//------------------------------// // An Emotional Ride // Story: The Path of Lore and Kings // by PassionQuill //------------------------------// Chapter 9: An Emotional Ride “Let’s go already,” grumbled Loré while standing with her back to Namworth and the Apple family. “In a moment, Loré,” sighed Namworth. “I wanna thank you for the hospitality and all the kindness you’ve shown us, despite some minor mishaps…” He quickly glanced at Loré before giving Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith a warm, sincere smile. “Aw shucks, it was the least we could do for ya. Wouldn’t be very neighborly of us if we turned ya down, would it now?” Applejack pulled Namworth into a tender embrace which caused his cheeks to flare up. “You were a great help to Big Mac yesterday. I never thought a tiny pony like you could carry that much weight.” “It was nothing, Applejack. I had a great time. Beside-“ was all Namworth got to say before Loré cut in. “Blah blah blah, I get it, we all get it. You love each other and it’s turning your brains into goo. Now, as much as I appreciate all you’ve done for us. I have a very important mission and I MUST get going.” With or without Namworth, Loré was determined to leave right then, and so she did with a calm and steady strut away from the farmhouse. “What’s got into her?” asked Applejack with confusion written all over her face. “She went through some emotional problems last night. Stuff she didn’t want to talk about. It seemed… complicated.” Both his voice and posture drooped in unison with the dangling last word. “Ah’ see… Well, ya better go after her, sugarcube, cause she’s leavin’,” said Applejack as she tilted to the side so she could see Loré. “Eeep! You’re right. Thanks for having us, and sorry about her behavior! I hope to see you guys some other time!” Namworth quickly spun around and leapt after his friend, waving to the Apples once he had caught up to Loré. “You could at least have said goodbye or something, Loré.” He gently nudged her side with a leg while flashing his usual doe-eyed demeanor. “It was kinda rude of you to do that.” “Good. I’m glad that it was.” The words coming from Loré’s lips were as cold and emotionless as the look in her eyes. The only thing on her mind right now was the haunting words of Sombra. If she ever was to achieve power, real power that is, she’d have to give up the pathetic bonds which had kept her back. “What’s gotten into you, Loré? First you blocked me out and now you’re saying this? You’ve been really mean before, but you haven’t been heartless.” He tried once more to nudge her side, hoping to elicit some kind of physical response from her, or at least to have her look at him. “My quest has gotten into me!” Loré stopped Namworth in his tracks by blocking his forward momentum with her left foreleg. She moved in front of him while keeping her hoof against his chest, and eloquently stated in a slightly upset tone. “Do you think this is all fun and games? That we’re just traveling Equestria to see whatever happens?” With flattened ears, Namworth responded, “No? I thought you wanted to reclaim Sombra’s magical powers to find answers to who you are, or something like that. You do wanna know why you have that strange horn of yours, right?” He gently placed a hoof where the discoloration used to be, but was now hidden by magic. “You just seemed so unsure at that time in the cave.” Loré quickly knocked his hoof away from her horn. “Maybe I was… But I stated it quite clearly back then. I was after the dark magic. DARK magic, Namworth.” Her eyes had narrowed into slits and her lips pulled into sunken arches. “I need to reclaim it before somepony less worthy than me does it. It’s what I was born to do. It’s my destiny, Namworth. I was meant to be powerful, special, and strong. It’s simply in my blood.” “Loré… what happened to you when you used that spell you got from Twilight?” His eyes flickered and stance softened as he got more worried for Loré by the second. “I had my eyes opened, Namworth.” An awkward grin surfaced from her annoyed expression. “I realized who I really was, who I was meant to be. I also figured out how to get the powers I deserve. But more importantly, I figured out what will be my downfall if I keep myself on this pathetic path I’ve been taking.” Without warning and much reason, she laughed loudly and shook her head as she turned around to continue their stroll through the last bit of Sweet Apple Acres. “Loré…” was all Namworth mumbled as he worriedly watched his friend walk away once again. She showed no signs of care or thought for him anymore. It was almost as if he was invisible if he didn’t try to catch her attention. Though, he only tried to do this a few times before quietly resigning to just moseying along next to her, constantly pondering over what could possibly have happened to Loré inside the guest room to cause her to be this way. The walk into ponyville was agonizingly long, uncomfortable, and filled with awkward moments where Namworth almost spoke up. It was first when they came to the train station that Loré acknowledged Namworth’s existence. “We’re taking the train, assistant.” Was all she said before cutting in front of him to get to the train station in as direct a path as possible, forcing Namworth to stop for her. He merely shook his head and followed, still going through his options for solving this strange behavior of hers. “Train? I thought we were broke, Loré. How could we possibly afford a train ticket?” asked Namworth in as quiet and gentle a tone as he could muster, despite his slightly frustrated mood. Loré didn’t answer his question. She once again showed no signs of having even heard him. She just trotted over to the ticket booth and fished out several bits to buy two tickets. But, she didn’t just buy normal tickets; she bought two of the most expensive tickets for the train. They allowed them access to one of the few private booths in the front carts. “Come, we’re going on this train, now.” Loré motioned with her head towards said train parked at the platform. Namworth had to once again quickly trail after her or be left behind like yesterday’s decency. It was first when they had gotten settled inside the cart that he figured it would be the ideal time to get some real answers from his exceptionally grumpy travel companion. The luxurious insides of the booth did little to lighten up Loré’s mood. After having thrown her saddlebags up onto the storage area, she got settled with pressing her side against the train wall. Her elbow rested on the window sill while her head in turn rested on top of her hoof. An either blank stare or deep contemplation took up her entire facial expression as she just allowed her body to sink into the thick padding of the seats. Namworth on the other hoof found the cart extremely charming. His wide eyes sparkled with life as they glanced over the detailed patterns of woodwork which framed their seats, the wall, and the slide door to their little slice of privacy. He eagerly giggled and bounced up and down on his seat before fully settling on them, sitting opposite of Loré. However, the giggling and giddy actions of Namworth were short lived when he came to observe the shadowy presence of his former friend who currently took up the physical space she had once occupied. The shrieking whistle signaled the train’s departure before it actually had begun to move. The first jerking motion from the train was always rough, but it made Namworth realize it was now or never if he was going to the bottom of what happened last night. They had hours upon hours inside this train. And it was more than unlikely for Loré to venture outside their private area, even if he did pester her. She had nowhere to escape to, and Namworth had several questions on his mind which needed answers. “I have to ask you this, Loré. Where did you get all those bits to pay for our tickets?” Worry crept into his face as he feared what her answer would be. “I stole it from the Apples. They should really be more careful with their money. Letting bits sit around in a little music box is highly irresponsible,” replied Loré as a wide smirk formed on her lips, confirming Namworth’s worries. “You stole them from the very ponies who took us in from the storm and then fed us?! What’s wrong with you, Loré?! That’s a horrible thing to do to them. We should really figure out a way to pay them back after our quest is over.” Namworth ran a hoof down his face, being slightly frustrated with Loré’s rash actions. “I’m glad that it was a horrible thing to do. To be quite honest with you, it’s why I did it, Namworth. And I’m never going to pay them back. There’s absolutely nothing you can do to make me do it.” She only looked more and more confident and satisfied with Namworth’s reaction. It was as if everything was getting back on track for her, both literally and metaphorically. “You can’t just do that, Loré. You’re going to get in trouble if you do reckless stuff like that.” He sighed deeply before adding. “It doesn’t matter if you will do it or not. I will pay them back for you after all of this.” “I don’t care if I get into trouble. I’m already in trouble with what I’ve done, and I’ll definitely get into more trouble with what I plan to do!” She quickly glared over at Namworth. “Do as you wish. I don’t care what you do with your own bits, as long as you don’t waste any of my time with your goodie-four-shoes deeds.” She rolled her eyes slowly and went back to staring out the window. “But if you did ask me, then it’s a giant waste of time. Then again, I guess that’s nothing new when looking at your life to begin with.” Namworth released another sigh and shook his head in slight disappoint of Loré’s strange attitude. Nothing good was coming from this venue of topic, and Namworth knew it. The best thing to do was change it to something more palpable for her. “So… What is the plan for Canterlot? I mean, you said you need to get stronger and all that. But, what are we going to actually do in the city?” Loré’s eyes lit up like the sun as he asked questions about her plans. “Oh we aren’t going to tour around the city or anything like that. We’re sneaking ourselves into the castle. I know of a vault with confiscated magical artifacts in the east wing of the castle.” “Wait, we’re stealing stuff from the Princesses?!” trembled Namworth. “A-are you sure that’s a good idea, Loré?” It wasn’t what Namworth wanted to say, he wanted to tell her it was a terrible idea, but he couldn’t help himself from biting his tongue on this one. “It’s a brilliant idea, Namworth. Don’t worry your mind about it,” groaned Loré. “Nopony will get hurt, and they won’t even notice something’s gone from the vault. I’ll even return whatever I take once I’ve gained my true powers. I won’t need a token reminder of a time when I was feeble, and if bringing it back assures your obedience, then I can comply to that.” Although Loré carried the demented look of a crazy pony when babbling on about power, saying she’d return what she stole came in a strangely reassuring tone. “Okay, Loré,” mumbled Namworth while nodding. Doubt still lingered in Namworth’s mind. Visualizing Loré returning a powerful magical item she’d stolen after their quest was over seemed like a difficult task to him. Though, if they were ever to be friends, he had to show he trusted her on this. Loré leaned a bit forward in her seat, now using large gestures with her forelegs as she went back to explaining their current goal. “Good. Now, you see, I’ve never actually been to the east wing before. But, I know that the vault is there. I also know it’s a guarded area. Not the entire east wing mind you. But the vault is most certainly guarded.” Loré’s smirk widened even more than before as she rubbed her forehooves together slowly. “All we have to do is find a way to get into the castle unnoticed, break into the vault, find a magical item that I can wield, and voila! I’ll become more powerful than ever before, and then I can finally reclaim the powers I’ve been destined to have.” “That really doesn’t sound like a simple task to me, Loré.” Namworth gently scratched the back of his head, ruffling up some feathers before nervously poking holes in her ‘easy’ idea. “How are we going to sneak into a castle? I mean, can’t we just walk in. You said you worked there before, so won’t they let you in? And even if they do let us in, how will we ever get into the vault itself. You said it’s guarded. I doubt they’ll let the two of us just walk right in and take some rare and dangerous magical item from their safe.” Loré just stared unamused at Namworth during his entire questionnaire of what she was actually intending to do, and not what she wished to achieve. “I was going to get to that, but you rudely interrupted me.” “But I didn’t interrupt you. You were staring at me like you were expecting me to be impressed over your goals for your plan. That wasn’t ac-“ “Silence! You definitely interrupted me. I was merely taking a break to reconfigure my thoughts into something more easily understood by somepony as dumb as you. That’s all.” She cleared her throat before continuing. “We can’t just walk inside, as I sort of left my job there, which means returning would bring a lot of unwanted attention. I think exploring the outer walls of Castle for a breach of some sort to sneak through would be an optimal approach. Getting into the vault itself, well, erhm, maybe I can use my magic for that. Or maybe we can find a key for it.” She nodded reassuringly at her plan. Namworth raised an unimpressed brow. “That’s your plan? You’re basically hoping for the best and we’re just going to wing it for most of the plan. I don’t think that’ll get us very far Loré…” There was a small remnant of regret in Namworth’s voice as he had dared to question Loré’s plan to this degree, and especially now when he was calling her out on how lousy the plan was. Loré’s right eye visibly twitched as she went over the words she had just heard. “Namworth…” grumbled Loré. “That was just an idea, my plan has several fail-safes, and I actually have a backup plan for how to get inside.” Her eyes narrowed and head lowered a bit. “I might have to contact an old acquaintance to help us with this.” “Oh… okay.” Namworth smiled awkwardly, trying his best not to ask any more questions just in case it would set her further off. Though, he couldn’t help himself from asking at least one more question. “Erhm, who is this old acquaintance of yours, Loré?” His question was only met by a deeply annoyed stare and a growling comment. “Could you just shut up and stop questioning me, Namworth? I mean honestly, if it wasn’t for me you’d still be living in a dump out in nowhere. Show some gratitude already. I honestly don’t even know why I keep you around.” Namworth didn’t look hurt at all from her sharp tongue. No, he only looked at her with worried eyes. Something had happened to Loré during her time with the book. Something was wrong with her. “Loré, how long must I wait?” he asked in a gentle tone. “Huh? What do you mean?” replied Loré in slight confusion, though masked by feigned indifference. “I know something’s wrong. How long must I wait till you tell me what it is?” asked Namworth while scooting a bit closer to the edge of his seat, trying to close a bit of the both physical and mental gap between them. “Why can’t you just sit there and be quiet?” groaned Loré while shifting around uncomfortably in her seat. “Because I’m your friend, and you’ve changed so drastically since yesterday. One moment you were actually being friendly and now you’re colder than when I met you. What happened inside that room? What is it you don’t want to tell me?” Namworth actually got up from his seat to sit down on the floor, barely an inch from where Loré was sitting. “I’m your friend, Loré. I want to help you.” Loré kept her stare focused on the window and it was not till she felt Namworth’s hoof on her own that she tensed up and looked at him. “What are you do–“ she was caught in his worried stare. Those big eyes could tell entire stories in just one look. Their utter sincerity and nearly agonizing kindness caused Loré’s heart to skip a beat and her stomach to go in knots. “Why are you even here!” deflected Loré as she knocked his hoof off hers. “You clearly don’t like what I’m turning into. Trust me, it won’t get any better than this. Why don’t you just leave me alone, huh!?” Her eyes narrowed and her focus went back to staring out the window. Having told him to leave only caused the tightening feeling in her stomach to intensify. “Everypony leaves at some point. Even the ones with the best intentions just want me to be something I’m not. I know what my destiny is, and I’m following it right now. It took me my entire life to realize what it actually was, but I’ll fulfill it. I’ll become somepony special. Sombra told me precisely what I need to do to get stronger…” Namworth slowly shook his head at her comments. “I’m not going to leave you. I’m your assistant after all.” He tried to make their conversation a bit more lighthearted with a warm smile and a playful push on her shoulder. “Besides, I’m not going to turn my back on a friend. I came with you because you were so confident and strong. You sounded so sure that there would be a better life for me somewhere else in Equestria. I believed in you back then, and I still believe in you now. And how is being so mean going to make you special, Loré? How will it help?” Loré flailed her forelegs around in exasperation. “Erk, get it into your thick skull already. I’m not your friend. I never really was your friend.” She glared down at him with as much contempt as she could muster while looking into those penetrating eyes of his. Though, as angry and spiteful as she looked, on the inside she was terrified. “You’re the reason I’m weak. Friends will only hold me back. They will make me soft and incapable of claiming the powers Sombra had. I need to get them before anypony else gets them.” “We are friends, Loré,” said Namworth in a stubborn tone, leaning a bit closer to her while attaining a much sterner expression. “We’ve been friends ever since our adventure in the cave. You can’t tell me that it didn’t change your opinions about me.” Namworth sighed and tried once more to place a hoof onto hers. “Whatever it was that Sombra told you in that room, it wasn’t true, Loré. Friends won’t make you weaker, they’ll make you stronger. Please trust me on this one.” “What do you know about strength?!” growled Loré. “You’re pathetic when compared to me. Actually, you’re pathetic compared to just about anypony in Equestria! So tell me, what do you know about power or strength? You don’t even know what I’ve given up to do this.” She hadn’t shaken off his hoof this time, but it was distinctively visible that his words were getting to her. The drooping edges of her mouth, the slightly more lidded than usual eyes, and the furrow of her brow were all telltale signs to Namworth. “How strong do you have to get before it’s enough, Loré?” Namworth tilted his head a bit to the side, gently stroking her hoof while scooting just a tiny bit closer. “Why do you want to get this power so badly? I don’t really think you want to use dark magic for anything bad. You honestly don’t seem or sound bad, Loré.” His smile was almost like sunshine to Loré’s eyes. Something bright and warm that could break through the monotonous world of gray that she lived in. “You don’t need his magic to be special. Everypony has something that makes them special. They just have to discover it.” He glanced down at his own blank flank, wondering when he would discover his own special talent. “I don’t know what you’ve given up because you barely ever want to tell me anything, Loré. But, you can, if you want to.” “I need it because it’s my destiny, Namworth! I was born to do this. With the power Sombra had I could change the world if I wanted to. I could make it a far better place than what the Princesses have shaped it into. Or maybe I do want to just ruin everything for everypony. You don’t know what I’ll do.” Her eyes flickered in soft morning glow as they were coated with a lair reminiscent of morning dew. Her voice carried a few cracked tones, and her posture had withdrawn slightly into the cushion of her seat. “If you were actually a friend you’d be supportive of my choice to retrieve Sombra’s magic. I’ve always wanted power, and I don’t want to go back to the life I had before this.” “But I am, Loré. I am supportive of your choice. It’s just… I can only be supportive if you actually let me be your friend.” Namworth retrieved his hoof from hers, placing it back on the floor as he looked up at her. “I’ll help you get whatever it is that you’re after in Canterlot. I’ll also help you get to the Crystal Empire, and find Sombra’s magic. But, I can only help if you let me. You can be strong, Loré. You can be strong with a friend.” Loré sat in silence as she observed him. Her face softened into a more fragile form as everything just hit her. He was still there, even after all her abuse, all her insults, and practically yelling at him to go away. Her heart felt like somepony was squeezing it when she thought about him actually leaving her. Despite her mood swings, despite everything that had happened, he was still there, still rooting for her as if she had done nothing wrong. For all Sombra had said to her and for whatever might have been true about it, one thing was for certain. She wouldn’t even have made it this far if it hadn’t been for the pony right in front of her. He saved her life, helped her infiltrate Ponyville, and for all it was worth, he was fighting even her for the sake of helping her. For all her rationalization, Loré couldn’t put a hoof on what was so different about this pony, what it was that made Namworth so special to her now. Other ponies had tried to befriend her in the past, and some had tried very persistently. Though, even the ponies who had the best of intentions always wanted to change Loré into something she wasn’t, or eventually just went away. She was never appreciated for just being herself, until now. “Loré, what’s wrong?” asked Namworth as he saw tears slowly trace down each side of her face. “You’re a moron, Namworth. You’re practically useless and the biggest annoyance in my life…” Loré desperately tried to cling on to whatever remained of her contempt filled expression. “I’ve always found everypony annoying… I’ve hated them all… Why can’t I hate you? I need to hate you, Namworth. Sombra told me to… But I can’t, I just can’t.” Namworth slowly rose from the floor, wrapping his forelegs around Loré’s neck as she sat in a frozen state. “It’s because we’re friends, Loré. Friends can argue and bicker. We can do mean things to each other at times. But, no matter what happens, at the end of the day we care for each other. Whatever happens when we reach the Crystal Empire, I’ll be there to help you.” It only took a moment before Loré returned the hug, letting the side of her face sink into Namworth’s soft feathery coat. Something about this felt oddly familiar and comfortable to Loré. She wanted to say something nice about Namworth for once. Her voice choked ever so slightly as she mumbled into his neck. “Thank you, Namworth. I guess we are… friends.” Namworth smiled warmly as he whispered, “Thank you as well, Loré. It means a lot to me to finally hear you say that.” He slowly released her from the embrace, starting to feel a bit embarrassed about the duration of their hug. Loré wiped away the tear on the cheek that hadn’t pressed against Namworth once she was freed from the hug. “But don’t think this will change anything between us. You’re still my assistant, and I expect you to do exactly what I tell you to do.” A weak smirk spread on her face as she half-jokingly added, “And if it comes to it, I will get rid of my only friend to achieve my goal, Namworth.” He smiled back at her with slight worry. “How about we cross that bridge when we get to it, and don’t make any hasty decisions right now?” He giggled slightly, trying to ease the awkward tension between the two of them. “I say we just enjoy the ride to Canterlot for now.” He was just about to sit back onto the seat across from Loré when he was stopped by a pull on his bow. Loré had a firm hold of it while staring out the window. “You can sit next to me. It’s technically the closest seat to you right now, and I see no reason for you to sit across from me.” Not once did she look at him as she formed her case for which seat was the better choice for Namworth to sit on. He didn’t say a word about it. He only smiled and nodded once at her before climbing onto the seat next to Loré, occasionally glancing over at her as she adamantly avoided looking over at him. “This is going to be a long trip…” grumbled Loré with a slight smile on her face.