CH 12 - Heart Of The Storm
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”
The storm hadn’t let up in the time since Raining and Shellac had left the jail, if anything it’d only gotten worse. Dense snow was smothering whatever light the street lamps and decorations were giving off, and both had to shield their faces to prevent snow from getting into their eyes, though with Raining it was more a case of constantly wiping his goggles.
“Stay close! I can barely see out here.”
“What? I’m sorry I can’t hear you!”
“Stay. Close. Shell-ac!”
Raining’s hoof suddenly caught something and he promptly faceplanted into the snow. Shellac halted and waited for him to get back up but as he did, so a metallic glint caught his eye, coming from the object that caused Raining’s fall. Shell bent down and dug out some kind of mechanical bir-
“Mr Owl!?”
The colt got to his hooves as Shellac took out the near frozen construct. lifeless, limp, and covered in snow.
“Raining, can you help him?”
“Maybe? Even if I thawed him out I didn’t bring the hoof crank with me!”
“W-why?” Shell asked, while holding his beloved toy in his hooves.
“I didn’t think the little guy would run out of juice this quickly!”
“W-well, at least warm him up, please?”
Raining nodded and took the mechanical owl, a trail of magical embers swirled around his horn before wrapping around the avian’s chassis. In moments the ice and snow build-up had all but evaporated and Mr. Owl was back to his original, undeployed form.
“Better?”
Shellac nodded before Raining stuffed the fancy toy under his leg.
“Don’t worry Mr. Owl, we’re gonna get you home.”
The two continued on their way pushing through the streets, wading through thick snow and howling winds. Without a guide it was up to Raining to see them home and, while he was confident in his memory, the weather was doing everything it could to throw off his sense of direction. Concentration did not come easy and so it was down to Shellac to keep up, who again was being equally hampered by the snow.
They were coming up on a T junction which Raining just about recognised, not slowing one bit as he mentally recalled which direction to take. Shellac meanwhile, could just about see his silhouette, stealing glances from around his thoroughly wrapped up leg.
“Hey, wait up!”
“Sorry Shell, but the longer we stay out here the worse it’ll get, I don’t wanna freeze!”
“Would it really hurt to slow down a little bit?” Raining didn’t reply, either because his response was muffled or he hadn’t heard Shellac. He didn’t quite see which direction his brother took so he called out. “Which way do we go?”
Raining called back but whatever was said was partially drowned out by a sudden gust of wind.
“Did you say right?!”
No response…
“Raining?” He peered around but couldn’t make out the colt’s silhouette any more. “Raining!”
His heart sank as he heard a shout from a little ways down the street, with little other option he chased it as best he could, hoping he’d reunite with him.
Neither of them had noticed the distant blue lights from behind them…
Shellac wandered down the darkened street, seemingly forever, always hearing his brother close by but never within reach. Why he wasn’t slowing down or trying to make sure he didn’t lose him Shellac could only guess. The storm at least seemed to ease up a little, so now he could actually hear himself think, but seeing anything further than a metre in detail was still out of the question.
When he finally saw Raining’s outline materialise he felt relieved, the unicorn had actually stayed put and waited for him!
He trudged through the snow trying to catch up as quickly as he could but mear moments away from meeting his gaze the colt’s horn lit up. Instead of the sunny amber glow he was expecting however, he’d been blinded by a skylight blue that forced him back a step.
“Wait…”
Panic began rising within Shellac as he remembered who’s magic it was in front of him. The voice he’d been chasing, the silhouette he couldn’t see…
“Hello Thunder, can we have a chat?” A feminine voice came. The light dimmed into but a fraction of its original power and Moonlit Mirror appeared through the darkened fog. Both of them now face to face amidst the snowy haze. Their eyes adjusted quickly and Shellac saw her slitted pupils observing every movement he made with scrutiny.
“Mirror?! W-where’s Raining!?” Shellac raised his voice as did Mirror, lest their words be lost to the wind.
“He’s fine for the moment, probably backtracking to try finding you.”
“What do you want? Are you here to take me back?” Shell almost took a step back, mentally thinking over what to do.
“Actually, no. I needed to see you for myself, I wanted to talk.”
Mirror casted her inquisitive glare over him, gauging his response best as she could. Shellac could tell as much from the moment they’d seen each other but he didn’t care. Instead his mind went back to all the pain he’d suffered through the past several days and back to their very first meeting.
“Talk? After you abandoned me and Raining back at the park? After helping Lance back at the arcade? And after all-” He flailed his hooves around, “-this?”
“Do you think I really had a choice?” She shot back, “I tried helping, I tried getting Lance to stop, but the moment he suspected you were a changeling, he might’ve well been a shark smelling blood. The last thing I wanted to do was test what he would’ve done if I refused.”
Shellac backed down as the filly’s brief anguish confirmed her honesty, but more questions quickly came to mind. “Then why? Why is he doing all this? To me? To Raining? Why does he hate us so much?”
Mirror’s mind flashed with faded memories. Her mother bore the burden of maintaining the shield so of everypony present, she could see the most. A changeling and a child, a sharpened horn and monstrous muscle followed by green globs of resin and a failed quick cast. Flashing silver and a father's cry, then blood.
“The truth, Thunder, is that I don’t think the changelings ever intended to kill our father. I think they knew just how much of a pain it would’ve been to bring him down, but when getting the jump on him failed…mistakes were made, and now Lance feels he has to make his death meaningful.”
Shellac shuddered from the revelation, momentarily speechless as he replayed his encounter with Lance at the arcade, and how he could feel the colt’s murderous zeal.
“Now, I want to ask you something very, very important. Where did you come from?” Mirror’s question woke him from his flashback but only prompted him to scramble for an answer. He hesitated to tell the truth about the hive, his upbringing and his time in Canterlot. Then a familiar piece of wisdom once more nipped his ear.
“The best kind of lies are the ones that merge with the truth.” He opened his mouth but stopped short. “No…no more lies, no more tricks. Raining’s risking everything to help me, I’m not running anymore.”
With trepidation Shellac went on to summarise everything. His work inside the hive, his training and role as a scout, his support of the invasion and survival on Canterlot’s streets. Mirror stayed quiet for much of it, only occasionally interrupting to ask a question or two. But for the most part she was content hearing him out.
Honestly, in spite of the circumstances, he was grateful for the moment to think straight.
Once Shellac was done he waited as Mirror went over the information he’d unloaded for any loose ends she could pull. It was like watching a judge ponder his crimes deciding what his final sentence should be. Time and time again he’d been honest with who he was, but even with all that he wasn’t totally confident she’d buy his story.
It only took a minute for her to speak again but that singular minute felt more like an hour to the nymph.
“So this whole time, you’ve only been looking for a family?”
Shellac nodded.
The filly cursed under her breath as waves of guilt descended upon her psyche. She averted her gaze and winced as days of pent up emotion threatened to spill over at once.
“Shellac…I’m so, so sorry about this, about all of this! I-I didn’t know if you were genuine or part of some larger movement!”
“Wait…your not going to take me to the jail?” Shell almost felt compelled to break into a run, believing this might be another trick.
“No I’m not, but the guard knows about you and your family and it’s all my fault! If it weren’t for me, Lance would’ve never found out and you’d be able to live with Raining!”
Shellac looked at her with sympathy and joined her side, a hoof on her shoulder as she hung her head low to the ground, almost curling up into a ball.
“We’ve all done bad things, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t be a good pony, right?”
“Right…you’re right. Maybe now…maybe I can do something, make amends.” Mirror’s eyes then lit up with horror as she whipped around to face Shell. “We have to stop my brother! He probably thinks I’m trying to incapacitate you while he goes after Raining. If he catches him it…well it won’t be pretty!”
The nymph froze at that, his face painted the same shade of fear that Mirror wore herself. But before panic could take over another emotion sparked within him, a bright purple flame igniting within his core, fueled by a mixture of determination and conviction.
“Then we’d better get moving, I am not letting some oversized Clydesdale wannabe hurt my brother!”
Infected by his enthusiasm, Mirror got to her hooves also albeit with a grimace. “I’m going to warn you Shellac, Lance saw our father…kill so many changelings that day before he…well let’s just say Lance is no stranger to your skillset. And he’s looking for any excuse to hurt you as much as possible.”
Shellac nodded before taking off down the street with the vier of a hero setting off to save a damsel in distress. Only for Mirror to giggle before rolling her eyes and with a hint of magic, amplified her voice. “Other way!”
“Oh.”
The filly laughed as Shell sheepishly backtracked and heroically ran past her again.
Raining had lost track of time while wading through the snow, but he was nearly home now he was certain of it. He’d been so dead set of keeping track of his mental map that he had only just noticed how long it’d been since he checked on Shellac, so he looked over his shoulder and-
Shellac wasn’t there.
“Huh?”
Immediately, he looked around, trying to see if maybe he was just slow to catch up. Several moments passed but not a sign of him, not even when he tried taking a few steps backwards. Now he was beginning to feel worried, but like always, his optimism saw him through.
“N-no biggie! Just go home, grab the hoof crank and Mr. Owl can lead me to him! We'll go home no problem!”
But as Raining turned back around intending to continue, he was met with another obstacle. The unmistakable form of a gargantuan colt staring him down from a few dozen hoofsteps away.
“Looking for your pet, ey Kakapo?”
Moonlit Lance stood like a monolith at the border of the fog. The storm seemingly cleared enough room that he could properly see him from a little ways away.
“Or did you already replace that brass mule?”
A flurry of thoughts and emotions raced through Raining’s body. Anger, fear, but most presently confusion.
“You think I’m a changeling?” Raining curiously tilted his head. “Wait no! You're just trying to confuse me. You’re the one that foalnapped Shellac! What did you do to my brother?”
“Brother?!” Lance scoffed. “Oh wow, I guess that answers that question, no changeling would’ve been as dumb as that.”
The comment elicited a scowl but little more than that. “Enough Lance! The night you beat me up, what did you do to my dad?!”
The giant’s expression twisted into a Cheshire’s grin as Raining braced for another barrage of insults. “You don’t know?” He sneered. “Your mum didn’t tell you? By Celestia’s flank, I bet even she was embarrassed by how much of a bucking failure he was!”
Despite Raining’s brace Lance was still twisting the knife, and it was working. Fiery anger flowed through his limbs originating from his heart, like a boiler blasting hot steam through several pipes. He was used to this by now though and managed to keep it contained. The need to know what happened trumping his immediate emotions.
“Just. Tell me!”
Lance smiled and all too happily replayed the story.
Copper Casing wasn’t a vengeful pony by any means, years of discipline had managed to keep that in line. The unicorn had seen many things, dealt with many individuals and had experienced both the wonders and horrors of his service.
Yet all of that was thrown aside by the parental need to protect his son.
“He’s gone too far this time, I should’ve done this when he toppled that trophy case on him. Buck I should’ve done this the moment he broke into his locker!”
Copper turned a corner and saw the Moonlit residence. A comparatively dull building when sided to the bright sunny brickwork of his home. Instead featuring dark blues and greys with ageing window frames and withered paint. The front lawn, while at least clear of any debris, hadn’t been trimmed in a while. The long grass forming a soft corridor around the stone pathway into the door.
“Better late than never.”
Inside, Moonlit Mirror sat down doing her homework with a cup of fruit juice sitting to her side, while Lance was fooling around with a comic book. It’d become standard practice at this point for her to help him with the more complicated school stuff, owing to her brother’s rich history of accidental pencil breaks. Even if it just meant she was doing the writing and him the thinking, she didn’t mind since he was still technically doing the work.
“So what’s for dinner tonight Lance?”
“I’m thinking pasta, do we still have some of that sauce mum left us?”
“I think so! I’ll finish this question then I’ll get the cooker-”
They heard a sudden, loud knock on the door and they both turned to view the living room window, able to see the copper orange unicorn from behind the one-way curtains. Mirror’s eyes widened in horror while Lance scowled.
“Oh no.” She squeaked.
“I’ll go deal with him.”
The filly turned to him with a near crazed glare. “Do you really think that’s a good idea? After what you did to Raining?! You really think he’s in the mood to just talk this out?”
Lance returned an annoyed huff as he got to his hooves. “Chances are he’s here for me anyway, Mirror. Don’t worry, he’ll be out of our mane soon enough.”
Quickly navigating around the living room Lance marched to the front door, undid a few chain locks, and swang it open as if intending to swat Copper like a fly. But the stallion was quick to avoid it and once their gazes locked he froze. As still as a statue as that little kettle inside his core had its cooker cranked up several degrees.
“Of all the ponies to answer the door…”
Copper didn’t even have to look downwards all that much to face it, if anything Lance’s head height actually matched his muzzle. Looking at him directly reminded Copper of just how abnormally huge the stallion was, making it difficult to believe him and his son were the same age. Regardless, he swallowed a breath trying to keep his anger under wraps and prepared himself. “Lance, can I speak with your mother?”
“No.”
The stallion scowled at that. “What do you mean no?”
“As in, “no you can’t,” because she’s still at work right now.”
“Seriously? That’s illegal, you can’t just leave kids home alone. Her benefits should’ve prevented the need for this! Why is she working so late?” Copper grumbled and rubbed his forehead. “This isn’t good, I need her permission first before I can drag him down to the jail. Dammit, I wish I still had my badge.”
“Okay well when will she be back?”
“Why should I tell you?” Lance said with a hint of snark, obviously showing little respect to the elder pony.
Copper’s ear twitched as he applied more pressure to the lid keeping his wrath from boiling over. “You’ve got some nerve sunshine, especially after what you did to my son.”
“Wanna see me do it again?”
“I’m sorry, was that a threat?!” Copper shot, his horn starting to spark angrily.
There was a long, drawn out moment of silence as Lance cleared for his response.
“No…”
“You know what? Buck this, he’s beaten Raining, gave me lip and to top it off, he’s just threatened me! Protocol be damned, I'm taking him in, the lads at the station will back me up.”
“Lance, I’m gonna have to ask you to step outside please.”
“Why?”
“Just step outside.”
Lance looked up at Copper’s stern expression, the same quiet rage he bore back at his home’s front gate before leaving. The anger of a dragon doing his best not to let loose and breathe fire upon whatever poor sap was unlucky enough to be standing in front of him.
And yet, Lance met him with a smile.
Instead of complying, the navy blue colt reached a hoof to close the door, forcing Copper to hold it just shy of closing with his bad hoof. There was enough room for the two to meet face to face without resorting to using a single eye, but not so much Copper could pry it open again without some level of resistance.
“Lance, what do you think you're doing?! Get out here right now!”
“Why? Why should I?” He spat back.
“Because by Celestia’s flank I will tear this door off its hinges if you don’t!”
“Oh you think that?” Lance said with a smirk. Next he pushed the door open relieving the tension on Copper’s limb, but similar to a hoof wrestling move he used the sudden gap in his guard to slam the door back again, briefly crushing the stallion’s forleg between the frame and the heavy door.
Copper recoiled in shock as pain exploded across the length of his leg, like hitting the mother of all funny bones.
“AAHHH BUCK! Why you little!-” He continued by flicking his hoof in the air as if that would help dull the pain. With every beat of his heart the agitated limb throbbed in protest and stung like the stars. There’d be no way he’d use that leg again tonight, not even lightly. He was about ready to grab the little punk and throw him like a tomato against a wall!
Instead of taking the opportunity to shut the door however, Lance threw it wide open, glaring daggers at Copper as he back peddled away.
“You wanna know something Copper? Between your school visits and what I’ve heard off Raining, I’m willing to bet you're all bark and no bite!”
The ex-guard turned to meet him, trying to bear down with that same righteous rage, which in effect had done very little to begin with, and now made him look more like a wounded animal trying to scare off a predator.
“Lance, last chance!” He said through gritted teeth, “I’ve had it up to here with you!”
“Well come on then! Show me some bite! Or are you an even bigger coward than your son!”
Lance stepped outside and the two faced each other, standing in a grass hallway that didn’t leave much room for fancy hoofwork.
This was bad, Copper hadn’t needed to keep his skills sharp in a while and what’s more, the horrible pain coming from his leg was making the concentration needed for spell work a near impossibility. It’d knocked the wind out of his sails both physically and emotionally, and judging by Lance’s expression, he knew that.
The colt began advancing towards the unicorn and Copper was forced to take action. His horn lit up and he threw a medium power spell bolt at his chest, hoping not to seriously injure a minor but at least get him to back off. Lance’s pace was halted as he threw his chest to the side with the punch, before slowly locking eyes with him.
“That all you got? I was hit by a pegasus moving faster than A TRAIN EARILER!”
Copper hesitated, flashing images of Thunder’s state after his return shot through his head. All the pent up anger he had was suddenly shifted as a new emotion broke through, fear.
By now the commotion had attracted the attention of Mirror who’d knew stepped into the doorframe to watch with a hoof over her mouth.
Copper switched tactics as Lance continued his advance, channelling arcane energy into a sleep spell, similar to the one he’d used on Raining months prior. Like before he discharged it into Lance’s chest but once again he only kept going. The fear mounted within Copper as his pupils shrank.
“What the actual buck? How’d he resist that? Did he inherit that from his dad too?! No wait, it's because he’s angry! Enchantment Spells aren’t as effective when the target is under intense emotion!”
Copper was losing more and more ground to the increasingly angry colt, this was absurd! How could he be losing to a twelve year old? He tried another spell bolt, this time targeting Lance’s legs hoping to slow him down. It briefly had an effect where it threw him off balance but Lance was quick to rebound and even sped up into a power walk, driving Copper closer and closer to the street sidewalk.
“Seriously! Your bucking SON tries harder than this!”
Mirror watched in horror as for the second time that night, her brother went after another pony. Silently observing the suffering about to unfold. She was perhaps the only pony to have noticed a groaning in the air that was gradually increasing as the seconds ticked by.
“H-hey! Lance look-”
“Look? Look at what?! Because all I see is a pathetic, washed up excuse of a Royal Guard!”
He picked up the pace and before either of them knew it Copper had been driven onto the sidewalk away from the front yard.
“Pathethic, pathetic, pathetic! A Royal Guard that can’t even protect how own son! And I bet you’ll die pathetic to! Laying alone on your deathbed with nopony to comfort you!”
Mirror saw something from the corner of her peripheral vision and suddenly recognised a pair of headlights. She tried opening her mouth to shout a warning before Copper back peddled into the street. But her body was refusing to cooperate, it wasn’t uncommon for that to happen when ponies were scared but for her it was especially gut wrenching.
Because she might have been able to prevent what came next.
A loud horn woke Copper from his panic and he turned just in time to see the jaws of a speeding metal monster, his eyes blinded by its bright white lights.
Before everything went dark…
“The driver got out and took him to the hospital. I don’t know how he’s doing nor do I really care, after that, a bad leg was the least of his problems.”
Raining stared at him dumbfounded, Lance had sprinkled in so many insults during his retelling that he’d long since became numb to them. But it was only after the ending statement that his emotions woke up and he registered what exactly he’d done. It was hard to sort the emotions he was feeling, but there was one dominating the rest, the untameable fires of anger.
“Why?” Raining squeaked, barely audible against the winds. Yet the movement of his mouth wasn’t lost on Lance who sneered, perking his ears up.
“Oh? Sorry Lead! Can’t hear you over the sound of your dad crying in his sleep!”
“WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?”
Lance laughed as a fire burned within Raining’s chest and tears rolled down his cheeks. He already knew the answer, one of them anyway. Shellac’s pep-talk coming back to the forefront of his thoughts, that “Bullies created more bullies,” and how he couldn’t let himself steep down to Lance’s level.
At the same time, he was progressively losing the ability to care, his temper alongside it. What Lance had done went far beyond bullying, no he was a full blown maniac at this point.
The earth pony continued. “At the time, I didn’t intend for him to get hit by an auto-wagon, but knowing what that purple pigeon actually was? And that you were housing it? I suppose that’s just cosmic justice for you.”
Another shot of rage surged through his veins, but Raining pressed on. “No! I mean in general, where did all this start? What did I do?!”
“Oh that’s what you meant?” Lance tilted his head slightly, “Well I suppose it's been a while, so I doubt you remember. Did you know my dad was a guard too? Well he gave his life to protect us, so going back to school I had nothing but respect for him and what was it you said? Ah right.”
Lance’s smile dropped as his face clenched into a look of burning rage that actually made Raining fear for his life.
“That, all things considered, the changelings can’t be all that bad. Well guess what bug-lover, they are!”
Raining paused in confusion. “Hold on, you mean this entire time, the insults, you attacking me and anypony I make friends with, putting my dad in the hospital…you did all that because I said something rude about your dad?”
Lead could barely process it, the very idea was too ludicrous to even fathom. Yet Lance seemed to find it amusing.
“Oh it's not just that Raining, even I’m not that petty. Tell me, have you ever had to see your dad get swarmed like mine, heard the screams, the fire, the death. No, you had it cushy compared to me! And the nerve to say the changelings weren’t evil, oh even back then you deserved everything I threw at you!”
The burning hatred building within Raining threatened to bubble over and take control, like a volcano ready to erupt. “Lance, you could’ve just asked for an apology! I didn’t mean to offend you back then, I never did! And even then, you seriously think that justifies ANY of the horrible things you’ve done to me and everypony else?””
The other colt froze in place and glared at him for several seconds before pulling himself back together. “Uh, well, it doesn’t matter anymore!”
“Doesn’t matter? All this time, you’ve been ruining my life, hurting anypony that even tries to get close to me, because of something I said? And you’re not even sorry about it? You're worse than a changeling! And I should know, I met one!”
That managed to stir up Lance, now looking more than a little angry.
“Me? Worse then a changeling? I only sent your dad to ER, they sent mine to the morgue! And they would’ve done a buck ton worse were it not for the Elements, so don’t you ever compare me to that filth again!” Lance roared.
The intimidation was lost on Raining though as with each reminder of the week’s events, more and more pressure was applied. How he’d broken Shellac’s wing, injured Celestia’s knows how many ponies, ruined his Spell-Tag game and…had his father hit by an auto-wagon.
All because of a few words he hadn’t even meant to be insulting.
Angry crimson magic danced around Raining’s horn like trails of burning smoke. Days, weeks, no months of pent up emotions all came crashing in. Like a mass build up of snow finally causing an avalanche as the typical orange colour behind his goggles shifted accordingly. The next few words that came out of Raining’s mouth matched or even surpassed the dragon like bellow Lance usually used.
“YOU STILL SENT MY DAD TO THE HOSPITAL!!”
Without thinking, Raining launched a bright red spell-bolt from his horn which raced through the air and narrowly missed Lance, instead striking a nearby trashcan so hard the metal container bent like a soda can and was thrown several hooves.
Lance glanced at the display and back to Raining with a hint of surprise, but quickly turned to glee as a smile crept across his face. “That’s more like it.” He mumbled.
He broke out into a head first charge as Raining fired another rage born bolt, Lance’s cutie mark glowing under his clothes as his special talent kicked in. The bolt struck Lance’s chest dead centre, yet what would’ve knocked a typical pony several hooves away, only managed to slow him down.
With a fire in his eye, Raining shot another powerful bolt, but was met with the same result, watching as Lance quickly barreled towards him. The unicorn snapped to his senses and mere moments away from being tackled, he teleported away, leading Lance to curse as he struck the open air.
“Where’d you go!?”
Lance didn’t have to wait long for his answer as a crimson glow appeared from the corner of his vision, turning just in time to be hit whilst stationary. Without the benefits of his talent, the full fury of the bolt threw him across the street like a ragdoll, slamming into a nearby lamp so hard he’d managed to leave a dent in its frame.
Fighting to replace the air in his lungs, Lance climbed back up and saw the unicorn fire yet another bolt at him. But he skipped to the side just in time to dodge the incoming blast and made another dash for the brass colt.
Once again whatever bolts Raining threw at him either missed or merely glanced off his body like water balloons, ending with Raining teleporting away again.
Lance skidded to a halt and span around scanning the dimly lit street. “This isn’t working, I need to get him on my terms.” He looked around and noticed that while the storm had lessened, it was still decently concealing. With a smile he backed away into the snowy air and began calling out. “Scream like a toddler all you want Raining, your secret’s out, I’ve already won!”
A bright red bolt of crackling light blitzed through the air and struck the old brickwork of a nearby wall. Confirming he had his attention, he slipped away as Raining threw a couple more poorly aimed bolts in his direction.
“Get back here!”
Raining power walked around the street,his crimson glare scanning every inch of visible space as Lance spat yet another biting insult his way, adding more fuel to his fire. However, the rushing gusts of snow made picking out his silhouette difficult at best. He could hear him, maybe even get an idea of where he was, but by no means was he landing any shots without a direct line of sight. The undisciplined anger he felt made concentrating on any fancy spell a non-option as he stomped around.
It wasn’t the threat of being snuck up on that made Raining regain some composure, but rather that he now lacked an outlet for his rage. Furiously, he pulled out the mechanical owl and looked at its back before remembering that he’d forgotten the wind up key.
Wiping a layer of snow off his goggles he stepped back, took a breath, and looked around.
That’s when Raining saw a metallic glint from the corner of his vision, a flash of red reflecting off a rusty screwdriver poking out the ruined trash can. Without a second thought, Raining picked it up and jammed it into the back of the mechanical owl, driving it deep into its body.
By no means was it a perfect fit, in fact were it not for the winds Raining would’ve heard the protests of the fragile gears and cogs within his brother’s companion. But he didn’t care, this would help him find Lance and make him pay. Plus he’d make sure to fix it for Shell when this was over.
He twisted the screwdriver around and surprisingly enough his brute force method worked, albeit with a pained squawk coming from the construct upon its awakening. The owl spun around in the air and faced Lead with a hint of annoyance, before going wide eyed at the colt’s wrathful demeanour.
“Find Moonlit Lance!”
The owl gave a sharp salute and flew off (with some difficulty) into the winds where Raining followed. The storm slowed him down but not soon after he heard a collection of curse words both Ponish and Griffish that could’ve only belonged to the navy blue bully.
Without hesitation, he entered a darkened alleyway just in time to see a torn mechanical wing crash into the wall next to him. Lead looked on in shock as Lance crushed the owl’s torso under his hoof, the owl taking one last look at him before the lights in its eyes shut off.
“Mr. Owl!” Raining held a hoof out as remorse briefly flashed his horn yellow again. But after seeing Lance look up at him with an equally wrathful glare the unicorn’s fires were stocked once more. “You’ll pay for that!”
Raining fired another spell-bolt just as Lance began running towards him, further crumpling the owl’s body. His cutie mark was given enough time and so with little room to dodge Raining’s bolt sent him crashing against a large green dumpster. Now back to square one and with Raining preparing another bolt Lance turned to his side and picked up the owl’s decapitated head before hurling it like a baseball.
Unprepared, Raining’s shot went wide and struck the dumpster where Lance just was as he caught the owl’s head. He hesitated as he saw its black, cracked eyes staring back into his own,sympathy assaulting his senses. That single moment was all Lance needed to begin charging him and by the time Raining prepared another bolt it was too late, the bolt blasted his side but did little to prevent Lance’s tackle.
The two knocked over another trash can as Raining was thrown onto the ground before Lance slammed both hooves onto his chest. A sharp crunch sounded out just above the wind and signalled the strain on Raining’s ribs. Immediately his rage died in his throat as pain exploded all over his upper body. He cried in pain and weakly tried to gather the magic for another bolt, desperately trying to shake Lance off. But it was in vain as Lance smacked his horn with a hoof and a splitting headache quickly turned his groan into a scream.
In the end, all the momentum he’d built up came to a grinding halt as Lance pinned him in place and began smashing his head with a free hoof. Heedless of Raining’s flailing limbs or panicked screaming. “Ya like that!?” He shouted, pounding his face with the power of a clawhammer. “Ya bucking like that? You bucking traitor!”
Lance then pressed both his hooves onto Raining’s neck and dug in, closing Raining’s windpipe and forcing him to desperately flail about trying to get Lance off him. The two locking eyes as the larger colt glared at him with the wrath of a dragon.
“Get a good look at me Raining, because I’m going to be the last face you ever bucking see!”
Very few thoughts went through Raining’s mind at that moment, a side effect of his brain’s increasing efforts to conserve oxygen. His kicks became weak, his body numb and soon he stopped noticing the colours of the world, not that there was much to begin with.
Was this it? Was this truly it? After months of torment, was Lance finally going to finish him off? Just as he’d managed to make the only friend he could call special? It was gut wrenching, like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, only to find it was the headlight of a speeding train. He’d done everything, given it his all and yet he still amounted to little more than an annoyance.
But that didn’t matter anymore, he didn’t matter, nothing did. Not as the corners of his vision darkened and fractured images burned themselves into his brain.
This was it, death had found him. At least his suffering would stop…
A shrill cry suddenly pierced through the storm and wormed its way into Lance’s ears. The desperate plea of his sister.
“Lance, stop!”
The colt eased up but didn’t take pressure off Raining’s throat entirely as he turned to face his sister, who’s horn illuminated her features like a spotlight being cast on an actress.
“Stop? Now? After everything we’ve been through? Raining and his family are working with the changelings, they deserve nothing better than this!”
“No Lance! You're just angry, you're angry and you're taking it out in the worst way possible. You have to stop before you do something you can’t come back from!” Mirror pleaded, horrified to see how far her brother had gone.
“But…the changeings! They killed Dad! They killed him and sucked out the love from Mum! Why else wouldn’t she stay for Hearth’s Warming?”
Mirror almost looked at her brother with pity, only to shake her head in regret.
“That never happened to Mom, you're just making things up now! I don’t know why either, but you have to stop focusing on his death. Dad wouldn’t have wanted this, he wouldn’t have wanted any of this!”
The colt looked between her and Raining’s increasingly pale face, his half lidded ears and blue tinted cheeks. Before turning back to look at her sister’s grim concern for him.
“Please Lance, nothing about this is right. I know you know that.”
As much as he wanted to finish the job, he couldn’t push away the revelation of the ramifications his action would cause. Torn between two but eventually his conscience won out. With an angry snarl he relented from Raining, but there was no sudden gasp or desperate struggle for air. Instead the colt laid there as his lungs too slowly filled. He could feel his throat sluggishly opening back up like a dented pipe being bent back into shape.
Lance wasn’t entirely sure if he’d recover, but he couldn’t stop himself from one last outburst and punched Raining’s temple, sending his leaning form prone against the snow covered ground.
With another frustrated huff he turned and walked over to Mirror, his towering form prompting him to look down upon her. Mirror locked eyes with him and put on a faint smile. “T-thank you La-”
“Back at the jail, I asked you how they escaped and you lied to me.” Mirror’s voice died in her throat and so did her smile along with it. “Why did you lie to me?”
“I-I…” She trailed off, now having that same wrathful gaze casted upon her. Ever since the invasion she’d been afraid of this thing being realised and now it was happening. Mirror was confident she’d got through and they’d go home.
But this had caught her off guard.
“Answer me Mirror. Why. Did. You. Lie to me?”
His words reverberated in her mind, the pressure on her was building to come up with an answer but she knew at this point it was hopeless. He wouldn’t buy anything but the truth, a truth that saw her as limp and helpless as Raining Lead.
“B-Because…because….”
“Because she’s doing the right thing!”
Both nearly jumped in shock as they turned to the source of the voice. From within the hails of snow, a royal purple pegasus emerged. The familiar face of Thunder Chaser glaring daggers at Lance.
The colt returned the glare ten-fold but no matter how much either tried to intimidate the other the expression did little to influence much. Instead Lance turned his attention back to Mirror who’d taken the chance to carefully back away. “I thought you took care of him.”
“I…” Mirror trembled.
“You lied to me, you're not her are you? Mirror would never lie to me!”
Before either of them could continue Thunder cut in. “You really believe that? After the conversation you just had? A lot of personal stuff in there nopony else would know.”
Lance didn’t try to argue while Thunder glared angrily at him with disgust.
“Besides, for a pony you do an awful lot of changeling things. Disguising, scheming, foalnapping, assault and now attempted murder. Honestly if he wasn’t dead you might’ve impressed my Overseer.”
A cold chill ran up Lance's spine as he stared at him wide eyed. Anger boiled within him and he imagined doing a hundred different things to the smug pegasus.
Because deep down, he was right.
But that had to wait as he spared a glance at Mirror. So many different emotions whirled around his mind, mixed feelings on what to do with her, but most predominantly he was angry. He whipped back to Thunder as he roared.
“Your turned her against me!”
“Give it a rest already Lance, you did that yourself. I only ever wanted an actual family, and here you are taking advantage of her just to get back at a single changeling. Ever cross your mind what’s like from her point of view? Or are you so obsessed with your own selfish need for revenge you can’t see the obvious?”
“Shut up! You know nothing about my family, you know nothing about me. No, you're nothing but a cockroach!”
Thunder recoiled a little from the sudden outburst from the enraged colt. Memories flashed through his mind of the past several months as just like Raining before him, Lance had triggered the lingering emotions of so much suffering.
But instead of reflecting his anger, or festering with guilt or sadness, a smile was brought to his face. Inside, he knew exactly what to say next.
“You know, there was a time where I would have agreed with you. Where, I would’ve only put up a token fight if you’d caught me. Heck, there was a time where I was angry as well, being pushed around for reasons I could never understand. But I kept trying, time and time again only to get the short end of the stick and get beaten down by life. Yet, between all that suffering and struggle, I’ve learned two things you never will.”
Thunder slowly walked forward with a confident stride in his step.
“All pain is only temporary, and experiencing pain doesn’t justify inflicting it.”
A long moment of silence hung in the air as Lance processed those words. Not noticing Mirror’s sudden absence as she dug into her bags and pulled out a medical kit above Raining.
The colt was left speechless, this changeling, this thing had to be messing with his head. There’s no possible way a changeling could’ve just taken the moral high ground over him. They’d raided Canterlot intending to take over and turn them all into living batteries to be sucked on for the rest of their lives. Even with their failure, they’d killed hundreds of ponies, tore families apart…and ruined his. Yet there he was still staring him down as if he really was in the right. It was like trying to shove a square peg into a circular hole, it just didn’t work.
Thunder stared at him, occasionally sparing a glance behind him to check how Raining was doing. But aside from that he was trying to tell what was going through Lance’s mind and judging by the unchanging emotional state, probably nothing good. It was then that he detected Lance’s already volcanic anger slowly building further, doubling down on his stubborn pursuit of him.
“There goes any chance at reason, can’t say I tried though. Then again, I doubt he’d have agreed anyway”
Thunder went through a quick checklist of what he knew about him that was relevant. Lance was a tough nut to crack, there’s no getting around that. Heck, he’d been on the receiving end of a fully charged Skycrash spell and he walked it off as if it was nothing. Not to mention, he was strong enough to free himself from resin but above all others, he was smarter than he looked.
Lance wasn’t just some dumb brute with anger issues. Between luring him with Raining back at the park, to using disguises and ambushing him at Spell-tag, Lance was a tactician to boot and no doubt had his own plan on how to deal with him.
But there was one ace Thunder had that he could now freely use, that in all those other encounters he had to maintain his disguise but here he could let loose. Lance had plenty of experience dealing with ponies and with Thunder Chaser.
But he hadn't dealt with Shellac yet.
Whatever the case, the only way he’d beat Lance was the hard way.
The next sentence Lance spoke was done slowly and with conviction, just like his threat from their first encounter he spoke as though he was making a statement of fact. “I am going to break…Every, bone in your body. And then throw you off the side of Mount Canterhorn.”
“This is it Shell, no more running. If death wants me so badly he can come get me.”
Thunder rolled his shoulders and twisted his neck. “Well come on then Lance, if you want to beat the big, bad changeling so much, I’m right here.”
On cue, Lance charged forward with the rage of a bull and Thunder spread his wings ready to dodge. With a gust of wind, he jumped up and flew over Lance’s head as the colt skidded around trying to swipe him. Managing to land a soft kick onto Lance as he passed over and landed several hooves away from him.
A fresh sting of pain stoked the flames of his anger and Lance charged again, eliciting a smirk as Thunder prepared to repeat the manoeuvre. But just as he was ready to jump, Lance made a hard turn and used the momentum to kick up a cloud of snow throwing Thunder off. He tried to take off, earring on the side of caution, only for a loose chunk of pavement to come hurling towards him.
It connected with his upper wing and from there he struggled to maintain flight, leading to Lance seizing the chance and grabbing his leg while he was still relatively close to the ground.
Thunder may have been a good flyer but Lance might as well have been a ball & chain for how well he anchored him to the ground.
With a strong tug, Thunder was plucked out from the air and tossed against a nearby wall. Quick to right himself, Thunder readied to take off but Lance closed the distance not letting him slip by and Thunder had to duck and dive to avoid being pounded against the wall like a crushed soda can.
He’d try from moving left to right in an effort to slip through any kind of gap, only for Lance to mirror his action and block him off, nearly landing several hits in the process. He did manage to slam him a few times knocking Thunder around, but each time he failed to chain his strikes and pin him down. Whether it be through pain tolerance, determination or some other factor, Thunder rolled with the punches more than Lance expected.
Eventually Lance had enough and threw himself forward, body bashing Thunder in a move he couldn’t escape from before pressing a hoof into his head and grinding his face against the wall. Fiery pain exploded across Thunder’s cheek as Lance threw him to the ground.
The pony grinned and pinned the pegasus in place, preparing to clamp down on his throat like he did with Raining.
“This time I’ll grind your wing’s into bucking powder!”
Instead of the panic he was expecting however, Thunder looked up at him with a smirk. “Good luck! I’m a changeling, remember?”
His body was engulfed in a shower of purple flames and Lance fell forward into the space Thunder had previously been. A quick look around revealed a light brown owl flying just above him before another flash signalled Thunder’s return hovering in the sky.
“Corner me as much as you want, I ain’t falling for it!”
Lance scowled and looked around, there were plenty of loose objects courtesy of the storm blowing them about, but he knew that alone didn’t have much of a chance at actually hitting Thunder. So instead he dashed off and when Thunder realised towards who, his heart sank.
“No no nonono not again! Raining!”
He chased him only to find Lance had stopped short thanks to a barrier of blue light circling around the unicorns. Mirror facing him in defiance as Lance hit the shield with a hoof. “Mirror, let me in!”
The mare simply stared at him and huffed. “I’m done taking orders from you Lance! I’m not helping you hurt anypony else.”
The colt hit the shield again, sending a wave of blue everywhere throughout the dome, akin to slapping a water balloon. Not wanting Lance to further damage the shield, Thunder landed and loudly whistled behind him, drawing the colt’s attention and ire.
“What’s the matter Lance? Can’t win a fair fight?”
“Fair? Your kind attacked my home, killed dad and intended to steal everything we held dear. You have no art, no history, no culture, no your race is nothing more than a bunch of bucking parasites!”
Thunder rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to snap back, having to prioritise dodging Lance’s enraged charge immediately following his rant. Quickly, he flew above and engaged in a series of airborne kicks and punches, using the old method of pulling away before Lance could respond.
This continued for a couple minutes, but despite his strikes, it didn’t seem to have too much of an effect on the colt, who’d now backed away and taken a more defensive stance. Stings of pain racked through the both of them as they stared at each other waiting for the other to strike first.
That was when Lance turned and saw an old brick fence post barely connected to its wall. With a flash of inspiration he bucked and blasted the thing loose, chunks of jagged, hardened clay scattering across the snow. Immediately, he began picking them up and hurling then towards Thunder who, predictably, dodged around each and every one of them even as they sped toward him with the speed of a spell-bolt.
“How many more bricks are you gonna throw at me?!”
“How about the one that was meant for your window? Your skull worked just fine though!”
Lance halted his onslaught and charged him again but this time Thunder was ready. He could see the colt was carrying a brick under his arm and so prepared to dodge accordingly. However, when Lance did pull out his projectiles and threw them, Thunder saw he’d actually thrown a cluster instead of a single solid piece.
The improvised scattershot wasn’t enough to cause any serious harm, but it was enough to destabilise his flight and send him down with a thud. Lance, again, seized his chance and charged, body slamming Thunder like a ram just as he’d managed to climb back to his hooves.
The pegasus was sent through the air before hitting an iron post fence and quickly being kicked into a corner like Lance had done before. By this point Thunder could feel the effects of fatigue and pain setting in, having taken one beating already and now being dished out a second.
Every kick was another dent in his armour, every punch an attempt to smother his spirit. He might’ve been tougher than Raining, but Lance far exceeded him in raw power. It wasn’t fair, he’d tried so har-
“No!”
The purple flame within his core detonated and with a sudden burst of power, Thunder’s eyes flashed with bright light and a burst of magic threw Lance onto his back several hooves away.
Beaten and a little bloody, Thunder stood up. His fangs now protruding from his mouth and his eyes a solid colour, yet his determination was unbowed as swirls of magenta energy twisted around his limbs. Little by little, Thunder’s disguise was shedding from the outpour of power as Lance got back to his hooves, partially awestruck by the display.
“You wanna fight a changeling so badly? Fine! Have it your way!”
Thunder’s horn materialised in a puff of flame around his forehead as magic gathered around his hooves. While it was tricky, he channelled his magic into the same meteor spell he’d used before, but into a smaller, more controlled strike that didn’t require such a long windup, effectively amplifying himself.
He’d have to end this quickly before he exhausted his reserves again. Yet, between Raining softening him earlier, to the progress he’d made so far, Lance’s injuries were now visibly affecting him. Obviously, he wasn’t doing too good himself, but with his old biology kicking in, his adrenaline glands were going into high gear, acting as its own painkiller.
In short, the two were now even.
Lance huffed, pawing at the ground with a hoof as the two glared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Mirror spared a glance and found herself awestruck by the changeling’s dazzling lights, like something out of a comic book or theatre play, only here she had a front row seat.
Like an enraged bull, Lance broke the stalemate and charged forward, kicking up the ground behind him. Despite the offensive, Shellac charged forward, leaving a lavender trail in his wake and the two collided. Both connecting strikes at the same time resulting in a flash of light that saw the both of them get thrown back an equal distance.
A shockwave ringed out that saw crackles of energy bounce between lampposts, briefly shutting them off and flashing the area in near total darkness.
Of the two, Shell was faster to recover and by the time Lance had gotten up, he was already being assaulted by a barrage of punches from the changeling. Each one rocking Lance’s body from side to side as though he was being repeatedly bucked with both hooves, but with a single swipe he broke the stunlock and his follow up struck Shellac’s head, sending him stumbling back a few hooves.
Lance moved in to press his counter attack, but Shell ducked under his strike and followed with an uppercut. His next strike was blocked by the same arm Lance had used to punch him and he threw his head forward, slamming it into Shellac’s own, before landing another powerful blow.
The changeling stumbled back some, now fully undisguised and with a few cracks in his chitin. “This isn’t working.” Shellac looked towards Lance, bloodied but unbowed. “I need to do this on my terms.”
His gaze turned to the flickering lampposts surrounded by storming winds and the inklings of an idea came to mind.
“Harsh Weather Flight Training, do your thing.”
Shellac’s wings spread out and Lance’s expression dropped, lunging at the nymph in a hopeless attempt to catch him. The changeling easily took to the sky and Lance watched as a beacon of lavender light danced between the iron lamps before circling back heading straight for him.
The colt had mere seconds to brace himself as Shellac came barreling back, striking him like a self guided missile, before flying back up only to do it again in quick succession. Lance was pounded again and again, from attacks he couldn’t defend from, sending him reeling until he was barely standing.
Shell kicked up a plume of snow upon landing, his hooves still glowing with arcane might as the colt stared at him. He was an absolute mess after his onslaught, his coat was torn, the fur on his face was singed and even the stoic Moonlit Lance couldn’t hide the bruises now covering his body. Yet he still had his filthy mouth.
“That all you got, cockroach?”
The nymph scowled and began picking up speed, energy gathering within his hooves for one final knockout strike-
“The name’s Shellac!”
-only for Lance to bring one of his comparatively larger, more far reaching arms up and land a perfectly timed strike on Shellac’s head, slamming him into the ground and pressing his neck against the pavement.
Even while barely holding on Lance was still dangerous, and Shell had allowed himself to get cocky.
“This might not be “every bone in your body,” but your neck will do just fine.”
Shell kicked and thrashed as best he could, unable to bring about the magical focus required for shapeshifting as Lance’s iron grip slowly crushed his windpipe. He felt like a wooden two-by-four being pressed, any moment it would give way and break and all at once panic set in.
He could feel it, any moment now…
Lance suddenly heard a sharp whistle from within the storm and he raised his head just in time to see a bright yellow coated trash can cover spinning towards him like a frisbee. With a sharp metal clang it slammed against his head and he fell backwards like a colossal titan having been slain.
Shellac scrambled to escape the iron vice and coughed as air once more returned to his lungs.
From the fog, the limping form of Raining Lead emerged, being supported by Moonlit Mirror as they drew closer to Shellac. Mirror set down and undid his coat zipper to help him catch his breath while Raining grinned at Lance’s unconscious form.
After a moment the nymph’s breathing returned to normalcy and he looked up at the two. “Did I win?” He half grinned.
Raining leaned against the wall as he returned the smile. “Nah, we won.”
Mirror rolled her eyes as she moved to inspect her older brother. “I’ll say, I don’t think he’s ever lost a fight. He’s not doing well.”
“Just give him a bandage and a kiss on the cheek, he’ll be fine!”
Raining’s quip only elicited a stern look from her.
“Hey, your psycho brother did just try to kill me!”
Shell raised a hoof. “Seconded!”
Mirror sighed as she got to her hooves, knowing full well she was in no position to argue, as she tried to drag Lance as best she could with her magic. “Are you two able to get home by yourselves? I’m taking Lance to jail, after everything that’s happened here he…” She grimaced. “He’s dangerous.”
Shellac finally stood up, popping a few joints in the process as he turned to Raining. “Well, can you?”
“Yeah…about that. We’re in a part of town I don’t recognise and uh…” Raining then reached into his bag and pulled a hoof full of scrap and warped mechanical pieces. The moment Shell saw the beaten, battered head of his clockwork friend he gasped.
“Mr. Owl!
“No don’t worry, watch this!”
Raining’s horn ignited and the entire pile was engulfed in magic, bent metal and twisted gears were slowly bent back into position and soon flew into each other. Shell watched as the broken pieces not only realigned themselves but reconstructed his seemingly lost friend. Raining finished by twisting his windup slot with the screwdriver he found.
The owl’s eyes shot open with a sudden squak it looked around, viewing Shellac and Raining before returning to a calm state and resting on Raining’s shoulder.
“You fixed him!?”
“Yeah! Mending! Did you not read the feature text on the box?”
Raining suddenly winced as he was enveloped in a great big loving hug as Shellac squeezed him tight. “Oh thanks Raining! You're the best brother ever!”
“You’re. Welcome!” He struggled to speak due in part to his injuries.
They let go and Shellac turned to the owl, but not before Mirror dug into her pocket and pulled something out. It was a small, copper plated half-heart pendent which she held out for them to take.
“Before I forget, this belongs to your father. It fell off after the uh…incident, Lance took it for some reason.”
Both colt’s eyes widened before Raining stuffed it into a coat pocket. “Yeah thanks! I’ll keep it safe.”
With that they both turned around and asked the owl to guide them home which it promptly did. Half an hour of trekking through the storm later and they reached the front door. By that point the two were shivering so once inside they derobed and splayed out onto the couch embracing each others warmth using Shellac’s bed blankets, tired beyond belief from the night’s events.
Yet there was a melancholic air to the room as they rested, a depression they both sensed within each other while bundled up. Without the warm crackles of the fireplace the silence became palpable, all that remained were ashes and embers to comfort them. Raining was the first to break the silence, taking sips from a cup of hot chocolate he’d brewed.
“Tonight’s been crazy huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Reckon this is it?”
“Yeah…I hope.”
“It's not fair, Lance is the bad guy he shouldn’t win.”
“Don’t blame yourself, it's my fault, I went outside and he got me.”
“Wait…” He turned to look down at the changeling resting his head on his chest. “You left the house yourself? He didn’t sneak in? Why?”
“I…” Shellac stuttered. “I got scared, I have bad luck Raining and after what happened to your dad, to you at the arcade, and Gleaming with the front yard. I thought if I stayed things would only get worse.”
Raining looked briefly hurt, before lightly tapping his brother on the shoulder.
“Ah come on Shell, don’t beat yourself up like that, bad things happen to everypony. I mean, there’s been days where I want to do something, but the obstacles ahead of me flat out stop me entirely.”
“Yes but I always feel as though it doesn’t matter, regardless of how hard I try it always gets worse.”
“But you still kept trying, didn’t you?”
Shell’s expression lightened at the realisation and he looked up at Raining.
“Dad always said there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Things are bad right now, sure, but they’ll get better at some point. Like you meeting Mum!”
“But how? Your dad’s gone, I’ve been exposed and knowing Lance, he probably said all kinds of stuff about you to the guards.”
“Actually my dad’s not gone, he’s just really, really hurt. He’s alive if I had to guess, but the doctors don’t know if he’ll wake up. As for the guards well…yeah you kinda have me there. But you're not a bad changeling! I’m sure once they realise that they’ll have to let you go!”
“I don’t know Raining, ponies can be jerks sometimes.”
Both reflexively winced at the injuries they’d received from one such jerk.
“Yeah, they can be, but no matter what happens I’m not going to forget you. Even if we do get separated I’ll try finding you. We’re just kids, they can’t lock us up forever, and you're my brother!”
Shell chuckled at that and rested his head, wrapping his hooves around Raining and pulling the covers further. “I guess you're right. I hope there’s more good ponies out there like you.”
Raining couldn’t help but blush and gently returned the nymph’s embrace, content with ending it there and letting them drift off to sleep. Maybe he was right? Maybe everything was going to be okay…
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Oof, that confrontation between Copper and Lance was hard to stomach. As satisfying as it would've been to see Copper put Lance in his place there and then, it was probably for the best that he lost. A royal guard assaulting a child would've been a bad look for his whole family, regardless of the initial provocation.
Glad that Shellac and Raining finally got to dish out a bit of comeuppance, though I'm not sure if that's enough to settle things. Lance is a whole twisted bundle of issues that's gonna take a whole village to unravel and set straight, and that's if he even lets them.
I'm also worried about Mirror taking on the responsibility of bringing Lance to jail. Don't know how she's going to convince the guards that Lance is the one who needs to be locked up, and I wouldn't put it past him to wake up on the way and reassert his dominance over her...
Seems that Lance is finally beaten, both physically and especially verbally. I'm surprised by how strong he is though. He's got some good genes. Either way, if Shellock is going to the dungeons, then there's no way Lance isn't getting to some juvenile center since Copper is bound to wake up at any time to snitch on him. Either way, that kid needs to be kept away from those two and some therapy.
I wonder how Shellock and co. plan on getting out of this though. I can see either some trick coming up or a private audience with a high ranking individual.
Makes sense. Changelings need ponies for their love. Going all murder hobo is counter-intuitive to their goals.
dadfather?
Maybe its a distraction mechanism? Either that or she's missing out on those benefits.
Owned. So hard. He really did become what he hated. I love that line.
11852959
Thanks a bunch! Real stoked my story has managed to captivate you so much, just one thing.
Where did you see "dadfather" ? That's an error I need to find and 10k is a lot of words.
11852975
Love the story man!
It was in this paragraph.