The Laws of Life.

Chapter 4: On lifes edge.

Sweet was so ecstatic about my cutie mark. Blitz and Artsy were both also happy to see it. So was I, really. But the hidden meaning behind it kind of drags my excitement down. On the bright side I won't have to be jumping through a lot of classes. Since it’s my talent now, I can stay in the art class. . But that is a general art class, so I also got put in another art class built specifically for drawing and painting. The confrontation with Spinner and Spiral was only a few days ago, and I haven’t seen much of either since. But today, while I was eating lunch, Spinner came running up to me. He was met with an instant glare from Blitz, and Artsy shrunk back into her seat.

“Ink, I need you to come with me, please.” He pleads with me. The tone in his voice is grim, and he is on the verge of tears. I am about to refuse when a police officer walks up to us. “Is this him?” The tall white stallion asks. Spinner nods. “Ink Blazer. I need you to come with us. It is important.” I give a nod, and wave good bye to an astonished Artsy and Blitz. We are put into the police car, and he speeds of. Not towards the station like I thought, but to the hospital. “Don’t worry Ink, I’ve contacted your Guardian. She knows you were pulled out of school, and what's going on.” I give the officer a smile.

“Thank you, sir. That’s nice to know. But, if I may ask, what exactly is going on?” I try to seem as calm as possible, and I try not to sound rude. The officer looks back. “That's something for your friend there to explain.” I look to Spinner, who actually is crying now. “What happened?” I whisper to him. He looks at me, a look of complete despair on his face. “He hit her.” He whispers back, through a strained voice “What?” He sniffs, and leans in close to me. “Our. . . Our father hit her. With a bottle, half full of beer. Right over her head. There was glass. . And blood everywhere.” I didn’t know what to do exactly, so I just hugged him.

He cried harder, and I just let him hug me back. “She’ll be fine. She’s tough.” I don’t know why I said that to him. I have no idea if she will be fine or not. Or if she’s already . . . I shake my head, and pull away from the hug. “She is ok, right?” There is a genuine tone of concern on my voice as I look him in the eyes. He gives me a small nod, before hugging me again. Soon. we pull right up to the doors of the hospital. A nurse rushes to us, and brings us to inside, up the elevator, and to Spirals room. Their mother is there, tears streaming in her face. She smiles when she sees us, but it’s a hollow smile full of sadness. “Ink, it’s been so long.” She mutters. She gives me a small hug, and steps over to the curtain, blocking Spiral from view. She pulls the curtain away.

It doesn’t look that bad, to be honest. But, I know it is bad. Really bad. She looks practically normal, though she is pretty scraped up. The top of her head is wrapped in bandages, completely soaked with blood that had spread from the top of her head. I gasp lightly at the sight. We all stand in silence. “He’s gone now. Taken to Canterlot to face trial. I will be heading there soon.” Their mother says. With a smile, she starts to walk away. “Thank you for coming here Ink. I need to get back to work, I have an important job that needs to be done. But, I didn’t want Spinner alone.” I give a nod, and she takes her leave. Can’t even get off work to be with her daughter. . . How disgraceful.

I look closely at Spiral, and can see the her chest slowly raise and fall from her light breathing. “She loved that picture you drew of us.” Spinner breaks the silence, and I let him keep speaking. “She framed it, and put it on her nightstand. She would stare at it for long periods of time.” He sniffs and starts crying again, this time more out of extinct then actual sadness. “Father, he came home drunk this morning. . . Again, and she finally had enough. He told her to go fetch some more beer, and she said no.”

He gives a smile. “He told her again, and she stayed firm. Saying ‘If you want more beer, get off your lazy fat ass and get it.’ God he got so red with anger. . . He asked her to repeat what she said, so she did. And she also added ‘You don’t even deserve to be called my father.’ I wanted to say something but. . “ He pauses and cries more. “I saw the bottle he had next to him get picked up in his aura. . . Then he just swung it down. Shattered instantly.”

“She yelped and flopped to the ground. ‘Disrespectful bitch.’ he called her, and started to kick her from his seat. ‘get up and get my beer now.’ he called.” I place my hoof on him. “You don’t need to say anymore. It’s over now, and you both are going to be fine.” He shakes his head. “No. I want to finish this.” He takes a long deep breath, then continues. “I went to my room, and grabbed the land line we had set up, I called the police, and told them my father just smashed a bottle over my sisters head. The police were there instantly.”

He finishes his story, and just slumps down to the ground, crying. I pick him up, and drag him over to a chair. The room is mostly silent, save for Spinners light sobbing. But, soon he speaks again. “C-can you draw her again?” I look to him. “Please. She really liked your first one. It would mean a lot to me and her if you drew her again.” I give a silent nod, and pull out my pen and sketchbook. I open it up to the next clean page. I stare at Spiral, and see the glowing energy around her again. I stare into the aura and start drawing. Slowly, line by line, I draw out her form, laying in bed.

This time is different from the last. As I stare into the aura, I feel nothing from her. No emotion of any kind. I stare deeper into the arua, trying to search for something. And, I see. . . Something. A small glimmer. A light. A glimmer that I once saw in a different pony, who was on the verge of death. Though, his glimmer faded, and went to me. While her’s only seems to grow brighter. Slowly, but it grows. I smile as I finish up the drawing. I pull out the paper neatly, and look at it.

It’s almost perfect. from her form laying in bed, to the almost peaceful smile on her face. Though, in the picture her eyes are half open, with a slight shimmer in them, and her smile seems a bit bigger too, now that I look closely at it. I set the drawing on the night table, face down. I turn to Spinner, who is only sitting silently now. He looks at me, and I give him an assured nod. “You can look at it, but, let no one else see it till she wakes up. Ok? And I know she will wake up.” I and him the drawing and he looks at it, giving a small smile, and nods. “Thank you. And, sorry again. . “ He tries to say more but I cut him off. “Hey. No hard feelings.”

That was a half lie. Of course I still resented them for what they were planning on doing. the way they treated me and my friends. But. . I can’t find room to completely blame them. They were just young kids, trying to get more attention from their parents. Even if the attention wouldn’t be good. Soon, the nurse arrives, with my sister in toe. “Ink, what happened.” I shush her instantly, pointing to Spinner, who had scooted his chair closer to his sisters bed, and had fallen asleep. She nods, and mouths ‘explain later.’ I give a nod.  “Can I stay here?” I whisper. “I don’t want to leave him alone for the night.” Sweet looks to the nurse, and the nurse gives her a nod.

“Fine. But you are going to school tomorrow.” Her voice is more teasing then it is serious. She gives me a smile, and a tight hug before leaving. The door closes silently as my sister leaves, and the nurse smiles at me. “Your friend here has been through a lot, it seems.” She gives a sad smile. “I hate stallions like her father. They are just so. . . So.” I cut her off, giving my answer. “Belligerent assholes?” She nods, giggle softly. “You probably shouldn’t be using that language.” I smile at her, but then frown, looking back to Spiral. “Umm. Will she. . .?” The nurse nods, cutting me off. “Yeah. She should be fine. Might have some minor trauma though, and possible memory loss. Slight memory loss, luckily it would be  nothing major or lasting.”

I give a nod, and the nurse walks over to Spiral. “Poor young filly.” She whispers and changes starts to change the bandages on Spirals head. The moment I see the small bald spot on her head where the wound is, I turn away. I’ve seen worse during my time spent in the forest, but I am compelled to turn anyways. Once the fresh bandages were put on, and a few other things were checked on, the nurse gives me a polite nods, and takes her leave. “I’ll be back in a minute to bring in some blankets. Would you like some water?” I give a small nod, and she walks away. As promised, a few minutes later she brings in the blankets, and a small glass of water. “Thanks.” I whisper to her, and she nods.

Once again she leaves, leaving me in silence. I stare at Spiral in her bed. I keep staring at her, trying to focus as hard as I can. But, no matter how long I look, or how hard I focus, I can not bring back that glow. The aura that helps me draw, and allows me to see into their life. I find that this world, and things in it, have a natural glow. That makes it easy to draw. But, when it comes to ponies, and possibly other living beings, I can only draw them when that glow is there. Whenever I try to draw a pony without that glow, it’s sub-par at best. Maybe I just need to practice more. I don’t know. I take the blanket, and curl up in my seat, finally letting my self rest after this long day.

I stretch out lightly, feeling my aching muscles ring out as I move. Sleeping in a chair is not a good idea. I look over to Spinner, who is still laying in his chair, right next to Spirals bed. Hey eyes are open, and she’s looking down at her brother. She looks. . . Sad. “Spiral?” I whisper over, and she glances up at me. No, not sad, empty. Like she’s hollow. She stares at me for a moment, before glancing down at her brother again. “Can I ask you something?” She looks at me again, and I nod. “Would you answer me honestly?” I nod again “Yeah. I’ll answer honestly.”

“That’s good.” She gives a small bit of a smile, before dropping back down into that empty expression. “What’s going on?” The question seems simple enough. “Well, you’re in the hospital.” I say. She keeps the blank expression on her face as she speaks again. “I mean. Why am I here?” I frown. The nurse did say possible memory loss. “Well, you got hit. Pretty hard. Over your head.” She nods. “Explains the headache.” She says as she gains a deadpan expression now, the first bit of actual emotion. “I have another question.” I nod, and wait for her to ask it. But it seems she has trouble gathering her thoughts. “Who are you two?” She finally asks.

“You two seem familiar. .  But, it’s just. . . “ She puts both of her hooves to her head, giving a pained grimace. “There’s just nothing there.” I sit there, in silence for a moment. “I’ll be right back.” I give a calm smile, and slowly step out of the room. The moment I hear the door click behind me, I take off down the hall. Conveniently, the nurse wasn’t that far away. “She’s awake.” I start out, panting softly. “Oh, that’s good.” The nurse gives a smile. I meet her smile with a frown, and continue speaking. “She’s awake, and she doesn’t know who I am. . . I don’t think she remembers anything.” The nurse opens her eyes wide. “That’s not good. Not good at all. Let’s go.” She rushes down the hall in a quick walking pace.

We reach the room, and both step in. “Hello there, I’m nurse Diarama.” She introduces herself calmly to Spiral. Spiral nods slowly, only glancing past the nurse to look at me. “This young boy here is Ink Blazer. Do you know him?” She continues on with her calm tone. “No. He looks familiar, but no. I don’t think I’ve ever met him before.” The nurse nods. “What do you remember before?” She looks away, down at the blankets. “Nothing.” She murmurs out. But the words are loud enough to hang in the air around us. “Nothing?” The nurse sounds concerned. “Yeah. Nothing but darkness. Darkness and then. . .” Spiral trails off. “And what?” The nurse presses slightly. “A light. Fallowed by splitting pain. Then more darkness till now.” The nurse looks to the ground. “I was worried about this.” She whispers to me.

We hear a soft moan, and look over to see Spinner rubbing his eyes as he wakes up. He moves his hooves to his side, and yawns loudly. The moment he opens his eyes, he lets out a loud gasp. “Spiral!” He almost leaps onto her, but the nurse holds him back with her magic. “Calm down now. We have something to explain.” The nurse drags him out of the room, and I follow closely behind.  “What’s wrong?” Spinner asks an immediate tone of concern, and a look of worry on his face. “It was what I was worried about. I thought it wouldn’t happen, it’s very rare but. . . “ The nurse trails off, taking a deep breath before explaining.

“Your sister Spiral, has lost her memories. The hit caused a temporary flow barrier. The build up could have been disastrous, fortunately her memories where the only thing she lost.” Pegasi and earth ponies have a set amount of magic energy with in them. Unicorns though, are constantly producing magic. It flows out of them. Most spells require unicorns to stop the flow to build up enough energy to cast the spell. But in rare cases a flow barrier can form, causing a large magic build up. As the nurse said, it can be deadly. “In this case,” The nurse continues. “When her magic build up was released, it was big enough to wipe out her memories. The memories are still in there, actually, but are locked away.” The nurse lets out a sigh. “Unfortunately, it’s impossible to tell when she will get them back. . . If ever.”

Spinner looks up at the nurse, tears welling up in his eyes. he wipes them away and speaks to her. “C-can't we just tell her?” He whimpers out. “No. The memories are locked away. If you try to rush them out too fast, another barrier could appear. And the results would be far, far worse.” Spinner looks down at the ground. “No treatment?” The nurse gives him a sad smile as she puts her hoof on his back. “Only time, dear. Only time. . . Look on the bright side, she can return home now.” The nurse gives sad, soft smile. We head back into the room in silence after that. Spiral is holding the picture. “It’s nice.” She says in a soft tone as she looks at us. “Who drew it?” I nervously hold up my hoof. “You’re good at drawing. . . Who’s it of?” I give a small smile. “It’s you.” She nods. “I figured. I just thought I’d ask.”

She looks at us with a smile. “Ink Blazer, right?” I nod. “And you are?” She points to her brother, who only gives a slightly hurt look. “Spinner.” He says. Silence takes over us again. She looks back at the picture, then to Spinner. She does this a couple times. “Is there a mirror?” She asks. The nurse pulls out a small mirror, and holds it in front of Spiral. “Brother?” She asks. Spinner looks up, an excited look on his face. “You remember?” She shakes her head slowly. “Oh. I’m sorry. . We just looked a like. I didn’t mean to. . .” She stops speaking. “Oh. No. It’s ok.”

She smiles at him. “Well. . You must have been worried about me.” She laughs a little, and we all let out a nervous laugh again. “Well, I’ll call in your mother soon. You’ll be able to leave soon. We all should go now, you two have school.” The nurse leads us out of Spirals room. “Spinner. I need you to go to your house, and take down any pictures that could cause trauma to resurface.” He frowns. “That won’t be a problem. We don’t have any pictures up. Our parents.” The nurse puts her hoof on him, giving a knowing nod. “You should head to school now. I’ll call up someone to give you a ride.”

By the time we arrive at school, third period is just starting. I step into art class, everypony was instantly silent when they saw me. I walk past them all, and head to my seat next to Artsy. “What happened?” She asks. I shake my head. “That’s not for me to tell.” I set my head on my desk. Even though I had a good rest, I feel so tired right now. Verity walks into the class, and starts teaching. Recently, we’ve been learning about the origins of art in general. This time I could care less about the lesson. I pull out my sketchbook, and my pen. I just start drawing slowly. I watch as the lines form on the paper, slowly but surely. My personal art. Sketches that no pony shall ever see. I draw myself. This time I’m leaning against a mirror wall. On the other side, back to mine, is a shell of what I once was. A monster. A changeling. A Locum.

I stare at the two sides of the mirror. Looking between Ink Blazer, and Tenens. Sometimes I can’t see the difference between the two of them. Between who I am now, and what I was. I close the sketch book, and slide it back into my bag. I look over to Artsy who’s only sitting there, staring at me with a concerned look. “Are you ok?” I give her a smile and a nod. No. I’m not ok. I thought once i got my cutie mark, I would love doing whatever my talent was. But, the more I draw, the more I hate it. Because I feel more like what I was when I draw. My talent is the common ability of a changeling. But I’m not a changeling. I’m not a monster.

“Oh, dear boy. Do you think that we are monsters?” I hear Genesis’s voice ring out. The entire area around me is now the blackness, and there he stands .His tall regal form in front of me. “Why do you think we are monsters?” I let out a sigh. “Because your only purpose is to steal. To take away from other ponies.” He shakes his head, and laughs “It seems your time as a pony has changed the way you think. We do not ‘steal’ we share it. If we stole it, it would disappear. Then so would we.” I look at him, and give a frown. “Why?” He frowns in turn as well, looking at me with a confused look. He opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “Don’t give me that crap. What you said last time. You said someone else through me out of the nest.”

“But I know you did it. You didn’t bother searching for me. So stop with the lies. I was a disappointment to you and your nest.” He glares at me. “You insolent fool. I would never lie to my subjects. Lying only complicates things.” I match his glare with my own. “Who did it then?! Who threw me out of the nest? I deserve to know.” He frowns, and lets out a long sigh. “Your mother did. She was so distraught at having such a disgrace born under her. She had tried pawning you off on so many others. Then one night, just dropped you into the forest. Don’t worry though, I made sure she received a punishment for her actions.” I don’t even remember my mother. I don’t even try to. Why should I care about anyone from the nest.

“Let’s cut to the chase Genesis. What did you come for this time?” He smiles at me. “What, can’t I visit one of my subjects. . “ I cut him off, anger in my voice. “I’ve told you already! I’m no longer a subject of yours. I just want to be left alone.” He frowns. I feel his magic grab a hold of me, and pull me close to him. “Do not interrupt me.” He drops me to the ground. I fall flat, feeling slight pain ring through me. “Fine. I came here to try to reclaim you again. We are in desperate need. We are a dying breed Tenens.” I shake my head to him. “My name isn’t Tenens. It's Ink, please. Just call me Ink. And, what makes you think I could help you anyways?” He laughs slightly, and leans down towards me. “It would be quite simple, we would just change you back.”

His words hang around me. “No. I won’t let you.” He laughs more. “What makes you think you have a choice. Remember what I said last time? IF I had to come back, you wouldn’t have a choice in the matter.” I step back slowly, I go to turn to run, but there is no where to run. “Silly little boy. Come on now, don’t be so resistant.”  I turn to see the growing figure of Genesis. He shifts upwards, morphing into a large, monstrosity of himself. It charges at me, a full rush of darkness. I close my eyes, and flinch backwards. I fall and hit the ground hard. “No!” I shout. Nothing. I open my eyes, to see Artsy and Verity standing in front of me. “Ink. Are you alright?” Verity asks. “I. . . Wha. . Huh?” Is all I manage to stammer out. I get back onto my hooves.

“You fell asleep. Verity let you sleep through class. We got worried when you started groaning, like you were in pain. We were just about to wake you up, but you fell out of your seat.” I nod slowly as Artsy explains. “It was just a nightmare.” I whisper to myself, feeling completely relieved. I shake myself, waking myself up completely. “I’m fine. There isn’t any need for worry. just haven’t been able to sleep well.”

I give a convincing smile to the both of them. They share a worried glance, but smile anyways. “That’s good, both of you head off to lunch now.” Verity tells us ,and we scamper off together, out of the room. Once we grab our lunch, we head to our normal table. Sitting there is Blitz, who is glaring over at Spinner. “Hey guys.” Spinner waves sheepishly at us. “You came to school?” I ask him. He gives a small nod. “Yeah. Spirals at home resting, she should be here tomorrow. Oh, yeah. Here.” He hands me a framed picture. It’s the one I first drew of them. “Keep this for now, till . . You know.”

I hear Blitz grunt. “Ok, I’m going to ask it now. Why are you two so buddy buddy now?” I frown slightly. “Should we explain?” He frowns, but nods anyways. After going over the details, I see that Blitz has dropped his serious expression, giving Spinner a sorry look. Artsy looks like she’s on the verge of tears. “That’s. . That’s so horrible.” She sniffs out. “Yeah. On the bright side, we can be friends again . . Right?” Spinner asks, and Blitz sighs. “Fine. I’ll give you a chance.” They share a small smile.

“Hey, before I forget, Spiral wanted me to give you this as well.” He hands me a small, folded, piece of paper. I unfold it, and read the slightly messy writing. “She can’t use her magic just yet, so she had to write it by mouth.” I give a nod, smirking slightly. Ahh, a unicorn who knows our pain. Anyways, I read through the lines written on the paper. ‘Ink. I don’t know much of anything at the moment, as you know. All I really have is a vague familiarity of a life forgotten. I wanted to ask if you could meet me at the big hill. I want to talk to you, and that place just seems perfect. Probably some old memories, right? Anyways, it just seems proper, since you were the first pony I met when I woke up. Also, that picture you drew was absolutely amazing. I’ll explain more later, if you would be so kind to meet me at the hill.’

Wow. I didn’t know Spiral could be so well spoken. She’s always been more. . . Blunt with the way she speaks. But, I guess in a sense, she is a different pony. I fold the note back up, and put it in my saddle bag. “Thanks.” I say to Spinner, who gives me a nod. “How’s everything at home?” He gives shrug. “Pretty much the same. . . Just, you know, quieter.” He laugh, half heartedly. “You’re not saying that you actually.  . .”  He shakes his head. “No. I’m glad we won't be seeing him anymore. . But, it’s just kind of weird to see him gone. I thought I would have to leave before he did.”  He lets out a wistful sigh.

“So. . Wh-what happened?” Blitz asks, slightly nervous. “If, that’s ok of us to ask?” Artsy adds in. Spinner looks to me. “Only if you want to tell them.” I say to him. He gives a smile, and nods. He tells them about what happened. A shortened version at least. Ending with telling them about the amnesia. “That’s horrid.” Artsy says through a gasp. Blitz stares at the ground. “Horrid? You think that’s horrid. Well, I personally think she deserved it.” I hear Artsy gasp. “Blitz. How can you say that.”

I look to Spinner, and see him looking at the ground. “No. He’s right. We both acted horribly. But, if you think she deserved that, then what should I deserve? Spinner looks up to blitz, staring him in the eyes. “You? Well, why don’t you take a small trip into the woods then? And spend the night.  Have a taste of what you made others do.” Blitz says, and holds out his hoof. “Deal?” To mine and Artsys surprise, Spinner shakes his hoof. “Deal.” He says solidly.