Daybreak

by Leafdoggy

Chapter 22

With her eyes clenched shut, Daybreak couldn’t see what happened, but she could still hear the deafening explosion, could still feel the searing heat as flames swirled around her and engulfed the room. She felt the shift in the air as the flames blasted out, and she heard the woosh and sizzle as they slammed against the walls. She felt the shortness of her breath, the drain of using every ounce of power she had. She heard the crisp pops as everything in the room was burnt away.

After it was over, she stood there, eyes shut tight and panting hard. The hot, dry air burned her throat as she gasped for air. Her ears rang over the crackle of smoldering flames.

Finally, she forced her eyes open. She saw the devastation she’d caused. The walls and floor were black with soot. Ashes rained from the ceiling. Little flames of uncontrolled, raw magical power still burned away here and there across the floor. All signs of what the room had once been were gone.

And she was alone.

She wasn’t quite able to process it. Her mind refused to. Her eyes were shut, after all. She didn’t see what happened. Had they run away? Had she gone to a different room? She couldn’t have…

She felt weak. Her legs trembled, then gave out entirely, and she dropped to the floor. Her breathing got faster and faster. Her mind was blank, and the world around her seemed like just a blur.

Then a hoof touched her shoulder. She yelped and tried to turn around, but in her weak state just wound up toppling over onto her side and staring up as Fluttershy sat down and stroked her mane.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“Wh…” Daybreak couldn’t seem to find any words.

“The changelings are safe,” Fluttershy told her. Her voice was soft and as quiet as she could be while still being heard. “I got them out. Are you hurt?”

“I-I… I don’t…” Daybreak’s lip trembled, and her ears drooped. She curled up, clutching her legs to her chest.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Fluttershy said. She picked up Daybreak and hugged her close. “You’re okay.”

There was a sharp pop and a flash of purple light from the corner of the room. Fluttershy looked up, then nodded silently, beckoning the newcomer over.

Twilight had to take a second to process the carnage she’d shown up to. The flames, the burns, the ash, it was all so much. Then her eyes fell on Daybreak, and her breath caught in her throat. She sprinted over to them, gently took Daybreak from Fluttershy and squeezed her lovingly.

“Oh, Daybreak, are you okay?” Twilight sounded scared, and she couldn’t keep still. She kept fussing with Daybreak’s mane, or kissing her face, or hugging her.

Daybreak, still curled in on herself, had started to shiver. “I didn’t—” Her voice caught, and she swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean…”

“I know, sweetie,” Twilight said. “I know.”

“Twilight, I have to get back to work,” Fluttershy whispered. “If you need me, though, just call.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy vanished, and Twilight turned her attention back to Daybreak. “Do you want to go home, sweetie? Uncle Thorax would understand, I’m sure.”

“Mm…” Daybreak hummed indecisively.

“Well, do you at least want to go see Chrysalis?”

Daybreak shook her head.

Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry, Daybreak. We should’ve told you sooner. We didn’t—”

“Mom?”

Twilight ran her hoof through Daybreak’s mane. “What is it, honey?”

“Am I…” Daybreak took a deep, shuddering breath. “Am I bad? Like she was?”

“Not even a little.”

“B-But they’re all so scared of me,” Daybreak mumbled, “and I… I almost…”

“Daybreak, you know what your mother never did back then?”

“Huh?”

“She never questioned herself,” Twilight said. “Chrysalis never would have asked if she was bad.”

“So?”

“We all make mistakes, Daybreak. We’ve all done bad things. What matters is what you do after. If you feel like you did something bad, then as long as you let yourself see that it was bad, you can do better in the future, and that’s what it means to be good.”

“Have you done bad things?”

“Oh, definitely,” Twilight said. “I’ve done things you wouldn’t believe.”

“And your friends?”

“Yup,” Twilight said. “We all mess up.”

“Even Fluttershy?”

Twilight laughed. “Once or twice.”

“Mm…” Daybreak frowned. “But I almost…”

“Try not to dwell on it, sweetie,” Twilight told her. “You need some rest.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

The talking petered out from there. Twilight held her close and gently rocked her back and forth, and eventually, worn out by the day, Daybreak drifted off to sleep.

---

Daybreak opened her eyes to find herself in the middle of a massive meadow. Short grass and colorful wildflowers stretched as far as she could see in every direction, going on and on until they met the green sky at the horizon.

In front of her was a tree. An apple tree, but not an ordinary one. It was massive, the size of a mountain, like it had been growing since the dawn of time. The trunk was miles wide, and it shot up endlessly into the sky. The canopy above was so far away that it didn’t even look like part of the tree. It was more like it was the sky itself, and it may as well have been, as there was no trace of blue sky anywhere to be seen, only a thousand shades of green dotted with blurs of red.

A pony was sitting at the base of the tree nearby, chewing away at an apple absentmindedly. Daybreak walked up to her curiously.

Royal Gala raised an eyebrow when she noticed Daybreak approaching. “The heck are you doin’ asleep? It’s, like, noon.”

“Asleep? I—Oh.” Daybreak sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“I got time.”

“Do you?” Daybreak walked over and sat next to Royal Gala against the tree. “What exactly are you doing?”

“Relaxing. I’m on a break.”

“So you took a nap?”

“I ain’t asleep,” Royal Gala said. “I just hang out here sometimes.”

“In my dreams?”

“Not yours.” Royal Gala pointed up at the canopy. “Everypony’s. Ain’t I ever brought you backstage before?”

“Not that I can remember,” Daybreak said.

“Huh. My bad.” Royal Gala tossed an apple to Daybreak and leaned back against the tree. “Anyway, spill it. What’s up?”

“I…” Daybreak looked away. She dug her hoof into the soft ground anxiously. “I messed up.”

Royal Gala chuckled. “Wow, shocking.”

“Hey!” Daybreak flushed red and pouted at her. “This is serious!”

“Alright, alright, sorry,” Royal Gala said. “What’d you do?”

“I almost really hurt some changelings,” Daybreak said. “Like… Really hurt.”

“Almost?”

“Angel’s mom saved them…”

“Sounds like you’re in the clear, then.”

“No, I’m not! What if this is just the start? I already get bad when I’m hungry, what if one day I actually do hurt someone? What if I end up just like my mom?”

“Aw, don’t sweat it,” Royal Gala said. “You can’t go bad.”

“But why not?”

“Cuz you’d never get the chance. We both know Angel probably wouldn’t have all that many qualms about killin’ ya.”

“I—” Daybreak stared blankly at Royal Gala for a second.

Then she snorted out a laugh.

“Yeah, okay,” Daybreak said. “You’re not wrong.”

“See? Nothin’ to worry about.” Royal Gala paused, then shrugged. “Well, except gettin’ killed. You can worry about that.”

“Nah, that’s too much trouble.” Daybreak laughed, then sighed. “Thanks.”

---

Daybreak woke to the sound of thundering applause.

“Mm…?” She pried her eyes open and shifted around. The first thing she saw was purple fur, and when she rolled over she saw that she was still being held by Twilight.

Twilight smiled down at her. “Hey,” she whispered. “How’re you feeling?”

“Mm… Better,” Daybreak groaned. She squirmed her way out of her mother’s grasp and yawned before taking in her surroundings.

She was on a balcony of some sort, in between Twilight and Chrysalis. Thorax was in front of her, facing out and addressing a crowd she couldn’t quite see.

“What’s going on?” Daybreak asked Twilight, not listening to what Thorax was saying.

“It’s the ceremony,” Twilight said.

“Ceremony?”

“For the hatching,” Chrysalis said. “Go have a look.”

Quietly, Daybreak walked up beside Thorax and peered over the balcony. Down below was a large, familiar room filled with pods, but now it was even more crowded than before. Every changeling in the hive seemed to be crammed into the room, some standing by pods, most clustered around the walls, and they were being loud and rambunctious as Thorax spoke to them.

Thorax saw Daybreak walk up and grinned. “Well, I suppose that’s enough stalling,” he said. “Let’s begin! Happy Birth Day, everyone!”

Down below, the changelings near the pods lit up their horns and started to channel energy into them. The room started to quake and rumble as magic flowed through the air. There was an excited gasp from the crowd as the first cracks started to show. As the pods broke more and more, the crowd got more and more excited, stomping their hooves in rhythm and making the balcony shake from the force.

Then a pod popped. There was a loud ripping noise, followed by a splash as strange goo sloshed out and onto the floor. The shreds of the pod bloomed out like a flower, and on top of the debris, writhing around in the slurry was a strange, larval creature. It had huge, dull eyes and a dark black carapace unlike anything Daybreak had seen before.

Daybreak looked confused. Before she could ask about it, though, there was another ripping noise as another pod burst open, followed by more and more. The tears rippled out through the room in a cascade, followed by a torrent of goo that covered both the floor and the changelings overseeing the process. The thundering of hooves turned softer, wetter as the liquid seeped under the onlookers.

It went quickly. From the first cracks, it took less than a minute for the entirety of the room to be cleared, every pod broken open to reveal another grub. The changelings cheered and yelled, some rushing to gather up the little creatures, others embracing the goopy changelings who had assisted. It was a wet, messy celebration, but that made it no less celebratory.

Daybreak looked up at Thorax. “What’s going on? What are those things?”

Thorax chuckled. “They’re baby changelings, silly.”

“What?” Daybreak looked down at the weird, bug-like creatures. “But they look nothing like changelings.”

“Changelings aren’t born to be like we are now,” Thorax said. “They’ve got to grow up a bit, first, before they can open themselves up and transform.”

“And then they’ll look like you?”

“Yup!” Thorax smiled wide. “Cool, isn’t it?”

“I guess…” Daybreak hummed in thought. “So, if they aren’t transformed… Are they evil?”

Thorax scoffed. “Daybreak, they’re babies. Babies can’t be—”

Suddenly, there was a sharp, wet hissing noise down below. It was loud, louder than all the celebration, and it sounded angry. Changelings turned towards the door, which was underneath the balcony, and gasped. Some backed away in fear, and others moved to protect the newborns from the strange creature that had just appeared.

Daybreak recognized the hiss and gasped. “Oh no… I forgot Gooey!”

“Gooey?” Thorax asked. “You mean your pet? What’s—”

Daybreak wasn’t listening. Without thinking, she jumped up onto the railing, flicked out her wings, and leapt off.

She looked back just in time to spot Gooey, back arched and tail raised, pounce forward, toward the cluster of pods.

Daybreak gritted her teeth and angled herself downwards, picking up speed. She flapped her wings, trying desperately to keep up as she slowly closed in on Gooey. The changelings were scrambling to gather up the newborns, but they could only move so fast, and Gooey was much faster.

When she felt like she was close enough, Daybreak gave one final push, flying as hard as she could straight towards Gooey with her legs outstretched. She closed in fast, and just as Gooey reached the puddle of liquid around the pods, Daybreak grabbed hold of it.

She clutched it tight to her chest and slammed hard into the ground. The impact was softened a bit by the goo, but she still started to roll and tumble across the floor. She bounced past broken pods and frightened changelings, her eyes clenched tight as she braced herself until, finally, she skidded to a stop in the center of the room.

There was a splash as Thorax landed beside her, followed by her parents. She was lying on her side, her eyes still shut tight, and breathing hard. Gooey squirmed in her grasp, but Daybreak refused to let go.

“Daybreak?” Thorax asked. “Are you alright?”

“Mm…” Daybreak groaned.

Chrysalis walked over and took hold of Gooey. “Are you injured?” she asked Daybreak.

Daybreak coughed and shook her head. With some effort, she caught her breath, opened her eyes and pried herself up off the floor. “I’m… I’m okay.”

“I’m glad,” Chrysalis said. “That was very dangerous.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be,” Chrysalis told her. “It was also very brave.”

“Was it? I mean, I’m sure anyone else would have done it.”

“You think?” Thorax asked. He gestured around at the room full of frightened changelings. “There were plenty of creatures here. Only you jumped forward like that.”

“I…” Daybreak looked around, then looked down at her hooves. “I don’t know.”

“I do,” Thorax said. He turned and addressed the changelings around him. “Everyone, let’s all give a cheer to Daybreak!”

The room erupted with cheers and stomps and yells of encouragement, changelings shouting “Go Daybreak!” and “Thank you!”

Daybreak looked around at them in awe. “But…” Her eyes landed in a corner of the room, where Instar and his team were gathered, and saw that they were cheering just as loudly as all the rest. “But I…”

Behind her, Chrysalis chuckled. “I wish I could change their minds that easily.”

“Hush,” Twilight said. “Be proud.”

“I am proud,” Chrysalis said. “I’m just also jealous.”

“You’ll get there,” Twilight said. “So, should we…”

They looked over to Daybreak, who was completely dumbfounded. She was staring around at the changelings with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, but they could see that there was a tiny smile forming behind the shock.

“Eh,” Chrysalis said, “let’s give her a bit. She’s earned it.”

Comments

[Lore Horse]

Is there going to be any ....... Info, i guess..... On gooey? Like will we get any idea as to what he is? Great chapter by the way.

[Leafdoggy]

10181310
Gooey is a cat

[RandomGuy101]

“You’ll get there,” Twilight said. “So, should we…”

Should we what? Should we what? If it's obvious and I'm missing it, that's because I'm tired.

[Leafdoggy]

10181455
she was just gonna say "should we go home"

[RandomGuy101]

10181484
Oh, okay.