The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds

by Kamahido

Chapter 3 - Comparisons

A short time later The Equinox takes off and flies toward the Dragon Lands. Arc walks down the corridor with his squad and Sereb. Max turns to him.

“Are we really doing this, sir?”

“Breaking into a prison, yes.”

Hugh raises an eyebrow. “Without armor?”

“We have plenty of it in the armory.”

Xenos frowns. “I think he means for you, sir.”

“Yes, well… I had a couple mithril suits made up a while back just in case. Guess they’ll come in handy now for Hammer at least.”

Viktor sighs. “That’s another thing, sir. How do you know Hammer’s really on your side?”

“We’ve been through quite a bit together since the night we attacked Damocles Base. That and she really has nowhere else to go.”

Max groans. “Here or on Earth.”

Sereb growls. “Both.”

Xenos grimaces. “We’ll keep an eye on her, sir.”

“Very well. Just don’t lose sight of the mission at hand.”

Ember and Rose step out of a VIP suite and walk over to them.

“I contacted my dad. He’s agreed to allow passage as well as informing the other dragons of what we’re doing.”

Arc raises an eyebrow. “How’d you do that?”

“It’s a dragon thing.”

Max gasps. “Telepathy?”

Ember appears confused. “…what?”

Rose speaks up. “He means talking with the mind.”

Arc nods. “Like Scootaloo and I do.”

“Something like that, yeah.”

Rose turns to Arc. “The captain has informed us that everything is running smoothly.”

Xenos appears nervous. “With any luck we should get there without incident.”

Wrangler’s voice rings out from the intercom.

“Commander, we’ve had a breach of security down in the Cargo Bay. Please come to the Lower Deck immediately.”

Ember turns to Xenos angrily. “You just HAD to jinx it, didn’t you?”

Sereb frowns. “I don’t believe him saying anything could have possibly caused a breach.”

“Yes, well… I’ll go see what’s up down there. Dismissed.”

The squad salutes and hurries away. Hammer and Ember look to Arc quizzically as the young woman speaks up.

“Uh… you’re going to check a security breach, right?”

“Yes. Why?”

Ember rolls her eyes. “Because you sent away your troops, idiot!”

Arc motions with a hand. “Sereb’s still here.”

Hammer frowns. “Yes, but you don’t usually do that without backup.”

Sereb clears his throat loudly. “I will accompany you.”

Ember nods. “Me too.”

Hammer raises a hand. “Me three.”

“See, I knew you’d all volunteer.”

Rose giggles. “I’ll head back to the Bridge then.”

Ember appears confused. “You don’t want to come too?”

Rose shakes her head. “No. Considering what awaits you down there, I don’t think I’ll be needed.”

They part ways as Ember turn to Hammer.

“What do you suppose that meant?”

Hammer shrugs. “Dunno. Maybe she’s chicken.”

Arc chuckles. “Rose is as brave as they come. I can only assume her sensors have already told her what’s down there.”

Sereb grits his teeth. “Why did she not share that with us then?”

“No idea. But we’ll know soon enough.”

Heading down the stairs Arc and company reach the Cargo Bay. Wrangler and a few guards are standing around a crate vigilantly. She salutes as they approach.

“I’m sorry you had to come down here, sir. But I don’t really know what to do about this.”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“This crate has been tampered with.”

Ember frowns. “Uh… so what?”

Hammer grimaces. “It could be booby-trapped.”

Wrangler nervously nods. “Right. While that’s unlikely, I wanted you to be the one to make that decision, sir.”

Sereb sniffs the area around the box. “You may safely open this, Arc.”

“You sure?”

“Completely.”

Hammer raises an eyebrow. “That nose of yours can smell traps now?”

“It cannot.”

Ember folds her arms over her chest. “Then how do you know it’s safe?!”

“You will know when you open the crate.”

Arc sighs. “Fine.”

Wrangler steps forward. “Shall I do it, sir?”

Ember shakes her head. “Nah. Let me.”

Sereb chuckles. “Arc should be the one to do it.”

“Uh… okay.”

Stepping forward, Arc raises the lid a few inches and peers inside. Sighing, he throws the lid back and reaches inside. Straightening up, he lifts a white unicorn out of the crate. Rarity waves and smiles nervously.

“H-hello, everypony.”

Ember rolls her eyes. “Oh, you’ve got to be KIDDING me!”

Wrangler frowns. “Shall we take her into custody, sir?”

Arc shakes his head as he sets her down. “No. This is my…”

Rarity interrupts him. “Marefriend.”

Hammer raises an eyebrow. That just sounds off.

“Well, it’s true!”

Arc shrugs. “Kinda is, I guess.”

Wrangler steps back nervously. “Oh… my apologies, sir. But we can’t allow mares to hitch rides in the Cargo Hold like this.”

Rarity sighs and bows her head. “I’m sorry. It was kind of a last moment idea. You see I saw a few boxes being loaded hastily so I pushed one with the others and hopped in.”

Arc looks to Wrangler. “Let’s check all crates prior to being allowed aboard AND after being loaded from now on.”

“Aye, sir.”

He turns back to Rarity.

“I guess that leaves the problem of what to do with you.”

Sereb chuckles. “We could turn back.”

Ember frowns. “But we’re on a schedule here!”

Hammer nods. “Right. Any detours would throw everything off.”

Arc sighs. “I suppose the most obvious thing to do would be to just open a portal.”

“My apologies. But I… um…”

Rarity shifts nervously on her hooves before looking to him.

“Can I… stay?”

“Sure. But on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t try to follow me down when the mission starts.”

Rarity grins. “That I can do.”

Ember sighs. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we should probably get back to it, Arc.”

“Back to what?”

“Planning the mission.”

Sereb chuckles. “Indeed.”

Arc shrugs. “I suppose so.”

Hammer looks to Rarity. “Why don’t we have a nice little chat first though?”

Rarity appears confused. “Oh?”

“Just you, me, and Arc.”

Ember shrugs. “We do have quite some time until we land.”

Sereb nods stoically. “That is correct.”

“Well… okay. Let’s head back to my quarters then.”

Arc leads Hammer and Rarity upstairs as Wrangler turns to Ember.

“What just happened?”

“Not sure I get your meaning.”

“That mare went from stowaway to marefriend.”

Sereb chuckles. “It is a strange thing, yes.”

Wrangler facehoofs. “That came out wrong. I mean, I’m assuming he’s known her for a while now.”

Ember shrugs. “Yeah, they’ve been seeing each other whenever possible.”

“So she really is his marefriend?!”

Sereb raises an eyebrow. “Is that a problem?”

“No, no! It’s just… really hard to imagine the Hero of Light as anything other than a warrior.”

Ember frowns. “Not really. I mean, he has feelings too.”

Sereb grins toothily. “And desires.”

“Sereb!”

Sereb puts a paw over his eyes. “That came out wrong.”

Meanwhile, Arc enters his quarters with Rarity and Hammer. Closing the door he gestures to the couch.

“Why don’t we sit down?”

Hammer nods. “That might make this easier.”

Walking over to the couch Arc and Rarity sit down. Hammer looks at them nervously as she takes her place on the other side of Arc.

“Now then, what shall we talk about?”

Hammer fidgets. “I, uh… wanted to speak to you with Rarity.”

“With me?”

“Yeah. Do you remember how we met?”

“You were lying in bed after being rescued by Arc if I recall correctly.”

Hammer nods. “Right. We talked for a few minutes before lunch. Then all of us had to come to Equestria.”

Arc raises an eyebrow. “Something wrong with that?”

“Not exactly. But I wanted to get to know you better, Rarity.”

“For the herd idea?”

“It sounds really interesting.”

Arc frowns. “Interesting?”

“A bunch of women, or mares in this case, all living together with one man. It’s something that’s been in the back of my mind for some time now.”

Rarity appears confused. “Which part?”

“The idea of a… family, I guess. Raising children together and all that.”

Arc chuckles. “Dinky and her friends running around happily as sisters?”

Hammer looks to him. “That and our own, Arc. They would grow up together.”

Rarity smiles at the woman. “And that’s something you’re interested in doing?”

“It’s something I’d like to consider, yes. Like I told you back then, I really want to spend more time with you and the other mares. Get to know you better and learn about your culture.”

Arc nods approvingly. “This really is something we all need to take slowly, Hammer.”

“I agree. After all, who wants to be married with other females and then find out there’s going to be problems?”

Rarity raises an eyebrow. “What are you suggesting?”

“When this is all over… cohabitation.”

Arc puts a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “You think we should all live together?”

“Think of it like a trial run. We’d all have our separate rooms but come together at meal times and whatnot.”

Rarity smiles. “That’s actually a very good idea, Arc.”

“What about the fillies?”

Hammer shrugs. “We should probably put them together. Get them used to the idea of being a family.”

Rarity puts a hoof to her chin. “That would take a truly massive house!”

“I’ll say.”

Hammer grins. “What about Light’s Hope?”

Rarity shakes her head. “It doesn’t have enough rooms for everypony, I’m afraid.”

“That and I don’t actually own it.”

Hammer groans. “Government building?”

“Yup.”

Rarity looks to Arc. “We could probably pool our money together to have a house built for all of us, Arc. If everypony donates we could probably afford something decent.”

“I’ve actually been considering that very fact.”

Hammer appears surprised. “You have?”

“Well, not the whole cohabitation thing. But the idea of having a house.”

Rarity smiles. “What kind of home were you looking at?”

“I spoke to Hard Hat about it before I left for Earth to rescue Princess Celestia. When he asked about my budget I showed him my vault.”

Hammer raises an eyebrow. “Vault?”

“In Light’s Hope. It’s filled with bags of bits.”

Rarity’s eyes light up. “How many?”

“Too many to count.”

Hammer grins. “So you’re single, sexy, AND loaded?!”

“Kinda, yeah. I had to open a bank account a while back when I ran out of room though. It probably has the same amount as the vault though.”

Rarity gasps. “Where did they all come from?!”

“My position as the Hero of Light is really high paying. But whenever I was the Lord Regent, well… let’s just say my vault filled up pretty fast when both of those paychecks starting rolling in.”

Rarity giggles. “So you could have any house in town!”

Arc nods. “He said I should be able to afford something about the size of the Rich family estate as it stood.”

Hammer rubs her hands together happily. “So we’ll be living in a mansion?!”

Arc sighs. “Probably not. After all, when Decimus took Light’s Hope it’s possible he opened the vault and cleaned it out.”

Rarity groans. “And as a criminal you’re assets in the bank are frozen too I would assume.”

“Probably. Haven’t actually checked.”

Hammer looks to Arc. “So you’re penniless?”

“Yup. Still want to be with me?”

“Hell yeah!”

Rarity puts a hoof on his hand. “I don’t care if we live in a mansion or a shack, Arc. The important thing is that we’re together.”

Hammer grins. “All of us!”

“Glad you two feel that way. Because the way things are going, that shack outcome is looking pretty likely.”

Hammer shrugs. “You’ll make more money when this thing blows over, right?”

Rarity nods. “We all will, yes.”

“Well, I’m quitting when this is done. So no more big paydays for me.”

Hammer looks out the window. “I’ll find work, as will you I’m sure.”

Rarity giggles. “Right. There’s always the Writ Board.”

Hammer raises an eyebrow, confused. “The what?”

Arc chuckles. “Odd jobs around town. A decent amount of money in them if you’re willing to work hard.”

Hammer flexes. “You just leave that to me!”

Rarity turns to Arc. “I’d like to expand my line of clothes to other towns. That’ll allow me to reach a much larger demographic and get my name out there. It’ll be a lot of work initially getting everything set up. But after that I can hire somepony to manage it and just focus on Carousel Boutique.”

Her ears droop sadly as she continues.

“After we rebuild it, that is.”

“I’ll lend a hand.”

“So will I!”

Rarity smiles at them both. “Thank you. But it’s going to be a long process, what with everypony else in town doing the same.”

Arc shakes his head. “Let’s not think about that right now then.”

Hammer grins. “Right. Just think about the herd idea and those whom are going to be in it. Uh… who else IS going to be there?”

“Well, the mares you met will be. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight.”

Rarity sighs. “I’m not sure about Twilight at the moment.”

Arc frowns. “Oh? Something happen?”

“Well, she IS royalty now.”

“I suppose so.”

Hammer nods. “Met all of them briefly.”

Arc appears surprised. “You haven’t spoken to them?”

Rarity looks to Arc. “We’ve been pretty busy trying to get New Ponyville up and built.”

Hammer grins. “Yeah. Working from sunup to sundown most of the time.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

Hammer looks to Arc. “Anyone else?”

Rarity giggles. “Derpy, of course.”

“Her I know the best.”

Rarity appears hopeful. “Did you get along well?”

Hammer nods. “Yeah. She’s a real sweetheart. Dinky too. Must get that from her mother.”

Arc continues. “There’s also Auriel.”

“I remember her from parties on the beach.”

Rarity smiles. “She’s very timid, but nice when you get to know her.”

“And then there’s Ember.”

Hammer frowns. “Not sure how that’s going to work out.”

“Me either.”

Rarity sighs. “I do admit she’s a bit… brash. But it’s nothing a bit of time and talking won’t fix.”

“That and the fact that she’s royalty too.”

Hammer snaps a finger. “Dragon Lord, right?”

Arc nods. “Exactly. She has obligations in the Dragon Lands just like Twilight has in Canterlot.”

Rarity turns to Arc sadly. “It wouldn’t be the same without them.”

“Fortunately we have plenty of time to figure things out though.”

Hammer grins. “Yeah. I want to get to know everyone though. Starting with Rainbow Dash.”

Rarity appears surprised. “Why her?”

“Blue and I really bonded on that mission to Canterlot Castle. She was kinda brisk with me at first, but let’s just say that we found some common ground.”

Arc raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I saved her from getting caught by a patrol. But didn’t realize at the time that her teats were… down there.”

Rarity gasps and blushes heavily. “Oh my! Was she angry?!”

“At first, yeah. But after I explained that I had been trying to avoid her chest for that very reason, she saw that it was an honest to goodness mistake and let it go.”

Arc grins. “That’s pretty impressive.”

Hammer makes squeezing motions with her hands. “Yeah, they were pretty soft.”

“No, I mean that you and her got along.”

Rarity sighs. “Rainbow Dash isn’t the easiest pony to befriend.”

Arc looks Hammer over. “But now that I think about it, you two do have a lot in common.”

“We do?”

“Right. You’re both really outgoing, don’t care what others think of them, strong fighters, like being loud…”

“Hey!”

Rarity giggles. “He is right, you know.”

“I guess so. But is all that really good?”

Arc nods. “Yeah. That and I do think both of you are really cute.”

Hammer blushes. “You… you do?”

“I wouldn’t be interested in forming a heard if I wasn’t attracted to both of you.”

Rarity looks to him nervously. “What about me, Arc?”

“You’re pretty, business-savvy, motherly, and reliable. A very nice package to be sure.”

Hammer frowns. “And the others?”

Rarity nods. “Right. We’re all so different.”

“Everyone has things about them that I find attractive, yes.”

Hammer raises an eyebrow. “But we’re not all the same though.”

“That what makes everyone so nice though. The differences.”

Rarity raises an eyebrow, confused. “I’m afraid I don’t quite follow your logic, Arc.”

“It’s more along the lines of the synergy everyone has together. Everyone has faults, naturally. Myself included, of course. But what one is weak in, another can compensate for.”

Hammer looks to Arc. “Can you give us an example?”

“How about Rainbow Dash?”

Rarity appears confused. “What about her?”

“She can be hot-headed and quick to judge as well as being extremely extroverted. But Fluttershy is the exact opposite. Calm, collected, and slow to come to conclusions but cowardly and introverted. Her and Rainbow Dash together make quite a pair.”

Hammer frowns. “I don’t really see it though.”

Rarity nods. “Yes, well… I believe I understand that.”

“Then there’s Twilight. She’s very intelligent, studious, serious, and always ready to help if the need arises. However she’s also guilty of being overly focused to the point of obsession and takes things too far. While Pinkie is certainly very similar in some regards, the way she approaches a problem is pretty much the opposite of Twilight. That can be either good or bad depending on the situation.”

Hammer shudders. “She’s really out there in terms of sanity sometimes. At least from what I could tell from my limited exposure to her.”

Rarity giggles. “But Pinkie means well.”

“That she does. But then there’s you, Rarity.”

“Me?”

“You’re generous, kind, and artistic. But you’re also emotional at times to the point of hysteria. Your opposite would be Applejack, whom is similar to you in terms generosity and beauty, is more able to control her emotions and keep a level head during a bad situation.”

Rarity sighs. “We all sound pretty bad when you put it like that, Arc.”

Hammer nods fervently. “Darn right.”

“If I may… why do you want us if we’re all so flawed though, Arc?”

“Because I’m imperfect just like everyone else. I work too hard and take too many risks all in the name of getting the job done. Taking time off is nearly impossible for me, regardless of my position. That and I’m constantly getting into trouble for failing to allow others to help me in my tasks. It makes the job that much more difficult.”

Hammer raises an eyebrow, confused. “But you let us help you fight Bloodletter.”

“Yes. But you don’t know just how hard it was for me to get to that point. Some days I think to myself how things might have been different had I chosen the path of cooperation versus going it alone.”

Rarity looks away sadly. “I… wonder that too, Arc. What if you hadn’t been alone when facing Celestia? Either time, I mean.”

Arc sighs. “I believe it would have led those with me to their deaths.”

Hammer shrugs. “Maybe. But I’d have been there in a heartbeat.”

“As would I, Arc. You needn’t do anything alone. Not anymore.”

“I’m trying to come to terms with that. I really am.”

“We believe you, Arc. Right, Rarity?”

“Yes, indeed. Now then, we understand that some things only you can do. But those need to be few and far between.”

She leans in close and lowers her voice.

“After all, you need to stay alive to bed me properly.”

Hammer grins. “Me too. Um… would that be okay with the rest of the mares though?”

Rarity smiles. “That’s their decision to make, of course. But I’ll put in a good word for you, Hammer.”

“Thanks.”

Arc nods. “I’d like that too. But there’s something else I’m working toward.”

“Oh?”

“What’s that?”

Arc smiles as he looks to them. “Becoming a man unburdened by his job and able to dedicate himself to the role of a full-time husband and father.”

Comments

[Munro]

i would say that conversation was overdue and he will have to repeat it some more with the others ^^

i actually expected all the others to sneak on board as well xD

[Booster Spice]

Arc is now trying to think things through? Dont matter if he is currently penniless, he has dragons.

All those extremely difficult to aquire by any other race resources, just there for the trading?

As for those images in the flanks of ponies, wouldnt Mel Brooks might have possibly said, Hay, is those pictures back there are on the skin, wouldnt that make them Cutanus marks?

hence the given name?