Aquinas came back to the room an hour later. The sun had set and the moon risen by the time he did. When he opened the door, he did so as loud as he could. He knew that his brother did not like surprises, so entering loudly would give it away that he was here. Better to appease him in this agitated state. When Aquinas entered the room, he found that his brother was passed out on the bed. His shoes were thrown across the room and a bottle of alcohol lay a roll away from his arm that hung over the side of the bed. He shook his head in regret. He only did this for one reason. To escape a painful memory. It is just that the only memory that he bothered to trouble himself with, usually needed a catalyst to help him remember. "What could it have been this time?" He looked around and noticed something on the chair closest to the door. It had some hair on it. He looked at the long strand deduced that it belonged to Alvi. For she was the only woman with auburn hair that would bother to talk to Ignatius. He pondered what she could have been doing in here, but he then decided that doing so would be a waste of time. Ignatius could just tell him in the morning. Time for sleep.
______________________________________________________________________________
There are a couple of things that one should not do: take food from a bear; wrestle an elephant; play rock-paper-scissors with a great white shark. When dawn broke over Equestria to begin a new day, the sun's warm eyelashes graced the beautiful land with a welcoming glow. Princess Celestia herself was amazed at how magnificent she made it look. It foreshadowed a good day. Ignatius laid completely comfortably in his bed. The plush bedding and silk sheets made him feel like he was floating on air. That was until he was awoken from his slumber by the sound of a bugle. Reveille played loudly in his ears. Ignatius' eyes shot open in terror. He was never late to PT and he always ensured this by waking up half an hour before hand. And PT started at reveille. He jumped out of bed and scrambled to find his shoes. He grabbed a hold of the cherry wood dresser in front of him and pulled the drawer out to find nothing inside. He looked frantically around the room for his gear, but all he found was a multi-color haired woman with her locks waving in a breezeless room and a 250 pound bulk of a man in shorts and a shirt rolling around on the floor in hysterical laughter, with a bugle on the floor next to them. Princess Celestia was visibly crying from the amount of laughter she was putting out. Mark recovered on his hands and feet, but he still had trouble getting to his feet. Ignatius helped him. He grabbed Aquinas by his hair and pulled back hard. His brother grunted his pain away and laughed again. Still finding the whole situation funny. However, the more he laughed the more he remembered the amount of trouble he was in. He always outweighed and outmuscled his brother by a large margin, but Ignatius had something that Aquinas, thankfully, would never have.
Concentrated rage.
Ignatius did not like jokes, especially those that were turned on him. He clenched his fist increasingly until his brother was bending backwards on his knees. He looked into the face of his older brother and a bolt of fear struck through him. He was already agitated from last night and he was fighting off his most painful memory. This however, made a distraction for his anger and frustration. Which was Aquinas' plan all together. The Marine hoisted up his brother as much as he could. Ripping out a couple follicles of his blonde locks while doing so. Since he only moved about half an inch under his brother's strength, Aquinas brought his feet under him and stood up while still slightly leaning back. The Navy Officer let out a grunt of pain as Ignatius jerked his head backwards again.
Princess Celestia saw this and retaliated. Well, at least she was until Ignatius, without taking his eyes off his brother, said "You make a move and I will extend his suffering." He twisted his arm slightly to prove his point. She backed off a step. She didn't want to be the cause of someone else's pain. Especially Aquinas'.
The Seaman could have made a move to get himself out of the iron grip, but with the position he was in he might as well try to cook poison blowfish. Come to think of it, doing that would actually come out as a good meal, or a painless death. Whichever it was, he was better off there than in his brother hands while he was in this state.
Ignatius rage subsided as he looked into his brother's eyes. He knew Aquinas knew that he would not be hurt beyond a fair measure. However, Aquinas knew that doing this would bring this kind of retribution, and because of that, is the reason he was being so harsh. He knew his brother had more discipline and wisdom not to do something like this. So in doing so, this told Ignatius that his brother chose to be stupid, and for that he must be punished. He punched his brother in the gut and let him fall. One could add 'Play a prank on an angry Marine' to the list of things not to do above.
Aquinas coughed a bit, but made it up to his feet. Relatively speaking, he got his wrist slapped. "Well." he said while softly rubbing his stomach. "Shall we get breakfast?" His tone was even and soft. To Princess Celestia, it seemed as such. This made her heart clench and her instincts screamed for safety. She nearly fainted from the stare she got from Ignatius. As cold as any ice. She now knows why Alvi was so fear struck last night. She figured it had to be this, just on the fact she felt the same way Alvi looked when she saw her that morning.
Aquinas looked to the two others in the room and quizzically examined them. "Well?" he said with rumbling stomach.
"Will we have more unannounced guests?" Ignatius snapped at Celestia, who just innocently shrugged.
Aquinas motioned to speak. "Ignatius, those guests were unannounced, and uninvited. They showed up on an emergency and wanted the issue resolved quickly. It got taken care of, but in a larger time frame than what they expected. So, with the Princess being the kind and generous person she is, and it being so late, the guests were obliged to stay for dinner."
Ignatius snorted and said "Alright, I see that. What was the problem though?"
Celestia shook her head and waved a hand. "It was actually nothing" the Princess sighed. "but to the Canterlot elite, they viewed anything that has to deal with money major." That poker face of hers did nothing to ward off Ignatius prying ears. He heard a crack somewhere. That usually meant someone was hiding something. All Ignatius had to do now was get the truth out of her. He turned to his brother. "Breakfast sounds good. Maybe on the way, we can talk." His tone was as even as he could make it. He was anxious to interrogate that shimmering haired broad. It was his turn to pin her up against a wall.
The trio left the room after Ignatius put on his boots and straightened his winkled shirt.
"Ignatius?" Celestia began the conversation as the door to the suite was left behind. "Do you always wear the same thing for days on end?"
"No." Ignatius said. "I sometimes wear them for months on end. If not weeks. Why do you ask?"
"Because" Aquinas interjected. "Princess Celestia is once again opening her arms in generosity. She is hooking us up with some new clothing. Something a little more presentable than our garb that we were now."
"I wonder what else she opens up on a regular basis." Ignatius said uncharismatically. Which was met with an open 'humph'. She then quickened her pace to get ahead of the brothers.
"Matt!" Aquinas said in a hiss behind clenched teeth. He go up to his brother and stood in his path. "Just because we played a prank on you doesn't mean you can insult the Princess like that."
"I think it means I can do whatever the fuck I please." Ignatius spat. His rage showed no signs of subsiding.
"Just keep your tongue behind your fangs, Wolf. I don't want to hear another word out of you unless you have something important to say. And when I say important, I mean, IMPORTANT. Do you understand?" Aquinas' tone was sharp and threatening. It was the only way Ignatius would know that the person speaking to him was serious. The use of his Marine Corps nickname, more a title than a nickname, also showed his contempt. He always had this kind of trouble with his brother when things were going good. Ignatius tended to not enjoy himself because he knew that at any point, the fun would end abruptly. So, he figured that if he didn't have fun at all, his time would never be ruined. While do so though, he would ruin everyone else's time while they were having fun. Another nickname he got was Buzz Kill. However, the Wolf was the reason for it all so the latter name superseded the former.
Aquinas turned around and went after Celestia. He was only able to catch her before she slammed the door to the dining hall. He slipped in and looked at her welling eyes. The lining of her sockets were moist and her lower lip quivered. Aquinas opened his arms and pulled Celestia in. His large arms gave her a feeling of security and warmth. She returned the hug, squeezing him tightly. Aquinas had to admit, for such a small size, she did have some strength. A knock on the door broke their moment. Aquinas answered it, knowing full well who was there.
Ignatius stood there with an expressionless face. His brother looked at him with a mixture of distain and disgust. "You are one of the best people I know, and yet you act like this. Despicable." Ignatius just kept standing there with his expressionless, stone-cold face. "I'll send out a plate and some silverware for you."
When Aquinas came back out with a plate of food, Ignatius was sitting against the wall with his legs crisscross. Facial expression, still the same. He put the food and utensils on the floor and went back into the dining room.
Princess Celestia was spreading some jam over some toast as Aquinas took his seat. He took the lid off of the tray and dove into the eggs. They were fluffy and filled with cheese. He loved cheese.
"It bothers me." Celestia broke the silence that Aquinas feared would last all the way through the meal.
"I am sorry about my brother's comment. It was rather rude of him and . . ." Aquinas was stopped by Celestia's hand on his. His heart rate climbed rapidly at the act, but settled when he saw the expression on her soft face.
"I don't mean that." she said in a reassuring tone. "It's not what he said, it's what you said. You keep telling me that your brother is a good person and that he has this wonderful caring side to him that it seems has past its existence. What bothers me is thinking to myself, what happened to him that made him this way?"
Aquinas dug his fork into a sausage and ate it. When he swallowed, he had enough time to come up with an appropriate response. "Princess." he said as the last of the meat made its way down his throat. "I wish I fucking knew."
Celestia gave the man a quizzical look. "I don't understand. You are his brother, and his closest friend. How could you not know?"
Aquinas sighed. "One weekend" he began. "I contacted my brother, and he told me that he had sent in his paperwork. I asked him what the fuck did he mean by that. He said to join the Marine Corps. I didn't understand why he did that, but when I tried to all he said was, I will tell you when this wound has healed, right now, I'm still trying to sew it up." he hit the food again and finished his meal. "I didn't see him for about half a year, then when I did, over Skype . . ." The Princess' quizzical look came back, but Aquinas was able to counter his own betrayal. "Advanced military communications, lets you see the other person even though you are miles away. Anyway, when I saw him, it was like looking into the face of a complete stranger. I knew what he was, but not who he was. And when the war ended, that recognition was even harder, until I started spending more time with him again after my instructors at the Academy gave me some well deserved freedoms. However, I still felt so cold around him, until we found the legends of Equestria again. We heard them again, and" Aquinas smiled. "it never felt so good to be next to my brother again. I knew it was him because of one distinct feature, his eyes. You can always tell my brother from anyone else who looks like him, a clone, a changeling, a doppelganger, from his eyes. When he heard those legends again, it made a part of him come back from a dark place. It brought my brother back." Aquinas didn't notice before it was too late that his hand slipped over Celestia's. The pair blushed as each retreated and giggled slightly. When they came back outside after Celestia finished her meal, Ignatius was leaning on the opposite wall to the door and flipped a coin. A coin that looked rather familiar. Aquinas shook his head at this. There is no way it could be the same coin. Could it?
"Ignatius." Aquinas addressed his brother. "The Princess here would like to take us to her tailor and have some cloths made for us. We are going now."
"Ignatius crossed his arms and said, "What's wrong with the cloths I am wearing now?"
"They don't fit the place we are living in. Also, we need to get out of these things. I am starting to stink, and so are you."
Ignatius sniffed his armpits and shrugged. "Lead the way."
______________________________________________________________________________
Metal struck metal striking metal. The forge worker beat the heated steel into the desired shape on his anvil. He stopped his work on the piece when it grew cold. He put it back in the flame of the forge and pulled on a handled rope to give the flames a boost. He looked contently into the dancing tongues. He always loved the sight. Today was different though. The flames seemed to become more lively. The forge seemed 'younger'.
He knew what this meant, for the same thing happened just sixty years ago. "It is about that time again, old friend. You will have a new friend, while I have my rest. It is going to be hard to say good bye, but I feel as though your new friend will bring more than himself to see you flick your tongues and feel your heat. No, he will not be alone, or at least for long." With that, the metal was ready for another beating. The blacksmith adjusted his apron, picked up the steel with his tongs and went to work with his hammer. This was going to be the best armor he will ever make in his life. Come to think of it, it was the last set he would ever make.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The trio made their way down more than a few hallways till they found one with a sign at the end of the hallway. It read 'THE SILVER BUTTON'.
"This is it." Celestia said proudly. "My personal tailor. He is one of the best in Equestria, and knows more about fashion than anyone I know."
"As I can well imagine" Aquinas said. "you know quite a lot of people."
"I do." she said, with a nod.
The tailor's boutique was as one could expect. Line from wall to wall in design patterns and fabrics. It would seem that the owner has almost every type imaginable. To Aquinas, it was like when he was getting fitted for his dress blues. He remembers the momentous occasion like it was yesterday. It wasn't the process, that was boring, but it was the way her felt in them that made him feel like a million bucks. However, as one could already guess, Ignatius found this place, not to well to his liking. It was lined with posh material, suitable for a Canterlot elite, or a military officer, but to a war fighter like himself, it was no place he would want to stay for very long, or even go inside for that matter.
When Aquinas opened the door for the rest of the party to step through, a bell over the door rang out. When it did, a voice rang out. "Coming!" the fruity voice sent Ignatius' ears in a frenzy. 'Fag' was what went through his head. He normally didn't have a problem with homosexuals, in fact two of his closest allies in the Corps were gay, but it was the way that a certain type acted is what he disagreed with. And he had a feeling that this guy was one of those people. Those suspicions were confirmed a moment later.
A man soon made his appearance with a ballerina twirl and dramatic pose from the back room. He wore a white long-sleeved t-shirt under a blue sparkle studded vest and white bell bottomed pants, sharing the same color as the undershirt. His bleached hair was styled in what was known to the brothers as the 'Beiber'. His cutie mark was a spool of red thread and a needle and his hands had gems embedded in them, signifying that he was a unicorn.
This is what Ignatius hated about over eccentric people. They were known as 'attention whores'. Always trying to make themselves known within a mile radius. The exact opposite of what Ignatius was. He was rather quiet and often avoided a scene where he was the focus of it all. Last night was one exception.
Aquinas stepped forward and addressed the man. "Good day to you, sir." he said in a polite and invigorating tone. "My brother and I are here to experience your art of fashion, which was highly recommended by Princess Celestia."
The eccentric man recovered from his pose and pressed he clenched hands against his cheeks in excitement. "She did?!" he said with a high pitched gasp.
Princess Celestia smiled and shrugged innocently. "I would be lying if I said you weren't one of the best, Charmer."
"OH!" Charmer scorned himself with knock on his noggin. "Where are my manners?" He turned his attention to the brothers. "My name is Sparkle Charmer. Princess Celestia's personal tailor. And you are?"
"Ensign Aquinas. United States Navy." he said with a sense of pride.
"Oh, what's a strong, handsome, foreign military officer doing in Equestria?" the man asked with obvious curiosity.
"When I figure that out, you will be the first I will notify." Aquinas shook the man's soft, spongy hand.
Charmer turned to Ignatius and smiled. "And you good sir?"
Ignatius took his hand firmly and almost broke it with the amount of strength he was putting into the gesture. "Sergeant Ignatius. United States Marine Corps. Brother to Aquinas."
Charmer pulled his hand away with a weak smile. One could see his hand throbbing from the amount of blood rushing back to it. He shook it off with a weak giggle and his smile weakened more. Charmer could already tell that this man wasn't going to be the easiest to deal with. So, he turned his attention to the opposite brother and said. "Well. How may I be of service to you, gentlemen?"
Princess Celestia spoke up. "We came here to see if you can give us some Vitamin C."
Charmer gave her a quizzical look. "Why do you think I can give that to you?"
"Because your such a fruit?" Celestia said with a hearty laugh.
Sparkle Charmer gave himself a face-palm and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He sighed and said "I swear, someone, someday, is going to make a joke about your constant comments."
"We already have." Ignatius said with a slight smile. "We call such acts in our homeland trolling."
"Trollestia!" Aquinas exclaimed.
The Princess gave him a shocked expression. "I thought you were on my side?" she said. Her tone and red face expressed that she did not like the title.
Aquinas put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Princess. It's all in good fun." Everyone nodded in affirmation with a laugh, which was accompanied by a smile, or just a smirk.
Celestia chuckled and said "The reason we are here" she addressed Charmer. "is the matter of fitting these two in with Canterlot society. Clothing wise for now."
"Oh joy!" Sparkle Charmer squealed. "Let's start with you, Sir Ignatius!"
"Excuse me, Charmer." Princess Celestia interjected. "Ignatius will not be fitted by you." Another confused look came to Sparkle's face. The same expression came from Ignatius. "Ignatius will be fitted by Twisted Horns."
"Who's Twisted Horns?" Ignatius asked in an interrogating tone.
"He's a minotaur." Princess Celestia clarified. "He works the forge here at the castle."
"Oh, why would you want him to be fitted by him?" Charmer said with whine. "I could do a much better job at giving him the best fashions."
Charmer's words fell on deaf ears. "Ignatius is one for functionality, not fashion. He's a war fighter, and should be dressed as such." Ignatius gave the royal woman a look of appreciation and admiration. He truly did not expect such a thing.
Princess Celestia gave a wave of her hand to signal that he should go about his business with Aquinas. Charmer gave a low bow and pranced over to Aquinas who went on to talk about his idea for his garb.
"Come with me, Ignatius." Celestia bid the Marine. "I will take you to see Twisted Horns." Ignatius merely nodded and followed the monarch.
As soon as the door to the tailor's office was in the distance, Princess Celestia spoke. "So, Ignatius, your brother told me some interesting things yesterday."
Ignatius turned his head to greet her with a quizzical stare. "Like what?"
"Like your explanation of what love is." she said with confidence.
"Oh" Ignatius said in a is-that-all tone. "So what?"
"Well" she said. "It was just so heartfelt and beautiful, it seemed almost alien to me that you would say such a thing."
"You better tread carefully, lest you want to know why they call me the Wolf." his tone was threatening and dark. However, this only led the princess to try harder to stand her ground.
"That is another thing that your brother told me. Even he doesn't know why you left your Air Force."
"And you want to know why?" he snapped.
"No." she said with confidence. "I want to know why he doesn't even know."
This put Ignatius back a step after a second of thought he said "He doesn't need to know such things. It doesn't concern him. Plus, he's just better off not knowing."
"Does he know this reason?"
"Yes, and he understands." he said flatly. "He also understands that he shouldn't pry into such things."
"I don't mean to pry, Ignatius." Princess Celestia said in a sincere tone. "I only wish to understand."
"Understand?" he snapped again. "I don't think you can understand what I've been through."
"I think your right." Celestia conceded. "I don't think I will be able fully understand what you may be feeling on the subject, but I want to know at least one thing."
"What would that be?"
"What does it take to turn a good man into someone like the man I see here?"
Ignatius stopped in his tracks for a moment. He wasn't expecting a question like that, and there was only one answer. "One too many stabs to the heart." he said. Ignatius stepped off again after letting out a breath. When he caught up to the monarch, the expression of pain and sadness that crossed his face was dropped like it was made of lead and replaced by his usual, angry scowl. When he caught up to Celestia, he gave a glare of contempt.
The princess saw this and finally knew why. It was just so simple that she would have spent years trying to analyze such a thing, but be so complicated in her reasoning that she would have missed something so basic. Ignatius wasn't angry because he was wounded. No. He was angry because he didn't want to deal with the sadness and the anguish. He wasn't fighting everyone else around him to deal with his internal struggle, he was trying to run from his pain. And from what she just saw, it wasn't far behind him. Princess Celestia was trying to think about this more, but quickly remembered what Aquinas said. So instead, she changed the subject. "Your brother seems to be a unicorn."
Ignatius face was still set like stone, but his expression seemed to have softened. 'It was his eyes.' "Yeah." he said. "He does have the crystals on his hands."
"And he told me that you have wings, but they are different."
"I wear them like tattoos."
"I only know of three pegasi in my life that have had that quality."
This peaked Ignatius interest. "What does it mean to have this ability?"
Princess Celestia's eyes left and went to the floor. Her hair covered her face. She didn't want to answer that question. It was all too painful for her to relive again, but she came to a revelation. If she was to tell her story, then she might be able to get something out of Ignatius that he wouldn't normally reveal to anyone. So with that in mind, she took a deep breath and began.
"It would have to have been nine centuries ago. The first that came with such an ability was captured by my guards for espionage. He escaped in the night and about one hundred years later, another came, but he was just a salesman trying to make his way in the world when he was discovered. He was questioned, but claimed that he thought he was the only one to have that happen to him. I didn't sense any deception, and my magic didn't pick anything up as well. So, he was set free." Celestia choked back her tears. The last part of the story was just too painful.
Ignatius' heart swelled and his throat became dry. He could feel the sadness resonating from the woman. He came in close to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She stopped walking and put back her hair to reveal her swollen orbs, but it also revealed Ignatius' face. He didn't express confusion, or have on the his usual face of interrogation. No, he expressed sympathy. Perhaps even empathy. Celestia looked into his eyes. They did not show the pale blue that she usually saw, but a glowing turquoise. He came in closer to her. "You don't need to go any further." he said in a sympathetic and understanding tone. "I know what it's like to have a memory you want to forget. A memory you wished someone would tell you that it was all just a bad dream." He put his other arm around her and held her close. She didn't know how to respond, but as if on instinct, she returned the embrace. Her tears retreated and so did the memory. 'Gosh, he's warm' Celestia thought to herself. She smiled slightly and hugged Ignatius harder. Ignatius held his expression that Celestia saw. He knew what she was feeling. It was the feeling he had had for years.
Ignatius let her free from his embrace and looked into her eyes of hot pink. Celestia's eyes became dry once more and she breathed a sigh of contentment. They continued to walk in silence. Celestia's heart was as heavy as the anvils in the forge where they were heading. From what she could gather, Ignatius was a high strung individual. He also had some anger issues. On top of that, he was also quite deadly, though she hoped she would never have to witness his prowess on the battlefield, one thing that she could not wrap her mind around though, was what had just transpired back there. Ignatius seemed sympathetic and also expressed empathy. The only thing that Celestia could think of is that he is going through the same pain and he wanted to extend his hand to her to tell her that she was not alone in her inner turmoil. Her curiosity was peaking, but soon declined when she wanted to know his story. She had gotten the gist of it from Alvi that morning, but there seemed to be more to it than that. A thought had crossed her mind, a thought that she mentally slapped herself for. There was no way a man like Ignatius would ever. Would he?
A sizable wooden door with iron studs on the outside of it came into view as the pair rounded a corner. Above the door was a sign with branded lettering that read Metal Ringing. The insignia behind the door looked to be that of an eagle.
"We are here." Celestia stated. "Go on inside and see Twisted Horns. He will be happy to see you."
"Why would he be happy to see me?" Ignatius asked.
"Horns is always happy to see a new face." Celestia answered. "Especially one who has already touched hot metal with a hammer. Remember to have fun." She started to walk away, but Ignatius stopped her. "You're not going inside?" Princess Celestia turned around and said. "No." and she walked away. Leaving him with the wooden door. It's presence seemed to have a foreboding feeling to it. Like if he entered, he was not coming back out the same. The same feeling hit him in the Leadership Room back during advanced combat training. This door however, had a greater intensity to it. Ignatius body just froze. He reminded himself that he didn't have much of a choice but to go in and see the forge master. He took small steps up to the door and grabbed the handle. The metal was rather warm, but it didn't burn. He opened it slowly and stepped in. The room was dimly lit by the forge, which emitted a rather healthy glow. At the anvil was a blue furred minotaur pounding away at the heated piece of metal he held with metal tongs. He looked to have a set of horns that twisted backwards and curled in about three or so loops. This obviously had to be Twisted Horns. The man beast placed the metal back into the forge and pulled a handle down that gave the flame more air. The wheezing from the bellows echoed throughout the room. "Come in. Come in." said the minotaur. "I have been expecting you." Ignatius took a cautious step in and closed the door behind him. "Princess Celestia told you of my coming?" he questioned. "No." Horns answered. "I knew you were coming because my forge told me so." A quizzical look crossed Ignatius' face. "How did it tell you that I was coming?" The minotaur smiled "No." he cackled. "But, that doesn't mean that your presence here is not appreciated. Come! We have much to discuss."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sorry if I offended anyone with the writing on Sparkle Charmer. I didn't mean to hurt any feelings. If, I did, my deepest apology to you.
1000Fights