Chapter 19: Good Lies
With Red River's, admittedly uneasy, blessing, Apple Bloom and Dinky escorted Swift Stride into town. It was unquestionably a sight to behold. All around them, the air was filled with the sounds of construction as crews worked around the clock to rebuild houses and businesses. A few homes with lighter damage had been repaired already, but several had to be completely rebuilt from the ground up. Still, little by little, Ponyville was beginning to get back on its hooves.
"Wow," commented Swift as he looked back and forth, his squinting eyes taking in the sight of the work crews banging away all around him, "Arkenstone and that other guy really did a number on this town, huh?"
"That's fer sure," said Bloom.
"Sloppy," muttered Swift, "I'd think he'd be able to do a neater job than this."
"Like yer one to talk," growled Bloom, glaring up at him.
Noting her hostile reaction to his words, Swift smirked. "It's nothing. I'm sure Arkenstone did the best he could." Naturally, such a patronizing remark didn't really elevate Bloom's opinion of him and she glared at him all the harder.
I guess she has a pretty high opinion of him, thought Swift. That made sense. He knew that Arkenstone was quite fond of foals. If what he'd heard was to be believed, then Arkenstone had been acting as a mentor of sorts to Dawn Lightwing, giving the colt some pointers on improving. He'd even brought to the foals along to assist him for his attack on Elderflower's estate in Canterlot. Maybe it was Bring Your Friends' Foals to Work Day.
"Sounds like you really like the guy," said Swift.
"'Course Ah do," said Bloom, "Arkenstone's a really nice stallion and the best boss Ah could ask fer."
"Boss? You work for him."
"At the tea shop sometimes," said Bloom, "It's a really good place to work."
"Huh? I remembered that guy really liked his tea. I guess he decided to make a living out of it," mused Swift, "Might as well do what suits you."
"What the hay does that mean?" asked Bloom, her eyes narrowing.
"Nothing you need worry about," said Swift with a laugh, gently patting the filly on the head, though she only glared at him all the harder.
With a sigh, Swift thought about trying to change the topic, maybe inquiring about Bloom's magic lessons, which he could clearly see she'd been having. However, he felt a faint tremor through his hooves. His ears began to pick up a low rumbling noise and twitched slightly. Something was coming.
Bloom, on the other hoof, was distracted by something else. Up ahead, she could see a familiar pair of fillies, one pale-pink and the other a light-gray. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were heading down the street, heading straight for Bloom, Dinky, and Swift. Bloom's body immediately went tense at the sight of them. Though they could no longer make fun of her for being a blank flank, Bloom knew that there were plenty of other ways to put a pony down. Even as she tensed up though, another part of her reminded her that the two fillies hadn't been so hostile lately.
Last year, they had gotten into an altercation with Dawn during a rough patch in his life and had ended up causing something of an incident. The affair had gotten the attention of Filthy Rich, Diamond's father and prompted him to review his daughter's behavior. As a consequence, Diamond had been forced to spend time taking lessons in proper behavior from Rarity, who, as the older sister of one of Diamond's favorite victims, had been more than happy to give the rich filly her due slice of humble pie. The lessons had apparently worked, as Diamond's bullying had rapidly tapered off and then completely vanished altogether. However, there was still an air of unease between Diamond and Silver and the former targets of their ire. The two of them had kept their distance from the rest of the class, particularly Dawn and the rest of the Crusaders and not caused problems with anypony else. However, nopony had been particularly keen to approach and attempt to befriend them either. The two fillies now seemed isolated off in a world of their own.
Sweetie Belle, at Rarity's urging, had made the occasional attempt to extend a hoof of friendship to Diamond and Silver, but the two rich fillies remained largely distant currently. The recent leveling of much of the town had not provided anypony with opportunities to make further attempts.
With a sigh, Bloom resolved to keep going as though nothing were wrong, already avoiding eye contact with Diamond and Silver. If they didn't bother her, she wouldn't bother them. Besides, it wouldn't be right to take Swift on a detour simply because she wanted to avoid somepony.
Then Bloom's ears began to pick up a faint rumbling noise coming from somewhere behind her. Her hooves were also picking up the tremor of something large moving across the ground. Just as she was about to begin looking around for the source, Bloom suddenly felt Swift's foreleg curl around her barrel and pull her up against the stallion. A faint squeak from Swift's other side told her that Dinky was being given the same treatment. Before Bloom could even think to begin asking what was wrong, Swift had already kicked off the ground with his hind legs, leaning to the left and going into a cartwheeling flip that sent them into somepony's front yard.
Even though her view was twisting and turning wildly, Bloom was able to see something go rushing past them, missing them by several feet, thanks to Swift's quick action. As the stallion's flip brought them back to an upright orientation, Bloom could see what was happening much more clearly. A wagon from one of the construction crews, loaded down with building materials had apparently gotten loose and was barreling down the street, bouncing and swaying wildly, throwing off parts of its cargo as it went...
...And it was heading right for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Diamond was laughing gaily at something Silver had told her and neither of them were looking at the incoming wagon, apparently oblivious to the rumble of its approach.
"Diamond! Look out!" yelled Bloom at the top of her lungs.
For a second, Bloom was terrified that the two fillies hadn't heard her and that the noise of her voice had been lost over the rumble of the wagon. However, Diamond's ear twitched at the sound of her name and she looked up, her eyes going wide as the wagon bore down on them. With a shrill scream, Diamond threw herself into Silver, tackling the other filly and knocking them both out of the way, just as the wagon went barreling past.
However, that wasn't the end of it. As it roaring by, the wagon jolted and a box went flying out of it. Diamond threw herself protectively over Silver as the box landed just inches away from them, exploding open and throwing its cargo of nails everywhere like shrapnel. Diamond cried out in pain.
The wagon continued on its course, nearly knocking over several other pedestrians, some of them barely managing to scramble out of the way. One mare narrowly missed being brained by a plank of wood that went flipping through the air. A stallion ducked below a piece of rebar that was sent spinning past. Finally, the wagon came to a stop when it reached the bottom of the slope where the street split and rammed into the sturdy oak growing in the fork of the road.
"Oh horseapples!" yelled a stallion dressed in a construction worker's vest as he galloped past, "The foremare's gonna have my head for this!"
"That was close," said Swift as he set Bloom and Dinky down.
Even as her hooves touch the grass, Bloom was already galloping down the road, heading for the other pair of fillies. "Diamond Tiara! Silver Spoon! Are ya all right?"
As she approached, Bloom could already hear Diamond whimpering. "Owwww...It hurts!"
When she arrived, Bloom could see why Diamond was in such pain. The pink filly was covered in scratches, but the worst injury was on her right foreleg, where a large nail had gone clean through it. Blood was leaking out along the edges of the injury and dripping down the length of the nail. Silver Spoon was trying to extract herself from under Diamond's body, but stopped every time her friend let out a pained whimper.
"Oh no! We've gotta get that out," said Bloom.
"Hold up," said Swift, chomping down on Bloom's tail and pulling her back she could touch the nail.
"Why are ya stoppin' me?" snapped Bloom, glaring back at Swift. To her surprise, Swift had a serious look on his face. His eyes were still squinted, but that toothy grin was nowhere to be seen.
"At that angle, the nail might have hit her artery," said Swift, "If we pull it out, she's going to start bleeding pretty bad. The best thing to do is get her to a doctor so that she can be treated the instant the nail's pulled out. Besides, if we try to pull that thing out willy nilly, we could end up making the injury worse."
"We've gotta get her to the hospital then," said Dinky, already tearing up a the sight of Diamond's injury.
"Where is it?" asked Swift.
Bloom pointed off down another street. "It's that way. We ain't too far. Should we wait fer an ambulance?"
"Probably for the best," said Swift. He could already see a pegasus that had been flying overhead rushing off in that direction, apparently to summon aid. "If they're close, they'll be able to get here quickly and they can move her without making things worse."
"Can we do anything about me?" asked Silver from her position under Diamond. She was uncomfortable enough, but she was also worried about jostling Diamond too much if she stayed where she was.
"If we're careful about it," said Swift, "I don't think she has any broken bones, so we shouldn't have to worry about shifting her too much. We just don't want to bump that leg."
Moving very gingerly, Swift carefully wrapped an arm around Diamond's barrel and began to slowly lift her up. However, even that slight movement changed the angle of her leg and-
"OW OW OW OW! STOP IT!" screamed Diamond.
Carefully, Swift lowered her back down.
"What do we do?" asked Dinky frantically, tears now streaming down her face.
"Diamond, we've got to move ya so Silver can get out," said Bloom, near tears herself.
"But it hurts so much!" protested Diamond, no unconcerned about appearances as she sobbed openly.
"Hurts, huh?" mused Swift, rubbing his chin, "Hold on! I may have something for that."
He began to rummage around in his clothes. "No. No. Not that. Definitely not. Um..." As Bloom watched, the stallion produced a variety of objects, cylinders and tubes, and what looked like small cloth spheres, secreting them back away as soon as he saw them. Most of them looked rather suspicious, dangerous even.
"Aha!" With a flourish, Swift produced a small cloth sack bulging with small objects. "I knew I had some left."
"What are those?" asked Bloom, eyeing the bag with no small amount of trepidation.
"In my business, it's easy to get hurt with nopony to really help you, so it's important to have something for the pain." Swift grinned and pulled the drawstring on the sack, tipping out a single small, yellow seed onto his hoof. "These come from a tree that grows really deep in the Everfree. They're a really potent painkiller that doesn't have any bad side effects. One of these should make you feel a lot better."
"Really?" asked Diamond, her eyes wide and sparkling with hope as she stared at the seed.
"Yeah...they're really potent though. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up out for the rest of the day." Swift glanced at her. "Are you sure you can handle something this strong?"
"Yes! Please!" wailed Diamond, "That's even better! Please give it to me!"
"Okay," said Swift, carefully holding the seed up to Diamond's lips, "Don't chew it. Just swallow."
"A--all right," said Diamond, carefully taking the seed from Swift's hoof. Following his instructions, she swallowed it down right away.
"Now just relax and give it a minute to kick in," said Swift, speaking calmly and surely, now gently using his hoof to brush down the filly's mane, "You're gonna start feeling a bit drowsy."
"O-okay..." said Diamond, her eyelids already beginning to droop.
"There you go," said Swift, "Nice and easy. Now let's get your friend out from under you."
Working very slowly, Swift lifted Diamond's body up just enough that Silver could crawl out from underneath her. As Swift gently set Diamond back down, Bloom and Dinky were searching around the immediate area. Bloom found Silver's glasses, which managed to avoid breaking. Dinky found Diamond's trademark tiara, which had gotten a little bent during the fillies' tumble, but nothing that couldn't be easily repaired.
In less than three minutes, the ambulance wagon, pulled by a pair of burly stallions, arrived, skidding to a halt a short distance away as a pair of hospital responders got out and began to assess the situation. After confirming Diamond's injuries with Swift, they loaded her on a stretcher and slid her into the ambulance. Silver was quickly treated for a couple of small scrapes. In less than five minutes, the ambulance was on its way to the hospital.
Swift looked down at Bloom and Dinky. "I guess we should go and make sure everything's okay," he said.
Bloom gave the stallion a searching look. Finally, she appeared to decide on something. "Take Dinky and go on ahead," she said, "Ah'm gonna go get Diamond Tiara's pa and meet ya there."
"You sure you trust me with her?" asked Swift, looking down at Dinky. The younger filly still seemed rather shaken after what she had seen.
"Ah guess Ah do," said Bloom, "Look after her, please."
"I'll do my best," said Swift.
Bloom turned and galloped off down the road as s Swift looked down at Dinky. "You want to ride on my back?" he asked, giving her an unusually gentle smile.
"Yeah," said Dinky.
Swift lowered himself down and allowed her to hop on before setting off for the hospital. Silver Spoon, having recovered her composure, followed them. They arrived a few minutes ahead of Apple Bloom, who came bursting in along with another stallion, this one dressed sharply in a fine suit, looking like he had just come from an important meeting.
For a moment, all the eyes in the waiting room shifted to the well-dressed stallion as he caught his breath. Taking a moment to compose himself, he walked up to the reception desk.
"Excuse me," he said to the nurse on duty, "I was told that my daughter, Diamond Tiara, was admitted here with an injury."
The nurse didn't even need to check. After all, there probably weren't many ponies in Ponyville that would fail to recognize Filthy Rich, as well as his daughter, on sight. "Yes, Mr. Rich. Your daughter was taken in and is being treated presently."
"Can you tell me what her condition was?" Filthy hadn't pressed Bloom for details, being too concerned with simply getting to the hospital.
The nurse quickly gave Filthy a rundown of his daughter's injury. Filthy paled at the thought of Diamond with a nail pierced through her leg.
"The doctor said that she should be fine," said the nurse, "The bleeding was manageable and he expressed confidence about being able to repair the artery once the nail was removed."
"I see..." said Filthy. Turning, he saw that Bloom had gone over to join Dinky, Silver, and Swift. Coming up to Swift, Filthy bobbed his head politely to the other stallion. "Sir, I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for helping my daughter."
"Happy to help," said Swift, smiling, "She took things pretty well, all considered."
Filthy nodded and checked on Silver, who explained what had happened to the best of her ability. Bloom and Dinky also chimed in. By the end of their story, Filthy was vowing to track down just which of the construction crews was responsible for the accident and have...words...with them.
It was around that time that the doors leading to the emergency room opened and Dr. Stable trotted out. His eyes found Filthy immediately and he headed over. "Ah! Mr. Rich, I'd heard that you'd arrived." As he saw Filthy's worried gaze, Stable smiled. "Your daughter is going to be just fine. The wound won't even leave a scar. She'll be free to leave the hospital tomorrow morning."
"Thank goodness," said Filthy, slumping to the floor.
The front doors burst open to admit a sweating and panting Applejack. "Bloom! Dinky! Are you two okay?"
"We're right here, sis," said Bloom, waving Applejack over.
Seeing her sister and niece standing there, unharmed, prompted Applejack to let out a sigh of relief as she doffed her hat and took a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow. "Sweet Celestia! Ah near about had a heart attack when Ah heard Flitter come flyin' in, sayin' the two 'o ya were in some kind 'o accident."
"We're fine," said Bloom, "But Diamond Tiara..."
She explained the situation again, her account causing Applejack's brow to furrow. When Bloom finished, Applejack looked over at Swift Stride. "Looks like Ah owe ya a heap 'o thanks fer this. Yer welcome to dinner anytime and, if ya ever need a place to lay yer head, our house is open to ya."
"You're welcome," said Swift with a chuckle.
"Can I go see my daughter?" asked Filthy.
"Yes," said Stable, "You can head right in. However, please avoid disturbing her. She's had a healing spell and needs her rest." He gave Filthy Diamond's room number.
"Thank you," said Rich.
"By the way," said Stable, turning to regard Swift with a bemused look, "I am most impressed with this 'miracle drug' of yours that seems to have magically relieved Ms. Tiara of her pain. Yet, when I scanned her to find out what I was dealing with, I found no drug in her system at all."
That got everypony's attention, even Filthy's, though he'd been about to leave to go see Diamond. Swift, in the meantime, had fished out a familiar looking sack and had poured a small batch of the yellow seeds into his hoof before shoving them into his mouth and chewing. "Want some?" he asked, holding out the sack.
"Hey! Ah thought ya said it was some kind 'o miracle seed that grows in the Everfree," snapped Bloom.
"It does," said Swift, grinning mischievously, "It also grows several other forests and is even grown domestically." Seeing their confusion, his grin only widened. "I never said they were only grown in the Everfree."
"May I?" asked Stable, holding out a hoof.
"Sure," said Swift, pouring out a few of the seeds.
Stable put them into his mouth and chewed them before swallowing. "I see," he said, "Pine nuts."
"Pine nuts!" exclaimed Filthy, staring at Swift, "You gave my daughter a pine nut and told her it was medicine?"
"That's why I told her to just swallow it," said Swift, "I didn't want her tasting it and realizing it was something she'd had in last night's salad or something."
"Can somepony tell me what's goin' on?" demanded Applejack.
"I understand," said Stable, still surprisingly calm, "You gave her a placebo."
"Um..." Dinky canted her head as she stared up at Stable. "Didn't he give her a nut?"
Stable chuckled at Dinky's confusion. "He did. A placebo is a medical term for a treatment that's ineffectual, neither beneficial or harmful in and of itself. It's often some form of inert substance administered as a pill or tonic to the patient while they are told it is medicine."
"Ya mean..." Applejack's eyes narrowed as she turned an accusing gaze on Swift Stride. "...it's a lie."
"That's...one way of putting it," said Stable, slightly surprised at Applejack's sudden hostility.
"But you said that my daughter wasn't feeling any pain," protested Filthy.
"She wasn't," explained Stable, "Even if the nut itself had no real value as a medicine, its administration as a placebo was effective. Because Ms. Tiara believed that the pill would relieve her pain, her body responded as though it actually had been given a painkiller. It's what is known as the placebo effect in the medical community. It was effective enough that we didn't even need to give Ms. Tiara any other medicines or painkillers."
With each word that came out of Stable's mouth, Applejack's gaze intensified as she watched Swift carefully. For his part, the black-garbed stallion seemed completely unfazed by the scrutiny.
"Hey! Wait a second," protested Apple Bloom, "If this pla-plac-placebo thing is so amazin', why ain't ya usin' it all the time."
Stable adjusted his glasses. "How the placebo effect works isn't entirely understood. There are limits to what it can accomplish. Under many circumstances, it's not advisable and can do more harm than good. On top of that, the fact that its basis relies upon a lie that the patient needs to believe in wholeheartedly in order for it to be effective, the slightest doubt on the patient's part can undo the whole thing."
"So it's actually quite risky," mused Filthy, giving Swift a careful look.
"Oftentimes," said Stable, "But, when used properly, it can be quite effective. In this case, I think it was an excellent application, given the situation. Though her artery was threatened, Ms. Tiara's wound was not very severe otherwise. Her leg was pierced by a long, thin, object, all the way through. In some parts of Equestria, that might even be considered a fashion statement." Stable rolled his eyes, indicating what he thought of just such fashion statements. "In reality, she probably was not in all that much pain to begin with. Such wounds tend not to be as painful as they look. In fact, I remember a certain colt who received a similar injury a few months back and, aside from the resulting blood-loss, hardly seemed inconvenienced by that injury."
Bloom, Applejack, and Dinky shared an uneasy glance, knowing exactly which colt Stable was talking about.
"In Ms. Tiara's case, I believe her own fear and panic caused her to internally exaggerate her pain. Once Mr..." He gave Swift a questioning look.
"Swift Stride," said Swift.
Stable nodded and continued. "Once Mr. Stride provided her with the placebo and calmed her down sufficiently, the wound would not have caused much pain on its own, even if the placebo hadn't been so effective. I suspect that Mr. Stride's primary efforts were focused on getting Ms. Tiara calmed down enough that she could be moved safely."
Filthy nodded and once again turned to face Swift. "Even if your actions were rooted in deception, I still must thank you for helping my daughter." With that, he headed off to find Diamond's room. Silver Spoon followed behind him, eager to see her friend.
"Well..." said Swift, stretching in a catlike manner, "that was an exciting little diversion. Any other questions, doc?"
"None right now," said Stable.
"I guess it's time to get back to what we were doing," said Swift, already trotting out the doors and into the afternoon sunshine, "So..." He looked over his shoulder and noticed that Applejack had turned sideways after coming out the doors and had blocked Bloom and Dinky from following after him. Her emerald eyes glared out at Swift from beneath the brim of her hat. "Eh...something wrong?"
"Ah ain't lettin' mah sister or Dinky go anywhere with ya," said Applejack, "Ya may have helped Diamond Tiara, but Ah don't trust a pony who'd pull a hustlin' act like that, especially with an injured filly. Yer a liar and Ah don't trust ya."
Swift tilted his head to the side. "Well, I certainly am a liar. But I only tell good lies."
"That's a load 'o hogwash!" snapped Applejack, "There ain't any such thing as a good lie?"
"Really? So you don't think me relieving a little filly's pain is a bad thing?" asked Swift.
"That's..." Applejack's mouth worked silently as she tried to find the appropriate words for a rebuttal.
"That placebo effect that the doctor was talking about can work both ways," said Swift, "If a pony genuinely believes they should be feeling more pain than they are, their body will respond accordingly. That filly had herself so worked up, she was going to spend the next several minutes suffering while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. They would have had a much harder time treating her and they would have had to give her real painkillers, which are all well and good, but can have plenty of side effects of their own. It's better to avoid that, given the chance, don't you think?"
"Well...uh..." Applejack looked a bit more uncertain now.
Swift shrugged. "Well...I probably shouldn't ask you to trust me, given that I am a liar after all. But I was really trying to help that filly.
"I won't ask you to let the little ones come with me, but if you could point me in the direction of Arkenstone's place, that'd be fine."
Applejack froze, her eyes wide as she realized what Swift was asking. "Yer..."
"Sis!" exclaimed Bloom, "Don't ya recognize his name. He's one 'o them Knights, like Arkenstone."
"Yer that Swift Stride?" asked Applejack, now looking at Swift with a mixture of mistrust and fear.
"That would be me," said Swift, bowing with a flourish, "I'm sure you've heard about me from Arkenstone."
"Yeah," said Applejack hesitantly, "Ah've heard a...few things."
Swift cackled. "Well...care to tell me where Arkenstone is?"
With a sigh, Appljeack looked down at the ground before looking up at Swift again. "Ah ain't trustin' ya yet. But Ah'll take ya there. Ah want to check with Arkenstone and make sure yer who ya say ya are."
"By all means," said Swift, "Lead the way."
Arkenstone carefully sniffed the burlap bags that had been laid out in the library's basement. He'd just received a new shipment of tea and spices from his Saddle Arabian sources. Twilight Sparkle had graciously allowed him to use her basement to hold his ingredients while he waited for the work crews to finish the reconstruction of his teahouse. Said work was coming along at a brisk pace, something that Arkensone appreciated. In fact, it seemed that he, along with ponies like Berry Punch and Haute Cusine were receiving priority treatment, ponies within the community being quite eager to have their favorite establishments up and running as soon as possible.
With a sigh, Arkenstone stepped away from the sacks, having finished his inspection. He'd lost several of his favorite teapots and other crockery when the shop had been destroyed. Those things were not so easily replaced, at least, not without a few trips abroad to the regions of the world where he'd acquired them. Still, at the end of the day, they were mere objects and not as important as ponies lives. If it was to save Dawn Lightwing from the hooves of a cultist, Arkenstone would have shattered those pots all over again without another thought.
Coming up the stairs, Arkenstone's nose picked up the smell of food drifting out from the kitchen. Spike was apparently hard at work with dinner. Twilight was resting on a pile of cushions on the far side of the room, her eyes fixed on the scroll in front of her as she diligently perused its contents. Beside her, hovering in a field of her magic, were a quill and notebook. The quill worked vigorously as Twilight jotted down note after note, sometimes seeming to write one for each line of text she read. Near her haunches rested a pile of similar scrolls and books.
His tail swished to ward off an errant fly, which seemed to have become rather persistent in recent days. Arkenstone made his way over to Twilight's side of the room, carefully stepping over the pile of literature as he made his away around behind the mare. Laying down, he curled up against her side and rested his chin across her withers. Twilight initially flinched at the unexpected contact, having been too engrossed in her reading to notice her coltfriend's approach. However, she quickly relaxed and allowed her head to lean against his as she scooted a bit closer to cuddle up to him.
"Everything all right with your ingredients?" she asked.
"All is well," replied Arkenstone, "How are your studies coming along?"
He could practically hear the smile in Twilight's voice as she answered. "Amazing! I'd never dreamed that even half of these things would be possible. I haven't learned so much new material since I left school. If this weren't restricted information, I could probably earn two or three Principles from what I've already read alone and I'm not even halfway through the archive."
The scrolls Twilight was currently studying came from a secret wing of the archives, known only to a scant few ponies, belonging to the rogue mage, Morning Star. It was information concerning his principle creation, the substance, or substances rather, known as Dark Matter, material that operated according to its own physical and magical laws that had no earthly source, but had instead been created solely by Morning Star himself. Though all historical evidence and memory of Morning Star had been erased as punishment for his crimes by Celestia, she had kept the repository of his knowledge, unable to completely erase all that he had done.
Early in the spring, an incident had occurred. A stallion by the name of Flash Spark, who had been arrested and later banished from Ponyville for attempting to rape Fluttershy, had appeared in the skies of Cloudsdale, his body having been covered in armor composed of strange material. The Wonderbolts, with some help, had engaged Flash Spark on two occasions before some mysterious pony had taken control of him and left hints leading Twilight and Celestia to the conclusion that Morning Star, or somepony who had his knowledge, was behind Flash Spark's actions. In order to better combat this, Celestia had granted Twilight access to the entire contents of Morning Star's wing of the archives, hoping that Twilight could understand the nature of Dark Matter and, hopefully, overcome the threat it presented.
It was no easy task, however. Morning Star had spent most of his life designing his special materials. Despite its overarching title, Dark Matter was not just one substance, but several dozen, possibly hundreds of different materials, composed of molecules derived from atoms and subatomic particles that had distinctly different natures and behaviors from the ones that existed in the present world. They had their own physical laws, which were difficult enough to puzzle out on their own, but even more difficult was figuring out how the components of various Dark Matter forms interacted with the existing world and how they interacted with one another and how the substances of the material world interacted with them in turn. From hundreds of substances came countless millions of possibilities...
...And, now that they knew that Morning Star was not only alive and active, but also continuing his research, Twilight was painfully aware that the information she had might very well be obsolete. Morning Star had had ten whole years to create additional Dark Matter substances and modify the qualities of the ones he had already created. If she weren't thrilled by the sheer level of novelty that reading Morning Star's work had provided, Twilight would have been severely frustrated by the scope and complexity of the task that lay before her.
Fortunately, aside from her enthusiasm for research, Twilight had two very important factors to keep her frustration at bay. The first was her younger brother and personal assistant, Spike, who had put all he could into keeping things organized for Twilight, helping her compile and index her notes, all while making sure that she got three wholesome meals a day, prodded her to bathe, and made sure she got to bed at a reasonable hour. Without Spike, Twilight would have probably worked herself until she either starved or passed out from exhaustion. The second was Arkenstone, who, while not providing as much substantive assistance as Spike, acted as a supportive coltfriend should, soothing Twilight's frazzled nerves with plenty of gentle nuzzles and soft kisses. He would occasionally team up with Spike to get Twilight to put down her research on a periodic basis to spend some time relaxing or socializing, both things Twilight would have probably overlooked in her enthusiasm for her project.
With Arkenstone currently curled around her, Twilight decided she'd had enough work for the day and set down the scroll after marking her place on it. Her notebook and quill drifted over to the nearby table. Leaning back, Twilight sighed as Arkenstone gently began to nibble at her ear. She'd noticed that he'd been keeping closer ever since they had returned from Canterlot. It was clear that he regarded her abduction as a severe failure on his part and that the Knight was now reluctant to let Twilight out of his sight...so to speak.
"Arky," she said in a soft voice.
"Yes?" Arkenstone pulled his lips away from her ear and instead went back to resting his chin across her withers.
"I was thinking...about your teahouse..."
"What about it?" Arkenstone's ears perked up, wondering if Twilight had some piece of advice concerning his hobby turned livelihood.
"Well...I was thinking, maybe you don't need to have your own quarters built into it," said Twilight, her cheeks blushing, "W-would you like to m-maybe...stay with me...even after the teahouse is open?"
Arkenstone's eyes opened a fraction and his ears shot straight upright at her suggestion. "And...where would I sleep?"
"With me..." said Twilight, her hesitance conveying just how nervous the suggestion made her, even if it was the obvious answer to Arkenstone's question.
"Um..." Arkenstone's throat vibrated against Twilight's shoulder, actually sending a pleasant shiver running down her spine, even if it was canceled out by her nervousness over the subject matter.
"I mean, it's okay if you don't want to," said Twilight quickly, "I can understand. It's a big step for us to move in together and-EEP!"
She cut off with a loud squeak as Arkenstone lifted a foreleg and wrapped it around her, rolling Twilight onto her side and pulling her up against his chest as he snuck his other foreleg around her so that he could hug her from behind. Twilight found her head tucked under Arkenstone's chin so that her horn barely missed brushing against his muzzle.
"Twilight," said Arkenstone, his voice barely a whisper, "When I realized you were gone, it was the most terrifying moment of my life. I was confronted by the idea of what life would be like without you and I was shocked by how empty it felt. I was afraid and angry, a hair away from losing control. I'm glad I remembered how capable you are, otherwise I might have stormed into Canterlot and ripped the city apart looking for you."
Twilight couldn't help but giggle, even as her cheeks flushed further. She let out a contented sigh as she squirmed to press harder against Arkenstone's chest. "I was scared too," she admitted, "I mean, I knew I could get out of Elderflower's clutches anytime I wanted. But I had Coco to worry about too. And then there were the Elements and everything else. I think the one thing that really calmed me down was that I knew that you were out there and you would be looking for me."
Squirming some more, Twilight rolled around so that she and Arkenstone were now face to face. Even though she knew he couldn't see it, Twilight gave Arkenstone her biggest smile and leaned in to kiss him slowly, holding their lips together for a long moment before pulling away. "I love you. I think I have for a long time. I'm tired of waiting and taking it slow. I want you to stay here with me and Spike."
Arkenstone couldn't keep a throaty chuckle from escaping him. "You realize that we'll have to get Spike his own room. After all, we don't want him seeing something he shouldn't."
"Arky!" squealed Twilight, her cheeks going bright red as the implications of his words sank in, "I don't think we're ready to go that far."
"I know," said Arkenstone, laughing softly, "But I couldn't resist. You're quite cute when you're flustered."
Twilight thudded a hoof against his chest. "Oh you," she huffed with a roll of her eyes before smiling and leaning in for another kiss.
This one lasted longer and grew more involved as the seconds ticked past. Arkenstone's hooves gently stroked Twilight's mane as she wrapped her forelegs around him to pull herself closer, her eyes drifting shut as she lost herself in the pleasure of the moment...
...A moment that was interrupted as the library door swung open and a black-garbed earth pony came strolling in. "So this is where ya were, Arkenstone. I-"
The khaki stallion's voice cut off abruptly as both Twilight and Arkenstone froze in their make out session. Twilight was sure that her cheeks were only a few seconds away from bursting into flame and she wanted nothing more than to bury her head into Arkenstone's chest and pretend she didn't exist.
Arkenstone's reaction was much more dramatic. He pulled away from Twilight, rolling over once to get his legs underneath him before quickly stepping forward to put himself between Twilight and the new arrival.
The other stallion merely grinned at the couple. "Oh! Don't mind me. By all means, carry on. It looked like you two were about to get to the good part."
Arkenstone sniffed and his ears swiveled to face directly towards the other stallion. Twilight noticed that Arkenstone was now completely on alert, his posture relaxed, but ready, a sign that he was in an unfamiliar situation that he wasn't sure he could handle.
"Hello Swift Stride," said Arkenstone, his tone neutral, but wary.
Twilight's eyes widened as she looked at the other stallion, with his white, spiky mane and fox-like tail. This then was the infamous seventh Knight, the one Arkenstone considered the strongest of the Celestial Order, the one that he and all the others regarded with wariness and mistrust, the mere mention of his name making even Arkenstone's normally stoic expression falter in a such a way that it looked as though he'd been sucking on the world's sourest lemon.
As Twilight looked him over, she found she could understand Arkenstone's misgivings. Swift's entire look just screamed "shifty" like a blaring alarm. Maybe it was the loose-fitting black outfit, which could be concealing any number of dangerous weapons within its confines, or his overall foxlike appearance. Maybe it was his squinty eyes, which made it almost impossible to discern what lay behind those pinched lids. She'd actually thought for a second that he kept his eyes closed like Arkenstone did, but that clearly wasn't the case.
"What brings you here?" asked Arkenstone.
"I've been away for a little bit, doing some information gathering," said Swift, "I've already been up to see Celestia in Canterlot and I wanted to compare notes with you and the little lady behind you."
"Compare notes..." said Twilight, getting to her hooves so that she could stand next to Arkenstone, "...About what?"
"A few things," said Swift, "The Cult Solar, the Noble Court, Morning Star..."
"Wait!" exclaimed Twilight, "You know about Morning Star?"
"I met him," replied Swift, "I infiltrated the Cult and provided Celestia with her list of targets. It doesn't seem to have made much of a difference in the long run."
"You mean you've actually spoken to Morning Star?" asked Twilight, her previous trepidation forgotten as she advanced on Swift, "What was he like? What kind of pony was he?"
"Whoa! Easy there!" said Swift with an amused cackle as he fell back on his haunches, greatly amused by Twilight's unquenchable thirst for knowledge, "I share mine if you'll share yours. Celestia said she sent the contents of Morning Star's little private library over to you. I'd like to know what you've learned so far."
"Absolutely!" exclaimed Twilight, her eyes shining.
"Um..." Arkenstone's ears swiveled back and forth as he tracked the conversation between Twilight and Swift. Swift Stride's presence always set Arkenstone's hair on edge. It didn't help that Swift had a mischievous streak to rival that of Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash and wasn't above pulling pranks on the other Knights whenever they might let their guards down. Everything about him, from his attitude to his actions kept them constantly guessing about where Swift actually stood in a given situation, what actions he might actually take.
But Arkenstone was especially wary about Swift, particularly because, beneath all the silliness and gimmicks, there was something about Swift Stride that marked him as being infinitely more dangerous than he seemed, something he never showed to anypony, not even those who were supposed to be his closest allies.
"Ah guess our job is done here."
Arkenstone's ears twitched as he realized that three ponies had come into the library just behind Swift. Arkenstone's attention had been so thoroughly focused on the other stallion that he'd neglected to notice that Swift had not come alone. And I thought I was lax before, mused Arkenstone.
Twilight was clearly to engrossed with exchanging information with Swift to notice Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Dinky at the door. Arkenstone decided to leave them to it as he went to greet Applejack and the other two.
"I suppose he had you guide him here," he said.
"Eeyup," said Applejack, "Bloom and Dinky found that stallion nappin' in our orchard. Turns out he was lookin' fer you."
"Is that so...?" said Arkenstone, pressing his lips tightly together as one ear swiveled around to focus on Swift, who was still talking with Twilight.
"Somethin' wrong?" asked Applejack, her tone clearly suggesting she wouldn't have been surprised if something was indeed wrong.
"Swift just said he'd been in Canterlot," said Arkenstone, "Which means he probably took the train down. Coming from the station, he should have found the library easily, even if he didn't know I was here. On the other hoof, your farm is quite out of the way if he was just looking for me."
Applejack's eyebrows went up. "Yeah. Now that ya mention it, that is pretty suspicious. What kinda game is that ornery feller runnin'?"
"I wish I knew," said Arkenstone, "I've never been able to fully understand or predict his actions."
Bloom stepped forward, observing Arkenstone with cautious, worried eyes. "Yer scared of him...ain't ya?"
Arkenstone twisted his entire head around and once again took the opportunity to inhale Swift Stride's scent. "Yes...I suppose I am rather frightened of him."
Out at Sweet Apple Acres, Big Macintosh made his way through the orchards. On a day like today, there was a particular place he liked to visit. Sure, it reminded him of their recent loss, but it also put him at peace. The place radiated an aura of tranquility that helped him relax after a long day's work. It also helped him to actually come to terms with what had happened.
After all...Granny Smith was gone and nothing would bring her back.
As he arrived at her grave, Macintosh came to an abrupt halt, the stalk of grass that had been in his mouth dropping away as it hung open in surprise. "What in tarnation?"
Somepony had deposited a small bundle of pink gladioli on Granny Smith's grave.