Chapter 24 - ...But Now is Found
Arc and Rose leave the Library. Wrangler is waiting in the corridor. Arc turns to her.
“I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to this, but did anyone come by here, Wrangler?”
“No sir. Should I go back to watching that human in there?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“Sir?”
Rose shakes her head. “He… uh… left, I guess.”
Wrangler charges into the Library. “WHAT?!”
She emerges a moment later.
“Don’t worry, sir! I’ll organize a full ship search right away!”
“Don’t worry about it. He’s gone. For now at least.”
“But we’re miles up! There’s no way he could have gotten off the Lunar Destiny! That much I’m sure of!”
Arc shrugs. “Very well. Search if you really want to. I need to get back to the Infirmary.”
Wrangler salutes as Arc and Rose turn to leave. “Yes sir! I’ll let you know when I catch that slippery fella!”
The pair make their way quickly down the corridor.
“What’s up, Arc? Worried about mother?”
“Very! Hopefully Nurse Redheart can tell us something about her condition from those x-rays she was waiting on.”
They enter the Infirmary, Auriel, Ember, Sereb and Brightwing are very quiet.
“Uh oh. What’s wrong?”
Ember sighs. “Nurse Redheart is going over the x-rays again to be sure. But…”
Auriel shakes her head, sadly. “Things… don’t look good for Twilight.”
Brightwing sniffles. “Friend hurt very, very badly!”
Nurse Redheart emerges from her adjoining office with a clipboard. Her face is grim.
“Sir. I need to speak with you about Twilight’s condition. You should probably sit down.”
Arc nervously does so. “Okay.”
He and Rose sit down on one of the nearby beds. Redheart pulls up Twilight’s x-rays on a nearby display.
“It looks like there was some moderate organ damage to her stomach, bladder and intestines. However that isn’t what concerns me.”
Arc sighs. “I don’t understand. How could it get worse?”
Nurse Redheart changes the display to a posterior view and points a hoof at the next image.
“This is what I mean. Several of her vertebrae have been broken.”
Rose gasps. “So you’re saying when the roc dove at her, it broke her back?!”
Brightwing shudders. “Ouchy!”
Nurse Redheart nods. “Sadly, yes. I’ve kept her sedated so as not to cause her any unnecessary pain, but… that really isn’t the worst of it.”
Arc frowns. “What is then?”
Nurse Redheart picks up a pen and points to a spot on the screen. “This is Twilight’s neck just above her current injury.”
She then lowers the pen about half an inch.
“It’s very difficult to tell from these x-rays for absolute certain, but… I believe the blow from that beast may have not only broken several vertebrae, but severed her spinal cord as well.”
Sereb looks confused. “What does that mean?”
Ember shakes her head sadly. “It means she’s paralyzed from the neck down, Sereb.”
Auriel appears ready to cry. “Can nothing be done?! Equestria’s medical prowess is second to none, right?!”
Redheart sighs and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, but there are some things that elude even our greatest medical minds. Reattaching a spinal cord is one of them.”
Arc pulls the paper out of his pocket and looks it over before walking over to his damaged armor and picking up his gauntlet.
Sereb looks confused. “What are you doing, Arc?”
Arc puts on his gauntlet and looks over the paper one more time. “It’s a long shot. But Twilight’s last hope.”
He uses the gauntlet to make a strange looking sigil on the Infirmary floor just below Twilight’s bed. Rose looks confused.
“What good will that do, Arc?”
“You’ll see.”
Arc powers up the sigil as the air in the room grows heavy. This goes on for almost a minute as he channels magical energy from himself to the sigil. As the glow from the sigil fades, Arc stumbles backwards. Ember rushed toward him.
“ARC!”
She and Rose help to steady him. Arc weakly looks to Ember.
“Bring me… closer to Twilight.”
Rose shakes her head. “But you need to rest!”
“Please…”
Ember sighs. “Well… all right.”
They help Arc toward Twilight’s side. He gently strokes her mane a few times.
“Twilight? Can you hear me?”
The mare stirs, albeit groggily. Redheart looks over her clipboard.
“That’s strange. I thought I administered ample sedative.”
She walks quickly over to a cabinet and removes a bottle and syringe. Making her way swiftly over to Twilight’s side as she fills the syringe and purges it.
“This should help her go back to sleep.”
Arc puts a hand on Nurse Redheart’s hoof. “Wait.”
“But sir! If I’m wrong she’ll be in excruciating pain if she wakes up! This is torturous!”
Twilight slowly opens her eyes and sits up. Looking around and speaking in a confused tone.
“What… happened? Where am I?! Arc?”
Auriel appears overjoyed. “Twilight?!”
Arc grins. “How do you feel?!”
Twilight puts a hoof on her forehead. “Like I’ve been hit by a cart!”
Brightwing giggles. “Brightwing thinks you were!”
Redheart walks over to the patient. “Twilight, can you tell me where it hurts?!”
“Just my head. I’ve got a splitting headache for some reason.”
She suddenly looks around frantically.
“Are we safe?!”
Arc nods. “Yes, Twilight. Very much so.”
Ember smiles. “What do you remember?”
Twilight thinks for a moment. “I remember… seeing a Roc diving straight at Rose. I pushed her away. The last thing I remember was a horrific blow to my back! It felt like it cut me in half!”
Sereb nods. “The Roc nearly did. Then it tried to gut you.”
Twilight shudders. “The last memory I have was feeling a horrible pain in my gut! Kinda like knives being thrust into me!”
“A roc hit you, then grabbed you with its talons, mother.”
Ember picks up Twilight’s armor from the floor nearby. She walks over to the bedside and holds it up.
“This is all that’s left of your armor, Twilight.”
Auriel looks relieved. “Thank goodness you were wearing it!”
Nurse Redheart nods. “Had you been without, it’s likely you would have been literally torn apart before anypony could have helped you!”
Twilight looks herself over. “I don’t understand. If that’s true, why aren’t I in more pain?”
Ember chuckles. “Arc did… something just now to heal you.”
Redheart turns to him. “Exact how DID you do that?! Twilight shouldn’t have been able to sit up with or without a severed spinal cord.”
“I didn’t really do much. It was the Dragon’s Tear.”
Sereb looks confused. “But how could it heal Twilight. It’s weak magic only works on the one whom wears it.”
Ember sighs. “And very slowly I might add.”
Auriel nods. “Right! And since you’re wearing it…”
Arc interrupts her. “I’m not.”
Brightwing looks confused. “Then where is pretty rock?!”
Arc leans over and gently turns Twilight’s head. He carefully reaches into her mane and pulls out the Dragon’s Tear. However it now pulsates with a small blue glow.
“Right here. That sigil apparently powered the enchantment on it back up.”
Twilight responds in a surprised tone as she looks over. “When did you put THAT there?!”
Arc smiles as he puts the artifact’s string around Twilight’s neck. “Before we got underway you and I had a talk.”
“I don’t remember you putting this thing on me!”
Arc chuckles. “When I hugged you, I carefully tied the chain into your mane. It was pretty messy from wearing that helmet all day already.”
Twilight shakes her head. “But… but why?! You were on the front line!”
Sereb looks to Arc. “Twilight does raise a good point. As the one spearheading the operation, you were in the most danger.”
Arc sighs. “Sorry Twilight. But you were the only one there who didn’t really know how to defend themselves. That and I couldn’t have lived with myself if you got hurt.”
Twilight puts a hoof on his hand as she smiles at him, blushing slightly. “Thank you, my friend.”
She moves to hop down. Redheart’s eye’s grow wide.
“Twilight! Your back!”
The mare jumps off the bed and onto the floor. “I feel fine, Nurse Redheart. Really!”
Redheart shakes her head. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes…”
Arc smiles sleepily. “We should probably get some rest now. Morning comes early after all. Thank you very much for your help, Nurse Redheart.”
They leave the Infirmary together. Ember turns to Arc.
“We have a busy day ahead of us. What with bringing the Dragon’s Tear to my father and, hopefully, avoiding a war.”
Twilight sighs. “I really should be the one to bring it to the Dragon Lord.”
Rose shakes her head. “No, it should be me.”
Arc frowns. “Actually, I think Ember and I should handle this.”
“Yeah. My dad didn’t seem overly happy to see such a large group.”
Auriel thinks for a moment. “Or maybe he was just mad about what had happened.”
Sereb sighs. “It is hard to say with the Dragon Lord.”
“Yes, yes! Big dragon scary, scary!”
They make their way back to their rooms and say goodnight. Ember turns back as she and Sereb return to their rooms.
“See you all in the morning.”
Auriel smiles from her doorway as Brightwing flutters past her. “Sleep well.”
Rose takes Arc’s hand. “We should get you to bed as well. You’re not exactly in tip top shape after the events of today.”
Arc nods sleepily. “I suppose a good night’s rest is in order.”
Twilight walks sheepishly up to him. “Um… Arc?”
“Yes Twilight?”
“I… could we talk?”
Rose looks confused. “It’s late, mother! You should get some rest too!”
Arc nods. “Rose is right, Twilight. We can…”
Cherry speaks to him telepathically. “This sounds really important to her. You should go.”
“…um… we can go talk in the Library, Twilight.”
“O-okay!”
Rose looks to Twilight. “Can I come too?!”
“Not this time, Rose. I… want to tell Arc something important.”
Arc turns to Rose. “I won’t be long. You should get some rest too.”
Twilight nods. “Your internal energy levels should be rather low from all the fighting you did today, Rose. They should be back to normal after a good night’s sleep though.”
Rose nods and heads for Arc’s room. “Okay, mother. Good night then.”
Arc and Twilight head for the Library together as Rose closes the door behind her. They enter the small, out of the way room and sit down together on a sofa.
“Now then, Twilight. What’s on your mind?”
“A… a few things actually. First of all, I just wanted to apologize again for… the things I said the other day.”
Arc shakes his head. “Please Twilight! You already did! Let’s leave it in the past, shall we?”
“I’d like that actually. What I said… isn’t really something I’m proud of or want to remember.”
“Me either!”
Twilight sighs. “I also wanted to apologize for causing all this trouble with the Dragon Lands.”
“You didn’t know. Neither I nor the princesses blame you for this.”
“But I almost started a WAR!”
Arc nods. “True. But together we fixed it. And tomorrow Ember and I will give Dragon Lord Torch the Dragon’s Tear and everything can go back to normal.”
Twilight looks up suddenly. “Why don’t we just head there now?! Get it out of the way! It would only be a short flight from where we are!”
“True. But I think the advance of Equestria’s most powerful warship would have an undesirable effect on the Dragon Lord’s mood.”
“I guess you’re right. Tell me, how do you always seem to know exactly what to do and say to make things right?”
“I don’t.”
Twilight frowns. “But…”
“Think about it. I almost threw away our friendship with my words the other day.”
“No one is perfect, Arc! Not even you!”
“That makes two of us, Twilight. So if you could find a way to forgive yourself for all of this, I’d appreciate it.”
“I’ll… I’ll try.”
“Good!”
The two sit there silently for a time. Twilight blushes slightly.
“Arc! There’s… something else I really need to tell you!”
“What is it?”
“It’s about the real reason I created Rose.”
Arc looks to her, confused. “I thought you said it was to protect me and provide companionship. Was there something else?”
“There was. I… um… I built her to… to love you as well.”
“I’m still not sure how exactly you programmed that.”
Twilight sighs. “Neither am I to be honest with you. But she is what she is now.”
“Right! Now, can I ask you something about that, Twilight?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why exactly did you feel it was so important that I have a… a human-like partner that loved me? I mean… it’s not like I have a shortage of friends and family here in Equestria.”
“I… um… it’s kinda complicated.”
Arc smiles at her. “I’m sure it is, but I’d really like to know.”
Twilight sighs sadly. “Well… it all started after Cherry passed away. I remember you being… just so sad!”
“You would be too if you lost someone important to you, Twilight.”
“Yes, well… I decided that I wanted to make you happy again.”
“Was that when you started designing Rose?”
Twilight shakes her head. “No. She was actually my second idea. After the first one failed, that is”
Arc looks to her, confused. “First plan?”
She looks up at him, sadly. “Yes. I… I’m very embarrassed about… about what I did back then.”
“Come on, Twilight. How bad could it have been?”
Twilight’s ears droop as she sighs. “I guess you deserve to know after all the trouble it caused. Do you remember that time I invited you over for tea?”
Arc chuckles. “Which time?”
“The day before the school foals and I went to Canterlot for a field trip.”
“I remember that. But what does that have to do with anything?”
“That special tea I made… you really liked it, didn’t you?”
Arc nods. “I did! You’ll have to make more of it for our next get-together!”
Twilight puts her hoof behind her head and looks away. “Well… the secret ingredient in it was… pure Dragon Fruit extract.”
Arc puts a hand to his chin. “That explains why it was so sweet. Uh… but what exactly does that have to do with what happened back then?”
“I’ve had quite some time to think about that time and have run several tests to confirm what I always knew to be true. Do you remember how you said you seem to have some kind of Aura Magic?”
“Of course. It helped to save Coco Pommel’s life after my first battle with Tempest in Vanhoover. But what does that have to do with it?”
Well… according to my tests, I can only hypothesize that the concentrated magic from the Dragon Fruit somehow combined with your aura to make my… our friends act the way they did back then.”
“So that’s what happened!”
Twilight nods, tears in the corner of her eyes. “Yes. And I’m very sorry about that.”
“Sorry? You were just trying to make some tasty tea.”
“NO! I… I was… trying to make you less sad and lonely!”
“With sweet tea?”
“I… um… you see…”
Her voice trails off.
Arc shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but I just don’t see how tea could have caused so much…”
Twilight turns back to Arc quickly. Squeezing her eyes shut and shouting at the top of her lungs.
“I WAS TRYING TO MAKE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ME!”
She turns away quickly as her entire face turns crimson red. Tears begin to flow down her cheeks. Arc looks at her, clearly surprised.
“Wh-wha-WHAT?! Twilight?!”
She continues to cry. “I wanted to be able to stay by your side forever! Keep you company! Keep you… safe!”
“Company? Safe? But… I have a base full of troops, Flash Sentry, Ember, Sereb, Eidolon’s Ward and the Spear of Righteousness. For what reason were you…?”
Twilight looks up at Arc as the tears roll down her red face. “BECAUSE… BECAUSE I… I LOVE YOU, ARC!”
She collapses in tears on the couch next to him. Arc picks her up and holds her close. He gently strokes her mane.
“I thought you were acting strangely back then. Now I know why.”
Twilight continues to cry as she buries her face in Arc’s chest. “I… I know what I did was wrong! But… but I didn’t really care! I… I just wanted us to be together! Instead I caused a plague that made my friends do and… and say things that will probably haunt them for the rest of their lives!”
She looks up at him again.
“You’ve just been so… so nice to me since we met! Somehow I wanted to be able to return the favor! While I had little to offer in terms of material wealth, I still wanted to… to give something back! The idea of how to go about doing that has been rolling around in my head for some time now.”
“How long exactly?”
“Since before my friends told me about how Cherry Jubilee wanted to be your marefriend. That was when we were walking home after you had invited all of us to Light’s Hope for tea.”
“That was quite some time back.”
“I… I let the thought go when Applejack told me Cherry had her sights on you. After all… she has everything I didn’t. A business, property, top notch cooking skills, good looks and to top it all off… a great personality. She… she was perfect for you!”
Arc nods. A hint of sadness in his voice. “That she was…”
“When… when she was taken from you, I decided I was going to find a way to make you smile again. Even if it meant sacrificing everything I had or would ever have!”
Arc mutters to himself. “The legend of the Dragon Fruit!”
“What?”
“Ember told me about it. Supposedly if two dragons were to eat of the same piece of fruit, they would fall desperately in love with one another.”
“Auriel’s research into the fruit confirmed that possibility! I used the extract to try and ensure that outcome. If I didn’t have anything to give you, other than myself and my body, then so be it! At that time, and even now, I’m ready and willing to spend the rest of my life by your side if you want me to.”
Arc sighs. “This is… just so sudden, Twilight! I mean… I like you and all, but…”
Twilight appears on the edge of madness. “At least consider me, okay?!”
Cherry speaks to him, telepathically. “She’s certainly dedicated. Loyal too.”
Arc sighs inwardly. “Yes. But she also takes things too far sometimes. Offering to spend her life with me because I’m her friend is really… nice and all. But she deserves better.”
He continues to stroke Twilight’s mane for some time as she continues to cry.
“Listen, Twilight. I’m… very flattered that you feel this way and want you to know that I feel the same about you.”
Twilight looks up at him happily. “You… you do?!”
“Yes! I just want what’s best for you in the long run. It pains me to see you suffering like this.”
She speaks in a hopeful tone. “Does that mean you want me to… you know… stay by your side?!”
“Yes. But as a friend, Twilight.”
Her ears droop. “Oh… I understand.”
“Twilight… look at me.”
She slowly raises her head to look Arc in the eye.
“I want you to do something for me.”
“Anything! I can do or be whatever you want me to!”
“Just… just be yourself. Don’t change for me, or anyone else for that matter.”
“What?! But… but I…”
Arc interrupts her. “And don’t say things like you don’t have anything to offer.”
“But I don’t!”
“You’re wrong, Twilight.”
Arc taps her forehead gently with his index finger.
“You have a beautiful and thoughtful mind. Don’t think for even a moment that you need to throw yourself at someone to find love.”
He puts his hands on her cheeks and looks her in the eye.
“You’re perfect just the way you are.”
“But all I want is to please you!”
Arc smiles at Twilight. “Then look for a stallion that can appreciate you for the way you are. Who will love you for your mind and personality, and not for your willingness to give them whatever they want.”
Twilight looks confused. “What do you mean?”
Arc blushes slightly. “While you are very pretty, I guess what I’m trying to tell you is… don’t feel that you have to… lift your tail, change your personality, or offer up your body to find happiness.”
Twilight puts her hooves around his midsection and presses her face against him, happily “Thank you, Arc. That’s another thing I love about you. I always feel safe when you’re around.”
Arc puts his arms around Twilight. “And I love that you’re always so open about what you’re thinking. Usually.”
She looks up at him with a small smile. “I promise I won’t keep secrets from you ever again!”
“That’s probably for the best. After all, it’s not good for any kind of relationship.”
“While I’ve always known that, I hadn’t really given it a lot of thought until now.”
Arc and Twilight embrace for some time.
“Arc. Can I ask you something? And I’d like for you to be completely honest with me, even if it hurts.
“I’ll try. What is it?”
Twilight blushes slightly. “Do you… could you ever see us as anything more than just friends? I mean… could we ever be… you know… more?”
“I don’t know, Twilight. When Princess Celestia is safely back then I think I’ll have time to consider my future.”
“I certainly hope she can learn to like you as much as I do, Arc.”
“So do I.”
“In the meantime, I hope Rose will be a suitable companion for you on that path. I’m not cut out for this kind of dangerous lifestyle.”
Arc nods. “I understand. To tell you the truth, I was hoping you would say that.”
“Huh?”
“I didn’t like putting you in danger. While I know you can take care of yourself, I’m much happier when I know you’re safe and sound.”
Meanwhile, as the Lunar Destiny flies through the night sky toward Canterlot, Kronos watches the ship through magical means as it travels toward its destination.
“Arc… you have enjoyed relative peace since starting down this path. I do hope you enjoy it, as it will soon be nothing more than a fond memory of times past. Things are about to become… interesting for you.”
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The temple was the easy time?.. things are going to get messy.
Definitely got his worth out of that Dragons Tear.. hope theres enough left that Torch accepts its return.
10169778
Why is that?
10172932
The Dragon's Tear is actually more powerful now than when they found it. With the sigil from Wiseman, Arc was able to restore the weakened power of the artifact so it could do it's job and heal its host. But even if it wasn't, the deal was to deliver the Dragon's Tear. Torch didn't say any more.
So the truth comes out about the Ponyville incident way way WAAAAAY later than I thought it should have, mostly because it was pushed into the back of Arc's mind so far it has been gathering cobwebs.
I commented previously that I don't think Arc makes a very good investigator and the conversation about it in this chapter is why since he needs to be walked through it.
Every time I see this I remember him saying
Yet honestly it just seems like an investigator's mind is something of a passing thing for him.
10811236
Yeah,, that was a part that really threw me off that whole arc.