//------------------------------// // Protect // Story: Sanctioned Necromancy // by One-Of-Three-Names //------------------------------// What followed was an indeterminate in length period of silence. Bones was distinctly reminded of downtime in The Archive, though with more steaming involved. Scarlet was absolutely still, her glowing eyes the only indication that she was even alive. Twilight wasn't much better. Bones became increasingly uncomfortable, and finally cleared his throat to speak. "So, Twilight, this is my partner, Scarlet Shade." he gestured to his motionless companion. "Pleasure." Scarlet said without moving her jaw. She did at least put effort into making her voice sound friendly though, it wasn't Twilight she was angry with. Twilight nodded to her. "Glad to meet you. I assume you already know my name." It was more of a statement than a question. She looked up at the now star speckled sky and spoke again. "So, did you two need a place to stay for the night?" "Well, I don't need sleep, but Bones probably needs someplace." Scarlet turned her head to look at Bones, and stiffened when she saw his panicked expression. Twilight latched onto that bit of information. "What do you mean you don't need sleep?" Bones noticed she was staring at him, and was smiling deviously. Scarlet hastily attempted to correct her mistake. "I meant I don't need sleep right now. Wide awake." she straightened up, and failed miserably at being convincing. Twilight continued staring at Bones, who tried to give her a reassuring smile, and probably failed at it. There was another few moments of silence before Twilight spoke up. "Well, I'm going to bed." she declared, standing up. "Bones, you are welcome to the guest room. Scarlet, you may browse the library is you want, just put everything back where you found it." She left them there, levitating the sleeping dragon with her into the library. As soon as the door closed behind her, Bones turned to Scarlet. "Nice one." "I'm sorry, I just assumed when you said you were talking all this time you were explaining-" She trailed off, then remembered she was supposed to be angry. She shifted to the offensive. "So what were you talking about all that time then?" She glared at him, accusingly. Bones scoffed "It wasn't anything like that. Celestia just told me to distract her." he sat up straight and folded his hooves across his chest. Scarlet was not convinced. "Celestia told you that, huh?" She snorted and looked away, her mane falling over her mask. "Yes, it was in a letter." This wasn't technically true, as her letter said nothing of the sort, But he felt it was implied. Bones watched her for a moment, her mane swayed in the slight breeze. He could feel his resolve crumbling. He sighed and stood up, moving closer to her. "Hey, I'm really sorry about leaving you back there. There was a lot on my mind, you know how stressful it can be to stay undercover." He sat down next to her. Scarlet spared him a glance before looking away again, head held high. "Look, I'll make it up to you. When we get back to Canterlot, I'll get you all the flowers you want. Okay?" He put a hoof on her shoulder. After a few seconds delay, Scarlet finally decided she could grace him with her gaze. She poked him in the chest. "I better." "You will." Bones reassured her. It was quiet again for a few minutes, Scarlet had pressed up against him as they sat together and watched Luna's sky. "So, did you leave everypony just lying in front of the town hall?" Bones asked, his eyes fixated on the moon. "Yes, yes I did." She didn't seem bothered by this in the least, in fact she appeared to find it highly amusing. "I wonder how we are going to explain the lost day to them" Bones wondered aloud. Scarlet shrugged. "Localized Discord event aftershock?" It was nonsensical enough to work. "Somepony should probably go relieve the night guards." Bones said, absentmindedly. Scarlet stared at him. Bones stretched. "I'll do it." --- Bone's really didn't like the sun in the mornings. Really. He rolled out of bed with a groan. The groan occurred when his back made contact with the floor, and was promptly followed by a whimper as the place where Applejack had kicked him flared with what Bones would describe as 'agony' at the time. He proceeded to writhe on the ground for a while before he noticed Scarlet watching him from the doorway. "Are you enjoying my pain?" He asked, only half jokingly. Scarlet chuckled "I wouldn't know, I cant remember what it feels like. Need some help?" "No, thank you very much." He grumbled and slowly got to his hooves, wincing as he felt the inevitable soreness in his legs. "Is Twilight awake yet?" Scarlet nodded "She's reading a letter she just got from Celestia." "Oh, good." Bones let himself feel optimistic about the future, a rare occurrence in the mornings. He walked into the main room where Twilight was reading a scroll on her writing desk. Bones noted the royal seal upon it. "What does it say?" Bones dared to be hopeful. Twilight looked up from the letter, just now noticing him. "Good morning to you too. Its from Celestia, she wants to speak with me, alone." She actually seemed pretty cheerful about the whole thing, as was apparent by the smile on her face. Quite an attractive smile Bones had to admit. In fact most things about her were attractive, he wondered why he hadn't noticed earlier. Relief almost cut through Bones's morning mood. "Wonderful news, guess that means you're no longer my problem." that had come out so wrong. Scarlet giggled in the corner of the room. Twilight's smile vanished "What is that supposed to mean?" The day had been going so well too. Bones attempted damage control "That isn't what I meant to say. I didn't mean it like that." Twilight narrowed her eyes like she had the day before. "Sure sounded like you meant it." "What I meant was, part of my job is secrecy, and if the princess wants to see you herself, that means she is going to take care of things personally, which means I don't have to. Its a load off my mind." Bones began to notice how incredibly dry his mouth was. Twilight continued her leer, but decided that his explanation wasn't quite as insulting, and went back to her reading. Bones was suddenly aware that the only thing he had eaten in the past day or so was a couple of carrots. He wondered if any of that feast was still there near Rarities boutique, though Scarlet had claimed she cleaned it all. "Is there anyplace I can get some food around here?" Twilight recommended a local tavern called The Apple Trapper, which along with having a stupid name, was also the same place the two night guards had elected to stay for the night. Bones wondered how many buildings in this town had the word 'apple' in their names, or how many ponies for that matter. He almost missed Canterlot. The streets were far from empty, most that were up and about seemed to be gossiping about what they thought had occurred yesterday. "Did you hear that princess Luna's chariot is outside of town?" "I know! Nopony has seen her though, what could be happening?" "Its a conspiracy." Bones smirked, he had heard much worse over the course of his life. He know once an official statement was released the rumors would dwindle into a few conspiracy theories held by the more eccentric ponies. The more amusing part was that usually the conspiracy theories were closer to the truth. "So what did you think of her?" Scarlet was looking at him intently. Bones raised his brow. "What do you mean?" "I thought my question was pretty straightforward." Scarlet cocked her head to one side. "Oh, right." Bones stared straight ahead "She was pleasant enough, too curious for her own good though. Absurdly powerful too." he considered Twilight for a moment "I liked her." "Is that all you liked?" Scarlet seemed to be getting at something. "I don't understand." He began watching her now, trying to gauge her body language. Scarlet sounded slightly nervous, and her voice fell to a whisper. "You know." Something clicked. "Wait, you mean like physically?" Bones was taken aback for a second. This was a topic that had never come up before. What had gotten into her? She seemed almost reluctant to discuss the topic she had brought up. "I was thinking about last night, and, well, I know that stallions have-" "Scarlet!" Bones interrupted. "I'm nearly a decade older than her!" "So?" She shot back hotly. "You're still in your prime, and I know you haven't been with anypony since-" she stopped, seeing his crestfallen expression. "Look, I'm sorry. I've been trying to-" Bones interrupted her again. "Can we just go home?" Scarlet reeled for a moment, then nodded. They were silent for the rest of the way to the tavern.