//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Daybreak // by Leafdoggy //------------------------------// “No, no, no, no, no,” Daybreak mumbled under her breath as she paced back and forth across the canyon floor. Angel and Royal Gala watched her quietly, sitting at the edge of the pond with the two pieces of Twilight’s element laid out between them. “Freaking out isn’t going to fix it,” Angel said. “Well, what is?” Daybreak stopped in front of them and looked desperately at Angel. “C’mon, gimme an idea! How are we gonna put this thing back together?” Angel shrugged. “I don’t know.” “Augh!” Completely at a loss, Daybreak snatched up the pieces with her magic and made her way back over to the tree. Crudely, Daybreak tried to shove the pieces back into the recess in the trunk, but they didn’t seem to fit. “Come on! Stupid magic tree, fix it!” Royal Gala meandered up behind Daybreak and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I don’t know if we can fix this.” “Okay, then what?” Daybreak snapped at her. “My mom’s gonna find out eventually!” “Well, you could just tell her,” Royal Gala suggested. “You’ll be in a heck of a lot less trouble if you fess up now.” “I don’t wanna be in any trouble!” “I thought you liked annoying your moms.” “Not like this.” Daybreak huffed. “I can’t enjoy it if I actually messed up.” “Sounds like you got a guilty conscience.” “Yeah, and it sucks. That’s why I gotta fix it.” “Well, good luck with that.” “Ugh, you’re no help at all.” Daybreak stomped out of the cave and back over to Angel, who was lying on her back and looking up at the sky through the opaque crystal of Pinkie’s element. “Angel, can’t you do something?” “I don’t know what you expect me to do,” Angel replied without turning her head towards Daybreak. “I dunno, you do all sorts of weird stuff,” Daybreak said. “Can’t you, like, make a new one out of shadows or something?” “It doesn’t work like that.” “Are you sure? Have you tried?” Angel rolled her eyes. “You have magic. Why don’t you try making one?” “That’s different,” Daybreak said. “We know how pony magic works.” “You’re not a pony, though.” “Ugh!” Daybreak growled and sat on the ground in frustration. “Can’t you just try?” “Fine.” Still not looking down, Angel waved her hoof through the air and pulled up a tiny wad of shadows. She tossed it through the air at Daybreak, and by the time it reached her it had shaped itself into a crystal that looked just like Twilight’s element. “Happy?” Daybreak caught the stone and looked at it closely. “I mean… It looks right. Why’d you say you couldn’t do it?” “It’s not magic,” Angel said. “It’s just a rock.” “Oh.” Frowning, Daybreak set the stone down beside the fragments of the real element. Then she laid down on her stomach and put her head in her hooves. “Ugh, what am I gonna do?” “Well,” Angel said, “if telling your mom isn’t an option, you’re just gonna have to figure out how to fix it.” “And how do I do that?” Angel shrugged. “I dunno. Do I look like I know magic?” With a sigh, Daybreak looked hard at the stones in front of her. Then she got an idea. With a sudden burst of energy, she hopped up and grabbed the fake element. She carried it over to the tree and, with a bit of effort, popped it into place where the element was supposed to be. Royal Gala, who had propped herself up against a wall of the cave to relax, looked up at it with suspicion. “You really think that’ll fool anypony?” “It’ll fool them for a bit,” Daybreak said. “Hopefully long enough for me to fix the real one.” “Uh-huh. Well, good luck with that.” “Oh, no,” Daybreak said, “you’re coming with us. I’m not letting you blab to Applejack about this, she’ll go straight to my mom!” Royal Gala groaned. “Seriously?” “Yeah, seriously.” Daybreak picked Royal Gala up with her magic and carried her outside. “Angel, do you know where Starlight Glimmer is?” “Changeling hive.” Daybreak groaned. “Seriously? I don’t wanna go there. Who else knows about magic?” “Who’s that guy Flurry Heart likes?” Royal Gala asked. “Sunburst?” Daybreak thought for a moment, tapping her hoof on the ground. “I guess. Any idea where he is, Angel?” “Changeling hive.” “C’mon! Ugh, what about… I don’t know, Trixie? She might know something.” Angel shook her head. “Same place.” “Is every unicorn in Equestria in the changeling hive?” Daybreak huffed and kicked a rock. “What about… I don’t know, Starswirl. Is he even still alive?” “Probably,” Angel said. “I can’t track him, though.” “What? Why not?” “Because he’s Starswirl,” Angel said. Daybreak groaned. “Fine! Let’s go see my uncle, I guess. Can you take us all, Angel?” “Mm-hm.” Daybreak waited for a moment. Nothing happened. “Would you, please?” “Sure.” Angel rolled over, pushed herself up off the ground, and wandered over to the others. As she did, shadows started to rise up out of nowhere and wrap around the three of them. In the changeling hive, Trixie was tapping a hoof on a round, velvet-covered table anxiously. She looked down at her cards, then up at her opponent, then down again. “Hmm… Trixie will…” “I already know you’re bluffing,” Maud said coldly. “I-I am doing no such thing!” Trixie huffed and slapped her cards down on the table. “I’m folding for completely unrelated reasons.” The rest of the table laughed as Sunburst gathered up the cards and Maud took her winnings. She added the bits to the already sizable pile sitting in front of her. Around the table sat Starlight, Trixie, Sunburst, Maud and Thorax, enjoying one of the rare evenings where they could all get together. Maud was dominating the game, but none of the others particularly minded that. They’d all gone in expecting to be giving her money. Sunburst dropped the deck in front of Trixie and grinned at her. “Your deal.” “Finally,” Trixie said. She started to shuffle the deck with a magical flourish. “Perhaps I’ll actually get good cards this time, unlike the rubbish you all have been—WAH!” Trixie nearly jumped out of her seat as three fillies appeared out of nowhere and dropped down onto the table. In her shock, she lost control of the cards, and they exploded out and showered down around her. Several of the others flinched back, too, but none showed quite the same vigor as Trixie. Putting a hoof to her chest, Trixie took a deep breath. “Don’t scare me like that!” “Hello, Angel Trifle,” Maud said across the table. “Hi, Aunt Maud!” Angel hopped off the table and gave Maud a tight hug. The others hopped down beside her as she pulled out Pinkie’s element. “Look what I found!” “Angel, that’s—” Maud started, but Starlight quickly cut her off. “Is that an Element of Harmony?” Scrambling, she reached over the table and pulled the stone over to herself. “W-Why do you have this? Did the tree give it to you?” “I wouldn’t say ‘give,’” Angel said. Starlight looked up at her with wide eyes. “Did you steal it?” “Ooh,” Trixie said, clapping her hooves together. “Very impressive.” “Don’t encourage her,” Starlight chided. “What? It’s not like she can un-steal it,” Trixie said. “We may as well give credit where credit is due. I know I’m not strong enough to take an element from that tree.” “What do you mean, you—” Starlight groaned and put a hoof to her forehead. “Later. First, Angel; Why did you take this?” Angel shrugged. “I felt like it.” Thorax chose then to speak up. “Daybreak? Were you involved in this?” “U-Um…” Daybreak flushed red and scuffed a hoof across the floor. Thorax sighed. “Daybreak, come over here.” “Huh?” Daybreak wandered around the table and looked up at him. As she did, Royal Gala took the chance to sit in an empty chair at the table, and Angel sat down on the floor beside her aunt. “Look,” Daybreak said, “I know it was wrong, but I—” “I’m not mad,” Thorax said. Daybreak blinked. “What?” “That’s your mom’s job,” Thorax said. “And don’t worry, I will tell her about this. But first… Why are you here?” “I-I,  um…” Daybreak pursed her lips. “Uncle Thorax, can you promise to keep something secret from my mom? Not the stealing, but um… Something else.” “No,” Thorax said, “but I can promise I’ll hear you out.” Daybreak made a conflicted noise. “I… Ugh, fine. Look, I need Starlight’s help, okay? I tried to take my mom’s element from the tree, but I messed up, and, um…” Nervously, Daybreak pulled out the pieces of stone, which she’d stowed away under a wing, and dropped them on the table. There were gasps all around the table. Starlight jumped out of her seat, and for a second it looked like she might jump up onto the table. “What happened?” She asked. “I-I pulled on it too hard,” Daybreak said. “Hard enough to break it?” Starlight grabbed the two pieces and pulled them over to herself. “Daybreak, that… That’s not possible! These things are the most powerful magical artifacts in the world, they don’t just break.” “Well… It did,” Daybreak told her, “and I don’t know how to fix it.” “Fix it? I don’t know if it can be fixed,” Starlight said. She looked over to Sunburst. “Can it?” “Umm…” Sunburst pursed his lips and pushed up his glasses. “Well, fixing it would most likely require knowledge of how it works, and since it was grown from a tree planted by the most powerful unicorn to ever exist, well…” He frowned. “The odds aren’t great. Maybe with Twilight’s help, we could—” “Oh, no, no, no,” Starlight said. “Twilight would freak. We do not need the ruler of Equestria to have the biggest panic attack of her life over this.” “Well, there’s always Starswirl,” Sunburst said, “but that would mean finding him, which… Well, frankly, I’d have no idea where to even start.” Starlight sighed. “Yeah, neither would I.” She tapped her hoof on the table a few times, then nodded. “Okay, well, it’s not like we’re likely to need the element anytime soon. We can just… Look for Starswirl! Surely, if we try hard enough, we can find him.” “I don’t know,” Sunburst said, “if he doesn’t want to be found, do we really have any hope?” “Well, we’ve gotta try something,” Starlight said. “Any better ideas?” She glanced around the table, but none of them spoke up. “‘Hunt for Starswirl’ it is, then.” “Where do we start looking?” Daybreak asked. “You don’t start looking anywhere,” Thorax told her. “There’s no need for you three to stay mixed up in this.” “But we could help!” Daybreak protested. “You’re still just fillies,” Thorax said, “you could get yourself into worse trouble if you start trying to look into things like this. Plus, you should be out enjoying yourselves, not stressing over the fate of the world.” Thorax reached out and ruffled Daybreak’s mane. “Just let us handle it, okay? I won’t tell your mom, not until it’s fixed at least.” “But…” Daybreak pouted. “But I wanna help. Just cuz I messed up doesn’t mean I can’t make things better!” “Of course not, sweetie,” Thorax said. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just…” As he hesitated, Daybreak huffed and suddenly jumped up onto the table. “Whatever. I don’t need your permission!” Before any of the adults could react, she grabbed the two pieces of the element and jumped towards Angel. “Clubhouse!” She shouted. “Quick!” “Wait!” Starlight shouted, but by the time she lit up her horn, the three fillies had already vanished into the shadows. “Well, great. Anypony know where their clubhouse is?” Around the table, they all gave her defeated looks. Back in the Canterlot warehouse, Daybreak propped the shards up on a rickety shelf. “There. They’ll be safe here.” “Okay, great,” Royal Gala said half-sarcastically. “Can I go home now? I need a snack.” Daybreak trotted over to Royal Gala and prodded her in the chest. “You can’t tell your parents about this.” Royal Gala groaned. “Seriously? But I hate keeping secrets.” “Yeah, seriously,” Daybreak said. “You know Applejack would tell my mom.” “Fine.” “Are you gonna help us look?” “I guess,” Royal Gala said. “I don’t get why we can’t just let the grown-ups do it, though.” “You heard how helpless they were,” Daybreak said. “Starlight didn’t even think it would be possible to break an element. You really think she’s good enough to find a mean old pony who wants to stay hidden?” “And you are?” Royal Gala raised an eyebrow.  “I mean, I broke his magic rock. Clearly, he’s not that good. With all three of us, he doesn’t stand a chance.” “I didn’t say I was in,” Angel said. “Oh, come on,” Daybreak replied. “I mean, I am,” Angel went on, “I just didn’t say it.” “Ugh.” Daybreak flopped down onto a pillow. “You two are the worst.”