Apropos of the Sinners

by SpitFlame

Part II – Chapter III – Serpent Eats Serpent

Later that day, Airglow—still with a heavy heart—began her shift at Golden Oak. She started off normal, just like any other day, but as time marched forward she suddenly felt within her an inexplicable and, as it were, irrepressible urge, and was even personally consumed by a certain motivation to speak with Cluster once more, if only to get certain complexities out of the way, many of which she had not yet fully grasped. I will not make any conscious attempts to justify or explain Airglow, because I think her actions, or at least their results, can speak solidly for themselves. She was making the smart decision: to gather as much information as possible before the dreadfully imminent day.

Most of that day, right till mid-evening, was a typical one. Twinkie was in hysterics again for some reason, although it was even worse because she kept demanding things be brought to her, and when her request was met, she would immediately flip on her decision and positively reject it. Heated arguments with her mother would invariably erupt, and Olva would fix Twinkie with her sharp, alert eyes, and that meant trouble! At one point it even scared off a customer. Only Airglow could calm them both down.

Dr. Tubercuhoofis had come by again that morning, but it was only for a short while. He was an extraordinarily kind gentlecolt, generous with his spending, learned, and slow to anger. It was easy to arouse his interest, that being to help as many ponies as possible. He was very well recognized in the town of Ponyville, and for good reason. But because he was always so busy and hard to keep still for more than an hour at a time, this, in relation to Twinkie, left Olva in a state of nervous excitement. Sometimes, when Twinkie had a particularly heavy coughing fit, Olva would whisk Airglow away to the pharmacy for some pills, and greet her back with unexpected cries of rapture, like she had been gone for a whole week.

In any case, as Olva told Airglow that evening, Tubercuhoofis concluded that "while the analysis is insufficient, there is a certain predictability in these symptoms, and so I would not worry very much, and, in fact, would even be grateful; I except a good recovery in no time." And so on and so forth.

"By the way," Olva went on, "do you know that accountant fellow? Mr. Wingus, I believe, an acquaintance of Cluster's. His thirtieth birthday is coming up, and he's paying a pretty penny to have it hosted here in Golden Oak. It won't be for another two weeks, but, ah, just to let you know. Hush, hush, it's not the particulars that concern me. Hush."

"But I didn't say anything..."

"Ah, Airglow, it'll be something magnificent and festive, we have to plan for it. Many ponies will come, we'll all be dressed wondrously, the champagne will be brought, a chandelier raised like diamonds in the dark, and they'll see me for who I truly am. But not for another two weeks, so we must prepare. Ah, I'm getting confused with all this; I'm an old mare, so it's allowed for me. For now I just have to focus my energy on Twinkie and start a budget plan."

Airglow came to think that Olva, while not too upset, was all in pieces, and it was perhaps possible that everything had indeed become mixed into a lump in her head. She'd help out, of course, and maybe even invite a pony or other.

But now was not the time to be thinking about that. Her shift shortly came to an end, and finally she set off.

* * *

Airglow was crossing the bridge towards Neigh Street, en route to where Cluster currently lived.

In going to see her brother Cluster, she found herself in a most incomprehensible position, namely one of aimlessness. You see, although I (perhaps all too hastily) decided that I was not going to explain, justify, or excuse her—as a narrator I ought to possess more dignity than that—I find that it is still necessary, for the further comprehension of the story, to understand certain things. Let me say this much: Airglow, in wanting to reconcile her brother's relationship with their father to avoid any catastrophe, at the same time took the realist position and expected no miracles, at least not an expectation frivolous in its impatience. Airglow did not need miracles then for the triumph of certain convictions, not at all. She was not naive. She was quite capable of assessing the situation and coming to rational conclusions. For this very reason, she wanted to talk to her brother about the upcoming "family meeting" to get his insight. She wasn't anticipating anything terribly productive, but it was worth a shot.

She came up to his house, the one he rented out not too long ago. It was two-storied, made of white-painted wood, and very well-kept. The windows, normally prone to glimmers in the sun, presently stuck out as very small and unseemly dull in contrast to the wooden planks. Airglow knocked on the door three times, and there almost immediately came a response.

"Not in the mood for favours," she heard Cluster's voice, which rung with an unrecognizable preoccupation to it.

Is he distracted with something? "It's me," said Airglow. It was silent for a few seconds; then the lock behind the door rattled, and it opened to reveal Cluster Tale.

"Oh, it's you," said Cluster in quite a different voice. "I thought it was... well, nevermind. You need something?"

"No, I just..." Airglow dropped her eyes, pondering. "I just stopped by to ask y—"

"Why don't you come in first? I can tell this won't be very quick, and so what good is talking to somepony like this?"

"Thanks, I'd love to," Airglow hurriedly put in. It seemed like she wished very much to be on more familiar grounds with Cluster, but could not figure out how.

The living room itself was large, clean, and in order. There was a hearth, but no fire; bookshelves lined up against the walls; an old-fashioned mahogany sofa, on which Cluster made Airglow sit down, opposite to a row of four mahogany chairs at the end of the room, right where the wide carpet ended.

"Did you speak to dad today?" she asked, trying to get comfortable.

Cluster came up and set a tray of biscuits down on the table, in the middle of the room.

"Want one?" he asked impassively.

"No thanks. I had a big lunch."

"No room for dessert?"

"I'm... good. Thank you, really."

Cluster sat next to her, cast a glance at her direction, then down to the tray he set.

"Last I talked to him was at the auction. You sure you don't want a biscuit, sis?"

"No, I'd better not," she said in reply, smiling amiably.

"Anyway, that's not all. You wouldn't believe what the old-timer told me not even a week ago. He said that he's afraid of you." Saying this, Cluster's lips suddenly twisted, his brows furrowed. "Can't really detect any plausibility in it. He's afraid of a dove like you. Nova talks about you a lot, you know. He says you're like a cherub. But with the old-timer it's harder to take seriously."

"Dad said that?" inquired Airglow, evidently perplexed.

"Oh, don't be mistaken," said Cluster. "He's not physically afraid of you. What can you ever do that's dangerous? A bunny wouldn't be afraid. He told me you make him feel like he's being judged by the Equestrian High Council whenever you're near him. You make him feel self-conscious."

Airglow bent a long, wondering look upon him and a shadow seemed to dawn on her face.

"What?" Cluster gave his sister a hard look. "You feel bad about it?"

"I don't want to bring him any more trouble than he has on his hooves," she exclaimed somehow sadly, tapping her hooves together.

"Of course you'd say that." Cluster used his magic to snap a biscuit in half and munched down on it. "I'm finding myself in an ever-growing pool of chaos. It's stupid, really. It's almost like there's a whole constellation of stupidity brewing up between Nova and the old-timer. First Nova's girlfriend, Misty Gem—they've got their own debacle that I don't intend to be a part of—then the inheritance dispute, and now Maxim is seemingly getting involved, to which I've gone to some lengths in keeping him out. What is this?"

"Actually, that's just what I wanted to discuss with you, Cluster," said Airglow, sounding more hopeful now that the elephant in the room was bluntly addressed.

"Really now? Who do you side with then? Perhaps you're also part of this whole constellation after all; but, perhaps that constellation is only a chemical molecule."

"Nopony, I side with nopony."

"He was right about you—Nova, I mean."

"Brother, please, I don't know what to do," said Airglow, eyes glittering beneath her eyebrows. She did not look at Cluster, however, but looked away to one side of him. "I love Nova, and you too, and—and I don't know what to say anymore. I keep telling them to forget about it, the money, it shouldn't mean anything. It's tearing our family apart. Did you know Nova is seriously thinking about killing our dad, all because he won't give him the money? Murder... just for that, and I... I can't even think about it."

Cluster sighed, concealing any signs which revealed his true thoughts on the matter. His countenance took on a decidedly studied air.

"You're worried about them, right?" he said. "Hmm, but it could turn out to be a win-win outcome."

"Really?"

"Sure. Nova asks him for the money, he refuses indefinitely. Nova'll murder the old-timer in response, then he'll get tossed in the dungeon for it, and that's both of them gone."

"Cluster, what are you saying!"

"Serpent will eat serpent, and it ought to serve them both right. No more pests."

"Stop! You don't know that!"

"Relax, I'm joking," said Cluster very suddenly; the gloominess on his face gradually passed into an expression that became more and more ironic. "What's the matter?"

"Why are you making light of this?" asked Airglow, her ears drooped low. "You have any idea how many nights of sleep I've lost just thinking about what'll happen between Nova and dad? I can't take it."

"For Celestia's sake, didn't I say I was joking?" he added nonchalantly. "Look, the moment Nova went up and demanded to settle the dispute with a dialogue was his tragic error. It's tough reasoning with the old-timer; he's too boneheaded for that sort of work anyway, he's not cut out for it. He's past his prime, clearly. Tomorrow morning we'll go to where we agreed upon and have our conversation, just see what happens. I'll keep an eye out. Say, you know why I'm here, do you?"

"Didn't you send me a letter saying Princess Celestia needed somepony t—"

"Yeah, yeah, that's the Summer Sun Celebration, and as the supervisor I'm nearing completion. Lot of details you don't need to know. I mean the other reason."

"Er, no, I don't know the other reason."

"A month back—something like that—Nova wrote to me, saying he needed a mediator between him and the old-timer so the dispute didn't spiral out of control. I told him Celestia was sending me on this celebration business, which takes place in Ponyville this year, and using that coincidence we fixed a date together."

"Oh, dad told me that, actually. This morning, even. That makes sense. You agreed to it in advance?"

"Not even just for that, believe it or not. The old-timer also needs me for something, requested that I travel to Appleloosa to negotiate sale prices with a rival of his, something to do with a woodlot. Told him I'd think about it." Cluster ate the second half of the biscuit. "Mm, but knowing that stallion, he'll probably cheap me out on any compensation."

"I guess I understand. Dad asked me to come tomorrow, by the way."

"Did he? Go ahead, come. What difference will it make?"

Airglow raised her head, thought for a second, and leaned back against the sofa. She did not want to show it, but there was a look of agitation on her face.

"So, you know the lot of it," continued Cluster. "Excuse me now, I've a book I need to finish reading for today, a long one about the history of alicorns dating back some six millennia; I only have four chapters left. I let you in out of generous habit. Anything else you need?"

"Brother," said Airglow apprehensively, suppressing a shudder in her shoulder, "did you really mean it? 'Serpent will eat serpent.' Is that how it is?"

"You can't seem to let go of that joke, eh?" His eyes suddenly flashed. "Forget it, sis. I've been in a bad mood lately, mostly thanks to Nova's pestering. True, he said he's thinking about killing the old-timer; but don't you worry. Of course I won't let him be murdered. Just who do you take me for? I'll protect him. I'm the only one in the family with magic, after all."

"Right."

Airglow thanked Cluster for letting her in, waved a quick goodbye, and strode off. But she was not satisfied, and in hindsight felt that this little talk constituted a wasted opportunity. On the way out she noticed a paper with writing on the floor, just beneath the stool—strange, considering Cluster's immense orderliness.

"Hey, Cluster," she called to him, picking it up. She managed to catch a glimpse of some of the text before he caught hold of it with his magic. 'I'm analyzing my situation, but it's not looking too good. I think I... a close friend...' And a few other mistakable scribblings.

"Oh, thanks," he said, laying it flat on the mantelpiece. "Goodbye."

And Airglow was off. As evening drew to a close she had almost forgotten about Nova's promise from yesterday. "I will tell you tomorrow," were his words, more or less. But she never found him that day.