“Silver?” I called out as the grey pegasus walked past me in the crowded market.
He continued on. Must have been somepony else. I shrugged and began to turn away, only for him to look around and our eyes to meet.
“Oh, sorry. I was, uh, distracted.” He rubbed his crest with a bandaged foreleg.
“I noticed.” Gripping my courage with all four legs, I pointed towards the plaza. “Would you want to hang out for a bit? I have half an hour or so.”
He hesitated for a terrifying instant. His face lit up. “I’d love that. Haven’t talked to you in, what, three weeks?”
I nodded as we started walking. “I heard about what happened from Keeper.”
His face fell once again. “Did she tell you about…?”
“She told me about your disagreement, yes.” He frowned at that, staring at the ground in front of his hooves. “But she also told me about your injuries; I’m glad you’re already back on your hooves. From the way she described them, I thought they were much worse.” And Keeper kept putting off her real apology, so she hadn’t seen him in a while, either.
“Oh yeah, they finally lemme out. Had surgery yesterday.” He pointed to his bandaged leg.
I blinked then raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you should be walking around?”
“Dunno, it feels fine. Well, it hurts, but it ain’t nothin’ I can’t handle. I’m just too bloody glad to finally be walkin’ around again to let a bit o’ pain stop me.” Why did his accent redouble every time he was bragging? As if on cue, he pranced twice, briefly hovering in the air and landing carefully to favour his bandaged leg.
Again I raised an eyebrow, as a smirk creeped onto my lips.
A blush on his muzzle, Silver chuckled sheepishly. “I can’t believe I just did that.”
My smirk turned to a grin. After last week, it was nice to finally have a happy moment again. A moment where I wasn’t thinking about—
“Can’t blame you, you don’t exactly seem like the type who’d enjoy being bedridden for two or three weeks.”
“Mhm. At least it was only two weeks.” He shrugged. "Dunno why, but I’ve been recoverin’ real bloody fast ever since I got here. I guess even The Tower has its upsides, eh?”
I quietly stared at him for a while. “What was that surgery about, anyway?”
“Removing some kind of metal rods they’d previously stuck in me leg? I don’t really get it, but the doc says Vitro came up with the idea.” He furrowed his brow and shook his head. “I guess you wouldn’t know her. She’s kind of a cunt. And a bloody creep. So yeah, I’m really glad to finally have that out of my body.”
“I can imagine.” We walked in silence for a few moments before I spoke up again, “By the way, I’m sorry I didn’t come visit you. I tried, but I couldn’t get the permission.” I tapped my collar. “Kinda hard when you’re just barely tolerated up there. Must have been horribly boring.”
He sat down on a bench in an odd, upright position. Was that more comfortable for him because of the bandages? He shrugged. “Kind of. Had a couple of good books to keep me occupied. My boss felt bad for yellin’ at me after I woke up, so she brought me some of hers, and so did Keeper—always when I was asleep, though.”
I sat down next to him, and he continued, “Yeah, it did suck to do nothing but read all day, but it coulda been worse.” He gave me a large grin, which soon turned sheepish. “Then again, I started sneakin’ out before the end of the second week. It’s actually what made the doc take out the metal in me legs. Bloke was surprised I could walk around already, given how many bones I’d broken.”
I gaped at him. “You’ve broken bones, and you’re prancing around like it’s nothing? I’m not a doctor or anything, but that doesn’t sound good.”
Silver shrugged. “I’m fine, really. Like I said, me body’s doing really well in here, somehow.” He shook his head. “Anyway, enough about me. How are you?”
“Could be better. Had a difficult talk with someone last week. Kind of dragged my mood down for a while. I talked about it with Keeper, and she helped me calm down.” I sighed and stared at the ground. “Still, it’s been on my mind since.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
Why did everypony want to know about me, all of a sudden? At least this time, I was in the right state of mind to play it off cool.
I shrugged. “Not particularly. I can tell you about it if you’re curious, but as it stands, I’m all right.” Hopefully he would not actually want to—
“Yeah, I’d like that.” Damn it.
“Well, if you are so curious, mind telling me about what happened between you and Keeper? She’s been awfully tight-lipped about it.” Well, if I had to go out of my way to talk about myself, I might as well receive something in return.
Silver raised an eyebrow. “Since when are you so into gossip?”
Rolling my eyes, I smiled. “Always have been. I’m just usually more subtle about getting what I want about ponies.”
“I see. You’re more devious than you let on,” he stated in a completely neutral tone.
“Thanks.”
We sat in silence for a few moments. He sighed. “Keeper kept something from me.”
“She does seem like the type, yes.”
He grimaced. “Well, I knew she had her secrets, but this one… It’s a big one.” He tapped the side of the bench. “On the one hoof, it makes it easier to understand why she did. On the other, it only makes it hurt more.”
“In other words, you understand why she did it, but it still isn’t something you can easily accept.”
“You’re right on. I don’t hate her for it, but it’s just so bloody weird to think about.” He groaned, staring at the ground. “To wrap my head around it all.”
I almost lay my hoof on his withers. We weren’t close enough for that. “Why didn’t you tell her that?”
My question hit its mark, making him wince. “I… I wanted to. From the moment I woke up, I started thinking about it and made up my mind; I would forgive her; she had good reasons.” He gulped, grimacing to hold back tears.
I gave him a sad smile. “But that changed when she actually came by, didn’t it?”
He nodded. “She… she didn’t even apologise. Never once said sorry. She just… explained things. That in itself wouldn’t have made me react like that, but the things she said…”
“Were they that bad?”
Silver’s wings twitched, and he opened his mouth, only to hesitate. His ears wilted. “I guess not,” he muttered. “I’m just a bloody fool and thought we were real close. When she told me she didn’t know how I would react, my own disappointment hurt more than anythin’ else. Didn’t help that I was still bummed ’cause of what the Captain told me. Ain’t no excuse, though.” He laughed a grim, sardonic laugh. “I guess I’m the one who owes Keeper an apology. Too bad I haven’t seen her in weeks.”
“Would you like me to help you meet her?” I asked in a tone so casual that he blinked at me for a few seconds before understanding what I had said.
His ears perked, his wings flared—nearly hitting my face. An apologetic look later, I chuckled. “I’ve been seeing her three times a week. If you showed up instead of me one day, you’d get the opportunity to talk.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he exclaimed before covering his mouth with both wings. He grinned sheepishly. “I’d love that.”
“Then meet her at your usual spot, in three days, late at night. She should be there.” His mirth was infectious, his smile spreading to my face.
“Thanks.” After a few moments of silence, he asked, “Anyway, what about you?”
I pulled out a pocket watch my supervisor had given me. “I’m really sorry, but I don’t think I’ll have the time to tell you. I’m expected at the Farrier estate in fifteen minutes.”
“Well, we can walk together if you want,” he suggested with a bright smile.
Damn it, I couldn’t say no to that. “Sure.” I didn’t want to talk about Andesite, but Silver was my friend, and friends shared their burdens.
“So, still haven’t talked to Silver?” I asked with a playful tone to my voice.
Keeper squinted at me. “I have, actually, but you should know that.”
I smirked. “Well, I knew that I set up a meeting between the two of you. For all I know, you could have run away the moment you saw him.”
She rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”
I waited a few moments for her to continue. “Well? How did it go?”
Keeper relaxed, smiled. “It went well, actually, and I am thankful. I kept putting it off, but failed to realise there was no reason to. I kept telling myself I would do it tomorrow, only for tomorrow to turn into nearly three weeks.” She chuckled. “At least running away from my problems has led me down a productive rabbit hole.”
“What did you even do? You’ve hinted at it a few times, but always dodged the question when I tried to get more out of you.” Might as well ask directly.
Her blank stare told me everything I needed to know. “You have? I must not have noticed.” She shrugged. “Anyway, to shorten a long story, I have been spying on various ponies,” she said in a neutral tone, like somepony talking about their choice of lunch.
I blinked, tilting my head to the side, letting my ears flop along. “Why? Just to distract yourself? That's a rather excessive coping mechanism, don’t you think?”
“No.” She thought for a moment. “I realised there was too much about The Tower that I did not understand: so many moving pieces that I failed to consider.”
Okay, so indirect questions were ignored without a second thought, while direct ones were explicitly dodged. She was definitely keeping a secret; wouldn’t appreciate me digging further in that direction. “Well, what did you learn?” Maybe this one would be alright?
“A lot.” I almost rolled my eyes, but she continued, “But what I have been meaning to talk about is the looming civil war.”
My ears perked. “War? I know there are two different camps that dislike each other, but I wouldn’t have guessed it was this bad.”
Keeper nearly gaped at me. “You knew about the factions? From my research, I thought they were trying to keep it a secret.”
“On the surface, yes.” I shrugged. “But they can’t keep lying. There’s always a tell; always a small frown or a tiny smirk.” I slowly shook my head. “Ponies never expect the errand filly to pay attention to those tells, though.”
She nodded, genuinely impressed. “Well, do you know why they oppose each other?”
I rubbed my chin. “Kind of? I know it has to do with politics. If I had to guess… one side wants to keep things as they are, the other strives for change?”
She gaped at me again. “And you have figured that out only by running errands? The heads of those houses try to keep these secrets to the best of their ability; is it truly as obvious to anypony willing to look?”
“I do think most ponies are aware to some extent of the tensions, but from what I can tell, I know more than most.” I smiled, proud of myself for once. “I listen and observe, and nopony notices me. It’s my special talent.”
“Well, great job on that. You were almost correct. One side—I have started calling them the Loyalists—trusts House Fell to sort everything out in due time. The other—the Rebels—wants to install a new family as the head of The Tower.” She let her gaze wander the abyss below. “I suppose there is also a third. At first, I thought they were merely Rebels, but their goals differ.”
That was new. “In what way?”
“The Rebels want to fix The Tower; return to how it worked before. The Prisoners want to change everything about it.”
I blinked. “Prisoners? How could they hope to achieve anything on their own?” I furrowed my brow. “And why would they want to change The Tower and not just leave?”
“They are no mere prisoners. They have a leader; a sarosian of very low status, who nevertheless appears to have tricks up her sleeve. She has her own agenda, of which I am unfortunately ignorant. Still, I believe they are unimportant, compared to the other two.”
I nodded, gears struggling to turn in my head.
She idly tapped her hoof on the ground. “And in the middle of it all, there is the Captain of the Knights, Aurora. She has ponies from both sides pressuring her to take action.” I’d heard of her. Mostly bad things. Even Silver avoided talking about her. “When you add to that The Tower’s increasingly frequent shifts, she is essentially paralysed, even though she could turn the tide any way she wanted.”
Huh? “Isn’t she Fell as well? Shouldn’t she be with the Loyalists?”
Keeper shook her head. “She is a Knight, first and foremost. She vowed to prioritise The Tower over everything, even if it means turning her back on her family.” She stared off into the distance, breathing out a long, sad sigh.
This again begged the question: why was she doing all of this? Maybe she would answer me if I worded it more subtly. “Forgive me for being blunt, but… You sound like you’re trying to influence the way things are going. I understand the desire, but you might be trying to involve yourself in affairs well past your scope.”
“Well, you see, I know someone who has some sway over Aurora, and I believe I could attempt something through her. She is rather influential—my friend, not Aurora—and could likely convince Aurora to—” She cut herself off, slowly closing her mouth. She shook her head, then sighed. “No. I am done lying to my friends.”
I raised an eyebrow. She took a deep, calming breath before answering, “My name is Arawn.”
“Ara-when?” I slowly repeated, blinking. I had heard that name before, somewhere. A shiver ran down my spine.
She nodded. “Arawn Fell.”
My eyes shot wide open, but I somehow kept my voice even. “That… that’s a pretty bold claim.” Yet her face told me she spoke the truth.
She sighed, and a wave of crimson flame ran over her deep pink coat, leaving in its wake a much lighter colour. She blinked, and her pupils turned to slits, wide in the darkness. A red aura not unlike unicorn magic pulled off two layers of clothing, revealing leathery wings underneath.
She looked at me with an almost sad smile. “I hope this is convincing, though I realise it is hardly concrete evidence.”
“It… it is.” I gulped. Although her voice had remained the same, her tense, formal body language killed the last few doubts. “But… if I may, Your Highness…” I met her eyes, testing the waters, before correcting myself, “If I may, Arawn, I don’t think it was a good idea to tell me.” Her gaze told a thousand words. “But I believe you already know that.”
She nodded. “You and Silver are my only friends. Furthermore, you are both reasonable ponies with good personal skills: something I lack, no matter how confident I used to be that books and eloquence lessons had prepared me for the real world.” Her sheepish chuckle reminded me she was indeed my friend, the same I had grown close to over the past month.
Arawn continued, once again tense, “I know I will have to take action soon, and I want ponies by my side. Ponies I can trust. I already asked Silver, and had been considering you as well. Your ability to pick up on lies and subtext convinced me.” She relaxed ever slightly. “I understand if this is all much too sudden, but I believe this was the best time to bring it up.”
“That is still a great deal of trust to put in somepony like me. What if I betray you and spread the truth?” For that matter, what if Silver did?
Her smile confident as it was serene, she said, “Then it means I am not fit for any position of power yet. I cannot do this alone, and this is a risk I am willing to take.”
“I… see.” I nodded. “What do you plan on doing?”
“I plan on continuing as I have been. Operating from the shadows, gathering knowledge and influencing ponies.” She grimaced, folding her ears. “I have tried nudging my father in the right direction, but I have merely made him angry at Aurora.”
I rubbed my chin. “That does seem like something I would be good at, but…” I tried to gather my words into something subtle, but gave up after a few seconds. “Why do you think Silver or I would be interested in bolstering the Loyalists’ position? We both want out of here.”
“And leave you will. The Tower has not always been this strongly closed off to the outside world: only the past fifty years, ever since the incident involving Mother. If I manage to change things as I want, I solemnly promise I will allow you to leave.” She sighed. “Moreover, I do not want to side with the Loyalists. I want to de-escalate tensions while changing things for the better.”
I frowned. “What if you can’t? What if they are so far gone, nothing will stop this conflict? Will you still help free us, even when the Loyalists win and everything remains as is?”
Arawn grimaced, her tail flicking. “Should it come to that, I am not sure I would even side with the Loyalists. Things cannot remain as they are, and while I believe myself relatively competent, I have no political experience; at first, the situation would deteriorate under my reign.”
She looked away, taking a deep breath. “On the other hoof, I do not know who the Rebels would install as a ruler; it could be someone much worse than I.” She hesitated for a moment, before steeling her resolve. “Furthermore, for reasons outside of anypony’s control, I am the most appropriate candidate to rule The Tower.” She replied to my quizzical look with a curt, “I cannot tell you. Sorry.”
Her eyes betrayed a deep sadness. When she turned to look at the ground, I asked, “There’s something more, isn’t there? Given what you’ve told me, there is every reason for you to side with the Loyalists if push comes to shove.”
She hesitated for a moment, then sighed and nodded. “Yes. It is about Father. Should the Rebels take over, they would likely kill him, then subdue and seal him.” What? Arawn was not keen on explaining, though. “But ultimately, all of that would be far less painful for him than if I betrayed him. Should I rise to the throne, I would need to be the one to banish him.” She gulped. “Flawed as he is, I still love him.”
I stared at her in complete silence. After a few moments like this, she muttered, “I have already hurt one family member, I do not know if I can do it again.”
I shifted closer and pulled her into a hug.