• Published 24th May 2013
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To Swoon the Stars - LucidTech



When the chilling winds of harsher trials whip through their lives, can Luna and Hendrick find the strength in each other to endure? Sequel to 'To Befriend the Night'

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Chapter Thirteen

Twilight stood stiffly at the door marking her destination, or so she’d been told when she asked for directions. But so far, she had refrained from knocking. Not for lack of trying of course, but each attempt ended the same, frozen by uncertainty. A fire of determination would spark within her, fill her, and then die before she could bring herself to act upon it. Once again now, she made her approach, her hoof edging closer and closer as if there were a cliff instead of a door.

Her hoof hesitated in front of the simple wooden obstacle, hovering inches away, but she retreated again as she had all times before. A sigh bit into the air, dancing off into the empty hallways like a breeze half whispered, half remembered. She wasn’t sure what she would say if her knock was answered, she just knew that she had to say something. She’d put it off for almost a year now, and she feared if she didn’t give her thanks on this visit, she never would.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle?” came a simple voice, foreign to her. She glanced sidelong to see who had called her name. “Are you okay?” he asked. “What are you doing out this way?”

She studied the pony, but didn’t recognize him. She wasn’t surprised; she didn’t even know most of the ponies in Ponyville, let alone those of the Canterlot Castle. “I came looking for Hendrick. Do you know if he’s around?” she said honestly, hoping perhaps they wouldn’t remind her that she stood in front of his door.

A smile flashed across the face of the pony for a breath of time, but vanished all too quickly to discern any meaning from it. He stood still with a bag of groceries next to his hooves on the floor, no doubt having dropped them to speak to her. “He has been quite popular recently, hasn’t he? Must’ve done something even more excessive if he’s got all four princesses seeking audience with him now.”

“All four?” Twilight asked, turning to fully face the pony. “Cadance and Celestia, too?”

The pony nodded slightly in return. “They’ve been having their own meetings with him from what I hear. Usually, they ask for him to come to them though, rarely the other way around.” The pony looked to Twilight expectantly, as if a question had been asked.

Twilight stood idly in confusion for a moment. It took her a while to realize that the second part of the statement was directed to her. She broke eye contact with the pony, out of mild embarrassment and also to check that the door she stood beside remained closed. Surely, Hendrick must’ve heard the chatting by now. Though, Twilight supposed, if what she’d learned was true, he could just as easily be speaking with one of the other princess right then. If she’d known he had such a busy schedule, she would’ve tried to set aside some time later to chat instead of coming straight to his door with the intent to launch into discussion.

She looked back to the stallion and remembered the loaded statement that had been directed to her. Her eyes fell a bit as she answered. “I guess I’m still new to this princess business. Didn’t even think to ask him to come to me.”

“I’m sure he would appreciate that, Princess. A lot more informal and friendly,” the stallion responded with a strange warmth. “Putting yourself on a pillar of regality and perfection is nice and all, but I think three princesses doing that is enough, don’t you?”

Twilight frowned. “That’s not why they do it.” The stallion looked to Twilight expectantly, waiting for her to continue. “They have to display power and professionalism, especially now. Ponies have to respect their ability and importance if the princesses ever want to get anything done.”

“Sounds like strong-arming to me, but what do I know. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he said, as if concluding the moment. Instead of leaving, however, he lingered where he stood, looking to Twilight with a tinge of apathy that seemed all too common place in his eyes.

“If you need to go, you’re free to go. You don’t need my permission to take your leave.”

“I know, but you’re standing in front of my door, so...” The words lingered and Twilight glanced between the door and the stallion who claimed ownership.

“Hendrick?” She asked, feeling as if a whole other conversation had been going on without her realization. She received a nod in response, the stallion’s mouth now full with the handles of his grocery bag. Hurriedly, she backed away from the door so he could approach. He lowered the bag to the ground and slacked his jaw to let the handles fall from his teeth’s grasp. Deftly, a key was produced from his unkempt mane, dangling dangerously but securely from a length of hair. With a practiced maneuver, the key was set it into the keyhole and turned.

The sudden sound of a moving lock that issued forth from within confirmed the stallion’s identity, and Twilight could do little but look on with a mix of confusion and surprise as he moved the key back to its hiding place. He took up his groceries again and nudged the door open with his shoulder. The same desire that brought her to his door led her silently inside behind him, closing the door behind herself when she was fully past the threshold. She followed him to the small dining room where he rested his bag on the table, waiting until his mouth was unobstructed before she spoke.

“Why did you hide your identity?” Twilight asked, only now realizing she had never seen or spoken to Hendrick before. At least, not while fully conscious. It was something she had taken for granted when she had set out to find him.

He glanced to her absentmindedly as he pulled the edges of the bag down so he could reach the groceries inside. “Why did you come into my room?” he asked in response before taking a gallon of milk from the table and moving it to a fittingly small refrigerator.

“Why do you have a room here anyway? I thought you had a home in Canterlot proper.” Twilight said, mostly saying the first things that came to mind, all of which were questions.

Hendrick placed the milk into the refrigerator and moved to the table to grab the next item. “Mostly because of crippling paranoia,” he said dryly, grabbing a bag that held a head of lettuce next.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight stood patiently as Hendrick moved the lettuce into a drawer at the bottom of the fridge. “Do you want some help with that?” she asked, realizing Hendrick’s single trips across the dining room.

“No, I have it. Thank you though,” Hendrick responded as he let go of the bag of lettuce and let it settle into the drawer. “And it means that I’ve got a large number of people who disagree with my rather aggressive stance on things, and I’ve done that song and dance before. Luna says that I’d be fine to stay in my home but…” Hendrick paused as he looked across the groceries, looking for anything else that needed to be refrigerated. Spotting a carton of eggs, he moved to the other side of the table to pick them up. “I’d rather not risk it, I guess. So I’m paranoid, like I said.”

“I don’t know about paranoid. I mean… I agree with Luna that you’d be fine to stay home. Violence is few and far between. Add to that your relationship with Princess Luna, and the already miniscule chance of harm coming to you is basically nothing for all statistical purposes, but that doesn’t mean that avoiding potential confrontation is being paranoid.”

Hendrick’s response was silence, even after he had settled the carton into the fridge and closed it. As he moved back to the table and grabbed a bag of apples Twilight decided to steer the conversation back towards the initial reason for her visit. “But that’s… aside from the point. Sorry to come into your home like this. I just wanted to… thank you.”

Hendrick spared her a confused glance, accentuated by his raised eyebrow, but waited until he had settled his bushel of apples into a simple bowl before he spoke. “Thank me? For what?”

“For saving my life!” Twilight blurted out, wanting to get the words out of her chest before she choked on her resolve to speak them at all. Hendrick stopped and looked to her, his eyes dancing with questions, but waited for her to continue all the same. “About a year ago, when you saved me from that disease I picked up in the Everfree.”

Recollection flashed across his eyes and a sad laugh filled the room in a short burst. “Oh yea, anytime you need me to walk into a room, let me know, Princess. That, at least, is something I can do.”

Twilight frowned as Hendrick grabbed a loaf of bread from the table and moved to a raised cupboard by the far wall. “Regardless of whether you intended it or not, I wanted to thank you for it all the same.”

Hendrick settled the loaf of bread on the counter and immediately flashed a grin at Twilight, a grin that remained on his lips as he moved back to the table to pick up the now empty grocery bag. “I just can’t believe you waited a whole year to say thanks to me for my walking into a room.”

“There are many more things I could thank you for.” Twilight responded, her eyes looking to the simple flooring as Hendrick moved the bag from the table and placed it against the wall for use on his next shopping trip. “That I should thank you for,” she corrected. “I just wanted to start with that one.”

“And I’m sure that the rest of them are equally important, like that time I stood around in a burning building until I had to be hospitalized when I could’ve easily just left, but I’m not in the mood to hear them, unfortunately,” Hendrick responded as he left the kitchen, Twilight following close behind.

“You don’t give yourself much credit, do you?” She hadn’t been much for the gossip magazines, but it was hard to avoid hearing about Hendrick’s acts and actions over the past year. It was strange to hear the stallion credited with such things talk them down so much.

“Well, I just sparked some tinder that's burning like a fire I’m all too familiar with, so you’ll have to excuse me for a little self-deprecation.”

“You stood up for someone who had no voice in the world! That shouldn’t be condemned by anyone! Let alone yourself!”

“But here we are,” Hendrick said idly, seeming to speak as much about the situation as well as their actual location. Twilight picked up on both meanings.

“I’m sorry that I walked into your room without your permission, Hendrick, but I simply wanted to—”

“It's fine. Celestia straight up teleports in here sometimes when she’s got something she needs me to know. Which is fine, I guess. She’s busy. Still, I’d prefer a knock or...” Hendrick pushed open the door to his bedroom.

The floor was covered in stacks upon stacks of books. Twilight looked in, wide-eyed. “When did you—” The door closed in her face. She stared at the wooden obstruction for a moment in surprise, not sure what to do about it.

She hovered there, paused precariously on a precipice of speech, but when no words issued from Hendrick on his own accord, she took the hint. Making her way back to the door, she made her egress, setting the lock behind her. Then, as she turned fully around, she caught the eye of a familiar pony, an elderly pony who was approaching. She knew them from somewhere, but it had been so long she couldn’t recall.

“Twilight Sparkle? Didn’t expect to see you here,” the mare said, heavy facial features and grey hair at odds with the vigor in her voice. “Oh, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I suppose it is now.”

“Missus Footnote?” Twilight said, recollection tickling her memories. The nostalgic tone made way for geniality. “How’s the library been these past couple of years?”

“It’s been fine, if a bit boring since you moved out of town. Although…” Footnote glanced to the door Twilight locked. “Mr. Hendrick seems all too content to make up for the past couple years you’ve missed. He’s got at least half the judicial section overdue right now. I was hoping to catch him and ask when he intends to turn them back in… but I can’t seem to pin him down.”

Twilight blinked in surprise. “Half…?” Her voice trailed off in disbelief. The judicial section was staggering in size, but even more than that, it was extremely boring. Even Twilight couldn’t stomach more than one or two of the dusty tomes a week.

“Yes, I wanted to make sure he wasn’t using them for kindling.” Footnote laughed. “I’ve never seen someone so interested in our judicial system. You were the only other pony to even give those books a chance, but you learned your lesson pretty quick.” Footnote gave a conspiratorial wink before continuing. “Ah well, it's nice to see them get some use. Just wish he would go through the effort of renewing them every couple of weeks.”

Twilight nodded with a faint facsimile of a smile on her face. “Yea…” was all she managed, her mind running through the new facts she’d been given.

“Well, I’ve got to get going. I was only swinging in to check those books, but it looks like he’s got himself locked in that room again.” Footnote turned around, but looked over her shoulder briefly. “Have a good day, Princess Twilight. Feel free to swing by the library if you feel like reading from our collection again.”

Twilight offered a half-formed farewell, barely paying attention. As Footnote moved out of view, Twilight glanced to the door beside her, curiosity fueling a new desire to knock. Eventually, however, she managed to pull herself away. Her wings flared outward and she took to the air, the high hallway allowing her swift and unobstructed movement as she returned to the wing where her and the other elements had been placed.

Author's Note:

I say 'yearly' you say 'updates'!

Yearly!

....

right.

Thanks again to Staplecactus, the best editor money can buy. Well if by 'money' you mean 'friendship' and by 'buy' you mean 'make more likely to hear my begging'.