Chapter 5 - Intel
The party leaves the diner and goes back to Arc’s Jeep. Ember looks to Arc as they take their seats.
“Where to now, Arc?”
“The mall.”
Max raises an eyebrow. “The what?”
“You’ll see.”
A short time later they park outside the mall. Viktor grins!
“This thing really flies!”
Xenos nods. “I’ll say! Maybe this thing IS faster than I am!”
Hugh rolls his eyes. “Glad to see you’re being sensible, Xenos.”
“I said maybe! We haven’t raced yet!”
Ember facepalms. “Oh brother.”
Arc leaves the vehicle running as they get out. “You stay in the Jeep, Sereb. Dogs aren’t allowed in the mall. Don’t worry, I’ll leave the heat on for you.”
Sereb nods and lies down on the now empty back seat as Arc and the others go inside. Ember looks around as they enter!
“This place is HUGE!!!”
Max nods! “That it is! What are we here for, sir?”
“You all need some clothes of your own.”
Hugh thinks for a moment. “What should we wear?”
Arc turns to them as they enter the clothing store. “Everyone has their own style. Let’s see what we can find all of you here.”
They pick out some clothes and try them on. Arc looks them up and down as they come out of the dressing rooms.
“Very good! These should work just fine!”
Viktor looks around. “Where’s Xenos?”
Max points to a closed door. “He’s still in there.”
Arc walks over to the door and knocks. “You good in there?”
“Just admiring my new coverings! I’m coming out now!”
Xenos emerges wearing a pair of jeans, black boots, a white shirt and a leather jacket. Hugh raises an eyebrow.
“What the heck?!”
“I make this look GOOD!”
Viktor rolls his eyes. “Aren’t you a little overdressed?”
Arc nods. “A bit, maybe. But he is the biggest amongst us! So maybe he should look intimidating.”
“Glad you agree, sir!”
Arc turns back to the others. “That reminds me. The rest of you need warm coats!”
Max nods. “It was pretty chilly coming in here!”
Arc gestures to a rack. “It doesn’t have to be made of leather. Just warm!”
Xenos looks over his jacket. “By the way sir. What IS leather?!”
“Tanned cow hides.”
Xenos looks a bit pained as Arc walks over to him.
“Want to pick something else?”
“Naw! Like I said, I make this look good!”
Ember emerges from her dressing room with a similar outfit. “Looking good, Xenos!”
Xenos nods. “Thanks! You too! I’ll see if I can’t be of help to the others!”
He joins the others in helping them find coats. Ember walks over to Arc and does a quick 360.
“So, how do I look?!”
“Whatever makes you more comfortable is fine with me.”
Ember frowns. “You don’t like this?”
“You do look pretty, Ember. But I don’t know about the whole ‘tough girl’ look.”
He leans in close to her and whispers in her ear.
“I know who you really are on the inside, my friend.”
Ember nods. “I… also picked out a few more… similar outfits for later.”
Arc looks confused. “Similar?”
“You know… more like what your mother wore.”
Arc nods as the others return with their choices.
“Everyone ready?”
Xenos nods. “Yup! We should be plenty warm in these!”
They go up to the counter. Arc pays for the clothes and the group heads back to the Jeep. Each of them is carrying a large shopping bag with their new clothes in it. Max looks to Arc as they near their vehicle.
“Thank you for this, sir!”
Hugh nods. “Yes. We really appreciate it!”
Arc opens the Jeep door and peeks inside. “You okay in here, Sereb?”
Sereb sits up and nods.
“Good!”
Everyone gets in and buckles up as Arc stands in front of his open door.
“Can you guys wait here please? I just had an idea for something that might help us.”
Ember nods. “We’ll be waiting!”
Arc runs back into the mall and returns a short time later with several large boxes. He opens the back door and sets them on his friend’s laps.
“Sorry for the tight squeeze everyone. We’ll be home soon though!”
Xenos chuckles. “That back seat is looking pretty full.”
Arc nods. “Right!”
He hands Xenos a couple smaller boxes.
“You can hold these.”
Xenos sighs. “Yes sir.”
A short time later they arrive back at Arc’s house. He pulls the Jeep in the garage and turns to the others.
“Be careful with those boxes! They’re fragile!”
Ember looks behind her. “I don’t think they can get out, Arc.”
Arc opens the driver’s side rear door. “Well then, let’s get that stuff off their laps so they can start breathing again.”
Xenos gets out. “I’ll help!”
In a few minutes all the boxes and clothes are inside the warm house. Viktor looks at the pictures on the boxes.
“What is this stuff, sir?”
“You’ll see. Everyone, grab a box and follow me. “
He leads them to the basement and begins opening boxes. A short time later he steps back from the desk.
“There! All assembled!”
Ember raises an eyebrow. “What… is that thing?”
“A computer.”
Hugh frowns. “A what?”
Arc pushes a button on the tower. “I’ll show you.”
The computer powers up and goes to the desktop.
“A computer is a device that can perform many diverse tasks. From playing games to helping with research! But right now, I want to introduce you all to the wonders that make up… the internet!”
Viktor nods, wide-eyed. “How does it work?”
Arc double clicks on an icon. “Inside are a myriad of electronics that all work together to carry out tasks faster than any human, or pony for that matter, could! Now, if we want to know more about a subject, we just type it into this box here on the search engine. For example, ‘how does a computer work’.”
He presses Enter and a list of websites pops up! Arc clicks on the top one.
“This will explain to you how a computer works.”
Viktor nods as Arc steps back to allow him to sit down. “Fascinating!”
He reads silently for a time. Hugh looks to Arc.
“So, we could type any question in and get an answer?”
Arc nods. “Most of the time, yes. Other people who have knowledge to share put it on what is called a website. The search engine, after being told what we are looking for, will search for websites with the information we need.”
Ember frowns. “Don’t humans read books?”
“We do. But not as much as we used to.”
He looks back at Viktor who is reading over the current page.
“If you see something you want to access, click on it with this mouse.”
Viktor’s eyes are glued to the screen. “Amazing! I could get used to this!”
Ember looks to Arc. “So, what exactly do we want to research?”
“Viktor, go back to the search engine with the back button.”
He does so.
“I want you to look for news articles on the Shards.”
Max appears confused. “How is he supposed to do that?!”
“Try typing ‘Angel Grove gang activity’. That should bring up plenty of news stories.”
Ember looks over his shoulder as the results pop up onto the screen. “But that’s thousands of stories!”
Viktor grabs a nearby notebook and pencils. “I’ll take some notes.”
Arc sighs. “I may have been a bit premature, Viktor. Before you get too in depth, try typing in ‘basic computer skills’. There are a number of tutorials on how to properly use this computer. Start small and work your way up.”
Viktor pecks away at the keyboard with his index fingers. “Yes sir!”
Arc turns to the others.
“I’ll show the rest of you how we do laundry.”
Hugh looks confused. “What’s laundry?”
Arc chuckles as they walk toward the nearby washing machine with the bags of clothes from the mall. “Washing, drying, folding and hanging up clothes, washcloths, towels and anything else made of cloth. We can practice on the new clothes we just bought.”
He shows them how to take the previous load out, put it in the dryer, measure out detergent for the next load, put the clothes in the washer and how to set and start the machine. Arc turns to them as the machine starts.
“When it’s done, we put it in the dryer for about fifty minutes.”
Ember frowns. “Then what?”
“We take out the clothes, fold them or hang them up as needed. I’ll show you guys when the time comes. How are you doing over there, Viktor?”
“Loving every second of this, sir!”
Arc laughs. “The rest of us will get lunch going then.”
Everyone else follows Arc upstairs. Ember sighs.
“I still think this would be a lot easier if we didn’t have to wear clothes, Arc. We could save a lot of time on laundry too!”
Arc shakes his head. “You’re wearing clothes and that’s that!”
“Sheesh! Fine!”
They enter the kitchen.
“What should we make?”
“I was thinking something quick and easy, Ember. How about Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup?”
Xenos looks confused. “Grilled Cheese?”
“It’s a human dish. Don’t worry. There’s no meat in it.”
Max breathes a sigh of relief. “Good! I was a little squeamish with your breakfast, sir!”
Hugh shudders. “What was that thing, anyway?”
Arc pulls a skillet out of the cupboard. “A cheeseburger and french fries.”
Ember grins! “I gotta say, it did look tasty! Next time I’m ordering that too! What kind of meat was that?”
“Ground beef. It comes from cows. Can someone please bring me the bread, butter and cheese. It’s in the fridge.”
Ember and Hugh do so. Arc gets the sandwiches assembled and into the skillet.
“Thanks.”
Xenos walks over. “Is there anything for me to do, sir?”
Arc turns down the stove. “I have an idea. Follow me.”
They walk to the living room. Arc picks up the remote and turns on the television. As it comes to life, Ember and Xenos jump back!
“WOAH!”
“What IS that, sir?!”
Hugh stares at the box on the wall. “Is it like the computer?”
Max examines the picture carefully. “Sure looks like it! Only bigger!”
Arc changes the channel to the local news. “A bit. This is called television. Dinky and I watched morning cartoons when she and I were last here. I want you three to watch the news and learn about what’s going on in town.”
Xenos sits down on the couch. “Yes sir!”
Hugh sits down next to him. “Human technology is amazing!”
Arc and Ember return to the kitchen together.
“You sure do have some cool stuff, Arc!”
Arc nods as he flips over the grilled cheese sandwiches. “Pretty much every household has a computer and a television set these days. Some even have more than one! Can you get me a couple cans of Tomato Soup, please? They’re in the cupboard over there.”
Ember pulls out the cans and brings them to the stove. “Anything else I can do to help?”
“We need to warm this soup up. Grab a pot out of the cupboards, dump the soup in and add two canfulls of water. Then we can put it on the stove.”
Ember does so before bringing the pot to the stove and standing next to Arc, smiling.
“This is nice.”
Arc pulls the finished sandwiches out of the pan and begins making another batch. “What is?”
“Cooking with you. Just being here really! I like it!”
Arc nods as the sandwiches sizzle in the pan. “As do I.”
Ember blushes slightly. “It’s like we’re married or something!”
Arc turns to her as his own face flushes! “Huh?!”
“Cooking lunch for our family and all! Sorry, maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say.”
She puts her arm around Arc’s back and leans against him.
“Thanks for bringing me.”
Arc puts an arm around her shoulders. “Thanks for coming! A bunch of guys living together would get a bit boring after a while. That and I do miss you when you’re not around.”
“You… you do?!”
“Of course! You’re my best friend after all!”
“I am?!”
Arc nods. “You are!”
“Why is that?”
He flips the grilled cheese sandwiches over. “Because… how do I put this? You… understand me. Most of the time anyways. We have much in common, you and I.”
“I try to do what I can! But… do we really?”
Arc nods. “Yes. We both lost our mothers when we were young and our fathers aren’t in our lives.”
Ember sighs. “I suppose that’s true. That and we’re both warriors! Anything else?”
Arc sighs. “Yes. We both know who we want to be with. Yet fate keeps us apart.”
Ember nods. “Cherry?”
Arc sighs. “Yeah…”
Ember nods as Arc takes the grilled cheese out of the skillet. “Arc, if there was ANYTHING I could do to bring her back, I would do it in a heartbeat!”
“I know you would. But I was surprised that you weren’t jealous of her.
Ember sighs as she pours the soup into bowls. “I saw how happy she made you! And I knew that I… I could never do that for you.”
Arc sighs as he puts the sandwiches on plates. “She was the one. Of that I’m certain.”
“I know she was. I just wanted to make you happy, Arc! If being with her did that, then it was okay with me!”
Arc turns back to Ember with a small smile. “That’s why we’re best friends! We want what’s best for each other.”
Ember chuckles. “Even if that hurts.”
“I suppose so.”
She picks up a sandwich and a cup of soup and heads down to the basement. “I’ll just bring this to Viktor.”
“Okay. I’m going to bring the rest of this to the living room and catch up on the local news myself. Care to join us?”
Ember nods as she walks down the basement stairs. “Sure! I’ll be up in a sec!”
Arc brings a serving of each to Max, Hugh and Xenos in front of the TV. Xenos accepts the food, not taking his eyes off the screen.
“Thank you, sir!”
Max nods. “This technology is extraordinary!”
Hugh smiles. “I can’t believe I’m just staring at a box… and LIKING it!”
Arc sits down with his troops. “Be careful not to turn into couch potatoes now.”
Max looks over to Arc, concerned! “A what?!”
Arc chuckles. “Someone who does nothing other than watch TV is called that.”
Xenos grimaces. “You don’t LITERALLY turn into a… you know…”
“No. It’s just a figure of speech.”
Ember returns with some food for her, Sereb and Arc. She hands him a plate and bowl before putting a plate on the floor for Sereb.
“You have to eat too, Arc!”
“Thank you, Ember.”
She sits down next to Arc and looks at the television.
“Is this normal?”
“Is what normal, Ember.
She takes a bite of her sandwich. “To just stare at a box in silence.”
Arc nods as he eats. “Humans do it all the time. Me, not so much. I’m usually busy with other things.”
Xenos looks over. “Like what?”
“Reading, learning, gardening… stuff like that.”
Max frowns as the next news story comes on the screen. “What the…?!”
Xenos looks to Arc, confused. “They tried to burn down the library?”
Hugh rolls his eyes. “Are the Shards bored, or just plain stupid?!”
“They’re not stupid… usually. This is really blatant for them though.”
Ember looks to him, confused. “What do you mean? Just what are ‘the Shards’?”
“A gang.”
Max frowns. “Which is what sir?”
“A group of malcontents who get pleasure out of inflicting suffering on the weak and downtrodden. Up until recently they were just petty thugs. What pushed them to amp it up is beyond me!”
Ember turn to Xenos. “Did you see anything else while Arc and I were cooking?”
“A few news stories, yeah. Looks like last night they robbed a gas station.”
Hugh sighs. “Before that they tagged City Hall.”
Max nods. “The top news story was them stealing a police car.”
Ember frowns. “That doesn’t really sound all that threatening.”
“Before I left for Equestria, they NEVER would have had the guts to try ANY of that stuff! Well, maybe the City hall graffiti. But stealing a car, much less a police cruiser is pretty gutsy for anyone!”
Xenos bumps his fists together. “Want me to go teach them a lesson, sir?”
“We may just do that, Xenos. But first we need to do our homework.”
Ember raises an eyebrow. “Homework?”
Arc nods. “Know thy enemy.”
Hugh furrows his brow. “Come again, sir?”
“The more we learn about them, their habits and their style we make it that much easier to counter them!”
Max nods. “Like back home when you researched things before a mission, sir?”
“Precisely!”
Ember stands up and takes all the empty dishes. “No half-baked plans though please!”
Arc nods. “That’s what I’m trying to avoid.”
She returns a few moments later and sits down in Arc’s lap.
“Ember! We’re trying to do research here!”
“Can’t you do both?”
“Off!”
Ember slides over to her spot next to him. “You’re no fun! That and this is SO much easier without a tail getting in the way!”
An hour or so later the news ends. Arc turns off the TV as Max looks over.
“Any ideas, sir?”
Arc rubs his chin. “I think so.”
Ember grins. “What’s the plan?”
“We need to show the Shards that they can’t just do whatever they please! Send them a message, if you will. But we need to be smart about it!”
Max nods. “Strike from the shadows?”
“Not so much strike, as irritate. We’ll start small and build from there.”
Hugh looks over to Arc. “Where do we start, sir?”
“Shelly told me the Shards have been shaking down the shops and businesses in town for protection money. We’ll start there!”
Ember frowns. “What’s ‘protection money’?”
“Pay me, or I’ll wreck your store.”
“That’s terrible!”
Sereb growls. “Very cowardly.”
“Agreed. According to her, they make the rounds on the first of the month.”
Max looks to Arc. “What’s today’s date?”
“The thirty-first. If we cut the purse strings of the Shards, they’ll have a hard time paying their members or buying what they can’t steal!”
Ember grins! “I’m in!”
Xenos cracks his knuckles. “Me too!”
Max smiles! “As am I!”
Hugh laughs! “They won’t see us coming!”
Sereb nods. “I can help as well.”
“I was hoping you would say that, Sereb! You can be my eyes on the ground. No one will think twice about a stray dog.”
“Whatever needs doing.”
“Good. We’ll do this tomorrow morning bright and early. After a hearty breakfast at Shelly’s, that is!”
Ember facepalms. “Oh boy…”
“This could take all day! Have to start out right!”
Xenos laughs. “I agree! That food was great!”
Max sighs. “Do we need to do any preparations?”
“Other than get a good night’s sleep, no. I’ll have a plan put together by tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I need to take everyone’s measurements though.”
Ember looks confused. “What for?”
“I’m going to have the Hammer’s fabricate new armor.”
Xenos raises an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because I don’t think your old armor will fit now. We have to be ready when the sages locate Princess Celestia, after all!”
Max shudders. “Are you expecting it to go… badly?”
Arc pulls a sewing tape out of his ring. “Yes. Whomever has her isn’t going to want to let such a prize go! Not without a fight, that is! Ember, would you please have Viktor come up here with a paper and pencil? He needs to be measured too.”
“Sure.”
She returns a few moments later with Viktor. Arc takes everyone’s measurements as Ember writes them down. He then uses the portable recall unite to open a portal back to Equestria and tosses the paper through.
“That’s everything. Sunburst will see to it this reaches the Hammers.
Ember frowns. “What about me?!”
Arc sighs. “I’m not too keen on you fighting here on Earth, Ember.”
“Why not?!”
“You being the future Dragon Lord, for starters.”
“I can take care of myself! Someone needs to watch your back out there!”
Sereb walks over. “I can…”
Ember glares at him! “Shut it, Sereb!”
There is a tense silence.
“S-sorry for blowing up like that. But I AM going with you!”
“Okay, okay! Try calling forth your armor.”
Ember calls forth her Spear of Courage and armor. It perfectly fits her new body.
“See?! I’ll be fine!”
Arc looks her up and down. “I was not expecting THAT!”
Ember glares at him! “Then why did you…?”
“I was hoping to use that as an excuse to keep you safe. No armor, no fighting after all.”
She sighs and walks over to him. “Look, Arc, I appreciate you looking out for me and all. But… like you said, I’m the future Dragon Lord! At some point I really need to start taking bigger risks!”
Arc nods. “I know. Just be careful, okay?”
Ember recalls her spear and armor. “I will.”
Xenos looks to his friend. “Ember. Does your dragon magic work here on Earth?”
“I’m not sure! Let me try something.”
She breathes into her hand. A magic fireball comes forth. She holds it a moment before extinguishing it and shaking her hand!
“OW! That’s hot!”
Arc rolls his eyes. “Of course it’s hot. It’s fire!”
Ember picks up the living room table. “My strength is still here, so I would say yes!”
“Impressive! Dinky’s unicorn magic was completely nonexistent here!”
Sereb nods. “Did she have a horn?”
“She did not.”
Ember chuckles. “There’s your answer. Unicorns require a focus to cast spells.”
Sereb sighs. “As do my kind.”
Arc nods. “And dragons?”
“No focus needed.”
Viktor looks over to Arc. “Sir! Does your magic work?!”
Max nods. “That’s right! You’ve never needed a focus before!”
Arc shrugs. “I know my ring works. However, I haven’t tried using any magic since coming here.”
He looks around the room.
“Let’s see here…”
His gaze rests on Xenos.
“You’ll do.”
Xenos looks around nervously as the others step back. “Uh… what?”
Arc raises a hand. Xenos lifts off the floor a couple feet.
“WOAH!”
Ember laughs. “I guess it works!”
Arc raises his other hand. Max, Hugh and Viktor lift off as well.
Max flounders around. “This is a bit… unsettling!”
Viktor nods. “That it is!”
Hugh sighs. “I’ll stick with my wings! That I don’t have right now, I guess.”
Ember rolls her eyes. “Quit being whelplings about this you guys!”
Arc looks at Ember. A moment later she also lifts off.
“HEY!”
Max chuckles. “I think we can safely say your magic works, sir!”
Ember nods. “Okay, okay! You’ve made your point, Arc!”
He gently sets everyone down. “Well now! That was a pleasant surprise!”
Viktor looks a bit green. “For who, sir?!”
“The mission! It should be a lot easier with magic on our side!”
Ember frowns. “Okay, but are you trying to tell me you never once tried to cast a spell when you arrived back on Earth?!”
Arc nods. “Correct. You see Ember, as you know I wasn’t born with magic. So it isn’t a first impulse for me to use it.”
Max thinks for a moment. “Kinda like us and clothes?”
“Exactly!”
Ember sighs. “Do we have to…”
Arc nods, clearly exasperated! “YES!”
“Okay! Sheesh!”
Viktor looks over. “Do you need us to do anything this afternoon, sir?”
“Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, Viktor. I want you to learn how to properly use that computer so you can keep us in the loop on local events.
Viktor nods and heads back toward the basement. "Yes sir!"
“The rest of you can…”
There is a buzzing sound from downstairs.
“I guess that means the dryer is done. This is as good a time as any to teach everyone how to fold laundry.”
Ember sighs as they head down the stairs. “Why is this so important?”
Arc walks over to the dryer and opens it. “Because laundry is a task that is never truly finished. Think of how much we’ll do with all six of us living here.”
Viktor stands up and walks over to watch as Arc pulls the clean clothes out of the dryer and puts them in a laundry basket. “How often are we supposed to change our clothes, sir?”
“Every morning after you shower.”
Max looks nervous. “That’s going to add up quickly!”
“Right. We’ll do a load of just towels once a day!”
He demonstrates what needs to be folded versus hung up.
“Towel… fold. Shirt… hang up.”
Xenos nods. “Seems simple enough.
Hugh looks over to Arc. “Is there anything that doesn’t get washed?”
“Your coats don’t need to be washed nearly as often. And leather products don’t go in the washing machine.”
Ember looks to her coat hanging up nearby. “Thanks for the heads-up!”
“Well, that’s about all there is to it. I’ll leave the rest of this to you.”
Viktor nods as Arc heads for the stairs. “And you, sir?”
“I’m going to see if there’s some wood in the garage I can use to slap together a makeshift armor rack. Didn’t quite get around to that before we came here. “
Ember follows him. “I’ll give you a claw… hand!”
“Alright!”
Halfway up the stairs he turns around.
“When you boys get done with that you can go back to watching TV. There are a lot of things to watch other than the news.”
Max nods. “Thank you, sir. We’ll do that.”
Arc and Ember head to the garage. There they find a few boards lying in a corner. Ember picks up the wood.
“How about this?”
“Should work. It doesn’t need to look good! Just be functional!”
Ember picks up the wood as Arc grabs a hammer along with a few nails. She crosses the boards.
“Like this?”
“Yup. “
Arc pounds a few nails into the wood to make a cross before building a base wide enough to support the rack.
“So why are we doing this?!”
Arc continues hammering. “My armor has to hang on something.”
“But you’ve always just kept it in your ring. What changed?!”
“I… um…”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you put on your armor since…”
Arc puts the hammer down as he picks up the finished rack. “Yeah… since ‘that night’.”
Ember puts a hand on his shoulder. “Want to talk about it?”
Arc looks down at the rack and sighs. “Emerald Dream says I need to face what happened that night. One of the ways I’ve been hiding from the truth is by not laying eyes on Eidolon’s Ward. After all… it couldn’t save Cherry back then.”
“No one could have, Arc!”
He picks up the rack and heads toward the door. “I… I know. But my heart is having a hard time accepting that.”
Ember sighs as the enter the house. “You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened.”
Arc nods as the pair head up the stairs to the second floor. “I know that, Ember. But my armor is a painful reminder of my failure.”
She nods as the pair walk down the hall toward Arc’s room. “So what can I do to help?”
Arc sets the rack down in a corner of his room. “What we’re doing right now. I need to be able to look at Eidolon’s Ward again without cringing.”
“Do you want to be alone for this?”
Arc shakes his head as he pulls his boots out of the ring and sets them down on the rack’s base.
“No. I want you here for this.”
He pulls out his gauntlets, greaves, pauldrons and helmet one by one and places them on the rack. Seeing Arc pause, Ember puts an arm around him.
“This is the hardest part for you, isn’t it?”
Arc nods. “Yes. The chest-plate.”
Sighing, he pulls out the chest-plate and hurriedly places it on the rack. Arc turns away from it, visibly moved. Ember takes his hand in hers.
“I’m here, Arc! We can do this together!”
Arc does his best to keep it together. “Just… give me a few moments, okay?”
Ember gives his hand a squeeze. “Okay.”
She glances behind them at the armor hanging there silently. Her eyes instantly dart toward the chest-plate.
“Uh, Arc? When did you find a replacement for your armor’s burnt-out sapphire?”
“I haven’t. Why?”
She looks to Arc and wordlessly points to Eidolon’s Ward. They both turn to look. The sapphire, which had been a dull gray color after healing Princess Luna, now shines with an eerie dark red glow. Arc cautiously approaches his armor.
“What in the world…”
The helmet starts to jiggle. In a moment it falls off the rack along with the rest of the armor.
“Arc! Why did you…?!”
“That wasn’t me!”
The pieces of Eidolon’s Ward converge to form the complete suit. Ember calls forth her armor and Spear of Courage.
“What is going ON?!”
“Wish I knew, Ember!”
Eidolon’s Ward slowly ‘crawls’ toward them. Ember hits it with her spear!
“STAY BACK!”
The armor scatters but quickly reforms itself and retreats to a corner of the room! Tt does not advance but instead reaches a gauntlet out to them!
“Ember, I… I think it wants our help!”
She looks at him as it he’s lost his mind! “What are you talking about?! It’s a suit of armor!”
Arc cautiously approaches Eidolon’s Ward. It stretches out a gauntlet toward him as he kneels down in front of it.
“Um… hi there. Can… can you hear me?”
The armor slowly nods.
“Can you speak?”
Eidolon’s Ward slowly shakes its helmet no.
“Do you need my help?”
It nods with feeling!
“Arc! It’s not alive! It CAN’T be!”
Arc looks back to Ember. “I know, but…”
He looks back down at Eidolon’s Ward.
“…but it certainly appears to be!”
He sighs and looks back at his armor.
“What do you want me to do?”
Eidolon’s Ward clumsily removes its helmet and holds it out towards Arc. He takes it cautiously.
“You… you want me to put you on?”
The gauntlets stretch out toward Arc as if pleading for him to do so. Ember shakes her head.
“Arc, stop! We don’t know what could happen! That armor could be dangerous as it is!”
He sits down on the floor and puts on Eidolon’s Ward’s boots. “Well, if we do nothing, we’ll never figure this out.”
“I don’t like this!”
Arc nods as he puts on his greaves. “Neither do I! But Emerald Dream was right about one thing! I need to see this through!”
He slowly puts on each piece of his armor one at a time. Ember becomes more and more agitated as he continues.
“How does it feel?!”
Arc moves around a bit. “Warm! As if its been out in the sun! But not uncomfortably so.”
Ember reaches over to pick up the helmet on the bed. She slowly walks backwards toward the door.
“Arc… please give this some thought! I… I don’t want anything to happen to you!”
He walks toward Ember and gently puts his hands on the helmet. “I have to do this! If I don’t face it now, I may never have the courage to do so again!”
Ember nods as he takes the helmet from her and steps back. Taking a deep breath as he puts the helmet on.
“Here goes nothing!”
The familiar feeling of his armor is a comfort to Arc. Ember watches nervously.
“Everything okay?!”
“So far, so good. I…
Suddenly the same visage Arc saw in Redemption Village flashes before his eyes! He rips off the helmet and tosses it across the room!
“Arc! Talk to me! What’s wrong?!”
“I saw… something!”
Ember nods! “Can you tell me more?!”
Arc cautiously approaches the helmet on the floor. “It was the same as what I saw the other day when the Hammers and Mythic Honor finished with my armor!”
Ember frowns. “If I hadn’t seen it come to life before my eyes, I would say you needed more than simple therapy! So, what do we do now?!”
He picks up the helmet and looks at it a moment. “I have to face this thing! See what it wants!”
“Are you absolutely sure?!”
“I am!”
He again dons his helmet and sits down on the bed. Taking a deep breath and looking straight ahead.
“Okay… ready.”
A moment later the visage again returns clearer than before. A strange voice makes itself heard in Arc’s head. Its words are garbled and twisted. He whispers to himself.
“No… freaking… way!”
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The first step in preparing yourself to face Horror movie situations, is to realize when you enter into a horror movie. Remember, the world of the horror movie exists from before the actual horror takes place. That's why the funny, genre-savvy guy always dies first, because he isn't quite prepared and he would actually know what to do in those situations.
Quotes.
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Fixed.
Darn, I know Ember and Arc are just friends but just one kiss (actual kiss) in human form wouldn’t kill him. I know he is still hurting over Cherry but it could be a cathartic gesture which they both understand it be and nothing else. Go team Ember
Makes you wonder how much money Arc really has.
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Quite a fair amount. Remember, Steel Hammer and Silver Hammer lived for quite some time on their accumulated earnings as the previous Heroes of Light. That and when Arc served as the Lord Regent he also received a second (presumably) larger paycheck for that job as well.
While not on the same level as Filthy Rich, he's most likely the second wealthiest individual in Ponyville.