//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Chance // Story: The Secret Apprentice // by The Grimm Reaper //------------------------------// "Hello, Twilight Sparkle. Trixie has returned." the light blue Unicorn said, sounding and looking extremely ashamed of herself. I almost couldn't believe that this was the same mare that had tried to outclass every pony in Ponyville (not to mention other towns and cities). It astounded me to think how alike the two of them looked now that I saw them together. The resemblance was uncanny. Orion looked like a male version of Trixie. "Drop the third person, T. You sound like you're from Manehattan, like Rarity, only you're much more pompous." Orion said, causing the once proud Trixie to crouch in further shame. "How did you know I was from Manehattan?" Rarity asked. Orion brought his attention to my friend. "I mentioned before that I keep up with all aspects of Twilight's life, that includes her friends. I know everything about her, and in turn, everything about all of you." he replied. "Plus the accent was a given." he added. With my face turned away from my friends, I chanced a humored smile, which Orion caught. "So what do ay know about me then, smartypants?" Applejack demanded, taking an aggressive step towards Orion. "Your family actually paid off the debt to your farm three years ago." he replied. "Whut?" Applejack asked with a hint of confusion in her tone. Orion sighed and motioned for Trixie to take a seat, to which she obediently complied. "Your farm house, due to its ever expanding popularity, caused by your exceptional skills as a farmer," I knew Orion was playing on Applejack's strings of pride, to which her face revealed the melody to be perfect. "... has actually increased in value over the years. Of course your family has been led to believe that because of its expanding value, your debt would never be fully paid and the farm itself would never truly be yours." I watched as Applejack became sucked into his understanding of the facts. She nodded in sadness. "What the debt collectors didn't tell you was that you actually met the quota three years ago the day before its base value rose. So essentially you paid off the farm and it's been officially yours for three years now." he said. Applejack was gobsmacked. A smile struggled to form on her face and she kept holding her breath for a number of seconds before letting it go in a sigh of relief and excitement. "And because you've continued to pay a debt that doesn't actually exist for three years, the sum total could be returned to you with interest if you made them aware of your discovery. Alternatively, you could use that money to even expand on the farm and grow more trees, therefore securing further annual profits." he concluded. Applejack almost did a Rarity faint as she collapsed onto her haunches. "So you're sayin'." "The government is actually in debt to you." This time, Applejack did faint like Rarity and the white Unicorn was tasked with catching her friend. "As for you Rainbow Dash, stop paying mortgage to them for a house made out of clouds. To the Canterlot Government, it's a house that doesn't really exist. Besides, you built it, and because it doesn't occupy any land, you're quite literally living free." "So I could get a refund too?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yes, although they can claim that because they never actually asked for any payments from you that they considered it a monthly donation." Orion replied. "Damn con artists!" Dash complained, dropping to ground level in irritation with her hooves crossed. Orion knew that no other ponies had financial problems or any other issues that required immediate attention. "Now that I know my sister will be safe with you, I'd best be on my way. Good day girls." Orion tipped his head to my friends before flashing a glance at me. He was half way through the door before my body reacted ahead of my mind. "Orion, wait!" I called, following him out. I closed the door behind us and drew his attention to me. Now that I had him alone, I didn't know what to say. "Before you ask, no. I will not reconsider my path. Celestia will not go unpunished for what she did to me." he said, breaking the momentary silence between us. "That's not what I was going to talk to you about... I don't think. Look, I just wanted to ask you..." I froze. I couldn't ask him what I really wanted to ask him. "Yes?" he urged. He looked as if his patience was wearing thin. "Before I ask, could you drop your disguise? I want to see the real you when I ask." I requested. Orion raised a brow before dropping it without warning, as if the raise of the brow was a trigger for the transformation. Swallowing my pride and erasing my mind of all transient thought, I dove into the question, rather shakily. "I was wondering if... you wanted to... have dinner with me some time?" I flinched back, trying my best to prepare for rejection. To my surprise, he was as stunned as I was scared. I saw his brows rise to their full height. He blinked a few times... or winked, it was difficult to tell. "Why... did you ask me that?" he asked after what felt like an eternity since. I uncoiled from my flinch and looked at him with determination. "Because I'm new to this whole thing. And disguise or not, I can see your beauty behind those wounds. Because you know me better than my brother and you trust me enough to look after your sister even though we're supposed to be enemies. And even though I don't know that much about you, you are still my oldest friend. I can't think of anypony better, can you?" I said, reaching a hoof to the unburned half of his face. "Any stallion would be a better suitor than me. Could you really see a life with me after I eliminate Celestia? Would Luna forgive you for knowingly dating her sister's killer?" he challenged. "Do you think she would forgive me for looking after your sister?" I retorted. "Trixie has nothing to do with this war." Orion retorted. "Neither does Luna." I countered. I knew I had him when he didn't say anything else. I also noticed that he hadn't answered my request. "Why ask me in this form?" he said, returning to the issue at hoof. "Because I want you to know that I don't care about appearances (although you're bucking drop-dead gorgeous disguised). I want you to know that I'm not deluded by your disguise, that I want to get to know the real you. You said that Celestia took your life away from you. I want to prove to you that that simply isn't true. You can start again, get to know me better as a pony, not just the aspects and activities in my life. Become a part of it." I replied. Hopefully, my intentions were laid out to him crystal clear. I watched as he mulled over what I said in his mind. I could tell he was weighing the pros with the cons, calculating whether or not this relationship which I had presented him with would affect the overall outcome of his plans. I watched as he squinted when thinking harder and relaxed as he came to conclusions. His thought process was much like mine. I could tell we would have made a great couple had Celestia not interfered in the past. I began to imagine where we might have been had I grown up with him as my close friend. We would have studied together, played together, had sleep-overs, all the foal stuff. As we grew up we'd start going out like I'd planned to now... We would have dated, had our first kiss, slept together... The appearance of Nightmare Moon wouldn't have changed anything. I still would have met my friends here in Ponyville... Orion and I would have been married by the time Discord showed up. I might have even been pregnant by now. Thinking about the possibilities with him in my life, I found a slight hint of contempt towards Princess Celestia. But what really got me shaking was Orion's lack of an answer. "Well? Can I breathe yet?" I asked. Orion's train of thought visibly broke and he made an amused huff before taking a deep breath. He looked me square in the eye and let his breath go. I noticed that there must have been something in his lungs. He smelled like Spike's breath. Did he have Dragon lungs? "Twilight Sparkle, after much consideration, I have decided that I would love to have dinner with you." he replied. I released the breath I actually didn't know I was holding and smiled at him. "On one condition." he concluded. I wondered then if it was too soon for me to celebrate. But my desire outmatched my sensibility. "Name it." I said. "We keep our personal life together separate from my conflict with Celestia. That means no discussing Celestia during our time together. You can ask me about how I got these wounds, but anything regarding my plans or her, don't even think about it." he replied. I was actually relieved to have that as the condition. I had no intention of letting Celestia get between us until the final showdown. I knew I'd have to make a decision and pretty soon, but until then, I wanted to make up for lost time. "That's a condition I can live with." I replied, smiling at him. Without thinking, I leaned over and kissed his cheek, blushing afterwards. "And I look forward to getting to know you." I added. Orion bowed to me before raising his disguise and leaving me to fluster in peace. Maybe the girls were right. I had a thing for bad boys. I sighed with romantic intent as I leaned against my door, only to fall backwards as it opened without warning. "You asked him OUT?!" Rarity shrieked, holding hoof to mouth in a look of sheer horror. "Twilight, what in the hay were you thinking?! The guy's a stalker. What if he wanted you to do that? It could all be a part of the plan!" Rainbow Dash argued, giving reason to Rarity's objection. "Girls, Orion's just misunderstood. Besides, I already went over this with you before he turned up, remember?" I defended. "That was different, Twilight. You suggested becoming his friend, not his marefriend." Dash retorted. "Oh dear... what if he does this and that to you without your consent?" Fluttershy spoke up. I had to admit, that did sound possible. Whether I would like that or not is a different matter. "Now Twi, ya'll know I'm fairly open-minded. But even though he let me know that the government actually owed mah farm, somethin' about him just ain't settlin' right with me." Applejack said, as she placed a hoof on my shoulder. "Come on, girls. This might be a slight altercation to the plan I came up with earlier, but the outcome should still be the same." I tried to coax them. "But Twilight, what if Princess Celestia finds out?" Pinkie asked with a gasp (). Normally, I would fret about her finding something out but they were usually unimportant things. This time it was important and I was as calm as ever. Actually, I was upset at Pinkie for suggesting such a thing. "And exactly how do you think she'll find out?" I accused. Pinkie was rarely affected by anything, but my tone of voice combined with my accusing stare made her recoil into herself like a puppy that knew it had done something wrong. "Twilight, calm down. Pinkie didn't mean anything by it. But she has a point. Princess Celestia will find out eventually. you dating all of a sudden will become big gossip around Ponyville and that will spread to Canterlot and eventually the Princess herself. She'll put two and two together and then what?" Spike said, patting Twilight's shoulder. I knew he was right. When Spike sounded like he knew what he was talking about, he almost always did. "Look, Orion was telling the truth in regards to her. I can feel it. Besides, you saw the evidence yourself." I began. "Yeah, but Twilight-." "ENOUGH!" a voice from the couch screamed, startling everypony. "I know I'm a guest here, but I will not sit here and let all of you berate my brother when you know next to nothing about him! I won't pretend to know why Princess Celestia would care if Twilight dated Orion, but if a bunch of ponies are going to label him, there will be repercussions." Oh crap. Trixie was still here and she heard everything the girls had said. Luckily she hadn't picked up on why the girls didn't like him. "You're quite right, Trixie. All of you, get out. I don't think I want to even look at you all after the way you've behaved. Spike, you can stay with Rarity tonight." I said. "WHAT?!" they all argued. "Twi, you can't be serious!" Rainbow Dash protested, flying over to her friend. I said nothing. My horn lit up and a giant boot shaped aura appeared, reared back and literally booted everypony out of the Library. I slammed the door shut on them, denying them re-entry. "I'm sorry, Trixie. The girls are a bit suspicious of him since nopony knows who this killer is that Orion's looking for." I explained, giving her an apologetic look. She looked rather upset for a pony who until today I believed to be rather self-centred. Turned out she was family oriented, like Applejack, only extremely so. "That's alright, Twilight Sparkle. But I must ask; how do you know my brother? He never mentioned you and he's been missing for years." she enquired. I figured the truth wouldn't hurt. "I actually only met him once. It was on the day I became Princess Celestia's student. I happened to bump into him and he congratulated me on my success. We spent the day together and became friends. Until yesterday, I never saw or heard from him again. But I never forgot him. And he obviously made an impression on me." I replied, my face growing red as I thought about him. Trixie seemed more relaxed around me. "He's a good stallion, Twilight Sparkle. Please don't hurt him." she asked. I placed my hoof against my heart. "I promise that I will not hurt him. Cross my heart and hope to die." I said, earning a smile from the pale blue unicorn. "And please, call me Twilight." I said, offering my hoof to her.