//------------------------------// // Chapter 26 // Story: The Angel of Equestria // by Robobrony //------------------------------// Chapter 26 The days went on again as normal with no incident to speak of. Charles was being taught more magic by Twilight so he would be a more capable guard. Rarity had made Charles some other clothes for the winter, a red jacket with a red and yellow scarf with yellow cotton gloves and red earmuffs, a blue jacket with a blue and light blue scarf with light blue colored cotton gloves and blue earmuffs, and a grey jacket with a grey scarf and white tassels, grey gloves, and white earmuffs. With the weather now cold as it was, Charles’s overcoats wouldn’t be enough to keep him warm. December rolled around and the snow started to fall. When December came around, Charles was not pleased with what was going on around town. It was now morning and the first day of December, he got on his blue winter clothes and his white pants, got his staff and his necklace on and headed out for the day. Once he started walking through town, he slowly started to realize something as he saw every pony decorating their houses with colored lights and wreathes and red ribbons on lamp posts. “Oh no, say it isn’t so.” It was looking like they were getting ready for Christmas. His mood dropped. During his walk, he came across Fluttershy wearing a yellow and pink scarf around her neck. “Oh, good morning Charles, how are you today?” Fluttershy greeted with a smile. “Fluttershy, what is going on around here, what is with all the decorations?” Charles asked, hoping it wasn’t what he thought it was. “Oh that’s right, you don’t know about our holidays, do you, except for Nightmare Night. We’re all just getting ready for Hearths Warming day.” “And what is Hearths Warming day?” “it’s the time of the season when families and friends get together and enjoy one another’s company and give gifts to each other. It’s one of my favorite holidays, the only thing I don’t really like about it is that during this time of the year, most of my animal friends are hibernating, so I don’t get to see them until spring.” “Great, just great.” Charles said to himself as a frown formed. Fluttershy saw this and became a little worried. “Is something wrong Charles?” Charles quickly put on a smile and looked at Fluttershy. “No, I’m fine, it’s nothing really, I need to get going, I’ll see you later.” Before Flutteshy could push the issue, Charles took off for town hall to check in for guard duty. “It may not be Christmas, but it sure looks like it.” His frown returned, Christmas was not a good time of the year for him. After checking in, he just patrolled the town like normal and saw all the ponies going about their business, getting ready for the holidays. He saw families coming together, friends meeting up and making plans. The more he saw, the more it soured his mood. “Great, this is just what I need.” ***** The days continued on and Charles’s mood just seemed to get worse and worse as Hearths Warming approached. His marefriends and friends noticed this and tried to talk to him, but he just blew them off with a ‘it’s nothing’ or ‘I’m fine, it’s nothing to worry about.’ They didn’t believe him. One morning, when Hearths Warming was just five days away, Twilight went to Charles’s room to check on him, he hadn’t gotten up yet and Twilight was worried, especially with how he had been acting. “Charles, are you up yet?” Twilight called through the door. No response, she opened the door and went over to his bed, she removed the covers and found he wasn’t there. This got her worried. “Charles, are you here?” She asked again, still no response. Spike then walked in. “What is it Twilight?” “Spike, do you know if Charles went somewhere?” “No, I saw him last night before we went to bed, but he never said anything about going anywhere.” Twilight looked around the room for a clue as to what could have happed, but everything was in order. It was then that a note caught her eye sitting on Charles’s dresser. She trotted up to the dresser and picked up the note with her magic, she floated it in front of her and read it out loud. “Dear Twilight, I’m sorry for my abrubt departure, but something came up, princess Celestia sent me a message herself asking me to take care of something for her, I will be gone for a few days and will not be here for Hearths Warming, I’m sorry. Don’t bother asking Celestia about it because she wanted this to be secret. Yours forever, Charles.” “That’s weird, I wonder what Celestia wanted Charles to do, and why would she send him somewhere when Hearths Warming is coming up?” Spike asked. “I don’t know, but I’m going to ask her.” “But, didn’t Charles say that this was supposed to be a secret and Celestia wouldn’t say anything?” “Spike, I’m Celestia’s personal student, she knows she can trust me with a secret, besides, Charles is my colt friend, I think I have a right to know where he went. Now then, would you please go and get a parchment and quill to write down a letter for me?” “You got it.” Spike gave a salute and went to get the items. Twilight met him in the center of the library and began to dictate. “Dear princess Celestia, I am aware that you sent Charles somewhere for something and would like to know where you sent him and why, he left a note for me this morning saying he received an urgent message from you, telling him you needed him for something. I realize that this needs to stay secret, but you know you can trust me, I am just worried about him is all. Please tell me where you sent him and why. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike finished the note and sent it on its way. They then just waited for Celestia to respond, they didn’t have to wait long though, but the response wasn’t a letter. Celestia appeared in a bright flash before them. “Princess!” Twilight exclaimed. She and Spike then gave a quick bow. “Twilight, are you sure the note Charles left you was in his writing?” Twilight was confused by Celestia’s question. “Well, yes, why? Princess, I just want to know where you sent him, he wasn’t in his room this morning, I found that note, and I’m just worried, I just want to know where you sent him.” Celestia gave a serious look. “Twilight, I never sent him a message asking him to go somewhere, I can assure you if I had, I would have told you and the others.” This made Twilight worry more. “But, if you didn’t send him anywhere, then where is he? Where did he go?” “I don’t know, but we will do what we can to find him. Come, let us inform the others and the guards of this matter.” Celestia took the lead as she headed for the door with Twilight and Spike behind her. “Oh, talk about bad timing, my parents are coming over to spend Hearths Warming with us so they can finally meet Charles. Pinkie’s parents are coming too, as are Applejack’s. Rarity still hasn’t had the chance to introduce Charles to her parents and she was going to do that today.” Twilight said as they walked. “Don’t worry Twilight, we’ll find him.” Spike tried to reassure her. Along the way, Celestia, Twilight, and Spike ran into the other girls and informed them what was going on. They followed Celestia to town hall to speak with the captain of the guard. Upon their approach, the guards were all lined up in front of Lighting Thrash receiving their orders for the day. Upon Celestia’s approach, Lightning saw her and ordered the guards to turn around and salute. “Guards, about face.” They did as commanded. “Salute.” They all saluted before Celestia. “At ease.” They dropped their salute and Lighting Thrash stood in front of them. “Good morning your majesty, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?” “Captain, I have urgent news, it seems Charles has gone missing, we need your help to find him.” “Charles is missing?” Dusk Fang asked. “Not good.” Dawn Fang said. “Comrade Charles has disappeared, this is most troubling.” Came Black Cloud. “HAH, perhaps human got tired of being guard and decided he couldn’t handle it, good riddens.” Said Shadow Fang. Pinkie did not like that comment. “HEY, you take that back, Charles is a wonderful stallion….human….man…….you know what I mean.” Rarity then chimed in. “Quite right, he is a hero, if something has happened, we have to find him.” Celestia addressed Shadow fang. “I don’t know what you have against him, but Charles is a brave soul, he has put his life on the line many times for my ponies and once for my sister, I expect you to take his disappearance seriously.” Shadow Fang frowned. “Of course princess.” Cobalt stepped forward. “Don’t worry your highness, we will do everything we can to find him.” Storm Chaser then chimed in. “Yeah, he’s not just a guard, he’s our friend.” Fuse threw in his two bits as well. “We will not rest until he is found.” Lightning Thrash then turned to address his troops. “All right men, we got a guard missing, I want all of you to fan out and search everywhere, leave no stone unturned, try to find some clues as to where he might have gone. SPREAD OUT!” “YES SIR!” They all said in unison, then took off in different direction. Lightning then turned again to face Celestia. “Don’t worry your majesty, we will not rest until Charles is found.” “Thank you captain.” Celestia gave a nod of her head. “Princess, isn’t there something we can do to help, we want to find him more than anythin and make sure he’s ok.” Came Applejack. Rainbow Dash then had an idea. “I know, maybe the timberwolves and manticores could help.” “Of course, we do have a peace pact with them thanks to Charles, I’m sure they’d be willing to help us look for him.” Twilight said. “I don’t know, what if they forgot about that and try to eat us?” Fluttershy worried. “Oh don’t be ridiculous, of course they’ll remember, come on, let’s go to the Everfree forest and talk to them.” Pinkie cheered. “But how, we can’t understand them, how are we supposed to communicate with them?” Rarity asked. Applejack thought for a moment before she remembered something. “I remember there was one of em that had a funny lookin symbol on its chest that was lettin it talk like us so we could understand it.” Twilight smiled. “Perfect, we’ll go to the forest and see if the timberwolves will help, come on every pony, let’s go. Spike, you can wait at the library if you want.” “Thanks Twilight, I hope you find Charles soon.” Spike said as he took off back for the library. Celestia looked over her ponies. “I wish you all luck in your search, I’m afraid I have to head back to the castle, royal duties and all, please let me know when you find him.” Celestia then lit up her horn and vanished. “All right girls, lets head to Everfree forest and get some help to find Charles.” Twilight declared to her friends. They all then headed off. They arrived at the forest’s edge and stopped a moment. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Fluttershy asked as she shook a little. “Come on Fluttershy, we could really use their help, I’m sure once they hear about this, they’ll agree to help us find Charles.” Twilight said. The six mares then walked in to the forest. As they walked, Rainbow called out to try and get the attention of the manticores and timberwolves. “HELLO, MANTICORES, TIMBERWOLVES, YOU AROUND HERE?” A rustle in the bushes was heard, Flutershy hid behind the group. A pack of four timberwolves emerged. They gave a growl, but stopped when they say the ponies. “Um, hello.” Twilight started. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, I was wondering if we could speak with your leader?” One of the wolves stepped forward, it had a symbol on its chest. “That’s the timberwolf I mentioned before!” Applejack cried out. It gave a snarl before speaking. “What is it you want ponies? You cannot simply walk in here and ask to speak with our leader.” Rarity got brave and stepped forward. “Please sir, Charles has gone missing, we don’t know where to find him, we were hoping you all might be willing to help us find him.” The timberwolves looked at each other, the speaker wolf looked to the group. “Come with us.” The wolves then began to walk away, the six mares followed. Charles was sitting on a rock in his grey and white winter attire with his white pants and white shoes with the black trimmings. His staff on his back and his necklace around his neck but was tucked inside his coat. His wings wrapped around him for extra warmth. He was sitting on a rock with his left knee near his chest while the other just dangled, his left arm resting on his left knee. He was sitting between Forest Fang and Swift Sting, watching a timberwolf and a manticore fight. The other manticores and timberwolves around gave snarls and growls, cheering on their respective species. Charles just watched, uninterested. Forest Fang looked down at Charles and spoke. “Tell me Charles, why is it you wish to stay in the forest with us for a few days again?” “The ponies are celebrating a holiday I want nothing to do with, that’s all.” Swift Sting then spoke up. “And why is that, are you sure you’ll be fine in this forest for a few days in this weather?” “It’s not the first time I’ve slept in cold weather without a roof over my head, I’ll be fine.” “Very well, you are welcome to share a cave with us timberwolves.” Forest Fang offered. Swift Sting also offered. “Or us manticores.” “Thanks, I appreciate it.” A timberwolf then approached Forest fang. “Sire, some ponies have come to speak with you.” “Really, interesting.” Forest Fang said. Charles quickly stood up on the rock. “What, oh no, Forest Fang, Swift Sting, whatever you do, don’t tell them I’m here, I don’t want to be in the town while that holiday is going on.” He said desperately to the two kings. “CHARLES!” Four mare voices rang out. “Oh crud.” “There you are, what are you doing here, why are you here, what’s going on?” Twilight asked worriedly. “We’ve been worried sick about ya partner, why’d ya up and disappear like that?” Asked Applejack. Rarity chimed in too. “Do you have any idea what you put us through, I can’t believe you would do such a thing.” Pinkie chimed in too. “Charles, I’m so glad you’re ok, I thought something awful happened to you.” Charles spoke nervously. “Hey girls, uh, heh, uh…..how are you?” Applejack gave Charles a glare. “Don’t you ‘how are you’ us, we were worried sick about ya.” Twilight gave a stern look. “Even Celestia was worried when I told her you were missing.” Charles jumped down from the rock and looked at Twilight. “Didn’t my note tell you not to bother Celestia?” Applejack scolded. “It’s a good thing she did, you lied ta her in that note, you said Celestia sent you somewhere, but she didn’t.” Fluttershy was hiding a bit behind rainbow Dash while she just watched the scene. “I can’t believe you would lie like that, and in a simple note. You probably worried Pinkie more than us after the last colt friend she had, she thought something really terrible might have happened.” Rarity scolded. Charles looked at Pinkie and saw her hanging her head and looking down at the ground. “Ok, so maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, I am SUCH a heal.” He scolded himself inwardly. “Look girls, I can explain.” “You better explain, we knew something was wrong but you just kept us away.” Twilight said with a glare, then her look softened. “We care about you Charles, we love you, why won’t you tell us what’s bothering you?” “You should know by now you can tell us anythin, so why would you just up and disappear like that? Especially when it’s close to one of the happiest times of the year.” Applejack’s look also softened. Charles furrowed his brow. “It may be a happy time for you, but it’s not for me.” The girls looked at him with confusion. “What do you mean?” The girls and Charles all looked behind them to see Fluttershy looking at Charles with sympathy in her eyes. “Why isn’t Hearths Warming a happy time for you?” The girls looked back to Charles. He hung his head with his eyes closed and gave a sigh. “If you must know, this holiday has another name back on earth. The humans call it Christmas.” “Chris-mas?” Rainbow asked. “What’s that?” Charles looked back up at the mares. “It’s a holiday similar to Hearths Warming, it’s a time for families and friends to get together, enjoy one another’s company, and exchange gifts.” “So, why is that so bad?” Pinkie asked. “Why do you think, it’s about families getting together, something I never really had. After I ran away from my parents and escaped that place I was held at, I was on my own. Whenever Christmas rolled around, I saw families happily getting together, having fun, and doing what families do. All THAT holiday did for me was remind me of something I didn’t have, and still don’t, I just can’t stand it.” Twilight started. “Charles, you…” Charles interrupted. “The reason I left was because I don’t want to be around something that just reminds me of what I don’t have, Hearths Warming is just too similar to Christmas and I don’t want anything to do with it.” “But Charles, dear, we were going to introduce you to our parents for Hearths Warming.” Rarity informed. “Well, I’m sorry, but they’re going to be disappointed, you can introduce me to them after the holiday is good and done, for now, I’m just going to stay here with the manticores and timberwolves.” Applejack smiled as she got an idea. “Well then, if you won’t come back to Ponyville with us fer the holiday, then we’ll just bring our folks to you.” Charles eyed her. “You can’t be serious.” Twilight then smiled. “Oh we are very serious, since you won’t come to Hearths Warming, then we’ll bring Hearths Warming to you.” Charles cocked an eye brow at her. “You mean celebrate the holiday in this forest….with your families? As in you’re going to bring them here just to meet me?” “Yep.” Pinkie said with a smile. “Oh no, you are not doing that, you should celebrate it back at your nice warm houses, this won’t be the first time I slept outside in the cold, I’ll be fine. I am not letting you bring your families out here to celebrate this holiday just for me, now you all should just go on home and get on with the holiday.” Rarity smiled at Charles. “Darling, one way or another, we are not leaving you alone for the holidays, now you either come with us back to Ponyville, or we will bring our families out here and celebrate the holiday with you.” “Charles, no pony should be alone on the holidays, please come back with us.” Fluttershy said with the kindest voice. “Come on dude, aren’t you forgetting that you DO have a family here? Your pretty much well on your way to making it.” Rainbow informed. Charles looked at her curiously. “What do you mean?” Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack all looked at each other first, then to Charles and all chimed in at once. “US.” “Don’t you get it ya goofball, we’ve been a heard for a couple months now, we’ve only grown closer.” Applejack informed. “We pretty much are a family darling, not just the five of us, but Rainbow and Fluttershy too, they are your friends who care about you as good friends should, we are your mare friends who love you.” Rarity informed. “Not to mention how you said Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could think of you as their big brother.” Pinkie informed. Charles facepalmed. “I’m such an idiot, I’ve been letting my past drag me down again and blind me from something I had in the making, how could I be so STUPID!” Twilight smirked. “No argument here.” Charles smirked back. “Ha ha, very funny.” He then just smiled. “I’m really sorry I worried you girls, especially you Pinkie, the last thing I want to do is hurt you all.” Charles frowned. “Can you ever forgive me for my stupidity?” Twilight smiled. “We’ll think about it.” Rarity took a step forward. “For now, what say we head back to town so you can meet our folks, my mother and father have been dying to meet you.” “My parents have been anxious to meet you too.” Came Twilight. Applejack then came in. “Mine too, they’re comin from a long way just ta meet ya.” Pinkie then hopped in front of the group. “And mine, I’ve been super-duper excited to introduce you to them.” Charles then turned his attention to the two kings. “Forest Fang, Swift Sting, I thank you for your hospitality, but I’ll be heading back to Ponyville now, I hope I wasn’t a bother.” Swift Sting addressed Charles. “You are always welcome her Charles.” Charles gave a bow. “Thank you your majesties.” He then turned and left with his four loves and two close friends to celebrate a holiday that was sure to be a happy time for him for the first time ever. But not before receiving a kiss from each of his mare friends.