"Uhh… my head…" I moaned. I was lying on the ground and winched profusely as each muscle in my body throbbed with pain. I tried to reach with my hand to rub the sore spot, but as I did, instead of feeling the soft texture of my skin, I felt something hard, cold, and smooth. Something very akin to…
"Glass?"
I opened my sore eyes and steadied myself on my knees as my body protested with every move I made. I focused my sight on my hand and took a closer look.
It looked like it was crudely made out of glass shards. I was surprised, to say the least, but not shocked as you might expect. Like I said earlier, I was a suspected conduit, and the months of physical and mental torture by the D.U.P was a proof of that.
Finally, I decided to look around me, I was in some type of port, overlooking a grand city. It reminded me a bit of Manhattan, but at the same time, it wasn't. For example, I saw a giant statue that highly resembled the 'Statue of Liberty', but the woman in this 'Statue of Liberty' had something equine about her, like fur. And from a distance I could see another building that looked astoundingly like Chrysler building, only with a hoof imprint onto it.
At this point I was willing to believe in anything. I mean, conduits? People with super-powers? How weird does an alternate universe can be compared to the things I saw. Or at least, I thought that was an alternate universe. Kinda like the 'Planet of the Apes' only with humanoid horses.
There was a weird crunching sound emanating from my hand and as I looked back down, I saw the glass had somehow morphed back into my flesh and blood hand. I took it as a sign and decided that it was high time to start walking. Maybe one of the locals could help me find a way back home.
It took me a while but I managed to find my way out of the port. And what I saw caused my jaw to hit the floor.
Furry humans, everywhere I looked.
Now remember what I said earlier about how weird could this be compared to conduits? Yeah, it didn't help with the initial shock.
It was an entire world filled with human-like horses. I could tell they were half horses by their head structure. It was slightly equine in nature but not overly so.
Oh, and not only that but they appeared to be living in an almost exact copy of Manhattan.
"Excuse me, out of my way mutt! I'm very busy!" A human/horse/thing hollered as he shoved me aside and disappeared behind a corner.
I was surprised that he wasn't as shocked as I was, considering I couldn't see any other humans around here. But I did noticed something very odd. I saw not only ponies but also other creatures walking the streets. I also saw humanoid versions of gryphons, two legged dogs, and even the odd zebra here and there.
Maybe that's the reason why these ponies don't seem to care about me. Besides the odd glances I received, no one really approached me. Did inter-species relations really exists here?
Well, that's a relief. Being sent into a totally different world can be tough, at least I don't have to deal with public appearance. I chose a random direction and started walking.
Each street I crossed was like walking through a Manhattan itself. They even had Times Square! Shops were everywhere and everything seemed so much nicer and colorful than the real Manhattan, not that I have anything against Manhattan, but if you saw what I saw, you would understand. Its official now, I love this world.
I was so busy admiring the spitting image of Manhattan that I wasn't paying attention to the road ahead of me and thus, bumped into someone.
We both fell backwards. I fell on my bum while she fell on a big leathery case she had on her back.
"Oh I'm sorry, please let me help you." Immediately, I offered a hand. She eyed my hand for a while, and then looked at my face, suddenly I felt very self-conscious.
"Who… who are you?" asked the grey furred woman, she had a sophisticated tone to her speech and wore a pink blazer with a white dress underneath and black high heels.
I tried to give her a reassuring smile while trying to keep my excitement from bursting. I cannot believe I just talked to a talking furry. "My name is Devon MacGrath. Please forgive me for bumping into you like this."
The woman looked a bit more relaxed as she took my offer. I grabbed her furry hand and lifted her up with ease. I then helped her with her enormous case which weighted a ton. "God this thing is heavy, what's inside it anyway?"
The woman giggled and extended her hand. I gave her the case and she lifted it with ease. "A cello," the mare answered. "But it's not really that heavy, the case is what makes it so hard to lift. Oh, and my name is Octavia Melody, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Please, the pleasure is all mine, after all, it's a once in a lifetime experience for me," I replied.
Octavia quirked and eyebrow, "You mean to tell me that this is your first time in Manehattan?" She inquired.
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold the phone. Did you just call this city 'Manehattan'?" oh dear god, this is so rich! Manehattan! This city is actually called Manehattan.
"Yeah… I did. Did I stutter?" Octavia blinked a few times in confusion.
"Oh no, no, no. I was just… surprised, that's all." I started to laugh nervously while rubbing the back of my head.
"I see… well, I must say Mr. MacGrath that your appearance is quite… exotic, if I may say so myself."
"Yeah, I would imagined that would be the case. Too bad I couldn't bring my violin to here as well. God, I love that violin," I said sadly. My violin was more than just an instrument, it was a part of me. I always played when I felt a bit under the weather, and it always cheered me the way it would cry with me. The violin has such a beautiful cry.
"Oh, so you're a musician. And a violinist nonetheless," the mare said, suddenly looking far more interested in me than mere moments ago.
"Well, it's more of a really profitable hobby. I never played on concerts or anything of that magnitude. Maybe a bar once, but I mostly just play for myself. My real profession is a glass artist, you see," I replied, coating my words with a bit of pride because hey, why not.
"A glass artist, you say. You wouldn't perhaps have a card on you, would you? I've wanted to decorate my house for a while now but I never found anything fitting, and now that I think about it, glass just might be what I need." The woman looked at me expectedly. Unfortunately, I had no cards.
"Sorry, I never had the chance to grab my cards when I… arrived. In fact, I'm kinda lost right now."
Octavia gave me another once over before speaking up again, "Well Mr. MacGrath, seeing as you're new to the city, and I would simply hate seeing someone as nice as you getting mugged, what do you say about accompanying both myself and my friend to lunch. I'm sure she's going to like you, she likes things that are… out of the ordinary, no offence of course," she quickly mentioned.
I smiled once again and nodded. "That would be very kind of you Miss Melody, I'm sure it will be an amazing learning opportunity for the both of us."
"Then it's settled, come on now Mr. MacGrath."
"Wait, right now!"
"Why of course, it's three in the afternoon and I promised my friend to meet her at the restaurant in three and a half. That means we must go now," she replied urgently, still somehow remaining composed.
"Umm, okay sure, it's not like I have anything better to do," I said as I was dragged by Octavia. "So, where are we going?"
"To a small restaurant a few blocks from here. It would take us about twenty minutes if the traffic is slow, which is good because I always like to get a little earlier," Octavia replied.
As expected, we arrived at the restaurant ten minutes earlier. The restaurant wasn't too big. It had a front porch to those who want to enjoy the weather and a large glass window that peered into the restaurant itself. Octavia and I decided to sit outside, seeing as how lovely this day was. During the extra time, Octavia and I chatted a bit about ourselves. She told me about her times in the orchestra and a few funny stories from an event called 'The Grand Galloping Gala', and I told her about my interest in glass art and my violin.
"Wow… so your violin was really made out of glass?" Octavia asked, her look of utter amazement brought a smile to my face.
"Yeah, I made it myself. The parts I mean. I then gave them to a friend of mine in the instrument building industry and he made me an electric glass violin," I said as I drifted in a sea of nostalgia.
Suddenly, a brash voice cut through the air and reached our ears. "Hey Octy! What's up!"
I turned my head and saw a white furred woman –I think I'll simply call them mares- with a crazy looking blue hair. She had purple glasses, a white undershirt and denim shorts. Overall, she was just the type of mare I would probably see in a club.
I could hear Octavia sigh and turned my head again. She was smiling while shaking her head from side to side. "Hey Vinyl…"
The mare known as Vinyl took the sit between Octavia and myself and stared at me intently. "Who's the cute guy?"
I felt myself blush at Vinyl's comment and tried to hide it by covering my face with the menu.
"Ohhhh look, I made him blush…" Vinyl cooed, further aiding my burning cheeks.
"Vinyl! This is very uncouth of you. This nice stallion right here is Devon MacGrath. Devon, this is my friend Vinyl Scratch.
"Sup…" Vinyl gave me a cheeky smile which I returned with my own nervous one.
"Uhh, hey… so you're Octavia's friend right?"
Octavia chuckled before answering, "I know it doesn't look like it but we're really are friends. We met a few years ago when I was just walking back to my place after a big night. A few stallions tried to steal my cello to sell it since it was so expensive. Luckily, Vinyl was close by and saw the entire fiasco. Without a second thought she jumped at the stallions and beat them all single handedly." Octavia finished her story by looking proudly at Vinyl.
"Jeez Octy, you're making it sound more heroic than it actually was…"
"I don't know, for me it sounds pretty damn nice of you, Vinyl. You sound a lot like my little brother, god bless him."
"Really," Vinyl said, "What's his name?"
"Cole. He's… not with us anymore," my face fell a bit as memories of Cole flooded my mind. He was lazy as a teen, but the blast changed him. He became a hero, a symbol of hope, and he died so that others may live. I suddenly felt something touch my shoulder and saw Vinyl looking at me sadly. I couldn't see her eyes behind her freaky shades but I knew she regretted mentioning him.
"I'm sorry dude, didn't mean to bring back bad memories."
"It's okay," I said as I wiped away a stray tear, "He died a hero, I could not be more proud of him."
"He sounds like a good person," said Octavia.
"He was," I agreed. In an instant, my frown turned into a grin once again. "But I'm sure that he wouldn't want his big brother to mourn him, and I sure as hell don't want to drag you into this emotional mess, so… what do you want for lunch."
Before any of them could voice their opinion, a shrill cry of pain came from somewhere along the street. Everyone in the vicinity turned his head to the source of the noise.
I turned just as a group of masked stallions emerged from a back ally. Their muzzles were covered by red bandannas with a scratchy white X's painted on them, and their eyes had black goggles over them. All of them had horns protruding their foreheads and their hands glowed with energy.
Then, all of a sudden, they started shooting!
I just about managed to flip the table to its side and pulled Vinyl and Octavia behind it. Unfortunately, I was too slow and a bolt of energy hit me square in the shoulder.
I ducked under the table and grasped my shoulder. "Fuuuuuuuck!"
"Devon, are you alright, dude?!" cried Vinyl, she quickly rushed to my side.
"Absolutely… peachy, Vinyl!" I hissed, though my comment was swallowed by the numerous shouts and screams for help.
"Here, let me see…" Octavia gently removed my hand from my shoulder and examined the wound. The only problem was; there was no wound!
"What! I don't understand. I saw you get hit, your shoulder should be smoldering right now!"
"Wow Miss Melody, you sure know how to make a guy feel safe," I snickered.
"Uhh, guys, sorry to interrupt you little love session but there's a gang shooting right next to us!" barked Vinyl.
"Who are those guys, anyway?" I asked.
Octavia peered over the table and quickly ducked behind it when another bolt struck the ground near her. "They are a gang called 'The white X'. A group of unicorns that committed every possible crime, from drug dealing to selling weapons and illegal magical artifacts. They terrorize this city in broad daylight and disappear when the guards come to stop them. Oh, I can't believe this is happening to me…"
I felt bad for Octavia, she started crying and panicking. Vinyl held her in her arms and I felt so useless. But then I remembered something.
I'm a freaking conduit.
I turned my gaze to my hands and felt the same power the flowed through me when I just woke up. Within seconds, my hands morphed into glass again.
Finally taking the initiative, I rose from the table and aimed at the nearest gang member. I felt a tug of power and a blunt shard of glass shot from my hand. It soared through the air and hit the gang member straight in the stomach. Unfortunately, the hit only dazed him a little, and when he recovered, he focused fire on me. I thought quickly and felt another tug of power, this time, raising a wall of thick glass from the ground. It was a fan-shaped glass that left the middle only slightly exposed, giving me a small slit to fire my own projectiles.
After a few more shots I felt weakened and I couldn't raise or shoot anymore glass. I had to think fast. I looked around me, trying to figure how to refuel my power. Luckily for me, I saw exactly what I needed.
Glass.
The window of the restaurant had shattered when the white X's started shooting everywhere like an eight year old on Call of Duty. I made a mad dash towards the broken shards and stretched my hands. The broken glass hovered for a moment before being absorbed into my body. I stared directly into the middle of the street, where a cluster of gang members was shooting innocent people.
I felt an even more powerful tug of power and released a fast glowing projectile of glass. It shattered right in the middle of the gang, sending glass shrapnel all over the place. The commotion ceased almost immediately as every gang member was either knocked out, or dead.
"Devon!" I heard Vinyl cry. I turned around to make sure she wasn't hurt, but as I turned, all I saw was a look of fear and shock on her face.
"Vinyl, what's wrong?" I asked, truly baffled as to why this sudden change of attitude. I was about to take a step when I felt something grab me from behind and constrict my hand movements.
"Stop right there!" ordered a gruff voice. I turned my head to the side and saw six stallions clad in golden armor, each holding a gun their hands and aimed their weapons at me. Another stallion behind me bound my hands and prevented me from using my powers. I tried to resist, but he proved too powerful.
"You are under arrest, take him!" a stallion in the head of the group said. I looked at him dead in the eyes with a frightened look.
"Wait, that's not fair. I just saved everyone!"
"Shut your mouth!" he bellowed. "You are under arrest, bio-terrorist!"
…
What!
Devon's glass powers were actually a rejected power for InFamous: Second Son, here's the concept art-
I was taken swiftly and mercilessly through the streets of Manehattan. The guards led me into some kind of imprisonment facility at the edge of the city. At first sight, it looked like any other prison, back as I was led through its grey halls, I've noticed something that left me baffled and terrified at the same time.
There were other humans in here.
Each cell had either a humanoid pony, or a normal human inside. Every inmate I saw had their hands constrained, just like myself. I don't know why but whatever that bulky device they put on my hands rendered my power useless.
I was taken into a back room, where they tied me into a chair and left me. After a while of staring into nothingness, the door opened and in came a mare.
She was gorgeous, I had to admit. And although my situation I couldn't help but stare. She had a soft pink coat, two shades of blue in her hair and the most attractive, yet dangerous, piercing rosy red eyes. She had a horn protruding her forehead like any other 'unicorns', but in addition to that, she had also a pair of angelic wings. Her clothes were that of a police officer and I couldn't help but have mixed feelings of fear and arousal.
"What's your name!" she said simply, yet it carried an imposing tone to it.
I gulped hard before answering, "D-Devon MacGrath, ma'am."
"Do you know why you're here Mr. MacGrath?"
"I honestly don't…" I answered truthfully. I understood that the guards knew somehow about bio-terrorists, but the hows and whys eluded me still.
The beautiful mare sneered and took a step forward, glaring into me. I could've sworn that she was seriously trying to bore a hole through my head with her stare only. "You're here because what you are, and what you are is an abomination! It's because creatures like you that ponies can't feel safe in the cities! You, and the rest of your kind will stay behind bars even of it kills me!"
"What do you even want from me," I said with all the courage I could muster, which was not a lot. "I did nothing wrong from the moment I set foot in this freaking reality, you're just a cruel-"
Smack
She slapped me across the face with enough force to knock me down with the chair.
"Don't you ever say that I'm cruel!" she slammed her leg on the floor. Her eyes were but to slits as she glared at me, but there was another thing in them… sadness perhaps?
Before I could utter anything else that would've worsened my position, the mare spoke up. "You'll stay in this facility until we relocate all of you disgusting atrocities to the Crystal Empire. From there, it's imprisonment for life!"
I gulped hard as I shook in my confines. She terrified me now. She was so unbelievably cruel in such a little amount of time.
She left the room with nothing else to say. Moments later, guards entered the room and took me away. Probably to my cell.
Just as I suspected, I was taken into a cell a short walk from the room. My hands were still bound together and I couldn't for the life of me use my powers.
I was thrown none too gently into the small chamber and heard the definite clang of a metal door being closed.
'That's it," I thought. 'End of the line…'
"Psst, hey…" I heard someone call from across the room "Hey, human…"
I lifted my head and looked over the dark corner of the room. There, sitting near the corner, was a black stallion with metallic grey hair and yellow eyes the shined in the dark. From my perspective, I could see two leathery wings sprouting from his back, as well as two sharp fangs protruding past his lips. His hands were bound just like mine.
"Who… are you?" I asked cautiously. This stallion was different from other ponies. On my way to this place I saw three kinds of these creatures. Winged ones, ones with horns on their foreheads, and the ones that have none. But he had bat wings rather than wings with feathers. He also had fangs and slitted eyes.
"My name is Shade, but that’s not important right now. You’re the human from earlier today right?" he said with a voice that was hard to pinpoint. Even when I knew where the source was, it still felt like his voice bounced around the room, making my really dizzy.
"Earlier today?" I asked. I had no idea what he was talking about.
"I meant the scuffle," Shade clarified. "Normally, conduits get caught before they could show their powers. But you just started firing and exposing yourself in broad daylight," he exclaimed.
"Hey, I was helping! A bunch of idiots named the 'White X' started shooting everywhere and I wasn't going to do nothing!" I rebutted. I didn't care that I got caught, if I had to do it again, I would. It was the right thing to do. Right?
"I see," Shade hummed "In that case, then I guess you're probably confused about your situation."
I looked at him wide eyed and asked, "How do you know about conduits? And how come I saw other humans here?"
Shade nodded solemnly, as if he expected me to ask these exact questions. "Before I answer your question, I must first explain to you the nature of conduits to this world. You see, conduits, besides having extraordinary powers, also possess a few similarities with one another. One example is their ability to regenerate health far more quickly than normal people. They also have more strength, and they are far more durable. But there's another thing they have that applies only to this world. Conduits are almost completely impervious to magic in all forms. Only the most powerful entities can overpower conduits here."
"Magic? Really?" I deadpan.
"Is it that hard to believe? After all you saw?" Shade retaliated.
I had to admit, he had a point. Was it that hard for me to believe in magic? I'm a conduit who just got transported into a parallel reality.
"Okay I guess you're right," I admitted. "But it doesn't answer my questions."
"I'm getting there," Shade said in irritation. He took a calming breath before continuing. "Up until seven years ago, conduits never existed here. But it all changed when the first human conduit arrived. I don't remember his name, only that he was simply called 'The Beast'."
"Wait you don't mean…" my words trailed off.
I knew of 'The Beast'. It was all over the news. He completely destroyed Empire City and decimated everything in its wake until he was finally stopped in New Marais.
"Yes, the same Beast. He was the first conduit to arrive to this world, and he brought death and destruction wherever he went... or at least, that's what they say. That's when he started activating more conduits. You see, ponies apparently, also possessed the 'conduit gene', but it was a recessive gene, nulled by magic. When he was finally stopped by the two princesses, the damage was too great. Dozens of conduits roamed the land, and unfortunately for them, they were considered a threat as well.
"But that was only the tip of the iceberg. Over the course of seven years, more and more human conduits appeared in this world. They were almost immediately captured so they could not cause potential destruction like 'The Beast'. Humans' sightings are rare and hushed by the crown so they will never reach the media. Even now, most ponies are completely oblivious for the existence of humans.
"As for me, I'm an awoken conduit. One of the firsts actually. I was awakened by 'The Beast' himself, he showed me his plans, his believes. He wanted to save this world. He claimed that conduits were the next phase in our evolution, that we're the apex of our civilization, that it was our right to live.
"But after his defeat, the crown began to chase us. I was on the run for months, learning more about my powers and getting better and better at fighting. Unfortunately, the bastards caught me while I was asleep. I spent the rest of my life here."
"That's… awful…" I whispered. Suddenly, this world wasn't as great anymore.
Shade shrugged. "It's not that bad. In here, they teach us to use our powers and teach us how to control it. As for why they're doing it… beats me. All I know is that here I don't have to deal with ponies that think I'm a freak. We're like a family in binds here."
"That's… comforting… In a weird, twisted kind of way," I remarked.
Shade chuckled and closed his eyes, getting comfortable on a bed I did not see before. "Well… as long as you play by the rules there's not much to be afraid here. Just remember, the wardens are afraid of you just as much as you're afraid of them."
"And what about that other mare? She did not seem afraid of me."
"You mean Princess Cara Mia? Yeah, she's a cold-hearted bitch, but don't let her catch you say it. She hates conduits with a burning passion. Surprising considering she's supervising us. As for why she runs this place to contain and train us, I have no clue." Shade responded, getting more comfortable on his bed and resting his head on his hands on a nonchalant manner. As opposed to my reaction.
"She's a princess!"
"Yes indeed. She's the daughter of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor. Both are the rulers of the Crystal Empire. I think we'll be relocated to there. That's nice, a little change of scenery." Shade closed his eyes and exhaled.
I on the other hand, was having much more harder time accepting what I just heard. Apparently, not only other humans came to this world, but the crown is also against us. This was too much. So instead of further annoy my cellmate with pointless questions, I decided to settle in my own bed on the other side of the room.
The mattress was hard and uncomfortable, yet as I peered towards the other side of the cell, Shade was already fast asleep. I took a moment to find my happy place before closing my eyes. And just as I was drifting to peaceful slumber, I heard my violin sing one last time.
Next morning I woke up to the sound of clinging metal. I groggily opened my eyes to try and determine the source of the noise. As more of my senses begun to sharpen, I saw Shade who shared my cell was already up and about.
"Oh… finally you wake up I see. Well come on, you don't want to keep the rest of the family waiting, do you?" Shade started walking outside of the cell.
I rubbed my eyes to get the last bits of sleep and followed him quickly. As I did that, I noticed that I wasn't wearing my bulky binds on my hands anymore, but instead, had some type of thin gloves. I tried use my powers but they didn't work, I also tried to remove my gloves but again, it was futile. As I walked with Shade towards an unknown destination, I've noticed the other inmates looked at me with various levels of curiosity.
It was jarring seeing so many conduits, both ponies and humans. I felt my throat close when I detected a few kids here and there.
"They imprison children?" I whispered, mostly to myself.
Shade sighed ahead of me. "Yeah, it's cruel, I know. But at least here they're among others who share their pain. In my opinion, it's better to them here than the outside world, where they look at us like some sorts of monsters." As he finished his sentence, I detected the first bit of anger in Shade's voice. It was kinda offsetting, since he gave me the impression of a laid back go-with-the-flow type of guy, but who am I to judge.
Finally, we reached a big and round opened space where I could see the sky beyond a dome of glowing mist, magic I guessed. A few catwalks hung from the sides of the room with guards walking over them on patrol. Then my eyes caught sight of the courtyard itself. It was big, as you might expect, with many humans and ponies talking and huddling in small groups. It was very similar to a regular prison, but I didn't get that menacing vibe from it. None of the inmates gave me the stink eye or even a glare. They all looked pretty okay, all things considered.
Shade led me towards a small group of people. There was a man slightly older than me, a mare by his side, and a little human girl between them. The man was a mountain of flesh, clearly towering over most of the inmates, and with a dark brown hair, a scraggy brown beard and dark brown eyes, he looked just like some stereotypical woodcutter. The mare looked slightly shorter than me. She had a nice long purple hair, light green coat and deep blue eyes. Her body was lean and quite good to look at. The girl was tiny compared to the two. She had curly blond hair, freckles along her cheeks and nose, and green eyes. For some odd reason, they looked happy.
The man saw us approaching and waved his hand towards us. "Hey Shade, you're late. That's not like you," he said teasingly.
"Good morning Bruce, sorry for being late, I had to wait for my roommate to get up," said Shade as he gave me a mischievous grin.
Bruce raised an eyebrow and looked directly at me. "So you're that Devon fella everyone keeps talking about, heh? Well, it's a pleasure to meet ya'. Name's Bruce but I guess you figured that out already." He then pointed towards the mare by his side. "That Spring Petal, my girlfriend, and this-" he pointed at the girl, who was now hiding behind Spring Petal. "-is Amy. Petal and I raise her together."
I simply stood there, completely overwhelmed. "You mean to tell me that your girlfriend is a pony? And you have a daughter?"
"The correct term is marefriend," Spring Petal interrupted. "And yes, Amy is like a daughter to us. I hope it doesn't bothering you." she gave me an icy glare that left no room for objections.
Bruce started laughing loudly, something that sounded more like an avalanche than an actual laughter. He then threw his hand around me and gave me a good squeeze, nearly chocking me in the process. "Petal relax, the man just got caught yesterday, he probably never seen another human outside these walls, much less in a relationship with a pony. Now that I think about it-" Bruce turned his attention to me "How long have you been here? This world I mean."
"I… umm…" I stutter.
"Come on little man, nobody is gonna beat you up for answering wrong," Bruce teased.
"Yesterday…" I said in a quiet voice.
"Uhh… say what now?" asked Bruce.
"I said yesterday!" I said more loudly than I intended, causing Amy to flinch.
"Well…" Bruce gave me a strong pat on the back, almost sending me falling, and chuckled. "That's a new record. I've never heard of a human who got caught on the very first day for his arrival, quite the shock I'd imagine."
"I'm still having some trouble with what's going on," I admitted while rubbing the back of my head.
"In that case, let me be the first to welcome you to Equestria, Devon," said Spring Petal. All signs of hostility were gone in an instant as she smiled gently.
"There's one question I'd like to ask though," I said, catching the attention of the three adults around me. "How come you know Shade, you said nothing about how you met him." I directed my question to Bruce, though Shade stepped forward and answered instead,
"It's quite simple really. During my time as a runaway I encountered Amy. She was alone and scared so I took her with me. The day we got caught was the day I met Bruce and Petal. Both were conduits as well and they bonded with Amy very fast. If you want to put things in perspective, I'd say that I'm like Amy's uncle," Shade replied.
Wow, I've never expected that there would be families inside a prison. It was different from Curdun Cay alright, the stuff they did to me there... I don't even want to think about it.
"Hey, are you still with us lad?" Brute waved his hand in front of me, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"What? Oh… yeah, sorry," I murmured.
"Well, don't be lad," Bruce gave me another powerful pat on the back. I swear his power is probably rock or diamond because he can seriously hurt someone just by hugging them. "Come on, have a sit with us, I'm sure Amy would love to know more about you. After all, you're a celebrity."
The weird family of conduits started walking towards a stone table. Bruce's hand was around my neck which left me in no position to argue.
"Wait, what you mean a celebrity!" I exclaimed.
Bruce chuckled again, which sounded like a distant earthquake. "Don't be modest lad. We all know how you exposed yourself in broad daylight just so you could defend the helpless. Other conduits would've probably used the distraction to slip away."
"I did what I thought was right at the time, there's nothing special about it," I replied.
"Still, chivalry is a rare sight these days." We all sat down on the stone seats before Bruce talked again. "By the way, lad. How are things back on earth? It's been three years since I've last been there."
That question caught me by surprise. The fact that other humans were here as well made me both happy and sad. Happy because I was not alone, but also sad because that's probably means there's no way back home. So thinking about earth in that manner caused me a great deal of distress.
"Uhh… Lad?"
"Oh quiet Bruce. Can't you see he's having a hard time digesting all of this? He's just been here for one day for goodness sake," Spring Petal chided Bruce, smacking the mountain man on the head like he was a puppy.
While the odd couple bickered, I felt a tug on my clothes and looked down. Amy was pulling my sleeve and stopped when she had my attention.
"What's it like out there, Mr.? Is it pretty?" she asked in the most innocent little voice I've ever heard.
I smiled in amusement and knelt down to her eye level. "Yes. Very. I saw very little, I admit, but it was the most extraordinary thing I've ever had the pleasure to witness."
"Don't worry Amy," said Shade. He knelt down to her eye level and ruffled her hair. Amy was laughing. "If everything is going to work out, we will all be free people by tonight."
"Wait, what!" barked Spring Petal. She stopped hitting Bruce in the head and glared at Shade. "I hope you're simply joking right. Remember what happened in your last escape 'attempt'? They cut off our rations almost by half to teach us a lesson. Poor Amy suffered for weeks."
"Petal… honey," Bruce sounded surprisingly gentle as he rounded Spring Petal and grabbed her by the shoulders. "This isn't the place to raise a child and you know it. Shade and I devised a plan to get us outta here."
"But…" Spring Petal started to weep. "I don't won't to lose you. What if they decide to kill you? I will never be able to live with myself."
Shade came to her side and put his own hand on the distraught mare. "Look petal, I know that right now you're simply content to be with Bruce and Amy, but the man is right. This isn't the place to raise her properly. And besides, the guard kept our existence from the records. We can use it to our advantage. Once we escape there's no way they could track us down. You, Bruce and Amy could live on the shore like you always wanted. Isn't that what you want? Freedom?"
"But at what cost?" she whimpered. At this point, I held Amy close to me. I could feel Amy shaking. It was hard on her to see her mother figure cry.
Bruce sighed and let go of Spring Petal, letting Shade comfort her while he turned back to me. "Listen lad, the plan Shade and I worked on was completed months ago, we just needed the last puzzle piece to perfect it, and that's you."
"Me! You must be joking," I exclaimed.
Bruce shook his head and for the first time since I've met the giant, he looked dead serious. "I ain't joking lad. We needed a strong spirited conduit. Half of the conduits here are either too young or too old to fight. The other half barely knows how to control their powers. But you… you're cut from a different cloth than the rest. You have certain… spirit in you. Everyone here knows of your actions yesterday, they start talking about hope, they believe again. Shade and I tried to lift their spirits, but to no avail. You on the other hand did it without knowing any of them, and I know every single one by name. Do you understand now? We need you. Please, I just know we can do it."
I sat there with Amy in my grasp while Bruce was talking. I never thought myself as a leader like Bruce was portraying me to be. I never had high ambitions. Only to sculpt and play music. But now, I needed to be something more, I needed to be something I never chose to be.
I closed my eyes and let Amy go. I could feel her get up and leave while I contemplated my options. I took one shuddering breath and opened my eyes, looking directly into Bruce's own brown eyes.
"Okay, I'm in…"
Bruce sighed in obvious relief and started laughing nervously. "You know, for a moment there I thought you're gonna say no," he admitted.
"Oh believe me, I have no intentions rotting behind bars," I said while flashing a cocky grin, even though on the inside I was nervous as hell.
Bruce laughed again, this time for real. "That's the spirit lad. Now come on. Shade and I need to brief you. It's a simple plan really, all you have to do is…"
