Chapter Four: Common Ground
Chapter Four: Common Ground
“Are you sure we aren’t just jumping into this too soon? I mean we haven’t even been here for two days, Watcher. Shouldn’t we lay low for awhile?” Celestia asked, puzzled by how the charcoal unicorn was very eager to jump back into danger. As much as she wanted to find the others, she knew that she needed to be patient and cautious with how they proceeded. Celestia had made a mistake trying to prove she really was the long lost princess of the sun and because of that, she caused her friend pain.
“I know, it feels like we’re rushing into this unprepared, but us waiting around for something unexpected to happen isn’t going to work. Even if it did happen by chance with you and me Celestia. We need to start looking for the others ourselves,” he explained, but before he could proceed, Umbra raised her hoof up.
“Watchy, I do agree that we should start searching for the others, but Miss Tia is right. The two of you need to rest for a few more days. I’ll see if I can find any clues about the others’ whereabouts in the meantime,” Umbra responded. "However, don't push yourselves."
"Don’t forget, you two were in a serious fight,” agreed Aura Lace, also concerned for their health, “I want you to find the other princesses as much as anypony, trust me… anything to give The Order a bad day, but it won’t do you any good to go out exhausted.”
Watcher was going to insist, but he could clearly tell he was outvoted, “Fine. We’ll stay a few more days. Not that it’ll do us any good...”
He trotted off back into the depths of the estate, muttering something rather unpleasant to himself. Umbra rolled her eyes and shook her head with a hint of a smile on her face.
"I’d better go follow that silly stallion,” she said, “try to get him out of this brooding of his so that he actually recovers.”
Once the lady of the house had left, Aura and Celestia let out their restrained giggles. Ever since the prank gone wrong, the two had become fairly fast friends. AFter helping Aura dry off, Celestia had gone on a raid for desserts out of the well-stocked kitchen, stealing an entire chocolate cake without being noticed by Gray Granite, and of course eating the evidence soon after.
“Now that Mr. Ray of Sunshine’s gone, want to go for a walk?” suggested the pegasus, “I’d love to fly, but… you know.”
“Oh, how I wish I had my wings back, just to soar with you, my friend,” Celestia sighed, remembering the times again, “but yes please, a walk would be just fine!”
They exited out the front door and began their walk out to the garden, enjoying the fresh floral scent of the roses and the warm sunshine. Celestia couldn’t even remember the last time she had gotten to enjoy the outdoors like this. There were even butterflies and hummingbirds buzzing around, trying to get a sample of the nectar the beautiful flowers were producing.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she said, trotting alongside her friend, “Umbra is a blessed mare for sharing this with us.”
Aura heard a different noise from over the birds and bugs, her pierced ear perking up to attention, “Hey, do you hear that? Sounds like an aircraft of some kind....”
Following the noise, the mares walked to the other side of the garden to find Techorse, who had just returned from his home on the other side of the city. His saddle’s propellers retracted back into the machine as he took off his flight goggles and let them drop down his neck.
“Oh, it’s Techorse!” Celestia said, “Umbra told me he was coming back from his trip soon, guess that was today.”
Aura pointed at the stallion, “Wait, that’s Techorse? The stallion you’ve been telling me about?”
“Well of course,” she answered, “come on, I’ll introduce you.”
Aura, having expected a completely different stallion from what had been described, followed Celestia over to the inventor, who was dead focused on getting to the front door to greet Umbra. The princess of the sun had other plans, and wasn’t about to let him ‘get away’!
“Tech! So good to see you again,” she called out, getting his attention.
He stopped ascending the front steps and walked back down to greet them, “Good afternoon, your Highness! Out for a walk?”
“Oh, stop, you…” she smiled, “I may be a princess, but we are truly friends here. And yes, I was out for a walk with this lovely pegasus. Techorse, this is Aura Lace!”
Techorse made direct eye contact with the mare, who had a confident smile on her face, “Aura. Nice to meet you!”
“Yeah, nice to meet you too,” she answered, finding Tech’s eyes equally interesting, “so you’re the one that pulled my friend Celestia’s flank out of the fire with the order, huh?”
“Well, I mean…” Techorse stammered, rubbing his neck with his hoof, “I was just doing the right thing.”
“I don’t know too many ponies who would do that,” Aura pointed out, “risk their lives to save another.”
“But that’s what makes him special,” Celestia added, a twinkle in her eyes, “he has a heart for justice. I felt it from the first minute.”
“Yeah, the first minute the rockets stopped flying,” Techorse joked, “honestly though, I just want to help anypony I can, especially those The Order hates.”
Aura’s expression changed suddenly, “...Oh?”
He looked away at the ground reflectively, “Yeah, a long time ago I had to run away when my family’s business was seized by The Order…”
Aura’s expression changed suddenly, “Y… your family too?”
Techorse stopped for a moment, then slowly looked at Aura, who radiated both compassion and personal pain. The earth pony slowly nodded, “Y… yeah. My dad was Workhorse, owner of the railways to here. But… one day my parents were forced to send me away to keep me safe when The Order started seizing everyone’s industries. Were… were you also targeted?”
“I was,” she answered dolefully, “you helped Celestia because you stand with the victims of the Dispossession. Do you… want to go inside? Maybe talk about it? I’ve never talked to anypony else in my situation before.”
After a few moments of silence, Techorse smiled, “Yes. I’d like that very much, Aura.”
As they walked up the staircase again, talking constantly about their experience living through the dreadful past, Celestia could feel the strong connections forming that she once felt during the Reign of Harmony. She felt a golden aura of hope inside, letting it take over her thoughts while she went her own way to find Watcher again.
Unbeknownst to the others, Umbra had one other guest currently residing in her home, who had known about her other visitors for quite some time but had refused to even greet them. Always sticking to the floor of the home he was dwelling in, the stallion stared out the window in his provided bedroom, watching Princess Celestia trot along the path outside.
The pegasus picked up a chilled, short glass containing fine bourbon and a few ice cubes with his wing and took a careful sip. Despite not yet making a public appearance, he seemed to be dressed well, as if he was headed off to work in an office. Dress pants and a blue shirt with wing pockets that let him use his appendages handily, and a small pair of rectangular spectacles that aided his slightly myopic green eyes.
“I hope Umbra knows what she’s doing,” he said doubtfully, “it can’t be safe for her to harbor that mare. I’m surprised The Order hasn’t burnt this place to the ground already. Not that it wouldn’t cost them dearly...”
He set his glass back down again and tucked his wings back beneath his shirt, but not before having to move a frustrating piece of his black mane hair out of his eyes.
“The sooner we can get our clothing operation open again, the sooner we can stop being such a burden on Umbra,” he said, still talking to himself.
Turning back, he looked at the elegant room he had been occupying. It was more like a hotel suite or self-contained studio apartment, a design decision Umbra tried to include in every guest room. A small kitchen with enough space for a table, a complete bed set fitted with velvet covered sheets, and walls decorated with some of the lesser known pieces of art the eccentric unicorn liked to buy up. A happy little home, if it didn’t feel so alien to him.
*knock knock knock*
“Hmm?”
He walked over to the door to the impressive living quarter, believing Umbra had come to speak with him. When he opened the door, Aura was there instead, with an extremely happy expression on her face. Next to her was Techorse, which bothered him for a very good reason.
“Aura Lace, I didn’t want anypony else to know I was here,” grumbled the stallion, “this had better be good.”
Aura, feeling the happiest she had in years, said, “Come on, Affinity. He’s cool. This is Techorse, one of Watcher and Celestia’s friends.”
“Charmed to meet you,” said Affinity sarcastically, “I’m not sure why my sister has decided I need to start meeting the other ponies of the house, but whatever. I’ll put on tea I guess.”
“Is it too much trouble?” asked Techorse, ignoring the other stallion’s rude behavior, “I understand if you’re busy.”
Aura got right in front of her brother, and gave him that pleading look she always did when she wanted to get her way, “Come on, Affinity. He’s one of us… he’s Dispossessed.”
Affinity’s face relaxed from the scrunched up scowl, and the pegasus pushed his glasses up his muzzle, “My apologies, Techorse. I suppose this explains why Aura Lace wanted us to meet. Please, do come in… I really will make that tea.”
Soon they were seated at the carved oak table in the kitchen area, warming up with their spearmint infused hot drinks. Affinity noted that Techorse maintained good eye contact with each of them, but that his sister couldn’t take her eyes off of their guest’s face and his patient, subtle smile.
“I apologize for not introducing myself sooner, it’s just that I doubt that princess and her friend could understand ponies like us, Techorse,” he said, trying to win him over to his way of thinking.
“I’m not sure I understand,” he answered, a bit confused.
“We’re both a bit higher caliber, I’d say,” Affinity smirked, “I can see you’ve taken to engineering, just as we’ve taken to magical weaving.”
Techorse realized that he was holding the cup with his two metallic hands, the supporting arms coming out of his saddle following his every desired movement. He stowed away the contraptions quickly, a bit embarrassed.
Aura Lace couldn’t help but marvel at it, “Isn’t it amazing, Affinity?! He flew here on that thing. How do all of those different gadgets even fit in there?!”
“The battle saddle is an extremely modular platform,” he answered, “I could tell you guys more, but it’d probably just put you to sleep.”
“I doubt that, but let me make my point,” Affinity continued, trying to get to the point, “the truth is, we are creators, Techorse. You create your machines, and we create clothing using materials woven in runic looms.”
Techorse had heard about “runic looms” before. Unicorns would etch runes using very precise magic, stones sensitive to arcanic energy that would carry out a specific magic instruction when supplied with power. These runes would be ordered in a specific way on a highly modified industrial textile loom. After being energized, the runes would infuse the created clothing with the magical properties encoded within. But most of the time, it could only do very basic things, such as allow the wearer to change the color of their clothing in case someone else wore the exact same outfit.
Affinity seemed to hint he could do much more than that, “Would you like a demonstration?”
“Absolutely!” Techorse answered enthusiastically.
“Okaaaay!” said Aura, with a very snarky tone, “hold still, buddy.”
The pegasus removed the bow from her left ear and placed it on Techorse’s head, startling him for a moment. She stood up from the chair quickly and walked over to the kitchen sink area, looking for something. Not understanding, Techorse looked to Affinity, who had a very concerning kind of smile on his face.
“Hey, Techorse, catch!” said Aura.
Techorse looked over just in time to see a thrown kitchen knife coming his way. He yelped in surprise, just as the thrown butchering blade reached his head. The bow Aura had transferred to him glowed brightly, and a concave shield of energy shaped to Techorse’s face flashed over him as the knife impacted the field, making it bounce off harmlessly in a splash of sparks. The stallion tumbled out of his chair, but quickly got back up on his hooves.
“A.. Aura! You could have stabbed me!” he complained, trying to catch his breath.
“Not with that ShieldBow,” she answered, batting her eyelashes at him, “never leave home without it!”
Techorse’s saddle opened up again, and one of the arms inside grabbed the bow off. It was still heated up from the shield spell it had discharged, and if the robotic arms holding it had nerves, they would have felt the warmth the cloth radiated.
“Amazing!” he said, looking up at her, “This design is brilliant, Aura! An entire shield generator system inside a regular looking hair bow. I’d never be able to build something like this.”
She blushed and looked away a bit, “Aww, thanks. But I think I like your saddle more, really. It’s just a stupid little bow.”
He reached over with the mechanized limbs and afixed the defensive accessory back on Aura’s left ear where it belonged. Then he stowed the machinery again, Affinity looking on in awe at just how well put-together the robotic system was.
“Well, it’s a stupid little bow that just saved my life, so I still like it,” he chuckled, “looks good on you, too!”
“In any case,” interrupted Affinity, not appreciating anything that resembled flirting with his sister, “we have much in common, Techorse. Good things, and bad things.”
The room grew quiet again as the three thought about the trauma they had faced earlier. Affinity had created quite the awkwardness in the room, partially because he wanted the two to stop blushing at each other, partially because he wanted to move to the meat of the conversation while he still had Tech’s attention.
“Do you remember much about your life before The Dispossession?” he asked.
Techorse took a generous swallow of his tea and reflected on the history of his world. The event known as The Dispossession was a common trauma the three had shared. Almost 15 years ago, Chancellor Apollo had sent out messengers to several key industrial and transportation enterprises throughout the entire domain. Families, investors, and employees alike received notices that The Order had taken a strong interest in acquiring their enterprise for the sake of the ‘community’. Obviously this was a blatant lie, since public services tended to be local anyways, and the industries that were desired often produced things useful for a military force, weapons, armor, long-distance transportation, magical devices and components, and fuels.
After the numerous, unanimous stream of letters denying the Chancellor the rights to their heritages and sources of income, it was said that Apollo stood up before his advisors, took a sip of his wine, and said, “No interest in our gold? Blood it is, then.”
What followed was a week of death troops flooding the streets, storming into the factories and mills, ruthlessly slaughtering employees and seizing their children. Within days, the citizens of The Order found their towns’ biggest employers under government control. The propaganda campaign said it was a benevolent act of sharing in the face of greed, but the businesses remained the property of the council and their Chancellor. In fact, anyone else who had worked for the previous owners was dismissed, replaced with employees from The Order’s ranks. The locals wanted to protest, but with shadowy troops armed with magic and weaponry on every block, what could they do except mourn the loss of the ponies that made their town notable?
After a small eternity of thinking, Techorse finally answered, “Hard to forget what happened to me, Affinity. When I was just a colt, my parents Workhorse and Serendipity of the Everfree Railroad Company, got a knock on their door.”
“We all got that knock on our door,” Affinity interrupted, “after all those weeks of The Order saying that private property was private property, and no state seizures would happen. That’s when the Shadow Troops burst through and took everypony.”
The inventor in front of him was starting to accumulate tears in his eyes, “Mom and Dad managed to get me out the back door and told me to run, never looking back. I did as they were told, but I never saw them again after that. I learned later that The Order murdered dozens of the railway workers storming the train stations. But my parents were never reported dead. They could still be alive out there, wondering what happened to their foal...”
Aura sat back down next to Techorse and wrapped her left wing around him, trying to calm him down. He appreciated the warm fluffiness of her down feathers, or perhaps the fact that this was his first “hug” in years.
“We know what it’s like to be separate from family,” said Affinity, with the first bit of empathy he’d shown to another stallion, “we were adopted at an early age, you see.”
“That’s arguably worse,” said his guest, trying not to feel sorry for himself.
“On the contrary, we had a happy foalhood with our adoptive family,” Affinity stated, permitting Techorse his feelings, “our adoptive parents were the founders of the runic looming system. Taught us everything we know.”
Aura picked it up from here, “We were sent out to a relative’s home for a break. Then the Shadow Troops showed up to claim our textile plant. Our parents made it a point to know each employee personally… and so many of them were shot right there at their stations.”
“I… I really don’t want to talk about this anymore,” said Techorse, anger building up, “there’s a reason I have to pack weapons into my saddle.”
“To kill those bastards,” Affinity grinned, puffing out his chest, “to put them in their graves as they deserve for ruining our lives.”
Techorse scowled at him, making the pegasus drop his smug attitude immediately,
“No, Affinity. To fight for a day when I don’t have to pack weapons into my saddle.”
The stallion on the other side of the table leaned back in his chair and pointed his eyes towards the ceiling in thought. Aura released her wing from Techorse, surprised he didn’t share her brother’s feelings after going through the same pain.
“You know, Affinity, we’re not the same,” he continued, lecturing the pegasus, “I’m fine collaborating with you, especially for the sake of getting the princess to safety. But I’m not here to kill as many of The Order’s ponies as possible.”
“You can’t seriously believe we’re just as bad if we wipe them out,” laughed Affinity.
And there, he had him, “No. We’re not just as bad. It’s just not necessary to win… and it might make us lose. We have to stop Apollo, no more no less.”
Aura looked at Techorse, and then at her brother, unsure who’s opinion to agree with.
Affinity seemed to make the choice for her, nodding his head and smacking his lips, “All right, Mr. Techorse. I do want to see them all suffer for their crimes, but… it won’t do us any good if we all end up dead in the process. So let’s agree to disagree, for the better.”
Techorse relaxed himself, and felt Aura’s tense mood relax too, “Good enough.”
“Hey, want to take our minds off things with a game? Umbra’s got a ton of board games lying around, managed to hoard them for myself,” Aura Lace said, suggesting they move on.
“I love board games!” Techorse answered, “What should we play first?”
“Something I can beat you at, obviously,” she joked, winking at him, “are you in too, Affinity?”
“Wouldn’t want to disappoint!” he answered, smiling.
Soon enough, the three ponies were settled into an engaging game, socializing over more pleasant topics. When it wasn’t her turn, Aura Lace’s mind wandered off onto the recent turn of events. She felt as if she had finally made progress on getting her brother out of his issues and work, and back into living his life. There was another very different feeling there as well, but she couldn’t quite place her hoof on what it was. For now, she considered herself lucky to have made a great friend she knew she could trust, which was a rare occurrence for ponies like them.
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More reasons to hate Apollo which is making that target on his head bigger, execution by sun that would be a fitting yet ironic punishment for Apollo, Aren't there more resistance cells against the order? Because if so Equestria's a powder keg/tinderbox and all that's needed is the match, a storm's begging to form
Well, it's official: I now fully ship Techorse and Aura Lace in this story!
Furthermore, with the kind of attitude that Affinity has it will be quite difficult for him and Watcher to get along with each other. They might even develop some kind of rivalry with each similar to Zoro and Sanji from One Piece (assuming you've even read that manga).
9846300
Yeah, that is the stupidity of guys like Apollo. Never seeing the cons of their moves
9860947
Indeed, makes you wonder how they entered the gene pool and survive this long to begin with.
9861410
No clue.
9861410
You'll need to keep reading to find the answers your looking for my friend XD
9861962
That I will, glad I got a laugh.
9861964
Do tell others about this story, the more people that know, the more motivated I'll be to write
9861968
I'll try to.