Becoming Heartstrings

Another night of restless sleep. I haven’t actually had a good solid nights sleep since this whole fiasco with Lyra started, and its only gotten worse with my fathers disappearance. I gotta say, I felt a little guilty sleeping soundly with my father somewhere lost in the world.

The day started about the same as it did yesterday, I dragged myself of Officer parks couch. I helped him make breakfast this morning to try and take my mind off.... well, my mind. I helped him make eggs of some sort, and even if I used to be a terrible cook, Lyra’s actually pretty good at it. That’s not exactly a good thing though, just means we’re merging more as the days go own, despite our efforts to stay separated.

I was still doing my best to keep my thoughts my own, trying to retain my own sense of self, but its becoming increasingly hard. I wonder if Parks has noticed? I imagine if he had, he would have told me by now.

Speaking of Parks, he was talking to me while I was off in dreamland again.

“I’m sorry Officer Parks, I didn’t hear you. What’d you say?”

“I just asked you if you're alright. You’ve been acting a little odd since yesterday.”

“Yeah I’m fine. Totally great. Never better actually.” I said, taking a bite of an apple he’d given me.

He just shook his head. “You are a terrible liar. Either way, we need to hurry. I need to be at the office soon. Word is that somebody at the station has seen the van that had your father in it.”

There goes that apple, all over the floor. He really shouldn’t surprise me like that while I’m trying to eat.

“Wait, somebody found him?!” I said, excitedly while jumping at him.

“I didn’t say that. I said somebody saw the van  We need to check out credibility of the source before we just run off. It could just be another false lead.” He explain, pushing me back to the floor.

“Wait, another? You mean people have been giving you false leads?” I asked

“Well yeah. There are a lot of Black Vans in the world you know.” He replied.

“Oh... But still, I suppose that’s better than nothing...”

Well damn. Still, thats hope! Any hope at this point is definitely welcome. We finished the rest of our breakfast in a hurry and headed into the police station.

This time, I was allowed into the back. I guess since I was so related to the case (He was my father) they let me in. Not sure why they didn’t let me in last time. Cops man, go figure.

Either way, this time he lead me into what I could only assume was his office. Very neat place, if I do say so myself. His desk extremely well organized for having a ton of papers on it. Twilight Sparkle would be proud.

“So, you said somebody had seen the van. Who?” I asked him while pacing back and forth in the smaller office.

“Hang on, I’ve got the report here on my desk.” He said to me while shuffling around some papers, looking for the correct one. “Aha!”

“Alright Minty, here’s the scoop.” He said, while reading the paper. I shot him a glare, but I don’t think he saw it. Stupid short Ponyness.

“The van was spotted via a security camera off one of the stop lights. Its confirmed as being the same van that your father... Spectrum had been thrown into as the licence plate matches exactly.” He said, giving a small pause. “The van was last seen around Lake Erie, Northwest Harborcreek.”

“The van’s exact location is currently unknown, but we can confirm that it has not left the area. We should head out there as soon as possible.” He finished, putting the paper back into the folder in which it came from.

“Finally, progress!” I said excitedly. First sign of good News I’ve had in awhile. “Thank you so much for your help Officer Parks, we’ve got to get going immediately!”

“Hold on Minty, that’s a bit outside my range. I can’t just up and go that far out without approval. It shouldn’t be too much problem though, so don’t worry too much.” he said with a smile at my enthusiasm.

“I never really thought about that, but I guess cops do have set areas huh? You guy’s do a lot more work then I gave you credit for.” I say back.

“Tell you what, you stay here and I’ll go ask my superior if its alright for me to continue working this case, alright?”

With a quick nod, Parks was out the door and left me there alone with just time on my hands. I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing somepony. It wasn’t just my father, somebody else was missing. It was kind of like a piece of myself had gotten up and walked away. Or maybe I was the one who had walked away. I’m not sure, but what I DO know is, I REALLY want to find my father. I never really truly appreciated him nearly enough.

Note to self: Glomp father upon reunion.

A few minutes longer, Parks poked his head in the door. “Hey Minty, I need you to come with me.” He says in a serious tone.

“What’s wrong? Won’t he let you go?” I ask.

“I can go, but only on one condition. Come with me.” He said, and lead me out of his office door and down the hall. We walked inside another room with a much larger cop inside.

“Thank you Park.” The Larger cop said. “I am Officer Hanks. Your name is....?”

“Lyr-Zeik.” I said, shaking his outstretched arm, in a wonky handshake. “My name is Zeik, regardless of what parks says.

“Listen, we at the station have no problem letting Parks follow this case. He’s the one who’s been taking care of you and making sure you’ve been well cared for while we found your father. There is however, a slight problem. See, you aren’t the only one who’s been turned into a pony, as you're well aware. There’s been rumors going around of some kind of anti pony group going around.”

That explained my fathers kidnapping, but it also put him at a LOT more risk. What if they wanted to hurt him?

“To that end, you are also allowed to go, but on one condition. You have to wear this.” He said, holding up what I’m PRETTY sure was one of those leg bracelets they put on people who are on parole.

“Why exactly do you want me to wear that?” I ask, giving the device a glance over.

Officer Hank Continued “We want to be able to keep track of your location at all times. This is in no way a leash, please don’t think of it like that. But, just incase something like this happens to you, we want you to wear this.”

I thought it over a little bit before responding. It made sense in practice, and I understand why they’d want to keep track of me. Still, it would feel a bit degrading having to wear something they normally only put on criminals.

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt to wear it.” I responded back, agreeing.

“Then its settled!” He said, handing the device to officer parks. I raised my front right leg and he (carefully) attached it. It was definitely a snug fit, but it didn’t look like it would have fit a human, which got me curious. Did they have this thing made ahead of time?

“Did you have this made up ahead of time? I doubt very much this would have fit a human.”

Parks looked at me and said. “Its true. They had it made up the first day I found you, but I wouldn’t let them slap it on you right away. I think the plan is to have all of the existing ponies wear one so they can keep track of you, but it has to be voluntary. The Police don’t want to force it. At least, I don’t. To that end, we also have one made up for you father when we get him back.”

“That sounds reasonable enough.” I said, giving the black device a few glances over, with it now attached to my leg. “So does that mean we can leave now, Parks?”

“That depends on Hank.”

Hank just writes down a few things on his desk. I couldn’t see it, I wasn’t tall enough to see exactly what it was, but after a few minutes he gave a sheet to parks and gave us an all clear. I gave Hank my thanks, even if he did slap a tracking device on me, it was for the greater good.

“Alright Minty, we’re set. Lets get going!” He says, leading me back out of the station and to his specific car.

I get myself set in the passenger side, and use my Magic to buckle myself up. Hopefully, by the end of today, I’ll have my father back, and I’ll be back on track to New York. For now, however, I have a drive ahead of me.

Did I ever mention I hate car rides?

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A/N: I am so sorry this took so long for how short it was. I was forcing myself to write out chapters and needed a break. Anyway, the next chapter should be out MUCH faster then this one took, and will most likely be much longer. I have plans.