“Okay, now lower the tip to the pin. Careful, carrreful—you want the flat edge of the iron’s tip to be what’s touching the pin. Not the tip itself. Don’t forget—”

“Flat edge transfers heat faster, yeah,” she nodded along, moving her hand under the guidance of her mentor. Curls of smoke rose from the pin as she touched it. Even through the safety of her work gloves, she still felt the heat radiating off the device she held.

Just like in those videos she’d watched, the thin, silvery wire she fed in with her other hand melted on contact. A quiet sizzle rose from the point of contact as the metal almost… kinda sucked in to the pin in a way.

She flinched as the sizzling intensified.

“Don’t worry about the smoke, just don’t sniff it. You remember what the flux there does?”

She momentarily turned her gaze to her mentor, expectant eyes peering through her safety goggles, then back to the circuit board in front of her. The solder had already resolidified without the heat of the iron, its shiny molten surface having given way back to a dull sheen. The only remaining evidence of the flux was a little splatter of yellow staining the board.

She shot another glance at her mentor.

“Go on, you’re the one holding the soldering iron.”

“It… makes the metal stick better?” she tilted her head, her voice muffled behind the thick mask covering her face. “Something about surface tension, right? And—” she pulled down her mask with her free hand. “Lisa, can’t we just use the fan thingy to suck away the smoke instead? This mask is making my face all sweaty.”

“Close enough, and no can do,” Lisa chuckled, reaching beside her and flicking on a switch. A dull whine rose from the boxy fan sitting in front of her. “But thanks for reminding me about the fume extractor anyway. Between that and the mask, now you’ll be extra safe from the fumes!”

She shot an unamused glare back at her mentor.

Lisa pulled her stool closer to the workbench. “Listen. Zoey. If you get yourself hurt in any way here, there’s a good chance your parents won’t let you come around anymore. They were already pretty iffy about me when they found out about my hobby, so the safer you are, the better. They nearly had my head last time over that blister you had on your finger.”

Zoey lowered her head, turning her attention back to the partially-soldered circuit board on the bench.

“I’ll try and find some lighter masks for you next time. Promise. Careful now—” Lisa’s hand hovered over her own again, guiding it downward. “Try not to wave around the iron too much. Not only is it sharp, but it’s pretty burny too. You already know what I’m getting at.”

Right. Blister. That was also the moment she learned it was probably a good idea to tie her hair into a bun when working with hot stuff instead of her favorite ‘roostertail’ style.

But… yeah. No touching burny hot things, and no letting those things touch her hair either.

She placed the iron back in its metal stand, extracting her hands from the work gloves and shaking them out in the air.

“Sweaty hands?”

“Yeah.”

“Want to watch me solder a few pins before you try again?”

Zoey’s gaze fell again to the board in front of her. Then, up to her mentor.

“…Yeah.”

“Alright,” Lisa pulled the iron in its stand closer to herself. She gestured for the board. “Alright, since I’m the one working now, what’s the first thing I should do when soldering down bigger things?” She shot a cocky grin. “Pretend you’re teaching me this time.”

Zoey slid the board over, her brows already furrowing in thought. “You… touch the tip to the pin, right?”

“’Dunno, teach,” Lisa poked the board with a finger. “You’re the expert right now. Don’t ask me.”

“Okay then,” Zoey blew a raspberry. “Touch the tip to the pin. The wider side since you’re using the knife tip with a big pin.”

Lisa did exactly that. Then stared back at her, iron still contacting the pin protruding from the other side of the board.

“And then… feed the solder wi—wait no, flux!” Zoey grabbed a pasty-yellow syringe and passed it over. “Take off the iron from the pin and squirt a little bit of flux paste across the pins you wanna solder.”

“Alright, that’s done,” Lisa set the syringe aside. She was fast at squeezing out the paste!

“And then next, you get the solder wire, and you hold it near the pin and the iron.”

“Done.”

“After that,” Zoey mimicked the movements with her hands. Her eyes shifted for a moment to the tip of the iron in Lisa’s hand before returning to Lisa herself. “After that, because we’re using a knife-style tip, you want to press the flat edge against the pin. That way, more heat can transfer faster.”

“Good,” Lisa followed the instruction. “And nice work on explaining why, too!”

Zoey grinned underneath her mask. “Okay, and now, push the solder wire into the part of the pin that’s touching the iron tip. And make sure that you feed enough in that it makes a nice cone around the pin after it melts, too.”

“And that’s it!” Lisa soldered the pin in place before replacing the iron on its stand. “Though, since we’re using the rosin-core solder wire, we don’t really need any additional flux in this scenario. Kind of the point of using rosin-cored stuff. Anyway, you try doing it yourself now. I won’t say anything this time, ‘kay?”

Zoey nodded, closing her eyes for a moment and drawing in a breath.

It’s just soldering.

She’d watched Lisa do it so many times before, and beyond that, she’d watched plenty of videos online as well. She knew how it worked. She knew the basic process. Heck, she’d even just pretend-taught Lisa how to do it!

She could do this.

She opened her eyes and reached for the iron, simultaneously pulling the circuit board back over. From the corner of her eyes, she spotted Lisa adjust the iron temperature.

“Don’t mind me, noticed that it was a little low. Maybe that’s why you were having trouble earlier.”

Focus.

She lowered the iron’s tip to the next pin over. That same sizzling from before returned as the remaining flux from earlier melted and boiled. The iron teetered a little as she adjusted her grip.

She pulled the length of solder wire over.

Control is everything.

Well, heat too, but Lisa was controlling that for her already.

Control is everything, she mentally repeated. She touched the solder wire to the thin crevice between the pin and the edge of the iron, feeding it in until it looked like a decently big cone of metal had formed around the pin.

She shifted to the next pin over after that and repeated the process. And the one after that, too.

“Looks like you’ve found your groove,” her mentor chuckled. “If you’re feeling brave, I’ve got some surface-mount boards sitting around that you can practice with as well. Gotta have a very steady hand to work with some of those without screwing something up with the tweezers.”

“I know. I do,” Zoey finished the final pin on the board, holding the completed work up to the shop light. “How’s this look by the way?”

She set the iron back on the stand and stretched, letting out a quiet squeak as she did so.

“A little too much solder on some of the pins, but nothing shorting given these big through-hole stuff,” Lisa hovered over her shoulder. She reached over again, flicking off the power to the iron. “Textbook work aside from that, though. Definitely better than the blob of conductive glue you showed me when you said you wanted to build a robot like the ones you saw on TV.”

Lisa’s voice retreated a little as her footsteps thumped against the concrete floor. “You wanna try your hand at surface-mount stuff tonight?”

“Mmmmmnah.”

A screech marked Lisa’s return to her stool. “Fair enough. It’s getting pretty late anyway. You know when your parents are coming to pick you up?”

“I think… six, if I remember correctly?” Zoey turned in her seat, tracing her mentor’s gaze to the garage window.

Lisa hummed. “Well, if you need to stay the night again, I’ve already got some spare blankets and stuff set up from last time in my room.” She blinked, a grin spreading across her face. “Actually, you know how I liked to spend my evenings when I was your age?”

“Hm?”

“Ice cream,” Lisa’s grin grew wider. “Especially on summer nights like tonight! A nice bowl of ice cream and some movie or show or something to watch. You remember that one ice cream place we went to a few weeks back? The uh—” she twirled her hand in thought. “The one where they have the weird flavor combos and stuff. Chocolate syrup on—”

“Grape ice cream!” Zoey cut in. She tore off her mask. “Oh yeah, I definitely remember that place. Are they even open this late?”

“Mmm, probably not, actually. We’ve got some in the freezer though if you wanna grab something from there,” Lisa stepped around her to the bulky chest freezer against the wall. “Come pick something for yourself. With how often you’re over, you’re practically my little sister at this point. It’s only fair that I spoil you like one. Actually, speaking of siblings—” she pulled back, leaving the freezer door open. “Yeah, find something for yourself real quick. I’m gonna go ask Caleb if he wants anything as well.”

She dashed for the garage door and flung it open.

“Oh hey, Lis,” Caleb’s voice responded to the sudden intrusion. “Was about to ask if you two were done yet.”

“Yeah, just finished. I was gonna ask you if you and your friends wanted any ice cream with your little party down in the basement. How smelly is it getting down there with the three of you?”

Zoey rummaged through the freezer, pushing aside frozen burritos and waffles until the sedimentary layer of ice cream bars met her eye. It didn’t look like there were any tubs of ice cream though, nor were there any other flavors.

She took one of the cream-orange-colored bars. Lisa was still talking to Caleb about something, so she’d might as well grab one for her as well since there was only one kind.

“Get one for my brother too,” Lisa stuck her head back in the garage. “He said his friends don’t want any.”

Three orange cream bars it is!”

She shut the freezer door, following Lisa into the house. “I got the ice cream!” she held out a pair of bars out in front of her. “I didn’t see any other flavors so I just got orange for everyone.”

“Sweet, thanks,” Caleb took one of them. “And uh…” he let out a small chuckle. “I think I know what happened to the rest of the ice cream.”

“Goober squad down in the basement devoured it all the day before,” Lisa began unwrapping her own ice cream bar. “That’s my guess.”

“…Yeah.”

“Called it.”

A dull shudder ran through the house. Nothing very big, but definitely noticeable enough to make a few tools in the garage rattle against the wall.

Lisa’s eyes shifted to the stairwell going down to the basement. Then back to her brother.

“You two stay here. I’ll send your friends up and check the basement.” She handed Zoey her freshly unwrapped ice cream. “It’s gonna suck real bad if The Big One decides that today is when it’s finally hitting.”

Zoey watched Lisa descend the stairs. Maybe there was another earthquake happening. Or maybe one of Lisa’s things in storage went pop for some reason. Though, she didn’t really keep much if anything in the basement as far as she remembered, and the only thing that Lisa did put down there that could possibly go pop were batteries.

She bristled at the thought. In that case…

She pushed the idea from her mind. There weren’t any fire alarms going off, so it probably wasn’t batteries.

Probably.

“We should probably head outside,” Caleb interrupted her thoughts. “I wouldn’t want anything falling on my head if it really does turn out to be The Big One that everyone keeps saying is coming in the next ten years for the last fifty years. Even if it’s not an earthquake, Lis will take care of it. She always does.”

Zoey pulled open the garage door. “Y-yeah.”

Lisa will take care of it.

She eyed the swaying tools hanging on the wall as they exited. Even here in the garage, the house seemed to sway with whatever was happening underneath. It was really starting to point towards an earthquake…

“Zoey, c’mon,” Caleb’s voice cut through the fog again. She shot one more cautious glance at the closed door behind them before following.

Hopefully it wasn’t too bad. Maybe after the shaking, Lisa found a crack in a wall or something and wanted to inspect it. There was a good chance Caleb’s friends would join in on that too, even if they didn’t really know what they were even looking at.

“You think they’ll be alright?” she joined Caleb on the concrete.

“Hopefully.”

Her attention lingered on him for a little longer before returning to the house they stood before.

Caleb was scared, too.

The two jumped at a heavy boom as it echoed out from somewhere inside the structure. The entire house groaned in response.

“Alright, I’m calling emergency services,” Caleb reached for his pocket. “Zoey, you stay here. I’m not sure how long it’s gonna take for Lisa to come back out, so I’m in charge of you for now, ‘kay? For all I know, based on the sound, this might be a gas leak.”

He motioned for her to back away even further, grimacing as another shudder rocked the pavement, this one far stronger than before. He dialed a number, holding the phone up to his ear.

“Get away!” a muffled voice rose from somewhere inside. Zoey’s eyes lit up as Lisa emerged, coughing and covered in some kind of dust. “Go! It’s not safe to be near here!”

She shooed them away. “Caleb, when you’re done, call mom and dad! Zoey, I need you to get in touch with your own parents as well. Now.”

“What about my friends?” Caleb shouted back.

“I’m working on it.”

“Bu—”

“Don’t let anyone come close. Got it? Not the neighbors, not Zoey, and especially not yourself.”

“I—”

“I’ll be back. I promise.”

Caleb’s frown deepened as he turned his attention to the emergency operator on the phone. Lisa slipped back inside.

Hushed voices whispered amongst themselves behind her. Zoey looked over her shoulder, peering at the gathering neighbors in the street. They must’ve heard the boom from earlier, whatever that was.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

Zoey stared back at the house.

It groaned again, creaking like a derelict ship left to rot on a beach.

She looked to Caleb again. He was still on the phone, his eyes looking increasingly frantic even as no words left his mouth.

“Where’s Lisa?” a voice behind her asked.

She turned, golden-brown eyes meeting her own.

She shifted her gaze back to the unstable structure in front of them.

“You can’t be serious,” the girl jogged over to Caleb. “What the heck is happening? Is your sister still in there?”

Caleb pulled his phone aside for a moment, covering the microphone with his hand. “Emily, now’s not the time. Lisa’s trying to ge—”

“Oh it absolutely is the time. You think I’m letting the friend I’ve known for almost as long as you’ve existed hang around in there?”

“Seriously, Emi, Lisa said not to let anyone get close.”

“And you’re just gonna let that be the end-all be-all?” Emily stepped back. “Cay, that’s your sister in there! Shouldn’t you at least try to help?”

“I am!” Caleb choked, bringing his phone closer again. “I’m trying! She told me to not let anyone go in!”

Emily stared at the house. Then shot a glare at Caleb.

“I’m going in.”

“Seriously, don—”

Another boom rose from the house. The lights glowing behind the windows flickered in response.

Zoey kept her eyes glued on the garage door.

Another flicker.

Lisa was gonna come out any second now. And she’d have all of Caleb’s friends with her, and then the firefighters or whoever Caleb was calling would come and make sure that the gas leak was all fixed before anything else could happen. There wasn’t any smoke after all, and even the power was still on! So that meant that nothing terrible had happened yet.

And then, after everything was done, Lisa’s mom and dad would come back from work, and her own mom and dad would stop by to pick her up and bring her home, and nothing would be wrong anymore.

That’s how things were supposed to work, right?

Right?

The lights flickered again.

A slow, rolling crackle tore through the air. The sides of the building teetered inward ever so slightly, as if some invisible giant had begun crushing it in on itself.

Please, let Lisa be—

The door slammed open, the thud as it hit the basement door behind it pulling her from her thoughts.

“Lisa!” Emily took off. “Thank goodness you’re safe! I’m pretty sure the whole neighborhood is closing in… on…”

Her steps slowed to a tentative shuffle. “…Lisa?”

The corridor was empty.

The doorframe let out a final groan before bucking, tearing itself hinge by hinge from the door it once retained.

“…Lisa?” Emily stepped a little deeper into the garage.

The door creaked back most of the way on its one remaining hinge before getting caught on the sagging ceiling.

“There’s firefighters and ambulances coming,” Caleb finally lowered his phone. “Emi, don’t go any closer. Please. You know my sister wouldn’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

A muffled thumping drew their eyes back to the door. Or at least, what was left of it, held in place purely by the pressure of the ceiling weighing down on it.

The door burst open after a heavier thump to reveal a panting Lisa.

Tears streamed down her face.

Her lips spoke for her where her voice had faltered.

“I couldn’t save them.”

She stumbled down the few steps between the doorway and the garage, coughing weakly as she supported her steps with the work tables she passed. Emily supported her the rest of the way. “Caleb… I’m so, so sorry. I—”

Caleb rushed past, wrapping his arms around her in a tear-stricken embrace. Zoey joined in after him, quiet sobs rising from herself to join the bawling of the boy beside her.

“Save them from what?” Emily’s voice cut through their cries. They kept moving through the commotion. “Are any of them trapped under something? The whole house looks like it’s about to fall in on itself.”

Zoey peeled away from her mentor, partly to avoid blocking the way. The crowd of people surrounding them had certainly grown in size by now.

“The darkness.”

“The darkness,” Emily repeated. She ushered her friend to sit. “Is there any more specific way you can describe it?”

The house shuddered in front of them again—violently enough this time that several tools clattered to the floor in the garage.

The sirens drew closer as the lights flickered one final time before going out for good.

“It’s happening again,” Lisa muttered under her breath. “It was almost up to the main floor when I got out.”

“What is happening again?” Emily pressed. She squat down to Lisa. “C’mon, you’re always the one using the big fancy jargon words between the two of us. Spit it out.”

“The darkness!” Lisa repeated. “How else can I put it? It’s this… this mass of darkness. Like a hole, but hanging mid-air. And the cracks—”

As if on cue, a ray of black shot past them. It hung in the air, thickening for a few seconds as if it were a blotch of ink bleeding into paper. Lingering for a handful more before shrinking away into nothingness.

Zoey’s eyes shot to the source.

The house.

She watched Emily trace the same path with her own gaze before turning her focus back to Lisa.

“What was that?”

“You think I know?!” Lisa tore away from her friend. “Those things shot off from the hole that swallowed my little brother’s friends! All I know is that they look like cracks in the air itself. Do you think I’d even dare to touch them?”

Emily sighed, her face remaining fixed in a furrowed mix of frustration and confusion.

“Nevermind.”

Another tendril rocketed past, taking a sharp turn and shooting up above their heads.

Zoey gasped, hiding away behind her mentor. She slowly pulled away again, staring at the jagged, inky-black beam hanging in the air above them.

“Lisa, I’m scared.”

“There’s nobody left to save,” Lisa said through gritted teeth. She pushed herself off the ground. “All we can do is keep everyone else here at a safe distance. We’ll get out of this.”

She stepped past Emily. “Figure out what’s happening from a safe dist—ack!”

Zoey stumbled, eyes wide with horror as her gaze latched onto the widening strip of darkness Lisa was now ensnared in.

“Fu—” Lisa seethed, pulling on the leg sunken into the darkness. “No, no, no, it’s not coming out!”

“Lisa…” Zoey muttered weakly.

Lisa craned her head as much as she could in her current position.

Zoey’s gaze drifted downward. To that same inky darkness that surrounded her own feet.

“Lisa, I can’t feel my feet.”

Caleb grabbed Lisa by the arms, tugging as hard as he could. He glanced down at the encroaching darkness and adjusted his footing. “C’mon, Lis,” his erratic voice came out in a near-laugh. “We gotta go now! You said so yourself!”

Zoey winced as a sudden pain shot through what remained of her legs. She looked up at Emily, whose arms hooked around her own. “You too, Zoey. Your parents would kill Lisa if she let you d—”

“We are not going to die!” Lisa snapped back.

“You’re lying,” Zoey wheezed, her breaths growing shallower. “I can hear it in your voice.”

She glanced downward. The darkness was up to her knees now, rising just a little bit more with every failed tug from Emily. Or rather, she descended down a little bit more with each failed tug. From the corner of her eye, she saw the crowds of people that’d come to watch approach.

Maybe to help.

Hopefully to help.

“Stay back!” Lisa shouted. “Stand back, and get as far as you can from here until this is over. I don’t want anyone else to be caught in this.”

She stared directly into her brother’s eyes. “You too. I’m sorry, Caleb. Emi. Please. Run.”

Zoey felt Lisa grab her hand, a determined look on her face.

The last thing she felt was Lisa dragging that hand downward, dunking the two into the darkness against her brother’s anguished screams.

Author's Note

It sure has been a ride and a half to get to this point.

Ten years. Roughly. A little more than that if you wanna go all the way back, a little less than that if you wanna go by account creation date.

Fractures is the cumulation of all of the little things I've picked up over the years writing fanfic. Not just the technical things like how to better distinguish character voices (something I've worked QUITE a bit on thanks to previous fics often having very same-y vocal styles between characters), but also actual bits and pieces of things I've found that I like to write about.

Fractures is not only titled what it is for the events that set the story in motion, but also because, in a sense, it really is bringing together fragments of other fics as a single whole. The characters, especially--Zoey and Caleb draw their roots all the way back to 2014, when they first appeared in a handwritten, script-formatted garbagefire I called "Wielder of the Orb". At the time, I was trying to use that script to hijack my middle school's play and insert myself as the main character, Sammy.

Probably was for the best that that never ended up happening.

Lisa, at least the version portrayed here, draws vaguely from how she was written in my old Pony-Me™ fic. Not quite as aloof or clueless anymore, but still rather similar personality-wise.

Even Emily is there! She's from Splintershard :)

But yeah. This is very much a (transformed) Human in Equestria story. Despite being a fanfic, I've got plans in the works that'll likely veer quite a ways away from following canon. This ain't gonna be one of those "oh hey I'm a character from the show, time to follow the show's events" fics, I know that at the very least.

Zoey/Gadget will receive plenty of hugs. I think. Probably.

That's about it for what I've got in mind for this little author's note blurb. I hope you enjoy the fic so far!

To new tomorrows. /)