Obsidian: Shards Of Sombra

by Randimaxis

Ten: And Makin' Connections

Interestingly, Obsidian's first thought was 'I wonder what Amy would say'...

"Tourmaline... doors can be closed, you know; you have only yourself to blame if simply knocking on one can open it," she stared at him. She wasn't staring in anger, mind you - but in shock. It had never occurred to her that the same gender could do things like that; she wasn't so much as adverse to it, as she'd just never really considered it before.

She just stood there, trying to make sense of it.

Tourmaline stormed over to the door and nearly slammed it in her face... but Gunther spoke up. "Whoa, dere... h-hey, Tour? Maybe... maybe we outghta just... y'know... tell her, right? I mean, she can't unsee it now, can she?"

Tourmaline stopped... sighed... then motioned with a hoof for his sister to enter the room. He waited until she was in, then closed and locked the door, shooting her an angry look as he made his way back over to Gunther on his bed, then sat next to him.

"... well? I'm QUITE sure YOU have SOMEthing to SAY, don't you?"

Gunther looked at the stallion. "Chill it out, Tour - it was MY fault I didn't close dat door b'hind me. An' she had no idea, so... leddit slide, 'kay?"

He huffed... but stared at the floor for a minute, and muttered. "Okay, fine. Speak."

Of course she had something to say to him... that's why she came here in the first place and, let's be honest, she'd prefer for the damnable doors to be properly closed anyhow! She was not a strong pony, after all - her knocks were not powerful enough to force open anything that wasn't already open.

"Yes. I have something to say to you..." she then placed a copy of their family group portrait before her brother. "Peridot. I need more information about him, and you are obviously considered a better source of information than Amethyst might be. Did you know him?"

Tourmaline's eyes went W-I-D-E as he saw the drawing. "Wh... wh-where did you... get that? I haven't seen that drawing since..." he looked up at her, then understanding crossed his features, "wait... oh, of course. Her notes, no doubt. I suspected you had some of them, but this..."

He carefully picked it up and looked at it. Gunther leaned over and pointed a claw at it, grinning. "Dat's you... an' it's gotcher good side, too."

"Oh, hush you," he said, but not unkindly.

"Peridot, you say? Well... he certainly fits the bill for curses, that's true - he created them like they were cupcakes, with almost no effort. He always was the one who hit the books the hardest; honestly, he was smarter than Onyx, if you ask me. It was truly a tragedy, when he got caught by an angry mob, and..."

Tourmy shuddered visibly, and Gunther wrapped a wing around his back. The stallion looked to him gratefully, then cast his eyes to Obsidian. "He's... gone, though. How would he have been able to place a curse on anyone? As far as I'm aware, there's no way he could-... wait. Waaaaaaiiiit..." His muzzle grew serious, and he now looked at Obsidian with worry writ large on his features.

"Peridot was a genius when it came to curses. Something tells me he may have actually gone so far as to have maybe left some sort of safeguard on his research - something that would suppant a curse on whomever disturbed his works. THAT sounds like the Peridot I used to know: exceedingly clever, but vengeful when it came to his personal studies."

"Whadda nice family," Gunther said with sarcasm.

Tourmy shot him an eyeroll, but turned back to Siddy directly. "Obsidian, we want to find the source of this curse, we'll have to find out if Midnight read any of Peridot's notes... and from there, we might be able to discern what the curse is, and maybe even how to stop it."

Tourmaline sat forward. "Did Midnight ever say he went to the Delvar Libratorium? It was Peridot's favorite place to study, and he was there during almost ALL of his free time."

A thought... should Gunther be there at all? They were discussing matters of dark lore and the secrets of one of the alicorns. Obsidian herself was careful enough to not just whip out Onyx's diary in the presence of her little friend, so the current situation was kind of surprising to her. She'd expected her brother to either discuss it later or show the griffon the door - not to talk about all this stuff in his presence!

"There were a few creatures that supposedly visited this place, yes..." Obsidian cleared her throat. "Er... is it safe to keep Gunther here during this particular discussion?" She decided to cut right to the chase.

Tourmaline frowned at her. "Well, that depends - was it safe to allow your coltfriend and the rest to hear about Onyx, or Ruby, or-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... hold up, Tour," Gunther broke in, "look, as much as I'd liketa hear about yer charmin' family, I don't wanna be one who sticks out like a sore pinfeather, here... if youse two need some breathin' room, I know when I'm not needed."

Tourmaline's expression changed into... something soft? THAT wasn't something Obsidian was used to, but it wasn't a bad look for him. "But what if I need you?"

Gunther ruffled the stallion's mane. "Eh, I'll be just upstairs; Thunderclap looks like she can use da comp'ny, anyhoo. You two do dat talky-thing..."

He leaned in close and gave Tourmy a gentle nuzzle. "I'll be right heah," he said, and tapped her brother's barrel over his heart. Obsidian saw the rather sweet smile Tourmy gave him, and the griffon winked at her as he left.

Watching his 'friend' leave, he turned back to Obsidian. "I love him, you know... and I hope you can accept that. Now," he cleared his throat, "where were we?"

That was highly unusual; for a moment Obsidian even started to wonder if Gunther was male - after all, she was hardly an expert on griffons... so perhaps she was just mistaken? But no - Tourmaline was using the 'him' pronoun. Then... was Tourmaline a mare?

Relationships were strange. She could hardly figure out her own, so it was probably pointless to try to understand somemone else's at the moment.

"No, it may not have been exactly tactful to tell my friends those things, but when they heard about Onyx and the rest of the stuff, I was still kind of wondering why they didn't like being told that they were fine tools or understand jokes about torture," Obsidian deadpanned. She still had a rather different view on those things than the majority of Equestrians, she was sure about that.

"But you are not me, and Gunther is not a well-trained, though rather small guard mare or a crazy party pony with his own cannon... so I hope you understand my point."

"Now, we were talking about Midnight and the rest of this fiasco. As far as Onyx noticed, there was a single alicorn that visited this 'libratorium' place... as well as a single griffon and a famous pony healer. Annoyingly, she had no idea who this alicorn might have been - however, considering that we have an alicorn in Ponyville who spent his foalhood in the griffon lands, I think we can safely assume that Midnight was the one to visit this place.... and he was visited by Peridot in his dreams." Despite the fact that they were alone, she lowered her voice enough to start whispering.

Tourmaline's eyes bulged, and his voice stressed his words even though he also lowered his volume. "Whaaaaaat? In his DREAMS!? Peridot didn't have THAT kind of power! He was all about his curses, and... and..."

Tourmy stood up suddenly. "Obsidian, I have a VERY bad feeling about this, but... he was also starting to study in another direction, as something he claimed was merely a hobby; mind control." He began to pace a bit, though slowly and thoughtfully. "It stands to reason that he would most certainly put a curse on his works... but, what if he managed to create a Mind Control Curse? Something that has the potential to make others do whatever he commanded - or at least, whatever instructions were written into the spell's creation."

He pondered. "Peri could be QUITE vengeful, at times; he even managed to teach Onyx a lesson about meddling in his affairs, when he framed her for ruining one of Father's most useful slaves. He could be intellectual and savvy when he wanted to be, but the amount of spite he always seemed to keep inside was downright poisonous in its' intensity."

He sat back down. "If he created a curse that controls minds to obey whatever commands he instilled within them, then it might be as easy as wiping those commands from the spell itself; without them, it might simply fade away on its' own."

Of course Tourmy had bad feelings about this - it was hard not to! Whomever was meddling here managed to strike two ponies - one of them being an alicorn - with an unknown curse, and they still didn't know what kind of curse it was, how he did it, how to fix the problem and so on.

"He sounds like an absolutely charming fellow. You know, I really wish we would have more normal siblings, really - with the amount of crazies in our family tree, I'm starting to think our father was a psychopath." After all, they were made with parts of his own soul, right?

"So, the more things progress, the more it sounds like I should pay a visit to our dear brother's favored workplace, look for the source said curse and fix it... hopefully without getting cursed myself."

Obsidian rubbed her aching temples; she'd just wanted to have a nice day at the spa - and even that was ruined by an enraged alicorn, Dark powers and annoying dead brothers. Wonderful.

"I'm still curious as to how Clap got cursed, but I guess I won't come up with any working theories without getting more information. I've already booked a meeting with Prin-... Miss Luna in our dreams today, to find out the exact nature of Peridot's sudden incursion into Midnight's nightmares. And I guess I really should book a ticket to the Crystal Empire for tomorrow morning."

"Well," Tourmy started, "if Midnight has any animosity towards Thunderclap, it may be that the alicorn himself could be possibly commanded to harm someone else - and naturally, if he truly hates her, that may be the target. Or, it's possible that Clap is on Midnight's mind so much that the spell's effects are bleeding over into that simply because he has alicorn-level magic; we don't really know HOW powerful he is, and it's credible to think that his power might be manipulated through the curse, instead of Midnight himself."

Her brother gave a grave look. "Worst case scenario? The curse has a command that FORCES him to target another to spread the curse, and Clap might be next to dream someone else into the curse - which might be you, if we aren't careful." He sighed. "If only we could see into his dreams... well, if I could, that is..."

It was a sound theory - sadly, it was just a theory, and Obsidian wasn't willing to act based on only that. She didn't want any guessing - she wanted solid knowledge.

"In this case, it could possibly be a wise idea to block Midnight's magic... assuming that this idea of a 'bleeding curse' is accurate, of course," she mused.

Tourmaline nodded, then pointed at the silver band around the base of his horn. "This means that the Equestrians still don't trust me - probably with good reason, I'll admit - but because they trust YOU, you'll have to go at this by yourself. I can only help you when I'm available to; doing this... dream thing... with Princess Luna will be all you, sister. But you have my support, here in the waking world, should you need it. It's the least I can do after you've treated me so well... especially considering that I DID try to kill you." He gave a small grin. "Something I am admittedly regretting more and more each day, for your information."

He sighed. "And as much as I wish I could accompany you home to the Empire... I'm fairly certain that my leaving town would be severely frowned upon. But I shall be with you in spirit, anyhow. And should you discover anything vital, please let me know - I personally lived around Peridot, and I have a good idea about his motivations and ways."

Nodding, he looked at Obsidian. "Good luck, sister. Oh," he gave a slight blush, "and,er... please don't tell Amethyst about Gunther; I'm still trying to put aside my want to murder her, and her teasing won't help in that regard."

Oh, that was a good sign; was he regretting trying to kill her or trying and failing to do so? Hopefully Spike would visit them - this way, he could carry a message to Twilight regarding putting some magic blockers on Midnight, as it could be a wise move.

"Tourmaline, I'm not sure it would only end in teasing... so yeah, I won't tell her anything. No worries." Who knew what she might do if she learned about the fact that her rival of a brother had someone to love? Considering that they'd made a secret out of it, maybe it was illegal or something? At any rate, the less Amy knew, the better.

"I shall bid you farewell, then. You will hear about the results of my investigation as soon as I can possibly relate them." She turned around to leave the basement, yet paused in his doorway. "And don't forget about locking your door, in the future."

"Tell Gunther that," he griped at her flank as she left.

Upstairs, Cup, Gypsy and the groggy Clap were all chatting about pastries and such, while Wart simply sat and watched them. From the kitchen, Amethyst was standing at the doorway and observing, but when Obsidian looked her way, she frowned and went back into the kitchen fully, where the sounds of dishwashing met her ears.

"Ish not sho big a deal," Clap was slurring as Siddy entered the room, "it jusch feelsch like I'm... I dunno... schlow? I don' know schlow real well, scho I figgre dish ish whadditz like, right?"

"Well, slow is slow, but as long as we can still kinda understand you, then I guess it'll just take time for you to get over being sick; that shake will help, trust me." Cup then looked over at Obsidian as she entered the room. "Hey, Siddy - Gunther said he'd be back later; Spike the dragon passed by and said he had something that might help Midnight."

At least now, she didn't have to tell Gunther about doors - though hopefully, the lesson had been learned through their 'shared experience'.

"Yes," Wart suddenly broke in, "and he also stated that, should the cure work on Midnight, he would seek authorization from Princess Twilight to do the same for Thunderclap."

Gypsy watched everyone talking, but he gave Obsidian a curious look. "Siddy? Are we g-g-going to the Delvar L-Libratorium, still?"

It seemed that everything was fine and dandy up there - even Clap looked a touch better than before. Just what was this curse doing - sapping her energy or something? She didn't look like she was being mind-controlled, or actually physically sick or anything... just slow, as she said herself.

"Something that might help Midnight, eh? Then I guess I should go back to the palace, then..." Harmony damn it, Gypsy!
Obsidian pressed the edge of hoof to her lips, to hopefully show him not to blurt such things so loudly. "I still plan to, yes - don't worry about that."

The diamond dog's tail wagged happily, but Cupcake gave her a bit of a concerned look. "What's a... lee-brah-tor-ee-um? Can you eat it?"

Wart's eyes darted over to Siddy's face, then she turned to Cupcake. "A libratorium is a library; it's a great hall filled with ancient books. Lady Siddy requires... eh, some reading material that is unavailable to her here. Are you saying you would wish to accompany her to search bookshelves? I am certain she would not mind as such, as long as you remain quiet and calm, and assist in reading each and every title-"

"Bleagh," Cup replied, "never mind, no thank you - no offense love, but you're more the bookworm than I am; best of luck finding what you're looking for, though."

Clap groaned and stretched out languidly. "I'm jusch glad I'm heer wif my frienz... you guys're da BESCHT!"

"Well, we need somepony to stay with Clap anyway, Cuppy." Obsidian agreed with his reasoning, even if the term 'bookworm' hardly held any positive meaning. "I'm sure Mica will gladly help as well, and the more ponies around our dear pegasus friend, the better, right?" She looked around. "Did anypony inform Mica... or even know where he is, at least?"

"Mica..?" Clap gave a light mutter. "He schould be ad home... right?"

"If he's at home," Cup stood up, "I know right where he'll be; I can go get him! That is, if Gypsy wouldn't mind staying behind to keep an eye on Clap for me?"

The diamond dog nodded. "This one will d-do so, y-yes."

"Okie dokie lokie! I'll be back in no time!" Cup practically skipped his way out the door, giving Siddy a peck on the cheek as he passed her. Heh, Cupcake was such an energetic coltfriend that sometimes turned out to be a really useful advantage... at least as long as nopony was feeding him too much sugar, of course.

Clap looked at Obsidian as Cupcake left. "Thanksch for the payschtriesch; dey were delishusch. An' I'm tousched you 'membered, too. Yer a good frien', Schiddy."

Wart held a look on her muzzle that said she was curious as to what Obsidian may have learned from Tourmaline, but she said nothing.

"It's nothing you wouldn't do for me were the situations reversed, Clap. It would be rather foolish of me to leave to go get pastries, then return without them, right?" Though due to one damned thief, she had to buy them again first. "Okay... I've talked with my brother and learned a few useful things about your current condition, Clap - I'll go check what Miss Zecora possibly prepared for Midnight, and get back here as quickly as possible, okay?"

"And I shall accompany you, Lady Siddy," Wart proclaimed as she stood up nimbly, ready to go at a moment's notice as usual.

The pegasus covered her face with a foreleg, then waved a hoof at Siddy. "Okiesch. You be careful oud dere, 'kay? Nummore fighdin' dead schtuff, right?"

Wart saluted. "Any challenge we face, she will have ME at her side; worry not, Clap."

Gypsy nodded, and rose to start fluffing Clap's pillows, which she snuggled into as the historian made them fluffier. Wart went to the door and opened it... but shot a look back towards the kitchen, where Amethyst was once again looking around the corner. The little guard then looked at Siddy, and raised an eyebrow.

A quick question: why were all of them - Obsidian herself included - afraid of a multiply-beaten mare with no magic? She knew that any possible physical attack on Thunderclap would end pretty quickly... as well as rather badly for Amy.

The Dark Princess trotted closer to Gypsy. "Don't talk about our trip around Sister Amy... and in case of any trouble, call my brother. Okay?" she whispered. She really would like to have at least a bit more of a 'normal' family - less murderous, you know? Just who in Equestria possibly thought that boarding Amy with herself, her sweetheart and her formerly-targeted brother in a single house would be a good idea?

Gypsy nodded, then cast a glance at the kitchen as well. "This one sh-sh-shall, Siddy. T-take care."

When they left the house, Wart moved close to her. "It seemed as if your sister had an interest in what is going on; you don't suppose she might actually know something about all of this, do you? Though she is... distasteful... to be around, it would be remiss to simply count her out of the equation. After all," she gave a firm look, "she is experienced with Dark Magic as well, is she not?"

Wart then simply fell into step with Obsidian. "However, you know your siblings better than I; it is your call, Lady Siddy."

"Amethyst has no magic powers right now, and I think - or at least hope - that our brother Tourmaline would notice if she was up to something. Besides, nothing we've found at the moment would indicate that she participated directly in this."

Unless, of course, Peridot somehow managed to contact her... but she was neither a griffon, nor a famous healer or an alicorn, so she supposedly didn't have any contact with his curses lately. Of course, Obsidian didn't even think about Amy as a potential helper - no, she could only consider her a potential agent of the enemy.

"Perhaps I should try to learn more about Amethyst later, though... it would be wise to know more about her abilities and skills. Those mind-controlling helmets of hers were quite impressive, I have to admit."

Wart scoffed. "Lady Siddy, only because she is your sibling, I shall keep my ideas of what we should do with her to myself."

At length, they reached Twilight's Palace once more. The guards out front allowed her inside, but when she went to head to Midnight's room:

"None save the Princess and her medical staff shall pass," said the rather tall and muscular guard.

"I'm a princess - duh." She sighed with resignaton. "Then could you at least inform her that I'm here?" Obsidian scoffed.

Guards - they were always problematic. She had spent entire day doing anything she could to help, and she still had to deal with guards. Grrrr...

"Or maybe at least you could tell me where the dragon named Spike is?" she asked hopefully.

"Master Spike," the guard spoke as if he was beginning to feel a bit grumbly himself, "is in the Map Room. Back the way you came. In the main hall."

"Lady Siddy would ask that you keep in mind her own royal status, and treat her with the according respect, Wind Walker," Wart said, her eyes narrow and dangerous.

The guard sighed, then looked at Obsidian again. "The doors to the right of the throne room, madam - you cannot miss them."

"And informing Princess Twilight of us?"

"She will be notified, yes."

"Good." Wart then turned to face Obsidian. "Shall we go, Lady Siddy?" Her eyes darted to the tall guard when she emphasized the title.

It was good to have a short, loyal guard nearby, really it was. Stalwart was proving herself to be exceedingly helpful each time Obsidian got into any problems lately.

"Thank you", she said shortly to the guardian with a calmness in her voice. At least with this knowledge, she wouldn't waste too much valuable time. "And yes, Stalwart... let us go."

Obsidian turned to go to the... uh, main hall, right of the throne room... she should visit this place more often, really.

Wart dutifully led the way. In a short time, she was opening the doorway into a room that held only a large round table and some important-looking chairs. Each chair had some sort of symbol on it; Obsidian picked out that one of the strange logos was actually Professor Fluttershy's cutie mark, and another was Princess Twilight's... and yet another was the triple-apple symbol that had graced her room at the palace - well, her second room. The table itself held a map of all of Equestria - as well as a few outside locations. The detail was uncanny; the Crystal Empire was even there!

In one of the chairs, leaned back and sleeping peacefully, was the purple dragon from earlier... snoring, with his head on the table.

Chairs for the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, eh? There was a breach here, however, in the loss of Applejack - was Equestria made almost defenseless without the brave orange earth pony? Obsidian and her friends used some kind of friendship power during their struggle against her father, but they didn't get any fancy amulets, sadly... and it looked as though she could avenge her father's second defeat! Here and now! The dragon responsible for his defeat was currently helpless and not suspecting anything of the sort...

Yes, yes... but this was hardly the time for jokes.

Oooooh, but that map was shiny and nice! Did Princess Twilight possibly commission it to plan out her conquests in the future? And wow, the Crystal Empire looked so small compared to the entirety of Equestria.

"So, Stalwart... how much risk there is that he might cook us alive for waking him up?"

Wart looked down at the sleeping dragon and gauged the possibilities. "As far as I've seen, he functions more as Twilight's assistant than a typical dragon; though he may be capable of harm, I do not believe he would wish to cause it."

A snore escaped Spike's mouth, along with a single drop of drool. "Then again," Wart sighed, "he may actually be harmless."

He may be... but juuuuust to be sure, Obsidian cast a shield spell over the two of them and carefully trotted closer to poke at the sleeping beast. "Mister Spike...?"

"... mmmmhh... mmmmore diamonds, please... zzzzzzzz..."

Wart facehoofed, then sighed, straightened her stance, and took a deep breath. "MAKE WAY FOR PRINCESS CELESTIA!" she suddenly shouted out at the top of her little lungs... which was a formidible shout indeed!

"VWAAAH!" Spike jumped up and took a straight-standing pose, a salute made before he realized what was going on.

"I... heeeeeeeyyyyy!!!"

Wart let loose a small smirk. "At ease, dragon."

"Y'know, you COULD have just woken me up nicely," the purple dragon grumped. "Especially as I could get you in SO much trouble!"

"And how would you manage that, Master Spike? Perhaps by speaking of your great accomplishment of sleeping on the job? Or mayhaps to include how you allowed the two of us to slip into her majesty's map room? Or-"

"Yeah, yeah, I GET it. Fine," he huffed, his gaze turning to Obsidian, "I bet you're here about Thunderclap or Midnight... probably both, am I right?"

By Darkness, Stalwart managed to spook Obsidian as well - who would ever have thought that so much scream could fit in such a small body?

"... yes, both. It is connected, after all," she admitted, smoothing back her mane and trying to get into a more stable frame of mind.

Spike tossed one last dirty look at Stalwart before focusing on Obsidian. "Well," he began, "when Guther and I got to Zecora's, she said that she had a possible cure, but there was no way to know for sure... y'know, the way she rhymes and stuff... and she told us to watch over him when he drank the stuff; if he burped a blue cloud, he would be okay."

"Gunther took off, as he didn't wanna wait around, so that was MY job - the reason I'm so sleepy, by the way - and once she finished making the stuff, I brought it back and let Twilight know what she'd said. Y'know, without the rhymes, though. So she had me give Midnight the stuff..." He gave a gusty sigh. "He didn't burp anything. He just groaned and rolled over. That was it. Since then, Twilight's been worrying herself into a tizzy, and I think she's gonna panic if he gets any worse. Right now, she's having some calming tea with Fluttershy, so that might help for now... but if he's no better tomorrow, or if he's worse..."

A pained look crossed his face. "Poor Twilight. Poor Midnight. And I've got no CLUE as to what's going on! So," he looked at Obsidian with seriousness, "since I told YOU what's happening, I think it's fair that you tell me what's happening on your end."

Obsidian facehoofed, quite hard. She had such high hopes for Miss Zecora and her mysterious potions but, alas... the universe decided to dissapoint her. She could only hope that whatever it was the alicorn was given wouldn't make the situation even worse. At least Cupcake's strange health-shake seemed to invigorate Clap... at least enough to make her actively resist drinking it.

"From what I've discovered, it's a curse - probably created by one of my brothers who was quite interested in curses and mind control, so there is a possibility that Midnight could fall victim to his plots despite the fact that my dear brother is dead... and has been for quite a long time. I'm planning to investigate it more thoroughly tomorrow, including a visit to his preferred workplace. I've also consulted the entire matter with Tourmaline, and we are afraid that this curse could possibly... er, leak. And that's the reason why Clap is so unwell."

Spike listened seriously as she spoke, then grew thoughtful. "So... one of your not-so-nice siblings has apparently left behind some kind of... what, trap? Safeguard?... when they were still alive, and Midnight somehow found it?" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Great. Just great. So now, we have to go whereever it was this sibling of yours did his studies, and we'll have to see if we can find the source of it all. And Tourmaline says it can... leak? Oh, that isn't good; what if it gets to be an epidemic? What if it spreads to everypony in town?"

His eyes grew wide. "What if Twilight's next!?" He turned to look back at Obsidian. "Okay, so I take it you know where your brother did his studies, so where are we headed tomorrow?"

"I think it could also be useful to put one of those anti-magical rings on his horn; it could make the possible side-effects less dangerous and..." Obsidian blinked. "Wait... we?"

Spike nodded. "Yes ma'am; this concerns Midnight, which concerns Twilight... which concerns ME. I helped raise him just as much as she did, so I'm NOT going to take no for an answer on this, Obsidian. I won't get in the way, and I might even turn out to be helpful, if you give me a chance." He gave a slight grin. "I mean, I'm not just an alicorn's assistant because I can type, y'know?"

Wart gave Siddy a sidelong glance. "He has been of significant help to the Element Bearers in the past, Lady Siddy; mayhaps he could have a point, after all?"

The dragon simply crossed his arms. "This is my struggle too, Obsidian... all I want to do is help."

Hmmm... keeping a dragon around should be very useful, to be honest. There was also a matter of Obsidian's presence in the Crystal Empire - with Princess Twilight's assistant around, it should be easier to calm an angry mob if anypony noticed her.

"Of course - I wouldn't dream of objecting to this. I'm just surprised, that's all," she admitted. Of course, a dragon would probably attract plenty of attention... but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Keeping a national hero around or something, now that could be problematic, yes... but just a dragon? They should be able to handle that, easily.

"It would be a pleasure," Obsidian nodded.

Spike grinned, and visibly relaxed. "Good. I'm glad we agree on this." He then sighed and looked to Siddy with a bit more gentility. "Look, I know I'm at least somewhat responsible for Sombra's defeat before, but even YOU had to deal with him too. I really hope, even with all that, you and I can end up being friends. I mean, to hear Twilight talk about you, it's like she thinks you have the potential to be the next Starswirl the Bearded - and for her, that's saying a LOT."

"Even though beating Sombra was a good thing, I still feel like there might be some... I don't know, leftover anger in you somewhere, but I just wanted to say that I was only doing what had to be done to protect the Crystal Empire... something I hear even you, yourself have at heart." He held out his claw. "So... can we shake on it? I'd much rather be on your good side."

Wart lifted an eyebrow, waiting to see what Siddy would do.

"The next Starswirl? That could be complicated... I'm not sure if I can grow a proper beard," Obsidian joked, though it did feel rather nice. After all, he was quite an important scholar, wasn't he? She could only hope she wouldn't dissapoint the princess. And herself.

Then, however, she giggled. Leftover anger? Really? "I only regret that I'd learned a few interesting details about the fight that turned me into an orphan so late. Otherwise, I would rub it in my father's face, to crush his inflated pride and force him to realize what a pathetic weakling he was." She reached out a hoof to shake his claw.

Let's say her relations with her father were rather... complicated.... and her feelings toward him were practically pathological.

Spike himself chuckled at her joke. "Well, there are spells which can do that - mustaches, at least - just don't mention it around Twilight."

He gladly shook her hoof, and the light in his eyes grew a bit more. "Okay, now that we're through with that part... you wanna go see Midnight? I can get you through the doors, if you've already tried that is; Twi's kinda put him on 'need-to-see-only' status, but I'M one of the few who can bypass that rule!"

Initially Obsidian wanted to refuse; there was nothing to gain from such an encounter, and she would prefer to go back to her home in Ponyville, if only to plan her trip to the Empire, indulge in some research, and maybe even relax a bit... but then she realized that Midnight was currently slow in his illness. If he was behaving like Clap was, then even Obsidian herself should be able to notice any attempts to lie. And besides, Ruby ordered her to befriend him, right?

"Yes, we do... we both want to - right, Stalwart?"

Wart looked to Obsidian. "Lady Siddy, the only reason I would leave your side is if you ordered it - and even then, I would have to agree you were of a right mind to allow such. Of course, I shall accompany you." With that, she walked to the door.

As she did, Spike leaned in and spoke under his breath to Obsidian. "As gung-ho as she is, I'm kinda impressed she's so nuts about you. I hope you know you have one heckuva friend, there." Spike rose and folllowed, heading out the door and down the hallway again.

Of course she knew Stalwart was a great friend - in fact, the little mare probably deserved a hug, a freshly-baked pie or any other proper signs of affection to show her that Obsidian appreciated it. But later; there was too much to do right now.

"None save the Princ-..." Wind Walker glowered at Siddy and Wart as he saw Spike heading the small procession.

"Stand aside, Wind Walker," Spike said with a bit of inflated authority, "we've come to see to the patient!"

With a low grumble, he moved aside. Spike flashed him a toothy smile as he passed, leading Wart and Siddy to Midnight's room. Reaching it, the dragon held up a claw, then carefully opened the door and poked his head through it.

"Midnight? It's me, Spike - I brought a couple of friends who want to talk with you, if you're up for it?"

"Mmmph," came from inside, "'kay. Hiya, Shpikey."

"Hey." Spike looked at the sick alicorn with almost a fatherly concern in his eyes. "Okay, you two - c'mon in."

When Midnight saw who it was, he sat up just a bit more. "Again? What, am I dat populhur now? Hiya Shtally, Obshidian... whasshup?"

You know, with both Lemon Custard AND Spike on her side, it really should be easier to move around the castle.

"Well, yes, you are popular, I suppose. We were around and decided to check in, to see how you feel. Trust me, we are doing our utmost best to cure you." She trotted closer... a sick alicorn was quite an unusual sight. "Are you feeling any better? I heard about Miss Zecora's potion..."

Midnight gave a woozy smile. "Id taschted like schtrawburriez; I wandid anudder, but dey tol' me id wasche all dey brought. An' it... meybbe helped?... but I schtill feel awful..."

Spike leaned forward. "Well, even if it only helped a little bit, it was worth me going to get it."

"Yah-hunh," Midnight wobbily nodded his head, before lying back against the covers.

"Midnight," Wart asked, her voice uncharacteristically meek, "we're going to do everything we can to help you get better, my dear friend. Lady Siddy, Master Spike and I are already working on plans to research ways we might help you deal with this... illness you have. Hopefully, our work will bear fruit, and we shall have you back to your old self in no time at all."

The alicorn blinked a bit, then nodded. "Thank you, Schtally - you alwaysch wasch a good frien' ta me."

"I'm also investigating that nightmare of yours. I think I can even identifiy the stallion that appeared in your dream," Obsidian added, studying the look on his muzzle. "I still wonder why he appeared there, though - did you ever visit the Crystal Empire? He was a citizen there, if I'm not mistaken..."

Midnight nodded slowly. "Yesh, I did. I did a lot of schtudying dere... I visited da Nebuloush Network Hall... da Sunbursht Memorial Library... the Delvar Libratorium... all da plasches dat had schtuff for me ta lerrrn, I schpent time dere. And I lerrrn'd a LODDA scthuff..." He looked at Siddy with the slightest hint of worry in his eyes. "Wasche it da, uhm... schtudying... dat did dish?"

She had a feeling he wasn't talking about a typical study curriculum.

"Perhaps... did Gavin encourage you to visit these places?" she tried to guess. There had been a griffon, after all - this one was almost blind, which would - in a way - make him a bit similar to Peridot. And of course, he would be a pretty valid target for mind control, considering that Princess Twilight (for some reason) sent her son to their homeland instead of, say, just asking Princess Cadance to take care of him or something. It was a wild guess, but it would make more sense, right?

Midnight thought for a moment, then shook his head lazily. "Nnnnope. Can't shay dat happened; he'd rather hav me doin' chores an' schtuff. Thought dat it wasn't worff my time."

Wart looked distressed to see her friend (and possible crush?) in such a state, but she seemed determined to stay put; both he and Siddy needed someone there, she felt, and it would be against her very fiber to leave them for a moment of weakness like this. Still, it was heartbreaking seeing her so very distraught like this.

"Schtally," Midnight looked at her, "it'll be okay... don' wurry scho musch." Wart gave a brave grin... but that look still haunted her eyes.

"Obshidian, whadda you think mighta happuned?" He asked her, his own worry beginning to be visible. He may have been a full-blown alicorn... but it didn't mean he was immune to fear.

"The Delvar Libratorium could be infested with rather annoying curses. At the moment, I think that you could have activated one of them by accident," she admitted. Damn, so perhaps Gavin was innocent... but there WAS a griffon! Onyx had even said that! And there was an alicorn present who was raised by griffons! She felt as though all the puzzle pieces were here, and yet she was failing to see the whole picture.

"We're going to investigate it, of course. Whatever curses were put there, I should be able to fix it... as soon as I can identify it correctly," she reassured him.

"Delvar..." Midnight's face suddenly seemed to light up with realization... and then, a sort-of fog seemed to settle behind his eyes and into him, and he moaned and laid back down again. "I dunno... I juscht feel scho... tired..."

He almost seemed to deflate as he lie there, and moaned pitifully. "Meybbe... I dunno... I juscht wanna schleep..."

Uh-oh. Did she just activate some sort of trigger within the curse? Damn! It seemed that he went from 'not bad' to 'so tired' in a moment. Whatever it was that he knew, this curse was apparently trying to mask it.

"I shall bid you farewell then, Midnight. Sleep well and remember - we shall handle this," she promised him, trying not to feel too discouraged. Her dead brother was apparently a rather clever pony...

He nooded and murmured a farewell.

"Midnight... by the shield on my flank, I shall do my utmost to save and protect you from this horrible thing. Lady Obsidian and I will find this curse's source, and we shall eradicate it! You have my solemn vow."

The alicorn smiled weakly at her. "Thank you Schtally, Obschidian... thank you..." With that, he shut his eyes and groaned softly.

When they left the room, Wart turned her head away from her friend, and Obsidian heard a sniffle. "We have to beat this, Lady Siddy. We just HAVE to..."

Her paranoia really wasn't helping, as she just had no idea whom she could trust. Her friends were more trustworthy than Obsidian herself, and it was a fairly safe bet that Tourmy could be probably trusted too... but the rest? An alicorn with Dark Magic would be the obvious culprit in this sort of given situation, but she was completely lost when he was just another victim!

"We will, Stalwart... we will. I'm growing quite tired of my family's many dark and secret plans," Obsidian admitted with a gloomy sigh - and then pulled her little friend into a hug. She assumed that the guard mare needed some kind of consolation.

Wart put her forelegs around her, and she could feel the strong little mare shaking against her with silent sobs, punctuated only by sniffles. After a long moment, Wart stepped back and wiped her eyes with a hoof. She looked at Obsidian now, and yes, she'd been crying. But the look in those eyes was one of determination... and faith in her dearest friend.

"I apologize for my moment of weakness, Lady Siddy... but your words fuel my fire, and I believe you. I have faith in you, and we shall defeat this, no matter what it is." The guard mare redoubled her stance, and straightened her shoulders.

Wart gave a small, cute cough, then nodded to her friend. "Did this interview possibly hold any further clues for you? I hope it did."

Stalwart had stood against zombies, nightmares and King Sombra himself - and yet, it took the illness of an alicorn prince to get a negative emotional reaction from her. She was truly worried about him; Obsidian was almost jealous - though she had no doubt that Wart would worry about her just as much in a similar situation.

"Yes. Only a few... but it did, indeed," Obsidian admitted. "I don't think we can find anything more around here. We'll have to make some preparations for our travels to the Crystal Empire, though. Did you ever visit the place? Or, for that matter... have you ever left Ponyville? You surely understand that I'm not very experienced when it comes to travelling."

Wart now stood a bit taller. "I will have you know, Lady Siddy," she said with a smirk, "that I have travelled to the Crystal Empire a few times in my life, and that I would be remiss to add that I have been complimented for my salute and my posture there! Prince Shining Armor himself told me that I had a Royal Guard within my heart, and I felt as if I had grown twenty times my size that day!"

The pride in her was clearly expressed; she was happy to be sharing this with her friend, and it apprently meant quite a bit to her. "Though, during my travels there, I admit that I did not wander far from the castle; I do not know of this 'Delvar Libratorium' place, but I am certain we can easily be directed to it."

To be fair, a pony twenty times the size of Stalwart would be pretty big... though still not quite as big as a pony twenty times the size of somepony of average height, though.

"I'm currently more worried about trains and everything that concerns them. As in, I have next to no idea what to do about this futuristic piece of technology, which was completely unknown back in my own days." No, really - Obsidian never had to plan a train trip before, and right now she was a bit worried about the idea. It was indeed a good thing she'd thought about it so soon.

Spike, who'd been waiting patently by the wall, now stood up and smiled. "I can take care of all of that, Obsidian - I know who to talk to, where to go, and what tickets we'll need. Leave all that up to me!" He smiled proudly. "After all, I am a number-one assistant! We'll be ready to go as soon as tomorrow morning, if you want."

Wart grinned. "Excellent. You are, indeed, a boon to your Princess."

He blushed brightly. "Awwww, I know it. But thanks!"

Wonderful. Really wonderful. With such an assistant at her side, there was no small wonder that the princess became... well, a princess. "I would most gratefully appreciate that, thank you kindly."

With all the issues plaguing her poor head, it was nice to know at least that she didn't have to worry about that one particular thing. "I can't think of anything else we should do here, so I think it's time to go back home and prepare for this meeting with Pri-... er, with Miss Luna. And please, don't forget about blocking Midnight's magic, Mister Spike."

Spike nodded. "If I explain to Twilight what you think might be going on, she shouldn't mind putting him under 'magic restriction' for a few days. I'll make sure she knows."

Wart nodded to Spike, and Obsidian and her small friend departed, headed for home. The night was nearly upon them, and the streets were beginning to empty out. Shops were closing (though Sugarcube Corner was still open, she noticed), and the veil of night would soon be upon Ponyville properly.

As they made their way through town, the guard mare spoke up thoughtfully. "Lady Siddy, perhaps you would do well to find an assistant of your own? Though I am certain that one as diligent as Spike may be difficult to find, my thoughts say that you might be able to accomplish much in restoring faith in your line with the right sort of help." It was small talk... and from a small mare, at that.

Hm, her own assistant... that was a thought worth of spending some time on. After all, until today she didn't even realize that it was a possibility. "I'm not sure if it's even necessary, Warty. Except for situations like the one we just left... I'm, uh, merely a simple librarian - there is nothing that I can't handle, especially with the help of my friends. I'm fairly sure Princess Twilight needed an assistant far, far more than I would." Especially a cool dragon one.

Wart stopped in the street. "Lady Sid-... Obsidian. There are many things about you that others may overlook, but I would never say that you are a 'simple' anything; you are as multi-faceted and brilliant as the Crystal Heart on your flank. I will not," she chided kindly, "listen to you doubt your worth, especially when I know far better."

With that, she stared walking again. "Now, with that out of the way, perhaps we would do well to make certain we have food for the trip; I would say that we perhaps ask Cupcake to prepare something for us to take along?"

Perhaps... who knew; maybe it would be fun to be 'simple', at least for a bit. Live life without siblings trying to ruin the world, kill everypony, enslave Equestria and so on. Oh, and it would be nice to live without having to see her sister die in front of her, while being completely unable to help - Obsidian was kinda sure that simpler ponies didn't have to deal with something like that too often. Yet Stalwart apparently thought that this use of the word 'simple' diminished her worth... hmmmm...

"That would be the best option, yes," she agreed. Buying prepared food would be too expensive, and the rest of them didn't really know how to cook properly. Especially Obsidian herself. Her cooking attempts, at the moment, were so miserable that she started to think that her cutie mark should have included something about poisons.

As the two of them neared the house, Obsidian could hear what sounded like voices within. Angry voices.

"... couldn't have TOLD me this was happening!?"
"It wasn't like we were-"
"NO! I can't, I won't forgive this! This is insane! I mean, LOOK AT HER!"
"Mom, itsch not like-"
"NO! I won't listen to another single word! You're coming home with ME, AND THAT IS FINAL!"

Oh, dear.

Author's Note:

Obsidian was always interesting in how her reactions could take on different properties; even when she agrees to some things, in her head she blasts them apart, scoffing and such over things. It's a cute duality in her, and it makes her a fascinating character.

Comments

[Mr cold ghost]

I just love how obsidians relationship with her siblings have evolved. Thanks for the update!

[Truthseeker]

YES! Another new chapter! Reading it now!

[Truthseeker]

Finished the chapter. Nice development. I saw Tourmaline's romantic thing coming, but it was still funny. I hope to read more soon.

[Reclusive]

Obs is very cute.