//------------------------------// // Crystal Clear // Story: Mortality // by Aceofgods //------------------------------// Chapter 12: Crystal Clear With every step, his hooves throbbed. With every breath, his lungs burned. With every thought, his head ached. When he ate, his mouth felt dry and the food tasted like mush. When he spoke, his tongue felt like a lead weight. Still, there were countless places to go, and time would only make these wounds fester. Ace walked through the market, trying to work up his usual energy as he looked at what everypony was selling. Most stalls featured homegrown produce, enlivened by the energy of the Summer Crystal. Some others featured crafts grown from such, like woven baskets and needlework made from homegrown fibers. Everypony in the market had a craft, plying the products of their work. An honest living, for honest ponies, in an honest town. Ace couldn’t help but smile. “See something you like?” the young filly walking alongside him asked. It seemed as though her gaze never left him. “Indeed, I do. It’s long been my theory that you can see the heart of a settlement through its open market. By evaluating the goods that ponies are selling, as well as what wares sell the most, you can determine the very life of the city. “I smiled because in this city, ponies work for what they own. Since everypony grows produce, the food is incredibly cheap, ponies only selling that which they cannot eat themselves. “The cheap price of food means the cost of living is low, which means there is less pressure to work. That leaves other ponies free to seek out their hobbies and interests,” he said motioning to a stall selling paintings, then a stall selling puppets crafted by hoof, and a third selling arts and crafts supplies, which had a short line of interested customers. “Every pony gets what they need, and it frees them to do what they want. As you might recall in Frost Valley, many ponies went hungry, and there were never enough jobs for all those who needed to work.” Sanctis looked thoughtful for a moment. Her eyes showed what her young age hid; a pony wise beyond her years, with more life experience than one would expect and an intelligence that shined despite never being in a formal classroom. “You still haven’t given me your answer, Sanctis.” “What answer? I must have missed the question there…” She did seem honestly confused. “Not to my question; the Matron’s. You have a choice before you: Join me at your own peril, or become one of the Heart family’s foals. Surely you noticed they take in orphans? “This is your chance to have everything you were missing in Frost Valley. Caring parents, family and friends, a roof over your head… A happy, honest city – where you won’t need to sift through garbage to find a meal.” Ace regretted bringing it up as her face dropped and her cheeks flushed, but it was the truth, and it was no way for a young filly to live. “You’ve cared for me so much already,” Sanctis said, her eyes pleading. “And you’re probably the only pony I’ve spent any measure of time with in over a year… do you really think I want the sort of life that the Heart family could offer me?” “Perhaps not… but you deserve to be happy, and failing that, you deserve to have a choice. You’re intelligent, Sanctis. You could go on to do great things, but sometimes good is good enough. You have the chance to live a quiet life here. If you miss this chance, you might not get this same option ever again in your life.” “No. I’m coming with you.” Sanctis’ look was determined. Clearly, she hadn’t even considered it a question. “The Matron was pretty darn clear what my options were, thank you, and my mind is made up. Good enough isn’t good enough for me. “A life of adventure? Of danger, of peril, of magic? A life of getting the best tutors in Equestria? How could a filly say no to that?” Ace wanted to say ‘By walking away. By making the smart choice and staying safe.’ But he knew that was just the bitterness and spite he had within him over losing his young filly Forest Wave over a similar choice. Ace was the older pony. He could put his hoof down, carry her all the way to the Cozy Hearth and tell Glass Heart not to let her out of her sight. To care for her like one of her own; and she likely would. But Ace saw the maturity in Sanctis. He had meant it when he said she deserved a choice in her future. Sanctis’ mind was made up, and he would respect her wishes. Goodness knows nopony else ever respects foals’ opinions. As if a child had no value until it was grown. “Well, I wasn’t planning on having company…” Sanctis’ face dropped again, then rose back up with anger. She made to speak, but before she could, “I’ll need more bits if I’m to care for the both of us.” Sanctis beamed as her smile came back. “What about that ribbon? If ponies around here like arts and crafts so much, it’d look really nice on a project – better than on a sword!” Ribbon? Oh, the anti-magic cover. Ace uncinched the sword to pull it off his back – the ponies around him growing wary, cutting him sideways glances as they afforded him a wide berth on the street. “A wonderful idea,” he said as he examined it. Rarity had done a fine job crafting the cover, but with the pre-magic inside his body, feeding off of his magic straight from the source, there was no need for it any longer. Even if he ingested the thing, it would have little to no effect. Well, no positive effect. A stomach ache seemed likely. Ace looked around for a shop that might be interested in the fabric. “Care to take a look around the stalls for something we might need on the road? I’ve got blankets, canteens, a map and compass, the hardtack and… well, not much else, really. I wasn’t expecting to climb a mountain when I made my itinerary! I’ll be in that shop there in the meantime.” Sanctis gave an overdramatic salute, “Aye-aye!” and wandered into the market. One thing good about being a filly, nopony minded much if you darted between their hooves, or cut them in line for a moment to climb up a stall to see what they have for sale. Still, Sanctis didn’t have the bits to buy anything, and even if she did, she wasn’t quite sure what sort of things she needed to buy. What would be useful for climbing a mountain? Furthermore, what kind of mountain was it? She looked over the city wall to try and see what mountains were to the northeast, but she could only see the Equestrian border mountains… which wasn’t likely where they were headed; there was nothing up there! She could think of a few useful things… A tinderbox for starting fires easily, climbing gear – would that be too heavy? – sleeping bags, her own saddlebags, maybe even tents… Sanctis could think of all sorts of useful things but Ace seemed to prefer traveling light. He had a long way to go, and to be fair, Sanctis couldn’t carry a lot of weight before it would start slowing her down. Traveling with a filly might already be slowing him down more than he liked. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk as she debated buying a saddlebag on display in a shop, Sanctis shouldn’t have been surprised when a colt ran into her, playing with his friend. “Ey, sorry about that, chum! Silvermane and me was playing catch and I didn’t see ya there,” he said, before his friend helpfully tossed a ball into his head with a laugh, earning him a look before the clumsy colt threw the ball back harder than was necessary. “How’s about you play with us, huh? Catch’s funner with more’n two anywho!” Silvermane went to throw the ball, the clumsy colt stepping aside, leaving Sanctis to catch the ball. “See? Yer a natural! Come on, my name’s Goldie, on account of mah glorious mane,” he said, a brown hoof flipping his namesake. “The colt with the hundred-yard throw there’s Silvermane. Care to guess why?” Silvermane, unsurprisingly, had a silver mane, and a light white coat. They both had matching green eyes. Sanctis tossed the ball under-hoof to Silvermane before dusting herself off. “Look, I’m sure catch is loads of fun, but I have shopping I need to do. Try not to back into anypony else, have fun,” she turned to leave. “Ah, shoppin’ for a new saddlebag?” Goldie said, a meaningful look at the shop Sanctis had been ogling. “My gran has a spare pair. Just yer size, too. She bought it for me when school started, but it’s too girly for me. Flowers and rainbows and bleh all over, know what I mean? You come play with us, and I’ll tell’er you can has it.” Now that got Sanctis’ attention. If I can get a saddlebag without spending any bits, Ace would see how much I can help on his journey! “Alright, I guess I could play for a few minutes… how far away is your granny’s place?” “She lives in a little place on the next street over. Lemme show ya a shortcut!” Silvermane and Goldie raced down the street and darted into a side alley. Sanctis followed after them, but as soon as she turned the corner, something fell on her and she couldn’t see anything. Then something heavier fell on her, and she lost consciousness. Ace came out of the fabric shop, defeated. The pony minding the shop was a substitute and didn’t have the authority to make blind purchases… Ace had shown the wonderful fabric to the pony, and he seemed intrigued, especially when he pointed out the fine, sparkling fragments of the anti-magic stone with the shop’s loupe. However, closer inspection also meant the pony had found and pointed out that having been tied around the scabbard for so long, the ‘ribbon’ was stretched in several places. Ace looked around the market to try and find Sanctis, but couldn’t see her anywhere. He had given her free agency to find anything she thought would be needed on the journey, but had expected her to finish making a list and come back to the shop before he had concluded the sale. Not for the first time, Ace considered using his magical senses to look for her. Not for the first time, he reprimanded himself for his reliance on magic – an unnecessary reproach, as the pain coursing through his entire body and total lack of magic seemed punishment enough. Well, then we look the old-fashioned way. “Excuse me,” he asked of the pony minding the nearest stall. “Have you seen a filly with a grayscale mane, brown jacket and dark pink coat here recently?” “That young one with you earlier? She ran up and down the market, checking all the stalls for something or other, then played ball with two colts over that way,” she said, pointing a hoof toward a saddlebag store. “Ran down that alley there with the colts and haven’t seen her since.” Ace thanked her for the information, then made his way toward the alley. Now that didn’t sound like Sanctis. Would she really have played ball with some random colts?... Maybe, if she was bored enough. Ace was in that fabric shop for much longer than she might have expected. Even if she was bored enough to play ball with some passing colts, she wouldn’t have run off with them. She was smarter than that. Or, if she had, shouldn’t have gone very far. Passing through the alley, Ace was getting a bad feeling. Coming out on the other side, it was getting worse. He saw two colts playing ball, but they were playing amongst themselves. They also looked like they were looking at everyone around them, rather than looking at each other or the ball. Very suspicious. “Excuse me,” Ace said to the nearest of the two, a colt with a silver mane, white coat, and now that he turned this way, Ace could see they both had matching green eyes. “I’m looking for a young filly, wearing a brown jacket and sporting a black-and-white mane and dark pink coat. Have you seen her?” The colt laughed for a moment. “Yeah, we saw her all right! She’s- “ “Shut it, Silver!” the other colt said angrily as he covered the distance between them, carrying their ball. “Nah, we ain’t seen nothin’.” Ace looked from the angry colt with the brown coat and golden mane, to his friend Silver, who was still stifling a laugh. “Hmm, well that is odd, because the shopkeepers on the next street over said you three were playing together… they were very specific about your descriptions… Oh well, maybe the guards would like to hear about this missing pony report. Surely they would be very interested in this case.” Silver stopped laughing, and the golden-maned colt didn’t look happy either. “We, uh, gotta go. We’re late for lunch with my gran!” the golden said as they turned and bolted. The trick to following somepony is to not let them know you’re interested in following them. Ace waited for them to duck behind a corner before he chased after them as well. They had turned into a one-way alley, so even though he couldn’t see them their trail was easy to see. He ran as fast he could, easily outpacing the colts, but didn’t see any trace of them as he came out the other end of the alley. Then a ball bounced out of another alley across the street. Ace ran for the alley, and finally caught sight of them just as Silver turned left on the next street. Following as close behind them as he dared, the chase stretched on for an eternity – which Ace translated as a few minutes, dilated by the pain of the physical and emotional exertion while his whole body was throbbing with pain from the pre-magic inside him. Finally, the colts ducked into a warehouse several streets over from where he found them. The colts hadn’t seen him chasing them, but there were two ponies posted outside of the warehouse – guards, but relaxed and inattentive, leaning against walls and the like. So basically, guards that aren’t trying to look like they are guarding anything. The guards eyed him warily, so Ace kept running past the building until the next alley, looking for all the world like some pony who was very late for something important anywhere but here. Taking cover in the mouth of the alley, Ace let his breath recuperate, coughing into a hoof. He felt it get moist as he coughed up blood. He scowled at the hoof like it was its fault his insides were being torn asunder by his failed experiment. Sometime later, once his breathing had leveled out, Ace made his way to the next street, hoping to see the warehouse unprotected on the other side. As he walked past it, he noted there wasn’t anypony guarding it, but there was a chain with a large padlock through the handle of the door. Examining the lock briefly as he made his way past it like he had somewhere else to be, he noticed it looked a little… off. Making sure nopony was paying him any mind, he stepped closer to the lock and tried jiggling it on the chain. It was made of wood. The latch had a little give to it, and after working it for a moment, slid out of the hole it was in, and the ‘lock’ fell to the ground. Unwinding the chain from the door, it would look to anypony else that he was simply the owner of the building and had opened the lock by key. Somepony’s trying to cut corners… he thought with a laugh. In a town completely walled off, where imports were monitored closely and there was such an abundance of natural materials, the chain alone would have been costly. A padlock wouldn’t have been that much more expensive, but more than buying one elsewhere, certainly. The door finally unfettered, Ace sneakily made his way inside, closing the door gently behind him. In this lesser-used half of the building, it was dark as several piles of boxes and crates blotted out the light from the windows. Still, Ace could hear chanting, and a pony speaking. “The Life Crystal that sustains our city is pure!” The stallion orated to what sounded like a small gathering of assenting ponies, the latter voicing an ‘amen’. “The Life Crystal grants all those around it great health, and a bountiful harvest!” another amen. Ace felt his way blindly around the boxes and crates, inching forward in hopes of finding some way to the rest of the building where the gathering took place. “And lo, the Life Crystal doth grant life eternal to its Matron! The Life Crystal sees all, knows all! Wisdoms of a thousand ages pulses within its great green light!” Ace found a corner, and as he poked his head around it, he saw a light around another at the far side. He made his way toward it slowly, careful not to make a sound. “A thousand truths within the crystal! A million lives within the crystal!” Amen. Ace poked his head into the light, and saw the gathering of robed ponies standing before a Unicorn stallion, propped up on a podium, his hooves waving above his head wildly at the speech. Behind the orator, on a stone plinth stained a deep crimson by countless sins and tragedies before, laid three foals with their hooves bound to the slab and gags in their mouths. “Today, brothers and sisters, we commit these young lives to the crystal, that it might be made stronger! That one day our town may all know Eternal Life in the glow of the great Life Crystal!” The orator drew a ceremonial knife from a sleeve of his robe. “Life, for a life!” the orator ordained as he approached the plinth, dagger raised. “Life for life, life for life,” the crowd chanted. Ace shrugged off his saddlebags, leapt onto the stage, up onto the plinth, drew his sword and severed the raised hoof holding the dagger, then batted the unicorn’s face with the scabbard to stun him and push him back. “Have you all lost your minds?! You think a Crystal of Life would seek the deaths of innocent foals to sustain itself? You think it’s right to end the life of another, in the hopes of elongating your own life? Absurd!” There were murmurs in the crowd. The unicorn stallion stared at his bleeding stump of a hoof, trying to move what wasn’t there. Then he pointed said hoof accusatorially at Ace. “This nonbeliever would interrupt the ritual of eternal life! Strike him down! The Life Crystal shall not stand for these transgressions!” The robed ponies pulled weapons from their sleeves, some picking up clubs from nearby boxes. Some grabbed cleavers or cooking supplies from crates. The unicorn’s horn lit in a spell. Ace raised the scabbard ribbon-first between them. The fireball struck the ribbon and fizzled out. The unicorn was stunned beyond belief, turned to run, but fell on his severed hoof. Ace leapt from the plinth and decapitated the unicorn, then settled the scabbard onto his back once more as he motioned for the other ponies to calm down and drop their weapons. “We don’t have to do this… You can just walk away. I haven’t even seen your faces!” “Cut down the nonbeliever!” cried a mare in the back, a cleaver raised into the air. Po dra Vydac… I’m really going to do this, aren’t I? As if I have any other choice, he thought with a look back to Sanctis, her eyes pleading him from the plinth, shot through with worry and paralyzing fear. Ace leapt back as a club smashed into the air in front of his face. He flipped the ceremonial knife from the ground, to a hoof, from hoof to skull with a fluid motion, dropping the stallion with the club. The mob let loose a collective battle cry and the first row charged Ace in earnest. A Pegasus leapt into the air and dived for Ace, dagger first. Ace dodged to the side, raised his sword horizontally and held with both hooves, letting it rest where he was a heartbeat ago. The Pegasus cleaved her own head from her body. A club sailed for his skull, he ducked and shoulder charged the stallion wielding it. Ace leapt back just in time for another club to crash down onto the other clubber’s hoof. A dagger swiped for his throat, but he raised up on his hind-hooves, severing the dagger-hoof and slitting the throat of the first clubber in a single movement. Slamming down onto his free hoof, pivoting and bucking with his back hooves, he caught the second clubber across the face and sent her sprawling into the crowd. Somepony threw a dagger at his head, but he turned and caught it from the air, nearly missing the handle. He stabbed it into the nearest throat, leapt to the side, ducking as more ponies threw weapons through the air where he was a moment ago, then slashed his sword before him to clear the space ahead, scoring several hits across chests and hooves. He stabbed the sword forward, throat. Slashed it open to the right, another gash across another throat. This isn’t right… these ponies all had families. Ponies who loved them. Ponies who are going to wonder why they didn’t come home last night. They could have little foals who will go hungry with nopony to care for them. Ace leapt backward as a club, a cleaver and a dagger bashed, cut and slashed the air ahead of him. The dagger wielder reared in fear of retaliation; Ace cut her across the stomach. The clubber attempted an uppercut with the club; Ace batted it away with his free hoof, then ran him through with the sword. The cleaver dropped their weapon and ran, pushing their way through the crowd, screaming. This sword was crafted to protect ponies, yet I’m cutting them down one by one… This isn’t how it was supposed to be! How many does that make… 12? 13? Does it even matter? The mob was starting to circle behind him. He parried a dagger with his sword, brought the guard down and slashed their other hoof, took the dagger and threw it to the left, the point burying itself in the flanker’s eye. Thrusting his sword to the right, he managed to clip a tendon on the other flanker’s rear hoof. They fell bodily into a stack of boxes, collapsing the stack on top of them and cutting off the path. Two ponies charged him together with daggers, from the left and the right. He cut down the one on the right before she could reach him. He raised his left hoof to push back the other, but she stabbed her dagger into his hoof, above the knee. His sword hoof still free, he decapitated her before she could retrieve the weapon. A clubber tried to bash his weakened left hoof. Ace raised up on his hind-hooves and slashed the attacker’s hoof off. He kicked the club into the crowd, tripping another pony charging him. He slashed across the clubber’s throat. Switching his sword to his left hoof, he shakily withdrew the dagger buried in it, and promptly parried a cleaver coming down on him. He thrust with the sword through the stallion’s heart, then leapt back onto the stage behind him. “Stop this madness!” he shouted from atop the stage. The effect was somewhat lessened as he stood over their leader’s corpse. “So few of you remain! Leave now, or die! You cannot best me!” Ace’s vision was getting blurry. The dagger wound was deeper than he must have thought. His body felt as though it were on fire, pressed to its limits by the battle and the magic devouring him from the inside. They didn’t seem like they were willing to give up. From the high ground, Ace easily slashed the throat of another pony trying to make for the stage. Did that pony even have a weapon? “The Life Crystal knows all, sees all!” he said, trying a different tact. “It did not approve of these sacrifices, so it sent me to cleanse this group of those whose faith was weak!” The ponies stopped, looking at one another. “Rejoice, brothers and sisters! You have been deemed pure by the crystal! Leave, and never speak of what has happened here under the falsehood of this charlatan!” Ace decreed as he kicked the unicorn off of the stage. There were mumblings among the few who still stood over the corpses of their fallen brothers and sisters. “Go now, or earn the wrath of the Crystal! Nonbelievers shall fall upon the altar!” he said, pointing to the plinth behind him. The crowd dispersed rapidly, almost tripping over the corpses as they ran for the exit. Once they had gone, Ace wiped his sword upon the robes of their fallen leader, then made for the plinth and freed the foals on the altar. The two strangers bolted for the door – one not even removing the gag – while he freed Sanctis. Ace knew that look. The look in her eyes that screamed ‘monster’ as he stood over her; bloodied, fatigued from battle, hurting, hurting, hurting… yet still high on the adrenaline. High on the thrill of taking a life. High on proving yourself greater than anypony else. How he absolutely hated the feeling. He couldn’t even refute her. He was a monster. He had just killed… he didn’t even know how many ponies. Lost count in the delirium of his pain, his focus on the battle. She stared at him for a long, silent moment. Then, “We need to get you to a doctor.” “We need to get me to a mortician.” “What?” she said, incredulous. That look of monstrous fear still in her eyes. “These ponies had families, Sanctis. They deserve proper burials.” “What they deserve is to rot where they lay! They were going to sacrifice children to their almighty crystal! They tried to kill you! How could you possibly even- “ Ace laid a hoof on her shoulder calmly. She jumped, revulsed by the contact, fighting her natural instinct to run away. He realized too late he was getting blood on her. He took his hoof away, leaving a bloody smear on her jacket. With a sigh, he continued. “These ponies were being misled. I’m sure they thought that what they were doing was right, under the guidance of that unicorn who led them – or perhaps some pony higher up than even he. Whatever they believed, no life has any greater value than any other life.” Sanctis looked from the pile of corpses in the middle of the warehouse, their collective blood spreading to every corner of the room, back at Ace. “You’re wrong. A life is what you make of it, not what it makes of you. Those ponies chose the wrong path. You chose the right one. Besides, even if that were true, how do you value your life, after hearing the Matron say that hundreds – maybe thousands! – of other pony’s lives rests in your hooves?” Ace paused for a moment. He looked upon the mound of lifeless bodies he had made. He looked at the unicorn who led them. Looked at the blood on his hooves – his own on the left, that of everypony else on his right. He thought about what she said. How so many lives depended on his own. He waded into the pile of corpses, fished out the ceremonial dagger that had started it all, wiped off the blood, and brought it to the stage, Sanctis watching him all the while. He pulled the knife’s sheath from the severed hoof of the unicorn orator, replaced the knife within it, then gave the thing to Sanctis. “You don’t want to be treated like a filly? You’ve earned that. Any number of times. You want to travel with me? I could use the company. I wish I could say ‘I’m never letting you out of my sight again,’ but that would be impractical. There’s a thousand-thousand things that could warrant my attention at any given time. “You want to travel with me? You’re going to do so armed. No buts. Every night when we set up camp, you’re to practice with that knife. By the time we reach Dragon’s Roost, the weight of that knife will be as a feather, but know that the weight of taking the life of another pony is a weight you will never become accustomed to. Understood?” Sanctis ogled the knife like it held all the answers in the universe. It had a wrought gold handle with a large emerald in the center of the hoofguard, two lesser emeralds at the end of each side and another in the pommel. It was all chased with silver, with the sheath to match. The sheath sported straps that would let her attach the whole thing to a hoof, with cinches to adjust the fit. Sanctis drew the knife appreciatively. There was a sort of wavy pattern to the curved blade, but it looked sharp, and after watching Ace pierce a stallion’s skull with it, she knew it was true. “You and I both know that’s not a toy,” Ace said as he watched her. “It is a weapon, and weapons require practice and upkeep. I have oils to clean and maintain the blade in my saddlebags, and a whetstone to keep it sharp. You will learn all this and more on the road, but for now… I think I should see a doctor.” Ace’s head was getting woozy. He took the sleeve from the severed unicorn’s hoof, ripped it open and tied it as a bandage over his cut open hoof. Ace went to the boxes to retrieve his saddle bags while Sanctis experimented with the straps and cinches of her new weapon, strapping it to her hoof and feeling the fit. Then, the door opened at the front of the warehouse. “What in blazes!” the guard started as he saw the bodies and the blood scattered about. “What happened here?!” “Something that the Matron will want to hear about first-hoof…” Ace said, a hoof to his head, shaking it as if to clear it. “Immediately.” Given the nature of their message, Sanctis and Ace were given special dispensation to keep their weapons in the presence of the Matron… while under heavy escort from several guards, naturally. Sanctis thought that she had set the straps on the knife just right… until she had to go down a bajillion steps, the sheath bouncing and chafing her with every step. Of course, she couldn’t very well adjust it now, the guards would think she was reaching for her weapon! They had every right to be on edge. Ace just fought thirty armed ponies, killing almost twenty of them. And all he had to show for it was a bloody jacket and a single stab wound on his left hoof. Like, woah. It would have been totally awesome to see, if it wasn’t for the fact she thought the thirty would win, and her life would end strapped to a stone table, which showed signs of many other ponies being sacrificed there. Finally, they made it to the plateau where the Matron waited for them. She was at first excited to have company, then her features fell when she saw all the blood and the guard escort. “Ace! Sanctis!” she called, immediately switching to the Matron this time, rather than letting the little filly greet them. “I’d ask you what happened, but, you know, mind-reading super powers and all…” “We found them standing over the bodies of numerous civilians in the- “ The head guard started. “In the warehouse nearest the Temple, yes, I know. Furthermore, they were cultists and not civilians,” the Matron said with a huff, falling back onto her pillows, her hooves crossed. “Trust me, I know. Wanted those losers dead two moons ago, but you could never find them when I sent you after them, Silver Helm.” The head guard looked flustered, made to speak, thought better of it, opened his mouth again, changed his mind, saluted instead, turned and motioned for his guards to follow him. The Matron watched him go, waving a hoof like she was happy to see him leave. Then, she turned and arched an eyebrow at Ace. “I told you not to take your eyes off of her.” Ace looked flustered, made to speak, thought better of it, opened his mouth again, changed his mind, laughed instead, nodded his head and made a bow. “That you did. How foolish of me not to listen.” The Matron shook her head at his theatrics, leapt from her pillows and gave him a firm hug. “I know you both learned something important from all of this,” she said before pulling back, looking at the blood covering her hooves in disgust. Seeing a filly with blood over her was… disconcerting, to say the least. But then, Sanctis probably didn’t look much better in a bloody jacket, either. The Matron motioned with her hooves, pulling blood off of herself, then off of Ace and finally off of Sanctis. The blood collected in orbs in front of each of them, then disappeared with a wave of the Matron’s hooves. Then, with a thoughtful look, she pressed a hoof against the makeshift bandage around Ace’s left hoof. She tore off the bandage with her teeth, and underneath the hoof was good as new… or at least, as good as it was before today, still bearing the scar with the Al-Bhed writing. “Now, go on and get out of here,” the Matron said as she turned back to her pillows. “I said Fang was patient; I didn’t say he’d wait around forever.”