Arc slowly opens his eyes as the first rays of dawn hit his face. Groaning, he sits up and puts a hand to his forehead.
“What a dream. It just… felt so real.”
Feeling movement next to him, Arc turns to see Ember lying beside him. She smiles happily.
“Morning, sleepyhead.”
Another voice rings out behind him.
“That it is.”
Arc looks to see Hammer on the other side of him.
“Oh, um… good morning, you two. I’m… sorry to wake you so early.”
Ember presses her face to his side. “We’re just glad that…!”
Arc gasps in pain as Ember draws back, clearly surprised.
“Arc?!”
Hammer looks him over quickly. “You okay?!”
“That really hurt!”
Ember appears confused. “But I’ve done that so many times!
Hammer frowns and pulls back the tatters of Arc’s prison jumpsuit. A massive bruise covers his side.
“That would explain it.”
Arc looks down at what’s left of his orange jumpsuit before putting a hand to his side.
“It… wasn’t a dream?”
A voice rings out from across the room.
“No. It wasn’t.”
Looking up, Arc spies Tempest standing in the doorway.
“Surprised to see me?”
“Kinda. Um… are we still in the prison?”
Tempest rolls her eyes. “No, you idiot! This is my house in Stableton!”
“How… did I get here?”
Ember frowns. “Tempest came to Abyssinia and told us of Decimus’ plan.”
Hammer nods. “She also offered to help us get you out of there.”
“Tempest?”
“I owed you one. Now we’re even.”
“Thanks, I think. But what happened to Sunset Shimmer?”
Ember gasps. “Princess Celestia’s old pupil was there?”
Hammer raises an eyebrow. “No idea who that is. Bad guy?”
Tempest turns to Hammer. “She’s a mare actually. Well, I guess that’s kinda subjective.”
“What are you talking about?! Either she’s a mare or she ain't! Which one is it?!”
Arc sighs. “Hammer.”
“Yes, Arc?”
“Tempest’s right.”
“She is?”
“Yeah. Sunset Shimmer is Diva in her original pony form.”
There is a stunned silence as Hammer tries desperately to put her thoughts together. Eventually she finds her voice.
“My sisters and I were… taking orders from a… pony?!”
Ember shrugs. “I’ve done worse.”
Tempest nods. “Sunset Shimmer, or Diva if you prefer, is part of the Council of Shadows.”
Arc groans as he turns to Tempest. “Makes sense. But why did she…?”
“Why did she what?”
“Kill General Virtuous Lance.”
Tempest raises an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? That wasn’t part of the plan.”
Ember glares at her. “Then what was?!”
Hammer points an accusatory finger at the mare. “Yeah! All you told us was that we had to get Arc out of there!”
“And I was correct about that, wasn’t I?”
Arc puts a hand to his tender side. “That you were. Had I stayed there, Spitfire would have slowly killed me.”
Ember frowns. “Spitfire? The general’s aide?”
“Right. She blames me for the general’s death.”
Tempest shrugs. “Well, you WERE there.”
“I didn’t do it!”
“Oh, I believe you. But try telling HER that.”
Ember brandishes her claws as she looks at the welt. “She lays another hoof on Arc and I’ll rip it off!”
Hammer pulls her gun. “You’ll have company for that!”
“Tell me something, Tempest. Why help me back there?”
“Like I said, I owed you one.”
“Yeah, yeah. But Decimus told me awhile ago that with Celestia back I wasn’t needed anymore.”
Tempest sighs. “He and I differ on that opinion”
Ember appears skeptical. “Do tell.”
“He sees you as nothing more than a loose end. I’m of belief that you don’t throw away a perfectly good spare part.”
Hammer grips her gun tightly. “Arc isn’t a PART! He’s a human being!”
Arc grimaces as the movement of the bed causes him additional pain. “Thanks, I needed that.”
Ember points a claw angrily. “Well, the same goes for you, Tempest!”
“Oh?”
“When this is all over, YOU’LL be the one thrown out!”
Tempest grits her teeth and takes a step forward. “Why you little…!”
Arc groans. “Enough, both of you. All of you helped me out last night, and I’m grateful. Even to her.”
Hammer rolls her eyes. “Whatever. But we need to figure out where to go from here.”
Ember nods soberly. “Anywhere but here would be safer.”
Tempest scoffs. “You three don’t get it, do you? With that little stunt we pulled back there, Arc will be hunted down mercilessly until captured.”
Arc sighs. “So what do you suggest?”
Hammer holds up her weapon. “How about we solve that little problem with a really big gun!”
Ember brandishes her claws. “Or a dragon invasion! End this thing once and for all!”
Tempest shakes her head. “You two are very subtle. Like a broken leg. Think about it.”
Arc nods. “Tempest is right. Decimus has already accused me of trying to overthrown the princesses. We march in there with an invasion force now and it’ll just prove that those charges were true.”
Hammer grits her teeth. “So what do we do then?”
Tempest points a hoof out the window. “I’d recommend leaving the country.”
Ember seethes. “Arc shouldn’t have to…!”
“Agreed.”
Ember turns to him, surprised. “What?”
“I need to get out of here. Any populated area I go to will make it a target.”
Hammer gasps. “But…!”
“We don’t need any more incidents like Ponyville.”
Ember frowns. “Fine. We can take you back to the Dragon Lands. You’ll be granted asylum there.”
“I need to get back to everyone else.”
Hammer raises an eyebrow. “You want to go back to Abyssinia?”
“Yeah.”
“But the Dragon Lands would be safer. Equestria wouldn’t dare attack us there.”
“That may be. But I don’t want be away from my friends and family.”
Tempest nods approvingly. “Very admirable.”
“Huh?”
“You’re choosing happiness over personal safety.”
Ember raises an eyebrow. “I thought you above all would say that’s a foolish idea.”
Tempest gestures with a hoof. “Look around. My house is literally in an abandoned village.”
Hammer frowns. “Then why stay?”
“Memories. That and I can just pop over to Baltimare any time I want to see my sister, Cerulean Skies.”
She looks out the window before continuing.
“But if I couldn’t do that… I’d probably go crazy out here.”
Arc nods and stiffly stands. Walking over to her he puts a hand on her shoulder.
“I suppose that’s the life we’ve chosen.”
Tempest nods. “A warrior’s path is often a lonely one. But you don’t walk it alone, Arc.”
“Right. But we need to get moving.”
Tempest turns to him. “How?”
“I can probably open a portal to The Equinox with my magic. Won’t be the smoothest ride, but…”
Tempest scoffs. “With your magic sealed?”
“Huh?”
He reaches up and feels the collar around his neck.
“Oh… right. Forgot about that.”
Tempest shakes her head. “Let me take care of that for you.”
Putting her nub of a horn to it, Tempest casts a spell. With a click the device opens and falls to the floor with a clank. Arc rubs his neck
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Channeling the power of his crystals, Arc opens a portal. Motioning for Ember and Hammer to make their way through he turns back to Tempest.
“You wanna come too?”
Tempest shakes her head. “No, thank you. My path is a different one from yours.”
“Fine. Take care of yourself, Tempest.”
“You too.”
Walking through his portal with Ember and Hammer, Arc reappears on the sigil in his quarters aboard The Equinox. Ahead of him stand Derpy and Dinky. They run over to him as he kneels down to their level.
“DAD!”
“Arc!”
The pair throw their hooves around his neck as Arc does the same.
“We missed you so much, dad!”
“Are you okay, Arc?!”
“I’ll be fine. Just a bit of bruising.”
Smiling, Ember and Hammer stand to the side watching. Eventually they break the embrace and stand up. Derpy looks to Arc.
“Why don’t we let you get cleaned up? I’m sure you’d like a shower and a nice meal though, Arc.”
“We could make you some breakfast, dad!”
“That does sound nice.”
Hammer points a thumb behind her. “Ember and I will take Dinky to the kitchen and get to work.”
“We will?”
Hammer glares at her.
“Fine.”
Derpy gasps. “Oh, but that’s not really…”
Hammer interrupts her. “Why don’t you stay here with Arc then? Make sure he gets to the Cafeteria safely.”
“Yeah, mom! I’ll be okay!”
“Well, alright then. But only if all of you are sure.”
Arc walks them to the door as Hammer turns to him.
“Don’t take too long in the shower now.”
“No promises.”
Ember plugs her nose. “Please do. You smell like rotting peas.”
Arc sighs. “That’s what the prison smelled like. Not sure why though.”
Hammer grimaces and turns away. “Well, hopefully it comes right out. But give yourself an extra scrubbing, would you please?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
They leave the room as Arc closes the door behind them. Ember turns to Hammer as Dinky bounds down the hall ahead of them.
“What the heck are you doing?!”
“Getting Arc some breakfast.”
Ember glares at Hammer. “We could have joined him in the shower, you idiot!”
Hammer sighs. “I know. But Derpy needs some time alone with him right now.”
“Well… I suppose that’s right. She’s and Arc have a very special bond, what with raising a filly together.”
“She loves him, you know.”
“Yeah, she told me that quite a while back.”
“And you’re okay with it?”
“Yup.”
Hammer appears relieved. “That’s cool. I thought dragons were more… um… greedy.”
“We are. But something Derpy told me a while back during a similar conversation about Arc made me rethink our relationship.”
“Oh? What was it?”
“I told her she needed to say something to him about her feelings. Otherwise someone else might just take him away from her.”
“Did she?”
Ember shakes her head. “Not back then, no. She just said something like… ‘if that’s what he wants, then I’ll be happy that he’s happy’.”
Hammer smiles. “That’s… really sweet of her.”
“Agreed. By the way, good call giving them some alone time.”
“I’m patient.”
“Really?”
Hammer grins. “Nah. But Arc’s worth waiting for. That and I had a lot of alone time with him back on Earth.”
Meanwhile, Derpy leads Arc toward the bathroom.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Arc chuckles. “You going to help?”
“I will if you need me to. Do you?”
Arc shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good.”
As he enters the bathroom, Derpy closes the door behind him. She sits down and listens to the sound of water flowing for a few moments before Arc’s voice rings out.
“Derpy?”
Poking her head into the bathroom, she calls out.
“Yes, Arc?”
“This is kinda embarrassing, but I forgot the my magic ring was taken before I got to the prison. Can you please grab me something to wear from the dresser here?”
“Sure. Be right back.”
Trotting happily over to the dresser, Derpy opens it and removes undergarments, pants, and a tunic before returning to the bathroom to set them on the counter.
“Here you are.”
“Thanks. I kinda just got used to having instant storage at my fingertips.”
“It certainly made things more convenient.”
“Yeah. Didn’t lose as much stuff.”
Derpy laughs nervously as she turns to look at the closed curtain.
“I… um… suppose I’ll wait in the other room.”
“Okay.”
Sighing, she leaves the bathroom. Sometime later Arc steps out, towels off, and dresses. Returning to the main room he spots Derpy sitting on the couch staring out the window overlooking Abyssinia. Walking over to her, he sits down.
“So what’s on your mind?”
“W-what makes you think…?”
“I can tell.”
Derpy sighs. “It’s about the future.”
“How far?”
“After your name is cleared.”
“The herd?”
“My place in it.”
“You don’t want to be a part of it?”
“Oh, I do. But I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since we were on Earth.”
“Do you want to share?”
Derpy nods happily. “Yes. Do you remember how you and I sat on your couch alone one night?”
“I do. Did I do something wrong?”
“Not at all. In fact, everything was just right. That is until you pulled me into your lap and kissed me.”
Arc blushes. “I’m really sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. It won’t happen again.”
Derpy puts a hoof on his hand. “No, Arc. That made it perfect.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“When we kissed, a million thoughts were running through my head all at once.”
“Were they good ones?”
“Kinda. They started off with… Moonlit Dusk.”
Arc appears surprised. “Dinky’s father?”
“Yes. After all, he was my first kiss as well as my… other first. That feeling when you kissed me was the same one I got from him back then.”
“What feeling was that?”
“The idea that I was safe, secure, and would be cared for. While he never followed through on his promise to take me with him, I knew you wouldn’t do the same. Then when I found out I was pregnant… I was so excited. I thought that it would be so wonderful to have his filly. That he and I would raise them together in a loving home.”
Derpy closes her eyes and smiles as she puts a hoof on Arc’s leg.
“Arc, I… I need to be honest with you about something. Looking back at how my life was… altered by pregnancy, I realized something.”
“Oh?”
“That it was the scariest time of my life.”
“I’m guessing you don’t want to go through that again.”
Derpy smiles as she looks up into his eyes. “It was scary because I was alone back then. In all honesty I’d love to bear another little one, Arc. If it’s at all possible, I’d… I’d like to be the one to carry your foal, Arc.”
“Auriel said she’d see what could be done to make our DNA compatible, so it’s not completely off the table.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.”
“It probably is, yes.”
“Then why don’t you just turn me into a human woman and impregnate me?”
Arc sighs. “We’d have to talk to everyone about that first.”
Derpy appears surprised. “We would?”
“Yes. After all, being part of a herd is all about communication.”
“It is?”
“We’re talking about you and the others being my wives, not my sex slaves.”
“Either would be okay with me.”
Arc gasps. “Wait! Derpy, you’re okay with being a slave?!”
“Just to you, Arc.”
“How could you…?!”
Derpy interrupts him. “Because I’ve seen how you treat your slave already.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Natalya.”
“But she’s not my…!”
“Legally she is, Arc. And you’ve done everything in your power to see to it she’s cared for and happy. That’s why I’d be willing to turn myself completely over to you.”
“That’s very… nice, Derpy. However you need to understand that you and the others would be the same in my eyes. It would take some work, but I’ll do my best to love and care for each of you equally.”
“I know that, Arc, and I trust you completely. But at the same time I want you to be aware that I’m ready and willing to carry your foal.”
Arc puts his arm around Derpy and pulls her close. She nuzzles his side happily for a time as they watch the sun come up together.