The Reluctant Protector

The young yellow sun hung low in the sky, threatening to dip below the western horizon of the Unending Ocean. The realm was ablaze with the warmest of colours, as the light reflected off of a blanket of clouds. From gold, to orange, pink and then red. It was the colour of blood. The Sky was bleeding. As the last few drops of colour where exsanguinated from the heavens, an entirely new colour took its place. Blue.

The deepest blue. Blue that gave way to flecks of white that twinkled and shone from billions of miles away. From billions of years ago. Just like her eyes that looked out over the ocean, they twinkled like the heavens. The water lapped as it rushed to meet the sand, only to be pulled back. Forever denied its destination.

“What now?” I asked.

She thought for a while. The only sound, the waves. Desperate to hush us to sleep. “I’m not sure.” She said.

I scoffed and dug my fingers into the sand. It was damp and it clung to me. I didn’t care. “I thought you always had the answers…”

She shook her head and sighed. “Not this time.”

There was quiet once more. The rhythm of the waves was calming and I couldn’t help but match my breaths to them.

“They’re waiting for you back inside.” She said.

“Yeah, well, they’ll be waiting a while.” I replied not taking my eyes off the horizon, wishing for the sun to come back.

“Come on, Arty. I know it sucks, but we can make a real difference here.”

“‘It Sucks'?” I parroted, incredulously. Nodding, I agreed with her. “Yeah… You got that right.”

Quiet again. The sky was darker now.

“I can’t do this, Megan.” I said, matter of factly.

“Yes, you can.” She said, the same cadence hitting her tone.

I shook my head. “I-”

“Listen to me.” She said, getting to her knees to face me. “It’s going to be hard. Some may say impossible. But I’ll be here with you. Every step of the way.”

I gave a slight smile. “Promise?”

She nodded and sat back down, closer now.

“What if I give up?” I asked.

“You won’t. We won’t.”

“Forever is a long time, Sis. Anything that can go wrong…”

She nodded slowly and said. “Murphy can be a bitch. But we’ll just have to beat her at her own game.”

I gave a small laugh. “And how do you propose we do that?”

Quiet again.

Megan looked at me, deep blue eyes twinkling in the starlight and smiled. “We just have to find something to live for.”

My eyes shot open to be met with a field of magenta, my favourite colour. “Artemis!” My wife said as she pulled me into her embrace. Pain lanced through my skull and I must have made some sort of pained whine because she let me back down gently. “Sorry!”

“S’fine.” I said. The room was white. The monitors where beeping. The breeze was blowing through the open window, making the curtains dance lazily. “Water.” I said. A straw was placed to my lips and I drank greedily. The crisp, sweet coldness rushing down my throat and filling my empty stomach. When it was gone, the cup was taken away and I could hear it be refilled. “How long?” I asked.

“Three weeks.” Celestia said.

I quickly sat up. Only to be met with more pain and a gentle hand pushing me back down. “Easy now.”

“What In the hells happened?” I asked.

Celestia sighed. “Well, we’re not entirely sure.” She paused for a moment. “What do you remember?”

I thought back. “We… I… was interrogating the creature.” I shut my eyes. My head was throbbing. “Then… Then just… Red. So much red.” I looked to Celestia; her face framed by the light sneaking in through the widows when the waltz of the curtains took them out of its path. She looked dishevelled. Her normally dew-dropped mane, now pink and ratty. She had heavy bags under her eyes. She was so beautiful… “Then nothing.”

She sighed. “We learned that they call themselves, ‘Changelings’. The creatures, that is. They apparently have a hivemind. Who or what controls them, we don’t know…” She stood and walked to a cabinet. Gone where her flowing robes. She was now garbed in simple, comfortable looking cotton pants and a silky button up shirt. She retrieved a glass, then filled it with water and took a sip sitting back next to me.

“They can shapeshift.” She continued. “They could be anyone. Twilight and Luna have been working on a detection spell.”

“And you?” I asked, my throat feeling like sandpaper.

She smiled. “What do you think?” She leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I’ve been here with you, you big goof.”

I smiled. “And Lyra?”

“I’ve been giving her some exercises that I think would suit her… needs. Things you once taught me. Concentration, channelling whilst using her hands rather than her horn. Things like that.”

“Sounds good.” I sighed out.

“Artemis?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you… remember why you’re here?”

I thought back again. I could feel the blood rushing in my ears. Is that a memory, or is that happening now? “I… I can’t…” I sighed and shook my head. “I’m sorry, love. I can’t remember.”

Celestia kissed me again. “That’s okay. We thought that may happen.”

“So…?”

“Well, there’s nothing left of the changeling in the cells. Or rather, there’s nothing left of its head.”

My eyebrows raised. “What do you mean?”

“The creature… changed, Artemis. It changed into her.”

White light blasted through my vision and I was suddenly back in the interrogation room. Pressure on the knuckles of my hands. Not a constant pressure. Rhythmic. Like the waves on a beach, my fists descended. Again, and again and again they descended onto the disgusting facsimile of my lost sister. Again, and again and again the crunching of the creature’s chitin sounded, as it gave way to the jelly inside.

I felt no emotion in those moments. None at all. It was like, this was a job that had to be done. Like brushing your teeth or taking a shower. It was work. Maintenance. In front of me was filth. A maggot. And it needed to be removed. So, I did just that.

The door behind me opened and something caught my arm as it descended for the nth time. I could hear shouting of the ponies as they rushed into the room and piled on me. I took one last look at the stain that was once a living thing, to see my sisters face looking at me. Her pale, freckled skin mixing with black chitin. Now, completely caved in. One eye her own, deep, twinkling blue. The other, a ghostly cyan that dangled out of its socket. She was smiling. Her face contorted in a rictus grin. The creature had done its job.

I came back from the memory and looked to my hands. They where bandaged heavily. I started to hyperventilate. My breaths turning from steady, like the waves on a beach, to erratic, like the waves in a typhoon. Celestia enveloped me in her arms as I sobbed uncontrollably. “She… She was…”

“I know, my love. I know.” Celestia was crying too.

“I can’t bare to see her like that, Celly. Her… Her face was…”

“Hush now. Don’t think about it.”

“They… Perverted her.” Celestia was quiet. “They corrupted her image.”

She held tighter and spoke resolutely. “I know.”

It was quiet in the room, the only noise the gentle breeze, the smell of flowers from the side table. Snowdrops. My favourite. “I’ll kill them.” I said. The tears had stopped now and my breathing had calmed. I was telling her like it is. I was reciting a fact.

She didn’t let go. I felt a tear drop on top of my head. “I know.”