Revelio

by Godslittleprincess

Chapter 3: Shelter

As the cruiser got off the freeway and into the outskirts of Canterlot, Flash took out his cellphone and called Thorax’s number.

“Hello,” Thorax answered. “This is Thorax.”

“Hey, Thorax, it’s Flash,” Flash replied, suppressing his outrage at what had happened to the girls. “So, weird question but do you know where Honey Bee, Gypsy Scarf, and Nightingale are right now?”

“I can’t say I do,” Thorax replied obliviously. “Ms. Chrysalis adopted them out a few days ago while I was out shopping. She wouldn’t tell me anything else about them or even show me the paperwork. Why?”

Flash took in a deep breath and slowly let it out before continuing, “Because I know where they are right now and where they were a few minutes ago.”

“Hold on,” Thorax cried. “Did something bad happen to them? Are they okay?”

“Thorax, I know you’re probably all over the place right now emotionally speaking, but I’m going to need you to calm down. Just get to the police station as soon as possible and don’t tell Ms. Chrysalis where you’re going. Ask for Shining Armor.”

A long silence answered him through the phone.

“Uh, Thorax?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll, uh, I’ll just get there as soon as I can,” Thorax said far too calmly, which can only mean that he was internally flipping out. Flash’s suspicions were further confirmed when Thorax hung up on him without a proper goodbye.

“So,” Flash turned to Shining Armor questioningly, “you really think Thorax is going to be able to give you more info on whatever shady dealings Ms. Chrysalis might be involved in.”

“If little else, his testimony will at least support the girls’,” Shining replied. “If she did do something, she’ll be a lot easier to put away.”

---

When they arrived at the police station, Shining Armor took Flash and the girls into the cops’ break room and gave them each a cup of water.

“You guys just wait here, okay?” Shining requested. “I’ve got to talk with the chief, the other officers, and most likely the social worker about how we are going to handle this.”

“And then?” asked Gypsy.

Shining Armor sighed clutching his head by the temples. “We’re probably going to have to figure out where you and all the other girls younger than 16 are going to need to go.”

“How come?” Flash asked.

“Well, the homeless shelter isn’t going to take them in without an adult. Calling their legal guardians is definitely out of the question, and letting them stay at their old foster home could be just as dangerous. We’re going to need to find a place for them to go.”

“Hey, Armor,” an officer popped his head into the room and gestured for Shining to follow him.

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” Shining replied before turning back to Flash and the girls. “I’ve got to go. Flash, you’re watching them. Just stay here, okay?”

All four of them nodded, and Shining took off.

The four just stared at one another in silence for a while, breaking eye contact only to take sips of water. Finally, one of them spoke.

“I’m a bad big sister, aren’t I?” Gale squeaked out, tears threatening to escape from her eyes.

“What?” Flash gasped, getting down to eye level with her. “No, of course not. Why would you say something like that?”

The poor girl began sob as she replied, “I, I, I let them, take, Robby. Good, big sisters, don’t let, bad people, hurt their little, brothers.”

Flash pulled her into a hug as she continued to cry into his chest, his already broken heart shattering even further with every tear.

“Hey, hey, you didn’t let them do anything,” Flash reassured her as he gently stroked her hair. “You didn’t let them do anything. It’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah,” Bee sarcastically added, “I’m sure the police will find him before they do anything too terrible.”

Bee’s comment only made Gale cry harder, causing Flash and Gypsy to glare at her.

“Okay, that was really uncalled for!” Gypsy snapped.

“Yeah? Well, so was getting slapped across the face and called a [censored], but you don’t see me crying over it,” Bee scoffed. “Besides, you want to know why we were on that truck? Because Ms. Chrysalis and those guys knew that if anything happened to us, no one would miss us. They could have gotten away with killing us if they wanted to.”

“Oh yeah? Well, they’re not going to,” Flash resolved. “Get away with this I mean. Shining Armor and the cops are going to see to that.”

“Yeah, sure. Assuming that some other crime doesn’t make them too busy or that no one bribed the judge or anything like that.”

Flash wasn’t going to bother replying to that.

For the next few minutes, no one talked. The only sound in the room was of Gale crying as Flash held her. As Gale’s sobbing began to die down, Shining Armor returned followed by a younger man with chartreuse skin and orange hair.

“Girls!” Thorax cried, opening his arms as Gypsy and Gale ran into them. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright! What in the name of all that is good happened?!”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Bee replied bitterly. “The sick, twisted, evil woman we somehow trusted with our safety and wellbeing sold us off to some bad, bad people.”

“Wh-what?” Thorax gasped, his face contorting in complete, utter confusion.

“Look, I know you probably have a ton of questions,” Shining Armor interrupted, “but if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you some of my own first.”

“Uh, okay.”

“Firstly, where were you when you last saw these three girls?”

“He’s got nothing to do with this; trust me,” Bee butted in. “The only crime he’s guilty of is being Ms. Chrysalis’s workhorse.”

“Excuse me, but please just let him answer the question and let me do my job, please.”

Bee just rolled her eyes in response.

“Anyway,” Shining Armor returned to the matter at hand. “Mr. Thorax, where were you the last time you saw the girls?”

Thorax looked back at Shining Armor with some fear starting to show itself underneath his confusion. “I was in the kitchen, putting a snack together for the kids.”

“Go on.”

“My boss, Ms. Chrysalis, comes in and snatches the plate I was working on out of my hands. Then, she tells me that she’s having business associates over. She looks at the plate she’s holding all disgusted and tells me to go out and buy more food because her guests can definitely eat more than what I’ve made.” To Flash’s surprise, Thorax sneered, “Which is funny because the money she allocates for groceries is just barely enough for me to feed the kids with.”

“Go on.”

“Well, I went out and bought what we needed, and when I came back, I noticed that four kids were missing—,” Thorax suddenly stopped and looked at each person in the room. “Wait a minute. Where’s Robby?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Shining replied. “Now, what happened after you noticed that four kids were missing?”

“I asked Ms. Chrysalis about them, and she told me that her business associates decided to adopt them.”

“Does your employer normally adopt kids out to her business associates?”

“Well, no, no. In fact, she hardly ever oversees the adoption process at all. She usually has me do it.”

“I see. What happened next?”

“I asked her if she needed me to look over the paperwork, and she said no. In fact, I tried to get them from her, but she wouldn’t even let me touch it.” Thorax’s eyes widened as realization crashed into him like a speeding car. “Which was weird.”

“Does she normally allow you access to the home’s paperwork?” Shining continued, the stern yet expressionless look on his face remaining completely unmoved.

“All the time,” Thorax exclaimed. “In fact, if something, paperwork or otherwise, doesn’t involve finances or house chores, she doesn’t seem to care about it at all. Oh gosh! What has she done, and how could I have been stupid enough to not notice anything weird about what happened?!”

“Hey, hey, sir, please calm down. Whatever happened wasn’t your fault. Blaming yourself isn’t going to help us find Robby or get justice for these kids. If you want to make things right, you’re going to have to tell us everything you know. Understand?”

Thorax nodded as he forced himself to breathe slower and more deeply.

Then, he continued, “I took her at her word and went back to my job. Two days passed, and next thing I knew, I was getting a phone call from Flash about girls.”

“Do you remember what she did with those papers that she had?” Shining asked.

“There’s a safe that she keeps under her desk in her office that she told me never to touch when she hired me,” Thorax replied. “I think I saw her put the papers in there just as I was heading out. Is that everything you need?”

“Just one more thing,” said Shining Armor. “How long have you been working at the home?”

“This would be my third year.”

“How long has Ms. Chrysalis been running the home?”

“Not sure but definitely longer than three years. When she hired me, she told me it was to quote ‘keep the stupid social worker off her case’ unquote. Not entirely sure what she meant by that.”

“I see,” Shining Armor nodded twice before finally allowing his face to soften. “That’s all I wanted to know about your boss. There’s actually something else I’d like to discuss with you.”

Thorax stared back at Shining Armor, exhaustion showing in his face and body language.

“As you know,” Shining Armor continued, “sending the girls back to their legal guardians could potentially be dangerous. We also can’t send them back to the home because your boss is under suspicion. Do you know anyone you trust to temporarily look after the girls who you can recommend to our social worker?”

“Ugh, I wish I did,” Thorax replied. “I can’t stand the thought of the girls having nowhere to go.”

“Uh,” Flash hesitantly cut in, “they could stay over at my place.”

“Your place?” Shining Armor asked, turning to Flash.

“Yeah, I’m sure my aunt wouldn’t mind having them over.”

---

“Are you out of your mind?!” Aunt Flare screamed from the telephone.

“Oh, come on, Aunt Flare,” Flash pleaded, “it’s just until they have a less temporary place to live. Besides, the social worker doesn’t see a problem with it. She even had the cops background check you and everything.”

Flash could hear his aunt sigh from the other end of the connection.

“Kid, I don’t know a thing about taking care of anyone younger than 13,” she replied. “On top of that, we’re going to have to get creative with the sleeping arrangements, and I can’t guarantee that we’re all going to fit comfortably.”

“Okay, how many kids do you feel comfortable taking in for a little bit?” Flash asked.

Silence answered him.

“Helping those kids really means that much to you?” Aunt Flare finally replied.

“Yeah,” said Flash, the urgency in his voice giving way to desperation. “Especially since I actually know them.”

Aunt Flare sighed again. “I’ll ask the neighbors and see if they can help out. I can take in whoever they can’t, but I don’t think I’ll be able to handle more than two, okay?”

“Okay,” Flash conceded. “Just text me when you’ve made a plan, and I’ll tell the social worker.”

“You really are your mom’s kid, you know that?”

“Thanks, Aunt Flare. Love you too. Bye.”

---

“But why?” Gale whined. She, Gypsy, and Bee were in the car with Flash, who was driving them towards his neighborhood.

“Because you’re loud and annoying, and Mr. Flash’s aunt doesn’t like you. That’s why,” Bee retorted, her voice utterly sticky with artificial sweetness.

“That’s not what I said, and you know it,” Flash scolded before answering Gale, “My aunt just feels as if Mr. Micro Chips’s parents will take better care of you and Gypsy, so the two of you are staying with them while Bee stays with my family, okay?”

“But I want to stay with you,” Gale whined louder.

“Oh, sweet girl, it won’t be so bad,” Flash reassured her. “I mean, you’ve already met Mr. Micro Chips, and you know that he’s nice. I promise you that his parents will be too.”

Then, he smirked as if he was about to reveal the secret location of the greatest treasure in the world to his closest friends.

“On top of that, Mr. and Mrs. Chips are amazing cooks,” Flash added. “You two are definitely going to be eating better tonight than you have in a while.”

“What do they normally cook, Mr. Flash?” Gypsy asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Mostly Mexican food or Texas barbecue or something like that.”

“I hate Mexican food,” Bee butted in.

“Then, it’s a good thing you’re not staying with them,” Flash crossly thought to himself, trying not to let the rather ironically named girl’s bitter attitude wear on his patience. “Gosh, I hope she doesn’t end up setting off Aunt Flare’s drill sergeant mode.”

---

Flash drove into the cul-de-sac where his house was. However, instead of pulling into his house, he parked his car at the house directly across from his.

“Well, here we are,” Flash said as he took his key out of the ignition. “Gale, Gypsy, this is where you two will be staying.”

He and the two girls got out of the car while Bee waited for Flash to return. Flash inhaled deeply.

“You girls smell that?” Flash asked. “That’s the smell of your dinner tonight. Doesn’t it smell great?”

“All I’m getting is a lot of smoke,” Gypsy replied, sniffing the air.

“Well, maybe it’ll smell more edible the closer you get to the house.”

Flash went up to the front of the house and rang the doorbell. The door was opened by a thin man about Flash’s age with light purple skin and soft, gray-blue hair. He was also wearing glasses.

“Micro!” Flash greeted exuberantly as both men pulled each other into a bro hug.

“Nice to see you, Flash,” Micro greeted back before taking notice of the girls. “Oh, hello.”

“Hi, Mr. Micro,” greeted Gypsy.

“Hi,” Gale squeaked out.

“Mijito!” a loud, feminine, lightly accented voice called from inside the house. “Are those the muchachitas who are going to be staying with us?”

“Yes, Mamá,” Micro answered.

“Oh, good. I’m still working on dinner, so I can’t leave the cocina right now. Can you ask them if they’re hungry? If they are, there’s galletas on the table and paletas in the freezer. You also know where Papá and I keep the leftovers from the lunch rush.”

“Leftovers from the lunch rush?” Gypsy asked.

“My parents run a food truck,” Micro explained. “Anything they don’t sell, well, we eat. Anyway, you two want anything? Cookies? Popsicles?”

“Oh, mijo, if they’re thirsty, there’s agua fresca in the refrigerator,” Mrs. Chips called.

“A cold, refreshing, sweet drink?” Micro relayed to the girls.

“I’m not feeling very hungry right now,” Gale replied dejectedly.

“Speak for yourself, I’m starving,” Gypsy exclaimed, once again sniffing the air. “Wow, Mr. Flash, you were right; something smells amazing in there.”

“My dad’s upstairs fixing up one of the guest rooms for you two,” Micro continued. “Let’s wait in the kitchen for him. He’ll be down when your room is ready.”

Gypsy readily followed Micro inside, but Gale kept clinging onto Flash.

“Hey,” Flash said to her as he bent down and looked into her eyes, “it’s going to be okay. Micro and his family are going to take the best care of you, and if you need anything, I’m just across the street, okay?”

Gale reluctantly let go of Flash and nodded before following Gypsy and Micro inside. Flash sighed and returned to his car.

“So,” he said to the car’s lone occupant, “you ready to meet my family?”

“Are they as annoyingly nice and happy as you are?” Bee retorted.

Flash elected to ignore that, driving his car around the cul-de-sac and pulling into his driveway.

---

“I’m home,” Flash announced as he and Bee walked into his house.

“Hey, Bro,” his brother First Base greeted as he looked up from setting the table. The smile on his face quickly faded when he saw who was with his brother.

“Bro, you’ve already met Honey Bee, right?” Flash introduced.

“Uh-huh.”

“And I’m sure Aunt Flare already told you she was staying with us.”

“Her exact words were that ‘some poor kid your brother ran into during his ride-along’ was going to be staying with us.”

“What’s the matter?” Bee sassed. “Not pitiful enough for you.”

Base quickly shook off his shock and replied, “Uh, Bro, did you see that thing in the garage?”

He quickly grabbed Flash by the arm and dragged him to the garage.

“She’s the ‘poor kid’ Aunt Flare was talking about?!” he cried.

“I know,” Flash countered, his pent-up frustration about to reach a breaking point. “I know that she has a bad attitude and that she’s hard to deal with and that she seems to go out of her way to be as irritating as possible, but a horrifyingly inhumane thing just happened to her, and gosh, it’d be wrong to leave her to suffer through that alone.”

Base groaned as he pressed his palms on his forehead.

“You know,” he retorted, “for someone who just when through a ‘horrifyingly inhumane thing,’ she seems as much of a pain in the butt as ever.”

“It’s probably just her way of dealing with her problems, Bro,” Flash said with a sigh. “I know it’s not helpful or healthy, and you know it’s not helpful or healthy. Heck, she probably even knows it. She probably just doesn’t know any other way to deal.”

“Well, I hope for our sanity’s sake she finds one.”

---

Flash and Base returned from the garage and introduced Bee to the rest of the family, which consisted of Aunt Flare and Grandma Birdie. The two women had brought out their dinner for the night, which consisted of some form of chicken breast, a fancy salad with balls of some kind of white cheese, and dinner rolls.

After the family plus guest said grace together, Base frowned when he got a good look at the salad.

“Aww, come on, Aunt Flare,” he complained. “A SPINACH salad?”

“You need your greens; I don’t care if you don’t like them,” Aunt Flare sternly answered. “Besides, you ate them just fine when I hid them in the meatloaf last week.”

“That’s because I didn’t know they were in there.”

“Hun, you best just do what your aunt tells you,” Grandma added. “You’re almost fifteen; we can’t be hiding your vegetables from you forever.”

First Base sighed and put a small serving of salad on his plate, grimacing as he forced down a bite.

“So, Bee, what do you think of dinner?” Aunt Flare asked, changing the subject.

“It’s fine, I guess,” Bee huffed, savagely biting off a roll. “It beats the slop Thorax feeds us every week. I can’t really blame him for it though. There’s only so much he can do with the budget that the ugly, mean, old bat gives him.”

The dinner table suddenly became uncomfortably quiet. Thankfully, the silence was shortly interrupted by the doorbell.

“I’ll get it,” Base offered, getting up from the table and opening the door. Shining Armor was standing on the other side, his forehead wrinkled with fatigue. A teenage girl with light ice blue skin and a soft pink pixie cut stood next to him. “Oh, Shining, hi.”

“Hi, Base,” Shining replied, the fatigue seeping into his voice as well. “Is your aunt home?”

“Aunt Flare!” First Base called.

Flare got up and walked towards the door while Base returned to the table.

“Yes?” she said to the officer.

“Ms. Burst, I’m so sorry to bother you, but I’m afraid the homeless shelter ran out of beds, and I didn’t really know where else to send this girl,” Shining apologized. “Flash mentioned that you had room for two, so I was wondering if she can stay here for the time being. If you can’t take her in, I can always ask my parents.”

Flare Burst took a moment to contemplate what Shining just told her, looking over the girl as she did so. She was hugging herself and running her hands up and down her forearms as if she was trying to rub something off. Her big, light cyan eyes stared out in fear.

“Sure, we can take her in,” Flare replied. “I’m afraid she’s going to have to share a room with Honey Bee though.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” the girl answered timidly. “I don’t mind at all.”

“We just started dinner. Why don’t you join us?”

“Oh, that really won’t be necessary. I mean, I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“We have plenty. Don’t worry about it,” Aunt Flare assured before turning to Shining Armor. “What about you, Officer?”

“Thanks plenty, Sarge, but I think I’ve kept my family waiting long enough,” Shining replied.

Then, he turned to the girl and said, “Don’t worry about a thing. These people are going to take good care of you. I trust them with my life.”

The girl nodded and allowed Flare to lead her inside. Shining Armor gave Flare a quick salute before returning to his car.

“Everybody,” Flare announced to everyone at the dinner table, “we have another guest from the police department.”

“Oh, hello there, dear. Please, please have a seat,” Grandma Birdie greeted as she pulled a chair for their new guest. “My name is Free Bird, but you can call my Grandma Birdie. The two boys are my grandkids Flash and First Base, and well, you’ve already met my daughter Flare. Oh, and this is Honey Bee. She’s staying with us from the PD, too.”

“Just don’t call me Honey, and we shouldn’t have problems,” Bee nonchalantly added, not even looking at the new girl.

“Oh, but where are my manners?” Grandma continued. “What’s your name?”

“Ocellus,” the girl shakily replied. “My name is Ocellus.”

Author's Note:

So, this chapter is mostly setup for the story following this one. Also, now we see the first of the Young Six. Two others are going to make appearances in the next story, but I won't tell you which. As for the remaining three, I do have ideas, but I don't know if I'll be able to execute them, so don't hold your breath.

Comments

[Foxhelm]

So we have met Ocellus
I do hope they find Robby. As for Bee... well I can't hold much against her.

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Wow, Ocellus is in this now. I always loved her in the show so I hope she will be okay here. Also hoping they find Robby soon.

[Godslittleprincess]

10189420
Spoilers for the next story, but get ready to fell worse.

[Ro994]

Oh, Bee. I get where she's coming from, a really do. It's still really really hard to swallow such an attitude. At least for me.
Also, NOOOOOOOO OCELLUS!! NOT YOU TOO YOU SWEETIE PIE ;m; THOSE AWFUL MONSTERS BETTER GO DOWN!!