Libero

by Discombobulated Soul

Happy Birthday, Libero!

"Sugar?"

The pure white colt's ears didn't so much as twitch. He remained sitting there on the floor with his tail neatly curled around his legs, seemingly oblivious to everything except the object on the wall. Lyra's eyes flickered between her adoptive son's back and that which had so wholly captured his attention--a simple calendar hung in the kitchen--for several bewildering moments before she approached.

"Are you okay? What's the matter?" The mint-colored mare came to a stop beside Knight and, after fruitlessly scrutinizing the calendar's face, her gaze landed on his. The colt didn't outwardly seem distressed and looking into his glazed white eyes revealed no similar internal feelings to her. Really, her son was the picture of calm, which was uncommon enough for him that the mare found herself uneasy anyway.

Today it was her turn to wash the dishes, Lyra knew--she'd come to the kitchen to do exactly that. She hadn't expected Knight to be there as well, however; usually, he was playing with the gifts Sunburst brought him or revising a pillow fort design at this time of day. The colt had settled into a routine that, just like his parents', proved quite predictable after long enough.

"A year," Sugar finally muttered as his vacant stare settled on Lura's mildly-concerned face. She blinked, uncomprehending, and a heavy pause punctuated the air before the child spoke again. "It's been a year."

Lyra's eyes roved the calendar in search of answers that remained hidden as her muzzle flopped cluelessly open. She didn't have to say anything; Knight read the look on her face and slowly closed his eyes before elaborating.

"It's been a year since I...got away." He swallowed, grimaced, and finished: "from Broken Barrier."

The pieces fit together in the minty mare's mind and she nodded her understanding after scooching a few inches closer to her child. Something occurred to her then and her eyebrows creased in consideration.

"Does that mean your birthday is coming up soon?" She watched as he lightly shook his head, appearing to shrink and huddle in closer to himself.

"No. I don't know when I was born," a shaky sigh, "I can't keep track of the days. That's what Darkest was good for." The past tense was worrying, but Lyra decided not to give it much mind; she knew Darkest still lived, even if the majority of Sugar wanted to believe he was gone for good. More concerning was the knowledge that her son had gone without celebrating a single birthday in all his life, something Lyra considered wholly unacceptable.

"...can I have a hug?"

"Of course, Knight."

Even as she wrapped her limbs around her child and held him tight, the mother's mind was in a scheming frenzy. Today, she decided, was a day worthy of celebration and she would ensure it became an occasion to be remembered.

And Lyra knew exactly who to visit for help.

---

Having grown up and lived in Ponyville all her life, Lyra wasn't exactly a rare sight on its winding, poorly-planned streets. It was many a day she'd spent aimlessly wandering about the town, greeting friends and acquaintances alike as she gained an ever-increasing appreciation for her home's many charms. Indeed, the mare could put a name, favored hobby, and general personality to every face she encountered without fail within the city's limits.

The question, then, was why those selfsame faces were openly staring at and softly whispering about her.

I suppose I haven't been out in a while. Too long, going by this reaction.

Lyra nonetheless waved and greeted every fellow townspony with her trademark amiability. To her relief, the majority returned the favor and smiled back, with those that didn't being too engrossed in gossip rather than outright dismissive. The way to Sugarcube Corner was well ingrained in the unicorn's mind, enough that she could trot by on autopilot and focus her attention on the ponies she passed.

"Is everything okay, Lyra?" Roseluck fell into step beside her, blinking in immoderate concern as several onlookers--Octavia, Thunderlane, and Amethyst Star among them--watched with interest. The flower pony's mind was wildly forming theories as to why Lyra would leave her home without warning, she could tell. Speculations ranged from a family emergency to an alien invasion to an impending supernova and they only became wilder as the silence stretched on.

"Yep! How's your day been, Rose?" The off-white earth pony snorted in surprise and fell slightly behind when she stopped in place before breaking into a gallop to catch up. Lyra never halted her brisk pace or cheery smile, much to the confusion of those around her.

"Uh...okay, I guess. Don't you have a routine to follow?" Roseluck glanced about in search of support, finding many who nodded along and even began following behind so as to keep track of the conversation. Lyra bobbed her head in turn and faced forward after looking deeply into each pony's eyes. The tall cupcake spire of her destination grew ever closer, its shiny dome promising respite from all these curious townsponies.

"Yeah, but today's special and we need to celebrate!" After looking around at all the still-very-worried faces and sighing deeply, the thaumusologist decided to cease being cryptic and tell everypony what they wanted to hear. "Look, everything's fine, there's no trouble," Lyra finally stopped and turned to confront the small audience that'd gathered. "I'm only visiting Pinkie to get a cake and some supplies. Knight is perfectly safe and happy."

This last sentence got most of the crowd to disperse, but Roseluck remained and became the absolute picture of uncertainty, lingering about with one foreleg raised and both eyebrows creased.

"Are you sure?"

Lyra smiled again and stepped forward to put a hoof on the flower pony's shoulder, nodding resolutely.

"Yes. And I promise if there is trouble, you'll be the first I call." Surprisingly enough, she found she actually meant it. Roseluck, seeing this, nodded back and finally strode away after one last round of goodbyes.

With pep back in her step and room to breathe regained, Lyra all but pranced on her way to Ponyville's finest bakery, which approached even faster than before. Word spread fast and soon the muttering and staring stopped entirely, replaced with returned greetings all around.

I'm glad for my community's support, but sometimes it can be a little...much...

The vibrant pink front door of Sugarcube Corner eased open with a near-cacophonous creak, announcing Lyra's entrance to the similarly-colored earth pony within. Pinkie Pie's baby blue eyes lit up from behind the counter and she leapt atop it, standing on her hind legs much like a human would.

"LYRA! I just knew there'd be a doozy today! My Pinkie Sense has been going off all morning!"

In that moment, light itself travelled slower than the party pony as she warped forth and embraced her friend. The minty unicorn tensed up in preparation for a bone-crushing hug and was not disappointed. Stars exploded across her vision, every last scrap of air fled her body, and so much blood rushed up to her head that it flushed deep red and all but popped open right then. This was it, this was how she died; hugged to the grave by an overeager Pinkie Pie who didn't know her own strength.

Thankfully, the earth pony broke away at what must have been the last moment and Lyra gasped for air, swaying on her hooves. Pinkie's eyes met hers as they stood mere inches apart and, while glee was the most prominent emotion she detected in them, there was a sizable amount of concern as well.

Not this again...

"First off, everything's fine, Pinkie. I'm here because we're going to host a celebration and I need your help." If the mare had been excited before, now she became nothing but an exuberant frenzy of vibrating energy, literally bouncing off the walls like a demented bouncy ball on a sugar high. Actually, that comparison probably wasn't too far from the truth, given Pinkie's love of sweets and her occasional heightened elasticity.

"OoooOOOoooo! A party for the Heartstrings! What's the occasion?! Is it a birthday? Anniversary? Birthiversary? Anniverthday?! Did one of you finally get around to doing something you've been trying to do for a while and now you're so happy and excited and so you just have to celebrate even though normal ponies wouldn't think it's that big of a deal? Or what about..." ...To the average observer, the earth pony's high-speed rant would likely be nothing but an indecipherable mesh of garbled elation. Lyra, however, having known the mare for quite a few years now and grown rather close to her in that time, could more or less parse every word. Due to this same reason, she was able to predict when Pinkie would pause long enough for her to interject.

"--it's an anniversary, yes. Knight escaped Broken Barrier the first time a year ago today."

Instantly, Pinkie paused and deflated. It was only slight, but, perceptive as she was, Lyra still noticed Pinkie shrink in on herself as she stared vacantly at the wall.

"...are you sure you wanna celebrate that?" She finally said at length. The unicorn cocked an eyebrow, approaching her friend in attempts to look back into her gaze.

"Why wouldn't I?" Pinkie's transformation was shocking, especially to one who could read body language so well. She craned her neck back at Lyra, wearing an expression that, much to the unicorn's disbelief, she couldn't immediately read or glean all details from. Creased eyebrows, a complex muzzle formation, eyes that were somehow vacant and focused at the same time, and much more all befuddled the mare who normally had no issues reading ponies.

"Wouldn't that only bring bad memories back? Knighty...hasn't had good experience with parties." Pinkie glanced around at the inside of Sugarcube corner. Normally bright, bubbly and immature, now the mare couldn't possibly look more grave. "I only ever hosted the 'welcome to Ponyville party' for him. I knew he probably wouldn't like it, but I didn't know why." She gestured vaguely in the air. "I tried to make it the best party ever for him, but it didn't work."

Lyra thought back to that time in efforts to understand what her friend was saying. Only a few select ponies had been invited to the party, she recalled, and Bon Bon was among their number. It was solely because of this that she knew as much as she did, her wife having given her a brief recap.

That was when she'd first properly heard about her son and taken an interest in him, mainly because Bonnie was so invested in his welfare. Lyra had seen Darkest around town before that, of course, and she'd been told a unicorn colt had interfered with the thievery Bon Bon couldn't stop herself--with the Ponyville guardsponies and civilians around, she'd feared blowing her cover. The thaumusologist remembered her wife feeling gratitude, and then immense concern towards Darkest after the party. Of course, anything her lover became invested in automatically gained her attention, but Lyra had mostly taken a step back and observed from outside.

One late night spent lying in bed while Bonnie ranted came to mind. The evening after the Liberate Darkest Knight Organization's first meeting, she'd come home with her mind awhirl in a maelstrom of confusion. Far before Starlight entered the picture, before the Cutie Mark Crusaders fed him a potion, before Colza abducted him and nearly erased all hope, Sweetie Drops had wanted to adopt Darkest. To become personally responsible for healing his fractured psyche. To raise him properly and give him a joyful, fulfilling life even after all he'd gone through.

Bon Bon hadn't known it then, of course, but Lyra had read the desire behind her gorgeous cerulean eyes anyway. The unicorn hadn't shared what she'd seen either, even after listening late into the night as her troubled wife expressed her misgivings. There had been enough confusion already and, from what the ponies at the meeting had concluded, there was little chance of adoption anyway.

It was then that Lyra realized thoughts of her wife had gotten her sidetracked and both her and Pinkie were staring off into the distance.

"Bonnie said she didn't see you much at the welcome party," she began, drawing the other mare's attention back from wherever it'd been previously. "I'm told you mostly hung around the outskirts and avoided ponies." Pinkie nodded, her expression settling into something Lyra could actually read. Or maybe that was just her getting used to the sad look that was so out of place on the Element of Laughter's visage.

"My Pinkie Sense told me something was really, really wrong, so I tried to stay out of his way and only invite the nicest ponies I knew."

'Not that it helped.' The earth pony didn't add the last part, but Lyra heard it all the same. She smiled and strode forth to better offer reassurance.

"I'm sure it really did help him feel better to have less ponies around. That's part of why a party with just the three of us will be so fun! Plus, he trusts Bonnie and I enough that I doubt he'll be anything but excited." The unicorn placed a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder, cocked a brow, and finished: "Don't you want to help us give Knight the best party ever? One that he will actually have fun during? One that celebrates his escape from pain and entry into our lives?"

The gears in Pinkie's brain whirred for several moments, but then her mane sprung back up and her previous excitement flared to life with raging cheer.

"YEAH! Hurry, let's get to work!"

---

Bon Bon led her son down the stairs, occasionally steadying him when he lost his balance and wincing when he pulled on her tail too hard. She'd been amused at his intrigue when she told him about a surprise and deeply moved when he accepted the blindfold without complaint or even hesitation.

Once safely downstairs and in the kitchen, the fabric promptly came off and Sugar glanced around at the decorations.

Bright, colorful streamers were hung from every conceivable surface. A beaming Lyra sat next to a thoroughly-decorated cake on the table--vanilla flavored, with a light green frosting and various candies topping it.

Most prominently, a large banner dangled from the ceiling with massive bubble letters written boldly across it:

HAPPY YEAR OF FREEDOM!

And a pair of broken hoofcuffs drawn right under.

Knight's eyes roved the surroundings, taking everything in with a look of consternation. Only after thoroughly scanning everything--most notably his mothers' cheery smiles and the lack of any other celebrants--did his muzzle break into the largest grin to ever exist.

They partied well into the night, their home filled with laughter, cheer, and love.

Observing this from the street outside was a certain pink figure, who cried tears of joy and relief while her senses told her exactly how well she'd done and her cutie mark blazed with life.

That day, all of Ponyville rejoiced.

Author's Note:

One year ago today, I finally mustered up the courage within my anxious, dizzy soul to press the publish button on this story.

And it's impossible to put into words just how glad I am that I did so!

I never in a million years would have expected the kind of reception this passion project of mine has gotten! My goal was to eventually hit a thousand or so views and then I'd be perfectly content. We're now over double that and counting! I don't know what came over so many people and made them investigate my most humble writing, but here we are.

I'm so grateful for all the support I've received over this past year. Though the updates have been slow, you all stuck through with my monkey scribbles all the way to where we are now and I can't thank you enough.

Again, I must thank especially Anotherrandom, rikithemonk, Cxcd, Flygon, Naiya the brony, and everyone else who contributed to this story in any amount. We've come so far together, and we've got so much left to go.

I have two more arcs planned for Libero and probably several sequels after its status reaches 'complete,' so there will be plenty more Darkest Knight action to come.

Funny to think the original prediction for this story's length was a mere 50k words, eh? I can only guess what it'll end up as, so we'll have to wait and see.

Thank you all again!

--Discombobulated Soul.

Comments

[Ryebuck Coppercap]

Congrats on the 1 year anniversary of this story!

[Calmflame]

Congrats!

[Aiwhisper]

11696127
An that’s my bad, I somehow overlooked that since it was just one small moment right before rarity had that big breakdown. Just reread the last chapter and caught it.

[truenorth14]

Awesome job!

[Lost_Data]

Cheers my Guy!

[Undead_]

and there was much rejoicing

yaay yaay yaaaay

[FIygon]

Gratz on the anniversary! ( ᵃⁿᵈ ʰᵃᵖᵖʸ ᵇⁱʳᵗʰᵈᵃʸ ˢᵘᵍᵃʳ﹗)

The past few chapters have been absolutely adorable, and everything I love to see. Sugar's recovery is going phenomenally, and in no small part due to Lyra and Bon Bon being Equestria's #1 best mothers. I love how much he trusts them now, and his multiple personalities have been handled very well, adding lots of intrigue. It's done so well that I feel bad just calling him "Sugar" since there are many others in that head of his, I feel bad leaving them out lol. I know his name is technically Darkest Knight; I just find Sugar to be such a cute name.

So happy to see this story doing so well now too! Finally, people are seeing how well-crafted this storyline is and giving it a well-deserved chance. I'm happy to have been a part of this story in such a small way. But make no mistake, all of the attention your story is getting is because of your hard work. Buuuuut I'm glad to provide more cover art for any future sequels, whenever that may be! (Barring, I'm still around.)

Keep writing; just don't burn yourself out writing so much adorable content!

[Discombobulated Soul]

11705070
Ahhhhh this is so gorgeous! I love how happy they are! And everything looks so bright and cherry, exactly like how I hoped to portray it.

Thank you so much!!

[Truthseeker]

Feel free to give us more of your story. We all love it.

[Undead Equestrian Writer]

Huh, my eyes are leaking... Strange...