//------------------------------// // Bella // Story: Orion // by Wisher //------------------------------// ~ ~ ~ Bella ~ ~ ~ If Blue Garnet had an extra hoof he didn’t need for walking, he would be nibbling on it nervously. In the early hours of morning, the well-groomed crystal pony was pacing around the living room table, his thick mustache trembling in anxiety. The large house he was in belonged to his mother, who was peacefully snoozing in a comfortable armchair in a corner of the room. For a house in the middle of Canterlot, it was a handsome place, not far from the Crystal gardens. Inside were several vast and cozy rooms, not the least of which was the one they were in right now. The walls were lined with old pictures, many objects that were mostly relics of the past, and several cupboards filled with luxurious items and jewels. In the midst of all this modest luxury, one could easily assume they were in the home of a well-off retired pony. Of course none of this occurred to Blue Garnet, who was used to the place and much too busy fueling his anxiety and thinking nopony should have to worry so much at such an early hour. When she cracked an eye open, Lady Gemmaline saw that her son was still pacing around like he had been doing for the past thirty minutes. “Why don’t you stop buzzing around like a housefly and take a seat next to me?” she teased. “Mother, please!” he replied. “I have to be at work in an hour and she still hasn’t shown up!” Gemmaline chuckled. “I don’t guarantee you’ll live to be as old as me with that kind of attitude,” she mumbled as she nestled herself further in the comfortable leather chair. Just as he was about to stop pacing and retort, a ring on the doorbell was heard that nearly made Blue Garnet jump out of his skin. He made a dash to the front door and swung it open to face a young white mare looking up in surprise at being greeted so fast. “Ah, there you are!” was his greeting. “Erm, I mean… You must be the new social worker?” “Bella, yes,” replied the mare, extending a polite hoof. “Pleased to meet you!” “Pleasure,” replied Blue Garnet as she shook her hoof a little briskly. “Alright listen, I don’t really have time to lose, so I trust you’re up to speed with how to take care of her?” Bella nodded. “Don’t worry, I have excellent credentials and feedback,” she replied with a smile. Blue Garnet looked at her skeptically, one eyebrow raised almost comically high. “Lunch at noon, sharp, tea with a dash of milk and half a teaspoon of sugar, medication is in the upstairs cabinet in the bedroom, third shelf, on the left next to--” “Alright, alright, you’re good to go,” said Blue Garnet with a wave of his hoof. He turned around towards the inside of the house. “Mother, I’m off to work now! Take care!” There was a moment of silence while he waited for her to reply. “Mother?” he asked worryingly. “You’re going to be late!” sounded a cackling voice from the living room. Blue Garnet grumbled, annoyed that his mother was still playing jokes on him at his age. “I’ll be back at one,” he mumbled as he trudged past Bella without a moment for her to reply. Bella blinked for a second before going into the house and closing the door. She took a while to admire the entry corridor. It was shrouded in a quiet cleanliness that seemed to isolate the entire house from the world outside. She spotted a dresser near the front door, and suddenly remembered why she had come to this house in the first place. Without a sound she scanned the dresser to see if she could spot anything interesting. But the only items resting upon it were a framed picture and several trinkets of little significance to Bella. Ignoring the dresser with a disappointed sigh, she slowly walked into the living room, where she spotted the old pony she was supposed to be taking care of. “Good morning, madam,” she said in a soft and pleasant voice. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Bella,” she said with a little bow. Lady Gemmaline looked back at her with a soft smile and waved a hoof. “Please, dear, call me Gemmaline. I’m sorry about my son, he has a tendency to sweat the small stuff.” Bella looked back at the old mare and couldn’t help but smile. While Gemmaline’s mane seemed to have lost its colour long ago, her coat shone softly with a translucent pink. She had a round and plump face, in which were buried almond-shaped eyes that twinkled playfully. Bella could tell this was a pony who radiated genuine kindness. “Well at least he cares for you,” said Bella. Gemmaline laughed. “Yes, yes he does. Now, how would you like to share a morning cup of tea with me?” “I’ll get to that right away!” chimed Bella, glad she could be of service already. A few minutes later the two of them were enjoying a cup of tea in the living room. For a moment Neither of them said anything. Bella watched in curiosity as Lady Gemmaline took a sip of her tea, closing her eyes and sighing softly as steam from the cup slowly wisped up to her face. Bella wondered if it was just a thing, or if little things like that got better with old age. “Now, this tea is something else,” said Gemmaline, to Bella’s delight. “Wherever did you learn to make it like this?” “Oh, I just… picked it up somewhere. In an old recipe book.” The old mare nodded thoughtfully. “Good books like those are so often lost, it’s a shame. Good to see some young’uns still care about them.” Bella smiled, and took another sip of her tea. “So, tell me about yourself, Bella,” said Gemmaline. For a second, Bella was caught off guard by the sudden question. She hadn’t thought about how exactly she was going to have to introduce herself. She’d been too busy worrying about what she had promised him to do. “Oh! Um, well… What can I say?” she chuckled clumsily. “Well, for starters, where do you live?” Bella swallowed. “... New Ponyville.” “Oh, that’s nice! A good place to live in, surely,” said Gemmaline. “I was supposed to live over there, you know. But my son managed to find me this place this house within Canterlot proper, and I have to say it’s quite convenient.” Bella glanced around the room she was in. “You do have a beautiful home,” she said. “Isn’t it? Thank you for saying so,” replied Gemmaline. There was a short moment of awkward silence. Bella did her best to hide her nervousness behind a smile while Gemmaline scanned her with a wily gaze. “So… Tell me more, dear! Tell me about your family, for instance. I suppose you live with your parents… Do you have any brothers and sisters?” Brothers. Antares. Bella bit her lip. She didn’t like this, not at all. But she knew she would have to do it sooner or later. For him. Bella took a deep breath and set her cup down. There was definitely no escaping this moment now. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” Gemmaline looked at her curiously. “Pardon?” “I lied to you. I’m from New Cloudsdale, not New Ponyville.” Gemmaline looked at her with round eyes. Bella could feel her heartbeat hammering in her chest as she waited for the moment the old mare would tell her to leave and never show her face around here again. After a few seconds of nerve-wracking silence, Gemmaline burst into a cheery laugh that made Bella start. “Oh my, dear! Don’t make this old body of mine laugh so hard, you’ll give me a heart attack!” “You’re not upset?” “Well of course not!” said Gemmaline. “Frankly I’m surprised, more than anything. Why would you lie about being from New Cloudsdale?” “I… I wanted to make a good impression,” replied Bella, still a little anxious. “I was afraid that a nice pony like yourself wouldn’t want anything to do with me if they knew I was from over there. It’s… not a very nice place.” Gemmaline chuckled and set down her cup. “Listen, sweetheart, your origin is nothing to be ashamed of. I should know, I’m a minority!” Gemmaline looked at her in empathy. “Don’t let anypony tell you that you’re a certain way just because you’re from a certain place. You understand? Only you can decide what kind of pony you are. Besides, there’s hardship everywhere, not just in New Cloudsdale. People want to turn a blind eye to those places because these are troubled times… But that should never stop you from accepting who you are and being proud of it.” Bella listened to Gemmaline’s words with held breath. When old mare leaned in with a smile and stroked the young pony’s cheek, a single tear ran down its side. “Thank you,” she whispered. Those words were some she had waited a long time to hear, and she felt as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders almost out of nowhere. She gulped, trying not to cry some more. “Have some more tea, it’ll do you good,” said Gemmaline. Bella gave a shaky laugh, and drank some tea before wiping her wet cheek with a hoof. “I do have a brother. His name is Antares. But… we don’t know who our parents are.” Gemmaline’s eyes flickered for a second. “Oh… I’m so sorry.” “That’s alright,” replied Bella with a weak smile. “We were raised in an orphanage. It was a bit gloomy, but we had the support of a lot of other foals who had lost their parents too on the day of the attack.” Bella looked down into her cup for a moment. “I remember, one day, when I was just a small filly… We were in this center, you know, one of those they built at the start of the Long Day that give out financial help for families in need. My brother and I went there to pick up some supplies and money for ourselves and for the orphanage. It was horrible… Not the cheeriest place in the world, as you can imagine. And so we were sitting on this bench… We’d been there all morning, trying to get in line. At the time, I didn’t understand what was going on; but looking back, I realize they had told us to wait there to allow other ponies to get in front of us. Two orphan foals from New Cloudsdale… we weren’t exactly high priority on their list. Everypony was in distress, and people were pushing each other angrily to make sure they got their supplies before anypony else. I didn’t understand what was going on, I waited for hours for somepony to tell us to step forward, but everypony seemed to pretend we weren’t there. Then my brother started acting up… We were tired, and we hadn’t eaten in a while. I tried to calm him down, but he wouldn’t listen, he started yelling at me that he was hungry and that he wanted to get out of there. He was still young of course… but everypony was looking down onto us, because they could tell we were from the wrong part of town.” “That’s terrible,” said Gemmaline. She seemed genuinely concerned. Bella nodded, still staring down melancholically into her teacup. “It was. I was so worried, I didn’t know what to do, and I felt it was all my fault. Then suddenly, this colt who was about our age came up to us, despite his mother was telling him not to. He looked at me in curiosity, as if he’d never seen foals like us. I was terrified, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I’ll never forget what he told us then.” She looked up at Gemmaline, the tears welling up at the base of her eyes once more. “I’ll let you take my place if you need it.” Gemmaline looked back at her in utter astonishment. “Yeah. That’s the face that pretty much everypony pulled. At first I didn’t know what to do. Then I got up, and I got our share of food and money for my brother and I, and we made a dash for it outside. Looking back it wasn’t the most polite or thankful thing to do, but we didn’t want to have to spend one more second in that place.” “That was tremendously good of that colt to help you out.” “Yes, he’s a really good pony. My brother and I went to sit down just outside the center to eat, and he joined us when he got his food. We’ve been friends ever since, especially my brother and him, they’re always getting into some kind of boy mischief together,” she said with a shaky laugh that Gemmaline shared. “His name is Orion… I’m quite fond of him.” Gemmaline nodded knowingly. “Ah, yes, I dare say I know that feeling quite well.” Bella smiled. “It’s his birthday today, actually.” “Oh, that’s so nice!” chimed Gemmaline. “Congratulations to him, and the both of you!” Bella nodded her thanks, and allowed herself another helping of tea. She took a sip, and looked at Gemmaline. She realized the old pony had been looking at her with a curious look. “It’s… so strange,” she said almost dreamily. “Is something wrong, madam?” asked Bella. Gemmaline shook her head absently. “No, nothing’s wrong dear. It’s just…” She gestured, struggling to find the words. “We’ve never met before… We’re generations apart, and yet... You seem so familiar to me.” Bella listened, silently wondering what Gemmaline meant by that. “I guess you just remind me of my mother.” Bella couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in surprise. “Your mother?” Gemmaline nodded. “Yes. My mother was a unicorn; in fact, she wasn’t a crystal pony herself! She married one, my father, and the genes did the rest. My late husband was also a crystal pony, so it’s practically embedded in the family now. My mother was a loving, joyous pony; I suppose your story of generosity just brings me back to her… Here, I want to show you something.” Gemmaline pushed her shaking hooves against the arms of her chair as she struggled to get up. Bella stood up and helped the old pony, who led her to a picture resting on top of the fireplace. It was a very colourful picture, although faded by time. In the middle was a unicorn with a dazzling white coat and luscious purple mane, smiling broadly at Bella. On her back was a small crystal earth filly whom Bella could only assume was Gemmaline herself. Standing to her left was a proud looking crystal stallion, and to her left Bella saw a pony that was only too familiar, and made her gasp in surprise. “Oh my Celestia, is that--” “Princess Twilight, yes. My mother and her were good friends.” Gemmaline took a second before adding, “Right to the very end, too...” Bella looked at her. “I’m so sorry…” “That’s alright, love. She had a good life.” Bella looked at the picture some more. She wondered in fascination what it must have been like to live in times of peace. It was something she would never know, and that often led her to wonder just how much better it would have been… She was pulled out of her daydreaming at the sight of an object resting at the far right of the fireplace. It was a beautiful white stone, with a single purple gem shining in the middle. Bella’s stomach gave a lurch as soon as she saw it. “Oh my,” she said. “That’s a gorgeous jewel.” “Ah, yes,” said Gemmaline. “It belonged to my husband, and he prized it above all his other findings in the Crystal Mines. It’s a rare specimen of Marblegem, known for its beauty, as well as its magical properties.” “Really?” asked Bella. She knew from her brother’s description what it looked like, but he had never told her about any magical properties. “What does it do?” “Well, it’s imbued in natural magic. If used correctly, it can allow earth ponies and pegasi to use unicorn magic.” Bella gulped. She understood now why he wanted to get his hooves on it. Oh, Antares… what are you up to now? After her previous moment of emotional therapy, Bella was suddenly overtaken with her prior nervousness. She was torn; on the one hand she absolutely did not want to steal from this kind old mare who had allowed her to cope with her troubled life for a few blissful minutes. It just wouldn’t be right. But on the other hand, she had always stuck by Antares’s side. While he was more of a troublemaker than she was, he was also the only family she had. She more than often assisted in his schemes, because they weren’t truly harmful. He was a prankster, but a good-hearted pony, and because most of the time they served to help the two of them get by, if not other ponies. She was highly sensitive to help, as was her brother, and she had never let him down before. She started biting her lip again -- how was she supposed to pull this off? Gemmaline would be watching her at all times, with those kind twinkling eyes of hers… “You can have it if you want.” Bella turned to face her so fast she might as well have been caught in the act. “W-What? No, I couldn’t possibly--” “Please, it’s alright,” said Gemmaline with a reassuring nod. “It’s just sitting there uselessly here all day… I’m sure you can put it to better use.” Bella was awestruck. “Are you sure?” “Of course! You can give it as a birthday present to that nice coltfriend of yours.” Bella blushed slightly. “In that case… I’ll cherish it. Thank you so much.” Gemmaline smiled at her, and put a hoof to Bella’s cheek. “Don’t forget to smile, now, you hear?” Bella did smile indeed, and would be looking forward to their next meeting. A few minutes later she was walking down Lady Gemmaline’s street towards the Crystal Gardens, passing many other crystal ponies on her way. She was still shook up from the time she spent in the old mare’s company, not only because of the personal nature of their talk, but also because of the gift she had been given. It was a gift. That was what she kept telling herself, to justify it all and force herself to forget about it. It was gift, she hadn’t stolen it, so why linger on it any longer? What was done was done, and once she gave it to Antares, it would stay in the flat they both shared and it would stay there. Still, it felt wrong. Bella knew that if Gemmaline had known about her intentions, she would’ve never given her the Marblegem. She would’ve also kicked Bella out for sure this time, for abusing her trust like that. Bella felt tormented, as if she was breaking her new friend’s trust already as it was. She continued to mull things over uncomfortably as she strolled through the beautifully lit Crystal Gardens. It wasn’t long before she spotted Antares, sitting on a bench by himself next to the central statue of the park. “You’re late,” he said. In a moment where the basic education she had received growing up in New Cloudsdale suddenly came back to her, she was tempted to tell him quite plainly to fuck off and go back to Gemmaline’s house to return the stone that was causing her so much heartache. But she would still keep a cool head. “Good day to you too,” she said curtly. “So, ya got anything good for me?” Much later that day, she was walking downtown next to Orion towards the bakery. Dammit, she thought. Here she was, supposedly out on a nice walk through town at sunset next to her special somepony. But her enjoyment of it all was marred by the stressful thoughts of the day, which still hung around her like the shadows on the street. She was growing less and less sure about all of this, even though she technically had nothing to do with Antares’s operation anymore. “Hey, are you okay?” Bella was so lost in her musings that she just barely noticed Orion talking to her. “Huh?” “You haven’t said anything since we left,” said Orion in concern. “Is there something wrong?” “N-no, I’m fine. Really,” she said with an unconvincing smile. “If you say so. In any case, we’re here.” She wished he hadn’t said that, but they had indeed arrived as the lit entrance of the large bakery came into view just a few feet ahead of them. Bella’s apprehension only grew as they neared the door, as if she expected the building to explode at any moment. Suddenly, Orion stopped in his tracks. “Hey! Is that…?” Bella gulped as she tried to spot whatever sign of bad news Orion was referring to. Said sign took the shape of a small blue pegasus foal dashing out of the bakery, zipping through the air straight towards them. Bella recognized him, and found herself just as surprised as Orion was. “Orion! We got a big problem!” squeaked the foal as he stopped before the pair. “Gliese…? What are you doing h--” “There’s no time to explain! We’re in big trouble!” said Gliese as he looked up to the colt who was easily twice his size with an air of panic. “Why? Bella, what’s he talking about?” asked Orion, who was utterly confused. Bella would have answered, but she herself didn’t know what was going on. The only thing she could think about was that what she had dreaded had happened. Somewhere, something had gone wrong. It wasn’t by any stretch the first time this had happened during one of Antares’s little excursions, but she knew she would still end up regretting having had anything to do with it in the first place. As if she needed any confirmation or concrete proof of it all, she found it when she looked up at the bakery and saw her brother and another familiar pony galloping towards them from an alleyway next to the building. Behind them, a fat purple cloud of magic containing various cakes and pastries of different sizes was trailing behind them as they ran, which attracting a lot of unwanted attention. Bella felt mixed feelings of deja vu and anxiety, and against her better judgement, made her thoughts on the situation at hand known despite being in the presence of a foal. “Shit.”