> Where You Belong > by twidashloverxox > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: The Day Before > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- the morning schedule of every teenage Changeling goes something like this. Step 1) claw from the depths of sleep, into the realm of the living Step 2) find food Step 3)... play WOW and bask in the adoration of the noobs Mystery is no different. As the alarm clock blared out from her bedside table, the chitinous hand of the aforementioned filly flailed desperately around, searching in vain for the snooze button before simply knocking the alarm clock onto the floor whereupon it was smothered under a mountain of clean and mucky clothes that her mother had told her to sort and put away, before curling back up in a ball in the warm mass of duck feather duvet. naturally at this point in a story, it is customary to give a descriptive explanation of the main character. Mystery Cloud, or "Mystery, Nightwing's Bane" as she likes to to remind anypony who has even heard of world of warcraft, is the daughter of a Pegasi and a Changeling. Her navy blue mane is almost always tied up in a pony tail, reaching down to the small of her back and her eyes are striking. the left iris is a cold ice blue, but the right is a fiery ruby red. She has the traditional chitin of changelings, which shimmered a vibrant and deep purple, almost black with a faint iridescent glow when she feeds. Her wings are feathered, like a pegasi but rather stunted by their lack of use over the last 2 years. She is average height, average weight, all in all... average. However, the thing that draws most ponies attention from a distance is her wheelchair. Enough of that for now though, back to the story. "Mysteryyyyy", a sing song voice called from the hallway outside her door, causing the adolescent to peer bleary eyed out into the world. "what is it mum? it's a saturday, I don't need to start packing till tomorrow morning if we are leaving in the afternoon and besides, why did you wake me up so early?" The door swung open to reveal the smiling motherly face of Rain Cloud, ex wonderbolt and egg sandwich extraordinaire and causing Mystery to hiss and throw the duvet back over her head as what appeared to be all the sunlight in cloudsdale crashed into her previously pitch black room with all the subtlety of a freight train. Rain Cloud was a pale blue pegasi, brimming with energy, which childbirth didn't seem to have affected in the slightest. She was average height for a pegasi, but where her daughters wings had not grown much since her early adolescence, her own wings had a much broader span for her size, meaning a lot of uplift on the thermals that dotted the sky around cloudsdale and a quicker recovery if she ever made a mistake. Which she never did. Rain Cloud giggled, "sweetheart it's 10 am, a more than sensible time for a mother to be waking up her child" she strolled briskly into the room, opening the curtains before taking a double handful of the duvet and yanking hard, tipping the struggling, hissing changeling out of her warm cocoon and into the light of day. "oof, mum, you almost broke my glasses" mystery glowered up at the smiling face of her mother and straightened her glasses on the end of her nose, before checking her wings for any loose feathers. "also, I am almost 15, you can't just throw me around like that, it's against my rights." Rain leaned down and kissed her daughter between the ears and whispered "Mystery, I know you don't like to joke about it, but if they survived your accident, they can survive being tipped. Now, if you hurry to the kitchen, I made some egg and cress sandwiches for breakfast, and your father is still in the shower so you can eat his if he doesn't hurry". The frown that had started to crease Mystery's forehead as her mother pointed out her accident, instantly vanished the moment she heard the words 'you can eat his' and she started shuffling towards the edge of the bed. Rain shifted her chair closer to the edge for her before leaving her to it and heading towards the bathroom to warn her husband that his sandwiches were about to vanish. ~~~ Five minutes later, Mystery was finishing up her sandwiches and was eyeing her father’s as the stallion in question walked into the kitchen. Darjeeling Cloud was a tall man, with a proud and upright posture. His dark green chitin glinted in the mid-morning sun as he strode over to the table and sat down. Mystery looked up from her father’s plate and into his eyes with the kind of soul devouring look a puppy gives its owner in the expectation of treats, to which he merely chuckled and pushed one of his sandwiches across onto her plate. “Yay, thanks Dad, You’re the best” She cheered before leaning over to nuzzle his cheek, a loving gesture he easily reciprocated before she devastated the sandwich in front of her. “My darling Mystery, between you and your mother, I have all the love I need to keep me going forever. Your mother’s sandwiches are just the icing on the cake” He laughed, ducking a swipe from behind by Rain. “Careful Darjeeling Cloud, don't taunt the hand that feeds you, or you get a slap” Rain Cloud’s voice had a playful edge, and the mischievous glint in her eyes made him gulp. “Yes Dear” he coughed and looked back to Mystery. “So Hun, You done your packing yet? The movers are gonna be here at about 3pm, so you have five hours to check it all and label your boxes. They won't know to be careful with your PC if they don’t know it’s there”. This revelation brought a gasp from the filly who looked apologetically across the table to her mother. “Sorry mum, I didn't think about it that way, I will start packing right now, and sort out the clothes on my floor too...” She said with a sheepish grin before rolling round the table to give her mother and father a hug before zipping down the hall with a wurr of motors. The two adults looked after her fondly before Darjeeling finished his cup of tea in 2 quick gulps and stood up hurriedly. “I better go help her with shifting her pc, unless you want to while I do the washing up so we can pack that all away tonight?” “You go, I’ll deal with this mess. Go help her before she drops it on herself” Rain shooed him from the kitchen before sitting back down to eat her sandwich. As the sounds of a school filly instructing her father on the correct way to store a PC were immediately cut off by the sounds of a grown stallion crying and the same filly rebuking him for dropping it on his toes filtered through the house, Rain Cloud smiled softly and finished off the sandwich, her mind filled with thoughts of what tomorrow might bring. > chapter 1: the night > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mystery’s eyes flickered as a myriad of bright lights flashed above her and the sounds of screaming voices and wheels battered her ears. “MYSTERY!!!!” Her mother’s voice broke through the anesthetic induced delirium and the pain came flooding back, less than before but still excruciating, causing her to tense in agony and drag a deep breath into her lungs to scream, but to her terror she found herself unable to make a sound. “Mrs Cloud” a nurse called out, “Mrs Cloud please wait in the reception, the doctor’s need to work but they can't while you refuse to let go of her” “BUCK THAT, SHE IS MY BABY AND I AM STAYING RIGHT HERE!!!!” Mystery woke with a start and screamed, cold sweat dripping down her body to drench the bed sheets, turning her head left and right quickly to try and get a bearing and remember where she was. “Mystery” came her father’s voice. “Are you ok Baby?” She looked up to see the Stallion open the door and cross the room to sit beside her, wrapping his arms round her protectively. Mystery leant deeper into the hug, whimpering as the tears poured down her cheeks to join the sweat seeping into her father’s night shirt as she struggled to try and form words through her hysteria. “I… I dreamt I was there again” “Mystery, it's ok Hunny Bun, it was all just a nightmare” Her father patted her back gently and stroked her hair tenderly, cooing softly. “I was so…so scared” mystery coughed as she struggled to get her breathing back under control. “I know Hun, I know. just relax and take deep breaths, let the tears flow and just breathe” As her father rubbed her back gently, she finally managed to take regular breaths . For several long moments, father and daughter remained in their silent and tender embrace before Mystery opened her eyes again, staring down in alarm at the state she had made of his sleeping clothes. “Oh no, Daddy, I’m so sorry” she whimpered, her breathing starting to become irregular again as she panicked. “Oh Sweetie, don't worry about me, this will wash. besides...” Darjeeling chuckled and gave her another squeeze. “Usually it is your mother’s sweat soaking into my clothes” That did it, she stopped crying and burst out into a fit of giggles, wiping the tears from her face on his collar. “Da...Daddy” she hiccuped. “That is just gross, I didn't need to know about what you and Mummy do in bed” “Wha….oohhhhhhh” He chuckled back as his confusion was replaced with amusement. “Sweetie, I meant she gets rather moist when she sleeps. She is literally a pony hot water bottle, it's weird just how quickly she over heats” A voice drifted through the humour and they both turned their heads to look to the door. There was Rain, with a severe case of bedhead and a glare that could curdle milk. “Oh no I don't, Mr Cloud. I heard what you told our dear little Angel about me and I don't appreciate you stabbing me in the back like that, besides...” She glided across the room in her nightgown to smother them both in a toasty warm hug, kissing her daughter softly on the head. “You never complained before” Darjeeling chuckled and hugged the two dearest ladies in his world closer, smiling up at Rain. “That, my Dear, is because I love you” he said as he chuckled, giving her a kiss on the lips. “Now, Mystery” He stood up slowly so as not to shake the bed. “I can nip to the living room for some blankets so you don't have to sleep in sodden bedsheets, or we can mop you down with a towel and you can join me and your mother in our room so we can keep you safe. Which will it be?” “Darj” her mother giggled. “Look at her, do you really think she will turn down the offer of free cuddles? Especially at” a swift glance at Mystery’s dresser confirmed it was indeed 3am. “My apologies” He laughed before scooping his daughter up in his arms and walking back for the master bedroom, Rain dumping the sodden bed linen in the washing hamper before joining them as Darjeeling gently laid Mystery down in the middle of the bed and the two adults climbed in either side to sandwich her in the middle. “Mummy, you are really warm” Mystery giggled before placing her cold hands on her mother’s tummy, causing the older mare to squeal and place her warm hands over the top. “Alright you two, settle down and let's get back to sleep so we are in a fit state to move house in the morning” And so they slept, or at least one of them did as Mystery began to snore.