. The snarling anger and dagger like fangs that hissed at them from behind the dark blue dome, allowing her an undisturbed view of the skirmish around them.
“Don’t be ridiculous Mirror. This is a changeling we’re talking about, of course it was using him. But what matters now is if this is an isolated incident or if there’s a bigger picture at play.” She swallowed her breath and clamped her eyes shut from the thousand yard stare she’d taken on. Regaining control of her breathing, she managed to also slow her hear to a normal rate.
Nopony was outside guarding the locked double doors to the jail which, while understandable, did little to steel her nerves. She stopped just short with Lance taking the lead and slamming the door’s knocker several times.
Soon after the sound of several locks being undone precluded the door opening by a crack. “Hello?” The guard’s eye widened upon getting a better look at Lance’s smug face. “Hey aren’t you the kid from earlier? What are you doing at this hour?!”
“Remember when you said you needed hard proof?” Lance then spun around to show off the unconscious changeling.
“What in the?!” The guard swung the door open and in doing so revealed a set of brightly colour pyjamas adorned with sun and moon patterns. Yet the patrol leader still had his helmet on for whatever reason as he stared in near disbelief.
“Pyjamas? Really?” Lance contained a laugh.
“Hey it's Hearth’s Warming! Anyway, where the heck, and how the heck, did you manage to capture a changeling?!”
Lance couldn’t hold back the smug smirk on his face. “With a brick sneaking away from the house, the same one I told you there was a changeling inside? The same one where you found a purple changeling plush?”
“Yeah okay kid fine, ya got me.” The guard then pulled out some shackles and a ring with a tiny enchanted gemstone before proceeding to replace the impromptu restraints for something that’ll actually hold it should it wake up suddenly. Lance watched with a vindicated grin as he wrapped his scarf back around his neck.
“Can I ask what’s going to happen now?” Both then turned to Mirror who lended them a sheepish smile. “I mean we did help catch it, just wondering what’s next.”
“Well, tomorrow we’ll probably put this little fella through questioning and after an investigation of the family. He’ll most likely be sent to Canterlot Dungeons with the rest of the bugs.”
Lance’s smile grew while Mirror’s waned, conflicted now more than ever about the morality of their act. Had they just condemned Raining’s family? Right after what happened to his father and all the other abuse they’d done? Her pragmatism justified it in all manner of ways but her emotions made her moral compass spin in all kinds of directions.
“Hey, you kids gonna be alright to go back home? It’s late and I have no idea why your parents would let you out in this weather.”
“We’ll be fine, my sister knows the way home.” Lance then turned to Mirror who took a moment to process the attention now placed upon her.
“Oh, yeah! Yeah we’ll be fine.”
With that the guard smiled and shut the door leaving the two kids to themselves. “Right, now let’s go home and get out of this storm, I’m freezing!” Mirror exclaimed.
“Now hold on a minute sis.” The unicorn’s ear twitched and her eyes shot wide at her brother’s repost. “Oh no.”
“You know, I had a plan for drawing the changeling out, but they instead walked over to my alley by themself where I got him. Don’t you think that’s a bit easy?”
“I mean…sure, but can’t we just go home? The guards have it in hoof. And you heard him, they’ll speak to Raining’s family tomorrow. It’s done.”
“Nah nah sis, some things don’t just happen like that. No, something's up.” Mirror glanced from left to right fumbling her words. Was he really about to do this?
“I’m expecting an escape attempt.” He followed.
The filly winced and annoyance quickly boiled over into anger. “Lance, It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve, we’re in the middle of a snow storm and it’s probably one AM or something. Can’t we just go home? You got what you wanted, what more do you want?”
“Sorry Mirror, but we need to make sure that changeling stays there.” Lance planted a hoof as if to solidify his decision.
“Oh for buck’s sake Lance, seriously?” Mirror felt the last of her patience evaporate.
“We’ll stay for a little longer just to make sure and then we’ll leave, okay?”
How many times had she tolerated this? She’d gave a hoof and he’d take the whole leg. First the carnival, then the arcade and now this. The damn colt was only getting more outlandish with his demands and were it not for her fear of him she’d have walked away right then and there.
But once again she’d sensed the lack of choice in Lance’s words and begrudgingly nodded. “Okay Lance, but this is the last time. We do this and then we go home. No arguments, no debates, we leave!”
“That’s all I ask.”
Sadly, even as he said that Mirror couldn’t believe it, yet she mentally prepared herself for a cold stakeout.
Raining tossed and turned within the confines of his covers, unable to maintain a comfortable position. There was something missing from the equation his body was expecting and soon he stirred from his sleep. Eyes creaking open and being met with near total darkness. Just about able to see that something was off in front of him, his sense of touch picked up on it also.
“Uh, Shell?”
He found a cavity where he thought his brother’s head would be, and instead, found the comparatively small frame of his ursa toy. A spike of panic rushed up his spine and exploded in his head as he sat up darting around the room for any sign of him. “Shellac?”
Raining then saw the door to his room was slightly ajar, not how he’d left it earlier. Throwing the covers away he got to his hooves and quickly moved into the hallway. Any sleepiness in his body was washed away as he continued his search downstairs.
The adrenaline in his body only surged when he found no sign of him still. Not in the living room, the kitchen or the backroom, he even tried checking the bathroom!
But no, Shellac had vanished without a trace.
“Where’d he go? You can’t just lose a changeling like that! I mean sure they could turn into objects but he’d have something right? Actually that could make for a fun hide-n-seek game-NO! Focus Raining! What happened to him?”
All manner of possibilities ran through Raining’s mind. The products of his overimagination were absurd and outlandish, but with time he filtered them through into the most semi-likely scenarios.
“Alien abduction? No why would aliens abduct a changeling and leave me behind? Then again Shellac’s purple, so he’s probably special. Wait…changeling abduction! No, wait, same counterpoint.”
As his mind continued to invent new and wackier scenarios, Raining continued to search for his brother in the house.
“What about Lance abduction? Lance trying to hurt the ponies I like so I feel lonely during a special holiday or celebration? Yeah that checks out. But how the heck did he get in?! Of all things Lance is NOT quiet, surprising yes, but not quiet!”
They might not have been brothers by blood, but they were brothers by bond, and despite his fear, Raining wasn’t about to let Lance take him away! But how was Raining going to find him? It was the middle of the night and there was a snow storm outside. His hoofsteps would’ve been snowed over by now and while Raining knew the streets like the back of his hoof, he didn’t know what direction Shell was taken through.
Raining circled around the living room couches racking his brain for an idea. Pressure was building in his brain to think of something fast, nearing hyperventilation from stress.
“No Raining! Take a chill pill!”
With a hoof he slapped his cheek and forced himself to slow down, asking himself what his dad would’ve done. From his memory a piece of advice his dad once gave came to mind. “If you're ever unsure what to do, relax and take a moment to look around.”
The unicorn colt did exactly that and allowed the world around him to slow down. Looking around the room his eyes suddenly locked onto a single unopened box mounted atop a shelf.
The Incredible Mechanical Owl!
Wind the hoof crank on the back of your new avian friend and watch him soar!
Can do various tricks! Simply ask and it’ll perform, no training required!
Easy to repair! One cast of Mending and it’ll be good as new!
Raining’s face broke out into a hopeful smile.
“Jackpot! If Shell could get it to find me, I could get it to find him!”
The box glided towards him and he tore it open with his magic before popping out the inactive mechanical statue. Pulling out the hoof crank and jamming it into its back, it wasn’t long before it sprang to life and hovered in place just above Raining’s head.
With a grin he moved to the reception and dawned a more generous amount of winter gear then normal. A quick cast of Mending fixed the crack in his goggles from the arcade, yet in his haste he failed to notice the absence of Shellac’s clothing. Once he was ready he was joined by the mechanical owl and took a spare door key.
Not long after he braved the outside, shutting the door behind him, the owl sat on his shoulder gripping him tightly so as to not get blown away.
“Hey, Mr. Owl? Can you help me find a purple pegasus with a mohawk mane?” Raining had to raise his voice for it to be heard against the howling wind. The owl simply shrugged, which prompted Raining to facehoof at the obvious answer.
“Because he’s undisguised, oh that bad!”
“Okay, can you help me find a changeling with a purple shell and eyes?”
This time the owl responded by pointing a metallic wing in a direction down the street, letting out a mechanical hoot as it did so. With a steady gait Raining strode down the sidewalk following the partially obscured street lights, driven by determination.
“Hold on Shellac, I’m coming!”
The sudden slam of the front door shook Gleaming from her slumber and her eyes shot wide. A sound one should never have to wake up to in the middle of the night. She was slow to get out of bed, but at least methodical in her step as she quietly moved to the door, listening for any more audible anomalies. When none met her ears she crept forward towards the stairs and peeked over the railing, listening intently anypony who might somehow broken in.
Her nerves weren’t helped by the lack of noise, if anything the silence only made her heart beat louder. Aside from the howling winds outside there wasn’t anything else happening in the house. Gold was just about to try going back when she saw Raining’s door was wide open and from where she was standing, she saw an empty bed.
“Oh no…oh no no no no,” She trampled, “Raining?”
No answer.
“Raining!? Shellac?!” She raised her voice, hoping that maybe they were downstairs and would pick up on it and that the sound of the front door wasn’t them leaving. When nothing of the sort happened she nearly broke into a gallop downstairs calling for them, only to find yet more dark emptiness. She nearly broke down the backroom door checking every inch she could but they were nowhere to be found.
“D-did Shellac just?....Take Raining?”
Gleaming had to stop from slapping herself for even considering such a thing.
“No, that wouldn’t make sense, not after everything they’ve been through. But then what? What’s happening, where is my little Lead?!”
Gleaming was uncertain about many things, but the one thing she could be certain of was that neither child was inside the house and were outside…in the middle of the night…amidst a snow storm.
The blood pumping through her veins began rushing around like she was being chased by a cheetah and she placed a hoof on her chest, preemptively practising her breathing exercise. She couldn’t afford a panic attack not now! But then what was she going to do? They could’ve run off in all manner of directions and Canterlot was a big place, especially with that storm brewing.
“The guards, I need to get to the jailhouse. There has to be somepony on call. They can contact some others and get a search party going.”
She barely took a step forward before another problem arose.
“But…what about Shellac? If they find out he’s a changeling we’re done for!”
And just like that, a new wave of panic set in, Gleaming feeling another panic attack came on. Yet, this time she did slap herself in the face to calm her nerves.
“Gleaming get a grip. As it is you’re screwed either way if you don’t find them, now move your fat flank!”
“...”
“Shut up.”
She wasted no time dashing to reception and fastening her gear, but unlike Raining before her, the lack of the duo’s gear was very much taken note of. In fact, now with all of hers on the only clothes set that had remained untouched was Copper Casing’s. The reminder prompted a cringe which she clamped down on before it could grow into anything more than that, at the very least it looked like Raining had grabbed the spare door key so whatever happened he could at least get back inside.
Whatever relief she could take in that knowledge was short-lived as she refocused on the task at hoof and blazed outside into the storm towards the nearest jailhouse she could find. The way there was long burned into her memory from the many times she’d visited Copper’s workplace, the issue was more trying to navigate through the darkened haze that was tonight’s snow storm.
Time would only tell if she’d find her way through.
Things hadn’t gone well for poor Shellac, ever since his first encounter with Lance it had only gone downhill. First Raining’s depression, then the arcade and now this. His head swirled with pain as he slowly came to consciousness, remembering a whistle followed by something flying fast towards him.
The ground was made of hard stone and the air was cold, the warm threads of his coat still clinging to his form. As he lazily opened his eyes and looked around he quickly found he was in a dark, dingy cell of some kind with the only light coming from a small window that was level with the street.
He looked all around him wide with shock and horror. “Lance…he got me, didn’t he?” Realisation struck him like an oncoming train and he struggled to keep his heart rate in check.
“Now I’m really done for, I’ll never see the sun, never get to fly…and never see Raining…”
He leaned back against a wall as a cold wave of reality washed over him.
Avoiding this had been something he worked tirelessly to ensure, but seems he couldn’t outrun his fate. Yet he didn’t cry, instead he felt almost numb. Maybe he was still in shock? Had he’d somehow already made peace with it? Or maybe he’d simply cried all his tears already? Whatever the case, what happened to him now was no longer in his control and given the guard’s reputation, it probably never will be ever again.
Indeed there was no way he’d ever get away, the magic suppressor around his horn prevented even the most basic of spells like shapeshifting and the window, while open, was lined with metal bars that made the gap far too small for him to slip through.
At least he wouldn’t have to worry about scavenging for scraps and freezing anymore, right? At least he’d be safe and taken care of, right?
Sure he might’ve helped but for the most part he was being locked up for crimes he didn’t commit, and that didn’t feel right. In the end he could do little as a quiet depression overtook his calmness and he slumped to the floor.
“Maybe now…Raining will be okay.”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Shellac was suddenly woken from his melancholic episode when he saw somepony outside his cell window. For a brief moment he thought it might’ve been Raining, but then he saw the pony’s face lean down to look inside.
It was Lance.
“Hey cheese legs! Having fun in there?” He taunted with a smile.
Shell averted his gaze and remained quiet, choosing not to indulge Lance’s ego. This however only prompted him to scoof and continue. “Awe what’s the matter? Can’t handle reality? Well too bucking bad!”
The words stung the back of Shellac’s mind and he let out a breath of calmness. “What do you want?” The question was rhetorical of course, he knew exactly why Lance was doing this.
“To let you know just how pathetic you are! It doesn’t matter how hard you try or whatever trick you pull, I’ll always beat you, because defeat will always belong to that witch you call ya mum.”
Anger began boiling inside Shellac’s chest and the name calling from his years in the hive came back to haunt him. Unlike Raining however, he’s been through this before and practised his tried and true breathing technique. Lance making it personal was not helping though and he felt the urge to retort, as such he couldn’t help himself from a little backtalk.
“Yes, ha ha, you got me. Done twisting that knife yet?”
“Not yet, because after this that little brass mule you’ve been leeching on is next.”
Shellac’s eyes shot wide and that was all Lance needed to know he’d touched a nerve, so he pressed on.
“Yeah, how do you think it's gonna look for his family to have been willingly housing a parasite like you?”
A chill ran up Shellac’s spine as he realised what Lance had meant. Until now he’d not given it serious thought but now he couldn’t ignore the writing on the wall. Knowing his bad luck, he’d likely doomed them to the same shackled fate he now found himself in. “Why couldn’t you just leave him alone?” His voice trembled.
“For the same reason I’d never stop chasing you, ya bucking parasite.” Without further context Lance stepped away from the metal bars and stood not far from his window, disrespectfully kicking some snow through onto Shellac’s coat with a back hoof.
The nymph recoiled and backed away from the window before wiping the grime and snow off. He resumed his position on the cold stone floor as the depressive air came back with it. Him being locked away was one thing, but Raining and his family? Now that was another, and soon he was accompanied by his old friend guilt, left to fester in the darkness.
Meanwhile from across the street, Raining had managed to find the jailhouse thanks to the mechanical owl, but he’d stopped himself short when he caught sight of the actual building and grimaced.
“Wait…your saying Lance took him here?!”
Mr. Owl nodded.
“Ooooh that’s bad, yeah that’s very bad.”
He slinked away behind an empty cart when he suddenly saw a large figure standing next to one of the cell windows, quickly recognizing it as Moonlit Lance. “Oh that’s even worse, please tell me that’s not where Shell’s being kept?” Lead turned to the owl for confirmation only to be met with a slow nod.
“Waaa! Okay…so how do you reckon we do this?”
Raining looked between the owl, then to Lance, then back to the owl with an evil smile. The clockwork owl tilted its head in curiosity as Raining had an idea.
Moments later Lance was being harassed by the mechanical bird who circled around him, prompting a whole dictionary’s worth profanity in both Ponish and Griffic. Now with Lance properly engaged, the owl flew away where the giant colt gave chase, providing Raining with the window he needed.
He dashed across the street and peered into the darkened cell where he could see Shellac’s prone silhouette. Tapping the bars he tried getting his attention, but when that failed he whispered. “Shellac? It’s me!”
“R-Raining?” The nympth’s head shot up and he turned to look- “Raining!” -before shooting off towards the cell window to greet him. “Oh no no no, you shouldn’t have come here Raining, Lance is here and he’s looking for you!”
“Oh don’t worry, he’s occupied.”
“BUCKING BIRD!” Lance uselessly flailed his hooves trying to reach for the mechanical owl as it flew rings around him, far too high for him to reach. Leading him towards the jail’s front entrance…
“Yeaaaaah we have time, don’t worry! I’m getting you out!” Raining said as he looked at their surroundings.
“H-how? I can’t transform and I doubt you bought a hacksaw with you!”
“Oh Shellac! Have you forgotten?”
A brief flash of bright yellow magic saw the colt disappear in an instant, in that same moment he felt a hoof grasp his shoulder and he braced himself. “Uh oh.”
“I can teleport!”
Another flash and he was struck with that increasingly familiar nausea before he slumped against the outside wall, still able to stand with its support. Raining meanwhile threw both his hooves in the air. “Ta-daa!”
“Yeah okay, but how are you going to get the suppressor off? Only guards know how to do that!”
Raining’s only reply was to twist his enthusiastic smile into a wide smirk.
“Oh you’re kidding me.”
“D. A. D!” Raining then grabbed Shellac’s head and tilted it down until both their horns touched. Swirls of energy raced around the both of them and a soft click signalled the ring’s release before being tossed into back into the cell. Shellac raised his head back at him in disbelief.
“Okay, how?!”
“It’s not that complicated, just requires a specific magical frequency. Dad told me about it sometime before the invasion.”
Shell looked at Raining like he’d just admitted to being a Changeling himself.
“Why would he tell you this?”
“Boredom? It came up in one of his guard stories, I guess he either forgot he wasn’t meant to say it or that I’d forget.”
“Right, well while you're here making miracles happen, think you can teleport us home?”
“Ehhhh sorry Shell, too far away and the storm’s only making it worse.”
“Darn, the good news had to end somewhere I guess.”
“Come on! We can make it back on hoof.”
The two then got away from the jail as quickly as they could given the poor weather. Unbeknownst to them, Moonlit Mirror watched from the very edge of the storm, her bat-like eyes making them out far clearer then any normal pony otherwise could’ve.
Yet throughout the entire break out she’d not made any move to disrupt them or alert her brother. Instead, listening intently to the conversation that played out, their voices were amplified by her mother’s (previously) dormant Thestral descendtry. All things considered, the storm had actually worked in her favour, she was able to view her surroundings without the bright street lights burning her retinas.
However, now a conflict of ideals had begun tugging her in opposite directions, with neither side seeming the correct option. Raining had come back to break him out and, what’s more, seemed to genuinely care for him, but at the same time could she risk falling for an act? Her brother was a barbarian but he had a point…
As the duo ran away she caught sight of another figure slowly shifting towards the front door.
Gleaming Gold had been able to find her way and reach the jailhouse with relative ease, but as she stumbled forward the mechanical owl harassing Lance led him straight into her before flying away, not to be seen again.
She had just enough time to knock on the door when she turned and saw the very child that had caused hers so much pain. “You…” She calmly spoke. Lance took his attention away from the spot in the sky where the owl flew off into and towards the wrathful glare of Raining’s mother. A glare which in practice did little more than make him smirk. “You’ll pay for what you did to my husband!” Gold spat.
“With patience or bits? Those seem to be in high demand for you.” Lance spoke without a hint of fear.
A vice wrapped around Gleaming heart as she recoiled from the sudden retort. “Why can’t you just leave my son alone?!”
“You’ve had what? Nearly half a year to figure that out? Wow.”
The vice around her heart began squeezing as anger rose within her core. “Did he just call me dumb?” She cringed. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth!”
“Yes and she tried to sign me up for adoption, bite me!”
“Why you little-you’re a monster! Do you know that?”
“I’m not the one who took in an oversized cockroach as a child.” Gold’s eyes reached the size of dinner plates with her pupils, her jaw fit to crash into the ground. “Think before you speak Kakapo.” He shot.
Gleaming was dumbfounded, unaware that Lance had just called her a dumbflank in Griffic as the door finally opened and with it, the invisible vice around her heart threatened to crush it into paste.
“Miss Gold?” She turned her head to face him, already in a full suit of armour and with an authoritative tone. It was the same guard that led the search in her house. “Would you mind stepping inside please?”
So many horrible things had just clicked into place at once. Her kids, the guards, Lance, she was barely holding herself together by this point. Her limbs began locking up, growing stiff and twitchy as she slowly made her way through the door.
It closed and Lance was left to his own devices but for Gleaming, the nightmare had only just begun. She’d only managed a few more steps when the left side of her body suddenly grew cold and her head felt dizzy.
“Miss Gold? Do you know why your here?” The guard continued, but instead of the response he was expecting, Gleaming’s speech was low and raspy.
“I-I c-can’t feel m-my-” She placed a hoof over her heart and promptly collapsed, her breaths increasingly shortened by the avalanche of stress upon her mind.
“Miss Gold?” It only took a moment for the guard to turn and process what had happened. “Oh horseapples, Medic! I need a medic right now!”
Was this just another panic attack? Or was it something worse? Brought on by a perfect storm of circumstances. Whatever the case it didn’t matter anymore, nothing did.
“Everything…will be…fine.” Those last few thoughts flowed through her head before the curtains closed on her vision…
Outside, Lance rejoined, his sister looking at the empty cell from its window. His previously smug grin now wiped off with a scowl in its place.
“I thought you were watching it.”
Mirror winced, now under the scornful gaze of her big brother. “I was…but then something…caught my eye.”
“What?”
The air grew colder still and Mirror was suddenly made aware of her brother’s immense size from the one word alone. But she doubled down, her mind hadn’t been made up and the last thing she wanted was to tilt him in the wrong direction too early.
“Something…from the fog. I had to make sure it wasn’t something that would sneak up on me, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
“Lance, how many times have I put myself through tartarus for you already?”
Huffing in mild frustration Lance capitulated. He wasn’t entirely convinced and she could tell as such, but he decided against pressing the issue. They needed each other and the ice was already thin enough.
“Come on sis, we have work to do.”
“Yes…I suppose so.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.017 seconds
Total duration
894 users online
1,144,317 hits today, 2,073,628 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Hope Gleaming will be alright...
Why am I getting "Lance acts like a giant douche because he's actually a closeted homosexual" vibes?
11846268
It's more a combination of stuff, having to learn around a pack of griffon exchange students probably didn't help.
(I'll admit you have to look between the lines to find it but Griffons have a "If you're a pushover, you're gonna get pushed over" mentality.)
I hope Gleaming will be ok . And Shellac and Raining can find somewhere safe to hide
Seriously wondering what Lance's problem is. It can't be Shellock in particular because he was like this well before he came into picture. Either way, I do hope he is made to stop this behavior one way or another.
Its obvious that Shellock's a kid and they still want to lock him in a dungeon? Do they just have the exact same procedure for every changeling? What even is the plan here? Just lock them all up forever for existing? Do they get fed or are they made to starve essentially?
11847328
I believe those questions were answered by Copper back in chapter 2, imagine you're the person in charge of handling the situation. You have this race of creatures with no centralised government, that made their first opening act to attack the capital and so until further developments are made and public trust increases you can't let them roam around for public safety reasons.
As bonkers as it is, keeping them where you know they won't cause any harm until an alternative can be found is probably the best decision. But of course "until further development" could mean any length of time, so for all Shellac knows, he could be an old man by the time that happens.
11847375
As for Lance, you'll see...
Bullies are dumb.
Oh my god this little hellspawn Lance, you wrote them to be so hateable, I can't wait to see what happens next!
I want to have words with whoever taught lance to be this way. Well done on writing this character to be so unlikeable.