Twilight sat inside the tent she shared with her friends and tried not to tremble. Behind her, Soft Touch was preparing a warm bath to try to help her calm down and relax. She closed her eyes and could still see the sword aimed at Hunter's exposed flank. The shock had been enough to give her pause and had shaken her badly. They had walked in silence for the next few hours as the caravan got back into motion and they reached their next stopping point. The tents had been set up swiftly and Twilight ushered into hers. Soft Touch tapped her shoulder and Twilight nodded as the mare began to bind her mane and tail.
The handmaiden had come to collect the Alicorn when Wrath had come to find her. She did not know what had happened to upset her charge so badly. She had arrived to find the Alicorn clutching the Overlord and sobbing into his fur. His red eyes had seen her and he had gently pulled away from the mare. He gave her over to her and had whispered something in Twilight’s ear, earning a nod from the upset pony. Soft Touch had stayed at her side as they had walked, the Alicorn had been silent for the whole day. Now she was focusing on trying to ease the mare's mind and help her calm down.
“Just a moment, My Lady. I will have your hair taken care of in a moment and, I also made sure to bring a bottle of your favorite wine with us.” She said to the Alicorn, who sniffled and nodded in reply.
Soft Touch furrowed her brow for a moment. Normally the Princess was cheerful and would chat with her. Her silence made the handmaiden worry about her mental state. She finished her mane and gently guided her to the tub that the minions had filled and used enchanted heating stones to keep the water warm. She held her foreleg and slowly eased the mare into the warm water.
Twilight leaned back in the tub and let her head fall back, her eyes closing as she tried to relax. Her ears flicked as the other mare moved around her and a gentle cough got her to look to the other mare once more. She set a platter against the side of the tub and it clipped into place. A small glass of wine sat on the platter and Twilight’s magic held it and brought it to her lips to take a sip from it. She set it back in place and stared down to her hooves in the water. She looked up and Soft Touch was sitting next to the tub, her warm eyes waiting as she regarded the Princess.
“My Lady?” Her voice was quiet and held comfort.
Twilight looked back to her hooves and then back to the mare. “I didn’t even help him.” She whispered. Soft Touch said nothing as she waited for her to go on. “That pony was going to hurt him…I did nothing, except scream.”
“I do not know what happened out there, My Lady.” She replied, her voice calm and quiet.
“A group of the raider’s made a dust cloud in the front to stop the caravan. He said that their goal was probably to take the last few wagons since taking the whole group was harder.” Soft Touch nodded in understanding and waited for her to keep speaking. “I made an illusion over him so he could confront them easier.”
“That’s a very clever idea.” Soft Touch said to her, a smile on her muzzle.
Twilight nodded. “I wanted to be helpful, after my hurtful words earlier.”
“I told you our Lord is not the type to hold a grudge against you, of all ponies.” Soft Touch said to her, her smile still warm and her voice comforting. “Please go on.”
“I hid behind him and watched as they tried to tell him what to do.”
“What did they want from him?”
“They wanted the number of wagons, how many ponies, what the value was, that sort of thing. They demanded that he walk away and leave everything behind. All of the wagons and all the mares.” She said to her.
A sour look crossed the mare's face and Twilight chuckled a little at the twisting of the mares normally pretty features. “That’s a demand I know our Lord would not follow.”
Twilight nodded. “He told them no. After a few more minutes he told me to release the illusions and they were able to see who exactly they were threatening. I was holding onto Dezhara and we stood next to him as they tried to threaten him into letting them go. He called the minions and the wolves and everything to his side and they ruined the only chance they had to live.” Twilight paused as her voice had grown in strength and her outrage at what had happened began to show through. Anger crossed her features as she went on. “The minions and the others charged forward and the fight was pretty short. I asked him why he was watching and he said that he was the one who upheld the laws and he could not look away.”
“He is the law, judge, and jury in his Empire. Any punishment that is to be done, he is the one that will do it.”
“What do you mean?”
“If a pony that has committed a crime…Murder, for example, then if the sentence is death then he will mete out the sentence. He will be the one pulling the sword.” Soft Touch explained.
Twilight sniffled. “So that’s what he meant.”
“That is how his father before him was as well. If he is involved with the sentencing then he will attend at the very least.” She explained. “What happened after?”
Twilight went quiet as she rubbed her nose and looked back to the other mare. The fight was pretty short and the bodies were being moved to the side of the road to be buried. He went over to the…pile, to make sure the graves were deep enough I think. Telling the minions what to do and how he wanted it done. Dezhara started to growl and I just thought she was being difficult. I looked up and one of the ponies got to his hooves and lunged for his back. I screamed and Dezhara got loose and protected him. She killed the pony and then went to his side.”
“Oh my.” Soft Touch said aloud and stood up to comfort her. Her hoof landed gently on Twilight’s shoulder. “You warned him.”
“He spun, but he was not facing the pony, he was facing me.” She hiccupped as she told the story. “He would not have been able to defend himself if he was facing me. The pony was from the other side. I distracted him.” She began to cry as tears welled up in her eyes.
“No, My Lady.” Soft Touch tried to calm her.
“No. It would have been my fault.” She cried. “He could have been hurt. What if it had killed him?”
Soft Touch lunged forward and wrapped her forelegs around the now sobbing Alicorn. The platter with the Alicorns wine fell to the ground, the glass shattering as it hit the ground. She ran her hoof over Twilight's mane as the mare sobbed. She held the Princess tightly and hummed to try to calm her. She held onto her, allowing her to cry. The handmaiden could tell that she had gone beyond upset and had convinced herself that she would have been to blame. Soft Touch started to pull away, but a strangled sob from the Alicorn made her stop and hold her tighter. A sound from the front of the tent caught her attention and she looked over her shoulder to find Spike looking inside. She shook her head and tipped her head, trying to tell him to leave. He started to come inside, but an orange hoof grabbed ahold of his tail and he was yanked back outside.
"Remind me to thank Applejack for that.’ She thought to herself.
Several minutes passed and she kept up the same tune as she began to quietly sing to the tortured mare. It was an old lullaby that her own mother had sung for her and her brother. As the Alicorn went quiet, save for a few sniffles and gasps she pulled away slowly and reached down for a towel to wipe her tears.
“There, there, My Lady. Hold still now.” She crooned to the sniffling mare.
She raised her hoof and gently used the towel to wipe away Twilight’s tears. She then found a small container with tissues and motioned for the mare to take one. Twilight blew her nose and sniffled once more. Soft Touch went back to humming the lullaby, as it seemed to calm her a bit. She finished cleaning up the mare's face and moved to the other side of the tub. She slowly got the Alicorn out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her shoulders. She gently pressed the water out of her fur and dried her off. She then sat down in front of her and stopped humming.
“Now listen to me, My Lady.” She said to her. Twilight’s ears flicked to listen to her. “Look at me.”
Twilight looked up to her and waited. “You are a brilliant mare. Gifted with a brilliant mind and magic to compare.” She began and Twilight opened her mouth to argue. She placed a hoof against her mouth and waited for her to stay silent. “Listen to me now, dear Lady. If you felt that calling to him would help him, then it would have. You have instincts that guide you, same as any other pony. If your instincts called for you to warm him then that was the right move to make. Our Lord looked to you after you called for him. His armor would have protected his sides?”
Twilight listened and at the question, she thought and then nodded. “I didn’t even think of his armor.” She whispered.
“You have a mind that could put any scholar to shame. You are strong, brilliant, powerful, and beautiful.” She told the mare.
Twilight flushed a bit at the words from Soft Touch. “But…”
“No.” She said and silenced her once more. “My Lady, you acted as you thought was right. I was not there, but if I understand your description right then his armor would have protected him if the wolf had failed.”
Twilight sniffled and nodded to the handmaiden. “I just keep seeing it in my mind, playing over and over.”
“I’m sure. But, let me tell you what would have happened had the wolf failed.” Twilight looked to her once more and waited for her to go on. “The armor would have deflected the blow, but you would have finished that fight before our Lord could have.”
“What makes you think that? I’m not a fighter.”
“You may not think you are. You are a mare of great skill. I have heard of the times that you have waded into battle to protect your ponies. You are a warrior of many skills. You can speak and show others your brilliance. Your magic is enough to rival even him.” Twilight chuckled and shook her head.
“Maybe. But I have no skill in combat…What?” She paused as Soft Touch laughed at her.
“I have heard of the battles you have fought. You have stood strong against Chaos, Illusion and other beings that sought to hurt those you care for and protect. One does not need a war to show the strength of their heart.” Soft Touch said as the mare began to smile a bit, the sides of her lips slowly tugged into a small smile. “I was attending to Princess Luna when she was here. While she holds the moon and its power, I do not think she is your equal.”
“But… How could I be better? I was a Unicorn before I earned my wings and…What now?”
Soft Touch had smiled and shook her head as she spoke. “You earned your wings, My Lady. She was given them at birth. You have fought many battles, showed your skill, the strength of your magic, and earned your place. One who has been gifted with power does not understand the strain of it. One who earns their place sees the world in a different light and sees the little things that go unnoticed by those who were gifted power.”
Twilight looked at the handmaiden and her smile widened at the mare's words. She wanted to argue but she was finding it more and more difficult to argue with what she said. Soft Touch stood up and began to walk around the Alicorn to tend to her hair.
“Oh no,” Twilight said aloud and put a hoof over her mouth. “Your dress…it's soaked.”
Soft Touch stopped and a smile crossed her face and she chuckled in reply. “It's okay. It will dry overnight.”
“You’re more tolerant than me. I would have thrown it off when it got soaked. I am still so sorry.”
“I’m alright. I don’t mind it. The fabric is light and its design doesn’t let it bunch up and chafe. I have worn it soaked before and had no trouble.” The mare assured her.
“That’s good to hear. I know Rarity really wants to know what that fabric is.”
“She has already asked after it a few times.”
“I have never seen it before.” She was desperate to steer the conversation away from her near-hysterical sobbing a few minutes ago.
“It is spun and crafted here in the Empire. I don’t think it has ever been exported to other countries.” The mare replied as she loosed twilight’s mane and tail.
“That explains why I have never seen it.”
“There you are ready to face your friends once more.” She said after running a brush through the mare’s hair and then helping her to her hooves.
“Thank you, Soft Touch. I needed to hear that.”
“I know. I spoke only truth to you.” She replied and began to usher the mare toward the tent flaps. “Go. Your friends are worried. I will clean up in here.”
Twilight walked out of the tent and her friends were all waiting for her. She smiled and they rushed up to her, hugging her tightly as she nuzzled into them. Spike climbed up over her back and hugged her as well.
“I’m sorry.” She started to speak out.
“It's fine darling. It was a frightening occurrence.” Rarity said to her and shushed her with a shake of her head. “None of us could even speak about it before. You were much closer than we were, so the shock was worse for you.”
Twilight smiled at her friend and nodded. “I guess I hadn’t seen ponies attack him before and, even though he told me about it, I guess I didn’t really, truly believe it.”
“It scared all o’ us pretty bad. None o’ us said anything for a while.” Applejack replied as they backed up from her and they sat clustered around a fire. They had made camp close to the road as the wagons were checked for damage.
Twilight nodded and breathed in. “Where did Hunter go?” She looked to Fluttershy and saw that Dezhara was missing. “And Dezhara?”
“The Overlord kept her.”
“He said that he could finish the training and that you shouldn’t worry about it anymore.” Pinkie said to her. “He was super nice about it.”
“He’s okay. He didn’t seem all that concerned about the near attack, but he said for us to make sure that you were okay.” Rainbow replied to her.
Fluttershy nodded. “He was very kind about it. I asked him about Dezhara and he said that she seemed to have had some training in protection so it was enough that he figured he could finish it.”
Twilight sighed. “I should apologize to him.”
“For what?” Rainbow asked. “And what did he say to you?”
Twilight looked at her friends. “When?”
“When he gave ya to Soft Touch. He whispered in yer ear and ya nodded to him.” Applejack replied.
“Oh. I’m not sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know the language he used.” She replied. “I think it was in the language of dragons. The same language that Dezhara’s name comes from.”
“Oh. That explains that. He didn’t answer when we asked him what he said to ya. But I guess if he said it that way then it’s special.” Applejack commented.
“Or he was telling me not to scream at him,” Twilight said with a chuckle.
“He’s not that ungrateful darling.” Rarity said with a wave of her hoof. “But it would explain why he didn’t reply to us.”
Twilight nodded and rubbed her hoof over Spike’s spines as he huddled close to her. She looked up as dinner was brought out to them and they ate in silence as the evening wore on. Twilight finished her dinner and set the plate to the side as the others were finishing their food as well. Twilight looked up as she saw movement and she stood and reared up to get a look. She could make out a shape racing in the grass and she followed it as it moved. She startled a bit as Dezhara raced out of the tall grass and ran up to Hunter as he gripped a ball and threw it for her. She sat back down and tried to convince herself to go and apologize to him. But as she thought it over she had trouble figuring out what to apologize for. After talking with Soft Touch she was now surer that she had acted to help him.
She stood up and inhaled as she looked to her friends. “I’ll be right back.”
Her horn flared and she teleported to land several feet behind him. She waited till he heard her before she advanced. Dezhara returned with the ball and barked to alert him to the mare behind him. He glanced back to her and turned his head to look over his shoulder to her.
“Are you all right?” He asked her
“I’m okay. Can I talk to you?”
The stallion tossed the ball for the dire wolf and nodded to her. “Sure. I will listen.”
“You’re good at it.” She replied as she drew up next to him and sat down.
“So I have been told.” He replied and sat with her.
She watched as the wolf found the ball and came galloping back to them. “She seems to be enjoying herself.”
“Well, sticks didn’t hold any interest so I made her a ball that smells like prey.”
“You did?” She asked and looked to him.
He nodded as the ball was dropped at his hooves. His magic gripped it and tossed it farther for her to hunt down. “So what is it that you need to talk about?”
She paused and was quiet as he waited for her to speak. “You’re okay?”
He looked at her and nodded. “I’m fine.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She inhaled and held her breath for a moment as she tried to speak. “For that really terrible Illusion voice.” She finally said.
“Haha! That was awful of you.” He laughed as he spoke to her. “I needed a rock that I could die under.” She smiled and sniffled beside him. “Are you alright?”
“I…Think so.” She replied to him.
“That was not a confidence-inspiring answer.” He said to her as the wolf came back and the ball was thrown toward the woods to give her more a place to search.
“Maybe not. Soft Touch calmed me down and I think I’m okay. But I’m not sure. That was…terrifying.”
“It was not an ideal situation, I admit.” He said to her. “I normally pay more attention to things but I didn’t this time. It was my own fault.”
“How?”
“I was complacent. I’m normally more thorough, but I haven’t been out like this is a long time so I let myself get lazy about it.” He said to her. “If you are thinking that you hold some of the blame, you don’t. That was my own stupidity.”
Twilight was quiet as she tried to think of what to say to him. “It wasn’t stupid.”
“Yes, it was.” He argued with her gently.
“Not really. You trusted your army. That’s not a bad thing, Hunter.”
“True. But I should have been more cautious.”
Twilight was quiet once more. Dezhara ran up to them and dropped the ball against Hunter's hooves. He picked it up in his hoof and looked to the wolf that panted in front of him. He reached out a hoof and ran it through the thick fur.
“She was the only one paying proper attention.” He said as he ruffled the thick fur. “The rest of us stood there like idiots.” He joked.
Twilight gave a quiet snort. “We all hold some blame then?” Her voice was quiet as she spoke.
“Perhaps. But if you think that you were harmful then I will keep arguing with you about that. You did nothing wrong, Twilight. Had I not turned to you, he might have drawn blood. I owe you thanks for that.”
She looked to him, her eyes wide as he spoke. “But…”
“No. He would have gotten a chunk of my thigh if I had not moved at your shout. While he would not have survived past that, he would have gotten what he wanted in the end. His end goal after finding out it was me he was trying to rob was to do as much damage as possible. Your shout made his goal impossible. His blade would have hit my armor and probably snapped that little sword of his.”
“So he failed?” Her voice was quiet and barely above a whisper.
“Yes. He failed not just once, but twice. Failed to steal the caravan and then failed to hurt me, you saw to that.”
Twilight felt her breath catch in her throat and she swallowed to get past it. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I was afraid that I had made things worse.”
Hunter snorted and looked to her. “As I said. Without your warning, he would have hurt me. With your cry, he couldn’t hurt me at all.”
Twilight was silent as she heard what he said. “I…I was so afraid that he would hurt you. I didn’t even think to do anything except scream at you.”
“It was effective. Anything less and I might not have turned as quickly. As it was I turned as quickly as I could and was faced with a snarling wolf. I have to admit that it was quite a sight. Seeing a dire wolf leaping toward me, snarling.”
“Try hearing it.” She replied.
“I can only imagine. I heard her then I heard screaming as she savaged my attacker.”
“You mentioned that she seems to have some training?” She said to him. “Fluttershy said you were going to take over her training.”
“Yes. For a while, we had a pony that was training some of the younger dire wolves to protect. Some were trained to protect ponies, others to guard wagons or territory. It seems she was one of them.” He replied as he threw the ball once more.
“What happened to that pony?”
Hunter paused and a groan escaped him. “He died a year ago.”
“Oh my.”
“He got one too many wolves in one area and they started to fight, he got in the middle of it to stop it but ended up on the receiving end of the fight.”
Twilight blanched and shook her head. “Took on too much?”
“Exactly. He was good, but not that good.” Hunter admitted. "Took on too many of the wolves and expected that even the youngest would listen to him. He had a good working relationship with some of them, but not all."
The Alicorn was quiet as he explained what had happened and she gave a shake of her head. "Having confidence is a good thing until it overwrites your good sense."
"Precisely. Anyway. You hold no blame for what happened, Twilight. Do not let it weigh you down." He said to her as he got to his hooves and waited for the wolf to return with the ball.
"What did you say to me?" She asked and stood with him.
"When?"
"When Soft Touch came up to get me. You whispered something in my ear. I didn't know what you said. I'm sure it wasn't in a common language."
He chuckled and nodded. "Your right. It was in Dracoran." He replied to her with a nod. "Maybe another time, Princess."
"What?" She yelped and turned to him as the wolf came back to him and he gripped the ball in his red aura. "No. No. You have to tell me. That's not fair."
"I'm the Overlord. I decide if it's fair or not." He replied to her, a smirk on his muzzle.
"Hunter!" She shouted at him as he broke into a trot and left her behind. "Get back here." She shouted and ran after him.
A laugh escaped him as he broke into a gallop, outdistancing the shouting mare. He looked over his shoulder as her horn flared and she vanished. He looked ahead and found that she had teleported to be in front of him. He raced at her and she squared her body to meet his. He gathered himself and jumped over her and her outstretched wings. She yelped in surprise as he sailed over her head and landed behind her by a couple of feet. He glanced back and saw her staring after him as he galloped ahead and outran her.
Twilight glared after him as he vanished into his own tent, Dezhara on his heels. Her scowl broke down into a smile as she shrugged and trotted back to her waiting friends.
"I guess I'll ask him another time." She whispered to herself and found that she felt better after talking to him and hearing his take on the situation from before. She sat with her friends and fell into easy conversation with them as the night began to darken and they went into the tent for bed, once Soft Touch told them it was ready.