The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds

by Kamahido

Chapter 13 - Sisterly Love (Part 6)

Arc knocks on Hammer’s office door. Looking over to it, she calls out.

“Come in!”

Entering, he spies her at her desk going over paperwork. Hammer smirks as she drops her pencil and stands.

“Hey there, handsome!”

“Hi, Hammer. The guards came and are stationed outside my... well, Mio’s room for the moment.”

“Good.”

“But do you really believe that’s necessary?”

Hammer grins. “Nah.”

Arc raises an eyebrow. “Then why...?”

“I was just trying out a tactic I read in a book Mio gave me some time ago.”

“You mean...?”

Hammer nods. “The ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine.”

“I thought it was a little strange that you kept insisting that Mio be locked up.”

“Well, you played your part perfectly.”

“You don’t think she’ll be mad at you for this though, do you?”

“Probably. But she’ll get over it.”

Hammer puts her arms around Arc’s neck and grin seductively before continuing.

“However I did have another reason for that.”

“Do tell.”

“I knew you’d stand up for her. So that’ll help her trust you more. “

“Pretty sneaky, Hammer.”

“How’s she doing over there though?”

“She’s sleeping at the moment fortunately.”

“Yeah. Rest is her best friend right now.”

“But now there’s the matter of what to do when she wakes up.”

Hammer chuckles. “Should I have some more books sent over?”

“Probably a good idea. However I was referring to her and I talking more.”

“Maybe you should give her a bit of a cool off period first.”

“Normally I would agree. But the talk was Mio’s idea.”

“Huh?”

“She asked if we could talk more. But I suggested she nap first.”

“What’s she want?”

“No clue. I didn’t press the matter since she was looking so tired.”

“So... what are you going to do?”

“Go see her in an hour or so. Whatever she wants to say I’ll listen to.”

Hammer grins. “Thanks, Arc.”

“Thanks?”

“You’re being a real sport about this. Considering what Mio’s done to you in the past, that is.”

“Well, let’s just say that I’m willing to give her a chance. Same as I did for you.”

Hammer leans in and puts her mouth close to his ear. “Maybe she wants to confess her love to you.”

Arc rolls his eyes. “Very funny, Hammer.”

Hammer laughs. “Yeah, well... she might.”

“Doubtful.”

“She was pretty smitten with the Hero. Maybe if she has enough time she might begin to feel the same way about you.”

“Uh... please tell me you’re not okay with that.”

“With what?”

“Mio and I.”

“Being attracted to each other?”

Arc shrugs. “Strange, I know.”

Hammer grins. “Why, Arc! I didn’t know you had a thing for my sister!”

“I don’t. You brought it up though.”

“Well... I guess I never really put a lot of thought into such a thing.”

“Me either. But you do raise a valid point. Strictly for the sake of conversation, we never talked about adding more human women to the herd.”

“What about Auriel?”

“She’s... okay admittedly this is getting complicated.”

Hammer groans. “You’re telling me.”

“So can I assume that you wouldn’t approve?”

Hammer shrugs. “I’m not actually sure. Like I said, I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“And I just figured that adding more human would be weird for you.”

Hammer sighs. “Okay, let’s table this discussion unless something actually comes of you and Mio, shall we?”

“Probably for the best. Now all that’s left is to figure out what to do while she sleeps.”

Hammer grins seductively as she pulls her uniform shirt down a bit. “I can think of a few things.”

Arc rolls his eyes. “This again?”

Hammer laughs heartily. “I just like messing with you! But if you’re interested...”

“Not at the moment, no.”

He looks to the desk before continuing.

“Want some help getting caught up?”

Hammer nods fervently. “Any excuse to work side by side with you, honey-bunny.”

Arc sighs as he pulls up a chair. “Oh boy.”

Meanwhile, Luna walks down the corridor with her guards. Turning a corner she almost runs into Rainbow Dash.

“Oh! My apologies.”

Rainbow Dash narrows her eyes. “We need to talk, princess.”

“What about?”

“Privately.”

Turning to a nearby door, Luna opens it with her magic before stepping inside the Conference Room with Rainbow Dash. Closing it, she turns to the mare.

“Now then, what’s on your mind?”

“You.”

“Oh?”

Rainbow Dash points an accusatory hoof. “I’m not blind, princess! I saw you and Arc head into the Ponyville Town Hall after your speech!”

“Yes. I had wanted to talk to him about a private matter.”

“I know! I heard you two talking!”

Luna gasps. “Wha-what did you...?!”

“You’re trying to do things behind our backs with Arc!”

“I’m not...!”

Rainbow Dash interrupts. “Does Twilight know?!”

Luna shakes her head. “No, I only spoke to Arc about this!”

“So you ADMIT to trying to hide this!”

Luna frowns. “This matter has NOTHING to do with you or the other Element Bearers! It is simply a... a deeply personal matter between Arc and myself!”

Rainbow Dash sneers. “Yeah, that much I do know! And don’t you think for a MOMENT that I’ll let you two have your secrets!”

“I don’t...!”

“You forget that I’m the Element of Loyalty! And I won’t let you mess up our plans!”

Luna glares at the mare before her. “You won’t LET me?!”

“Right! I don’t care if you are the Princess of the Night! You are NOT going to ruin this for all of us!”

“Ruin what?!”

“YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!”

Rainbow Dash storms out of the room. Luna looks after her, clearly confused.

“What was THAT all about?!”

Sometime later Rainbow Dash arrives back in Ponyville. Flying into her floating house she groans sits on her haunches.

“That flight never gets any shorter.”

Walking slowly into her house and up to her room she groans happily and flops onto the bed.

“It’s good to be home.”

Picking up a few darts on the nightstand, she takes careful aim and throws them. Grinning, Rainbow Dash looks over her handiwork.

“Bullseye!”

Looking across the room she sees the life-sized poster of Luna with three darts stuck between her eyes.

“Take THAT you stallion-stealer!”

Grabbing a bottle of cider off the nightstand she opens it (quite the feat with hooves) and takes a heavy swig. Setting the now half-empty bottle down to lean against her body, Rainbow Dash grits her teeth and stares up at the ceiling.

“Watch your back, princess. Arc’s ours and nopony, I mean NOPONY is taking him away from us!”

Closing her eyes, she falls asleep. The bottle falls over and spills all over her sheets as she rolls over. Meanwhile, Arc and Hammer finish their task together. She smiles at him as the last paper is signed and put in the ‘out’ box.

“Thanks for the help, handsome.”

“No problem. I figured you were backlogged due to my actions anyways.”

Hammer raises an eyebrow. “Say what now?”

“Mio’s here because of me, after all.”

“Maybe. But you made a choice that needed to be made right then and there. And you made the right one as far as I can tell.”

Arc sighs. “You’re probably right. However, her being here is really... um... a big risk.”

“Questioning her loyalty to the Hero?”

“Moreso now that she knows that Arc is the Hero.”

Hammer groans. “Look, you couldn’t have just left her there. She’d have frozen to death!”

“Yeah, well...”

“Why don’t you head on back there and talk to her. See what Mio wanted to say.”

Arc raises an eyebrow. “You aren’t coming with me?”

Hammer grins slyly. “Sounds like she wants to be alone with you.”

Arc groans. “Please stop that.”

“Why?”

“It’s just weird!”

Hammer chuckles. “Alright, alright. You go to your room and I’ll get the three of us some lunch.”

“Alright. See you in a bit.”

Leaving the office, the pair part ways. Coming to his quarters Arc motions for the guards to move. They put their hooves on the door to open it, but Arc calls out.

“Don’t.”

“Sir?”

“I’d like to do that myself.”

Standing aside, Arc knocks lightly. Hearing no response, he cautiously pushes the door open a few inches and calls out.

“Mio?”

Hearing nothing, he pushes the door open and steps inside. The guards pull the doors shut behind him and chuckle to one another. Walking over to the bed Arc spies Mio lying there facing away from him. Putting his hand on her forehead, he frowns as he mutters aloud.

“She’s pretty hot.”

Mio rolls over and glares at him.

“And what is THAT supposed to mean?!”

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

Mio frowns. “Hardly! I woke up a few minutes ago! And it’s a good thing I did too!”

“Oh?”

“I wasn’t aware that you though I was so attractive, pig!”

Arc narrows his eyes. “You’re warm.”

“No, I’m freezing!”

“I meant your forehead. You feel feverish.”

Mio blushes slightly and looks away. “Oh... of course.”

“Want me to call for the doctor?”

“No, thank you. I’ll just take some of the medicine he left.”

She reaches for a small bottle on the nightstand along with a spoon. Opening it with some difficulty she puts the spoon to the mouth of the bottle. However when Mio tries to pour it her hand begins shaking. Arc sighs.

“Want some help?”

“I can manage.”

Arc points. “With your hand shaking that bad?”

“So I’ll pour slowly!”

“You’ll never get it to your mouth without sloshing it everywhere.”

Mio scoffs. “Just watch me.”

Carefully filling the spoon, she cautiously brings it to her lips. However before she can even get close to her mouth her shivering causes it to dribble onto the bedspread. Mio groans as she looks at the mess.

“Great. This looks expensive too.”

Arc sighs. “Just wait right there and I’ll get something to clean it up with.”

Heading to the bathroom Arc grabs a washcloth and wets it with warm water. Returning to Mio’s side he carefully cleans the bedspread.

“That’s better. Now are you willing to let me help you?”

Mio nods angrily. “Fine.”

Taking the bottle, Arc fills the spoon and carefully puts it to Mio’s lips. Opening her mouth she allows him to put it inside. Pulling it out a few moments later Arc nods.

“There you go.”

“I suppose I should be grateful.”

“Not really. After all, I’m not doing this for thanks.”

“Then why...?”

Arc interrupts her. “Because you physically couldn’t.”

There is a long silence as Mio ponders this. Eventually Arc pulls a chair over from the table and sits down.

“But in any case, you wanted to talk to me about something earlier.”

“Yes, I did. But first, is Hammer coming?”

“Soon, yes. She’s getting lunch for us.”

“Us?”

Arc counts on his fingers. “You, me, and herself.”

Mio groans. “Guess I should have seen that one coming.”

“If it’s something you don’t want her to hear you’d best start talking.”

“Fine then.”

Taking a deep breath, Mio looks him in the eye and speaks soberly.

“Are you in love with my sister Hammer?”

Arc nods. “I am.”

“What do you like about her?”

“Her personality mostly.”

Mio rolls her eyes. “You’re joking, right?”

Arc shakes his head. “No. She’s always just so... positive and outgoing.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, there’s also the fact that she’s really hard working and super loyal to me.”

Have you slept with her?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m asking if you’ve slept with Hammer before?”

“Yes. However we didn’t do anything other than go right to sleep.”

Mio gasps. “Are you serious?!”

“Very.”

“I don’t understand. How could you do that?”

“Sleep with Hammer?”

“Not have sex with her!”

“I don’t get your meaning.”

“Hammer said that she’s... in her words ‘dropped her panties for you more times than she could count’! How could you hold back?!”

“It’s not something I view as being that important. At least not right now.”

“So you’d like to?”

“When we’re ready, yes.”

“Hammer’s tried awfully hard to get you to do such a thing in the past, hasn’t she?”

“How’d you know?”

“I could see her undressing you with her eyes when you and her were here earlier.”

“That sounds about right.”

“While I’m sure this sounds very... caddish, I’d like to ask you for a favor.”

“What is it?”

“Please don’t have sex with Hammer.”

“Uh... wasn’t planning on it anytime soon.”

“She’s not exactly responsible when it comes to... anything of great importance.”

Arc folds his arms over his chest. “You do realize that she’s doing a very important and difficult job here in the castle, right?”

“I think I know my sister better than you do.”

“Maybe. But her and I have bonded in ways that you and her haven’t.”

Mio rolls her eyes. “Sharing a bed with someone isn’t exactly what I would call ‘bonding’.”

“Agreed. However it gave us the chance to have a number of very serious conversations.”

“Such as...?”

“A lot regarding her feelings.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. She’s not just motor oil and guns, after all.”

Mio scoffs. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“As long as we’re talking about Hammer, can I ask YOU something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why does Hammer care about you and Stingray so much?”

Mio rolls her eyes. “Because we’re sisters.”

“And...?”

“That’s it.”

Arc frowns. “No, it isn’t.”

“What are you...?”

“Having the same parents doesn’t make you care about your siblings. She was concerned for your safety when I brought you here.”

Mio shrugs. “Hammer’s easily excitable. That and she hadn’t seen me in a while so it was natural for her to respond that way.”

“She was honestly worried about you.”

“And that’s very cute. Still you have to admit that she’s not exactly playing with a full deck.”

Arc frowns. “What makes you say that?”

“Hammer’s very... simple-minded. She’s easily excited and isn’t the most dependable person out there.”

“And you?”

“What about me?”

“It just seems like you have a lot of negative things to say about her.”

“When you’ve known someone as long as we’ve been together...”

Arc cuts her off. “Or could it be that you’re just looking at the surface?”

“Surface of what?”

“Whom Hammer really is.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Arc glares at Mio. “Don’t I!”

“Trust me, you don’t.”

“Well then let me ask you this! For all your backstabbing of Hammer, why do you view yourself as being so much more than she is?!”

Mio gasps. “I never said that!”

“Maybe not word for word, but you sure implied it!”

“You want to know?! Fine! I’ve the highest marks of ANYONE at Damocles Base, can organize my time flawlessly, and aren’t prone to flights of fancy like she is!”

Arc folds his arms over his chest and smirks. “Yet you were the one whom was so depressed earlier today about your magical prowess! Or lack of I might add!”

“That was before I realized I was talking to YOU of all people!”

“You sure were willing to bare you soul to the Hero though!”

“Yes!”

“Why?!”

“Because I thought he was an amazing person! That he was someone whom I could entrust my deepest, darkest secrets to! Someone...!”

“Someone you could become a power couple with?!”

“Yes!”

She blushes and turns away. Arc frowns.

“Why though?”

“Because I thought he was the total package! Until I met him, I thought that no man could match me in intelligence, magic, or tactics! He bested me in all three!”

“And to him?”

“And to him what?”

“How do you think he viewed you?”

“As someone to be cared for. I always felt that the Hero was genuinely concerned for me.”

She glares at him before continuing.

“That is, until I found out he was YOU!”

Arc sighs. “Look, Mio... I’m sorry for what I did in the past. Forcing you to help me bring Hammer around. That was wrong of me.”

Mio appears genuinely surprised. “Wait... what?”

“I’m apologizing for back then. There wasn’t any excuse for what I did.”

“You’re apologizing?”

“Trying to.”

“I... I don’t...”

She puts a hand to her forehead before continuing.

“...I don’t really know what to say right now. Not exactly used to others admitting when they’re wrong.”

“You and your sisters don’t apologize much, do you?”

Mio shakes her head. “Not really, no. But... I have to admit that I honestly meant all those things I said to the Hero in the past.”

“That you wanted to join him?”

“Yes.”

“Why would he have taken you on though?”

Mio raises an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”

“You just got done telling me how superior you are to Hammer. So I’m asking why you thought that the Hero, whom you admit trumps you on every level, would be interested in having you around.”

“I...”

“What exactly would you have brought to the table?”

Mio sighs. “Not much when compared to him.”

“And yet I still helped you.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s what I do, Mio. But I get the feeling there’s more to it than you just wanting to stand by the Hero’s side.”

“What other reason could I have had?”

Arc smirks. “You were jealous.”

Mio scoffs. “Of WHAT?!”

“Hammer’s relationship with me.”

“I most certainly...!”

“You wanted what she had. Someone to talk to and care about. Someone whom made you feel special. Someone whom was strong enough to protect your backside on the battlefield, but at the same time still nurturing.”

Mio looks away. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Arc stands up, knocking the chair he was sitting in over. “Don’t I?!”

Reaching forward, Arc grabs Mio’s chin and turns her to face him.

“You know how powerful I am! I could literally break your jaw with just a small movement of my hand!”

“Then do it!”

Arc shakes his head as he pulls back. “No. I’d much rather do this with it instead.”

Turning to a nearby cabinet, Arc reaches out with his magic. Casting a Telekinesis Spell he pulls a bottle and cup from it. Catching both he sets the glass on the nightstand, opens the plastic bottle, pours the contents into it, and hands the cup to Mio.

“Remember... to drink plenty of fluids.”

“What...?”

“After all, I want you to get better.”

Mio puts a finger to her jaw. “But... what about...? Wouldn’t it be easier to just off me and be done with it.”

“It would, yes. However that’s the quick and easy route.”

“I prefer the term ‘efficient’.”

Arc frowns as she takes a drink. “Call it what you will. But I’d rather protect than destroy.”

Comments

[Theresa]

Milo is one of those people who can't stand being in second place even something that doesn't really matter to anyone but them and they will do whatever they can to make sure that anyone who gets first place will be undermined however they can.

[Booster Spice]

Milo doesnt like the term, crab bucket, so the General calls it Crustacean Castle?