The Boy and the Bug

by Mr B

CH 7 - The Maze Pt1

Two Months Before The Storm

The high pitched banging of a bell snapped Thunder from his sleep, he shot forward and-

Bang!

“Ow!” Thunder rubbed his forehead, having just smacked into the wooden frame of the bunk above him. Colts and fillies of all other ages stirred and climbed from their beds with ladders, many of which rose until they reached the ceiling.

With a wakeful shake of his head he pulled off the thin, scratchy bed sheet and flew down onto the hardwood flooring. The bed may have been an upgrade from sleeping on the ground, but even his hoof-made hammock didn’t make his limbs protest like that bed did, it wasn’t even really a bed. A thin restrictive frame with a stiff mattress and sheets that were rarely washed, brimming with knots and irritating loose threads.

Honestly, it felt more like an instrument of torture than anything else.

The orphanage was pretty dull considering the colourful, inoffensive artwork on the walls and a playground within the faded, brick wall borders. Apparently, the bedrooms used to have carpets that had long grown stale and never replaced.

Sometimes he’d hear shouting or crying from another room in the building, somewhere close by. but never within reach. He’d tried being proactive about it. but quickly learned the consequences of making himself a target to the staff. The red raw spank marks from some of the kids were a grim reminder of that. At least the adults at the hive tried to make things right when he got bullied but here it was the other way around.

Thunder couldn’t ever let his disguise down for a second or use telekinesis, but he was surrounded by so many other kids all he had to do was be nice to a few of them. Absorbing the ambient emotions of the air was also surprisingly plausible as the atmosphere was so dense with the stuff you could cut it with a knife. But the ponies who lived around him were rarely, if ever, happy.

Dreamstalking was Thunder’s last resort as every time he fed on the emotions of another’s dream the resulting nightmare ran the risk of attracting the princess, and that was something he really didn’t need right now.

He’d managed to settle into a routine where he’d wake up, go into this massive dining hall and get served a single bowl of tasteless oatmeal. Then he’d attend another boring class that was trying to teach him stuff he already knew like basic maths and Ponish.

Then he’d enter a workshop and tie strands of thread together to make rope or mould masses of clay into bricks. Usually with a bunch of other kids, the older ones made shoes, cheap clothing or helped with the cooking and cleaning. After a couple hours they’d stop, go for lunch and use the playground for a while then attend another class and go right back to work until dinner before bed.

It was gruelling work trying to make rope without magic, but he couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction from the act when he did it. It was far better than spending the day dumpster diving and hiding from guards that was for sure, and as long as he returned to the orphanage in time he could fly around as much as he wanted during afternoon break.

And all that’s exactly what happened, Thunder toiled away the day and was rewarded with oatmeal in the morning, soup for lunch and a cooked salad for dinner. The portions were small and the other kids were left hungry afterwards, some had even resorted to theft which naturally had them punished by the staff, their screams leaving Thunder more than a little nervous from time to time.

Sadly, as days turned to weeks he couldn’t help but draw more and more comparisons with the hive. They were all kept within a tight, confined space with the bare essentials. Then again, even the mushrooms at the hive were at least sweet unlike the bland rations being served here, and nopony really wanted to talk to him as they were all so tired or lethargic.

That also affected how their emotions tasted, which was almost as bland and dry as the actual food.

Day in and day out, it never ended and there was never a break. He lost track of time and often forgot what day of the week it was. There were no toys or play areas inside so if it started raining during breaktime his two options were to either get soaked or watch the rain fall. Between being cold to the bone or having his wings ache in protest it was disheartening either way.

But it was that one day that things changed.

It was a mind numbing day like any other, he did his usual work, sat down in a quiet corner in the playground during break and had his dinner. But it was during the rest period between that and bedtime he heard a commotion from a room only a few doors down.

It was coming from one of the work rooms and he heard soft crying. By now it had become such a normal occurrence Thunder had grown numb to it, but this one time in particular, he could make out the cries of someone young, probably only seven or eight.

“You know what? I’ve had enough of this.” He peeked through the door and saw two colts, both earth ponies with the much older of the two harassing the younger one. “Glass Cannon’s having at it again, poor Teardrop. I’d better tell somepony.”

Thunder turned and explored the nearby rooms for a staff member, passing by several colts and fillies all yawning from another day’s work. Through hallways and classrooms, doors and staircases, until eventually coming across one of the teachers. An aging mare with a light red coat and silver stung brown mane, currently sifting through stacks of paperwork in a dimly lit classroom.

Thunder approached and drew both her eye and her ire. ”Miss Red Mark?” He asked. “Glass Cannon’s bullying Teardrop again.”

The mare didn’t even make eye contact as she marked more schoolwork. “I’m a little busy Thunder, go ask somepony else or sort it out yourself.”

Thunder scowled and turned around, a spark of rage igniting a flame within him. “You know what? That suits me just fine.”

He strode back to the workroom with a mission and this time he entered fully. It was one of the cobblers workshops and there were tables everywhere with various machines lining the back walls with no windows to speak of whatsoever. What little light did creep into the room came from the doorway Thunder entered from.

“Give me the damn candy bucket!” Glass pulled on a wooden bucket carved into the likeness of a pumpkin, but with dark blue colours and bright white eyes with a toothy smile.

“No! It’s mine!” Teardrop yanked on it best he could, but it was in vain as the older and larger colt pried it from his grip. Teardrop fell to the floor and rivers streamed down his cheeks as the colt laughed.

“Hey Cannon, how about you do us a favour and give that back?”

The quartz coated earth pony turned to stare as Thunder walked behind a table, laden with chunks of recycled leather and small tools. Glass offered a smug grin and laughed at the purple pegasus, holding the bucket high above the smaller colt. “Pfft as if, I’m going out tonight and I need it for candy.”

“But I made that! Give it back!” Teardrop begged, trying in vain to reach for the bucket.

Glass promptly snapped back at him. “Hey shut it pipsqueak!”

Thunder felt his temper flare as he snorted in vengeful anger. Glass turned back to him with that same confident, smug grin. “So what ya gonna do? Fly rings around me? Hey, maybe you’ll make a tornado in the building, then the guards can drag you off to a nice jail cell.”

Thunder looked down at the table, the same one Glass had now positioned himself at the other end of. It may have had all sorts of stuff on it but if he remembered correctly the table only had a single pillar supporting its weight. He looked back at the older colt and returned a smirk, planting his hooves on the table.

“Last chance Cannon, not gonna say again.”

“Oh, bite me! As if you gonna-”

Thunder slammed his side of the table with both hooves and sent it groundward, causing Cannon’s side to arc up and smack his jaw. The pumpkin bucket came tumbling down and landed in Teardrop grasp, followed by a cacophony of loud bangs and crashes. All of the tools, materials and utensils rolled off the side and onto the floor almost as quickly as Cannon’s unconscious form.

Teardrop grabbed his bucket and held it close, scared of letting it go again. Thunder could feel the relief in the colt’s core as he locked eyes with the pegasus. “T-Thank you!” He cried.

Thunder smiled and walked the length of the table to help the little pony get to his hooves, staying clear of the annoying bully shaped obstacle in his way. “No problem Teardrop, but can I ask what’s with the bucket? And what was he saying about, “going out?”

Teardrop’s face twisted into that of confusion and shock, even astonishment at Thunder’s question. “Wait…you don’t know it’s Nightmare Night?!”

The puzzle pieces clicked in Thunder’s head and memories came flooding back. The ponies had so many celebrations it was hard to keep track of them all, but this was one he remembered. The one about the Night Princess and her craving for candy. He didn’t remember the full story, but knew the general rules of the event. Specifically the part about going around knocking on doors for candy. It sounded like good fun!

Sadly, truth be told, he had no idea how quickly time flew and that it was already the end of October. “I…” He paused, trying to find a combination of words that wouldn’t give him away. “-haven’t really been keeping track of time, truth be told.”

Thankfully Teardrop didn’t pry too much and accepted the answer.

“Oh, that’s okay! Wanna try going out together?”

Taking another glance at the unconscious Cannon, who was also likely to be more than a little angry when he woke up, getting out for a bit would probably be the smart thing to do.

“Sure! But don’t you need a costume?”

“Easy!” The little ocean blue colt then reached into the bucket and pulled out a bedsheet with a pair of eyeholes. When he saw it Thunder couldn’t help but crack a smile at the DIY ghost costume. “Probably the best anypony could get around here.”

They both turned for the door only to be stopped short by a towering silhouette with its back against the light, casting a long shadow over both of them. Thunder’s heart dropped to his hooves and his knees went stiff when he recognised who it was.

It was Miss Red Mark, and she looked none too happy. Her gaze panned between the two colts to the unconscious Glass Cannon and the absolute mess the pegasus had made of the table. Its contents of glue and paint having spilled onto the floor, covering many of the tools alongside them.

Rage hot spilled from the intolerant mare and her glare threatening, no promising to melt him alive if he didn’t choose his next few words correctly. The world seemed to lose definition and Thunder found himself unable to focus on anything else but the pending wrath she had in store for him.

“Thunder, this is not what I meant.”

The pegasus shrunk under her influence and tried to think of a reply that wouldn’t get him the paddle. “I was doing what you asked though, wasn’t I?”

Yeah….wrong choice of words.

“My office, now.”

---

A pair of double doors swung open and Thunder was launched from the orphanage front entrance, hitting the hard pavement with a crash. Tears of pain ran down his cheeks from the red raw scratches that now decorated his cutie mark.

“You're no superhero you purple pest, if you want to live on the streets then go ahead, sleep outside for the night! Tomorrow morning your cleaning up the mess you made, you ungrateful child!” Red Mark then slammed the door hard enough she could’ve caused the windows to crack.

Thunder struggled to get to his hooves, his rear joints howling in protest from the royal spanking of Red Mark’s studded paddle. Equal parts anger and sadness flooding his face as he turned back to the door, shut and locked by the belittling teacher and leaving him with no protection from the elements. Instead he laid there, sulking with only his thoughts for company.

“This isn’t fair! I was only trying to help!”

He was surrounded by darkened stone brick walls lined with rows of iron spikes. The perimeter of the prison he was chained to, he could fly as far away as he wanted but he’d always have to return. Back to the same unfulfilling meals, the same meaningless classes and the same hard work.

“What’s the point? They never help us\! And I can’t leave or the guards will look for me! I’m going to be trapped here and there’s nothing I can do.”

A river of pure sadness was unleashed upon his face and poured onto the stone cold ground. His eyes burned just as much as his red racked rear did only amplifying his cries. None of this was fair, nothing was! Why was every-creature always so mean to him? The changelings, the overseer, the bullies and guards, even the adults at the orphanage! Weren’t they meant to be nice?

More and more reasons and reservoirs kept the tears coming, why should he stop? For a time he thought things would get better and that meant something, but again he was proved wrong. He wasn’t anypony special, he wasn’t some protegee or vigilante. He was a single changeling in a city that didn’t want him yet refused to just give in already, like a cockroach.

The walls closed in and the foundations of his hope buckled and broke under the immersive weight of his mind. His thoughts began to grow dark.

A cloud moved away to reveal a bright full moon that bathed the courtyard in white luna light. A comforting wave washed over the prone pegasus and the pain he felt seemed to lessen, like he was having his coat lovingly stroked by some invisible force.

Thunder’s cries subsequently quietened down into whimpers as time passed. Not knowing how long he laid there. Ten minutes? Twenty? Probably more.

The great eye of the moon casted a ray of beautiful serenity all throughout his breakdown. He hadn't even noticed the angry red arrows across his flanks had all but disappeared,little more than faded scratches and bad memories.

The cries eventually died down as his emotional energy drained from the outpour of stress. His resting form now able to embrace the moon’s grace upon his body. His limbs were sluggish and his head was full of pounding, yet the chill of the autumn wind was crisp and refreshing, like a bottle of glacial water that helped cool his sore lungs and vocal cords.

Soon his head cleared up and strength gradually returned to his body. The tear tracks dried up and clarity returned, yet he still saw no reason to pick himself up, why would he? There was nothing for him out here and the moonlight felt so nice on his coat.

That’s when he heard distant, childlike laughter from beyond the walls. He woke up from his stupor and craned his head in the direction of the source. The walls blocked his view but he ears weren’t lying, colts and fillies were walking the streets and he pondered why would they be doing such a thing this late?

“It’s Nightmare Night you ding dong!”

Renewed energy shot through his spine and flowed through his limbs. Climbing to his legs he found the physical pain from before had now vanished almost entirely. Thunder walked over to the front gate and watched through iron bars as a group of kids passed by on the other side of the road, each with their own costumes. One was dressed as a guard, another as a zombie and another as a…

“Changeling?...Seriously?”

Thunder couldn’t help but crack a smile and laugh at the sheer absurdity of the show. Quickly breaking out into a full fit of belly laughs that casted away whatever he was thinking prior.

The costume was so bad! The wings were a pair of cardboard cutouts with some paint, a pair of goggles that may have well been two bottle caps held together with tape, and fake fangs that looked like they’d been stolen from a vampire’s costume. It was so ridiculous he couldn’t help himself!

A tear was wiped from his eye as the group left his vision. The buckets they had reminded him of what happened to Teardrop and he looked back at the orphanage. “I remember Miss Red Mark took away Teardrop’s bucket, something about what he did not being allowed. I guess that explains why nopony from the orphanage is going out right now but where did she put it? If I had to hazard a guess…”

Thunder ran the length of the courtyard until he reached a set of dumpsters in the back where his prior experience let him pick out the one that had been most recently disturbed. He pulled the lid open and found the bright white eyes of the hoofmade bucket staring back at him.

“Poor Teardrop, he’s probably crying himself to sleep right now. I remember he spent at least two weeks working on that bucket. But you know what? Screw Red Mark, I’m getting everypony candy and she can’t stop me!”

He grabbed its handle and pulled it out before cleaning some dirt that had clung to its surface. Despite the rough start, he could already feel his spirit of fun coming back to him as he looked over its surface.

But as he approached the gate he paused and looked down at himself, suddenly struck with the fact he didn’t have a costume! How was he meant to go trick or treating without a costume?...

“Wow Shellac, have you really been disguised so long you forgot you're a changeling?”
…
“Shut up.”

He looked around himself to make doubly, even tripply sure nopony would spot him. Thankfully, all the windows were closed, the curtains shut, he was surrounded by walls and he saw no pegasi in the sky who’d spot him. He smiled, darfing his disguise and- “Why is the ground so low all of the sudden?!”

“Oh, right, changeling, forgot about that detail.”

Shellac craned his neck around and looked over himself as he’d honestly forgotten just what it felt like to have holes in his hooves again. It was a nice return to form and it warmed his heart to be back, but this wouldn’t suffice, it was too good for a costume. Somepony was bound to notice, thus there needed to be some flaw or detail that still hinted towards it being an act.

He started by filling in the gaps in his hooves to make the holes seem more like darkened patches of cloth. Additionally, headed seems to his joints to make his chitin look like large fitted plates with an undersuit before doing the same to the base of his horn and replacing his insectoid wings with pony ones but with a slight twist, now the feathers had been coloured purple to match his own and… “Actually that’s just Thunder Chaser, like that’s just Thunder Chaser…”

Shell couldn’t help but giggle at the levels of irony involved. He was going as himself, but as himself, dressed as himself. “If it’s stupid but works, it’s not stupid, just silly.”

Once he was satisfied with the level of alteration he bit down on the bucket handle and scampered to the walls, where his hooves stuck to the bricks like glue and he poked his head over to look around. Quickly, he spotted the group that had the bad costume in the distance as well as a few others. Grinning, he flew over, careful to avoid the sharp, rusty spikes on the walls.

Once over, he moved to catch upconfident in his costume and eagerly anticipating the kid’s responses. He was coming up on them now, they were still unaware of his presence, just a little more…

He whistled and turned around, the three kid’s jaws went slack and their eyes wide with shock. They gasped and recoiled away as he stood in place with a smirk. But as the moment passed the rational parts of their brains kicked in and soon shock and horror were replaced with awe and astonishment at Shellac’s form.

“No way!” One exclaimed, “Is that actually a changeling?”

“Relax Pots, changelings are blue not purple, and look at those wings!” The Guard pony pointed a wing towards his back which Shellac was more than happy to show off. Unfolding a royal purple pegasus wing that matched his shell colour. “Not to be mean Cherry but he blows you out the water with that.”

“Oh I know! You have to tell me how you did all that! It’s so good!” Cried the filly with the other changeling costume.

“You nailed the eyes, how’d you do that?” The three ponies moved in a little closer, eager to hear his response.

“Contacts lenses!” Shell responded. The group moved toward him and eyed up all the little details that he’d added. All three radiating awestruck affection like the kind you’d find from a celebrity taking autographs. He could only feed passively of course, but it was like being surrounded by the scent of freshly cooked food or fragrant flowers, it was certainly nice to have around.

“What’s your name? Are you alone?”

“I’m Thunder Chaser, and yeah I’m alone.” He turned back to the gated walls of the orphanage and suddenly the half-disguised changeling had an idea. “See the orphanage? I live there. but managed to sneak out, the adults there won’t let anypony go out trick or treating and have them locked up, could you help me get candy for them?”

All three kids gasped and nodded their heads as the leader of the group, the guard pony, offered a hoof. “Of course! I bet with your costume, we’ll get enough for everypony to have some candy!”

Shellac happily took it and shook. “Thanks a bunch!”

He joined the group and from that point on went door to door, impressing and freaking out ponies in equal measure. The pony with the bad changeling costume, named Cherry, actually helped prevent a few panics when they opened the door and saw a near changeling pony staring up at them with a bucket in mouth.

Actually, once they were informed of the truth, it seemed they opted to give Shellac extra candy for his amazing costume.

Their buckets quickly filled to overflow and Shellac had to make return trips to the orphanage to deposit them all. Thankfully some of the windows had been left open so he was able to unhook the latches and sneak back inside, leaving a piece of candy for everypony now asleep. He felt like Nightmare Moon’s little angel as he tucked chocolate bars and jawbreakers between their sheets.

Shellac couldn’t describe it, but there was something so invigorating, so freeing about not being judged for how he looked and even praised for it. Sure he was still using the guise of a false self but this was the closest he was able to get to just being himself in public. His spirit burned brighter and brighter with each door they knocked on, anticipating the reveal, the shock and the awe that soon followed, feeding on the potent ambient emotions each time.

It raised with each return trip he made and every treat he hid. With every foal, filly and colt that had been denied what he had been gifted. He even returned Teardrop’s bucket, loaded with some of the best treats Canterlot had to offer.

Hours passed and soon doors became locked, curtains were closed and lights went out. Shell bid farewell to his new friends and flew back to the orphanage under the watchful gaze of the moon. Pleased with his performance as much as he’d been ecstatic to enact it.

He couldn’t go back now, he knew Red Mark would know he was the one behind the sudden candy shower and would have his flank for it. Then again, he didn’t really care anymore, knowing that bridge was burned. She’d already belittled him until his confidence was shattered then doubled down with the paddle before throwing him outside to freeze.

The joke however was on her because this wasn’t how kids were meant to be treated and he knew it. As he stood on a nearby rooftop, now posed properly as Thunder Chaser, a new conviction rose within him. That place was rotten to the core and he was going to do something about it, because unlike all the kids that called the dreadful, soul sucking orphanage home, he was a changeling.

Not just any changeling however, but an infiltrator. Recognised by Queen Chrysalis herself and trained as a scout! He’d slip inside, found out their dirty secrets and dark dealings, and then when he’s collected everything he needs he’ll bring them to light! And now he has the energy surplus to do it!

“Red Mark was wrong, I am a hero, and I’m about to rock her world!”

---

One Night Before The Storm

Gleaming took another bite out of one of many pancakes she’d cooked for herself and the two colts sitting beside her. She’d woken up in another fit of crying to her husband’s absence, so on a whim she started making pancakes to try and distract herself.

So far, the results were speaking for themselves.

While Lead was taking his time savouring each bite, Shellac was ravenously devouring the baked stacks of batter, topped with his choice of jam, butter or chocolate sauce.

“I take it you're enjoying that?” Lead pointed a fork towards him. Shellac paid no attention as he shoved another mouthful of butter covered batter into his waiting maw, his cheeks fat and chubby like a squirrel. He’d even been given a little apron in an attempt to keep himself clean from all the debris being flung around.

“I don’t think he’s had pancakes before.” Said Gleaming, having just swallowed her bite.

“I don’t think he’s had your pancakes before mum.”

The pegasus mare chuckled under breath and jerked her head to the side, not expecting her son’s witty remark. He wasn’t wrong though, Shellac was almost already finished while Raining still had a little stack left to chew through. Gleaming didn’t give herself all that many to begin with as she’d prioritised the kids over her own needs.

Soon the two plates were left empty, even after Raining had given the nymph the remaining stacks. Really at this point he wanted to see just how bottomless his brother’s appetite was. Turns out, bottomless.

“He did admit as much back at the mall.”

“Shell, I would say you have a sweet tooth but it’s more of a sweet fang.”

“Washat?” He replied, pausing to look at him, quickly swallowing a ball the size of a pineapple down his neck. With all three plates now empty, Shell shrugged and cleaned himself up as Lead stacked the plates on top of each other.

“Okay you two, I made the effort of making breakfast so the least you can do is clean up after yourselves, Lead deary? Could you take these to the kitchen please?”

“Of course mum! Hey come help me wash these Shell, there’s a bunch of stuff from last night too.”

“Awe do I have to?” He said with a sarcastic undertone. The plates were gathered up in Raining’s magic grip and carried off to the kitchen with Shellac not far behind.

Now that she was alone Gleaming sighed and her smile waned. “I can’t keep this up, I have to tell them eventually or they’ll figure it out themselves otherwise.”

Sadly, saying that proved the easy part, her mind already visualising the looks of horror and distress on the two once she broke the news.

“Tomorrow Gleaming, let them go to the arcade today. Let them be happy for a little longer.”

Gleaming walked over to a nearby bookshelf and looked at several of Copper’s models, many of them made with loving detail. A sudden weight pressed onto her shoulders when she asked what to do with all of them. The attic only had so much room and she banished the thought of throwing them out. How would she tell the kids? Shellac didn’t know him for that long but Raining? “He’d be devastated…”

A trio of loud knocks broke her out of trance and she rushed into the main hallway. Shellac dawned his disguise as she opened the door to reception. Who could it be this time? Were the guards back to try comforting her? Was it mail? She didn’t order anything.

She opened the front door and was greeted by a brown unicorn stallion with a cream white mane that smelled of freshly ground coffee. Beside him was a minty white earth pony mare with a two-toned mane of light blue and green, her cheeks and coat sprinkled with chocolate freckles and they both smiled as realisation hit Gleaming like a truck.

“Hazel? Mint? Oh I’m so so sorry I didn’t come to work yesterday!”

Hazelnut made a friendly gesture as he took his hat off in respect. “Hey, hey, it’s okay Gleaming, we had to close up early anyway because of a water leak…and we ran out of coffee.” Hazel jerked his head slightly.

“We wanted to pop by and see if you were alright, it’s unlike you to be a no show.” Said Mint Tea, her voice smooth and quiet.

“I-I’m sorry, Copper he uh…” Gleaming’s breaths were suddenly becoming shorter, her heart rate climbing again and the weight on her shoulders gradually increasing. “H-He’s, s-somet-thing-” She cringed and moved to shut the door to escape, but Hazelnut was quick to pick up on her distress and preemptively planted a hoof on it’s frame before it closed.

“Gleaming I can see your upset, but shutting yourself in won’t do you any favours.” Gold was rapidly losing strength in her limbs as her joints became stiff and her muscles tensed up. Mint Tea craned her head over to get a view of the mare’s weary face.

“Please Gleaming, if you need help don’t do this to yourself.”

“I…I…” She found it hard to breathe and her ability to speak collapsed in on itself, unable to bring up the strength to utter another sentence. Her head pounded in her skull and sweat rolled down her temple. Finally her limbs gave in and she fell to the floor with a thud. The world grew dark as the sound of her own desperate breathing and rapid heart rate drowned out her two friends.

“Gold! What’s going on?!”

“I think she’s having a panic attack, let’s take her inside.”

Her vision became a mess of distorted colours and flickering images for the next few minutes, only able to focus on her breathing with little else mattering. No other thoughts permeated her mind, just breath in and out, over and over, good air came in and bad air went out. Her lungs felt like they were being restrained as when she’d try to inflate them they’d never fill to capacity.

Seconds turned to minutes as she laid down, teetering on the brink of consciousness. She didn’t know where she was, only that she was somewhere in her house.

But as time passed her heart began to slow down and her breathing grew deeper, restoring light and colour to her vision. She found she was back inside the living room splayed out onto a couch with Hazel seated on the opposite side and Mint right beside her. She could still feel her heart pounding in her head, a horrible headache having taken hold.

Gleaming squirmed in her seat trying to set herself upright which prompted Mint to immediately move to support her. “Easy there Gold, don’t hurt yourself.”

“What?...Happened?”

Hazel rose from his seat and marched toward her with the concerned frown only a long time friend would have. “You had a panic attack and fainted, so we brought you inside. I hope you don’t mind.”

With a slight groan as things started to come together, she Gleaming leaned back to a more comfortable position.

“It’s fine…it’s fine.”

“Gleaming, I know it might be hard but can you tell us what happened? You were saying something about your husband and then….” Hazel trailed off. Gleaming felt that weight return but it had its edge taken off and her breathing was okay, but she dreaded a second round.

Instead she lowered her voice and did her absolute best to control her breathing and prevent another attack. “Copper, h-he…t-there was…there was a…”

Both Mint Tea and Hazelnut drew in close, moving their ears within Gleaming’s whisper range where she told them what happened. The mare and stallion both went wide eyed with shock and horror as their blood turned cold. They looked to Gleaming with their most sincere of sympathies and backed away both to give her room and to process the information.

“Oh Gold, I’m so sorry, nopony should ever have to go through such a terrible thing.” Mint Tea sat next to her. Hazel began walking back and forth in a straight line digging a hoof through his mane. “Goodness me, and here I thought I had it bad when my favourite Starebucks shut down.”

Both mares glared at him with enough force to crush a building.

“Hey! To some ponies, coffee is life, me included!”

“Hazel?” Gleaming harshly poked him. “Not helping.”

“Sorry.”

“So what are you going to do now Gold? Mint asked, looking concerned. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I was…going to go out with the kids, to the arcade for a birthday they were invited to.”

“Wait, kids?” Hazel questioned.

“Gold, with all due respect, I don’t think you're in a fit state to go out like this. What if you have another attack?” Said Mint.

“What did you mean by kids? Didn’t you only have one?” Hazel continued to ask, refusing to drop the matter.

“Then why don’t you come with me? Help keep an eye out?”

“Girls? Am I being ignored?”

“That sounds like a great idea Gold! I don’t have anything planned today anyway.”

“Girls!” Both mares turned back to Hazelnut whose face was now alight with mild frustration. “What did you mean by kids, like with an plural?”

At that very moment both Raining Lead and Thunder Chaser came walking into the living room doorframe. Raining was still drying a hoof and Thunder had a half eaten bagel in his mouth. “Hi Hazel! Hi Minty! When did you two come in?” Raining asked, oblivious to the tension in the room.

Hazel stared at the purple pegasus and slowly looked back at Gleaming before holding a hoof up beside his mouth with a deliberately quiet voice. “And who’s the other one?”

“Hazel, meet Thunder Chaser.” Gleaming gestured toward him, “My unofficial second son. I took him off the streets not long ago.”

Thunder waved at him with a friendly (if occupied) smile. Hazel returned the wave as Gleaming got to her hooves which again prompted some help from Mint Tea. “Hey you two, can you get ready for the arcade? Might be a long walk.”

“Sure mum! C’mon Thunder, Spell-Tag awaits!” Raining turned about face and made his way to the reception.

Thunder however lingered there for a little longer looking at Gleaming and while it was faint, he could sense a deep dread radiating off the mare, like a horrible odour that wafted around her. He could also see the bags under her eyes and dried tear streaks, then there was the way Mint was helping her…

Biting down on the last of his bagel he left the room before drawing any attention and joined Raining. The two helped each other with their coats and boots soon followed by Gleaming.

There was one noticeable difference with Raining, well two actually. He was bringing a pair of orange tinted goggles with him and a bit bag of his own. Thunder didn’t care to comment but it did strike his eye when he saw it, were those his savings? Why’d he need them? Wasn’t Gleaming paying for the game anyway?

He figured he’d get his answers soon enough and braced himself for the cold once more.

---

Around an hour had passed since the herd left the house.

Gleaming didn’t want to strain her budget by paying for a taxi so they had to walk. Thunder hovered the majority of the way there while the others kept a casual pace. Gleaming did need to stop to catch her breath once or twice but she said she was fine. A statement Thunder hardly believed as all throughout the trip the golden pegasus carried that same post breakdown dread he’d seen from Raining not long ago, only here it lingered.

Hazel kept going on and on about the differences between two very similar sounding coffees, but from different brands, while Mint rarely spoke, often only when she was being addressed. Thunder pinned him as a fun loon while the other was pretty shy and reclusive. At some points she lagged so far behind he looked over his shoulder to let her know when to pick up the pace.

Raining meanwhile wore a smile throughout the entire journey with unhindered anticipation even during their brief breaks. A few days ago Thunder wouldn’t have questioned his endless enthusiasm, but since last night he’d found himself second guessing his brother’s headspace.

Was Raining really so good at hiding his real emotions that fake ones became the norm? Only changelings could put up a protective barrier that could block out another’s senses, and while Thunder had admitted he can sense emotions he had the feeling the ponies had forgotten that. Whatever the case it certainly made him more perceptive of him.

Eventually they’d pass by a corner and see a grand entrance to a massive building easily several stories tall.

Said entrance had several huge pillars with festive neon wires spiralling up their length into an overhang that protected sets of glass pane double doors with push bars. It was almost covered in lights and much like Piccafilly Circus it had its own elaborate sign that proudly displayed Neighberton Arcade! Family Fun For All! With illusionary rays that depicted colts and fillies eating pizza, playing video games, bowling or shooting spires of light at each other with weird looking weapons.

The display was positively blinding and almost made the changeling wish he’d brought sunglasses.

Thunder braced himself, if this was going to be anything like Piccafilly Circus then he’d better prepare for sensory overload. Raining meanwhile was bouncing up and down so much it was like the ground had become a giant trampoline for the brass colt. He could already see the visual siege he was about to be under as they approached the front door.

They passed through and surprisingly enough Thunder’s eyes didn’t sizzle out of their sockets. Still, he was met with a visual and auditory assault, both familiar and foreign to the young pegasus.

The floor was made of a soft and mostly dark carpet, with bright streaks of purple, green and blue running in different directions at sharp angles. More neon lined the internal architecture and multi-coloured glowsticks even dangled from the ceiling between different lights. There were so many that at no point was there ever a single colour bearing down upon them.

On the left was a staircase that led to a maze of boxy machines, all with screens and buttons, covered in decorative artwork and fancy titles. Some were simple, while many others had accessories or played entirely different games like a ball throwing game with several hoops, claw machines full of stuffed animals, or even entire booths that were enclosed. Some games were even designed with flight in mind like an overhead flight course with rings that moved!

To the front left next to the arcade cabinets was a diner with an assortment of rich lights and coloured tile flooring, practically ripped out of another time. The smell of nachos, cheese sauce and sugary doughnuts met Thunder nostrils and he suddenly wondered at what time they were having lunch. “By honeycomb my quest for doughnuts will be fulfilled! Do you hear me Gleaming?!”

On the far right was an entire bowling alley with several lanes that almost stretched the length of the building. The loud scattering of bowling pins would echo all the way to the entrance with screens playing weird animations whenever a pony scored big.

And to their direct front was a circular reception area with a prize corner that stood at a gate, showing an area full of families who’d brought their kids to the birthday party, decorations celebrating the special occasion were scattered everywhere.

Raining rushed in front of Thunder like a jackhammer with how rapidly he was bouncing in place, his excitement like that of an overactive tennis ball and his smile infecting Thunder as they locked eyes. “Welcome to the jungle Thunder! We got fun and we got games!”

Thunder didn’t know what to say in response, simply nodding with excitement.

The colt then dashed off towards the reception so quickly he left a dust cloud facsimile. Gleaming laughed as they gradually caught up to him with his tail wagging back and forth like an excited puppy.

“Hello, two twelve year olds for Spell Tag. We’re here for Neon’s birthday.” Gleaming took out some bits and did some counting while the receptionist took out a log book. However Raining wanted a piece of the action and climbed up, presenting his own bit bag with its cloth handle locked in his mouth.

“Can me and Thunder get the V2 upgrade package? I brought my own bits!” He mumbled.

Gleaming giggled and nodded as the receptionist took both pools of money and fastened a pair of brightly coloured wrist bands to both colt’s arms, marked with a glowing V on several spots.

They were let into the Spell-Tag lobby with dozens of other kids, mostly around their age range, give or take a year. A huge set of tables, chairs and even an arcade machine or two were dotted about the lobby. It shared the same dark but glowy colour pallet as the main entrance, but with noticeably more confetti on the floor and many, many balloons.

At the centre of the attention was Neon Abyss himself who wore glow stick rings around his hooves and had stickers that took the place of freckles on his face. At least now with the dim lighting it no longer hurt to look at the colt’s oversaturated mane, but something about it still forced Thunder’s eyes to widen. Was it his changeling vision or was that just a quirk of neon lights?

However, then he saw a pair of ponies among the crowd that his brain flagged as familiar sitting down behind a table. One had a paper white coat and the other an earthly green with a brown mane and pair of glasses upon her brow. “Wait…is that?” Thunder squinted his eyes.

Raining turned to him out but before he could ask Thunder put names to faces and bolted towards the duo, overjoyed to recognise the two kids. “Postal Stamp! Flower Pots!”

The two kids looked towards where their names had been called and glee filled overtook whatever expression they just had. “Thunder?”

The purple pegasus rapidly approached their table, weaving around other party goers, Raining not far behind. “Wait, they know you?!”

“Yeah! From Nightmare Night!”

Thunder slid onto the seat opposite the two with a grin to rival a hyena as Raining more calmly claimed a chair of his own beside the pegasus. “Hey you two! How long’s it been?”

“I don’t know, weeks? Months? Now that you're here it feels like yesterday.” Postal exclaimed. “Who’s this? Your new friend?” He pointed a hoof to Raining.

“Guys, meet Raining Lead! My new brother!” Thunder then reached out and pulled Raining close,much to his vain protest, like an excited colt showing their mom a street cat they wanted to keep.

“Brother huh? You finally got adopted then lavy?”

“Being honest, it was more of a surprise adoption.” Thunder chuckled, still not sure how to explain the situation himself.

Raining pulled himself free and turned to Thunder. “Lavy?”

“Short for lavender, like his coat.” Pots gestured.

Thunder snickered and turned to the two but noticed an empty space where his brain told him a third should’ve been sitting. “Where’s Cherry Picker?”

“She couldn’t make it, visiting family in Ponyville for Hearth’s Warming.”

“Oh that’s a shame, she’d love this place!”

“Not as much as your costume, you blew her sky high! I mean it was a white and red letter day difference.” Exclaimed Postal.

Raining then stared at the purple pegasus with a smug grin born of amusement. A bead of sweat rolled down Thunder’s nervous smile as he darted his eyes away. “You know you did mention Nightmare Night but I don’t think I ever saw your costume.”

“Well, too bad I didn’t bring it with me.”

“Thunder we both know what you're doing when we get back home.” Lead then snapped to the two newcomers with his voice full of enthusiasm. “And hi! Nice to meet you! We didn’t get actual invites but Neon was pretty stoked when he saw my shooting skills.”

“Don’t you mean our shooting skills?” Thunder shot.

“I hit more targets than you!”

“Pfft, I scored more points!”

“Yeah but you hit those high value ones because they were larger, not because you were accurate.”

“Says the slowdraw!”

“Mmmmmph!” Raining grumbled in frustration and began play punching Thunder’s shoulder. The three of them laughed at the innocent act as the brass unicorn’s hooves bounced off his side. As he did so Postal then saw his wrist bands and caught the large V printed onto them, his eyes widened with delight and awe. “No way, you got the upgrade?”

Raining immediately stopped and snapped into a completely different position with his hooves planted on the table, now hunched over as if about to lunge at the paper white pony with his tone making a complete one-eighty into excitement. “Sure is! Got it for Thunder too!”

“Awesome! How much does it cost? I begged my mom but she didn’t let us have it.”

“Oh not much! Just twomonth’sworthofpocketmoney.”

Despite the mumbling, the other ponies were able to make out his words and all their eyes widened in stunned surprise.

“Hey can I ask what that does? I’ve never played Spell-Tag before.” Thunder asked, deciding to change topics.

“You’ve never played Spell-Tag before?” Postal replied.

“Orphanage.”

“Oh, right.”

“You went to an orphanage?” Raining asked, only for Thunder to turn to him with a knowing smile. “Oh, right.” He echoed Postal.

Flower Pots squinted her eyes in confusion at the conflict of information. Before she could press though Raining continued.

“So put simply, I paid for a better version of the equipment we’ll be getting before we play. Usually everypony gets spell-shots that aren't that accurate, I guess it’s to make it fun for who’s being shot at, but it only annoys me when I have a clean shot and I miss anyway. It wouldn’t be that bad if it was rare but it happens a lot, like a lot. And my enchants do nothing.”

“But isn’t that, like, unfair? Being able to pay for an advantage?” Thunder looked down at his wristband with a new degree of clarity.

“Yep”

“And they let you do that? Even though it’s not fair for anypony else?”

“Mhm.”

“And I have it as well?”

“Absolutely.”

Thunder glanced towards the rest of the table and looked around absentmindedly as if to see if anypony but they were watching. He then slowly nodded in approval. “Nice…nice.”

“By the way, do you two know about a colt named-” Thunder lowered his voice and crept over the table, “-Moonlit Lance?”

Both ponies across the table shook their heads and declined in unison. “Okay, does Neon know?” They repeated the gesture.

Raining sat back down in his seat and shared a wary look, the air of the table suddenly growing thick and heavy. “Thunder come on, you don’t think he’s actually here do you?”

The young pegasus winced at the memory from the night prior and nodded. “It’s just a hunch, but I still think it’s warranted.”

“Uhm, guys? Mind filling us in?” Postal waved as the both of them now exchanged wary glances that brought down the jovial mood.

“Moonlit Lance is an unhinged psycho bully that’s been tormenting Raining. He usually targets anypony who tries being friends with him and he beat us both up only a day after Raining’s family took me in. If he’s here he might try going after Neon to send a message.”

“Oh packing tape!” Postal cursed. “Well if he is here we can just spot him and tell Neon to stay away, he might even be able to tell staff to escort him out.”

“Not so simple Stamp, his sister know’s illusion magic so she can disguise him.”

“Wait, you mean like a changeling?” Flower asked.

Thunder then sat up and cleared his throat, preparing to teach the two a lesson on magic. “It’s not exactly the same thing. Changelings are able to turn into pretty much anything as long as they have the energy to back it up and have a clear picture of what it is. Illusion magic only changes your colours and adds or shaves a hoof off your height, even then harsh conditions like injury could ruin the disguise because at its core it’s just an illusion. Nothing about your body actually changes.”

“You seem to know a lot about changelings.” Flower squinted, though Thunder kept his composure.

“What was I wearing on Nightmare Night?”

Flower Pots raised a hoof and parted her lips with a response ready on the tip of her tongue. But she stopped herself short when her brain processed Thunder’s implication and gradually lowered her leg in defeat.

“This could be a problem though, if he’s here he might be after us as much as he may go after the birthday colt.”

The group now found themselves on alert, already scanning the area for any signs of Lance.

“Well what do we do? Assuming you’re all targets wouldn’t it be better to keep everypony in one place near staff? Ya know, like keeping an eye on your precious packages?”

“I did not spend two months worth of pocket money to stand around being foal-sat.”

“Then what? He’ll beat you up if you try playing and you’ll waste your time being safe, he wins either way.”

Thunder rubbed the back of his head and kicked the cogs and gears of his brain into motion. Postal was right in his analysis, having the giant colt kicked from the game would be easier said than done and if the mile long streak of building excitement from Raining was anything to go by, he wasn’t prepared to just let Lance win. He looked around the table hoping to stimulate his brain with a little movement then like the moth to a freshly lit flame, he had an idea.

“You're right, there is no way to ensure our game is totally safe, but there’s only one Moonlit Lance. His sister isn’t interested in whatever pain he’s trying to inflict, so we have numbers on our side! We’ll split up, force him to pick one or the other!”

“That…doesn’t sound half bad, me and Postal could stay around Neon as bodyguards and if either of us sees Lance one of us can split off to tell staff while the other keeps him distracted, Neon can slip away then!”

“I…I donno Pots, if he’s half as bad they’re making him out then I don’t like the idea of being bait.” The young colt already looked more than a little nervous.

“Oh shush you, if you're really that scared you can be the runner, you’re the pegasus after all.” Flower then playfully booped Postal’s nose and like a button, both of his wings unfolded from behind his back as a light blush coloured his cheeks.

“So we’re in agreement? If anypony sees an oversized navy blue colt ready to throw a temper tantrum we’ll split up, you two guard Neon while we try doing our own thing.”

“No problem Thunder!”

“Sounds like a plan!”

“I don’t wanna have my mailbox dented, but okay!” That earned Postal a light punch from Flower Pots.

“Up high!” Thunder then raised a hoof and all four ponies came together to group bro-hoof.

But watching them from across the room seated behind several rows of chairs, tables and kids would be an emerald green earth pony. His silver coated sister with peppercorn freckles sitting next to him with a pair of sunglasses, sipping on a soda cup through a paper straw. Lance huffed as he bit down on another chilli sauce covered nacho, spying on the group with abject focus.

Mirror adjusted her wide brimmed hat and shifted uncomfortably in her seat darting her eyes side to side. Glued in place by anxiety towards her big brother.

“Don’t you think that maybe you're taking things too far?” Mirror asked, hoping maybe she could talk her brother out of this.

“No actually, in fact I don’t think I've been taking them far enough.”

Mirror grimaced and pulled her hat down, looking around her for any eavesdroppers that might be listening in and keeping her voice low. “Lance, this is somepony’s birthday party we’re talking about here. You can’t do this to somepony on their birthday, much less somepony who just met Raining.”

Lance turned and casted a stone cold glare on his sister. “We need to know if Thunder Chaser’s a changeling, and the only way we’re going to find out is by getting our hooves dirty. If he is, he may have already casted some kind of mind control magic on Neon.”

Mirror felt her blood freeze over even from behind her black tinted shades and her fear of his wrath already building. “And if he’s not actually a changeling?”

“I’d be teaching them a lesson anyway then, bucking bug lovers.”

“Oh for pony’s sake Lance, listen to yourself!” Mirror took another nervous sip of her drink to try quell her building anxiety. “Think Mirror, what would stop him from hurting anypony? I could make him promise or I’ll drop the disguise…but then…”

Her train of thought died as she imagined staring down her colossal brother, enraged by her clearly unjustified betrayal. She got so stuck in the thought she’d forgotten to swallow her mouthful and ended up forcing it down, causing a large portion of liquid to flow into her unexpected windpipe. Her gag reflex kicked in and she coughed up onto the table hard.

Lance’s stern demeanour dropped and he tried patting her back to help her body rid itself of the offending contents. A brownish-black pool of fizzy liquid spilled across the table and drenched the base of the cardboard container holding Lance’s nachos. Quickly, he grabbed the serving cloth they’d been given and gave it to his sister to help cover up her wet heaves. Her throat burned as her body forced more sandpaper like coughs through her vocal cords.

In the chaos her sunglasses fell off and she shut her eyes tight, trying to prevent the bright, neon lights from burning her vision. She winced as solid breaths once more filled her lungs and the heaving subsided as she calmed down. Her brother began mopping up the spilled drink with another tissue.

Mirror tilted her hat downwards using the brim to cover her eyes from the sun-like beams of light. “Glasses…please.” She mumbled.

Lance put the towels aside and gave the black tinted glasses back to Mirror, while looking at her with concern. After her episode, her breath was more heavy and ragged, like she’d just choked on sandpaper. “Are you okay sis?” He asked.

Mirror’s eyes just about meet him through a crack between the brim of her hat and the droplet ridden lenses. “Lance, please, please promise me you won’t hurt the birthday colt.”

Lance’s expression dropped as he suddenly felt for her and set the spilled cup upright. Turning to peer at the jet black and bright blue colt being surrounded by his friends he sighed. His attempts at finding justification were going to be in vain anyway.

“I promise.”

---

Hazelnut and Mint Tea approached the counter of the arcade diner.

The floor tiles were a mixture of cream white, teal and cotton candy pink with a few bars of neon illumination decorating the borders of the restaurant. Either way the white tiles and colours made it the single most brightly lit area in an interior dominated by dark colours designed to intensify the neon lights.

If nothing else it guaranteed nopony could sneak up on them from any direction.

The waiter behind the counter turned to address the two newcomers with a smile on her face. “Hello! What can I get you? Tea? Coffee?”

Mint’s eyes widened in horror as she turned to Hazelnut who grinned with excitement. “Oh no…”

“I’ll take a mocha with three shots of expresso, a shot of maple syrup, splash of vanilla and hazelnut, whipped cream, chocolate buttons, steam the milk, double blend it, and add a hint of mint.”

The waiter stood frozen with shock as she processed the order, a bead of sweat rolling down her temple as she slowly turned to Mint.

“Uhm, earl grey please?” She squeaked, while also placing a few extra bits on the counter for her trouble.

A few minutes later the duo sat down at a nearby table with Gleaming Gold, who was now on her third glass of sparkling water. The mare had gone through them so fast the waiter had just given her the pitcher and left it at that. It was still one of the best defences she had for keeping her headache down. Now that she was away from the kids she’d allowed her mask to drop. Moving slowly, almost lethargically and taking small but constraint sips from her drink, which was the only reason she hadn’t gone running to the bathroom already.

Mint Tea set about pouring a little milk into her steaming cup while Hazel took a bite out of the creamy white canopy of his custom made coffee.

“Feeling any better Gold?” Asked Mint, “You don’t look well.”

“I could be doing better.” Gleaming took another sip from her glass with her pace slow and steady. Consciously trying to balance between crushing the fragile cup and being so soft she might let it slip. “I’ve had a lot thrown at me in the past few days.”

“I can imagine, I mean we had to deal with three consecutive sick days and then the pipes for one of the sink’s burst. Tried finding a plumber but the best they could do was shut off the water until after New Year’s Eve, stuff like that keeps you up at night, it was horrible!” Hazel said taking a long sip from his coffee, already looking a bit jittery.

“This…isn’t the same thing, Hazel.” Gleaming weakly responded.

The stallion scowled and crossed his hooves before taking another bite out of the whipped cream cap of his coffee, leaving a perfectly curled white moustache just under his nose.

“First I found a poor little colt freezing and starving on the street, for a little bit things were going alright. But then…that, happened to Copper and I’ve been worried sick ever since. How am I meant to raise a couple of colts by myself?”

Both of her co-workers flinched at the mention of Copper and looked at Gleaming with pity.

“Oh, I wouldn’t know Miss Gold, but I’m sure there are support groups out there that can help.” Minty tried giving her a reassuring smile, but if it helped at all nopony at the table bar Gleaming knew for sure. Her mind still neck deep in depression and worry as taking another sip from her drink.

“I’m not sure how much that’s going to help dear, I can’t be in two places at once already.” Gleaming muttered as she took another sip.

“Why not hire a foal-sitter then?”

“That…” Gleaming paused, her mind prepared a retort to discard the idea but the more she thought about it, the more her brain rationalised it. “That could work, but I don’t know, I don’t want to leave the kids alone. A thirteen year old who’s been bullying my son went after him the other day. Raining’s okay now, but it wasn’t pretty when they got back, I was horrified.”

The mare’s senses began to spike again and she remembered the sorrow she had that night after they left. Her terror when she saw her son’s bruised body and Thunder’s limp wing from behind the window. An impending sense of doom knocked on her mind’s door, gradually getting louder and louder.

“Did you try going to the guards about this? They might have protective services available.”

“That’s what Copper tried to do…” Silence descended upon the table as Gleaming let the weight of her words bare down on both ponies present. Hoping to leech off more of their sympathy as they turned to each other in grim realisation.

“I’m scared.” She added, forcing herself to put her cup down in anticipation of another panic attack as she could already feel her limbs beginning to lock up. “I don’t know what to do. Raising two colts is hard enough, but knowing somepony out there wants to harm them, I’m not sure what to do.”

Hazel turned back and opened his mouth to say something only to have Mint jam a hoof over his mouth, the mare slowly shaking her head as if to say, “No Hazel, whatever it is, this isn’t the time.” She got up from her seat and joined Gleaming’s side before wrapping a leg around her shoulder and pulling her into a hug.

“It's okay to be scared, you don’t have to do this alone.”

Gold suddenly felt herself relax as all the grim thoughts and dreadful feelings flowing through her mind were dimmed by her friend’s warmth. Gleaming was able to regain control of herself and gently leaned into Mint’s embrace. The affectionate act washing away the painful images and mutes her sense of doom into little more than a squeak.

“Thank you Minty…”

Hazel watched on with a pouty smile, his chest fluttering with sympathetic joy. But then he looked down at his drink and shrugged.

Sluuuurrrrrp!

Both mares’ eyes shot open and they snapped to the stallion. “Really Hazel?”

The unicorn planted his cup onto the table. “What? I like my coffee! And I didn’t want it to get cold”

They each stared at each other and glared intensely at the sudden, if unintentional interruption. Ready to boil his drink until it evaporated.

Then Minty smiled and let out a snicker which grew into an infectious laughter that Gleaming soon picked up as did Hazel. Before long all three of them were laughing like a cauldron of witches with any thoughts of trepidation or despair seemingly vanished.

“I guess it's true what they say, laughter is the best medicine.” Gleaming wiped a tear from her eye.

“Really? I thought it was caffeine! It cures all of my problems.” Hazel laughed.

Gleaming jerked forward as another barrage of comedic joy rushed through her vocal cords.

“No, I'm serious, I haven't slept for three days.”

“Hah ha-wha?” Gleaming paused to look at him, having been snapped out of her elated state. Before she could press however, a set of loud speakers across the building crackled to life and blurred out a static ridden voice that echoed throughout the area.

“Attention! Spell-Tag will be starting shortly. Any and all players please move to the entrance gate, thank you.”

“Welp, time to see what your second son’s made of.”

---

A pair of large maps detailing the arena layouts covered one of the walls flanked by the ready room entrances. There were so many numbers, signs and variants of the map for the different floors that Thunder couldn’t make heads or tails of it, and that’s coming from growing up in the hive.

He could at least tell that the arena was split into two separate areas.

The Blast Zone was the starting arena, which shared the arcade’s overall theme with neon lights, but judging by the map it was a mess of different twists and turns with aerial obstacles to prevent pegasi from just flying above and shooting down. Conversely, The Dungeon was similar in its close quarters nature but the corridors were noticeably wider.

It also had several secret passages and hidden rooms Thunder doubted he’d remember where they all are just by looking at the map but it was valuable information regardless.

Meanwhile, Raining Lead was sitting still as a statue to his side looking over the layout, his smile wide enough it could put a measuring stick to shame. They’d given their coats to Gleaming in preparation for the game, but Raining still had his orange tinted goggles, which now hung from around his neck. Thunder wasn’t exactly sure why he’d bought them along but he figured there was a good reason for it.

The speakers flared up and the two heard the call, Raining sprung up and pranced off to join the horde of ponies filling into the ready room with Thunder not far behind.

It was a large room with rows and rows of seats and a stage where a unicorn stallion wearing a chest rig stood at attention. A weird looking weapon hung from his side that consisted of several barrels toward its front that fed from a chamber for a magic crystal seated in the weapon’s body. It glowed and hummed a myriad of different colours which illuminated an otherwise darkened room.

Speaking of which, the overhead lights were also wildly different to anything Thunder was used to. They cast a darkish blue to purple ray that reflected off different colours in certain ways, making the clothes and colour schemes of different ponies glow. The various paint splatters and decorative signs scattered around the room shared in this effect.

He was now confident that something about the colouration was forcing his brain to wake up and pay attention, it was surreal, but in a way that was almost nostalgic.

It reminded him of the lights from the hive, how the ghoulish greens were amplified by his eyes and bounced off the walls everywhere he looked, being able to pick up on colours typical ponies were blind to. For a moment he wondered if this was all just a product of his changeling biology, but a quick glance and the other kids ogling over each other’s colours confirmed that wasn’t the case.

He turned back to Raining to ask something, only to have his skeleton nearly jump out of his body when he saw him. Raining had put his goggles on and the resulting blacklights had made them ominously glow a hot, neon orange. In tandem with his award winning smile it made the colt almost creepy against the shadowy backdrop.

“Lead, you're scaring me.”

“Good.” Raining emphasised his point by lifting his weapon up, ready to fire.

“Uhm…how exactly?”

Thunder noticed Raining’s voice had taken on a new playful malice. It was an innocent, childlike glee that promised the destruction of the world through the use of sunshine and rainbows. His excitement throughout the day was reaching a boiling point, an apex that Thunder was growing wary about now that he was acting this way.

“Because it means these goggles are doing what I thought they would. You see ponies will forget the name and mane, but they won’t forget the eyes and smile.” Raining stuffled a mad cackle.

“How long have you been doing this?” Thunder asked with a tremble.

“Four times a year, five years in a row, this would be my twenty-fifth match of Spell-Tag.”

“Twenty…fifth?”

Raining slowly nodded…

Thunder turned back to the stallion on stage and now wordlessly begged to whatever deity that had saved him from freezing to make sure he was on whatever team his surrogate brother was on. “Forget Lance, now I’m scared of Lead.”

“Attention everypony! Please be seated because I’ll be starting shortly!”

The murmurs of the room died down to a whisper as the pony on stage began pacing back and forth. Listening in for anypony still talking among the crowd all the while countless sets of eyes were drawn to whatever strange weapon hung from his side.

Thunder meanwhile took the opportunity to pan his gaze around the room. With so many ponies now shining like lightbulbs he hoped he might be able to catch Lance out early.

“My name is Platinum Palace but you can call me Plait, I’ll be your instructor and one of the many marshals that’ll help keep today’s game fun, safe and fair for everypony. If you have a problem, come talk to one of us and we’ll sort it out as quickly as we can.”

Platinum then moved a hoof up to pull at the chest rig attached to his torso, it was a multitude of straps that held several glowing crystals each encased in a thick layer of heavy duty glass. There was a crystal plate on his front, two on his shoulders, a few more on his back, sides, flanks and finally his front legs.

He’d go on to explain the rules of the game and how things worked, but Thunder ended up glossing over many of the things that were said in exchange for trying to find anypony that might’ve struck him as being in disguise.

Thankfully, he did pick up that the body rigs were called “Spell-Carriers” and the weapons were “Spell-Shots” which would temporarily shut off an enemy’s suit when they were hit. There was some other stuff like lives, recharging, different crystals, ect, but most of the terminology flew right over his head as he meticulously scanned each row.

He'd convinced himself he was sharing the same room as the oversized earth pony that had broken his wing, and wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to spot him before the games started.

Looking about, he did at least crack a grin when the rule about zero physical contact with any part of another pony was brought up, equal parts amusement and relief that if Lance tried anything he’d get the boot. Not that he had any doubts in the first place but hearing it out loud took a weight off his shoulders.

Still, he was having no luck catching the colt. He knew it had to be one of the earth ponies but with so many present the task remained difficult at best.

“Come on Thunder, you're a changeling for crying out loud! This is meant to be your domain.”

Raining meanwhile was doing his best to contain an onslaught of incessant giggles at Thunder’s efforts. He probably recognised the irony just as much as he did. “Yeah, yeah, Raining I get. If this was how every guard in the castle felt during wedding then I certain don’t envy them.”

Soon Platinum would finish up and elected two captains for both opposing teams with Neon going first. Thunder felt a rising panic as he drew blanks on which could or couldn’t have been Lance. One by one they picked out ponies from the crowd and funnelled into one of two separately coloured doors. The first door was a deep orange while the other a light green. “Damn it I wasn’t done!”

Thunder held his breath as Raining got elected for Neon’s team as did Flower Pots and Postal Stamp. The other team’s captain glossed over his side of the crowd looking for recruits. “Please don’t pick me please don’t pick me!”

The pony then pointed towards him and he felt a spike of fear plunge into his spine. Any of these ponies could’ve been Lance and the last thing he needed was to be separated from Raining.

But as he got up so did another pony right beside him and they both locked eyes and exchanged pointed hooves until the other happily rolled their eyes and brushed passed him without a word. Thunder couldn’t help but nervously smile at the awkward moment as Neon quickly followed with picking him.

Raining and the others were already waiting for him inside the Orange Team’s room, where several racks with carriers and inactive weapons hung from each wall. A pair of marshals were helping ponies strap them on and In little to no time Thunder had his kit fastened around his body. Its weight was a little much but he could still fly with it, flying comfortably though it was off the table with the way the straps rubbed the base of his wings.

Once the rest of Neon’s recruits flooded the room Thunder approached Raining, still annoyed he was unable to win his impromptu guess who game. Instead hoping he could at least gain some beginner’s advice. “Hey Lead? What’s the best strategy for winning?”

The brass colt snapped his head to him and grinned like an overeager housecat, complete with the head tilt. “You think there’s a strategy? Everypony runs around like headless chickens or in mobs thinking they'll be safe in numbers, only to have somepony blast them all from behind a half wall or through a window. You’ll have no idea where anypony is and no clue where you got shot from.”

Thunder stared into Raining’s eyes, or at least as much as he could from outside those glowing goggles of his. The colt’s nerves were in no way helped by his bluntness. “So then what do I do?”

“Just shoot people and have fun, that’s what I do.”

“Raining, you have the finesse of a brick.”

The two joined up with the growing herd of young colts and fillies now lining up behind a pair of double doors. All of them wearing the same inactive Spell-Carriers and weapons the duo had with Neon and his bodyguards, Postal and Pots, waving a hoof to them. A marshal stood in front of the group with a little announcement prepared, his voice stoic and stern.

“Okay everypony, we’re starting with a simple elimination match. Either destroy the enemy’s team base crystal or score more points to win!”

With a quick buck the double doors flew open and the single adult allowed themself to crack a grin as the swarm of kids all swam past him and out onto the open battleground. True to Thunder’s expectation the Blast Zone was in fact an exaggerated maze of neon colours and dark corners, barrels with bright, glowy paint splatters and decorational artwork adorned the walls and floor.

Above them were a set of floating light lined barricades and obstacles, no doubt meant exclusively for pegasi and aerial combat. He could already feel the adrenaline rush through his body at the promise of action, but kept himself on a leash and followed Raining on their side of the map.

The brass colt was only a few steps short of breaking out into a gallop as they ascended up ramps and around sharp corners. Their weapons still weren’t active so Thunder figured they still had some prep time and that’s what Raining was taking advantage of. They climbed up some kind of tower that led to a large open window with a view and a pintle mounted multi-barreled Spell-Shot weapon faced the sky on the edge of the window. Below it was an empty chamber where it looked like something could be inserted.

Raining however wasn’t interested in that and instead turned to the back wall where two chambers holding differently coloured crystals lay. He pulled his Spell-Shot off and pressed a button below the weapon’s crystal chamber, the glass cover popping open as did the wall mounted ones when he repeated the act and placed the orange crystal within the chamber below the pintle mount. Once inside the weapon’s colour palette changed accordingly.

Thunder watched with curiosity before turning to his own weapon which still glowed a faded white. He opened up the second chamber which housed a cool blue gemstone and smiled before swapping them out. A rush of energy shot through him as his weapon gleamed with newly acquired power.

“That one will give your weapon more range and damage, but it’ll be slower to charge.”

“Damage?” Thunder wearily turned to Raining and he clicked his remaining white gem into the chamber under the mounted Spell-Shot. “I thought Platinum said your rig would just turn off if you get shot, these aren’t actually going to hurt us are they?”

“Then you weren’t paying attention, which, I mean, fair enough. But nah, if you get shot you’ll just lose a life. Some weapons drain extra lives but they're normally harder to handle.” The pintle mount then glowed a bright white and hummed with arcane energy. Raining’s grin only grew wider and a low, hearty giggle escaped his chest.

Thunder soon joined him and looked over the massive Spell-shot with a mixture of awe and worry. “Hey, what happens if you shoot me? Will my carrier turn off?” He pointed towards the weapon.

Raining slowly turned to him with the anticipation of a mad-mare. “There is no such thing as friendly fire.” He blankly responded.

“Okay Raining, totally not creepy at all! Not in any way at all whatsoever! Nope none!”

Try as he might Thunder couldn’t stop his nerves from bleeding into his expression and he forced a smile to cover it up but his shrunken pupils still betrayed him. Hesitantly, he gave Raining a pat on the shoulder hoping to temper the colt’s playful madness, but only managed to garner a slight head tilt, like a curious animal trying to make sense of something unusual.

Before Thunder could follow up however, the arena’s loudspeakers turned on and the announcer flooded the soon to be battleground with their message. “Ten seconds until game everypony!”

Raining snapped back to the neon maze and took hold of the mounted weapon as its trigger gems powered up. The duo’s carriers and Spell-shots likewise.

Thunder huffed in annoyance and unfurled his wings, preparing for the multitude of floating barricades that started slowly shifting through the skies, a maze of neon lights just as messy as the one below him.

Looking ahead he spotted several pegasi, both allied and enemy, taking to the skies around him and saw the gleaming green lights of the enemy team from off the maze walls below. Electronic music began to flare up from the speakers that dotted the corners of the arena and a loud horn sounded. Suddenly, the air was filled with a flood of white spell bolts which he dodged and ducked, working hard to evade them all.

Luckily, his years navigating the twisting corridors of the hive and his time training for the invasion were coming back in full force. True to Raining’s word the bolts were fast, but horribly aimed and he bounced around the skybound barricades like a hawk.

Rearing up he aimed his Spell-Shot and quickly willed for the weapon to fire. In less then a second a trio of twisting bright blue lines swirled around the length of the weapon’s barrel and a bolt of turquoise light raced through the air, shaving the mane off a nearby pegasus who spun around to return fire. The hostile spell bolt went wide and a splash of snow white magic smashed against Thunder’s barricade evaporating shortly after.

Thunder fired again, but a loud beep denied such an action, two more shots whizzed past him and he ducked behind his barricade trying to catch a breath. Three more enemy players were converging his position last his saw and he felt a tinge of fear with how unprepared he was. The airborne trio grouped up and flew around a floating neon block to his side hoping to flank him.

Just then, a storm of orange bolts pelted their position and their carriers all went dark. What followed was the joyful howls of an ecstatic brass colt. Raining’s laughter wasn’t like that of a typical pony anymore, it had evolved into the evil, manic cries of a madcolt.

Giggling with glee as that rain of orange light drenched the cover of the pegasi that had fled the scene and gradually panned from one side of the arena to the other. His emotions shined less like a beacon and more like an erupting volcano of pent up joys and frustrations.

Thunder came to his senses once more and flew down into the twisting hallways of the dark maze below. Not more than a few seconds later he heard the clattering of hoofsteps from around the corner and the emerald green sheen of an enemy player. For a moment he felt like a changeling was about to round the corner and hurried to bring his weapon to bare, preemptively firing just as the player came into view.

A splash of cool blue magic knocked his lights off before he’d even registered Thunder’s presence and he almost tripped from the sudden force.

Thunder chuckled as he turned to his turquoise tool of destruction. “Okay, maybe this thing isn’t so bad after all.”

In another section of the arena, Moonlit Lance had to once more readjust his carrier. Mirror had timed her alteration of his disguise almost perfectly to avoid the straps that now clung to his body from giving away his true self. In the time between moving into the Green Team’s ready room and having a marshal help him out, he’d grown up to his normal height, it did tilt a few heads but the sudden change was thankfully lost among the crowd.

“Gonna have to thank her later for this, she couldn’t have timed that better.”

Now he was rushing through the maze like a bull trying to reach orange’s side of the map. Finding the two colts was going to be a chance encounter at best, but it was better than nothing, it wasn’t a huge arena after all. That’s when he was struck on the side from an angle he wasn’t paying attention to and his Spell-Carrier shut off in an instant. With a spike of irritation he snapped to its source and saw a glowing orb of orange light duck behind a window.

“You know what? Screw it, I can have a little fun here.” A competitive grin lined his face and he dashed off to where the shot came from, the filly on the other side nearly screamed when Lance’s massive frame skidded across the floor into view and had a clear line of sight from the bottom of a ramp. She tried firing but Lance’s carrier recharged just in time and he disabled the little filly’s rig, prompting a hasty retreat.

“These kids have nothing on me!” He thought, before Lance could continue his crusade however, karma put him in his place as another white bolt struck him in the back. He scowled and turned to face a yellow pegasus who grinned and slipped away before being chased down by one of his teammates. “Focus Lance! Find the little runts before the game ends!”

He galloped through the maze and blasted anything that got in his way, friend or foe. The pragmatic part of his brain kept his direction clear but even he couldn’t deny he was having some amount of fun throughout the game. However, that was pushed aside as he fought his way towards orange’s side of the map. Zapping several ponies on the way and at one point having to hit the floor to avoid a hail of orange bolts that would’ve destroyed his hiding place were they real.

Eventually he reached the outskirts of what was likely the Orange team’s base. A mostly enclosed room with a central pillar in the middle housing a large glowing crystal. Up above were the mad cackles of their swivel gunner, unleashing a barrage of orange fire upon different areas of the arena from the top of their defensive tower. “There’s only one pony I know of who’d laugh like that. I think I can strike Raining off as a changeling.”

In the process of Lance’s push he’d managed to pick up a small following of ponies who he’d cleared the way for, but sieging the base wouldn’t be easy. Looking around, he saw a few familiar faces protecting it, the two ponies Raining and Thunder spoke to before the game and the birthday colt from the carnival. They were hiding behind the room’s windows and door firing upon their positions trying to deny them entry inside.

Yet despite their joyful cries Lance’s mind went in the complete opposite direction and memories flashed through his head. Flashes of sickly green light, the screams of ponies nearby and a fire engulfing a coffee shop. A stallion twice the size of a single one of the giant insects shielding him from the impact of a nearby blast, followed by a buck powerful enough to disintegrate a melon.

Anger boiled up within his core, a volcano of his own ready to erupt. His face twisted and his eyes shrunk having been filled with vengeful rage that needed to be released.

However, then a voice echoed through his mind as he watched the three players fire at his teammates. A promise made and a promise kept, so he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and turned to a trio of ponies behind him. “You three! Get up to that tower and take over that swivel gun, I'm ending this game!” He roared.

The three colts shrank and hastily nodded, turning away they almost tripped over each other trying to get away from the giant angry colt. Lance refocused and charged forward through the hail of angry colours, his cutie mark glowing as they harmlessly missed and bounced away from him. A shot of his own smacking the face of an earth green filly, briefly blinding her with a scream.

If the door to the base chamber had a door it would’ve been blown clean off its hinges as he breached inside, skidding across the floor and unloading another bolt into Flower Pot’s barrel. He snapped over to an awestruck Neon Abyss, who’s weapon also shined with cool blue power, unfortunately that meant Lance recharged faster and he turned off his carrier like a light.

He turned to the last colt in the room, a paper white pegasus who’d backed himself into a corner with the barrel of his angry red Spell-shot twitching from fear. Lance couldn’t help but crack an evil grin at his hesitation as his weapon’s trigger gem was as paralysed as the colt’s mind.

Lance’s weapon recharged and he ended his ability to fight back on the spot, prompting Postal to collapse onto the floor in a puddle of feathered fear.

Lance laughed and turned to the crystal with a smile, levelling his weapon ready to fire…

---

Raining let loose another torrent of bright light from behind his mounted Spell-Bolter tagging anypony he saw with a dim green glow. His shiny goggles highlighting his eyes for all to see and his actual normal weapon laid up against the low wall beside the mount with its crystal chamber vacant. The swivel gun’s chamber likewise only now with the orange crystal jammed inside and the white one inside the housing behind him.

He didn’t know how many carrier’s he’d cut down or pegasi he’d poached, only that he never wanted the cathartic thrill to end. The recoil of the magical cannon, the rattling of his teeth and the roars of its bite, it never ceased to amaze him and he never eased up on the trigger. The only sounds to make it through his mind were the manic expulsions of his chest, the blaring electronic music and the hoof steps rushing up the ramp behind him.

His ear twitched and from behind his goggles his eyes shifted left. Acting on instinct he pulled the orange crystal out from the Spell-Bolter’s chamber and jammed it into his waiting weapon. It lit up with arcane power and he spun around, firing a bolt directly into the chest of an earth pony who fell over from the shot.

A unicorn then jumped over him and fired in Lead’s direction, but like a southern gunslinger, he dove to the side and returned three times the shots. They each blasted a line up the unicorn’s legs and shut off his carrier, prompting a frustrated grumble as he helped his teammate up and back down the ramp. Raining let out a hyena-like laugh as the last pony peaked their head around the corner, beads of sweat rolling down their head.

“Go on, you can take me!” Raining gestured with a hoof. “I’m right here, no cover!”

The remaining gleaming green pegasus grinned and pulled back before the next thing Raining saw was the end of his Spell-Shot’s barrel, but instead of going around the corner he saw an orb of pulsing yellow energy forming on the weapon’s tip. Raining’s jaw dropped and he looked around for any kind of escape.

Moments later the entire interior of the tower was painted a blinding lemon yellow as an explosion of colour splashed each wall from top to bottom and soon after the pegasus player cautiously entered, expecting to see Raining wearing a fresh coat of disappointment.

Instead the tower was deserted with nopony in sight, panic set in as the colt’s head spun back and forth trying to locate the enemy player.

He was so caught up he didn’t even notice that the barrel of the swivel gun was now pointed towards him. In a flash he was drowned out by an onslaught of fruity orange light, the force of which sent him tumbling back down the circular ramp from which his friends had climbed the tower. Behind the Spell-Bolter, Raining clung onto its handles for dear life, with his rear hooves firmly planted onto the wall of the tower and laughing as if he’d just cheated death.

With a flash of his horn he was back inside the tower and ripping out the power crystal from its open compartment, before loading it back into his Spell-Shot without missing a beat. “If those ponies are close enough to get up here, they’re close enough to raid the base. Welp, no time like the present!”

Raining rushed down the ramp and had to make a choice, he’d memorised the two routes that split off from the junction he was now at. One was more exposed but was quicker while the safer route was slower, but if he pulled it off he’d be able to outflank anypony firing upon the entrance to the base. Leaning on the side of caution, he took the safe route, wanting to get some cheeky close quarters combat in before the game ended.

There was another dim green sheen from around the corner and he stopped, waiting until the enemy player rounded the bend before knocking his lights out with a trio of shots. He halted and stared at Raining as he smiled back, happily prancing past the nervous colt he’d just tagged. Raining would go on to shoot a few more ponies sieging the base before getting a distant but possible angle on the colt inside the crystal room.

It was too far to make out details but could see he’d just taken out Postal.

“Haybales! Okay Raining, don’t fumble this shot!” He raised his arcane weapon and took a deep breath, having to deal with two pieces of cover plus a window wasn’t something he did often but maybe he’d fire enough bolts at least one of them would get through?

The colt backed away and turned to the base crystal, it was now or never!

Raining fired and so did the colt, the lights within the arena then all shut off and so did the Spell-Carriers of every player with them, which bathed the space in complete and utter darkness. Raining held his breath, aware of what was about to come as his heart rate caught back up with him. “Damn it I was too late!”

The music even stopped and the other kids occupying the room began murmuring to themselves over what was going on. The air grew cold and seconds dragged out, moments of painful longing for the inevitable conclusion.

Then the lights flickered back to life but the entire room was now adorned in the orange lights of Neon’s team. Raining’s heart had sunk into his hooves only to shoot back up so fast it threatened to crash into his collarbone as disbelief forced his jaw to the floor as he looked around. Dumbfounded as many of the other players around him from either team.

The announcer then chimed back in as his voice echoed throughout the arena with a sting of celebratory music. “Orange Team wins! With Green’s base crystal having been tagged by Thunder Chaser!”

“I’m sorry what?” Raining thought out loud. Just then he heard Thunder laughing to himself as the pegasus glided over the frozen battleground without a care in the world. His joyful smile spread to the other players regardless of their allegiance and soon little cheers could be heard from around the orange washed maze.

Moonlit Lance walked out and simply glared at the smug pegasus, his eye and ear twitching in envy as he watched him dance through the air with the admiration of his team.

Taking a deep breath he angrily walked towards his team’s exit with his hooves stamping into the floor hard enough he might’ve left dents in it, not wishing to waste another second of life in this damn room.

Raining shook himself from his stupor and giggled to himself, he wasn’t sure why exactly it just felt right with how light his chest felt. He likewise headed for Orange’s exit where he soon met up with Thunder Chaser, who of which, was a simple request short of being crowd surfed by Neon’s friends as they hung up their equipment.

A marshal helped derobe Thunder of his Spell-Carrier as Postal shakeningly approach behind him, pulling on Thunder’s mad grin as his senses soon caught the scent of dimmed down fear. His smile already waned when he turned about face and saw the paper white pegasi’s shrunken pupils.

“Hey…Thunder, how are you? Had a good game?” He calmly spoke.

“Yes? And what about you?”

“I think I’m about to burst my dye packet.”

Thunder stuffled a chuckle as he tried to keep face, not wanting to insult his friend by laughing at his misfortune. “And why would that be?” He forced out, fighting the physical urge to giggle which if anything was making it worse.

“Remember that Lance colt you mentioned? Well…yeah I think he’s here.”

Any amount of joy or pretense of a witty reply died in his throat. He’d allowed himself to forget about Lance once the fighting started, and was able to enjoy just having a fun time shooting and being a sneaky little changeling. But now that was out the window, he slowly inhaled and kept pace with the conversation. “What happened? Did anypony get hurt?”

“No…no, but he almost nailed our base crystal…I-I had him right there in my sights. If I’d just pulled the trigger I would’ve stopped him right then and there but…I don’t know. I froze I guess, I’d never seen a colt so big!”

Thunder’s voice lowered and he put a reassuring hoof on Postal’s shoulder. “What did he look like?”

“Green? I think? There was a lot of green, it all just happened so fast I-I can’t-” Thunder gave him a little shake and cut him off, want to prevent him from breaking down inside the ready room.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m just thankful you're alright. Same with Neon and Pots. Though I guess that does mean we can’t kick him yet.”

“Yeah, right, okay, hey by the way, do you wanna swap crystals? I think you might get more of a kick out of mine.” Postal forced a smile and brought up his Spell-Shot which housed a crimson red gemstone from within its chamber.

Thunder moved his hoof away from him and redirected it towards its housing with curious intent. “W-we’re allowed to keep them?”

“Just between games, red ones are shorter range but fire a spray of tiny bolts instead of a big singular bolt. I think yours will fire in a fixed pattern since you have the upgrade. Less chance you’ll cut a perfectly sized hole around your target instead of hitting them.” He jested.

Thunder nodded and they traded crystals, the colours of their weapons shifting into each other’s chambers and racing around their barrels. With a content smile, Thunder pranced over to rejoin Raining as they waltzed back out onto the main arcade floor.

Author's Note:

MAN this chapter lasted longer than I thought, at first I thought about having this take place throughout three arenas but that would've been too much, there was a fair deal that was cut for the same of the wordcount but I think it was for the best. That and splitting the chapter in 2.

Me and size have a problem...

Comments

[Elmoz]

This is a wonderful story so far. Love Rainings infectious positivity.

[Crimson Eclipse77]

This game sounds awesome!
Raining is a madcolt out there! It seems like Lance has some score to settle,but why? Great work!

[origami]

“I’ll take a mocha with three shots of expresso, a shot of maple syrup, splash of vanilla and hazelnut, whipped cream, chocolate buttons, steam the milk, double blend it, and add a hint of mint.”

That's almost as bad as Moxxie's drink order

[Light Ascend]

“I…I…” She found it hard to breathe and her ability to speak collapsed in on itself, unable to bring up the strength to utter another sentence. Her head pounded in her skull and sweat rolled down her temple. Finally her limbs gave in and she fell to the floor with a thud. The world grew dark as the sound of her own desperate breathing and rapid heart rate drowned out her two friends.

... Literally butchered?