Chapter 8:

The Mourning Dawn

I sat there for who knows how long, holding the broken body of my friend…no, my brother, in my arms. It was only when Scorch started to tug on my arm that I decided to move. Together, we slowly made our way back to the guardhouse.

When we got there, everything sort of became a blur. I remember a couple of unicorns that took Whirl away from me, and Sky telling me to go home and break the news to Gentle. I remember walking down the dirt path to her home…

And I can never forget the expression on Heart’s face when I told her, “Heart, I have some bad news…it’s about Whirl.”

The moment I had said those words, it felt like I had just destroyed her entire world.  Imagine that you had been on the brink of getting everything you’ve ever wanted, that after years upon years of struggling, you were literally inches away from your goal. Now imagine that one, single, unpredictable mistake suddenly tore it all away from you, and made it impossible to achieve.

That. That was what I had to tell Gentle Heart. That the father of her unborn child, her husband, and her best friend had survived a dragon attack, nearly ten years of being a guard, and uncountable life threatening situations, only to be done in by an unstable building.

I know that life isn’t fair.

But this? This was just too much.

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Two days had passed since then. Heart and I were in the middle of the funeral arrangements, trying to decide where he would be buried. Normally, I’d let her plan everything herself, but with the combination of the influx of new patients at the hospital was really starting to take its toll on her. Not to mention the shock of losing her husband.  It wouldn’t have been right to let her do all the work.

So I had volunteered to help her out. I had just suggested burying him somewhere next to the top of the waterfall, where you could see the entire town in a bird’s eye view, when-

“Agh!” Heart cried out, bending over in pain.

“Heart? What’s wrong?” I asked, getting up from my seat.

“The…the baby!” she gasped out, collapsing.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening. MAN! What is with this timing?!

“Sorry about this, Heart, but it’s the fastest way,” I apologized.

“What are you-OOOH!”

I lifted her into my arms and hauled her outside, where Scorch was busy planting some flowers into the yard.

Yeah. She likes gardening. Who knew? Wait. WHY AM I TALKING ABOUT THIS!? THERE’S A BABY COMING!

“Scorch, I need that cart!” I shouted, gently setting Heart down into the cart that the dragon was planning on using for her garden. Yes, I’m improvising! DEAL WITH IT!

Before Scorch could ask me what was going on, I sprinted full speed to the hospital, yelling at the passing ponies/cleanup crews to get out of the way, or get flattened. They instantly jumped out of the way.

Sometimes it’s useful being a huge hairy monster.

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Waiting. I’m normally someone who’s pretty good at that, what with being immortal and all. I mean, what’s a couple years to a thing that literally doesn’t need to worry about it?

Hospitals change all of that for me though. Throughout the years, I had come to associate hospitals with death. Every time I had to wait for someone to get out of one, they were either dying, on the brink of death, or one of the doctors (which rarely happens). You’d think I’d be used to it by now.

Then again, I should probably be used to the idea of my friends dying, by that logic at least.

Thankfully, Scorch had managed to follow me to the hospital to help me last through it. She was even thoughtful enough to bring that bit of wood I had been carving for the last few days. Really, that was the only thing that I could afford to focus on at the moment.  I couldn’t focus on the ticking of the clock, or else the few hours we were in there would’ve stretched out to an eternity. If I tried to read one of the magazines, the words would have started swirling around my head as if I had dyslexia. There was nothing I could do, but carve away at the chunk of wood.

Idly, I muttered to myself, “This is starting to look less like a sword than I thought it was…”

Scorch tilted her head in curiosity.

“Well, it’s actually starting to look more like a-”

I was interrupted by the doors creaking open. A light red unicorn with a stunningly bright lab coat on stepped into the room.

“Battleclaw? She’s done now,” he said, using his magic to remove a surgical mask. “She’s waiting for you…”

I got up to walk past him, but he stopped me with an outstretched hoof. “What is it?” I asked, my heart falling.

He let out a deep sigh. “How much stress has she been under lately?” he asked me in a somber, quiet tone.

“A lot. I mean, her husband’s dead, her baby WAS on the way, and the dragon attack did a lot to her,” I answered.

“I was afraid of that,” he muttered. “I don’t know how to say this, but…well, now might be the best time to say your goodbyes.”

No…

Dumbfounded and stunned, I mechanically walked down the long and winding hallway. The world seemed to toss and turn beneath me, as I finally entered Heart’s room.

“Good…day, Claws,” she weakly murmured from her bed. Her coat seemed to be duller than it was before, while her mane was a shade lighter than its usual color. Beeping monitors and an IV fluid were hooked up to her, and it seemed that even breathing took her a tremendous amount of effort.

Quietly, I whispered, “Is the baby alright?”

“See…for yourself.”

Struggling, she lifted the corner of her blankets to reveal a small, wrapped bundle that had a tuft of amber colored hair sticking out of it. A tiny horn poked out, while topaz eyes gazed curiously at the world around it.

“Her name…is Amber. Amber Heart,” she quietly sighed, stray tears running down her face. “She has her father’s coat…and my eyes…”

“Yeah, she does,” I agreed, smiling softly at the newborn foal. Amber yawned, and I held my pinkie finger towards her. Giggling, she wrapped her hoofs around it, soliciting a small chuckle from me.

My heart melted at the sight of that little filly’s smile.

I don’t care who, what, or where you are. There is no arguing against the fact that a baby’s smile, their laughter, holds infinitely more magic than any firestorm a wizard can conjure up.

“She’s beautiful,” I choked.

Heart didn’t answer.

The monitors started to beep wildly.

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Scorch didn’t know what to do. Everything around her seemed to be a mess of chaos and confusion, every one of the ponies shouting things about electricity spells, jumpstarting, and getting the monster out of the room. She had no idea what they meant by any of that. Really, she didn’t know why she was there in the first place. It was just some gut instinct that told her to stay close to the Werehog.

But why did she want to do that?

Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…

That clock was starting to really get to her. Even though everyone around her was shouting, the sound of that damned clock carried over the chaos.

Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…

“You know, you should be grateful that you are allowed to feel time slip by you,” a soft voice suddenly said from her side.

Scorch flinched, startled the by sudden appearance of a strange, bipedal creature besides her. Whatever it was, it was nearly hairless, save for the long flowing blue hair atop her head. The creature’s eyes were a brilliant sapphire color, and the wisdom they held in them was a sharp contrast to the rest of her youthful appearance.

The dragon had the distinct feeling that she had seen this being before.

“At ease, child,” the woman soothed.

“I’ve…I’ve seen you before…in my dreams,” Scorch whispered, barely taking notice of the fact that everything in the room had come to a complete standstill. Time itself had stopped…

The woman smiled, and said to her, “You have. Do you remember what I told you in them?” When she shook her head, the woman’s smile only got wider, and she shook her head. “But you do, my child. Just close your eyes, and tell me…”

Somewhat cautiously, Scorch did as she was told. Quietly, in a dreamlike trance, she said, “You…you told me that my pain would end…that a beast born of the earth, but with the blessing of Time and Wisdom would save me…that I could trust him. He’s…he’s someone I can trust…”

“That’s right,” she whispered. “Now what else do you remember? Can you tell me my name?”

Scorch furrowed her brow in concentration, struggling to recall the name. She knew that the being had said it, but…

“Nayru…” she finally answered.

“That’s right, my child,” the goddess whispered. “And remember…keep my chosen safe. Be his friend, and he will help you find the true answer that you seek.”

With that, Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom and Time, disappeared, and Scorch found herself sitting in a nearly empty room, clutching the piece of wood that Omnius had been carving in her claws. She noted the detail that he had painstakingly carved into the curves of the piece of timber, the strange alien letters that her mind failed to recognize.

The only thing she knew was that it was most certainly not a sword.

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Doctors and nurses all rushed around me, trying to bring the deceased unicorn back to life with some form of defibrillation. It was pointless though. And while I watched the futile efforts of the ponies in front of my, the baby I had snatched up into my arms started to cry.

One of the doctors, a leafy green earth pony, tried to take the baby from me. A single growl and glare had made him think better of the action. Eventually, I walked back into the waiting room where Scorch was, at a loss for what to do. Both of this baby’s parents were dead now. She was an orphan. What would happen to her now?

I looked down at Amber, at the daughter of two of my closest friends. Warmth blossomed from my chest as I gently rocked her in my arms, quieting her cries to small sniffles. She cooed at me, tears still welled up in her eyes.

It was then that I made my final decision.

The doors to the room burst open once more, allowing Sky Blue, a dark brown earth pony mare who I recognized as the mayor, and an unfamiliar unicorn with magenta colored fur to step into the room.

“Battleclaw,” Sky started, nodding his head at my direction. “Is Gentle Heart-?”

“She’s dead,” I stated simply, passing Amber to Scorch so I could properly talk to the trio.

Sky and the mayor’s faces fell, while the unicorn seemed to get a greedy glint in his eyes. The old Pegasus respectfully removed his old tattered hat from his head, and murmured, “I’m sorry to hear that. Is that the child?”

I nodded, unconsciously placing myself between them and Amber. “Yeah. I figured since she’s got no family to go to, I’m the only thing she’s got,” I slowly said.

The unicorn scowled at me, and said, “Battleclaw, is it? I’m afraid we haven’t been properly introduced yet: I’m Silver Bars.” He held his hoof towards me, and added, “I run the bank of Pine Falls, and am a very close friend of the family.”

“No, you’re not,” I coldly replied, recognizing the name from one of Whirl’s old stories. “You’re Heart’s former coltfriend. The one who didn’t make her happy.”

His eyes hardened in response to that. “At least I would’ve kept her safe, unlike that boorish W-”

My fist smacked into his face, alarming the mayor and getting a grin from Sky.  Before Silver could pick himself up off the ground, I placed one of my metal-spiked boots on top of his head.

“If you couldn’t stop that punch,” I growled, “then you couldn’t do anything.”

I stepped off of him to look at the other two ponies. The mayor cleared her throat, and said in a reedy voice, “Mr. Battleclaw…What Mr. Bars is getting at is that he is the most eligible to take care of the child, in the absence of her parents.”

“Now hold on just a minute,” Sky protested. “I’m the one who took that Pegasus into the guard, and trained him. I think after ten years of knowing him, I’d be the one to take care of his daughter.”

He then threw a conspiratory wink at me, before getting back into the shouting match that was quickly evolving from the trio. The mayor wanted to put the child up as a ward of the town, with Silver backing her up. Sky argued that he should take the child in, instead of letting, quote, “that silver tongued yellow-bellied, money grubbing, snake in the grass, pig-stealing varmint” take her. Scorch cowered in the corner of the room, the baby and carving both clutched in her arms and tail respectively.

Finally, I had enough. I roared over the noise at the top of my lungs, “SHE’S COMING HOME WITH ME!”

Sky nodded, glad that I had finally gotten where he was going with this. In a loud voice, he said, “And what makes you capable of taking care of her?”

“Officially, the house doesn’t belong to the town,” I started explaining. “It belongs to the child. And since I was paying her parents rent, that means I also own the house. Amber Heart, the kid, can’t take care of herself, leaving another tenant of the house to do so. Also known as ME.”

The mayor thought about it for a second, before conceding, “Technically, that is true…but does that mean you’re willing to become her legal guardian?”

I nodded curtly in reply.

Silver looked between everyone in astonishment. “You can’t be serious!” he shouted. “You really expect this brute to take care of a child!? No, I insist that the child comes to live with-”

I clamped my hand over his mouth, and scowled at him. My other hand balled into a fist, causing him to shake in fear. My eyes glanced at the small coffee table that sat right next to me. His eyes widened, as I slammed my fist into the table, completely obliterating it and silencing everyone in the room.

“Are you really going to say ‘No’ to me?” I growled in a deathly quiet voice.

Scorch got up and followed me out of the hospital while Silver spluttered in rage and fear.

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The funeral was an incredibly simple one. I had gotten the two ponies their caskets, and picked a spot by the top of the waterfall. Scorch stayed at their…no, my cabin with Amber Heart. We had gone over how to take care of her, and I was confident in her abilities to make sure the kid would be alright.

While I dug out their graves with a rusted shovel, Sky had went around town to tell everypony that if they wanted to pay their respects where to meet.

More than half of the town had shown up. I noticed that Silver Bars wasn’t there.

Definitely not fore-shadowy or anything like that.

With the help of Sky, and Crimson Forge, I set their caskets into the ground, just as the sun started to peek over the horizon.

“Goodbye, my friends,” I said quietly.

No one said anything. There weren’t words to describe what was going on.

A massive stone was placed over their graves, with the words, “Here lies Gentle Heart, and her husband Whirl Wing. They died not as heroes, but as friends. May the warmth of the sun reach them in what lies beyond” inscribed upon it.

As everypony went up to say goodbye, I absently took out my carving that I had finally finished the night before. I should have known what it was earlier.

Once everypony had left, I went up to the grave and leaned the elaborate wooden cross against their tombstone. Across the carved wood, I had scratched the words, “Vivere et discere” into it. It was all that we could do now.

“I promise to look after your daughter,” I said to them, placing a hand over my heart. “For however long it takes, I’ll make sure she’s safe.”

A warm breeze gently caressed the area, as I turned and walked back into town.

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