Tales of Valor: A New Pony in Ponyville

by NobleValor

Chapter 11

Noble entered the library, rubbing a hoof through his mane. 'Note to self:' he thought, 'Make certain that I keep the Cutie Mark Crusaders as allies rather than enemies. Those three are cunning!'

"Hello Noble," Twilight replied, looking away from her task of organizing books, "How was your day with the girls?"

"It was fine," Noble replied, "but do me a favor. Remind me to never ever teach those three to play poker."

"What's poker?" Spike asked innocently.

"Never mind," Twilight replied sternly, shooting a dirty look at Noble.

"I'll tell you later," Noble mouthed to Spike, who winked in reply, once Twilight resumed her task.

"Oh, Fluttershy came by looking for you." Twilight replied not looking away from her task, "She came by to thank you for helping her with her animals. I didn't know you were so good with them."

"I'm not," Noble admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, "To tell the truth, she handled most of them. The only animal I handled was a bear and he hugged me."

"So you got bear hugged by a bear?" Spike inquired, trying and failing to suppress his laughter.

Noble thought about it for a second. "Yeah," he replied chuckling, "I guess I did."

This sent the little dragon into a giggling fit, which in turn increased Noble's chuckling. Twilight tried to glare at their silliness, but its was ineffective due to her caving in to her own fit of laughter.

'Okay Squire, it wasn't as funny as all that.'

Nobles chuckling died away, his smile dropping with it. He had heard Lightning Joust's chiding in his humorless voice, but didn't need to look about for the source. He knew that it was only his mind playing tricks on him.

Noble faintly heard another noise, its sound echoing as though it were coming from a tunnel. He refocused his eyes towards Spike and Twilight, knowing it could only be coming from them. "What was that?"

"I asked if you were all right," Twilight replied concernedly.

"Oh, I'm good. Today just took a lot out of me." Twilight smiled slightly, relaxing her tensed posture. "Do either of you mind if I take a bath? I'm little sweaty from running after the Crusaders." Hearing them give their consent, he trotted upstairs breathing a sigh of relief once he was out of sight.

He waited patiently for the tub to fill with almost scalding hot water, taking the time to sort his thoughts out. His minded drifted to Lightning Joust and that nickname he had been given. He gave a small chuckle at that, remembering how uncertainly their relation had started. Strangely enough, it also started with a bath.

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A knock on the door interrupted the quiet of the bathroom. "It's Lightning Joust," a voice called through the door.

Noble was already in the tub and had been for several minutes. "What do you want?" he asked uncertainly.

"I got a towel, a washcloth, and a bar of soap for you. Mind if I come in?"

"I guess so," Noble replied, sinking a bit deeper in the tub.

Lightning walked into the steamy room, carrying the items he listed on his wings. He glanced at Noble and snorted, "Calm down, kid. You were naked before you got in the tub."

Noble thought about it for a second. Seeing the logic of his claim, Noble rose his head out of the water a bit. "Here," Lightning replied winging the washcloth and soap to Noble, who took them hesitantly, "Iron also wanted me to tell you that dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes."

Noble nodded at that as Lightning turned to leave. "Lightning?" Noble called after him, causing the pegasus to turn his head. "Sorry I kicked you into the tree."

Lightning snorted his reply at the comment, leaving the room. Noble hadn't expected that. He had expected anything from acceptance of the apology (unlikely though it was) to scorn that it was given, but not dismissal of it altogether. Noble sank a bit deeper into the tub at this revelation and began the process of cleansing himself.

After he made certain that he scrub himself completely clean, Noble dried himself with a towel. As he dried, he turned his mind to think about what to make of Iron Clad.

He knew, fundamentally, that unicorns weren't bad. At least, that was what he told himself. In fact, most of the adult unicorns that he met only cared about themselves. The only reason they did anything at all was to look after their own interests.

'Yet,' he thought, 'this one had taken me into his home. He is letting me take a bath and letting me keep my bag close by. He is even going to feed me the first real meal I've had in... how many days?' He shook his head clear, deciding it didn't matter how many days it was. The point was Iron Clad was helping him and, for the life of him, Noble couldn't see what benefit he got from it. He deserved a fair chance and he was going to give him one.

After finishing drying himself, he looked at himself in the mirror wondering if he looked 'presentable,' whatever that meant. Not seeing anything noticeable, he gathered his bag and went to join his companions.

He walked down the hallway, following the smell of food like he had earlier. Eventually, he found the kitchen, noticing the door was slightly ajar. He was about to walk in when he heard Lightning speak in an annoyed tone.

"Can't you take anything seriously?"

"I am. It is you that are taking this far too seriously."

"Somepony around here has to."

"You aren't still sore that he kicked you into a tree, are you?"

"This isn't about that. This is about you unwilling to see reason."

"Lad, I know you're smart for your age, but it's going to age you before your time. Don't worry so much."

"Look, I'm just saying, we don't even know why he's here."

"He is here because I invited him."

"I meant in the woods."

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters! He might have been trying to rob us for all you know!"

"Probably. Unlikely, but probably."

"He might have been. I mean we don't even know anything about this kid."

"Kid? I doubt he's much older than you are."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"HE'S NOT OUR PROBLEM!" Lightning snapped, Noble's eyes growing wide at the response.

Silence stretched for a moment before Noble heard Lighting sigh. "The fact of the matter is we barely know this kid or what he was doing this deep in the woods by himself. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to contact the authorities to see if anyone is looking for him."

Noble didn't wait to hear the rest. He didn't have to. He had heard enough of this conversation to know what was coming and he wasn't going to have any part of it. Without having to think about it, he ran as quickly and quietly to the door, running out into the pelting rain.

The rain blinded him as he ran out into it, stinging him left and right. The sound of the rain was deafening, even making it too loud to think. Not that any of that mattered. All that mattered to him was escaping.

He ran for what felt like an eternity; the blinding, deafening rain obscuring all sense of time and distance. He might have traveled for a hundred miles or a few feet and he couldn't tell the difference. It all seemed to be like an eternity in the blinding deafening rain to the young colt.

When he felt himself trip, he realized exactly how fast he was moving. He felt himself skid across the ground, moving much faster than he realized he was capable of. He rolled down an incline, feeling the painful tree roots, bushes, and thorns as gravity did its work. When he stopped he just felt content to lie there for a while.

He knew that he should get up and continue to run, but he just hurt too much. His body and legs hurt from the fall, the run, and the trek he made earlier today; his stomach roiled painfully in hunger; his head spun too fast for him to keep a coherent thought; and his entire being was too tired to care. He couldn't have moved if his life had depended on it. Eventually, he finally succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness.

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When Noble awoke, he was surprised that he no longer felt the rain pelting his coat. That thought struck him as odd, seeing as he could faintly hear it, but not feel it. He didn't quite as hurt as he had earlier, too. He was certainly aware of it, but it didn't bother him. He also felt the presence of heat around him. It was accompanied by a crackling noise and the smell of smoke. All of these curiosities caused Noble to open his eyes to learn what was around him.

The first thing he saw was a series of colored blurs in front of his eyes. Slowly, as his eyes cleared and began to focus, he saw that he was inside of a familiar structure. After a moment, he realized he was back in Iron Clad's lodging.

He tried to get up, but his legs wobbled under his weight and he collapsed back on the bed. After the second try, he gave up trying and let his body sink into the bed. As though it were timed, Iron Clad walked into the room.

"Ah, good! Glad you woke up! I was worried about you."

'Yeah, right,' he thought wearily, lying face down on the bed. He heard the stallion step close to the bed and sit down next to it.

"Here, lad. Drink this, it'll make you feel better." Noble turned his eyes to a glass filled with thick white liquid floating before him, making no move to grab it, in spite of his stomach. "Is there something wrong, lad?"

"What do you care?" Noble replied, "I'm not your problem, am I?"

Iron's face dropped at the reply. "Oh, that's it."

Noble only response was to flip onto his back and to stare at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry you heard that."

"I'm not," Noble replied in a tired tone, "it just reminds me that I'm not wanted anywhere."

"Now that's not true," Iron replied.

"Sure it is."

"If it were, would I have invited you inside in the first place?"

Noble shot a questioningly glance to the stallion, seeing a small smile on his face. If he were to tell the truth, he hadn't thought of it that way. He could only sigh as a response.

"Do you feel like drinking this now?" Iron asked, levitating the glass to Noble again.

Noble looked at the contents. "What is it?"

"Milk." Noble eyed the concoction curiously. "What's the matter, haven't you ever had milk before?" Noble shook his head that he hadn't. Noble saw Iron's eyes flash for a second, but was replaced quickly with a small smile. "Care to try it then?"

Noble took the glass in his hooves, feeling some condensation on it. He sniffed the milk inside it, looking for some idea of how it would taste. Not smelling anything, he hesitantly put the glass to his muzzle and sipped the contents. It felt cool, thick, and velvety on his tongue and the taste was unlike anything he had ever tasted before. Before he realized what was happening, he had drank the entire content of the glass, feeling all the poorer now that it was gone.

"I think it's safe to say you like it," Iron replied with a chuckle.

Noble looked at Iron shyly, twirling the glass in his hooves. "Is there more?" he asked quietly.

Iron smile got wider as he refilled the glass from a pitcher. "After this one, I think it would be wise to get some food into you too."

As Noble had finished the second glass, he found a bowl of stew floating in front of him. A small amount of steam rose from the bowl as bits of vegetables and potatoes floated in the broth. Noble took the bowl, feeling warmth seep into his hooves as he grabbed it. With a renewed sense of vigor, he shoveled into it, much to Iron's surprise and approval.

"Nice to see somepony who appreciates my bad cooking," he replied chuckling as Noble finished his third bowlful, "Now you should get some sleep. I imagine you had a big day."

Noble settled himself into bed, although he didn't feel relaxed at all. Even though Noble was laying in the softest bed he had ever been in and felt full for the fist time in... ever, he still couldn't get comfortable. Iron placed a hoof on Noble's mane, as though he could sense what Noble had been thinking.

"Don't feel too bad about what happened today, lad," Iron replied, gently ruffling Noble's mane, "We all make mistakes at times." Odd as it was, Iron's words and gesture were comforting to the little colt. So much so, that he let out a yawn. "I'll leave you to it then." With that, he turned and began walking out of the room.

A thought then occurred to Noble. "How did you find me in the rain?"

Iron stopped at the door, turned around, and raised an eyebrow at the question. "How's that?"

"Well... it's just... I could barely see in the rain. So... I was wondering... how you found me?"

"I didn't. Lightning did." With that, he left the room closing the door behind him.

Noble was literally speechless at that revelation. Somehow, he just couldn't picture a pony like Lightning Joust doing something like that, especially after what Noble had heard before. It seemed that there was more to Lightning than he had originally thought. With that thought, and several others, he fell into a deep sleep.

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Noble turned the water off to the tub, having it filled to the appropriate level for him. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't had any milk in months. He made a mental note to ask Twilight for some the second he got out. With that thought in mind, he lowered himself into the tub, wincing a few times at how hot the water was, and began the process of scrubbing himself clean.

Comments

[ShadowEonEclipseChaos]

4723497
I thought he was, I just wished to clarify.