//------------------------------//
// Twelve: Apology Excepted 
// Story: Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra 
// by Randimaxis 
//------------------------------//

"If only I was allowed just a sliver of Dark Magic..." Obsidian muttered under her breath. 

Hopefully, these griffons would be too terrified of the possibilities to think about attacking anyone in her group, ever again!  Maybe she could find a way to shackle them; perhaps they could become useful slaves?  Oh, it would be so easy, so quick to just rip their deepest fears out of their minds and show them how weak and pathetic they are in comparision to a TRUE creature of Dark power! 

"But... you are correct, Cupcake - nothing too harsh or life threatening.  And yes, on to this McDonkey's, whatever it is.  Although, Thunderclap won't like the fact that she missed this situation."

And it seemed that she had apparently sorely underestimated the diamond dog.  She had fully expected that he would cower somewhere, too afraid to even yip, or maybe he would just pretend that he hadn't seen anything.  And yet, he turned out to be a valuable scout, even employing some spy tactics.  Clearly, he was more of an asset than she'd first surmised.

Cup chuckled lightly.  "Yeah, Clap would've probably taken a number of swings at 'em; she's very... uh, 'excitable'.  In fact, it miiiiiiiiight be a good idea not to bring this up to her - she might just haul off and go get them now." 

Gypsy nodded.  "Thunderclap would c-c-certainly be moved t-to action.  She d-does that." 

At length, they reached a building with a large 'D' emblazoned on the sign out front, and a number of creatures inside, seemingly eating... things that she couldn't quite identify. Cupcake opened the door and held it for Obsidian.  "Royalty first, princess!" 

The smells from inside were... interesting.

Perhaps it was it some kind of local inn?  Not likely, as she couldn't smell the pungent reek of alcohol - but on the other hoof, it's not as if she'd ever truly visited any inn before; at best, she'd read about them in history books.  With as much mead as they spoke of, she'd always thought the scent would linger at such an establishment.  

Well, at least she'd be able to eat something.  At the moment, she wasn't too hungry - after all, she did have a good breakfast - but it surely wouldn't hurt to have a light lunch?  And, of course, there was the hope they'd find Mica as well.  With that goal in mind, she stepped inside.

It was a cavalcade of scents that greeted her first, followed by a nasal, "Welcome to McDonkey's!" as she entered, from one of the cashiers behind the tall counter. There was a lot of activity back there, but it was more or less calm on this side.  

There were a few ponies seated with trays, eating... things.  

One looked like a roll with something brown and flat in its' middle, and small open-ended boxes of... yellow sticks?  Were they whittled corn?  Maybe they were the potato sticks Gypsy had mentioned earlier?  Nothing here was shaking, so perhaps she'd misheard that part. 

She didn't see Mica, but she did see Thunderclap sitting at a table with a tray in front of her, piled high with all sorts of (presumably) food items.  She saw them at about the same time, and waved them towards her.

Well, there was plenty of food, a few ponies, and a lot of places to sit.  No alcohol though - at least none visible.  Was this, mayhaps, a restaurant?  

And no Mica... what a shame.  He was the last one to apologize to, then afterwards she only had to visit the headmare one more time today... assuming she would still be working.  

Without waiting for the rest of the group she trotted over to Thunderclap to take a seat. "It seems we are truly unlucky. I had really hoped Mica would be here already, as you said," she mused.

Clap was munching on the yellow sticks, and she smiled at Obsidian when she sat down. "Yeah, if he's not, then he will be.  I know that stallion like the back of my own hoof; he'll be here.  You'll see.  Anyhoo," she reached over, took hold of one of the rolls with the brown stuff in it, and offered it to the princess. "Here - double hayburger with special sauce, cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions and tomato on a sesame seed bun!  Give 'er a try, Siddy!" 

Gypsy shyly sat next to her, but Cupcake had gone to the high counter and was looking over a blackboard with a number of titles on it, like "Whoppah" and "McDonkshake" and "McDonkfries".  He seemed to be communicating with the cashier about what was on the menu; the cashier looked utterly and completely bored, unlike the one who had greeted Obsidian.

Well, they could probably wait for him a bit here - it wouldn't hurt, and she'd already done most of the things she had planned for today.  As for the place itself, it seemed that they were making... sandwiches?  She took the roll and examined the offered food closely: bun, vegetables, cheese... and fried, shaped hay.  It also seemed that there was some kind of sauce inside as well, as she could smell it. 

"Jugding by your previous reactions, this is a well known place, I assume?"  She carefully lifted the sandwich up, and took a small testing bite of it... which unfortunately made the tomato slice slip from the other side of it, hitting the wrapper beneath her with a dull plop.  Wonderful.

"Eeyup," Clap went on, "it's a grand place, and the food is cheap and plentiful.  My kinda place!" 

Gypsy was steadily taking one yellow stick at a time and munching them down.  He seemed almost like a machine, stick-mouth-stick-mouth-stick-chew-swallow-stick-mouth... it was almost mesmerizing. 

It seemed that Gypsy was addicted to these sticks - they weren't riddled with addictive poisons, were they? 

"McDonkey's was the brainchild of a donkey couple - they're living RICH now, I guess.  The food's awesome, the shakes are creamy and place here is nice and... uh, 'homey', y'know?"  

Homey?  Obsidian looked around - no slaves begging for mercy, sinister laughter or dark whispers in the air.  Apparently, Thunderclap wasn't talking about her kind of home, it seemed.   But, she had to admit that this place seemed to be quite... charming, in a manner of speaking.

"Here," she held out a cup with a straw and a strange-looking lid, "strawberry shake - I'll bet you'll love it."

"We shall see... and by the way Thunderclap, what does it mean 'have a crush on somepony'?"   She carefully took the cup from the pegasus as she finally got around to asking about the term she'd heard earlier.  Hesitantly, she took a sip...

Hmmm... sweet, but not as sweet as the blue water they'd offered her yesterday.  Plus, it was tasty, too... and cool, but not cold. 

"An interesting drink, I'll admit," she said, expressing her opinion in a very reserved way; she liked it quite a bit actually, but there was her dignity to consider.

Thunderclap looked at her and grinned a bit.  "Oh, crushes?  Where'd you hear about those - wait, never mind, it's just easier to explain it." She sat back, the bench beneath her flank creaking with her weight. 

"Well, a crush is kinda like falling in love, but not quite - more like a kind of... I dunno, a lust?... for someone else.  Like, y'know, when you find a stallion - or mare - that you really like and want to smooch and snuggle." 

Gypsy nodded.  "This one w-wants to snuggle a 'sp-special someone', s-s-someday.  He knows n-no one yet he c-c-cr-crushes for, but this one thinks it w-w-w-will happen for him.  E-eventually." 

"It's like, you want 'em so you can do, y'know, romantic stuff and such," Clap said, taking one of the hayburgers and nearly swallowing it whole. 

Cupcake finally joined them, a tray piled with burgers and a bunch of the yellow sticks jutting from his mouth.  As soon as he sat and put his tray down, he gulped down the mouthful, turned to Obsidian and gestured.  

"Here ya go!  I didn't know what to get for you, so I just got a typical meal for both of us." 

There were two sandwich boxes, two stick boxes, and two cups, complete with straws. Cup leaned over to Obsidian.  "Careful, drinking that - don't get greedy, or you'll get a brain freeze; they're harmless, but very uncomfortable." 

Gypsy paused long enough in his routine to offer one of the small, yellow sticks to Obsidian directly. "... w-want one?"

Well, it was hard to not have heard about 'crushes' after the meeting in the library... but now everything was beginning to make sense.  "Ah, so that meant the strange actions you took due to Eloquence being in the library was a 'crush'," she said almost happily, enjoying the newly acquired knowledge. 

So she didn't want to kill him, she was lusting for him!  Luckily such a thing was absolutely, completely and totally impossible for Obsidian herself to ever know; she had been raised to be above such base desires, and was meant for bigger things than mere supposed pleasantries of the body.  

And besides, romantic stuff wasn't for the monarchy - arranged marriages were the norm, after all.  The good of the empire comes first... doesn't it? 

And it seemed that Cupcake was seriously trying to make her gain more weight - not that it would be such a bad thing, as she was quite thin and drawn.  She took the gathered food from him: another sandwich, another drink and sticks like ones Gypsy was offering.

"No, I have my own, though your offer is noted," she showed Gypsy her own box.  "So basically, from what I saw from you, having a crush doesn't seem very pleasant to me."

Thunderclap's cheeks began to turn bright red. "Nuh... nuh-uh!  Who's got a crush, me?  Nope, no way, no how!"  She crossed her forelegs, and looked somewhat chagrined.  However, Cupcake and Gypsy both gave a good hearty laugh. Apparently, her crush was embarrassing to her. 

"Clap," Cupcake grinned, "it's not like nobody knows.  Heck, at this point, Elo himself might know." 

Clap blanched for a moment.  "Wait - you think he... whaddya mean he already kno-..."  Again, she seemed somewhat annoyed at the prospect. 

"Thunderc-clap," Gypsy whispered in Obsidian's ear, "is a bit m-m-mortified by her c-crush; she seems m-m-mad, but she also knows w-w-we mean no harm." 

Cupcake answered the princess' question.  "Well, that sorta depends... like, if they also like you, then it could be True Love..." Cup sighed and stared wistfully into the distance for a moment, then snapped back to the here and now. 

"Yeeeeuuuuucccckkk!!!!!"  Thunderclap retched, "Lovey-dovey stuff!  Really, should I have to be subjected to this as our meal conversation?" 

Cupcake laughed.  "Don't mind her - she may act sore, but secretly, she's enjoying the attention!" 

"Keep it up, Cup," she bristled (but with a small smile), "and I'll teach you what 'sore' means." Cup stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

So that probably explains the light salivating and her empty stare when she was in the same room with him.  Talking about this 'True Love' was becoming steadily more interesting... but it was still an alien concept to her. 

"Unfortunately for you, Thunderclap, your behaviour intrigued me. I've always expected that, sooner or later, I would have a marriage arranged for me; there simply weren't any appropriate stallions of my own age... or any non-slave stallions around, to be honest.   So this topic is something completely new to me," she explained. 

That sandwich wasn't bad.  Not a miracle of food creation, no... but not bad.

Cupcake looked at her and chuckled.  "Princess... 'arranged marriages' don't really... uhhhh, happen... anymore." 

"Yes, The F-F-Freedom of Love d-decree... this one s-s-studied that." 

Thunderclap rolled her eyes as Cupcake placed a hoof over his heart and recited: "Anypony who shall marry must do so of their own Free Will; magical coercion, hypnotism, and other forms of manipulation, should they be discovered, shall render such unions null and void from the moment of their discovery." 

Gypsy seemed to ponder for a moment, then looked to him.  "It is n-n-not exact, yet c-close enough."

He leaned in close to Obsidian, grinning.  "This means you're off the hook when it comes to someone picking your prince for you." 

"Yes... i-it was about t-two hundred years ago, when that decree was made - and it was in light of what almost happened in the Crystal Empire, when the ch-changeling ruler Chrysalis almost duped her way onto the throne, that m-made it even more important to emphasize the c-clarification of such.  With such a prospect over their heads, it was decided that emphasizing the decree would make certain that such a trick would never win out in the l-long run." 

Thunderclap huffed and looked at Gypsy.  "Yay, history lessons."  She made a big production out of yawning. 

Gypsy just smiled and shook his head.  "Those who d-do not learn f-f-from history are d-doomed to repeat it." 

Clap groaned.  "Just like classes..."

"Hm, but unions such as these aren't really coercion, hypnosis or manipulation; it's just a diplomatic arrangement." Obsidian rubbed her temple with a hoof; why would commoners marry at all, if they weren't treating it as a mutually profitable agreement?  

Probably more propaganda about 'True Love' and so on... complicated stuff. 

"... Anyway, history is quite interesting, especially as for me, it's more akin to hearing about the future.  Now... why won't you merely inform Eloquence that you like him, Thunderclap?"

The muscular pegasus mare paled a bit. "TELL him!?  Siddy, he's, like, incredible... and if you don't wanna be seen as some sort of creepo-stalker-type, then you don't just walk up to someone incredible and tell them you like them!"  Then she gave a start.  "N-n-not that I l-like him o-o-or such!" 

Gypsy chuckled.  "I-is my vocal t-t-tic catching?"  Thunderclap Dash shot Gypsy a heated look, while the diamond dog merely spread his paws and smiled. 

"But diplomacy's already been achieved with every known kingdom on the face of Equus - there's no need for it now.  Actually, it's more like the government has moved beyond 'marriages of coalition'; they're more likely to give each other large sums of gold, jewels or yummy food to negotiate," Cup explained.  "Arranged marriages are a thing of the past." 

"Y-yes.  Only those i-in love are the ones wh-who get m-m-married." 

Thunderclap even gave a small grin.  "Eh, I guess if you care enough about someone, committing to them isn't so bad.  But still," her eyes flashed, "I do NOT-" 

"So princess," Cup interrupted Clap before she could lie again, "did you have a lot of prospects to have your hoof?  I hope you don't get upset, but I'm fairly certain that if you wanted one of them... well, it's probably not gonna to happen now."

And so, marriages stopped being diplomatically beneficial.  A true shame.  And nothing that Thunderclap was saying did anything to change Obsidian's mind - the pegasus mare liked Eloquence, yet was too afraid to tell him... 

What was the point, then?  

"Hmmm... no, not really.  I think that one Equestrian duke was considered, as a means to convince him to ally himself with our nation's might, but it could have been mere rumours. My most honourable father himself never told me anything about any specific plans."  Besides... he could always have a political marriage himself, should he have decided it.

Cupcake looked at her with curiosity.  "Princess... what was royal life like for you?" 

"Yeah," Thunderclap leaned forward a bit, "I wanna hear about you for a while." 

Gypsy also looked interested.  "This one i-is also c-c-curious; c-can you tell us th-th-this history of you?"

... it wasn't surprising that Thunderclap was trying to change the topic, it seemed that it was somewhat embarrassing her. 

"My history... is filled with constant training and lessons.  Dark magic, fighting, focus, meditation, math, history, geography... all of this, and I never once left the palace.  I was eager to satisfy my most honourable father's expectations, and had little time or room for anything more in my life."  

The last time they talked about this, they'd started to argue...

"But..." Cupcake looked a bit glassy-eyed, as if he were close to tears, "where was the Love?  The Affection?  Did he ever play games with you?"  He gasped, then amended, "FUN games?  Fun for YOU?" 

"Did your m-most honourable f-f-father ever brush your m-m-mane or coat for y-you?"  Gypsy looked at her with curiosity. 

"Heck, did he read to you at bedtime?"  Clap intoned.  "My mom did that." 

"My momma used to play with all of us!  She really put a lot of personal time and effort into raising us right!"  Cupcake grew thoughtful.  "I can't imagine why Lemon turned out the way he did - it wasn't his upbringing, I Pinkie Promise you that!" 

Gypsy shifted uncomfortably.  "Those th-things sound... like he w-was preparing you f-f-for something.  I-isn't that a sort of l-l-love?" 

Cupcake shrugged.  "We weren't there; unless the princess tells us, we have no idea." He then turned back to Obsidian.  "Was he nice to you?  Or no?"

She gave them a rather blank stare.  Brushing her mane?  Playing games?  Reading at bedtime? 

"I was only being prepared to become his heir, as both a warlock and a ruler.  I was purposed to study, to gather my might and wisdom for the time I would bring my most honourable father great pride - he wasn't wasting his time over... unnecessary activities."  That should answer all of these questions at once.

Now it was Cupcake's turn to balk. "Whaaaaaaat!?" He stood up, and even looked a bit hurt by her words. 

"Unnecessary? Unnecessary!?  Princess, my momma giving me that love and attention is why I have so much self-confidence now!  It's why I feel secure and happy with my life!  Why, a foal without love is the saddest thing I can imagine!" 

Gypsy seemed to nod at that, but only slightly.  Clap seemed as if she were pondering something. Obsidian could almost smell the wood-burning in the pegasus' skull... 

"Princess, Love is not only the cornerstone of Equestria... it's one of the most powerful forces in the entire universe!  Love can start a nation, or bring it down!  It can move mountains... uh, proverbially!  It can build you up or break you down!  It-" 

"Cup," Thunderclap interrupted, "can the theatrics; I think you communicated that you're upset over this." 

"YES, I AM!"  he looked as if he'd been personally insulted.  "How could someone be that way?  Grooming someone for a future, yet giving them not one iota of Love!?" 

Cupcake was really into this whole 'love' stuff, wasn't he?  He still couldn't understand that Obsidian was confident that everything her father did was necessary... and the only reason why she wasn't as great and powerful as he'd wanted her to be was that her training got cut short quite suddenly.

She could be better.  She should be better.  And there was no place for 'love' in that vision. 

Gypsy leaned in closer to Obsidian.  "Do not be a-a-al-alarmed at Cupcake's ire; moments from n-now, I am certain he will c-calm himself," he whispered. 

"Loving your children... i-it's important!  I have the confidence I have because my momma helped to foster that in me.  She didn't just teach me about love - she showed me what a little love can do for others!  And it's like MAGIC!" 

"Clap." 

The conversation stopped as the new voice spoke up.  The others turned to see Mica Chip there, looking at them all, with his tray on his back. 

"Gypsy.  Cup." 

His eyes found Obsidian, and they held no expression at all for her. 

"... you." 

Thunderclap visibly winced at that.

And now the true reason for their coming here had finally appeared!  Obsidian was very glad that something had happened to stop Cupcake from ranting.  She very eagerly got up; Mica was always very calm and useful, it was good to have him back. 

"I'm glad to see you, Mica.  I was looking for you to apologize for upsetting you yesterday."  This time, she didn't even stutter!

Mica stared at her for a moment, then took a deep breath and spoke softly. 

"Oh... am I suddenly important now?  Because yesterday, I got the distinct impression that our 'self-indulgences' were something you found distasteful... which is quite an insult to me.  And after making such an impression with us by basically saying what we believed in was pointless, I believe it was quite clear that you don't even want friendship, as it would probably take away from your duty to even acknowledge us low-born creatures." 

Everyone just stared at Mica. 

"As I said yesterday, I believe we made a mistake - and that mistake was trying to befriend a child of darkness, who thinks the things we believe in are trivial and worthless."  

He looked over at Thunderclap.  "If you want to join me, fine.  But excuse me," he now gave the slightest of glares to Obsidian.  "I'm going to eat my meal somewhere away from those who would tell me how much my thoughts and beliefs don't matter." 

With that, he simply made his way across the restaurant, out the glass doors, and sat at a bench outside - by himself.

Well, now... that was unexpected.  

Cupcake was fine with her now - even though he should have still had some reasons to be wary of her.  Thunderclap was even more fine with her.  Even Gypsy, the one who'd felt guilty even as he was completely innocent, was now fine with her.  Of all ponies, only Mica wasn't accepting her admittedly half-hearted apologies?  Surprising.  

She turned back to the table to face the others.  "I liked the term 'child of darkness' but, Cup... it didn't work," she said with a puzzled muzzle. 

Hm, if friendship was like warfare... she could storm him, besiege him or abandon the battle altogether.  Did she really need Mica?  Not particularly, to be honest.  She could get information from anywhere and anyone else.

But he was right about her... and it made him leave, while the rest were still here.  Were they possibly more patient?  Or was it that they just didn't realize her truth as well as he did? 

"I was only explaining why my father's actions were justifable..."  

And yet, for reasons she wasn't quite able to understand yet, she was more conflicted and bothered by this turn of events than she typically should have been.

Clap stood up slowly. "Mica... was really mad at what you said yesterday," she sighed, "I mean, really mad.  It took him about five minutes just to stop breathing hard.  I'm... gonna go see if I can't talk to him for ya.  I dunno if it'll work, but... well, don't know if ya don't try, right?" 

She made her way outside and sat opposite of Mica, him looking up and speaking to her as they began to converse. 

Cupcake also gave a heavy sigh.  "Princess, sometimes... how do I put this... sometimes, words aren't enough.  Or a few words aren't enough.  And sometimes, the damage you do with some words is deeper and harder than you'd think." 

"Mica is a very intelligent stallion, and he values knowledge and information.  With his upbringing, he also knows what love is like, and has a very healthy appreciation for it.  And you..." He fidgeted for a moment before looking like he had an idea. 

"Remember how you said you'd felt when I was being... not-so-nice... that first day?  Well, Mica feels a lot like the way you felt when I... um... said those... not nice things.  And did an apology from me help things any?"

Well, Obsidian valued knowledge and information as well, and in theory Mica was calm and intelligent enough to be the most useful pony out of all of them... yet unfortunately, it seemed she made a mistake somewhere. 

"Yes Cupcake, I remember," she sat down again at the table. "But he isn't actually wrong.  In fact, I should be more surprised that the rest of you are remaining with me, than the fact that he isn't.  Except you, Cupcake - you are my liaison; the rest of them, however?  My morals and thoughts have proven to be as alien to you as your own are to me.  At best, I'm trying to understand what's going on with your heads, and usually failing to do so.  Mica just... made the most logical decision." 

She didn't even want to finish her sandwich now.  She'd have to, though - wasting food was expressly forbidden, and it was specifically her portion.  Yesterday... well, hopefully nothing that Cupcake made was wasted.

"Princess... you..." Cup closed his eyes and gave a sigh before opening them again, focusing on her. 

"Okay, I admit - I honestly have no idea about your world... and your world seems... cold.  And our world is warm, in comparison - which, being as you didn't know Love, is as confusing to you, too.  In other words, we need to try to communicate better with each other, especially if we want to get you acclimated to this new world." 

"To do that," Cupcake stood up, a determined light in his eyes, "we'll have to seriously do our utmost best to teach you about the things you never knew - Love, compassion, friendship - while you could help us understand by teaching us about how you know and feel about it." 

Gypsy seemed to agree, as he nodded and his tail gave a slight wag. 

"What do you say, Princess Obsidian - are you willing to learn, as we learn from you?"

She didn't exactly have too much choice in matter, did she?  

Didn't have much to do besides that, as well.  As far as she was concerned, the entire modern world seemed to be based around the overpowering belief in the almighty power of friendship!  She could try to fight this power... and very probably lose before being able to finish saying 'kneel before me', as Equestrians have a long and vaunted history of defeating any foe who dared try anything. 

"I suppose I am willing, yes," she eventually replied with a sigh. 

Of course she was willing to learn... but now she had to pledge a commitment to it.  Feh, too many creatures with too many emotions in far too short a time; it was all so... tiresome.

Cupcake's muzzle lit up.  "Okie dokie lokie!  This'll be... new!  And different!  Unlike anything we've tackled before!  Which also makes it a unique experience too!  Oh, the things we're going to have to go over, the ideas we'll have to discuss, the situations to plan for, the moments..." Cupcake continued to go on, but at more of a self-aimed mumble.  

Gypsy, however, sidled up to her. "This o-one is pleased t-t-to hear this.  He will try not to be p-pu-p-pushy about it, Majesty.  He also wishes t-t-to thank you for g-g-giving this a ch-chance; this one f-f-finds you int-t-teresting, and would enj-joy sharing history w-w-with you." 

"I also find you interesting as well, Gypsy.  I can hardly wait to spend more time discussing history with you."  This was completely genuine - after all, it was the first diamond dog she had ever met, and he was interested in things that were interesting to her. 

Outside, the conversation between Mica and Thunderclap seemed to be getting a bit heated, as Mica's eyebrows dipped a bit, while Clap looked as though she was getting more animated with her speaking.  Before too long, Mica simply got up, dumped his tray in an outside bin - including what appeared to be only a half-eaten hayburger - then walked away.  Clap's ears drooped deeply.  Then, she too got up... but she made her way towards the doors instead of away.  

Before she entered, Obsidian watched the pegasus wipe a tear or two away, and shake herself out of what looked like sadness... which, of course, Obsidian knew well.  Once inside, there was not a single trace of sorrow on her muzzle, and she sat back down with a lackadasial manner, betraying nothing of the emotions she was feeling mere seconds ago. 

"Eh, he's being a jerk - give 'im a few days to calm down, and he'll..." 

Her hesitancy was only a second, but Obsidian caught it anyway. 

"... he'll be fine.  You'll see.  AAAAAANYWAY, so what're we doin' now?  I mean, we've done the school chores, and we ate, so... now what?" 

Cupcake, who seemed only a little put out by Clap's lack of success with Mica, gave a smile and looked to Obsidian.  "Well, is there anything you'd like to see, or perhaps some other curiosity to check out, or maybe just back to your room?"

Alas, it appeared that there would be no reunion with Mica... which wasn't just inconvenient and bothersome, but it made her feel as if she had broken something that she actually might not be able to fix.  And that bothered her...

... but why?