Pebble was a warm, soft, fuzzy little lump in his embrace, and she smelled just like her mother. Tarnish held her, quiet, thankful that he had such a perfect, wonderful daughter. He found it quite incredible that he had somehow helped to create something so wonderful, so delightful, even if he had been somewhat horrified by Pebble’s sudden emergence from Maud. Such was the way of life, an endless array of beautiful horrors, each more stomach churning and awe inspiring than the last.

“Daddy, what is Skyreach?”

What an odd question.

“Well, Pebble, I don’t rightly know,” Tarnish replied, somehow not surprised by his daughter’s sudden inquiry. “I’ve been here a while now and I don’t have a good answer to that. I wish I did, but I just don’t understand this place.”

“I don’t understand this place either, and it was the location of my rebirth.”

“What are you talking about, Pebble?” Tarnish looked down into his daughter’s eyes, and she looked up at him, unblinking. “You were born at home, in Rock Haven, surrounded by family and friends”

“No, you’re wrong…” Pebble shook her head from side to side. “I was born in a place that has long since been stricken from memory, and it was here, in this place, in Skyreach, that I was reborn. I still don’t understand this place. At one time, I thought I knew, but that moment has passed on.”

“Pebble, don’t be silly.” Tarnish bounced her in his embrace, and then began rocking her from side to side. “Daddy’s little filly is silly.”

“You may be my father, but I am your mother.”

“Okay Pebble, I think you need a nap.”

“I have been sleeping for eons and I have just started to awaken.” Pebble’s voice became quite strange, quite peculiar, and the pupils of her eyes became swirling black voids glittering with thousands of tiny, twinkling stars.

I ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴀ ɴᴀᴘ.

“Daddy disagrees.” Tarnish’s ears burned in a strange way, and the inside of his head felt swimmy. Pebble was a strange foal, conceived during even stranger circumstances, so a bit of weirdness was expected. The weirdness was getting a bit too weird though, because there was a wooden horn growing out of the middle of Pebble’s forehead, and this was a bit disconcerting for Tarnish.

It grew like a sapling, twisting, and it formed a gnarled horn of sorts. Sap glistened around the base, where the skin had split open to allow the wooden growth to emerge. Frowning, he did not like this deformity, this change, this unwanted, unwelcomed alteration to his daughter’s appearance. Nope, he didn’t like this at all. Perhaps a bit of pruning was in order.

“What is Skyreach?” Pebble asked again.

“I told you, Pebble, I don’t know.”

Tarnish awoke with a start, sucked in a deep breath, and let out a troubled gasp. He had no memory of falling asleep, and it seemed that his groggy mind had betrayed him. It took several long seconds to recover his senses, and while he was clearing away the mental cobwebs, Vinyl held out a cup of tea in front of his nose.

The pain seemed dull, distant, and his head felt too far away from his body. His tea smelled funny, something had been added to it, and he tried to figure out what it was. It was faint, medicinal, and bitter smelling. It took effort, but he forced his brain to work, to function, to push past the fog of opium.

“Concentrated willow bark extract?” he croaked.

Vinyl nodded.

Willow bark had salicin, a flavonoid that was a powerful anti-inflammatory agent as well as a pain killer. When he took the cup, it trembled in his telekinesis. Beside him, Rainbow Dash was sleeping with her mouth open, drooling all over the blanket that had been spread out over the floor. Not far away, Daring Do was standing while keeping watch.

“You and Dash got the worst of it, by the looks of it,” Daring Do said in a voice that was a concerned whisper. “Vinyl is bad off too, I suppose, as she doesn’t deal well with pain and all that. This isn’t a bad spot to rest and recover for a while, we seem safe enough. At least, for now.”

The tea was as bitter as it smelled, and the sip that Tarnished took was just as bad as chewing up aspirin tablets for immediate relief. He grimaced, but kept drinking, and somehow, he kept a stiff upper lip. After a few sips, his mouth began to go numb, and he had trouble feeling his tongue. He would need to be mindful not to bite it by accident.

“We’ve found a crystal rod, but nopony has touched it yet,” Daring Do said, and her upper lip had an indomitable stiffness. “This is the point in our adventure where we pony up… where we buck up and dig in. This is the point in the story where the heroes prove that they have greatness, and have endurance that far exceeds the common pony.”

“Yeah, I suppose you know all about that.”

“Mister Teapot, was that sarcasm?”

Tarnish felt his stomach clench. “No… no, I swear it wasn’t. I was just acknowledging what you said.”

“My apologies, Tarnish.” Daring Do turned about to look Tarnish in the eye. “My most sincere apologies.”

“I just meant that you’ve been at this longer than the rest of us. You’ve done great things. Unbelieveable things. I would never diminish that.” Tarnish’s mouth puckered before his teacup even reached his lips, and he shuddered, pausing before he took another sip. The smell made his nostrils quiver, and his throat went dry in anticipation of swallowing the bitter drink.

“I have been tortured, beaten, bound, burned with hot pokers, had my wings broken, and once, Doctor Caballeron pressed a burning cigar against one of my teats—”

Tea spewed from Tarnish’s mouth like a geyser, and then he began to splutter. “Next time I see him, I swear by Celestia’s name I’m gonna kill him!”

“Tarnish, no… we’re the good guys. We’re better than that.” Daring Do looked disappointed and she sighed while shaking her head. “The point is, I have endured much, and continued. We shall endure much, and we shall continue. Think of the common pony as being a lump of iron… we’re hardy enough. The greatest among us go into the fire, we burn, we become refined, and we are made into steel.”

Scowling, Tarnish forced himself to drink more of the bitter tea, all while contemplating all of the horrible things he would do the next time he ran into Doctor Caballeron. If Daring didn’t want him dead, that was fine, but Tarnish knew that a pony could live through quite a number of truly horrible things. He made plans to show Doctor Caballeron as many of them as he could think of.

“Mister Teapot… my most endearing associate… I know what you are thinking—”

Tarnish shook his head from side to side, while Daring nodded, defying him while he defied her.

“ —right now, you are plotting revenge. That will not do. At least, not the revenge you have planned.” Daring drew in a deep breath, and for a moment, she changed, becoming Miss Yearling, the well known and well loved professor, even without the hat and glasses. She became the ever-wise, ever-patient teacher that was her alter-ego. “Mister Teapot… the best revenge is a life well lived. To live a wonderful, happy, fantastic life, full of rewards, full of recognition, and at the end of it all, you get to prove that you were a better pony. That your philosophy was superiour, more beneficial, more meaningful. I want that for you, Tarnish, I truly do. Be the pony that I know you can be. Do not fail me, Mister Teapot.”

Crestfallen, Tarnish’s whole body drooped, and he could feel Vinyl staring at him.

“I worry that sometimes, I might not be the pony you believe I am… you are just so full of so much goodness, Daring, and me… I’m not.” Tarnish sighed, then gulped down the remains of his tea, dregs and all. The gritty bits clung to his teeth and his gums went numb. His mouth was overcome with incredible bitterness and he shuddered. “I have to struggle to be good… to be the pony that everypony seems to think I am. I’m still pretty angry, I guess, and maybe I’m troubled by everything that’s happened. I’d like to be better, but in my middle, there is still a whole lot of rage that I have to hold back.”

“So, focus less on the enemies without, and focus more upon the enemy within.” Daring’s eyes narrowed. “I have no doubts as to your combat prowess. You’ve shown that you are at least my equal in a scrape. But what good is your fighting ability when you cannot overcome what is your greatest threat?”

“I…”—he paused, blinking, feeling the tightness and pain in his scalded eyelids—“don’t know.”

Daring Do resumed being Miss Yearling again, and she clucked her tongue.

“You are my friend”—he strained to say the words—“and for the longest time, I had no friends. I didn’t learn how to cope with my friends being in danger when I was young and impressionable. I didn’t learn how to deal with the sudden rush of emotions, or the influx of rage that happens when somepony you care about is in danger. Now that I am an adult, I am at a disadvantage.”

“That seems reasonable, and I can accept that. Did you arrive at this conclusion yourself?”

“No,” Tarnish replied, being honest. “Princess Cadance and I had a talk… after some unpleasantness.”

“Ah.” Daring Do clucked her tongue again. “Suddenly, a great many things make more sense. I’m older, and I’m female. I sense that there is something else that you’ve never learned to cope with.”

Tarnish felt cold fear prickling his belly, and he dreaded whatever it was that Daring was about to say next. He cringed in anticipation, guessing where this was going, and the inside of his cheeks felt both numb and tight. Dropping his gaze, he could not look Daring Do in the eyes any longer.

“You think of me as a mother-figure.” The words were not a question.

“Daring, please—”

“You do… that is why you are so clingy and overprotective.”

“Daring… please—”

“It’s quite understandable, when one gives it a good think.”

A burning heat crept up Tarnish’s neck towards his face, and it was somehow even worse than the scalding he had endured. “Daring, I’m begging you, don’t do—”

“Why, the very idea of losing your mother again must unhinge you.”

The burning blush arrived at Tarnish’s face like a train pulling into a station, and he was almost certain that he had to be steaming. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried not think about how he could feel Vinyl’s eyes upon him, or how Daring was looking at him. A flood of emotion made his eyes water beneath his eyelids, and the sensation stung, causing intense pain.

“Mister Teapot, I am both touched and flattered, and that is all I shall say on the subject. Now, if you will excuse me, while you compose yourself, I am going to return to my watch.” With that, Daring Do turned about and strode away, heading for the entrance of the room.

For Tarnish, the words proved to be too much to bear.

Author's Notes:

Sorry about that chapter title.

(No, I'm not.)