Chapter 12 - Sisterly Love (Part 5)
Sometime later Mio slowly opens her eyes. She looks around a very nice room for a few moments before a familiar voice rings out.
“Hey there, sleepyhead.”
Turning her head, Mio spots Hammer smiling at her. Putting a hand to her forehead she groans.
“Hammer? Where...?”
“Sh... don’t worry. You’re safe and sound here in Canterlot Castle. How’re you doing?”
“I feel... terrible.”
Hammer frowns. “Do you?”
“Yes, indeed. But... I had the strangest dream.”
“Tell me about it.”
“The Hero... he took me to his base and showed me his fighting prowess against his troops.”
“Then what?”
Mio blushes slightly. “I said some... some things, and then he took of his helmet.”
“Did he now?”
“Yes. But it was Arc under there. I remember getting really, REALLY mad. After that things got a bit hazy. Next thing I knew I was waking up here.”
She looks around for a few moments before continuing.
“Hammer? Where... exactly are we?”
“I told you. Canterlot Castle.”
“But this doesn’t look like your room. It’s a lot bigger and the furniture is nicer.”
Putting a hand on the bed she sighs contentedly.
“And the mattress is wonderful.”
Hammer sighs. “You’re in the Hero’s personal quarters.”
“How did I get here though?”
“He brought you here.”
“From... where exactly?”
“His base... Light’s Hope.”
“Hammer?”
“Yeah?”
“That... WAS just a dream... right?”
Hammer shakes her head and groans. “No, Mio. No, it was not.”
Mio gasps. “So the Hero really is...?!”
“It’s Arc, yes.”
Mio puts a hand to her face and blushes furiously. “That... that CAN’T be true though!”
“Believe me, it is.”
“Then where is he?!”
Hammer jerks a thumb behind her. “Waiting outside in the corridor with the doctor.”
Mio raises an eyebrow. “But I thought you said this was his room!”
“It is. However Arc thought it’d be a bad thing for you to see him right when you woke up.”
“Why?”
“Because he said you’d be mad. Are you?”
Mio grits her teeth. “Yes, I am!”
Hammer sighs. “Yeah, I get it.”
“You do?”
“Yup. Because I was the one whom pushed Arc to reveal his identity to you.”
“But why?”
Hammer sighs. “Because we could see that you had a thing for the Hero. Arc didn’t want to lead you on and I agreed with him. However, he wanted to wait until you were properly recovered. I pushed him to do it sooner.”
Mio turns to look out the window for a few moments before speaking.
“So... just to be sure that I understand this correctly... Arc and the Hero are one and the same?”
Hammer nods. “Right.”
“I’d... like to see him and the doctor.”
“You should rest first, Mio. They’ll be time enough for...”
Mio interrupts. “Now, Hammer.”
Hammer sighs. “Fine. Just try to stay calm.”
She walks over to the door, opens it, and makes a motion with her hand. Arc enters along with Doctor Whooves. The doctor steps over to the bedside as Arc and Hammer stay back.
“How are you feeling, miss?”
Mio puts a hand to her forehead. “Really tired. I... think I might have overdone it with a spell.”
Doctor Whooves nods as he smiles. “That was my prognosis as well. Hyper-use of your mana coupled with your body’s already weakened state caused you to pass out.”
“But I’ve pushed my magic too far in the past and didn’t feel anything like this.”
“Were you recovering from pneumonia back then?”
Mio sighs. “No. “
“I’m sorry to say that you just gave your infection a bit of a boost.”
“And I set back my recovery time?”
“Afraid so.”
“So what now?”
“You’ll probably be very weak for a few days. Take plenty of naps and do not strain yourself further.”
Hammer looks to the doctor. “Anything we can do to help her?”
“Just make sure she doesn’t try to cast spells or do anything else that would drain her energies.”
“I’ll see to it.”
Arc nods. “Thank you for coming, doctor.”
“Just doing my duty, sir.”
He turns back to Mio before continuing.
“Notify me if you don’t start recovering within a couple days or if your symptoms worsen.”
“I will, thank you.”
The doctor picks up his little black bag, bows to Arc, and leaves the room. Hammer turns to Arc.
“Um... what now?”
“I should probably leave. Give Mio some time to...”
Mio interrupts. “No.”
Hammer raises an eyebrow. “Mio?”
“I’d... like to say a few things to the both of you.”
Arc sighs as he steps forward and recalls his armor. “Fine.”
Hammer joins him at the side of the bed as Mio frowns.
“I... really don’t know what to say.”
Hammer smiles nervously. “Want a nap?”
“Later, Hammer.”
She looks to Arc.
“Why did you do that to me?”
“Tell you?”
Mio glares at him. “Yes! The timing was terrible!”
“Because of what you said.”
Hammer frowns. “Arc?”
“Mio was... kinda sorta almost trying to... confess her love.”
“For the Hero, yes!”
Hammer looks to her sister. “What the heck, Mio?!”
“I didn’t know he was your boyfriend!”
“Not that! You just told me you had a crush on him! Not that you were looking to form some kind of relationship!”
“You don’t need to know everything about my personal life, Hammer!”
“Oh yeah?! Says the gal whom tried to break Arc and I up?!”
“That was before I knew whom he was, okay!”
Arc groans. “I don’t hold that against you, Mio. After all, mistakes were made on all sides.”
Mio’s eye twitches. “Mistakes... MISTAKES?! I pour out my SOUL to someone whom I thought cared about me and you say it was a MISTAKE?!”
“No. But that is why I felt the need to tell you right then and there whom I really was.”
“Don’t expect any thanks for that.”
“I don’t.”
Hammer glares at her. “You know, you’re being a real jerk about this, Mio!”
Mio scoffs. “Says the woman whom ran off with her boyfriend!”
“Stingray had me kidnapped and tortured!”
“Well, you could have at least tried to contact me! Let me know what was going on!”
“And lead them right back to his place?! No way!”
“Hammer was just trying to protect you, Mio.”
Hammer nods. “Right! Like when I first hired Arc to stalk you!”
“WHAT?!”
Arc facepalms. “That makes it sound bad.”
“I thought you were in trouble!”
Arc sighs. “You were actually going to the gym at night to work out.”
“Those pictures!”
“Yes. Hammer just wanted me to make sure you were okay. I took them to assure her that you weren’t in any danger.”
“Right. And Stingray was...”
Arc cuts her off. “Let’s not go there, Hammer.”
Mio raises an eyebrow. “What was she doing?”
Hammer groans. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“At this point probably not, no.”
“Okay, look Mio. Hammer did what she felt she had to do in order to keep you safe. And I did the same to try and help her.”
“By blackmailing me?!”
“No. By convincing you to assist me in helping Hammer out of her blue funk.”
Hammer grins. “It worked too.”
Mio sneers as she looks at Arc. “Ever since we met you’ve done nothing but lie and deceive me though! So why should I listen to a word you have to say?!”
Arc bows his head. “Honestly... you probably shouldn’t.”
“Huh?”
“Did I lie? Yes. Did I coerce you? Yes. Did I lead Hammer on? Definitely.”
Hammer licks her lips. “I didn’t mind.”
Mio frowns. “That’s not normal, Hammer! You should HATE HIM!”
“But he did it for a good reason!”
Arc nods. “Right. To save the captured princess. Didn’t imagine that we’d end up falling for one another for real though.”
Hammer shrugs. “Life’s complicated sometimes.”
Mio points an accusatory finger at Arc angrily. “You’ve got your claws so deep into Hammer’s mind that she doesn’t know which way is up now!”
“Okay, I kinda deserve that.”
Hammer folds her arms over her chest. “No you don’t!”
“Then what does he deserve, Hammer?!”
“A medal!”
“For WHAT?!”
“Risking everything to come clean to me about literally everything. That’s why I was so paranoid back then. I worried that someone might find out that I knew who Arc really was and would try to get the information out of me.”
Arc nods. “And when I found out she was in such bad shape I knew I had to help make it right.”
Mio shakes her head. “By costing her everything?!”
“By standing with her and taking Hammer in when she had nowhere else to go.”
Hammer nods soberly. “Like you, Mio.”
“What?!”
“Arc found you unconscious and frozen half to death in the middle of the woods. He could’ve just turned around and walked away, as I wasn’t planning to come back to Earth ever again.”
“You’d have died in that clearing, and Hammer never would have known.”
“Then why did you save me?! “
Arc sighs. “Because you needed help. I wasn’t lying in the past when I told you I believed you were capable of good, Mio. That still stands.”
“But... but I... I tried to blast you!”
Hammer narrows her eyes. “When?!”
“Earlier at his base.”
Hammer steps forward angrily. “Oh, you are SO under arrest!”
Arc holds out an arm. “No, Hammer. She’s too weak for that.”
“Fine! But as soon as she’s strong enough...!”
Arc interrupts Hammer. “That will not be necessary.”
“Yeah it is! Physically assaulting the Hero of Light is a MAJOR crime here in Equestria!”
“Well, I’m not pressing charges.”
Mio raises an eyebrow. “You’re not?”
Arc shakes his head. “You weren’t yourself back then, Mio. That and I probably should’ve handled that whole situation better. However the biggest thing on my mind at the time was telling you the truth before you went any further with your confession.”
Hammer glares at her sister. “It’s more than you deserve, Mio.”
Mio groans. “So you’re telling me that you were just trying to look out for... for ME?!”
“Yes. For Hammer’s sake as well as yours.”
Hammer puts an arm around Arc as she speaks. “And I love him for that! You and Stingray treated him like garbage and he was STILL interested in keeping us alive when we fought at Damocles Base! To say nothing for him saving you in the forest and bringing you, an agent of The Organization, to Equestria for emergency treatment!”
Mio scoffs. “For all I knew he was just trying too...!”
Hammer interrupts her sister angrily. “To do WHAT, Mio?! Get in my panties! Believe me, I’ve dropped those for him more times than I can count! But he never once took me up on my offer to let him take me and ravish my body! And do you know why?!”
“Enlighten me!”
“Because Arc Honestly LOVES me! He CARES about me! And he wants what’s best... FOR ME!”
Arc nods. “Just like I did for you earlier, Mio.”
“After I said... all those things?!”
“I couldn’t let you keep going. You needed to know the truth, and you needed to know immediately. So against my better judgement I revealed my identity to you right then and there.”
Hammer grits her teeth. “Yeah! And imperiled his mission back on Earth because of it!”
“Mission?”
Arc sighs. “I’m trying to help someone... very important to me. It’s not an official, Equestria-sanctioned mission either. But if The Organization were to be told by a certain someone whom I really was, well... I don’t think I’d be able to move freely back on Earth ever again.”
Hammer turns to Arc. “We really should lock her up though. Mio knows too much now.”
“Like I said earlier, she’s too weak.”
Hammer smiles wickedly. “Yeah, I actually looked into that. Doctor Whooves said they have a quarantine cell down there for just for such things.”
Mio gasps. “Hammer!”
Arc frowns. “You’d really put your own sister in jail?”
Hammer folds her arms over her chest. “In the name of security and your personal safety, yes.”
Mio seethes. “On what charge?!”
“Well, you DID attack the Hero of Light.”
Arc groans. “And I already said to forget that, Hammer.”
“That and there’s the matter of her being here illegally.”
“I claim extenuating circumstances on her behalf.”
“Well... that and there’s the fact that she’s a bona-fide risk to national security. Even you can’t deny THAT, Arc!”
“While I agree with your analysis of the situation, I also have to point out that at the moment Mio is stuck here.”
Mio bows her head. “Yes, I don’t know how I was brought here or how to even start the journey back to Earth.”
Hammer frowns. “You’re not making my job easy here, Arc.”
“I’m just trying to point on the facts as I see them.”
“Same as me!”
Mio sighs. “Listen, Hammer. I give you my word that I won’t try to get back to Earth without your knowledge. Is that good enough for you?”
“Not really, no.”
“Come on! We’ve always been honest with each other in the past!”
“Oh really?!”
Mio averts her sister’s gaze. “Usually, yes.”
“How about the time you and Stingray tried to get Arc beat up when he took me out?”
“A mistake admittedly.”
“Or the other time you tried to get him taken out by The Riders?”
“It sounds bad when you say it like...”
Hammer continues. “What about the time you and Stingray kidnapped me?!”
“That I honestly didn’t know anything about.”
Arc sighs. “Look, Hammer. You’re in charge of castle security along with Colonel Flash Sentry, so I won’t try to overrule your decision with my own authority.”
Hammer grins. “Glad to see you coming over to my way of thinking, Arc.”
“But I’d like to ask that you allow Mio to remain in a normal bedroom for the time being.”
“They have one down in the...”
Arc interrupts. “One without bars.”
Hammer groans. “Come ON!”
“It’s your call. But I’d appreciate her staying free. At least as long as Mio behaves herself.”
“Fine. But I am stationing guards at the door AND on the patio!”
“In the freezing cold?”
“They’ll be fine!”
Mio looks out the window. “I can’t really escape outside though, Hammer. The cold air wouldn’t let me get too far, after all.”
“Guess that’s true. Okay, just guards at the door.”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “Outside the door you mean, right?”
“What?! But how would they keep tabs on her?!”
Arc rolls his eyes. “I don’t think Mio could do much from inside.”
“Don’t underestimate her.”
“And I’d assume she’d prefer privacy over being watched all the time.”
Mio nods. “That I would.”
“You don’t get a say in this, Mio!”
Hammer puts a finger to her chin and thinks. Arc continues talking.
“Come on, Hammer. We gave you quite a bit of freedom when you first came to Equestria.”
“But how will she get to the toilet if we leave her alone?!”
Mio frowns. “I think I can handle that walk, Hammer.”
Arc gestures to the phone next to the bed. “And she could always call you or Nurse Redheart for help if need be.”
“What about food and water though?”
“I get room service here.”
Hammer gasps. “You do?!”
“Yeah.”
“How come I don’t?!”
“I’m guessing it’s a privilege of rank.”
“Well I’m trying it from my room later!”
“You do that.”
Mio groans. “Can we stay on topic here please?”
“Yeah. So do we have an agreement, Hammer?”
“Well... fine then.”
She points to the door before continuing.
“But there’s going to be guards out there at all hours!”
Mio nods. “That’s understood.”
“And ANY attempt to escape will result in you going straight to the dungeon! Are we clear, Mio?!”
“Crystal.”
Arc smiles. “Then it’s settled.”
Hammer turns to head for the door. “Yeah. But I need to get back to work. Lots of paperwork and inspections to get caught up on.”
“Alright. You want to send for guards or should I?”
Hammer calls out from the doorway. “I’ll do it from my office as well as set up a rotation. Keep an eye on her for a few minutes though.”
“Alright.”
Hammer closes the door behind her as Arc turns to Mio.
“Sorry.”
Mio appears confused. “You’re... sorry?”
“Yeah. If I had just kept my identity to myself you wouldn’t be bedridden yet again.”
“Probably not. However I do appreciate the Honesty nonetheless.”
Arc sighs. “Look... don’t take what Hammer said personally. Remember, she’s in charge of keeping things secure around here.”
“It’s fine. But... um... might I talk to you about something?”
“We should probably do that another time. You’re looking about ready to fall asleep, so unless it’s urgent I think I should let you rest.”
Mio yawns. “Well, I am pretty tired.”
“How about I let you take a nap and come see you later then?”
“Sure. Just give me a couple hours.”
“Alright.”
Arc walks over to the couch as Mio lays back and closes her eyes. Sitting there, he waits patiently for the guards to come. Hearing a knock, Arc stands and walks over to the door. Opening it he steps out and turns to the pair of stallions before him.
“Have you two been briefed?”
“Yes sir. Nopony is to be allowed in to see the prisoner.”
“Nor is she allowed to leave.”
Arc nods. “Right. However exceptions should be made for Doctor Whooves, Nurse Redheart, and Lieutenant Hammer.”
“What about supplies for her, sir?”
“Anything brought here is to be inspected by you. It should then be brought to her by a guard. Not the couriers.”
“Understood, sir.”
They salute as Arc turns to leave. Walking down the corridor he muses to himself.
“Hammer did seem really anxious to sweep Mio into a cell. That doesn’t seem like her. Especially considering how doting she was to her sister before she found out my identity. I’ll have to talk to her about that.”
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Hmm. Cant tell if intentional or not.
I think dealing with her sister overprotective attitude has finally reached its limits and she not willing to take anything else from her sister. She would happy if she put one toe out of line just to get her to understand that her sister can make decisions and that arc is a good person and had to blur the line between right and wrong because he is trying to help the greater good.
11442063
Whoops! Good catch! Fixed!
Hammer awnts Mio in a secure area so that its harder for those that dont like Arc or what he stands for to get at her, or for her to be in the crossfire?
im not really shur now if this is still hammer's over protectiveness talking ore some ploy of hers to get mio to se arks good side
11442642
Yes.
11442448
Well, Mio is still technically a member of The Organization. For all they know she might use what she learns to try and get back in their good graces.