//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 - Oversights // Story: The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds // by Kamahido //------------------------------// The next day Arc and his family leave Shelly’s Kitchen together. Scootaloo burps. “Those things were awesome!” Dinky grins. “I know, right!” “What were they called again, Big Brother? “Cheeseburgers.” Derpy smiles. “It’s surprisingly tasty for meat.” “Can we go to the park, dad?” “Sure.” Dinky turns to the other little girl. “Do you want to play this time, Scootaloo?” “I’ll try it.” Arc nods approvingly. “Good.” Arriving at the park, Dinky jumps out of the Jeep. Turning, she grabs Scootaloo’s hand. “Come on! Let’s go!” Arc and Derpy turn to each other and laugh as the two girls run toward the playground. Leading Derpy over to a large tree, Arc sits down and leans against it. Derpy does the same as they watch the pair play. “This is a nice spot.” Derpy sighs contentedly. “I’ll say. The grass makes for a nice cushion.” “More so due to the memories.” “Oh?” Arc looks up into the orange and red leaves overhead. “My dad used to take me to this very park when I was a little boy. I would swing and run and slide for hours while he would sit under this very tree in this very spot.” “You’ve come full circle.” “Yup. And it feels…” He is cut off as his earring chirps. “I think I’d better take this in the Jeep. Don’t want people thinking I’m talking to myself.” Derpy giggles. “Go ahead. I’ll stay here and watch the girls.” “Thanks.” Arc jogs to his vehicle. Getting into the driver’s seat he closes the door behind him and touches his earring. “Arc here.” “Um… hello?” “Applejack?” “Hey, Arc.” “Is everything okay over there?” “For the most part, yes. Rose turned up this morning.” “Was she okay?!” Applejack sighs. “Yeah. She went to Canterlot like she said she would. Rainbow Dash didn’t see her because she took an out of the way route.” “Took the scenic path, eh?” “Heck, yes! Said she wanted some time to think before seeing her mother.” “How did that meeting go?” “It didn’t happen. The guards at the gate didn’t let her inside the castle.” Arc frowns. “I was afraid of that. But at the same time it’s still quite interesting.” “Arc?” “Rose could’ve taken those guards to the cleaners. But she made the conscious choice not to.” “Looks like you were right about her.” “A good thing too. I can’t imagine the powers that be just letting her walk away after doing something like that.” “Hopefully she stays out of trouble too.” Arc raises an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t she?” “Rose told us that she wanted to do a little traveling. See Equestria and all it has to offer.” “Did she say where exactly she was going?” “No. Just that she’d return if needed.” Arc sighs. “I guess that’s all we can ask of her. After all, she’s her own person now. Without directives, no one can order her around. Not me, not Twilight, not even Decimus.” “About that. Decimus has doubled his efforts to find you.” “Has he now?” “That he has. There’re messengers and scouting parties coming and going at all hours overhead. Light’s Hope is where he coordinates from these days, what with it being so centrally located.” “I think there’s more to it than its location.” “Huh?” “It’s a victory throne for him. He’s been trying to take me down since the day I became the Hero of Light.” “And now he thinks he’s done it.” Arc chuckles. “Nah. He’s worried.” “That you’ll show up and slit his throat?” “Don’t tempt me.” “Considering what he’s done, you certainly have every right to take him down.” “This actually works to my advantage.” “Which part?” “Me staying on Earth. He can search every nook and cranny on Equestria a thousand times over. But I’m not there to be found.” “How does that help you?” “It’ll make him more and more worried.” Applejack chuckles. “I’ll tell Twilight not to convince Princess Celestia too fast then.” “Nah. We don’t want him getting TOO paranoid. Then he might take things too far.” “One of us will tell you if it comes to that point.” “Good. I’ll give him the beating of his life if need be.” “Can you still legally do that?” “What do you mean?” “He’s the Hero of Light, after all.” “So am I, right?” “Well… you’re supposed to be dead though. Don’t you lose it at that point, or something?” Arc shrugs. “If someone asks me, I’ll say that I was appointed by two princesses, and that no one has told me otherwise.” “I’m serious, Arc! We don’t want you getting in trouble over us!” “So am I. After all, I swore to fight for what was right no matter the danger. Independent of my employment status, I’ll still uphold that oath.” “We’ll all lend a hoof if need be, Arc. You don’t have to fight this battle alone.” “Some parts of it I do. After all, if one of you were to attack Decimus he would have full legal authority to declare you all traitors and take you down.” “We aren’t afraid of that! Just remember that the Element Bearers are defenders of Equestria too!” “I know that. It’s just… um…” Arc is silent for a time before continuing. “…I don’t want to lose you.” “Wha…?” “You, Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie… you’re all special to me.” “We are?” “Of course! Do you really think I’d have even considered the whole herd idea if I wasn’t interested in everyone?” “I… guess not.” “That’s why you and the others need to stay safe. It’s so when this is all over we can continue with our plans.” “We’re all looking forward to it. Um… but can I talk to you about something else, sugarcube?” “Sure. Anything.” “It’s about Apple Bloom and Babs Seed.” “Oh?” “They’re… excited.” “About what exactly?” “Us… getting together.” Arc raises an eyebrow. “But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” “Normally I’d agree. But they’re talking like it’s already done.” “Ah!” “I don’t really know what to tell them either. After all, it isn’t exactly a straight-forward yes or no.” “That’s a tough one. I’m sorry I can’t give you an answer right now, Applejack.” “It’s alright, sugarcube. What we proposed…everypony understood that it isn’t something one should rush into. That and you’ve got your own problems right now, what with being exiled and all that.” “So do you.” “Huh?” “After all, you have two fillies over there who want answers, and you don’t have them.” “At the moment the best I can do is to try and change the subject. Other than that, I don’t know what to do.” “How about this? Just be the Element of Honesty.” “But I am.” “I mean that you should sit down with your sister and Babs Seed and explain everything.” “That isn’t going to be easy.” “Neither is dodging the issue. How much have you told them?” “That all of us want to get married.” “And what else?” “Nothing really.” “They’re very young, Applejack. All they’ve ever known is that two people whom love each other very much can sometimes get married. Anything other than that is a new concept to them, after all.” “So I just sit them down and do what exactly?” “Tell them that something like this is a big and important decision for me, you, and all your friends. And that we have to make sure everyone involved is okay with everyone else. Them included.” “They don’t have anything to do with this.” “Yes they do, Applejack. After all, if you and I get married, I’ll become a member of the Apple family. That’ll make me a regular part of their lives. For that reason their approval is important here too.” Applejack giggles. “They’ll be fine with it. After all, both of them completely idolize you.” “And I love them too. But you need to make sure they understand this is a long and winding road.” “I will, Arc.” “Soon though.” “Give me some time to figure out what to say and I’ll do it. But I do wish you were here to give them that talk with me.” “Me too. But I did speak to them about their idea for me to adopt them some time ago if you recall.” “Maybe I can build on that.” Arc nods. “Probably. Just be sure to not do all the talking and listen to what they have to say as well. A one-sided conversation won’t benefit anyone.” “Sound advice. Listen, I’ve got a lot of thinking to do between now and when I have this talk. Think I better get to that.” Arc chuckles. “Alright. Take care, Applejack.” “You too. Bye.” Arc touches his earring to sever the connection as he leans back in his seat and muses to himself. “That’s not going to be an easy conversation for her. But I’m sure Applejack can handle it.” Cherry calls out to him. “She’ll be fine.” “I should be there though.” “But you can’t be!” “Yeah. But that doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation.” Meanwhile, Stingray sits in her cubicle typing out a report. Mio walks over and clears her throat. Not looking over, Stingray responds. “What?” “I, uh… just wanted to talk to you about Hammer.” Stingray rolls her eyes. “Again?” “Look, I know you’ve noticed her acting so down lately.” “A blind person could see that.” “Well, have you seen how her mood has improved over the past week?” “She’s just had to put on her big girl panties and step it up.” “There’s more to it than that!” “Oh, is there now?” “Y-yes.” “What could possibly…?” Mio interrupts. “She’s being manipulated by Arc.” Stingray stops typing and swivels around to face her sister. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this Mio, but Arc isn’t around anymore. Remember he dumped Hammer and jumped on a plane to Timbuctoo, or somewhere.” “No, he didn’t.” “And how do you know that?” “Because, I… I saw him.” Stingray frowns. “Where?” “At the library last week.” Stingray raises an eyebrow. “And you’re bringing this up now… why? I mean, if you’re so concerned with Hammer’s feelings why didn’t you just blast him then and there?” “I… couldn’t.” “Well, I don’t mean IN the library. But you could have waited until he walked outside to…” “That was my original plan, yes. I actually Blinked us to the woods nearby.” “Smart move there. No witnesses. You did call Damocles Base to pick up the body though, right?” “There was no body.” Stingray grins. “Obliterated him, huh? Well, I don’t really see how he could do any more harm to Hammer now.” Mio shakes her head. “There was no fight. But we did talk.” “About what? Hammer?” “No… well yes, but… there were a few other subjects.” Stingray narrows her eyes. “Elaborate.” “He… knew a lot about me and my secrets.” “Such as…?” Mio blushes heavily. “I don’t want to talk about them!” Stingray groans. “Fine. What else?” Mio looks around for a moment before lowering her voice and whispering to her sister. “He knows about Damocles Base.” Stingray frowns. “HOW?!” Mio shrugs. “I don’t know. But he’s familiar with the Organization, Damocles Base, as well as the existence of magic.” “Hammer did say he was a detective of sorts. But this is far beyond what I thought he was capable of.” “Arc certainly isn’t a normal detective, that much is certain.” “We knew that from the time we sent The Riders after him on his date with Hammer.” “No normal person could have taken them. Not even with Hammer’s help.” Stingray puts a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “I always wondered what happened back there. Hammer didn’t really say though.” “Think she knows?” “Yeah. You went out that night and weren’t around when she got home.” “What happened?” Stingray chuckles. “She just asked if we were the ones whom sent them after her and Arc.” Mio appears suddenly nervous. “Did you tell her?” “I did.” “Why?!” “There was no reason to keep it from her. That and one of them squealed on us as well.” “Was she… angry?” “For a minute, yes.” “What did she do in that minute?” “Let me explain why.” Mio appears surprised. “That’s all?” Stingray shrugs. “I just told her we merely wanted to be sure that Arc was worthy of dating her. And that we were testing if he was potentially worthy of Ascension.” “Did that work?” Stingray nods. “Of course. If Arc would have been gifted with Ascension he would have joined us in the Organization. Then Hammer could have seen him every day. And then there was her… other idea.” “Hammer with an idea?” Stingray shakes her head. “She wanted to form a… duo with him.” “A what?” “Her words, not mine. I can only assume she wanted to become his partner in battle.” “What about us?!” Stingray sighs. “She held him in such high regard. His return as well as the knowledge he contains however is… troubling.” Mio nods fervently. “I believe he’s a legitimate threat to everything. We should tell someone about this.” “So they can do what? Bring him in for questioning? He’d just rat us out!” Mio gasps. “And then Hammer would be court martialed for giving him top secret information!” Stingray grimaces. “He’s smart, I’ll give him that. Arc’s been able to cover his tracks to get this far.” “But why expose himself now?” “Because he knows we can’t touch him.” Mio sighs. “Arc revealed that he had certain… evidence against me.” “And he used that to blackmail you into giving him information.” “Tried to anyways.” “Did you give him anything?” “Not much.” “And now you’re in his pocket as well.” Mio nods sadly as Stingray clenches her fist. “That can only mean one thing.” “What’s that.” Stingray grits her teeth. “He’ll go for me next.” “We can’t let that happen!” “Or… maybe we should.” “Stingray?” “I think we both know what’ll happen if he talks. We need to make sure that never happens.” “You have a plan?” Stingray grins. “That I do, Mio. That I do.” “What do you want me to do?” “How does he get in touch with you?” “Arc made me give him my cell phone number.” “Good. When he contacts you, I want to know about it. Then we can plug this little security hole for good.” “I’m… not sure that’s a good idea. “ “Uh… why not?” “Because Hammer’s really happy to hear from him. Arc’s been e-mailing her every day, after all.” “So?” “So if he stops Hammer might just regress back into a slobbering mess!” Stingray shrugs. “Calculated risks.” “We need to think of Hammer’s best interest here!” “I am, Mio! Arc’s the real problem here, and needs to be removed from the equation! After that we can deal with his emotional hold on her. Get her some psychiatric help, or something.” Mio looks around nervously. “Whatever you do needs to be done quietly. After all, if Hammer finds out about this, she’ll either try to stop US or help HIM.” Stingray chuckles. “She can’t stop what she doesn’t know about though. We have to keep it that way until the deed is done.” Mio nods. “Agreed.” Meanwhile, Hammer listens via headphones from her office in maintenance. Gritting her teeth she mutters to herself. “Even now you’re trying to break us up?! Typical. It’s always been about you, Stingray. Mio was certainly a surprise, but not much of one seeing as how much you and her have in common.” She leans back in her chair and smiles wickedly. The toolbox sitting in her lap gently stroked by her hand. “You two do what you want. And I’ll do… what I have to.”