Before I'd even had a chance to think of a reply to Spring Leaf's question, caught off guard by it as I was, Twilight saved my bacon by popping her head around the corner into the kitchen. Thankfully, she'd apparently overheard us, at least in part, and suggested that I wait until we were on the train to Canterlot so I could tell everypony the story all at once. Since I had yet to properly collect my thoughts, I agreed to the suggestion, which fortunately seemed to be enough for Spring Leaf for the time being.
After that, the lot of us finished packing, and I eventually went to wake Luna up, reluctant to do so as I wanted her to sleep some more before we left. Fortunately, it seemed as though she had slept much better in the short two or so hours she had been granted to nap, as my lovely fiancé looked much more well rested than she had the last time she had come downstairs to join us. Luna was also fortunate in that she had next to nothing to pack up, as the possessions she brought with her were things that were easily obtainable in Canterlot, assuming that she didn't already have duplicates back at the palace, and also assuming she didn't intend to leave those things at my house in the first place. This extra time, granted to her by not having to pack before we needed to leave, was spent sitting at the dining table, sipping a mug of steaming coffee. The dark liquid was dressed up only with a few cubes of sugar, as was her preference for the lovely, life-giving beverage.
In short order, our intrepid little group was out of the house and making our way towards the Ponyville train station, and then for Canterlot. We were joined along the way by the rest of our group of friends that made up the 'Element Bearers' as we made our way toward the station in the early hours of the morning. I'd actually begun to hope that Twilight and Spring Leaf had forgotten our little conversation in the kitchen earlier that morning, however it seemed that Lady Luck, who very well could be a real entity for all I knew about this crazy world full of magic and mystery, wasn't on my side in that regard.
"So Blake." Twilight began in a rather calm tone, a tone that felt almost too calm in my opinion. "There was something you were going to discuss with all of us on the ride up to Canterlot today." A part of me hated that I was being backed into this corner, especially with how close it was to the celebration of Luna's friend, but I didn't see a way out of the conversation, plus it seemed only fair that the girls know the truth about what happened that night.
I was thankful that most ponies opted not to take this particular time slot to Canterlot, as it left the car we were in deserted save for myself, Scootaloo, and the group of mares gathered around me. This group now included the seemingly ever-present Lyra and Vinyl, who had joined us at the station not long after we arrived ourselves. "I um… You're right, Twilight. There's no point in putting it off any longer." I looked around at the gathered ponies, all of whom had their attentions fixed on me. "Earlier today, Spring Leaf asked me to tell her what happened between my father and me. I think it's only fair that you all know the truth behind Twilight's alarm a few months back, when she told you all I was dangerous." The mare in question looked down towards the floor, ears pinned back with a regretful expression.
To my surprise, Derpy stood up, and looked to the door leading out of the train car for a moment, then seemed to change her mind and trotted over to sit closer to me, cuddling up against me. "I don't need to know what happened." She remarked softly. "It won't change what my heart says about you. But I'm gonna stay anyway so I can be here for you." She leaned up then and gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek.
The gesture was genuinely heartwarming, and I smiled back at my cute derp of a marefriend as I cuddled her close to me. "Thank you Derpy, that really means a lot. Anyway, I don't think I should delay any longer." With a sigh, I collected my thoughts and began the tale. "I believe you're all familiar with what happened to my sister and I at my father's hands, yes? What he did to us in the woods, and even before that?"
Applejack gave me a quizzical expression, though I could see the hurt in her eyes at being reminded of that painful part of my equally painful past. "Ah think Ah c'n say fer all o' us what we saw 'im do is somethin' we won't soon forget, Sugarcube. But what does that have ta do with… Oh, Ah get it now." She gulped and went silent.
Once the silence returned, I continued. "After… what happened that night in the woods, I went to live with my grandparents full-time, while my father was arrested. He spent years in prison for what he did, and I had hoped I would never see him again. That wish, sadly, didn't come true." Derpy clung to me as I took in a long, slow intake of air through my nose to keep my emotions in check. "He got out on a plea deal before his sentence was supposed to be up. One night afterward, I went to a local bar at the prompting of a few of my sparring buddies, though none of us knew he had gotten out, even though I was supposed to have been told of that."
Before I could continue further, I was interrupted again, this time by a certain, pink ball of energy. "Ooh ooh! Did you and your friends go to a juice bar? Did they have all sorts of yummy- Mmph mmh!"
The pink party devil was cut off by a midnight blue hoof being pressed against her lips. "I do not believe that is the kind of 'bar' he is referring to, Pinkamena." Luna remarked with a tinge of exasperation. "Such establishments serve alcoholic beverages where Blake is from."
Pinkie seemed to accept that answer, though Luna kept her hoof over the hyperactive mare's mouth for the time being. "Thanks, Luna." I remarked, trying not to lose track of where I was in the tale thanks to all of the interruptions. "As I was saying, I went to the bar with some friends, not knowing that my past had followed me there." I let out a long, deep sigh. "For a while, I was enjoying myself, but after an hour or two, our fun started to make some of the more heavily intoxicated bar-goers angry, which wasn't really all that hard to do, all things considered. One of them finally had enough and came up to us to say something. When… I saw the face that was looking at me, that angry, drunken… familiar face, I froze up. He didn't like that, said something about me calling him ugly, and then hauled off and punched me in the face, or tried to. He was too drunk to throw a punch, so it kind of rolled off my chin."
The gathering of mares listened attentively now that the story had begun in earnest, and I was able to continue without issue. "When he hit me, it… triggered something inside my mind, and all the trauma, all the nightmares and memories, all the pain and grief and anger and all that bitter, seething hatred I thought I had gotten past all came back at once, crashing over me like a tsunami. I yelled something, I don't even remember what it was, and stood up to fight him, grabbing him by the shirt and shoving the bastard back when I did." I could tell that all the mares gathered were worried about me, and concerned about what was going to happen next. "I… he practically flew backwards when I pushed him. He was drunk, so of course he didn't have any balance, and I was pretty sloshed too, so I put a lot more force into it than I would have if I was sober. It's something we call 'beer muscles', and it's something that happens when a person gets too drunk." A bitter, mirthless chuckle escaped me as I tried not to spit those words out, then I sobered up again. "Anyway, his head hit the edge of one of the tables, and he went down… and didn't get back up again."
I decided not to tell the gathering of mares just how much I enjoyed seeing my father, no, my tormentor, that monster in human skin lying on the floor like that. He was finally paying for what he had done, though I'd considered it a bitter, petty excuse of a price to pay for his sins at the time. I also decided not to tell them that, at the time, I had wanted to kill him, to make him suffer like he made me suffer. I didn't tell them that I had wanted to jump on his lifeless carcass and let loose the fury of all the rage and the seething hatred I held for him, or that only being physically restrained by my group of friends had stopped me from turning him into an unrecognizable mess. I wasn't that person anymore, all that hatred was long gone, and those dark times were a literal lifetime ago now, so it didn't make sense to tell them.
Seeming to sense my dark thoughts, Luna turned her gaze from the gathering and in my direction. I could tell by the look in those pretty, cobalt eyes that she knew what I felt, both then and now, and she gave me the barest hint of a nod, showing her understanding in not saying more. I returned that slight nod with a faint smile of thanks of my own. It felt so amazing that she knew who I had once been, knew all my darkest secrets, yet loved me all the same.
Twilight was the first to speak, her eyes full of regret and even some shame. "So… it was all an accident?" She asked before I had even finished my tale. "I… tried to shut you out, tried to warn ponies away from you… almost ruined your entire life here… because of an accident?" I could hear the self-blame in her voice, which was the last thing I wanted.
Having a good idea of what was going on in her head, I got up from the bench I had been sitting on and knelt down in front of my studious marefriend, tilting her head up so she had to look at me instead of the floor. "Don't do that to yourself, Twilight. That's a dark road to go down, and you don't have any reason to. You couldn't have known what happened. That was literally another life, another world. For all you knew, I had done something to deliberately end that man, and you were doing what you had to so ponies could be safe. So don't go thinking you did something wrong, because you didn't." I leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. "Besides, I love you, and I've already forgiven you for anything that might have happened back then."
My words seemed to get through to the lavender bookworm, and she smiled at me, eyes still shimmering with the threat of tears. "Thanks, Blake. I… needed to hear that. The truth is, I do still blame myself. It may not have amounted to much in the end, but it could have been bad, and that makes it bad in my opinion." Sensing that all that could have been said, had been, I smiled and sat on the bench beside her, beckoning Derpy over to sit with us even as Luna and Applejack shifted closer to me.
The train bumped and quietly clacked along the tracks for a time after that, our little group simply sitting in silence and keeping to our own thoughts. Then, Vinyl spoke up. "You've had it really rough, Blake." She said with uncharacteristic somberness. "How do you stay so calm and happy when you've been through so much?"
I had expected something of the sort at some point, though not necessarily from her, and simply sighed as I shook my head. "I don't really know myself, Vi. I've known people to be mentally and emotionally worse off after having less happen to them. I guess how much they can handle just varies from person to person… or pony to pony." There was another lapse into silence as the mountain-top city of Canterlot loomed closer in the distance.
Eventually, the train pulled into the station, and by that time, through some stroke of fortune, we had all seemingly cheered up, and had even begun conversing about more pleasant topics. As we all disembarked the train, I noticed that the number of ponies getting off of it seemed to have been higher than the number who got on. It only made sense, given that the festival would be starting soon, and ponies were traveling from far and wide in order to be here to witness the event, as it was to be the final one of its kind.
All of us remained seated on our benches, waiting for the crowd to die down, and as we waited, I noticed the sadness that entered Luna's eyes as she watched the procession. I knew she was thinking the same thing as I had just been. With a soft smile of reassurance, I placed a hand on her cheek, and caressed it gently, letting her look up at me on her own, returning my smile with one of somber gratitude. After that, we all began to make our way through the streets of the Capitol city, heading toward the palace. I knew that once we arrived, Celestia would want to see us all. Many among the group were her friends, and in my case, more than that.
The trek to the palace was met with little fanfare, save for the occasional stare from a bystander in the streets. This turn of events was just fine by me though, as I had had my share of parties and other high-profile events of late. Just thinking about the last party that had been held in Canterlot made my entire body cry out with phantom pains.
When we reached the palace, the guards quickly stepped aside to let us in, given that one of their Princesses and the Knight-Defender were both currently escorting the group. I didn't care for all the formality, or the special treatment that came with being a Knight, but knew it was expected of someone in my station, so I ignored that feeling. Luna and I nodded to the saluting ponies, and we entered those hallowed, white marble halls, walking and trotting through the twisting corridors until we came to what I recognized to be the throne room. There were two more guards posted at these doors as well, as there usually were, and they were just as quick to allow us entrance as the ones at the main gates had been.
Luna stopped in front of the ornate doors and turned to us all. "I believe my sister would like to know that you all have arrived safely. Come, let us greet her and rouse her from the doldrums that are these early morning court sessions." She giggled softly at an apparent thought. "Nopony ever comes to court this early in the morning, but alas, my sister must endure the affair anyway, at the behest of one of her many advisory councils. And so, she must spend her mornings, just after she has arisen from her bed, being bored out of her mind." That last was said with a mirthful yet sympathetic grin.
As we all entered the throne room, Celestia was indeed sitting upon her throne at the end of the long room, up on top of the dais that it shared with Luna's throne. The poor mare did indeed look bored out of her mind, and ready to doze off in that throne, but her mood instantly shifted to something much brighter as she saw the group approaching. The Princess of the Sun stood and trotted down from the pedestal their thrones rested on, and smiled radiantly at us all as we approached one another. "Hello sister, hello my little ponies, and hello to you as well, Blake my dear." She seemed especially happy when those words left her soft lips. "I take it you all have come to participate in the Winter Snowfall Festival." It was more of a statement than a question.
I could feel myself smiling already as I beheld the newest member of my little herd. It had been too long since she and I had seen one another, and I intended to make up that lack of time spent together to the both of us not only while I was here on this visit, but in the future as well, as I didn't intend to land myself in the hospital for a good, long while. "It's good to see you too, Tia." I remarked in my own, warm greeting. "We all thought you'd like a little company while you tended to this empty room. It might get up and wander off if you don't, after all." That earned me a soft giggle and one of those warm, genuine smiles of hers.
The Solar Diarch's eyes smiled at me as much as her lips did, and it warmed my heart to know I made her that genuinely happy. "That would be wonderful. Thank you all for being so considerate. However, I am sure you would like to take some time to unpack your belongings and get settled into your rooms before much longer."
In truth, none of us, aside from the sole exception of Rarity, had brought more than a single bag, so there was little enough to unpack. That led me to believe that this was just a ploy to give my lovely, alabaster marefriend something to do aside from sit on that royal tush and be bored for who-knew-how-long. All in all, I couldn't say I blamed her for wanting to escort us all to the rooms we would be occupying while we were waiting for the events to really start shifting into gear.
There was little delay as the group of us, now including Celestia herself, left the throne room and began to weave our way through the halls of the palace. Scootaloo rode on one of my shoulders, as usual, while Dinky rode on her sister's, and Applebloom rode on Applejack. Rarity, for her part, didn't want her sister 'clambering all over her and leaving her looking like a disaster'. And so, I allowed Sweetie Belle a rare treat by giving her a ride on my other shoulder along with Scootaloo. Perhaps thankfully for Rarity's sake, the rest of us had found her complaints to be fairly amusing, as she was really quite endearing once you got to know the posh mare.
Soon enough, the stretch of hallway that held the guest bedrooms came into sight around a corner, and we all began to disperse as we headed for the rooms each of us frequented when we stayed in the palace. Suddenly, a voice rang out down the hallway. "Hey, wait for me!" We all turned to see who the newcomer in the palace was as she cantered quickly up to join us. "Lyra! Did you forget you were supposed to wake me up?!" I recognized the mare as Lyra's best friend… and maybe more than that, a mare that she hung around with even more than Vinyl. For her part, Lyra gave the mare a sheepish smile as she blushed in embarrassment.
Celestia smiled at the new mare, whose name eluded me at that moment, and gestured her towards her friend. "Greetings, Miss Sweetie Drop. I was wondering why I didn't see you with Miss Heartstrings." I thought I noted a spark of deeper recognition in those lovely, magenta eyes of hers, but the flicker was there and gone again so quickly that I wasn't sure I had seen it at all.
The newly identified mare looked to Celestia as though she hadn't realized she was there, the same way one might look at a bear that had been standing right behind them. The mare made a hasty bow before the Princess of the Sun. "Good morning, Princess Celestia. And to you as well, Princess Luna. But please, you can just call me Bon Bon."
It was strange to think that I had seen this mare with Lyra even more frequently than I had seen the minty green mare hanging around with Vinyl, so much so that I had guessed them to be best friends even before Lyra had told me as much. Yet I had somehow never met her before this moment. I wasn't given long to consider that fact however, as Lyra and Bon Bon excused themselves, turning and heading for the room that they seemed to be sharing with Vinyl Scratch.
Once those three were gone, most of the rest dispersed as well, leaving myself, Celestia, Twilight and Applejack in the hallway. Derpy had volunteered to take our bags to our room, and when they saw her struggling, the fillies had unanimously offered to help her out. Luna took her leave as well, citing that she wanted to unwind for a moment in the comfort of her own room before rejoining us.
When the four of us were alone, I looked to the remainder of my not-so-little herd, and smirked. "So, since the good Princess has decided to play hooky for the remainder of the morning, what should we do with the extra time?" Twilight seemed troubled, likely by her mentor shirking her duties, such as they were, in such a manner.
For her part, Celestia simply smiled at me, though I could tell my words had embarrassed her slightly. "I believe I would like to spend a little time with my… Knight." I could tell she had only just barely caught the potential slip-up.
Twilight spoke up quickly, probably wanting to cover for her mentor so that nopony who might have heard would catch on to our illicit relationship. "If you'd like to spend time with us, we could always go for a trot around the palace grounds. We can tell you about what's been going on in Ponyville, and you can fill your Knight in on anything you think might be important."
Celestia gave her student a smile that was an odd hybrid of her practiced, motherly smile, and the more genuine one that I saw from her sometimes when we were alone, and she could be herself. "I would like that, Twilight. Come then, let us trot." She turned and led us down a side hallway that led between two of the rooms, splitting that side of the corridor. "This path is seldom patrolled, as it only leads to some of the storage areas, and a small section of staff living quarters, though I don't believe any of the servant rooms in this wing are currently occupied."
As we walked along the corridor, I noticed that there was a long stretch of hallway that didn't contain any doors. Then, several sprang up seemingly out of nowhere, closer together than the guest rooms we had just left behind. "Hmm… I don't remember this wing." Twilight commented as she looked around. "I guess it's just so out of the way I never noticed it." She was clearly very interested in the new piece of architecture.
A soft giggle emanated from my left, a warm, musical sound that could only have come from the Princess of the Sun herself. "I doubt you would have noticed this wing if you had walked down it a dozen times, Twilight." She remarked with a warmth that spoke of her familiarity with her student. "You were always so busy reading that you couldn't see past the book at the tip of your nose." The lovely bookworm in question blushed and attempted a retort, but it was merely a half-hearted sputtering.
The four of us continued walking and talking like that for a short while, until a guard came and informed Celestia that Luna wanted to speak with her. The lovely Solar Diarch bid us all farewell and trotted off to see what her sister wanted to speak about. It seemed something of an odd occurrence, and I turned to my two marefriends. "If you girls wanted to, you could wait at the room for me awhile, and then we can go see some of the decorations they have up around the city. I want to see what's going on with those two. It seems like it's something important, and they might decide they want their Knight involved."
Twilight and Applejack looked at one another briefly, then nodded. "Alright, Sugarcube. Ah don't like it none, but Ah s'pose y'all got a point. Ya got yer duties ta think about, and tha Princesses might need ya."
For her part, Twilight nodded, and both girls reared up in turn, giving me a hug and a kiss. Twilight whispered into my ear as she hugged me. "Don't go getting yourself into anything dangerous without telling us, ok?" Her tone was soft, but I could tell she was serious about the request.
With a nod and a parting kiss on the cheek, I let Twilight down gently. "I promise, Twilight. If something comes up, and I'm able to, I'll come tell everyone right away."