Celestia was distracted from her breakfast by a rather loud series of shouts coming from the muster-field adjacent to the Princesses’ private dining hall, the same hall that Tau Niem had graced the night before. Normally, the sounds of the guard training wouldn’t have concerned her in the least, however, their battle cries were punctuated by bouts of silence – something rarely heard when the guard is drilling…They were typically accompanied by the clatter of arms, the thuds of bodies and the grunts, and groans of exertion. Without a word, she cut her meal short and proceeded to the balcony at the back of the hall that overlooked much of the citadel below. To her surprise, she found a small contingent of her guard surrounding their guest, while her sister and the Guard Captain watched on. Spreading her wings, she flew down to land behind them.
Tau Niem stood at the center of a large circle of unicorns and pegasi, all armored and carrying spears. One took a step forward, leveled his spear and awaited the nod of the biped’s head. With a growl, the pony charged, only to be deftly knocked aside and disarmed at the same time. Without a second of hesitation, nor a wasted motion, Tau Niem spun with his new spear in hand and wrapped his unicorn opponent upside the head, as he turned about with a shocked look on his face. Stunned, the stallion fell to the ground. Dropping the spear, the man knelt next to his beaten sparring partner, ensuring his safety, until he was ready to take to his hooves once more. The two shared an informal bow, before Tau Niem began to converse with him, regarding tactics. From what Celestia could tell of their energy levels, they had been doing this for at least an hour, though amazingly enough, her ponies looked more winded than the Danårian. Despite the obvious fatigue and prolific sweating, they were so focused on his observations, that none of them noticed her approach. Even her sister and Shining Armor listened intently from a short distance.
“Sister, Shining Armor?” She addressed them, the smallest of grins tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Luna, used to her sister’s incredible ability to approach anypony nearly undetected, thanks to centuries of exposure, merely turned her head to the side to regard her with a smile.
Shining Armor, however, nearly leapt from his armor in fright! “Princess!” He started and promptly bowed his head to her; even still, none of the armored ponies took notice of her arrival, nor did their guest, “I did not hear you…”
“It’s quite alright, Captain.” She smiled warmly at him, enjoying his reaction, but at the same time relieving him of his panic near instantly.
“Good morning sister, I am glad to see you, there’s something which I would like to discuss.” Luna looked to her sister expectantly, though Celestia thought she looked rather fatigued.
“Why have you not retired? I would not want to see you take ill.” Celestia wondered, with no little concern in her voice.
“I will be fine sister.” The Princess of the Night reassured her elder sister, “There’s something I need to discuss with you.” She glanced at their guest surrounded by the solar guards, “It’s about Tau Niem.”
“Ah,” She nodded, “…excuse us Captain.”
“Of course, your majesties,” he said with another bow of his head.
“Alright three of you this time!” Tau Niem barked loud enough to briefly draw their attention, “I don’t care who, or where from. Have at me!”
“I noticed the sky was rather…lackluster, last night.” Celestia stated, assuming Luna’s answer, however, she wanted to hear it from her firsthoof.
“Yes, I spent most of the night with our guest.” Luna nodded, briefly revisiting the events of the night before in her mind’s eye.
“That explains both your absence and the plain sky.” The elder sister nodded, “What is it about him that you wish to speak to me about?”
“He’s in pain.” The younger stated empathetically.
Celestia looked toward the man, now holding off three of her best guards without significant effort. “He appears unhindered to me.”
“No, no, you misunderstand me.” Luna sighed, “His pain is on the inside.”
“The loss of his mate?” Celestia deduced, still watching him fight from the corner of her eye, in that his barely at the edge of control manner of his.
“The poor male watched, watched her bleed to death in his arms!” Luna shook her head, trying her best to hold back tears of her own, “I don’t know how he continues...” The Princess of the Night looked over her shoulder towards him, as he took down the first of his combatants with a pair of swift strikes.
“Perhaps death means less to their species?” Celestia pondered, causing her sister to snap back to her in shock.
“No!” She rebuked her sister harshly, “You should’ve seen him! He broke down in tears, cried himself to sleep…”
Celestia looked at him now, as he took down both the second and third pony against him in quick succession; she had a hard time believing that something so strong could have a soft spot anywhere, it seemed inconceivable to her. “No…” She shook her head dismissively.
“Sister, have I ever lied to you?” Luna returned impatiently.
“Not even when you turned to Nightmare Moon.” Celestia sighed in resignation.
“Then believe me now, I cannot fathom how he manages...” Luna said glumly.
“What do you suggest?” Celestia looked to her younger sister curious as to how what she was implying they do.
“I don’t know.” Luna shook her head; she honestly had no idea how to help him.
“Since nothing’s changed, we proceed with caution as we would’ve regardless.” Celestia decided.
“Isn’t there anything we can do for him?” Luna wondered, “Couldn’t we ease his pain somehow?”
“I wouldn’t dare. He’s not a pony, who knows what might happen?” Celestia shook her head.
“Very well,” Luna said in resignation, now feeling worse than before for some reason.
Before they could continue, Tau Niem’s boisterous voice rang out once more…
“You, Shining Armor!” I pointed to the stallion in the purple armor, motioning him over, “Come on!”
“I’m afraid that my skills with a spear are limited,” he said dismissively.
“You have a horn, don’t you?” I asked sarcastically, “Use that.”
“I’m one of the Celestial Guard’s best trained mages-” Shining Armor began, only for me to interrupt him.
“Well then, put your honor before me.” I goaded him with a grin.
“Very well.” He nodded finally.
“How do you want to do this? On hoof, or stationary?”
“On hoof works for me,” he said decidedly.
“First to touch an ear?” I suggested.
“Your belt.” He stated, catching an imbalance in the goals.
“Yes, my belt, your ears.” I stated confidently, I did have a reputation to uphold, “Let’s go!”
He approached me, before pawing at the dirt with a forehoof, while sizing me up. I cracked my neck, and he whipped his tail. Finally, he decided on his course of action…
With a squint, he barraged me with one shot after another of energy from his horn. I held my ground and deflected them, using the inside of my palms to twist them into the ground around me. After a dozen or so, he ceased, reconsidering his plan. However, before he could come up with a new one, I charged him. In his haste, he threw up a magical shield around himself. Forcing me to halt in my tracks. I grinned and nodded. My turn. Cracking my knuckles, I walked right up to his barrier and punched it full strength, though along with it was a fair share of my psionic energy. The shield rippled dangerously, but did not falter. Nevertheless, I saw in his eyes that it unnerved him. I repeated it and again it rippled…so I struck it a third time and once more, it rippled. I ground my teeth, his confidence had returned and mine was fading. Thus, I did what any self respecting Ne Ni Nei would do - something over the top!
With a defiant snort, I stretched my fingers, earning a suspicious glare from the stallion. After flexing them, I growled and took a hold of his shield with both hands. This time he laughed.
“What do you plan on doing now?” He taunted me.
“To flip the turtle…” I growled, while polarizing his shield with my energy.
“Not likely.”
“We’ll see?” I replied sarcastically.
Just then, I found my grip and began to lean back. Much to his dismay, he found himself being lifted off the ground, along with his protective sphere…slowly at first, but then more steadily, until I had him a full foot off the ground! In desperation, he broke his shield, knocking me back from the force of its popping. He quickly counter-attacked with several bursts of magic from his horn, once more. However, I was not as off balance as I had appeared and began readily blocking them, despite our relative closeness. Then a thought occurred to me. In the show, unicorn horns were shown to be rather sensitive, so I thought, why not? In between shots, I extended my aura out toward him and finished with a flick of my wrist. His reaction was immediate. He fell to one knee, looking like he had taken a solid punch to the jaw. In that moment, I lunged forward and tapped his ear with the palm of my hand.
“Ugh…” Was all he could groan in defeat.
After a moment of panting beside him, with my hands on my knees, I looked up into his equally tired eyes. “Are you alright?”
“Might as well’ve bucked me square…” He groaned.
“Ooh, I didn’t realize that hurt so much.” I admitted, “I thought it would only daze you.”
“Maybe if my horn wasn’t so hot from all that magic…?” He chuckled.
“Yeah, you’re pretty tough.” I conceded and offered him a hand up, “We’ll have to do that again some time.”
“Maybe after my head stops ringing?” He laughed.
“You might want to rest a while first?” I suggested.
“Worried you won’t have enough stamina for another bout?” He playfully smirked.
“Right…” I chuckled with him.
However, before the two of us could continue our friendly bout of post-fight, verbal sparring, I was engulfed in a lavender aura and thrown through the air, only to be slammed into the ground. Luckily, I was still in the mindset of battle and I quickly broke my bounds with a burst of psionic energy. Thanks to the painful landing back-first on the ground, I now had enough momentum to flip myself over, but only enough to land on all fours. The purple mare from the day before that I had the pleasure of conversing with, was now charging me with all the determination that she had when facing Nightmare Moon.
Out of the periphery of my senses, I heard Princess Celestia. “Twilight, no!” She shouted to her pupil in a commanding voice that did not seem to reach the enraged unicorn.
“Tau Niem!” Luna shouted fearfully, knowing firsthoof what I was capable of…and from her unspoken plea, I knew what I had to do.
I sighed, resigning myself not to hurt her in the slightest and bracing myself for what I could only assume would be the most painful fight of my life. If a unicorn mare was anything like a Danårian woman…well…ouch!
With a massive heave of my legs to one side, I took the full weight of her tackle in my chest, while being extra careful not to be impaled by that horn on her head. In the process of having the air knocked from my lungs, the two of us went crashing to the ground incredibly hard, both of us earning scrapes and bruises from the soil beneath. I ended with my legs coiled around her midsection, my right arm around her neck, taking a firm hold of her mane and my left was up her back, fingers deep in her mouth and nose, trying to keep her from goring me with that horn.
“Twilight Sparkle, I’m- ARGH!” I cried out as she bit down on my fingers, “I don’t want to…UGH…hurt you.” I groaned, trying my best not to growl, even as she mashed down on my fingers hard enough to draw blood, “Twily, please…” I whimpered in her ear as bursts of color flashed upon the inside of my closed eyelids.
She released my fingers from the painful bite and as she did, I quickly chose a better place to take a hold of her head from, the base of the spine to be specific. “Let me go!” She shouted, trying to ply me off with her magic, hooves and bucking on her side, but to no avail, I was on her like a tick.
“Only if you promise to stop this nonsense…” I groaned, struggling to keep her from thrashing about and hurting either of us.
“You attacked my brother!” She groaned.
“No I didn’t.” I grunted, only to take a hoof in the chest.
“I saw you!” She barked.
“We were sparring!” I barked back.
“Twilight Sparkle!” Celestia rebuked her student with the tone of her voice alone, “Enough.” Twilight’s one eye that was in a position to see anything but dirt turned from me, to the princess standing over her, “Do you think I’d allow this stallion to break an oath he made to me, before my very eyes?”
“I…but…” Twilight began to protest, only to receive a critical glare, “No.”
“Tau Niem, release her.” Celestia ordered me firmly, but gently.
Without a word, I did so, and flopped onto my back with a gentle thud, only to cradle my wounded hand to my chest. Although, after taking a hoof, it wasn’t in much better shape either… Celestia looked down at me clutching my bleeding hand, which instantly drew Twilight’s attention.
“Oh, Celestia! Let me see that!” Twilight exclaimed, ashamed that she had wounded me, but all she got in response, was an angry grunt, “Please, I’m so sorry…”
“It’ll be fine.” I growled, still in pain.
“I can still taste your blood in my mouth, now let me see.” Before I could stop her, she grabbed onto my whole arm with her aura and pulled it toward her face. Right before her eyes, the lacerations caused by her teeth slowly began to close. “How…?”
“That’s the second time I’ve seen you heal like that. What sort of spell are you using?” Shining Armor asked still not believing his eyes.
“It’s not magic, all my people have tiny machines in our blood that keep us healthy and aid in the healing process,” I said, taking my hand back as I sat up.
“So, if you caught the pony-pox?” Celestia wondered, hard pressed to believe her own eyes, but it was hard for her to discount what she had seen.
“They’d help my body fight it off, before I ever became sick.” I informed them, gently massaging my bruised fingers.
“I’m sorry,” Twilight said with her head hung low, only daring a peek past her bangs, “I really am.”
“Oh come here,” I said tenderly, pulling her into my chest without giving her a say in the matter, “Protect those who are unable to protect themselves.” I began stroking her mane, “I might’ve done the same…”
“You really forgive me?” She turned her head so that one of her eyes could look up at me.
“Consider it forgotten.” I smiled.
“How can you just forgive and forget that easily?” She could not believe what I said.
“Because I can feel your heart beating in your chest and it tells me all I need to know,” I said with my left hand on her chest, just over her still pounding heart, “It speaks to me. It tells me that you speak the truth.”
She merely stared up into my eyes for a moment, before burying her head into my chest and laughing gently. “You sound like one of the ponies from the retirement village!”
“I’m older than I look, I assure you.” I chuckled back.
“It is pleasant that you can be so forgiving.” Celestia remarked, lowering her head to be nearer my eye level.
“Forgive her? For what?” I looked up at Celestia, who looked back at me with a curious expression, “If I had a sister, I’d wish that she could be just like Twilight.” I looked back at the purple mare that regarded me with teary eyes, “So sweet and caring.” I pulled her close once more and stroked her head, “Shining Armor, you’re a lucky stallion. Don’t you ever forget that.”
“Never.” He replied, the love for his sister was obvious.
Twilight and I remained close for perhaps another minute, before I gently ran my hand through her mane one last time. The abrupt end of my labors caused her to look up at me longingly.
“You did come to speak with your brother, didn’t you?” I suggested with a smile, knowing that if I didn’t, she might have lay there all day – she nodded, “Well, I shan’t distract you further.”
“Could…could we talk some more, later? I have thought of more questions since yesterday.” She informed me.
“Sure.” I nodded, “Maybe this evening?”
“Oh, but my friends and I are returning to Ponyville this evening,” she said sullenly.
“Don’t worry, if the fates decree it, then so shall it be,” I said with a smile, “I’ve got to go find Rarity…”
“Why’re you looking for Rarity?” Twilight’s disposition quickly turned to curiosity.
“I’m in need of a competent seamstress.” I shrugged, showing her my now damaged robe.
“I could show you to her quarters?” Luna spoke up, slowly approaching me.
“That’s alright, I-” I began to politely decline.
“Twilight and her friends have been staying in the guest wing of the castle, which happens to be next to mine. I was thinking of retiring anyways, so it wouldn’t be an inconvenience at all.” Luna informed me.
“Alright.” I nodded, “I suppose that makes sense.”
Twilight took to her hooves and carefully backed up, giving me more than enough room to stand. I swiftly stood and looked to the ponies I had been sparring with formerly, and without a word, bowed to them – a gesture they readily returned. For Shining Armor, I gently grinned and nodded my head to him. Turning around, Twilight looked up at me with a smile. Unlike the day before, I felt that embracing her likely would not be the wrong choice. Taking a knee, I gave her a hug that despite her initial shock, she returned. I was somewhat shocked myself to learn that her mane and coat were soft and smooth, not unlike my own hair, a fact I had ignored while I was wrestling with her on the ground. The exchange was a brief one, but tender nonetheless. Though I had only met her the other day, I felt as though I had known her for a long time…
Finally standing, Luna looked to me expectantly. “To Rarity’s then?” She suggested.
“If you would be so kind.” I nodded.
“I look forward to sharing dinner with you once more before you depart, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna announced as she began heading back into the castle.
“As do I, Luna.” Twilight smiled, before nodding to me once more.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The two of us walked in awkward silence for several minutes, before Luna finally broke it. “You must be in a lot of pain.” She stated rather flatly, with a mastery of the obvious.
“Ugh, you have no idea. For such a small pony she sure packs a punch…” I gently groaned, finally acknowledging the ache in my chest, by bringing my hand up to the rather painful bruise forming on my chest.
“Indeed she does.” She nodded, but turned her eye directly toward me, “That’s not what I meant though.”
“No, I don’t expect it was…” I sighed.
“I’m worried about you,” she said honestly.
“I know. I gathered as much.” I acknowledged with a nod as I stopped and turned to face her, “Who have you told? Beyond your sister?”
A look of what I could only assume to be shock crossed her dark muzzle. “Just her.” She assured me, “…but how did you know?”
“I saw the two of you talking, while you watched me sparring.” I stated plainly.
“How? You were so focused on your opponents?” She gawked.
“The fighting style I was practicing is called Tur’pour, it means ‘always advancing’ in our tongue.” She looked at me unsure of my point, “The form teaches a direct approach of combat. Hammer your opponent head on, and never relent ground, never sidestep. Every motion must lead to another.” I could tell from the look on her face that she still didn’t understand, “I was watching all of you. All of you became potential threats, and all of you were under my observation.”
“How can you maintain that level of acuity in combat?” She wondered in disbelief.
“It’s one of the birthrights of my clan, and has been honed over years of practice.” I explained, asking her to continue walking with an open hand, “My people, the Ne Ni Nei, do not have the empathetic abilities of our brethren, we are ‘Dull stones’…so they call us.”
“I do not understand, are the Ne Ni Nei not Danårian?” She asked in confusion.
“We are, but you must understand that there are many different kinds of Danårians, many different clans…” I pondered for a moment, how to explain it to her in a way that she might understand, before nodding in realization, “Think of the differences between earth-ponies, pegasi, unicorns and alicorns… Except that most of us are not that different on the outside. Most of our differences are inside,” I tapped the side of my head, “…our mental abilities.”
“I think I understand.” She nodded, “So, what makes your people unique?”
“Well, as I mentioned before, we are not telepathic, like the majority of our brethren, which is both a blessing and a curse. We cannot read the minds of others, but neither can they read ours…” I grinned, “However, because of this, our people developed our impressive spatial awareness. We can absorb information from each of our senses and…paint a picture, if you will, of the world around us.” I gestured about with each of my hands, “An interesting side-effect of this adaptation is we have far more control over our psionic abilities than most of our kin…”
With a smooth motion of my hand, I gently stroked her ethereal mane with nothing but the energy of my own chi, causing an interesting reaction in the coloration of her mane. Within the ethereal essence of the night sky, an aurora borealis danced where her energies and mine came into contact. Her awe matched my surprise, never before had I seen my own aura outside an ion-rich chamber…
“Amazing…” She cooed.
“Indeed.” I gawked, as I manipulated the colors within her mane.
“You didn’t do that intentionally?” She asked in surprise.
“No, this is a first.” I admitted, “I was merely expecting you to feel my aura brushing through your mane, as if it were my fingers…”
I swiftly, but gently withdrew my aura, not knowing what sort of effect it might have on her, eliciting a dejected sigh. “Why did you do that?” She asked meekly.
“I’m unsure what reaction is occurring, so I’d rather not chance harm coming to either of us.” I explained logically.
“If you say so…” She conceded, “I was thinking, perhaps you should join Twilight Sparkle and her friends when they return to Ponyville?”
“Oh? Why’s that?” I wondered.
“I think that you’d do better in a lower stress environment.” She stated as if it were the most natural fact in the world.
“Really now, why do you say that?”
“Well, if you’re in Canterlot, you’ll soon become the center of the elite’s attention and before long…” She explained.
“I see.” I nodded in understanding, “What of my study to find a way home?”
“My sister and I will continue from here, while you can study in Ponyville.” She replied logically.
“Except for the fact that I do better hands on, than nose deep in a book.” I admitted, “Which comes to the next problem, I can’t read your writing. My translator’s for vocal language only.”
“Well, Twilight Sparkle lives in the local library, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Yes, she does.” I nodded, drawing a suspicious gaze from her. Quick on my proverbial feet, I reacted without hesitation... “I mean, of course she does. Where else would the protege of Celestia reside, than surrounded by books?”
“Yes.” She nodded, discarding her look of suspicion and in its place came a subtle grin… “She is something of a bookworm isn’t she?” She inhaled deeply and pointed her hoof to the door next to me on the left, “This is her room, Rarity’s that is.”
“Thank you, Princess.” I nodded my thanks to her.
“Just call me Luna, please?” She requested bashfully.
“As you wish, Luna…” I said with a teasing smile.
“Dinner in the private hall this evening, then?” She wondered.
“Yes, I shall see you there,” I said with a bow.
“Good day, Tau Niem.” She returned with a nod of her head and proceeded to her room, leaving me before Rarity’s door.
I hesitated before knocking, after all, it was early in the morning. In the end, I decided to knock, albeit gently. There was a brief moment of silence, before her voice rang through the door.
“Um, just a moment!” Even in the morning, her voice sounded divine. However, before I could even answer her, the sound of padded hooves clopping to the door immediately preceded its opening. She regarded me in shock, a set of pink slippers on her hooves and her hair only barely tamed… “Uh…”
“E’geh Tau Niem A Ne Ni Nei V’as Kelovo.” I tenderly took her forehoof in my hand, and kissed it, “We met the other night, Dame Rarity.”
“Why yes.” She exclaimed in surprise, “It’s just…I wasn’t expecting to see you this morning!”
“I imagine.” I chuckled, unsure if to expect her invitation or not – my knowledge of their culture appearing to be somewhat incomplete… “I was wondering if you might be able to aid me, you see…?”
I held forward the end of my robe, which was all dirty and now had a significant rip down the side. Her eyes instantly fell on the damaged location, like a true master of fabric…
“What happened?” She exclaimed in wonder.
I sighed deeply. “There was a little misunderstanding this morning and Twilight Sparkle got a little overzealous in defense of her brother.” I shrugged.
“I see.” She nodded, beckoning me into her room, “She is rather protective of him…”
“An admirable trait if you ask me.” I spoke up, taking in the room.
Rarity’s things were semi-neatly scattered about her room, though it was amazing with the amount of bags she brought that she could even manage this level of organization. Opal sat on the end of the bed observing me closely. Rarity walked back to her mirror, to run her brush through her mane once more, before she regarded me approaching Opal, with my hand extended toward her…
“NO!” She shouted a desperate warning, spinning in place, only to find me petting the cat with a curious glance up at her, “How…?”
“What? I’m good with animals and people…ponies?” I gently shrugged, “…I‘ve yet to see.” She simply stood there awestruck, “Dame Rarity?”
“Ah, yes Tau Niem? Oh, you don’t mind if I call you Tau Niem, do you?” She snapped out of her shock rather quickly – rather surprising since Opal never warmed up to anypony.
“That’s fine, I’d prefer it actually.” I smiled, “I have a needle and a bit of thread, made of the same material.”
“Oh, that’s alright, I’m sure that I can find the color darling.” She assured me.
“No doubt. Though I do suspect that your needle would blunt itself on this fabric.” I warned her.
“Nonsense! Fabric can’t dull a needle…” she said dismissively.
With a motion of my hand, I reached out for one of her needles sneaking out from her bags and brought it to my hand as easily as she would with her horn, to hold it before my face. She regarded me curiously, as I thrust the needle towards my chest. She winced, expecting me to lodge the needle deep into my flesh, but the yelp of pain never came. Instead, when she looked up, she saw me standing there, with the needle in my open palm, its tip bent. Her eyes instantly came up to mine, hoping for an answer.
“It’s made from a grade four anti-perforation material.” I explained, “Even if one of the solar-guards were to strike me with his spear, it’d only bruise me.”
“Then how’d you manage to rip it?” She thought aloud.
“It must’ve been the energy from Twilight Sparkle’s horn that cleft it.” I surmised.
“Why don’t I just use my magic to repair it?” She offered.
“I suspect that if you used your energy, you would exhaust yourself. The weave is very dense.” I shrugged, “Besides, I only need to cover up the rip, not mend the fabric. I doubt that I’ll be getting cut or stabbed anytime soon.”
“True…” She agreed.
“Then, could you please try and fix it? I’ll pay you back with interest so soon as I make some money.” I humbly requested.
“Oh, dear, you don’t have to pay me to mend your robes. It’d be crime against fashion for you to wander about in a torn garment!” She proclaimed, which drew a chuckle from me, “What is so funny?”
“It’s only, I know you’re the element of generosity, but how can you expect me to accept your hard work, without repaying you?” I tried my hand at deflection, “How about so soon as I have the bits, I order some clothes from you? Do you think that would be acceptable?”
“You, a stallion, ordering clothes from me?” She gawked.
“Certainly. What, is there something wrong with that?” I asked curiously.
“No, it’s just that I don’t generally get much business from stallions.” She explained modestly.
“I bet you don’t get many orders from Danårians either?” I grinned.
“I can’t say that I have…” She returned the grin, looking both flattered and humored, “Thank you, Tau Niem, I’d appreciate that.”
“It’s the least I could do.” I bowed my head in thanks.
“Now, let me see that robe and pass me the needle you were discussing.” She requested, with an extended hoof.
“Alright.” I dug my hands into the robe’s inner-pockets, woven into the inside in such a way to make them all but invisible, and removed the pouch containing a length of string and a dull-grey needle half the thickness of the one I had blunted earlier, before removing the robe, “Here you go.” I handed her the robe first and offered the sewing pouch to her in the other hand.
“This is filthy.” She remarked, examining the damage closer.
“That’s what happens when you face down one of the Elements of Harmony, I suppose?” I snickered, “I’m planning on cleaning it just so soon as it is repaired.”
“Not before?” She inquired.
“I’d hate for any of these fibers to enter the environment, who knows what havoc they might unleash.” I remarked passively, however, she took it as a joke.
“Yes, I suppose that would be quite a loss!” She laughed, to which I joined her – I don’t think she needs to know the truth about it…
We settled into a peaceful silence, as Rarity skillfully managed the alien fabric and needle – no pun intended – and I settled down with Opal. For whatever reason, animals always seemed to react positively to me? It was the same in each life I lived…well, except for that incident in my last life…and that other one, with the lions… For the most part, I never had problems though! Opal was no exception. My wife used to remark that she thought it was because I never cared about what someone looked like on the outside, but it was the inside I always seemed to find straight away. Perhaps that was why I found her so stunningly beautiful? Rarity had finished and turned around to find me sitting with Opal in my lap, purring contentedly, as my eyes began to water…
“You’re thinking of her, aren’t you?” she said, gently nuzzling my left arm, drawing me back to the here and now.
“Always.” I smiled, blinking my eyes a few times, “It didn’t give you any trouble did it?”
“None.” She assured me, “She was a lucky mare.”
“No.” I shook my head, “I was the lucky one.” I gently drew her close into a hug and planted a kiss atop her head, “Thank you for everything. You’re a gem.”
“Anytime,” she said warmly.
Nodding, I gently placed Opal back on the bed next to me and took my leave. Soon as I was gone, Rarity sighed. “Wow…she was a lucky mare, huh Opal?” The cat merely hissed at her in response.