Broken and Together

[Person]

Silent Storm scanned the crowd on his hind legs for the familiar face of mister Akaitora amidst the other faces in the trading center portion of town. This was the much more loosely regulated area of the shopping district, where you could, for the most part, just set up a booth and sell your goods. There was a cheerful all-covering overtone to the whole place, like a mask upon a non-hostile stranger, and most unfair or illegal trade had been purged from the sea of stalls and carts long ago. Sil occasionally sold various items from his garden here, but had been unable to find enough buyers as of late. As the guard had started to crack down, consumers became more conservative, and moved to more mainstream sellers, cutting off most of his already scarce income.

He got back down onto all four hooves let out a sigh. Finding a single equine in the trade center of a bustling metropolis while trying to keep a low profile and not let Turnkey get any more injured than he already is was like finding a needle in a haystack while running away from an angry badger.

The young pegasus turned to his hurt friend and hesitated to report his findings, or rather the absence of his findings, the memory of why he was in such an uncomfortable state painfully fresh in his mind. Only once before had he ever been protected to the point of physical confrontation by somepony else, and she was still far away. He wanted to do... something. To pay back, to reconcile, just... something. It was a relatively new feeling, but not a particularly unpleasant one. He resolved to set that aside until he had proper time to deal with his problems himself, and spoke;

"No sign of mister Akaitora," Sil said to the rustled unicorn, "I'm not sure if we'll be able to find him, but I'm less sure that we can find somepony else to help you."

[Kiernan]

[the gibberish from the broken nose is becoming too much work]

Usu hung his head low. Granted, he had already been doing that for about ten minutes, since his nose was now fully swollen shut. His right eye was soon to follow, too. If they couldn't find Kai, they would have to wait for him at his front door, which would look embarrassing if Kai saw them, and outright odd if anypony else saw them.

"(If I know my brother, he'll be trying to fix that broken wing he was trying to hide from me earlier.)" He tried to look at Sil, but only managed to look at his hooves. Doubtless, they were well-taken care of, but that was beside the point. "(We should probably check somewhere that works with metals, such as the forge down the street)"

Kai, on the other hoof, had a few stops to go before the forge. He needed to reupholster some of his furniture, and he needed some material for that. Also, while he was doing that, he wanted the make some cushions firmer, so some stuffing was required. His first stop after leaving the jewelry store where he had gathered the information he could, it was just a short walk to the fabric store.

[Becka]

A midnight blue hoof pulled the dark cape further over Luna’s horn as someone bumped into her in the busy streets of Argen. She wilted away from them, worried she’d be found out. She was only here to listen to the gossip and learn who the little ponies were blaming for the eclipse, not to be discovered sneaking through the streets in a hooded cloak like a common thief.

So far all the talk she’d heard had been the normal business of buying and selling, and gossip of Zecora’s strange prophesy. It didn’t ease her fears any. When Twilight sent news of the prophesy last night Celestia had been tight-lipped and grim, saying only that it was time to send Roo to Whinnyopolis. Luna offered to take him, mostly to get away from her sister, whose once-bright light seemed to have died a little. Luna couldn’t remember Celestia ever looking so…dim.

Except, of course, the day she’d sent Night Mare Moon to her bright prison in the sky.

Luna shook her head and the cape nearly fell away. She pulled it over her horn again and sank her neck. She would not think of Night Mare Moon. Celestia said it was Eclipse who caused the darkness in Luna, and so she would help her sister rid the world of that darkness once and for all. Night Mare Moon would never return, despite the darkness Eclipse brought with her.

[Person]

"Well, than I suppose we should get moving," Silent Storm said to Turnkey, and looked around to regain his directional bearings and determine which way the pair should continue in. He saw the clocktower above the mass of bodies, which contained the local gazette's headquarters as well as several city-leased office spaces. Normally this would let him identify exactly where he was in the trading plaza, but he couldn't see which side of the tower was actually facing him from his current position. He was partially confident that they were closest to the food and restaurant-oriented portion of the more organized shops, but the other half of his mind thought they were adjacent to the crafts and furniture.

Requiring a better point of view, Sil gestured for Key to follow him to an open space near one of the several fountains located in and around the shopping area. He looked into the still waters and saw a scattering of bits on the fountain's ornate bottom and his reflection staring back. The open area was a bit exposed as far as keeping as unseen, it was at least partially visible from the majority of the square, but it offered a valuable vantage point from which to see where they were. He tried to ignore the crowd as he got up onto the fountain's tall stone rim and searched for anypony mildly similar to Kai.

While searching, Sil came up with an idea, but was quite afraid to enact it. Tell the ponies that your friend needs help, he pleaded with himself, Surely somepony in this many will have enough heart to help, as well as the ability to do so; But what if they laugh, what if they go out of their way tonot help Key just because he was somehow associated with him? But Key needs the help badly enough to warrant the risk. Or does he? Maybe...

While the list of questions and contradictions flowed like a stream through his head, Sil failed to note a trio of young mares, nearly his own age or perhaps slightly older, had entered the clearing in the rush of ponies. They giggled to themselves and approached Sil together.

"You look a little dirty, dragon-boy." one piped up. Sil turned to see the three standing before him, replied with a dazed,"Hm?"

"Yeah," another carried on, "You could really use a bath!"

The three of them, together, gave Sil a hard shove, sending him toppling into the fountain. He hit the cold water with a splash, sending droplets several feet into the air, and produced a percussive *smack*. The water was just deep enough to prevent him from impacting the fountain pool's bottom too forcefully, and as soon as he touched a bit that had been lying on the pool floor, he rose back to the surface.

The pegasus came up sputtering and coughing, and had unintentionally positioned himself beneath the stream of a higher fountain spout, so as he tried to stand, chest heaving to catch breath lost beneath, water continued to dribble down his head and face. The trio responsible descended into bouts of hurtful laughter and continued on their way.

[Kiernan]

The streets were somewhat crowded today. Kai was decent at weaving through crowds, and making his way through them without drawing attention to himself, but this took quite some skill. It was still three doors down to the fabric store, but it seemed that it may take a few minutes.

As another pony brushed by on his left, he stumbled to the right, knocking into another pony, not hard enough to cause her to lose her balance, and not hard enough to seem intentional, but not so soft that she wouldn't recognise it. He turned to apologize, but as soon as he saw the cloak she was wearing, he averted his gaze.

He turned his face away, so she wouldn't recognize him, because for the life of him, he couldn't remember if he had erased Luna's memories of him or not. If he hadn't, then he would have no problem with having the guards stopping their search for him since his little escapade at Canterlot Station the previous night, but he would also have to explain why he hadn't showed up for work these past six months...

"P-pardon me, milady," he said, raising a hoof, unsure what his next step should be.

Usu followed Sil to the fountain, and as He searched for Kai, Usu was staring at his reflection with his good eye. At first, he chuckled at how ridiculous he looked, then groaned as he realized how much chuckling hurt.

"(Do you see him?)" he asked Sil, hopeful for a yes, but doubting and dreading it.

Usu, listening for Sil's reply, hadn't heard the mares approach, either. He was unclear of anything going on until he heard a loud splash, accompanied by a torrent of water spraying into his face from below. For half a second, it eased his pain, then stung. He looked as far up as he could, as soon as he recovered, and saw Sil sitting in the cold water. Since Sil had been looking outward, , he automatically jumped to the conclusion that Sil had hit the water via his back, which worried him.

He dove into the cool water, partially because it soothed his pain a bit, but mostly to help Sil back up. "(I'd offer you something to dry yourself off, but all I have is a soaking wet, bloody rag.)" He extended his hoof toward the lad to bring him back to his hooves. "(How's your wing?)"

[Becka]

At Kai's voice, Luna's head snapped around. She recognized that voice. She hadn't heard it in a long time, but as she adjusted her cloak a vague impression came to her of a pony in her service. Were her guards spying on her? She thought she'd slipped them.

Before she had a chance to ask there was a commotion near the fountain. Three mares pushed a stallion into the water and trotted away giggling, and Luna warred within herself to punish them and break her cover, or to do nothing.

She certainly wasn't going to break her cover in front of the guard who was spying on her, so instead she pierced him with a glare and trotted to the fountain, which now contained a second stallion trying to help the first.

"Are you hurt?"

[Kiernan]

[He is, in the morning. Since this is after the thread that takes place at about twelve-thirtyish, I imagine this would be about one forty-fiveish that he left the jewelry store. Which means Bereft could last about three-four hours of in-game time, and this would still be plausible, since I'm having Kai give Usu the string of lights and Sil's dagger before he leaves, and Usu went to brunch between then and visiting Sil. BUBBLES!!]

[Person]

Silent Storm accepted the helping hoof, and brought himself up from the cold transparent liquid. He shivered a bit at the exposure from water to cool breeze, one of the few reasons as to why he didn't like to swim. He shook from side to side, much like a dog after coming out of a rainstorm, getting most of the accumulated moisture out of his coat, but his legs remained submerged.

"How's your wing?"

Sil hadn't thought to give himself a once-over from the impact, and at the inquiry proceeded to do so. Hooves were fine, legs still spotless except for his back left which had been bruised on the short journey from ledge to water. He rolled his neck from side to side and didn't feel and pain in it nor his head. Last, and most importantly, were his wings. He had landed on his back, albeit lightly, so he ran them through their full range of motion, stretching them while folded up, down, left right, then unfurled them as far as they would go, stretching the pointed tips to the sky, then lowering them just above the water's surface. He gave them a light flap, and his left wing twinged from the break he'd sustained.

Wings extended forward past his face, then once more far to either side, Sil almost concluded his wing stretches when he heard a clatter of hooves, then a mare's voice;

"Are you hurt?"

The young pegasus looked to see a cloaked figure standing next to the fountain, face mostly obscured by her hood. A bit too late to be inconspicuous, Sil snapped his wings to his sides, but winced at the collision with his left ribcage. Somepony who sincerely seemed to care was a rarity, so he tried not to let the emotional pain show as much as it could have.

"I seem to be d-doing alright," Sil answered in an less cheery voice than he'd hoped he could pull off, "It's not the first time. Do you think you could help my f-friend, though? He got himself in a fight over, well, me."

Sil's looked into the hood with a hopeful expression, and as he looked at the cloaked mare he gathered a bit more knowledge as to her actual appearance. She had a horn, so she was a unicorn, he thought he could see a midnight blue coat beneath the shadow the cape provided, as well as from the parts of her hooves showing beneath its hem. What confused him was that beneath the cape, though well-concealed, there were wing-sized lumps only visible if you looked hard enough and were used to attempting to hide wings beneath a cloak yourself.

Midnight blue... horn... wings... Sil thought as he pleaded to the mare with her eyes, but suddenly changed his expression to befuddlement and shock as his thoughts carried further, Midnight blue alicorn... Princess Luna!?"

Silent Storm stumbled back a few paces, falling back into the water onto his rump as he gazed, now astonished, at the royalty he believed to be in his midst.

"Y-you're not..." He stammered in a hushed tone, "A-are you th-the... the... a-are you P-princess L-luna?"

[Kiernan]

Usu waited for Sil's response, but it didn't come for a few moments. Not that he minded the relaxing feeling of the cool water on his hide, of course. When finally he did answer, Usu was relieved to hear that all was well. This peace of mind allowed him the liberty to look at the mare who had recently approached. She seemed purple at first, but her violet cloak seemed familiar. Which was odd, considering he didn't know anypony with a violet cloak.

[Light exposure induces retinal photoreceptor degeneration and retinal remodeling. Usu sees more red in his left eye, more blue in his right, which is now swollen shut, causing blue to seem violet, and Navy to seem purple. OPTOMETRY!!]

Upon hearing Sil's quiet inquiry, he suddenly realized why he recognized the cloak wrapped around her. If he had been looking with both eyes open, he would have seen it, and known, as well. After all, he had met Luna once before, though she was busy at the time, and had more pressing matters. Besides, he was only there at the time to assist Kai with a project he had been working on.

[It was only once, for less than thirty seconds.]

"(Mea filia regis,)" he said softly, lowering himself, though not by much, to keep his head above water.

Kai breathed a sigh of relief. Either the princess hadn't recognized him, or she had something else on her mind, and continued on her way. He was rather curious to see what she was doing here, so he followed close behind her, but not so close as to be detected. When she paused at the fountain, he paused at a fruit stand fifteen feet away. From his hiding spot, he watched as the events unfolded.

[Becka]

Dahr, Luna should have known she wouldn't get away with sneaking around town. Somepony was bound to recognize the princess, if only because she was taller than most of the others. Now she had a guard tailing her and a pony in a fountain, proclaiming for anyone close enough to hear that the princess was in town.

"We are who you think," she said softly and reached out a hoof to help the one with the dragon wings out of the fountain. The wings didn't bother her - her charioteers had similar wings, after all. What bothered her was the fact that the stallion didn't seem to find anything wrong with having been pushed into the fountain. And not for the first time from the sounds of it.

She could barely understand what the other stallion said, but he bowed just enough to make her uncomfortable. She glanced around the square to make sure no other ponies noticed, and looked him over. The dragon-winged pony was correct - this one was quite beat up.

"We are no healer," Luna said, keeping her voice low so no others would recognize her, "but we know a pony who is the epitome of Kindness, and is sure to help."

[Person]

Silent Storm accepted the helping hoof and clambered out of the fountain. At the quiet assurance of her identity, Sil immediately mentally scolded himself for having said so out loud. He should have known she didn't want to be known, or she wouldn't have the cloak on. He gave himself another shake once out of the fountain, though this one more controlled as not to get anypony wet.

At the mention of a healer in the area, and a kind-hearted one as well, the pegasus' eyes lit up. He wondered if healing magic was especially rare or difficult to learn for unicorns, but most of his basis of knowledge on magic was pranks and unprovoked defense spells. He hadn't really seen the medical side of things close up, other than what mister Akaitora had done, and he certainly did not want that to happen again. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he remembered writhing on Kai's bed after he'd cast the "numbing" spell; that was an anguish he didn't want repeated on him or anypony else. Perhaps the pony the Princess had in mind wasn't even a unicorn.

Sil looked to Turnkey and turned back to Luna. "We m-may want to find this p-pony as quickly as we can, the sooner the better, right? At least it will b-be for Turnkey," he said in as confident a tone as he could, but he was worried for Key, despite the fact Key was older than him. All this, the hospital fight as well as the original break had been all his fault. "Do they live near here?"

[Kiernan]

Usutora decided the best course of action right now would be to keep his mouth shut, and exit the fountain. Shortly after, he opened his mouth, realizing once again that it was the only way he could breathe. Surely this 'epitome of kindness' was none other than the element of kindness. Even if he hadn't met her those three or four times, he had seen her in Canterlot once or twice. Most recently, right before Princess Cadance's wedding. While she shared a drink with her other friends, he had periodically glanced at her from his own table.

Oh, if only Kai were here, that would make the encounter that much more enjoyable.

Mere metres away, Kai came to the same conclusion: Fluttershy. His heart skipped a beat, then started beating ever faster at the prospect of seeing his beloved again. Still, he calmed himself, before somepony noticed him, and drew any unwanted attention. As a matter of fact, it was time he switched to a new hiding place.

He slipped along the row of stalls to the other end. He seemed to still be unnoticed, and he could still clearly see his mark. However, he now realized, at the speech of who now spoke to his liege, exactly who she was talking to. For a moment, he debated advancing, to fix Usu's face in an instant, but then decided, he should hang back, and watch. Besides, this granted him the opportunity to test a theory. Making sure his eyes were dry, he smiled, ready to follow at a distance.

[Becka]

Luna smiled kindly under the cloak. "She should be in the tower helping nurse Zecora. She is Fluttershy, and she is very kind. I think you will find her a pleasant nurse. Follow me, little ponies."

Luna ducked her head again to hide her face and trotted through the street in the direction of the Tower.

[I'll start the post there, but I need coffee first!]