Early the next morning Derpy awakens to find herself in Arc’s arms. She looks into his face and smiles before nuzzling his chest.
“I’ve missed this.”
Arc opens his eyes and looks down, sleepily.
“Derpy? Is it morning already?”
Derpy giggles. “Somehow.”
Arc looks at the wall clock. “It’s still pretty early.”
Derpy stands up and stretches her wings. “The orphan’s breakfast won’t cook itself. Nor will ours.”
Arc sits up. “I guess that’s true.”
They walk over to the Kitchen together.
“Dinky and her friends don’t have to get up early today. After all, it is Saturday.”
“Is it?”
Derpy turns to him. “You forgot?”
Arc looks slightly embarrassed. “Well… when you don’t take days off, they kinda blend together.”
“That much I do understand.”
“You do?”
Derpy nods as she pulls a box of cereal out of a nearby cupboard. “Yes. I feel kinda bad telling you to take time off. Especially when I don’t do that myself.”
“You cook every meal at the Orphanage, don’t you?”
Derpy nods as she sits down at the kitchen table. “Yes. But I do enjoy my work.”
“It’s just too much for one mare though.”
“I know, Arc. But there really isn’t anypony else. Miss Pommel sometimes helps me, but she has a ton of work herself.”
Arc stands up. “Would you please excuse me?”
Derpy looks confused. “Uh, sure. But…”
Arc walks quickly over to the sigil. “I won’t be long.”
Calling forth his gauntlet, he powers up the sigil and vanishes. A few minutes later Arc returns and walks back over to the table.
“Problem solved.”
Derpy looks up as she finishes her cereal. “Problem?”
“With the Cafeteria staffing. I told Flash Sentry to send a couple guards over every meal to help out.”
“But that isn’t really their job.”
“Yes, well… it’s certainly more interesting than guard duty and training. That and he believes they’ll be no shortage of volunteers.”
“Because they were orphans themselves?”
“Exactly. He’s waking a couple guards up now. They’ll meet you at the Orphanage.”
“Thank you, Arc. But I do hate to be a burden to them OR you.”
Arc smiles at her. “You need help over there. Without it, you’ll just end up working to exhaustion, my friend.”
“Well, I do appreciate you doing that. But I should probably get over there and get to work. Are you okay to look after Dinky and her friends?”
“Sure. I’ll see about getting breakfast cooked. Then I was thinking we would go on a bit of a day trip. Give you a bit of peace and quiet when you get home in a few hours.”
“You don’t have to do that, Arc. I know you’re busy.”
“That may be. But I want to give Dinky some attention.”
Derpy nods happily. “She has been very patient while you were gone.”
“She’s a good little filly. We’ll head out as soon as breakfast is done.”
Derpy giggles as she heads for the front door. “Dinky will be in here as soon as you start cooking.”
Arc waves. “I’m counting on it.”
Cherry calls out after her. “Have a nice day, Derpy.”
“You too!”
She closes the door as Arc opens the cupboard and rummages around.
“Now then. Let’s see about making some pancakes.”
Mixing up a bowlful of batter Arc quickly gets to work cooking breakfast. A short time later he has a large platter of pancakes. The bedroom door opens and Dinky trots out happily.
“Hi dad!”
Arc smiles at her as he sets the table. “Good morning, sweetheart.”
Dinky looks around. “Where’s mom?”
“She headed over to the Orphanage.”
Dinky hops up onto a chair. “Oh. We usually go together.”
Arc walks over to Dinky. “You’re not disappointed, are you?”
“No, dad. It’s going to be a blast spending time with you, after all!”
Arc tousles her mane. “Glad to hear that.”
Apple Bloom walks out of the bedroom happily. Sweetie Belle follows her, albeit much less awake then her friend.
“Good morning, Arc! That does smell good!”
Sweetie Belle sits down at the table, yawning. “What time is it?!”
Dinky laughs. “About the time mom and I usually make breakfast at the Orphanage!”
Apple Bloom nods. “And about the time Applejack gets me and Babs Seed up to do our morning chores!”
Arc sets the platter on the table. “How is she doing? Adjusting well to her new home with the Apple family?”
“It was kinda tough at first.”
Sweetie Belle lays her head on the table. “Yeah. She made some rather… nasty friends.”
“Oh?”
Dinky makes a face. “Yeah. Diamond Tiara.”
Arc winces. “Great… anyone but her.”
Apple Bloom turns to Arc. “They aren’t friends anymore.”
Sweetie Belle giggles. “Apple Bloom kinda told her off.”
Dinky nods soberly. “It had to be done.”
Apple Bloom sighs. “I didn’t like it either. But it did help.”
Sweetie Belle nods. “Agreed. She’s really nice to everypony now.”
“Dad? Why do you suppose she was so mean to us. I mean… Babs Seed was really nice at the old orphanage. Or so the others tell us.”
Arc shrugs he serves the fillies. “Sometimes people, or in this case ponies, do things to try and fit in.”
“They do?”
“Yup.”
Sweetie Belle turns to him. “Why?”
“Any number of reasons. For starters, she was in a new town with new faces at a new building. Latching onto someone… ANYONE… can give the sense of familiarity she craved.”
Dinky shrugs. “At least that’s behind us.”
Apple Bloom grins as she begins to eat. “Right!”
“Speaking of Babs Seed, why didn’t she join you three?”
Sweetie Belle sighs as she levitates a fork. “She’s been having a lot of trouble with her schoolwork.”
“My sister made her stay home and study. She really wanted to come though!”
“What is she having trouble with?”
Dinky shrugs. “Pretty much everything.”
Sweetie Belle nods. “I don’t want to say she’s stupid or anything, but… she asks some kinda dumb questions in class.”
“Can you give me an example?”
Apple Bloom looks up from her food. “Like one time she raised her hoof and asked what the capital of the Griffon Kingdom is. But that was after we spent all morning talking about Griffonstone!”
Dinky turns to her father. “It’s like she’s not even paying attention to Miss Cheerilee at all.”
“But your teacher is good at explaining things, right? Is anyone else having that problem?”
Sweetie Belle shakes her head. “Nopony.”
“I see. Has Granny Smith talked to Cheerilee about this?”
Apple Bloom shakes her head. “She sent a note home. Applejack was the one who came to school for the conference though.”
Dinky puts a hoof to her chin. “I remember seeing her head into the classroom with Babs Seed one day after lunch. “
“Did anything change?”
Sweetie Belle frowns. “Not that I’ve seen. She’s still not paying attention in class.”
“Big sis and I have been trying to help her as much as we can. But we can’t seem to make any headway!”
“I tried too, dad. It’s like she doesn’t hear me though!”
“What do you mean, Dinky? That she has hearing problems?”
Dinky shakes her head. “No, her ears are working just fine. But she doesn’t seem to retain anything I’ve tried to teach her.”
“Hmmm… why don’t we head over to Sweet Apple Acres after breakfast? I’d like to talk to Applejack about this.”
Apple Bloom appears suddenly nervous. “Um… do we have to? I don’t want Babs Seed to get in trouble, or anything.”
Sweetie Belle nods. “Right! She’s our friend!”
“Come on, you two. My dad knows what he’s doing.”
Arc nods. “Yes, I’d just like to talk with her. See if there’s something else going on here.”
Dinky and her friends finish their breakfast as Arc cleans up the stove before filling up the sink with soapy water.
“We’ll let these pans soak while we’re out.”
Sweetie Belle turns to him. “Did you have something planned, Arc?”
Apple Bloom nods. “Other than Sweet Apple Acres, that is.”
Arc smiles as he grabs his coat. “Kinda. But it’s a surprise.”
They head out the door and make the walk to Sweet Apple Acres as the sun begins to rise. Every house they pass is dark. Sweetie Belle looks around.
“It really is early!”
Apple Bloom giggles. “Nah. My family gets up around this time every day.”
Dinky nods. “So do my mom and I.”
Arc laughs. “As do I. Doesn’t your sister get you up early for school?”
Sweetie Belle sighs. “Rarity tries to. But I’m not really a morning pony.”
As they approach the farmhouse the warm lights from within become visible. Arc knocks lightly. A few moments later Big Mac answers.
“Good morning, Big Macintosh. Is Applejack up?”
“Eyup!”
He motions for them to enter. The smell of breakfast food cooking lingers on the air.
“It smells like you and big sis just finished breakfast.”
Big Mac nods as they enter the Kitchen. “Eyup.”
Applejack is busy clearing the table. She trots over to Arc happily.
“Hey there, Arc! How did last night go? I hope Apple Bloom wasn’t too much for you and Derpy to handle.”
“No. They had quite a good time.”
Apple Bloom smiles. “Arc took us to Canterlot for supper!”
Sweetie Bloom grins. “Yeah! It was great!”
Dinky nods happily. “There were so many good things to eat!”
Arc looks to her slightly embarrassed. “I may have accidently burnt supper.”
“Well, nopony’s perfect. Can I make you something to eat?”
Arc shakes his head. “No thanks. We just ate. By the way, I had some of my troops take care of that… matter we discussed yesterday. You can take that paper I gave you over there later today.”
Applejack looks relieved. “Thanks, Arc. I really appreciate this!”
Apple Bloom looks confused. “What’re you talking about, Applejack?”
“Nothing, sugarcube. Just… look, I’ll tell you about it one day when you’re older.”
“Eyup!”
She turns back to Arc apologetically.
“She’s always so curious.”
“I understand. In any case, I’m told that Babs Seed is having some trouble in school.”
Applejack sighs. “That she is.”
Sweetie Belle frowns. “She’s trying her hardest!”
Dinky nods. “Yeah! We’ve been helping tutor her!”
Applejack nods to the little ones. “I’m sure you fillies want to see your friend succeed. Babs Seed needs all the help she can get right now.”
Apple Bloom looks around. “Where is she?”
“In her room. I’m having her spend the day in there looking over this week’s lessons again.”
Arc looks confused. “Again?”
Big Mac sighs. “Yup.”
“We have her do that every night after supper. Mostly because I don’t know what else to do for her at this point.”
“About that. Might I take her out for a bit of a day trip with these three?”
“I don’t know. She really does need to study.”
Arc nods. “That’s actually what I’d like to talk to her about. Get her point of view on this matter.”
Applejack looks hopeful. “Do you really think you could help her, Arc? Big Mac, Granny Smith, and I have tried everything!”
“Eyup.”
“I’ll certainly try.”
“That’s good enough for me. Follow me, everypony.”
Applejack leads the group upstairs and over to Babs’s bedroom door. Opening it they find her sitting at a small desk as she looks out the window at the sunrise. Dinky runs over to her friend with the other Cutie Mark Crusades.
“Hey, Babs!”
Sweetie Belle puts her hooves on the desk. “How’s the studying going?!”
Babs Seed sighs and shakes her head. “Not too good.”
Apple Bloom nods soberly. “We all know you’re doing your best.”
“Thanks. But I still can’t commit anything to memory! And thanks to that I missed out on my first sleepover!”
Applejack walks over to the desk. “Well, Arc here would like to talk to you about your schoolwork.”
She looks up at him nervously. “You… you do?”
Arc nods. “Yes. I’d like you to join the others and I on a little excursion with me today.”
Bab’s eyes light up happily. “You mean it?!”
Sweetie Belle laughs. “Of course he means it!”
Apple Bloom sighs. “It wasn’t the same without you last night.”
Dinky nods. “Yeah! We’ll have a blast!”
Babs Seed jumps up from her seat.
“Okay! Let’s go then!”
Applejack puts up a hoof. “Hold on just a minute, sugarcube! Take your saddlebags. If there’s time, I want you to use it for studying.”
“Awww…”
Arc nods. “I’d like to see what you’ve been learning lately as well.”
Applejack picks up the book and places it into Babs’ saddlebags with the rest of her school supplies before putting it on the filly’s back.
“There! All of you have a good time now!”
“Eyup!”
Dinky nods. “We will!”
Arc calls forth his gauntlet. “I’ll let you know if I come up with something.”
Applejack nods nervously. “Okay. I hope you can find some way to help her.”
Arc nods as he opens a portal. So do I.
The fillies hurry through together. Arc turns back to Applejack.
“I’ll do my best.”
Applejack and Big Mac wordlessly nod as he turns and walks through the portal. It collapses inward and is gone.
“Big Mac, did I do the right thing?”
“Eyup.”
“How can you be so sure?! It just seems like her time would be better spent studying. How else is she going to make anything of herself?!”
Big Mac shrugs as Applejack walks over to look out the window.
“I know I should trust him, and all. And not just because of what he did for us.”
Applejack removes her hat and pulls out the paper Arc gave her yesterday. She looks at it for the hundredth time since receiving it as she puts her hat back on.
“This… this really is the most Generous thing I’ve ever seen.”
Big Mac chuckles. “Is that all?”
“Huh?”
“A blind pony could see you’re sweet on him.”
Applejack blushes heavily. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Element of Honesty?”
Applejack sighs. “So you see it, huh?”
“Eyup. The way you look at him when his eyes are elsewhere give you away. But I assume you haven’t told him.”
Applejack shakes her head. “Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Because… it’s just too hard to say! What if he doesn’t feel the same, and I end up embarrassing both of us?!”
Big Mac turns to leave the room. “I would have expected you to be more upfront with him on this.”
“Well, I sure wish mom and dad were here to talk about this right now. What do you think about him?”
He stops in the doorway. “I think he would make you very happy. But nothing happens if you aren’t honest about it with him.”
Meanwhile, Dinky and her friends appear on the sigil in Light’s Hope. Dinky looks around, confused.
“My dad’s base?”
Apple Bloom raises an eyebrow. “What are we doing here?”
Sweetie Belle sighs. “He probably has work to do. Rarity does this to me ALL the time!”
Arc emerges from the portal himself. It closes behind him. Raven walks over to him nervously.
“Welcome back, sir.”
“Hi Raven. Are you okay?”
“Can I talk to you for a moment please? If you have time, that is!”
“Sure. One second.”
Arc turns to the fillies.
“I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Okay dad.”
“Why don’t you three head to the Cafeteria for a snack?”
Sweetie Belle frowns. “But we’re not…”
Dinky puts a hoof in front of her friend’s mouth.
“No thanks, dad. We’ll just wait here for you.”
“Okay. See you in a bit.”
Arc and Raven head down the hall together. Apple Bloom looks to Dinky, confused.
“I’m not really that hungry either.”
Sweetie Belle nods as Dinky steps back. “Yeah! Why’d you do that, Dinky?!”
“Didn’t you two see the look on Miss Raven’s face? Something’s really wrong.”
Babs Seed looks nervous. “What do you suppose it is?”
Sweetie Belle frowns. “Well, whatever it is, your dad must be involved in it somehow.”
Dinky sounds surprised. “You think so?”
Apple Bloom shrugs. “Probably. I mean, she DID make a beeline for him.”
Sweetie Belle nods. “That and she didn’t even LOOK at us!”
Apple Bloom looks around and lowers her voice.
“You don’t suppose she and Arc are seeing each other, do you?”
Babs Seed shakes her head. “No way! He’s the Hero of Light, and she’s just a commoner!”
Sweetie Belle raises an eyebrow. “But Arc isn’t a noble or anything.”
“He’s not?”
Apple Bloom turns to her cousin. “Nope. He came here from… um… somewhere else.”
Dinky nods. “Another planet called Earth.”
“What?! How did he…?!”
Sweetie Belle shrugs. “He told me once, but I didn’t understand. Dinky?”
“My dad said a portal opened and swallowed him up. Miss Twilight over at the Golden Oaks Library was running some kind of experiment of Earth’s plants and accidently pulled him through.”
Babs Seed’s jaw drops. “But… but he was the Lord Regent! He ran the COUNTRY for the PRINCESSES! How is he NOT part of the nobility?!”
Apple Bloom shrugs. “I dunno.”
Sweetie Belle puts a hoof to her chin. “Maybe he’s just too busy?”
Dinky looks down the hallway. “Hmmm…”
Babs Seed turns to her friend. “Dinky?”
“I was just thinking about what Apple Bloom said a minute ago.”
“Which part?”
“About Miss Raven and my dad.”
Sweetie Belle looks to her nervously. “That’s just…!”
“She might be right.”
Apple Bloom gasps. “Really?!”
Dinky nods. “Yeah. I just never thought about it. Miss Raven and my dad really do have a lot in common.”
Sweetie Belle looks surprised. “They do?”
Dinky nods. “Both of them are hardworking, never take a break, help others, and love what they do.”
Apple Bloom puts a hoof to her chin. “Kinda.”
Sweetie Belle nods. “That and Arc has shown that he doesn’t care what rung of society a mare is on.”
Babs Seed looks to Dinky, confused. “What does that mean?”
“My dad doesn’t mind if somepony is a noble or a commoner. He treats everypony about the same.”
Apple Bloom smiles happily. “Right! Remember when he proposed to Miss Cherry at the hospital? He was still the Lord Regent back then.”
Sweetie Belle giggles. “He was all set to marry her, and all. Even though she was a farm pony like Applejack.”
Apple Bloom frowns. “And what’s wrong with that?!”
“Nothing! It’s just good to know he looks at more than just social status is what I’m saying.”
Babs Seed smiles. “He’s certainly a very important human to us orphans. It’s not everypony who can say they’ve truly been rescued.”
Dinky nods. ”Yeah. I was only at the New Beginnings Orphanage for a short time. But I had my dad right there with me. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to live there full-time for years on end!”
Babs Seed frowns. “Think of the worst thing ever.”
Apple Bloom puts a hoof to her chin. “Eating rotten apples.”
“At least you’d be eating. That was more than could be said of Matron Tempest.”
Sweetie Belle turns to Babs. “Being forced to help out at my sister’s shop.”
“Imagine having to compete and win a game for the privilege to eat.”
Dinky sighs. “Yeah. You and the others have been through a lot.”
Babs Seed nods. “Yes. But there was one bit of good to come from it.”
Apple Bloom looks surprised. “What’s that?”
“It ended. You and your father came for us, Dinky.”
Dinky shakes her head. “My dad was the hero there. I just carried him around.”
“That’s not how we saw it. You were the only one of us who was willing to stand up to the Matron. I just have one question. How?”
“It all started back when my dad was discussing plans for investigating the orphanage. I suggested infiltration.”
Sweetie Belle raises an eyebrow. “But he’s kinda big to do that.”
“That’s why I went. He was shrunken down and in my mane the whole time.”
Apple Bloom gasps. “Really?! I can’t believe he or your mom agreed to that!”
“Mom wasn’t too thrilled with the idea. But I was able to convince them both that it was the only way.”
“Me and the others really appreciate it. Thank you, Dinky.”
Dinky smiles. “We all do what we have to.”
Meanwhile, Arc and Raven head to his quarters. He closes the door behind them and gestures to the couch.
“Have a seat.”
“Th-thank you, sir.”
The pair sit down together. Raven clops her hooves together nervously.
“Now then, what is it you wanted to tell me?”
“I, um… just wanted to tell you that I’m doing much better these days. No more dark thoughts or bad dreams lately.”
“That’s good.”
“My therapy sessions have been proceeding as prescribed by Emerald Dream. But…”
Raven’s voice trails off.
“It’s okay, Raven. Whatever you tell me will stay between us. There’s no need to write a report, or anything.”
Raven looks relieved. “Thank you, sir! That did have me worried!”
“Your dignity is important to me. Now then, you just take your time.”
“I… uh… Emerald Dream says I’ve really come a long way. But there’s not much else she can do for me.”
“Is there something I can do to help?”
“M-maybe. She says right now I need… cloture of some kind.”
Arc nods soberly. “You want to see Goldstone go down, don’t you?”
Raven nods sadly. “Yes, I do. But not if it means our nations lose their newfound peace. I’m not worth a war, after all.”
“While I appreciate that, you’re certainly worth this uphill task.”
“Any luck with that, sir?”
“Princess Luna told me the paperwork is underway. It’s still going to be awhile before we can do anything.”
Raven looks down at her hooves, sadly. “I… I understand.”
Arc puts a hand on her chin. He raises it to look her in the eye.
“We’re not going to stop until Goldstone pays for what he did to you.”
“Thank you very much, sir. Flash Sentry’s doing his best to be there for me. But I know this whole thing really hurt his career.”
“How so?”
“Well… I can’t help but wonder what if he hadn’t confronted Lord Goldstone.”
Arc looks to her soberly. “I know what would have happened to you.”
“Yes, but… was that worth his position? For a Royal Guard to be permanently stationed in Canterlot is a big deal!”
“What do you think he believes?”
Raven looks away. “I… I don’t know.”
“If what I’ve seen is true, he’s very happy that he made the right choice back then.”
“I sure hope so.”
“Trust me on this one.”
“Yes sir. Well, I should get back to my desk.”
“And I should get moving with my daughter and her friends.”
Raven turns to him as they stand up. “Taking them somewhere, sir?”
Arc chuckles as they head for the door.
“Yeah. I think we just need a little… altitude to get to the bottom of something.”