//------------------------------// // Opaline Chapter 14 // Story: Opaline // by WhiteSails //------------------------------// The dawn of the next morning, bright beams of sunlight slowly began beaming in through the large windows of the cramped castle hallway. Opaline had spent that morning pacing around her study cursing at herself. She had awoken earlier to find that the Earth pony she had only just met and the one she saw as vital to her new plan was gone. She had searched every square inch of the castle but had only come up empty hooved. She thought back to the previous night and her meeting with the strange stallion. She was perplexed by his mannerisms, the way he spoke, and the way he explained everything in extreme detail. It was quite an odd encounter and Opaline had viewed him with the same respect as a young pony might view a centipede. An odd fascinating little creature that was just as interesting as it was disgusting. When Opaline then took him to the castle's parlor, she asked him various Questions like what it was like out there, how is magic missing, and why is your town only populated with earth ponies. But for somepony who had claimed to be a historian Opaline was surprised to learn that he really didn’t know much. His Answers to her questions were simple and basic and lacked anything of interest. When she asked about Twilight Sparkle, he had a somewhat unsatisfying response saying that he knew who she was but that he had only been able to find records that went up to her coronation as Princess of Equestria. She then asked him about how magic had been lost, but once again he responded with a disappointing answer saying that everypony said it had something to do with the unicorns and that he didn’t know much beyond that. Opaline was less than displeased by these responses. When she went to ask about what had become of the three unity crystals, he corrected her and asked if she meant the elements of harmony. She then finally asked him if he knew of Canterlot. His response then surprised her when he said that it now lay in ruins and had been long since abandoned. Remarking that he had been there several times before but it had seemingly been long since picked clean by the elements and looters. And that the only notable thing he had found was the green saddlebag buried under rubble. Opaline’s mind was seemingly at a loss by the earth pony's information. Had Canterlot been abandoned due to her and Twilight's battle? Had the magic she took from the crystals caused the loss of all magic? Why was information about the Twilights era so hard to find? And why did he not know what the unity crystals were? And why in Equestria had Twilight not come back for her as she promised? She was now seemingly left with more questions than answers about the world outside her castle. Opaline walked over to a large window, she then looked out from it and toward the morning sun. What had happened? She thought. Opaline then shook her head quickly reminding herself once again that it had been an earth pony that had told her all this. A pony whose tribe she had only ever seen as unsophisticated and idiotic. Was it not possible that if she had plans for him, he might have plans for her as well? And that knowing she was an alicorn he was only making up vague responses to possibly lure her in so he could obtain something like power or wealth? But after all the interaction she had done the night before with him one thing stood out to her. The fact that he had seemingly no idea who she was. When they had met, she noticed that he seemingly didn’t recognize her name. There had only been a few alicorns in Equestria’s history and for someone like him, he should have easily deduced which one she was. After all, aiding in the destruction of half of Equestria’s now former capital city should have easily landed her a place in the history books. But he remained in her presence blissfully unaware of who she was. She had always dreamed of one day becoming more known than Twilight. But the fact that a simple earth pony had no idea of who she was unnerved her. Had Twilight scrubbed her from the history books after she had been trapped and defeated? She spent what felt like the entire night listening to that pony drone on and on about things he either didn’t have the answers to or things that were not as complex as he thought they were. In a way, he reminded her about how she was with Twilight as a filly. She had become so bored of his talking that she had evidently fallen asleep, seemingly allowing him to slip away. This had been the eventual moment she had woken up too. Once again finding herself completely alone in her castle. Opaline felt as though the years of isolation had made her weak. That she had quickly become too close to someone only for them to betray her once again. She should have expected that from an earth pony. But seemingly she had also felt upset by the pony's disappearance. Even if he belonged to a tribe that she despised and even if he was not as smart as he claimed to be. It had been her first contact with the outside world for what felt like thousands of moons and now it was gone. Who knew if he might ever come back? She had no way of telling. What if this had all been some kind of trick enacted by Twilight to continuedly wear away her mind? “Hello, Opaline!” A voice called out. Opaline jumped in surprise. She swiftly turned her head and looked in the direction the voice had come from. “DONT DO THAT TO ME!” She yelled. She was then surprised to see just who had called out to her. “Oh, please forgive me Opaline I didn't mean to startle you, the door was unlocked, and I know you-” Opaline cut him off from the rest of his sentence. “Just get to the point Argyle,” she said angrily. Opaline was somewhat surprised to see that this pony had returned. As she believed he wouldn’t due to the way she had treated him the night before. “I um brought you some apples.” Said argyle who then lifted a basket full of said fruit. “They are the symbol of honesty! Well, at least to me everypony else just sees them as a red fruit.” “You what?” She said surprised. “Yeah, I thought since you had said that you wanted to know more, I'd come back and bring something with me!” Argyle then smiled at her. Opaline felt somewhat uneasy with the kindness that this earth pony was showing her. She wondered if he even knew who she was. And she was even more curious about why he had come back. “Well, uh...” Opaline hesitated. “that's very nice of you Argyle.” Opaline said between her teeth in a tone radiating both embarrassment and anger. “Mhm!” said Argyle who then Smiled widely and walked into her room. Opaline watched as the pony trotted into her personal study before stopping and curiously looking around. She felt as if it was the same as introducing a new pet to an unfamiliar area. She watched as he set down the apples and reached into that cruised green saddlebag. “So, Opaline I was wondering since I told you some things yesterday that you could tell me some more things about you!” Argyle then retrieved his notebook and flipped it open seemingly trying to find a particular page. Opaline's suspicions were confirmed. This stallion did in fact have no idea who she was. Why else would he be trying to get to know things about Her? “Okay, Hundred and forty-one Questions for an Alicorn! Question Number One! Do you use magic on command, or does it happen randomly? Do alicorns really get taller? Did you get your wings first or your horn? Do you-” Opaline lunged at Argyle and grabbed his hoof, cutting him off from his questions. “Why are you really here?” she questioned. “Do you want something from me is that it? Do you see me as a possible way of getting power is that why you’re here?” Opaline stared into Argyles' eyes trying to determine his character. “You understand that with my power I could destroy you extremely easily.” “But you haven't,” Argyle said back in a gasp of breath. “What?” Opaline replied releasing the pony's hoof. “What did you say?” She was baffled by the pony's response. “If you saw me as a threat, you would have dealt with me already.” said Argyle “But you haven't used any magic. And whether or not that’s due to the lack of magic in the world I still haven't determined.” Opaline released the pony. he stepped back and straightened his vest “You probably see me as such but I'm not stupid Opaline.” Opaline’s eyes widened at the sudden unexpected remarks of the earth pony. She backed up to make space between her and Argyle. She felt she needed to teach this puny earth pony a lesson. After all, who was he trying to act all smart towards her? But she strangely felt a bit of respect toward him. No pony had ever stood up to her like that and was willing to talk back to her. It was an odd feeling, to say the least. “I...” Opaline hesitated to speak. How could she suddenly be the one in the position of bewilderment and not him? “I just found this all... perplexing,” she said. “Why did you come back here?” she then asked him. Argyle walked forward a little and began to pick the apples that had fallen out of the basket. “I just found it fascinating that I stumbled upon a pony like you.” He then collected the last few apples before looking up at her. “You fascinate me, Opaline.” Opaline felt herself unexpectedly blush at his remark. “Well, um...” She felt flustered. “It's just I had never imagined myself finding a pony who seemingly knew just as much as me. Let alone an alicorn!” Argyle then rested the basket of fruit on a small table next to him. “it's just nopony where I'm from seems to take me seriously. It's always “Oh you focus too much on the past argyle focus on the future.” or “Oh Argyle you need to start to do other things aside from looking into old legends and tall tales.” “But the past isn't a legend,” Opaline said. “That's what I've been saying!” Argyle responded. “It's not just an old foal's tale! It's history and there is so much that can be learned from it!” Argyle chuckled. “You know Opaline you’re the only other pony that seems to get me.” Argyle then paused. “Say how is it that you know all this stuff about Twilight and the past?” “Oh well, I'm a historian. Just like you!” she then said quickly, forcing herself to smile once more. She then watched the stallion's face light up in front of her. She knew to make sure she didn’t lose him again she’d needed to make herself seem relatable to the pony so that he would continue to come back to her. “Are you really?” Argyle asked. “Yes, I am!” Opaline responded. She then walked up to him. “Say you mentioned that finding information about old Equestria was shotty correct?” “Well yes, usually the information I find comes from extremely old books and they can be so old and fragile that there isn't much I can do or learn from them.” Argyle looked at her. “Why do you ask?” Opaline smirked. “Well, you see I have an entire library full of the information that you might just need.” “Oh, my stars?! Really!” Argyle then lit up in excitement. “Oh yes! And you look at them as much as your little heart desires Argyle!” Opaline then playfully tapped Argyle motioning him to follow her. Opaline then led the pony to the castle’s library. She noticed how excited Argyle seemed to be. And well leading him there she began to iron out more of her plans for him. The library was full of books that dated back to before her banishment. Each text had little to no mention of her and Twilight’s relationship meaning that for now, she could continue to keep her identity vague to the Earth pony as this might prove to be of some benefit to her in the future. As well as the fact that she knew it would seemingly take decades if not hundreds of years for a single pony to read all the texts there. After all the time she had spent trapped in the castle proved this to her. So, for a pony like Argyle, he would have to continue to keep coming back to her for more knowledge of old Equestria, and in turn, this would allow her to slowly gain the trust of the pony. She knew personally how much this would be like a dream to him. And how it would all work out perfectly for her. The alicorn then pushed open the large wooden door of the library's entrance. The stallion's reaction proved to be just as she had predicted. “Oh wow!” Argyle stated in wonder. He then walked around looking at the thousands of books that lined the shelves of her castle. “This is incredible! I don’t think even Maretime Bay has this many books in its library!” “Like I said I'm a bit of a collector just like you,” Opaline said down to the pony. Argyle then ran over to a shelf and picked out a book. “A pony's travels throughout Equestria!” The Earth pony then flipped through its pages. “I've never seen one in such good condition before!” “That one was always a favorite of mine,” Opaline said before radiating an honest grin. Argyle closed the book and turned to her. “Really?” he said surprised. “Oh yes, the adventures that Nimble Mark got himself into always excited me. It felt as though I could read it a hundred times and it would still be as fresh as it was before.” Argyle then shot up and rushed to her in excitement, getting right up into the face of Opaline. “I always loved this one too! The way he talked about his adventures and expeditions. And how he wrote them in such a way the words seemed to flow like a song!” Argyle then Squirmed in excitement. “It was what inspired me to start adventuring in the first place!” Opaline was surprised by this fact. Even more so how odd it was for him to have the same book she saw as her favorite to be his as well. Nimble Mark had been an adventurer Twilight had hired in the early years of her reign to map out all remaining blank spots on the maps of Equestria. He had then recorded all his adventures in a massive manuscript. She had always loved reading about his adventures when she was a filly and long before she had ever become Twilight's student. She had tried to get the other Foals at the Foal’s home to read it as well. But they had seemed to show a lack of interest in it. With the headmare even telling Opaline once to “find simpler reading material.” But to her surprise and interest, Argyle knew the book just as she did. Argyle looked at Opaline. “How did you even find a copy in such great condition?” “a friend of mine gave it to me. She gave me all the books here.” Opaline cringed at the idea of addressing Twilight as her friend in her lie. Argyle paused for a moment and then spoke with much joy. “Well, I'd sure like to meet ’em!” Opaline nodded her head awkwardly. Argyle then walked around the library gazing at all the books that rested on its shelves. “Feel free to take as many as you want,” Opaline said. “Really!?” Argyle responded excitedly. “Sure, just make sure you bring them back when you're done,” Opaline replied. Argyle nodded his head. She then watched as he walked around stopping every few minutes to pick a book and place it in his saddlebag. Opaline had no use for any of these books. She didn’t care at all what could happen to them. But she knew Argyle was not the type to steal other ponies' belongings and that he’d be back to return them. Opaline found a sofa and laid down on it watching the earth pony. Opaline smirked to herself. For all she knew she was the last remnant of Twilight’s era left. And seemingly now with Twilight, her friends, and her allies all gone and possibly nobody to stop her, she could begin her plans for this brave new world she found herself in. Argyle had no way of knowing it but he might be just as important in her life as Twilight had been. But this time she would make sure it would end her way. He would serve her and not even know it. Argyle came back to her after a few moments. “Is it Okay if I take these?” he asked. “Oh of course dear,” she said. Opaline then got up and walked with Argyle. “Oh, my look at the time." Argyle then said. Looking at a clock that stood above one of the castle's many mantles. Opaline stopped walking. She froze, fearing that she might lose him again. “Are you leaving now so soon?” Argyle stopped trotting. “Well, I suppose there were a few things I needed to do today in the bay.” “But you'll be back?” Opaline asked concerned. “Oh yes I'll be back soon don’t worry.” Argyle then approached her. “you're a good friend to me Opaline, thank you.” Opaline then nodded her head surprised that he had addressed her as a friend. Argyle then smiled at her and trotted off to the castle's entrance. Opaline didn’t go to stop as she was powerless against Twilight's containment spell. Opaline stood still for a moment listening out as the door then closed behind the pony signifying, that he had left. And once again she was alone. Opaline then made her way back to her study. She was confused as she felt as though her feelings were beginning to become mixed. On one hoof she was reluctant to have another pony there within the castle with her. But at the same time, it felt good, nice even to not be alone anymore. And to have come across a pony who was seemingly in some way just as unique to her was very interesting. Opaline walked back into her study, she looked out the window and was then surprised to see Argyle off in the distance. The stallion waved to her from outside. And to the alicorn's surprise, she found herself waving back with a smile as she watched him disappear off into the distance. When she walked away from the window, she then saw the basket of apples still laying on one of the desks in the room. Argyle had left these for her. She walked up cautiously to it. It had been so long since she had actually eaten something. She picked one up. She sniffed it before taking a bite. It had been so long since she had tasted something. And Opaline was finally happy that a small bit of joy had come back to her. And it was thanks to that pony. Opaline continued to eat the apple well thinking. He was not at all what she had expected, especially for an earth pony. There was something different about him. And Opaline knew that deep down within her. Below all the hate, anger, and malice. There was still that small lonely filly from the foal's home. One who now was no longer alone.