Chapter 2: Reunion
Twilight Sparkle blinked as she stared at the strange stallion calling her name. He apparently knew her and seemed familiar, but Twilight couldn't quite place her memory of him. "Do...do I know you?"
"I suppose it's been a very long time," admitted the stallion, rubbing the back of his head as he grinned sheepishly, "Twily, it's me, Arkenstone." Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Spike shared a look. There was only one other pony they knew of that called Twilight by that nickname.
Twilight went rigid as she heard the stallion's name, her eyes widening in stunned surprise. "Arkenstone..." Her eyes traced the stallion's features, her mind finally beginning to see in him the colt that she had known so many years ago. "Is it really...?" Her eyes settled on Arkenstone's cutie mark and everything snapped into place.
"ARKY!!!" Twilight shrieked, launching herself at the stallion and tackling him with her most powerful hug. Arkenstone barely budged, rocking back a little to cushion Twilight's impact as he brought up his arms to return her embrace.
"Arky I haven't seen you in years!" Twilight exclaimed, hugging him as tightly as she could, "Where have you been all this time?" The two pulled away from each other.
Arkenstone, still not having opened his eyes, smiled at her face. "Oh here and there. I've been taking various jobs over the years." Reaching up with one hoof, he gently brushed Twilight's mane back. "It seems so strange. I always remember what a cute young filly you were, but before I realized it, you've clearly grown into such a beautiful mare."
"Arky," reproached Twilight, "You could see it for yourself. Why are you still sitting there with your eyes closed?"
Arkenstone sighed and shook his head sadly, before giving Twilight another smile, this one slightly bitter. "Unfortunately, opening them will do no good. I have been blind for quite some time." To illustrate his point, his eyelids drifted open to reveal featureless, milky-white orbs where Twilight remembered there being a soft beige that matched his coat.
The revelation echoed through the room, leaving stunned silence in its wake. Rarity's jaw nearly reached the floor and Sweetie Belle had frozen stiff. "Oh no! I had no idea!" exclaimed the fashionable mare, "I never even noticed. How negligent of me...and I treated you so roughly too. I am so sorry!"
"Please," said Arkenstone, extending a placating hoof in her direction, "Don't get overwrought. I may be blind but I have certainly managed to get along without my eyes just fine. Indeed," he paused, his smile becoming a bit of a smirk, "I daresay that I've gotten along better without my eyes than I ever did with them."
Twilight simply stared at the stallion in shocked silence. "Arky..." she whispered, her eyes tearing slightly.
Arkenstone's expression softened as he turned back to Twilight, raising a hoof to brush tears away from her eyes, the appendage moving with unerring accuracy, despite the fact that Arkenstone had no means of seeing her face. "Don't cry Twily," he said softly, "I'm perfectly fine. This is a happy occasion." He rested both his forehooves on her shoulders. "So no tears, okay?"
Twilight sniffed and rubbed her eyes, giving Arkenstone the biggest smile she could manage. "Okay."
Rarity thought for a moment, putting two and two together. "So then Twilight was the pony you smelled on me. Simply amazing. Then that means you were friends with..."
"Yeah," Twilight chirped, seeing where Rarity's reasoning, "Arkenstone was my B.B.B.F.F.B.F." Crickets were audible as everypony (and dragon) in the room stared at Twilight in confused silence. "Big Brother Best Friend Forever's Best Friend," she deadpanned.
"Geez Twilight," muttered Spike, "You really need to lay off the acronyms. Maybe you should join a support group."
The lavender unicorn leveled a glare at her Number One Assistant as the other ponies in the room chuckled.
"Now then," said Arkenstone after he got his mirth back under control, "Who might you be young man?"
"I'm Spike," replied the dragon proudly, "I'm Twilight's assistant in the library."
"Library?" Arkenstone shifted his face back to Twilight, smiling teasingly, "Why am I not surprised?"
"Hey!" protested Twilight.
But Arkenstone had already turned his attention back to Spike. "So you're the dragon she hatched during her entrance examination to Celestia's school."
"Yep."
"A pleasure to meet you," said Arkenstone, extending a hoof, which Spike shook.
Rarity initially planned to sit back and enjoy the exchange, but a look at the clock changed her mind. "Oh good gracious!" she exclaimed, "Look at the time! I must get started on dinner for Sweetie Belle and I. I'm terribly sorry Twilight dear, but I don't have enough for everyone. Besides, Sweetie and I have something important to talk about."
"I understand Rarity," said Twilight, giving her friend an accommodating smile, "Spike and I should be doing the same although..." She turned to regard Arkenstone, "I would really love it if you came back with us Arky. We haven't seen each other in so long, I'd love to have you spend dinner with us."
Sweetie Belle let out an almost inaudible whine of disappointment. She had been hoping that the stallion might spend the evening with her and Rarity so she could continue to press him for details that could enlighten her about his cutie mark.
Arkenstone mulled over Twilight's offer for a moment. "I suppose I could join you for the evening Twily. It'll be nice to catch up."
After bidding farewell to Rarity and Sweetie Belle (with Arkenstone once again thanking Rarity for the gift of the cloak), Twilight, Spike and Arkenstone left the boutique. To Twilight's surprise, Arkenstone trotted out ahead of them, surprisingly zeroing in on the library with impressive accuracy.
"Wow," observed Twilight, "For a pony who can't see, you sure didn't have any trouble figuring out where I live."
Arkenstone chuckled. "I told you, didn't I. I actually do much better without my eyes than with them. Your scent converges on this location from practically every direction. It's like a beacon to my nose."
"So you navigate by smelling?" asked Spike.
The beige stallion nodded. "Yes. I can easily identify and locate objects through scent, though I also rely on my hearing quite a bit as well."
"Huh," mused Spike, "So is it like comic books, you know where losing one sense makes your other senses stronger?"
"Spike, that's medically impossible," protested Twilight as she opened the library door for them.
"She's right," agreed Arkenstone, "Rather, losing my sight didn't make my other senses stronger, but it did allow me to become more aware of what they could already pick up."
"What do you mean?" asked the dragon. Twilight looked at Arkenstone expectantly, curious about the explanation behind this as well.
"Have you ever wanted to listen really well to a pleasant piece of music?" Arkenstone's listeners nodded in unison. "...concentrate on a pleasant aroma...enjoy tasty food?" They nodded in response to each of his queries. "When you want to focus on one of those, be it taste, smell or hearing, what's one of the things you might do automatically to accomplish that?"
Twilight let out an eager gasp. "You'd close your eyes. I get it!"
"Huh, get what?" asked Spike.
"If you lost your vision," explained Arkenstone, "Your other senses might seem stronger, but the truth of the matter is that they are just as strong as they've always been. Rather, without your eyes to distract you, you begin to realize scents that you've always smelled but were never aware of before, things you've heard but never noticed and so on. Sight is our dominant sense, so it's easy to understand just how much of our awareness is dedicated to processing that sense. By closing it off, you open your awareness to the wider world around you."
"Oh," gasped Spike, now understanding, "That's pretty cool, now that I think about it."
"Alright alright," said Twilight, interjecting herself back into the conversation, "Lets go get dinner ready Spike. Arky, why don't you make yourself comfortable..."
"I missed you, you know," said Twilight. Dinner was finished, the dishes were cleaned and Spike was up in his basket, having fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation. Twilight and Arkenstone set out several cushions in front of the fireplace and the two of them quietly chatted, basking in the warmth of the flames. For Twilight, it was a relief seeing an old friend, even if it was one she hadn’t seen or spoken to in a long time. Arkenstone’s sudden arrival was enough to take her mind off of the confusion over the day’s events.
"I'm sorry," replied Arkenstone, feeling a little awkward, "I've traveled all over Equestria for my work. I very rarely got to visit Canterlot. And when I did, you were always busy with your studies."
"Yeah," said Twilight, looking into the flames, "I got carried away back then. The only reason I'm here in Ponyville now is because Princess Celestia practically ordered me to come down here and make some friends. If she hadn't, I'd probably still be up there with my nose glued to some book."
Arkenstone laughed quietly. "Yes. But then you wouldn't be the Twily we know and love if you didn't spend so much of your time studying. It's what you love more than anything else."
Twilight felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment, especially at the word "love." "You know, I was hoping you would be at Shiny's wedding."
"Sorry," said Arkenstone again, "I had an important job at the southern border. Shining Armor actually offered to postpone the wedding so I could get back, but Cadance apparently insisted on not delaying."
"Yeah," said Twilight, frowning darkly, "But I think the reason she insisted was because she wasn't Cadance." The Princess Cadance that had been so insistent about the wedding proceeding as scheduled had actually been the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. She had probably wanted to ensure that the wedding went off as soon as possible so that there was less chance of her ruse being discovered.
A low sigh escaped the lavender mare's mouth. "Can you stay for a little while?" she asked.
Arkenstone shook his head sadly. "No. I have to get to Canterlot to finish a very important job." He sensed that Twilight was crestfallen from this revelation. "But," he added, "I think that after this, I won't have to worry about traveling about for a while. It would be nice to settle into one place for a time and not have to worry about banging around the country. This town seems like a rather nice place. So perhaps..." he turned and gently nuzzled Twilight's cheek, "I could come back and settle here for a while. I know your brother would appreciate having someone he trusts keeping an eye on you...er so to speak."
Twilight giggled weakly at his joke. "I'd like that," she admitted, "So how are you getting to Canterlot?"
"Since I don't have any money, right now, I was just going to hoof it."
Twilight gasped. "But that'll take you at least four days unless you plan on flat out running."
Arkenstone tapped his chin. "It wouldn't be the first time."
"How about I get you a ticket for the train in the morning. You could be in Canterlot by tomorrow evening."
"But I couldn't ask you to..."
"Please," begged Twilight, "Let me do this for you."
Arkenstone let out a sigh of defeat. "Very well then."
Twilight giggled at his resignation and gently nuzzled him. "You can spend the night here. I'm going up to bed." She gave him her sternest glare. "And no trying to sneak off."
Arkenstone chuckled heartily at her admonishment. "You and your friends certainly are forceful with your generosity."
Twilight lashed her tail playfully in his direction as she moved up the stairs. Arkenstone listened until the door closed before settling down onto the pillows to rest.
"She truly has grown," he mused wistfully, "I certainly can't think of her as a cute little filly anymore."
The morning came and Twilight was at the station to see her old friend on his way. "How long will you be in Canterlot," she asked.
"Not long," answered Arkenstone simply as he stood in front of the idling train. There was still a little bit before he had to be on it. Fortunately, having no luggage meant that all he had to do was step aboard, so there was no need for haste. "I just need to wrap up my work and I'll be done."
"Be safe," said Twilight softly, brushing his cheek with her hoof, "We still have a lot to catch up on."
A snort burst from the stallion's nose. "Don't worry. There's very little trouble I can get into in Canterlot. I was just going to pay a visit to your brother and a friend of mine anyway."
The whistle sounded and Arkenstone gave Twilight a slow nod before stepping aboard. The engine chugged as it slowly began to pull away. Twilight didn't take her eyes off until it had left the station and dwindled into the distance. Smiling at the prospect of being able to spend time with Arkenstone again, she grinned before turning around...
And nearly slamming straight into Rarity, who had planted herself firmly in front of the lavender mare, the most severe look imaginable on her face. "Um...hi Rarity," squeaked Twilight as she shrank away from her friend, an ominous feeling building in her chest.
"You." Rarity's voice was almost a snarl and it made Twilight quake on her hooves as the alabaster unicorn's glare drilled into her. "You and me...spa...NOW!"
"What?" Twilight's nonplussed response was quickly cut short as she was wrapped in a light blue aura and dragged out of the station, Rarity pulling her along and heading straight to the spa without the slightest hesitation. "Rarity waaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"
“Well, this is it.” Red River looked warily towards the hospital doors. He was getting an inkling of how Dawn must have felt when he’d first told the colt about his pending “execution.”
“Things went about as well as we could have hoped,” consoled Storm Front, “We managed to succeed.”
“I think the kid’s friends would have a different way of describing our ‘success,’” muttered Red, “For all that we’ve done and what we managed to accomplish, the fact of the matter is that we still have to face her.”
In this case, the “her” in question was Fluttershy. As Dawn’s condition took precedence, she had held off on sharing her thoughts with the two stallions responsible for it. However, now that he had been seen to, it was time for the two mercenaries to take their lumps.
The doors to the hospital slid open to admit them. Fluttershy was there, waiting for them in the lobby, as they had agreed the previous day. Her expression was completely neutral, one that Red River fancied might give Big Macintosh a run for his money. Red River actually felt a shiver go down his spine. He’d gone through countless battles in his life, but this mare intimidated more than some of the most fearsome opponents he’d ever faced. A glance to his side told him that Storm Front had the same impression, though only Red’s years of experience as Storm’s companion allowed him to read the pegasus stallion’s expression.
The pair came to a stop before Fluttershy. She was presently a far cry from the timid pegasus and the affectionate mother they had seen so often before. There was steel in her gaze as she first met Red, then Storm’s eyes. Red River, resisted the urge to scratch across his chest. He felt naked without his usual sash in the compacted spear he normally wore. Storm Front was much the same, having forgone his shirt and the weapon usually concealed within. It had been a mutual agreement between the two of them that they would not carry their weapons when they went to meet Fluttershy. They owed her that much, at the very least.
An uncomfortable silence stretched out between the three ponies. Finally, it was Red River who broke the silence. “Good morning.”
Fluttershy’s response was a wordless nod, her expression not so much as twitching.
“Um...how’s the kid doing?” asked Red, finally giving up and reaching to scratch his chest.
“He’s doing well,” said Fluttershy, “The doctor gave him a healing spell last night and he just woke up recently. He’s having breakfast now.”
“I see...” Red River’s voice trailed off and he looked to the side, wordlessly appealing to his companion for help.
Storm Front closed his eyes for a moment before he looked back at Fluttershy’s eyes. “I understand where this is going. I would suggest we move this somewhere more private.”
Fluttershy nodded and led the two of them out of the hospital lobby and out into the gardens behind the building. There, she found a pair of benches perched on either side of the meandering path through the gardens. She took one while the stallions took the other. At this hour of the day, nopony was out. There was nopony to overhear them.
Fluttershy took a deep breath, then leveled her eyes at the two stallions. “Now then,” she said, “I am very upset with both of you.”
At that moment, a tremendous feeling of shame and guilt practically crashed down upon the two mercenaries, who shuddered under the force of Fluttershy’s Stare. Her eyes bored their way into their hearts, making them tremble like foals caught doing a bad deed. Storm Front shuddered and tried desperately to wrench his gaze away, failing. Red River squeezed his eyes shut, sending a few tears rolling down his cheeks as the pressure mounted.
This was beyond the Stare Fluttershy had used against Applejack when she had attacked Dawn. This was even beyond the Stare that had once been used to subdue a rampaging dragon. It was loaded with every ounce of Fluttershy’s will, the will of a mother. Countless hours spent caring for her animals, tending their hurts, soothing their fears, raising them from infancy into adulthood were only supplemented by the weeks spent looking after Dawn, helping him nurse his injuries, fixing his meals, helping him clean himself, preening his feathers, holding him tightly in his moments of weakness, all of it feeding the power of Fluttershy’s stare as she channeled the power of motherhood itself into it. At this moment, she was not just Dawn’s mother, but Red River’s mother, Storm Front’s mother, Celestia’s mother. At this point, she was even her own mother’s mother.
Red River reopened his eyes and looked at Fluttershy through his tears. Storm Front ceased his efforts to break away from her gaze. She could see their jaws working silently behind their lips, as though they simultaneously struggled to say something and, at the same time, fought to keep from saying it. She frowned, understanding what do words they were trying to keep from escaping their mouths. She understood...and relented.
The two stallions let out simultaneous gasps and sagged down in their seats as the pressure of the Stare vanished. Fluttershy watched as they struggled to regain their composure. They had been on the verge of throwing themselves at her hooves, apologizing until their voices broke, begging her forgiveness. But that wouldn’t have been right. Their apologies would have merely been dragged out of them as an emotional reflex of the Stare, not because they sincerely believed it. Their words would have been hollow and empty. They’d understood that, which was why they had fought so hard to resist the stare’s power.
So instead, she waited patiently as they regathered their strength and sat up to face her once more. When they did, she took another breath.
“Now,” said Fluttershy, “I want you to tell me exactly what it was you were doing yesterday.”
Storm Front looked to Red River. After all, the azure stallion was the talkative one of the pair.
Red River took a deep breath and started. “When we were hired here, we were hired for the intention of helping keep the peace if Dawn’s past conflicts came for him in Ponyville. In a sense, we stand as extras to the Town Guard in keeping the peace, particularly where Dawn’s circumstances are concerned. Because of his own abilities, we weren’t explicitly hired to protect him.”
Fluttershy nodded. This much she knew already.
“The problem lies in the fact that, while Dawn is still a foal, he is powerful...terrifyingly powerful, powerful enough to completely level Ponyville in a matter of minutes if he was so inclined. His martial art was developed to ultimately put its wielder on par with entire armies at a time. With that much strength, it’s a very dangerous thing for him to not be in full control of himself.”
Fluttershy still said nothing, her gaze merely prompting the stallion to continue.
Red sighed and scratched the back of his mane. “Dawn was too detached. I’ve told you this before. I’ve told him as well. Ideally, with help from you and your friends, Dawn could have ultimately overcome that, opened his heart, healed the wounds on his soul, and moved on to a healthy and happy life.
“But again, Dawn is powerful. If a wound has healed over badly, the solution is often to reopen it and treat it so that it heals properly. In Dawn’s case, this would mean making him loosen the hold he already had over his emotions so that he could relearn how to deal with them. But for a colt of his power, that is extremely dangerous.
“The signs were already apparent. Had Storm here not stepped in, he would have cut off Cirrus Stratus’s wings, maimed and crippled another pony without a lick of remorse. That was the tipping point. The next day, when he snapped at that schoolfilly, was nothing more than a confirmation of just how close to the edge he was.”
“Why did you threaten him?” demanded Fluttershy, “Why did you try to kill him?”
It was now Storm who answered. “We did not intend to kill him in the literal sense. Drastic measures were called for. It was a gambit to reawaken his spirit. The purpose was to bring him to the very edge of defeat. Once there, it was a matter of giving his mind the impression that he had been ‘killed.’”
“You’re familiar with thauma-electrical defibrillation?” asked Red River, referring to the unicorn medical technique of using a magically-generated electrical pulse to restart a stopped heart.
Fluttershy nodded.
“In short, that is what we were aiming for with Dawn. Except, instead of his heart, we aimed to restart his spirit. Ultimately, we succeeded. The injuries that Dawn sustained show the limits of our skills as one more skilled than us would have been able to bring him to that place without injuring him so badly.” Storm Front lowered his head after confessing this. Red River followed suit.
Fluttershy studied them silently. These two stallions were, in a sense, apologizing to her for injuring Dawn. However, their apology stemmed from a completely different reason than the norm. They were apologizing for not being able to emotionally traumatize her son without injuring him severely in the process. That was their failing in their minds, not the fact that they had attacked him to begin with.
It was a mode of thought completely alien to Fluttershy’s own, it wasn’t a matter of being right or wrong. For these stallions, the notion of “right” in their own minds and hearts was different from Fluttershy’s. What genuinely troubled her was that Dawn had obviously understood it better than she had.
It was hard to describe the difference in the colt’s demeanor when he reawakened that morning. The only way she could put it was that he seemed...relieved...as though a tremendous burden had been lifted from his shoulders. It hadn’t taken her long to realize that his relief did not stem from the fact he had narrowly escaped (or rather, had been allowed to escape) death. While his personal issues hadn’t magically evaporated overnight, he seemed...more at peace with himself than he had before, as though he somehow knew himself better.
From the moment they’d met, it was clear that Red River and Storm Front had seen Dawn differently from the way she and her friends saw him. Where Fluttershy had seen a foal who, in spite of his strength and skill, suffered from a lack of love and affection, a lonely soul in need of comfort, the two stallions in front of her had seen him as a peer, an equal, someone who walked the same path that they did. They saw and understood a facet of Dawn’s character that she wasn’t sure she ever would. They had used that understanding to reach out and help Dawn in their own way, however sick and twisted it had seemed to her.
“I suppose,” she said, “I won’t ever understand what it’s like to see the world the way you do.”
“Probably not,” admitted Red River, “But we really don’t have anything else to offer at this point.”
“At that time, under those circumstances, it was the only course of action we could see,” added Storm Front.
“So what now?” asked Fluttershy, closing her eyes.
The two stallions exchanged a look. “Just as there were things that we felt only we can do, there are things only you can do,” said Red River.
“We helped Dawn our way,” said Storm Front, “But that was merely a start. I’m afraid that, now, the real work falls to you. Dawn is not such a simple pony that there is a single, simple solution for his problems. Even though we were the ones who took action, you are the one who truly saved him.”
“What do you mean?” asked Fluttershy, her eyes blinking open.
“Our gambit only worked because, within his heart, Dawn still held onto the will to live. He has you to thank for that. You laid the foundation for our success.”
Fluttershy could only stare. How had what had begun as an admonishment on her part turned into something concerning a counselor session? She let out a weary sigh.
“I don’t know what to say anymore. I’m not even sure I can stay angry at you. I-I just don’t understand any of this. I don’t know if I can trust you, or if I should ask Twilight to send you out of town. All I know is...” She stopped for a moment, a choked sob working its way out of her throat. “...You hurt my son.”
The two stallions exchanged glances, discomfited by her distress. “If that is what you wish,” said Red River, “We will leave Ponyville and never trouble you again.”
Fluttershy blinked and looked back up, surprised by the earnest conviction in Red’s tone. “Just like that?”
“If you wish,” agreed Storm, “Even if it is tangential to the reason for our hiring, your son’s well-being is important to us. If you truly feel that we do more harm than good then...”
Fluttershy blinked, her initial thoughts urging her to take their offer. However, as she thought, she remembered Dawn’s relief, the way he seemed more at ease with himself than before. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that these stallions had been able to offer Dawn something that she hadn’t. And yet...they had hurt him. She wasn’t ready to look away from that either.
“Alright,” she said softly, “You can stay.”
However, she leveled her gaze on them one final time, the force of the Stare descending once more. “But if you ever hurt or threaten my son again, I will make you wish you’d left.” The two expert warriors, who’d fought countless battles and survived numerous perils were left quivering wrecks. Her piece said, Fluttershy turned and walked away.
She was long gone by the time Red and Storm found the strength to stand up again. “That was...” said the azure stallion, his mouth working as he tried to come up with words.
“She’s strong,” was all Storm Front had to say, staring after Fluttershy once again, “Much stronger than us.”
Red River let out a mirthless snort. “Brings back memories, doesn’t it?”
“That it does,” agreed Storm Front, the two reminiscing briefly of the time that they had been subjected to the very trick they had played on Dawn, “I remember he cut us down with a single thought before we could blink. Yes, with a will that powerful, I’m not surprised that she’s never had to lay a hoof on another pony.”
The two shared one last glance before going their own way.
A solid hour of pampering found Twilight and Rarity reclining in the herbal baths. Rarity let out a relaxed sigh before focusing her attention on her friend. "Now then," she said, a hint of her previous intensity coming back, "Tell me everything."
"Everything?" asked Twilight, canting her head.
"Everything," replied Rarity, now grinning eagerly, like she had just found the most elegant-looking gemstone imaginable.
"...About what?"
"What do you think?" snapped Rarity, thrashing her limbs in agitation and splashing the water noisily, realizing she was creating a scene, she froze and directed a sheepish grin at the other ponies in the spa with them, as well and Aloe and Lotus, who were going about their rounds. Calming slightly, Rarity sank back down into the water and inched closer to Twilight, "I mean everything about this stallion friend of yours. It's clear that the two of you were very close in the past."
"Oh..." said Twilight, giggling nervously, "That."
"Yes. That!" agreed Rarity, sidling up to Twilight and leaning in, "You were practically ecstatic to see him again. How do you two know each other. I need details."
A sigh escaped from Twilight as she reflected upon what a hopeless gossip her friend was. "Okay Rarity, but I don't want you spilling all this to everypony else; got it?"
"Of course," agreed Rarity, nodding solemnly, "My lips are sealed. Do you require a Pinkie Promise?"
"No!" exclaimed Twilight before forcing herself to calm back down, subconsciously looking for any sign of a certain pony as she did so, "I mean, a normal promise is perfectly fine. I trust you."
"Excellent," said Rarity, sitting back again and giving Twilight a little space. "Now, continue."
Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself a little. "Well, Arkenstone was actually my big brother's best friend."
"I knew that much already," said Rarity, recalling their conversation from the previous night.
"Yeah, well...they were pretty good friends. Shining Armor had a lot of friends actually. He was a really popular colt back then. But Arkenstone was...different. You know how young colts can be. They think that having somepony's little sister with them is some sort of burden. I loved spending time with my brother, but his friends generally didn't like spending time with me, especially since I was so obsessed with books."
"I take it, Arkenstone was an exception to that," ventured Rarity, seeing where Twilight's story was going.
Twilight nodded. "Arkenstone was pretty much the only one of my brother's friends who like having me around. In fact, Arkenstone was always happy to play with me or even read to me whenever Shining brought me with him to visit his friends. And when Arkenstone visited, he often had a present of some sort for me, usually another book for my collection."
"It sounds like he knew you quite well," observed Rarity, muffling a giggle.
Twilight blushed slightly and sank a little further into the water. "Yeah, well I was an easy filly to shop for. All he had to do was find a book I didn't already have."
"Take it from me darling, that can be difficult enough. Even with Spike helping, I was nearly at my wits end trying to find you a Hearth's Warming Eve present."
"Anyway!" shouted Twilight, "I really looked up to Arkenstone. He was always so fun to be with. He would foalsit me whenever Cadance wasn't available, which wasn't often, but it happened. He would read with me, help me with my schoolwork, and just sit and talk with me. He'd listen to whatever I wanted to talk about, even if it was something he probably found completely boring. In a lot of ways, it was like having a second big brother." Twilight grinned, reliving her memories of that time.
"Is that all you thought about him?" prodded Rarity, "That he was another brother?"
Twilight lowered her eyes and looked away from Rarity. "Well...no." She admitted, "I was always happy to see him and really wanted to spend more time with him. I even pestered Shining constantly about when he would be bringing Arkenstone over. And whenever Arkenstone did come over, he and Shining always spent time with me, rather than just hanging out with each other. In fact..." Twilight's cheeks flushed bright red, "I had a crush on him, my first one."
"Really?" inquired Rarity. When Twilight nodded, she let out an ecstatic squeal. "EEEEEEEEEE! I just knew it!"
"In fact, he's the only crush I've ever had," said Twilight, "But then, we sort of drifted apart."
Rarity's face fell at the sound of that. "Oh no dear. What happened?"
"Well..." Twilight contemplated her reflection in the water. "You know how young ponies can be. There were these three colts who used to bully me whenever I went out on my own. Because of them, I hated going to the park, because they might try to take my books or my dolls away to make me cry. Then one day, Cadance and I were at the park. At first I thought it was going to be okay, since Cadance was there with me, but those three colts still came after me. Cadance's magic isn't much good for things like fighting so she couldn't really do anything to stop them. She and I could only watch as they taunted me and then...
"There was this blast of magic and all three of them were knocked flat. Shining Armor was in front of us. I've never seen him look so furious. He told them to leave and not bother me again. Those colts ran off with their tails tucked. And then, Shining got his cutie mark."
"I see," said Rarity, "But I don't understand. How does Arkenstone figure into all of this?"
"Because those colts didn't stop," explained Twilight, "They just got clever about it. Their ringleader was a pretty strong unicorn and he really scared me. They would wait for times when they knew Shining couldn't watch me and would jump me and start harassing me. They even started getting forceful with me, nothing that would hurt me or leave a mark, which would have given them away, but enough to terrify me. And they also told me that if I tattled on them, they would make things even worse for me. And I believed them.
"I still don't know how Arkenstone found out about it. One day, they were using their magic to actually toss me into the air and test how long they could wait before catching me." Rarity gasped in horror. "I was so scared I actually wet myself, which they thought was hilarious. When Arkenstone found me, I was filthy, crying and scared out my mind. He didn't say a thing. He just held me and let me cry, not caring how dirty I was. Then, once I had run out of tears, he took me home, put me in the bath and cleaned me up. Then he tucked me into bed and read to me until I fell asleep. The whole time, he managed to avoid bringing up what happened with the rest of my family. I think he must have told them at some point, but made sure they didn't bother me about it."
"That's so sweet," cooed Rarity.
Twilight nodded, a small tear running down her cheek. "The next day, it was like it had never happened. At first I was terrified to go outside. I was sure that those colts thought that I had told Arkenstone and would jump me the first chance I got. It was Cadance who brought me to the park. She nearly had to drag me out there. Those three colts were there again, but something was different. The instant they saw me, they looked like they had seen some kind of monster. They ran off and, to this day, I never saw them again.
"The next time I saw Arkenstone, he had his cutie mark. But something was off."
"How so?" asked Rarity.
"He seemed, ashamed of it somehow. It took me awhile, but I think I have the general idea of what happened."
"And what was that?"
Twilight looked over at her friend. "You know how Shining's cutie mark is a shield?"
"Yes," agreed Rarity, "That means his special talent is protecting other ponies from harm, correct? Just as he protected you from those bullies."
Twilight nodded. "Yes, a shield means defense, Shining protects others from harm. It even translates into his magic. Shining can do a shield spell like no one else. But Arkenstone's cutie mark is the inverse. Swords mean offense. Arkenstone's special talent was basically taking the fight to others and striking back." Rarity paled slightly at this. "I don't know exactly what Arkenstone did to make those bullies leave me alone. There wasn't a mark on them, but it seemed he had put the fear of Celestia herself into them. However, he seemed ashamed of what he had done and he...he started to avoid me. At the time, I was afraid he had stopped liking me. But now, I think he was afraid of himself and what he could do, which is why he started keeping himself at a distance.
"Not long after that, I saw Princess Celestia raise the sun and got into studying. Then after I got into her school, I spent all my time doing even more studying. It wasn't just Arkenstone, but Shining, Cadance, and even my parents. I shoved them all to the side so I could focus on learning from the Princess. And then Shining went into the Royal Guard and well..." she shrugged and looked at Rarity, "You know the rest."
"And what about your friend?" asked Rarity, "Did you ever find out what he got into. He told Sweetie Belle that he wandered across Equestria doing all sorts of odd jobs. Now that I think about it, it seems a bit suspicious."
Twilight giggled. "Of course it does. That's just an excuse he uses to cover his real work."
"And what is that, pray tell?" asked Rarity.
To her surprise, Twilight tensed up and looked around the spa. "Not here," she said, "Let's finish up and head back to the library. I'll tell you there."
Arkenstone drew many odd looks on his way up to the castle. He supposed that, even with the new cloak Rarity made for him, he must have looked fairly unkempt and poor, not the type of pony expected to be wandering around Equestria's capital. He was able to pick out several of the unicorn nobles by the expensive perfumes they wore, complemented by the scent of gold and jewels that they used to showcase their wealth. He could feel the sheer disdain they must have felt as they watched him continue his walk towards the palace doors.
For whatever reason, the train had arrived ahead of schedule. It suited his needs to arrive in the afternoon. Princess Celestia would be holding the Day Court during this time, which usually accepted petitions for audiences with her. Many were nobles requesting favors or entrepreneurs looking to showcase their newest products and promote their businesses. Then there were contractors and academics seeking grants. Throughout the afternoon, until the sun had set, Princess Celestia would meet these ponies one by one and listen to what they had to say before giving them her answer.
Strolling casually through the doors, Arkenstone met with a clerk to get his name put on the list and moved to take his place in line while he waited his turn.
Princess Celestia smiled as she rejected Duke Lingonberry's request to raze a portion of a National Preserve to make room for his next summer home. This was the kind of petition she had to deal with regularly from many of the nobles. They often selfishly requested to destroy the property of others, including Equestria itself, to satisfy their own particular vices. It was to be expected. After all, the nobility had little else to do with their time. She had seen to that personally.
It had taken centuries of careful manipulation, slowly stripping the nobles of the Court of their official power and turning it over to elected officials of the parliament. As a result, the Equestrian nobility had lost ownership of the land outside their own estates and lost the ability to pass laws interfering with common ponies. The tradeoff was that the nobles, particularly the unicorns of Canterlot, had only gotten more full of themselves in the meantime. They perceived their loss of authority as passing off the tasks once required of them to lesser ponies because such work was beneath them. While it suited Celestia to have the nobles believe this (so as to prevent them from starting a civil war), it did have the unpleasant side-effect of pumping up their arrogance to an almost unbearable degree. Only a small hooffull had seen what was coming and taken action, mostly to secure their own futures. Fancy Pants had gone into business and was now a major entrepreneur in Canterlot and other places. Celestia's own nephew, Prince Blueblood, had gone into governance and was now the Minister of the Treasury.
Aside from those two and a scant few others, the rest of the nobility were content to live lives of idleness and luxury, happily cocooned in the illusion that work and action were for lesser ponies. Celestia was certainly glad she had gotten this far before she had taken Twilight as her student. Things would have been much difficult for the lavender unicorn had the nobility still exercised any real power.
As a dejected Lingonberry left the throne room, Celestia's eyes swept over the nobles assembled to spectate. Many were tallying Celestia's decisions and weighing them against their own chances of getting their own petitions accepted. Others were watching rivals to see whether or not they could glean some sort of advantage from an audience with the Princess. Aside from the aristocracy, there were also journalists from many of the major newspapers from around Equestria, waiting in hope for some kind of juicy story to pop up amid the swirl of court politics. And finally, there were the commoners, ponies who had come here today just to see Celestia as she held court. Some of them lived in Canterlot, but most were tourists from out of town who had come to see Canterlot's star attraction. It was all so superficial.
Suppressing an urge to groan, Celestia turned to her secretary. "Who is next?" she asked.
"A Mister...Arkenstone," replied the officious stallion, wrinkling his nose at the name. The next visitor wasn't a member of the nobility and had no clear purpose. Celestia's secretary regarded meeting him as a waste of time. "He's clearly nopony of importance. Why don't we skip to the next one..."
"No!" The secretary was taken aback by the force in Celestia's voice. Instead of saying anything further to him, she turned to the assemblage in the throne room. "I'm sorry my little ponies, but I must adjourn the court here for today. All remaining petitioners on the list will have to wait until tomorrow." Turning her head, she whispered into her secretary's ear. "See that Arkenstone is sent to the private audience chamber."
The door to the library shut behind them, Twilight lit her horn and placed a privacy ward over the whole library. Beside her, Rarity looked on with confusion, wondering just what was so important that Twilight had to take such measures to ensure their privacy. "Now then, just what is it that warrants such strict security?" she asked.
"Like I said, Arkenstone doesn't talk openly about his real work," explained Twilight, "In reality, he's..." Twilight hesitated, looking nervous.
"Go on..." prodded Rarity.
Twilight steadied herself with a deep breath. "He's..."
Celestia let out a relieved sigh as she sunk down into the downy softness of the cushions piled on the floor. It was so much better than the throne she spent the better part of her day in. The private audience chamber was much more comfortably appointed than the throne room, as it was a place where standing on ceremony wasn't nearly as important as what the ponies who warranted private audiences with Princess Celestia had to say. Across from the table she was seated at, the large doors to the room swung open to admit her guest.
Celestia gave the visitor her most welcome smile. "Welcome back to Canterlot, Sir Arkenstone of the Celestial Order of Knights."