//------------------------------// // 24. The Calm Before a Storm // Story: The Unbroken Spear // by Jamis //------------------------------// A month after the gala life had gone back to normal, if normal was simply paperwork and training. Very little was happening though, there were rumours of a supposed cult of sun worshipers taking action against the city. This was likely just paranoid Batponies though, many of them were minorly mistreated by ponies in public. Small things like glares or frowns, not all of the city or surrounding country was pleased with their influx even months later. And even now many of the Batponies held firm to their belief in Luna as a goddess. Most of them, especially the ones who had met or served under her thought of her as more of a demi-god. Worthy of respect and fealty, but not necessarily worship. Currently Atreus sat in a chair drinking tea, Luna at her desk. The day drawing to a close, in the since the weeks since the gala Atreus had started to relax. Not stop training or working, not at all. However ever since Rarity had made him clothes to wear, he had worn them. He was still adorned in his armor and old clothes when on duty but now. He had clothes to change into after he finished his work. His usual battle attire in his room with his weapons and armor. The warrior wore pants, they were a smooth and comfortable fabric. Brown with a decent amount of give, his muscled legs mostly hidden. The rest of the outfit was blue and red, the style was semi-casual and yet held a few features of a higher class garb. The shirt was collared and a dark blue throughout. The sleeves were loose over his muscles and flowed without wrinkles or blemish down to his wrists. A red four pointed star embroidered on both of his arms at the bicep. Rarity had insisted on them after she asked why they were on his armor. Pantheon had decided to stay silent on the subject at the time. The mare was quite intimidating when she was in a fowl mood. Though he quickly realized that was not wholly his fault, during the mares measuring and rapid sewing she talked about her portion of the party. She had stayed mostly silent at the doughnut shop because of Spike's presence. Atreus hadn't even known that Celestia and Luna had a, quote unquote nephew. She had explained that he was in fact the Princesses only blood relative, even if it was a far relation. He was a prince though according to Rarity it sounded like he hardly deserved the title. Atreus had to retrain both his impulse to go and strangle the stallion, as well as his impulse to rub his temples. He had yet to even to even meet the prince but he suspected Celestia had not introduced them for a reason. That aside he also wore new sandals. As much as a challenge as they presented, the new clothes were much easier to get used to than new footwear, something about shoes and boots just weren't as comfortable as being in sandals or bare feet to Atreus. Since these clothes were for comfort he had purchased the sandals soon after Rarity had sent him away. She needed time to put the final touches on his clothes as it were. He had asked Luna to lend him some bits. She had decided that at that moment he could use a lesson in how much a bit was worth. She had readjusted her values for goods once she looked at the charts and data she had access to. Though she admitted it was a bit(hehe) of a struggle to get a few values in place, while ponies still haggled in Equestria it was much less common for store goods prices' to be debatable. Though her coaching was appreciated and her had picked up a few more items while her waited for Rarity to finish. The items were a small carving knife, some decent quality wood, a few other wood carving tools, and sanding/polishing rags/tools. Pantheon had decided to take up a very old hobby of his, wood carving was a relaxing and rewarding experience so long as you accepted that the results were likely not going to be perfect. These were put in his room before he returned to Rarity. The warrior chuckled at the memory, the mare had looked crazed. But he could not find a flaw in his new clothes. Luna raised her head, "Something funny on your mind Atreus?" He realized he had in fact chuckled aloud, he took another drink form his cup of tea before speaking. "I was just thinking about how Rarity made these clothes for me, it was funny to see her in such a frenzied state." Luna recalled and nodded in agreement. "Well, i am surprised you were so comfortable in only your regular attire for months." Luna put her pen back to her work and listened while working. "I have worn those armor and clothes by themselves for much longer than that, and longer before I regained my mind." Luna nodded solemnly. "Do you wish to talk about it? I know we have not spoke of our problems in great detail, if you feel rob of your time I am always willing to listen." Atreus saw she had now met his gaze again, he smiled and shook his head. "I have nothing new to say, and no true problems. Simply the pain from the loss which will always be there, the best thing to do is to over come it and move on." Atreus set down his cup and leaned back. Luna was silent for a moment, "Sometimes the best way to move on is to acknowledge what you are moving on from." Atreus looked at Luna with a small frown. "Luna," for some reason his tone made Luna feel a bit guilty about pushing the subject, "Pressing forward is not the same as running from your mistakes." Luna quickly spoke, "No, Atreus I don't mean that, but I just want to make sure you know tha-" She stopped talking as Atreus got up, worry setting in, 'I didn't mean to offend him!' She quickly went to stand herself, "Look Atreus I-" As the lunar princess got up from her desk she was face to face with Pantheon, he stood there for a moment before he smiled and put a his hands on her shoulders. "But if I do need to talk," he paused to think about his words, "you will be the first pony I come to." Luna let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, "And I hope you can say the same about me, but I know you have your sister." Luna smiled again she realized she didn't have to worry. 'Why did I think he would be so easily offended, doesn't matter I just didn't want to do that to one of my only friends.' As she thought he spoke. "But, if you ever need a second opinion, or a second set of hands I'm right outside your door waiting for you." Luna was silent for a moment before she blushed, when she did she nodded and smiled to try and hide her embarrassment. 'He didn't mean it that way, it was just unfortunate wording.' Luna finally stifled the blush and cleared her throat, "Thank you Atreus, that means a lot." after she told him this he went to remove his hands from her shoulders, she almost on autopilot moved in and gave him a quick hug before she smiled, "I'm glad your my friend." She moved to sit again. Internally she held several thoughts, 'Why did I do that!? Uhhhhh its fine, its fine! Friends hug, its not weird or awkward.... DO FRIENDS HUG ON RUNETERRA!?' As Luna sat down none of her internal questions made any indent on her expression, it was a schooled and calm look she almost automatically went to sign the papers that were still unfinished. As she did Atreus had a puzzled look on his face he returned to his seat, poured more tea into his cup, and grabbed hold of a pastry. He bit into the pastry, and barley noticed the strawberries and cream which it contained. Something bothered him, Luna could see that and it made her fear that this time she had actually done something wrong. "You know Luna," she froze and nearly smudged her signature, "I think that may be the first hug I have had since I came to Equestria." He chuckled, "Odd no? When you think about the last time you did something or something happened to you you start to realize its scarcity. When was your last hug? How long ago has it been since you have seen your friends?" he paused, "Well, thank you. It was nice." he smiled and Luna returned to her work. Unbeknownst to Atreus he had set Luna at ease, her mental screams were in full panic mode. 'THANK FAUST!' she sighed slowly as she relaxed. After an hour or so it was nearly time for dinner, Luna wrapped up her work and stood. "We should go meet Celestia soon, I hear she wants to see the project I have been working on with the blacksmiths." "Oh I see, the standard equipment was lacking in versatility, correct?" There were only a few more paper that needed to be signed or denied now, Luna nodded to Pantheon's question. "Yes, the standard kit lacks things like bandages, or even a small knife. A secondary weapon can be surprisingly handy even if you are just guarding a door way. Of course these sort of things are included in different kits and distributed to guards when a situation is expected to call for it, but when guarding an area having a knife if you lose your other weapons and bandages is very good. On the other hand, we have so many different kits it is not even funny. Why do we need a standard equipment kit, a standard winter kit, not to be confused with the northern kit, which is just a combination of the out doors kit, the clothes from the winter kit and the a small amount of rations. And all this doesn't even cover the other different season and biome kits. All of which has splinter packages and recommended additions to them, which should have been included in them to start. I mean what kind of desert kit has a sun hat but no water bottle, I understand it might be implied for you to bring but, why isn't it included just in case? The whole thing just screams of trying to be efficient while no-" Luna looked up from her papers and saw Atreus in his chair. He had a blank expression and slightly widened eyes, he looked at Luna before he turned his head and quietly asked the space in front of him, "Why does every friend i have that is a mare to go into a frenzied rant, when I ask a simple question. First I thought it was just Shadow Wing, always on edge with her position as a Captain. Then Rarity when I asked her about why she didn't talk about what happened to her at the gala. And now Luna too." "Ahh, sorry, what was that about lady Rarity?" Luna coughed before she asked. "Hmmm, Rarity tried to, for a lack of a better term, court your nephew. She didn't talk about how unpleasant that experience was at PonyJoe's. This is because she thought it might upset Spike, who according to Rarity has a crush on her." the warrior's explanation was soon after a quick pause. "Ah, young love. A shame that lady Rarity probably has no intention of ever being with somepony so much younger than her, even when he gets older she may be with somepony else or uninterested. Though her feelings are understandable for most ponies, not that I can truly relate anymore." Atreus saw her return to her work, after she finished a paper he asked, "Can't relate anymore?" Luna looked up form her work and met eyes with him, "There aren't any living creatures my age, no pony walking around was born within a hundered years of me. Excluding my sister obviously, but even before my banishment I had to date younger ponies for most of my life." Luna went back to her work, just one more proposal before she finished. "Have you had many relationships?" his questions were small and curious. "A lot by most standards, but not enough to enter triple digits. Many long relationships, but not enough to count on more than four hands, and only a few I would say qualifies as true love." Luna became more sad the more she continued in her answer. "I have a hard time imagining living so long, and a harder time truly grasping your losses." Luna signed the last paper, stood and stretched. Luna walked over to the chair across from his and sat down, she sighed before she spoke. "I know you lost your friend, I saw him when I intruded into your dream. What was his name?" Atreus paused, he had somewhat expected to be asked that when she had be there. Not months later. "Pylas, he was my brother in battle. My better in strength, and skill. My rival to my persistence. And a true friend." he placed his finger on his eyes, there was no water works but it felt like he about to cry regardless. He took an in take of breathe before sighing. "I guess you finally found something for me to talk to you about," he chuckled "something to overcome, good job even if I already have to some extent." Luna spoke, "Well, it wasn't my intent to harp on that any more, I just wanted us to share. Have you lost anyone else, did you leave any...one behind?" she changed anypony to anyone out of respect, he had already shared a lot. "Yes," he chuckled again but softer this time and one once, "though it wasn't just because of my departure from Runeterra." He paused before almost mussing to himself, "Behind me lies a farm, I wonder if there is bread above the hearth..." his silence almost posing a question. Luna nodded she didn't fully understand who it was that he had left on that farm, family, friends... a lover. But she did know she had pushed him far enough, he would share more if or when he wished. The two spent the remaining time before dinner together before they left to go to the dinning hall. As they got up to leave her chambers he gently grabbed her right shoulder, she turned her head to her left to gaze at him in question. His mouth and lips closed as he smiled at her, then spoke in a empathetic voice, "Thank you for talking about your past Luna, I am glad to know you better." She returned the small smile before she expressed herself in kind, "Of course Atreus, thank you for sharing your pain with me. I'm glad we can trust one another enough to do so." As she went to open to the door Atreus moved his arm from the top of her shoulder to her the side of her bicep. He gave her a small side hug before speaking, "Now lets go, your sister will eat our food if we don't get there on time." Luna barely registered the hug, it felt natural now. "Don't let her catch you saying as much, or you'll be banished to the moon." "Judging by how many desserts she eats, I would say I won't be the first to comment on her diet." The pair laugh a bit before they arrive at the dinning hall, as they enter Celestia notices them. "Well, what has you two in such a laughable mood?" the pair looked at one another before Luna got a spark in her eye. "Oh nothing sister, just talking about the creature that has been terrorizing the castle for millennia." Celestia shot Luna a look of confusion. "I hear it terrorizes the kitchen staff especially, always devouring the cakes and sweats they make." as Luna continued Celestia realized and rolled her eyes. "Yes, as I hear within the last few months a new one has moved in and started to terrorize the chiefs as well. What ever shall they do about them." Celestia quickly transitioned into attack mode and sent a smirk to her sister. The man sat down at the table as the sisters shot looks at one another, "I for one heard from a reliable source that the reason the creatures have to eat so much sugar is because, they stay up all night doing paperwork." The sister looked at one another before they silently called a truce, "What is for dinner?" Luna's question was met with the doors opening and servants carrying in plates that held their food. "Prench cooking tonight if I am not mistaken Luna, we can expect excellent bread later." Celestia answered before the plates were placed before each of them.