Eighteenth Chapter
Howard had sat on his haunches in the grass with his wife, daughter, and Twilight Sparkle not two minutes before the rest of his family came into view. He gasped at the sight of one of them as they walked back. He wasn't the only one who did. Thornton looked like a mess.
“What happened to you, Thorny?” both he and Carey asked instantly as they rushed up on him. Thornton pushed both away from hugging him, but let his mother wrap a wing around his back while he lay down. Barney stood protectively in front of him, like he wouldn't allow anyone to come closer while his son shook. His breathing was heavy and his eyes were red and– and he looked bad. Howard turned to his other son for an explanation.
“He was having a panic attack,” Reece explained as Howard watched Thornton close his eyes. Denver was standing next to Twilight Sparkle to survey the scene from a distance as he continued, “He was shaking and sweating before we got very far into town, and I had to pull him away from there. He said it was from all of the emotions everyone was giving off. Does that make sense?”
“That sounds like sensory overload, I think,” Twilight Sparkle spoke up from behind him, stepping a little closer to Howard's son. “I’ve heard of it happening to changelings when they’re surrounded by too much love, and even saw it for myself once before. It would make sense if the same thing happened to changelings when they go into a new town and are suddenly around so many ponies.” She leaned down and carefully asked, “Are you okay, Thornton?”
Thornton didn't say anything as Carey rubbed his back, but he nodded weakly and wiped some sweat off his forehead. Howard wasn't sure he believed it, and pranced in place at the sight of him. All those feelings of guilt he harbored were coming back.
“But he said he feels better when he eats emotions,” Howard started quickly, his higher pitched voice easily conveying his worry. “If he needs emotions to feel better, how is he supposed to get any if it makes him have a panic attack?”
Why didn't he stop him from going outside yet? Or just went with him? The mare was doing a pretty awful job of being his kids’ protector lately. He had to hold back from crying again as Barney now rubbed his legs.
“I’ll be fine, Dad,” Thornton told him. “I just need time to… rest. And reenergize.” It made Howard feel worse. His son was putting on a brave face, even while he looked absolutely terrible. How could Thornton rest if he couldn't even sleep?
Howard blinked a few times to try and control himself. His son could taste his emotions. Worrying like this was gonna make things worse. “Are you sure, honey?” he asked as he stepped closer to him and touched his head carefully. Comfort and affection was what he should've been giving off, not worry.
Thornton closed his eyes and sighed in response as Barney cuddled up to him. Howard smiled softly, a little sadly. It was helping at least.
“Yeah, I'm sure,” he finally got out after a few long minutes of Howard petting his head while Carey rubbed his back. He was sounding better already, and relaxing. The rest of his family, and Twilight Sparkle, too, relaxed as well.
“Maybe I can see if you can talk to Thorax tomorrow,” she said. “I bet he and Starlight Glimmer would love to meet you, Thornton! He's a changeling like you, and Starlight is a pony who knows all about them!”
“That would be good,” Howard said as he pet his son's buggish fin sticking out of his scalp. He looked like he wasn't really listening anymore, and was instead relaxing. It was a precious sight in spite of the circumstances.
“We would wanna know more about them, too, so we can try to help him as best we can. We wanna be in the know.”
“And do you think we could get a bigger place to live?” Reece suddenly asked. Howard wasn't sure why, but it got a look from Carey like she was annoyed. “It's gonna get pretty cramped if we have to stay in the same one bedroom guestroom the whole time.”
“And another book about magic, please?” Denver added. “Please?”
Thankfully, Twilight Sparkle laughed lightheadedly at all the sudden requests. “I'll try and work on that soon,” she said gently. “Either tomorrow, or the day after, I'd like to get at least one of you with me back out in the Everfree Forest so I can trace your magical signature. The sooner we do that the better.”
That meant it would be at least another night of the whole family staying in one room, but he didn’t mind. It meant he could keep a closer eye on Thornton… he had to take a breath because of how bad he’d seemed lately. But what could he do to help? Almost nothing, minus giving affection. It was wearing on him.
He let Thornton lean into him as he helped his son get back inside, walking him through the castle to their temporary home. He almost looked like he collapsed to sleep as he flopped into the bed with his eyes closed, but Howard knew he wasn’t. Regardless, it was cute to see Barney jump into and curl up beside him in bed.
“I think it should be me who goes out to that forest with Twilight Sparkle, dad,” Reece decided before Howard was even able to close the door to the bedroom. He must have seen the look on his face at that idea, because he immediately started to argue.
“It makes the most sense,” his son said. “I’m pretty sure I’m the strongest out of everyone, and would know best about what to do if it turned into a hairy situation.”
“No, son,” the mare said firmly, exuding more confidence than he felt. “I’ll go with her, and you’ll stay here with your mother and take care of your siblings.”
“That’s not a—”
“I don’t care what it’s not, Reece,” he continued. “I’ve already decided. I’m going, and you’re staying here.” He wasn’t frustrated or angry, but he tried to sound as direct about it as he could. A rare thing for Howard, since he mostly let his kids do what they wanted to.
“At least let me go with you, Dad,” Reece asked. “It’ll be better that way.”
“No. It’ll be better if you stay here and take care of things while I’m away.”
“Mom’s here though!” His son threw up a hoof with an exasperated tone of voice. He was getting frustrated as he continued, “Nothing’s gonna happen here! But if something happens to you out there, I wanna be there to protect you!”
Carey reached to touch Reece with a wing. “Sweetie, just let your father—”
“No!” He pulled his body away harshly, then turned back to Howard. “Why can’t I go with you? I would know best what to do out there anyway!” He paused, and asked, “Is this because I accidentally started a forest fire? Twilight said that other yellow mare was able to put it out, and it saved us, after all. Is that it?”
“No, that’s not it.” Howard shook his head, doing his best to stand firm. It was unfamiliar territory for him most of the time. Carey stepped in to speak again.
“Just listen to your father, honey?” she told him “It's not a big deal. She doesn't need more than one person out there with her. You can stay here while he goes out.”
“I just wanna know why though!” He stamped a hoof as he asked, “Why not, Dad?”
Reece was dealing with something, too, although Howard couldn’t tell exactly what. He wasn’t usually argumentative, not like this. He could be hot, but questioning and going against authority wasn’t in his nature. It was part of why Howard mostly let his children do whatever.
Whatever was going on with Reece, it was much more subtle than it was with Thornton. He had a feeling that just giving him affection like he did with his other son wasn’t gonna do much for him.
But Howard also wasn’t about to just pour out his insecurities to his children, either. Especially not right now. He let out a long breath and closed his eyes for a moment as he used a hoof to rub his muzzle.
“Please, son, just let me do this on my own and stay here?” he asked. “I know you wanna help the family, especially when things could be dangerous, but let me do that instead? Please, son?” It was as close as he was going to get to outright saying what was bothering him.
“What the heck is going on out there?” Howard’s other son called from inside the bedroom. It didn't sound like he moved to get up, and his voice was still kind of quiet, and a little bit shaky.
“Why is Reece so angry at you, Dad? What are you two fighting about?”
“Sorry, Thorn, we'll stop,” the mare said quickly. “Try and rest for now, okay?” No response came, which Howard assumed meant he went back to trying to rest. He then turned back to Reece just in time to see a few whiffs of steams wafting off his mane.
It wasn't good to see. He thought his son was just frustrated, not angry. It was something else he would have to help his kids through. He hoped he could.
“Just take a breath and calm down, okay?” his mother told him as she rubbed his back. “It's not that big of a deal.” It didn't seem to help, and in fact, looked like it made the steam trails a bit thicker and fuller. He didn't push her away again at least.
“I just wanna know why though, Dad,” he said again, his voice more calm and collected despite the heavier clouds floating up from him. “Can't you just tell me that? I'm the best one to have out there!”
Why was his son so hung up on this of all things? Howard didn't know, but he didn't ask right now. He instead glanced between Reece and his hooves, shifting his weight around for a minute before he finally gave an answer.
“I'll tell you about it later, okay? But not right now, so please just accept what I'm telling you and don't ask about it. Okay?”
For a second, his son's steam turned into thick black smoke, but then, a second later, it stopped. Both smoke and steam thinned out and disappeared, and Reece let out a breath. “Okay,” he finally agreed, defeated. “I'll stay here, I guess… but I wanna know why soon.”
“I'll tell you why, I promise,” his father assured him. “Now please, let's be done with this? I don't wanna keep bothering your little brother after the day he's had.”
“That wasn’t my fault either, Dad,” Reece said quickly, going back to wearing a serious expression, almost a scowl. “If I would’ve known that was gonna happen, I would’ve—”
“I didn’t say it was, son!” Howard was starting to feel a little exasperated himself. “Is something wrong? What’s going on with you today?”
His son grunted. “Nothing. I’m just tired… when is dinner? I’m starving.”
Twilight showed up to bring them dinner a while later. Afterwards, Howard laid down next to where his daughter sat on the floor, while Reece and Carey talked in another spot of the main room. Denver was reading the book on magic that she started yesterday, and occasionally glanced up at her horn while she did. She stared at it like she was trying to make it do something for a few seconds, then looked back down at the book to continue reading. It was a cycle, it seemed; she read, then glanced at her horn, then read again. Howard had to ask about it.
“It says here the first step to doing magic is to light up your horn,” she explained as she looked up at the tip of it again. “I’m trying to make it light up, but it’s not working. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”
Howard laughed softly at that. Denver at least was still herself. Curious and intelligent and treating this like a vacation, like she said before. Howard might not have been doing much of the last thing lately, given everything around him, but it was nice to see Denver trying. He used a hoof to pet her mane while she went back to reading, then looked over her shoulder to follow along.
“How are you doing though, sweetheart?” he asked as he read a few paragraphs of magical explanation that he didn't understand. “Just in general?”
“I'm good,” she said without looking up. “Twilight Sparkle is nice and helpful, and we're not lost anymore. I do wanna go to the town to meet other ponies, but I bet it won't be long before we're back home.” She smiled and said, “Maybe we'll even be famous!”
“Haha, maybe,” Howard chuckled. “Let's just hope it's not too long before we get back home though.” For both Thornton and Reece’s sakes, he thought silently.
“It won't be,” Denver said confidently, not an ounce of doubt in her voice. “I trust Twilight Sparkle… hey, I'm doing it!” As she said it, Howard watched his daughter’s horn faintly glow. He gave her an impressed whistle as Denver cheered. He didn't really have a doubt, but it was interesting that they could indeed do magic in this world.
It wasn't any reason to stay here in Equestria longer though. Two of his children were doing worse than usual over the last two days, both probably because of their transformations. But it might have been another thing to occupy his time in the face of a whole lot of more serious issues.
“Show me how to do that, Denny,” he told her. Maybe it would be useful somehow. Or it could just be a fun way to bond with his daughter.
He shut out any thoughts he might have had about the situation as his daughter explained it to him.
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Well, it looks like another chapter of a good story. In fact, it would be quite fun if Thorax turned out to be just a disgusting teacher and could not adequately explain what it means to "give love" and as a result could not help Tortan turn into a colorful beetle. No, really, reformed changelings suck.
That's... Kind of an exaggeration. The other just isn't true.
"Reece."
"WHAT?!"
"You're starting to let off smoke."
Well, that was a chamber of landmines that reese tried forcing his father into.
Pretty standard really fo teenagers that dont oike the truth because it sounds dumb to them bbecause they only know a little of how to socially lie and prevaricate around getting beaten down by associates?
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"Here, have a Snickers."
Reece in nirik form taking a bite out of a Snickers bar and turning back into a kirin
"You're not you when you're hungry."
11779218
"Better?"
"Kinda?"
11779152
I do head canon Starlight as knowing about changelings since she's gone to the hive multiple times and (presumably) studied them in her free time more than other ponies would have/could have.
*his
11779277
i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/019/188/image.jpg
This isn't a bad story, but there is just one oddity that just takes me out of the story constantly. How the father ends so many sentences with the word son. "How are you doing son?" " Don't feel so bad son." " We will be just fine son." And its just so weird that it pulls me out of the story every time. No one I ever knew talked like that. My father didn't. When I was a kid, none of my friends fathers talked like that. When I was a teenager, none of my friends fathers talked like that.
Sad thing is that its extremely common for this character to talk like that and Its full of sentences like this. Again, this isn't a bad story at all, but a cant keep reading it because I'm finding that I'm developing a mental tick every time I come across that dialog.
Does anyone else find this bizarre?
Monk
11779863
Not really. It's just a cultural thing, like how I've been called "love" by complete strangers when doing something nice like holding a door open (e.g. "Thanks love"). I wish more dads used "son" as a common thing, as it builds a stronger bond between father and son. Everybody can call you "Monk", but only your dad can call you "son".
Well your mum too, but in my experience mum's tend to go with something more flowery like "sweetheart" lol.
TLDR it's a cultural thing, like Canadians saying "eh" a lot, eh