The caste that binds us

"Any of y'all happen to know just what the hay is going on?" Applejack absentmindedly questions after witnessing Princess Celestia disappear down into the waterfall's blackened abyss. The lack thereof in words summons the answer for her, much to the southern drift of her brow.

"I'm sure whatever it is the princesses have it under control." Twilight, while still quite loopy from magic exhaustion, left her attention not of where Princess Celestia had gone, but been. "I think she got it even worse than I did."

"The poor darling's nerves are most assuredly shot." Rarity quietly observed with her magic glow going all over something she had seen cast upon the rocky ground. "Now who would waste such fine fabric and lop it around!" Her being too innocently wrapped up in the new acquisition to notice the small jolt of cyan at her side or the subtle pink against her light blue.

"Mind if I have a look Rarity?" Twilight's curiosity getting the better of her, energy or no, as the ripped foreign patterns catches her eye.

"Oh! Well sure darling." Rarity gently lets pink overtake blue as the ragged strips, now free of timber, are pulled away. She does, however, watch intently as Twilight slowly slides, reshuffles, and aligns the strips over and over again.

Pinkie's hoof momentarily stops one of the strips from being reshuffled, "Can I play?". She tilts her head as the expression returned from Twilight shifts from frustration to light grin, giving her own in return. "What are the rules?"

"We need to match up all of the symbols perfectly." Twilight, having long since found the lack of energy haphazard to any puzzle, is perfectly humble enough to resign herself to game master rather than player in her current situation.

Having suffered enough to her own nerves through the past few days, Applejack was rather submissive to the giggles, playful commands, and innocent observations behind her. Her grin, ever slow to spread, has less trouble receding when she takes notice of the one among them to never stay still, is doing just that. "Hey Rainbow you alright?" letting a chuckle accompany the words.

"Yes." Rainbow returns slow and bland, taking no heed to the light clops approaching her left side.

Applejack plops down beside her. "Ah shouldn't have to tell ya."

Forced to grind her front hooves in partial circle below her, her voice starts in a low grumble. "Think they can put it back together?"

"Hey y'all think you can muscle that there rug back into one piece?" Applejack yells back behind her, quick to gain the immediate attention of player, decipher, and weaver extraordinaire. "Ah don't know Rainbow was asking."

Silent nods serving her answer before turning back towards Rainbow. "They said yea but ah never took ya for the type to like something fancy like that."

"Not mine." The frustration of how to answer without hurting any pony having already passed weighing down her mood even more. "And we're gonna give it to Fluttershy when it's done." Her answer catching Applejack off guard, who takes a moment of silence.

"Ah...don't understand." Her words hinge against the tone of a request much more personal than she expected. "This was Fluttershy's?" Letting her eyes carry from cyan to butterscotch not far ahead, eyes widened in considerations and confusion.

"Her friend's." Rainbow dryly replies before rising to her hooves.

"But ah don't see..." Her throat instinctively catching the last word with her eyes slowly moving from the muzzle down Fluttershy, the solemn wing of Princess Luna now draped over her, towards the blackened abyss where Princess Celestia disappeared. Before she can will it her hooves carry her with subtle haste to the ever rising commotion from behind as cyan carries forward.

Rainbow gets rather close, having perhaps not paid attention to where she had gone if she took notice of the watchful eyes of royal guardponies, but perhaps just didn't care. Perception, rather than inattention, saves her any unneeded drama as Princess Luna silently nods for her to come closer with the retracting of her wing.

The presence, even if silent, of one of her friends is not lost with the slow rise of Fluttershy's muzzle. She keeps her own, like the air around them, but lets a small gentle smile cross her muzzle. She closes her eyes less she loses the the hard worked for dull edge she'd prepared for what would be brought up from below.

Of the only pony whom she'd shared her most sacred of sanctuary, of the same that yet another she would have to lay down upon, she took solace. "I goofed." If for only a moment.

"What?" Fluttershy opened her eyes as she turned her head towards Rainbow.

"Pinkie, Twilight, and Rarity may have been playing with the cape as you called it." Lifting a foreleg to run the inward bend down the front of her head and muzzle, "Aaaaand I may have chosen a bad moment to tell AJ why Princess Celestia..."

"But you told them it was okay because they didn't know right?" Her expression of self disappointment most likely matching that of her friend who refuses to look her in the eye as each takes blame for the situation. She slowly turns her head only to first connect with distant green, causing a chain reaction of turned heads and flattened ears.

"Oh..." unable to hide the hurt in her voice or from nearby dark blue ears.

"Twilight Sparkle. Rarity. Applejack. Pinkie Pie. Please step forth and join us." Princess Luna uses just enough volume to carry over behind her less the turning of her head interrupts the intense focus her eyes, cast in an almost invisible magical hue, direct elsewhere.

As distant clops etch closer the sound itself distorts through the loss of volume as subtle ground vibrations take over. Twelve eyes all turn to face each other as days of worry and lapse in information collide in another folly of soft apologizes and gentle hugs.

"We're sorry." Twilight once again apologizes four fold, "We...um.... didn't know that somepony else had..." Having to look towards the ground as she search for the right word, only to realize it was still missing. "..or..that we were making light of...of..."

"Joseph." Fluttershy's soft words gives only a few answers, but begs much more. "And you didn't." making sure that none of her friends took the blame that only she could be responsible for. "Thank you for trying to put it back together after he had to destroy it." The words bringing back the sour memory and sullen mood.

"But why would somepony destroy such lavish tapestry?" Rarity's tone and context keeps the question from coming off as anything other than innocent curiosity.

"Oh it wasn't for sitting or trotting on." Fluttershy's words catching her friend's attention. "He wore it on his back but He had to tear it up to make a harness for me to ride on." Only to cause them to slide towards confusion.

"Yer telling us ya rode yer friend through the everfree?" Her rigid brow expressing her frustration causing a similar chain reaction among the others as the more they were told the less sense it made. "Ah gotta admit the more ah'm told the less ah'm sure of."

"I know..." The somber tone from the timid pegasus pulling the others from their convoluted imaginations.

Applejack quickly adopts an apologetic tone and expression. "Ah didn't mean anything bad by it sugarcube."

"I know." Fluttershy mimics the same, "I was just sad because I felt the same way."

"Confused?" Pinkie's high pitched voice cuts through the awkward silence.

"How to help him." Fluttershy's replies softly, "I think his special talent hurt him somehow." Her words helping to keep attention off the now flattened ears of cyan, "I told him maybe Twilight could help because I don't know a lot about magic."

"Was..well what I mean to ask is..." Letting the side of her foreleg rub the back of her head as her brain fought to picture all the clues together, "Was Joseph a pony?" her voice pitching high enough to almost squeak at the end.

"We have absolutely no idea what it is nor from what land it heralds." Princess Luna, having let the bearers converse until the very thing that had caused the royal sisters cause for concern came to subject, takes helm.

Twilight's expression becomes somewhat rigid as the idea of something not a pony having magic as a special talent batted around her brain, serving to constrict her contemplative demeanor into something else. "But..."

"But we concede that it does appear to have everything that Bearer of Kindness has stated." Princess Luna eludes out of need to sway and control, "Culture above that of mere nomadic structure. An expertise of a form of magic that no longer exists in our own lands." perhaps as much of herself as to those under her care. "And hopefully an continued agreeable disposition."

"Continued?"

"Lieutenant!" Princess Luna decides to drop misconception to the ground before her as the officer lands, "Inform the rest of the Lunar and Solar guards that Princess Celestia is returning along with an unexpected guest of unknown origin." Although somewhat oblivious to the reason behind the silence beside her, "The situation is one of diplomacy with Miss Fluttershy acting as official royal liaison until certain conditions can be met." her answer comes in the lack thereof. "Miss Fluttershy?"

"C'mon Fluttershy I'm sure Princess Celestia made sure he's okay." Rainbow distant voice echoes about.

"But what if she doesn't know how he's hurt?" Fluttershy musters out through the clattering near one of the chariots, "Or he's acting like you again and is playing it off?"

"Hey I do not play anything. It's called being tough!"

"Well Harry..."

"Oh for the love of...here!"

The light impacts of hooves and possibly feathers usher the hastened return of the pegasi.

"Ahm rade." Fluttershy mumbles through the latch held in her muzzle even against the rather infuriated silent stare of Rainbow once more at her side. She merely stares forward towards the darkened abyss of roaring water as her fellow bearers behind her can only give nonchalant shrugs towards Princess Luna.

"We...have heard tales of your dedication to injured animals of the Everfree." Princess Luna alines her tone between surprise and admiration. "We can only hope such dedication is reciprocated in the same earnest." The hesitant, but humble, nod causing a small grin to spread over her muzzle as she herself hoped for the best outcome ahead.

Fluttershy stands alert as the first glimmer of golden hue fights off the darkness before them. While somewhat curious as to why Princess Celestia took the harder upwards thrust out of the deep water cut canyon instead of teleportation she pushed it aside when she caught the glimpse of her friend. She held herself even as Princess Celestia finally landed all hooves on the edge of the abyss, pulling her rather annoyed cargo to roughly the same inland before letting him drop a mere few feet, much to her widening eyes.

"....aaaaand there he goes." Rainbow nonchalantly states against the shocked expressions not only from the unexpected loud impact, but sudden disappearance of said precious cargo back into the abyss.

Quick to turnabout and crane her head over the edge, Princess Celestia, more adjusted to the weight of said cargo, easily lifts him back up and over solid land once more. She herself keeps her hooves on the reflective rocky surface as she brings him in further, only to stop his descent few inches from the ground in hesitation. Lifting him back into the air, he is lightly swung back and forth in unison of her head sway several times.

Trotting forward in defeat, she brings him far enough that all are able to see the guilty embarrassment laced expression across her muzzle. His however...

"Good luck..." Rainbow nudges Fluttershy before backing away.

...gravitates elsewhere.

Perspective change

"I'm half a mind to think you did that on purpose." Joseph directs his ire towards the large white equine that had transported him back up from below. When the routine communication breakdown forces him to adhere to what he sees instead of hears, he resides himself to face value. "But I guess only half." before letting his ears pick up the ever louder clopping coming his way.

Fluttershy comes to an abrupt stop just before Joseph, quick to drop the first aid kit to the side before giving a quick lunge death hug for her once thought dead friend. Or she might of, had a mere few disapproving expressions of how she was conducting herself as royal liaison from several royal guard not overwhelmed the numerous supportive ones.

The final approach, but a few mere feet, brings back age old memories of tormenting laughter and disapproval with each step. By the time she reaches her friend's feet her own brings only the familiarity of a pony who hid herself away from her own world.

"You seem nervous." His eyes slowly scans not the pegasus before him, but of those like her not far behind. His slow turning vigil gives way to a small nod with one returned before moving onwards. "As do they." Giving little heed to Fluttershy lowering the kit.

"W-well i-it's only because..." Her words pushed to a stall when Joseph without warning lets his knees bend, as if no longer able to hold weight, only to come to rest with his buttocks resting below with his elbows on top. Her ears flicker to the shuffle and vocal commotion behind her before letting them lay back in disapproval. "You did that on purpose."

"Why are you afraid?" His tone, while smooth and gentle, refuses to mince words.

"I-I just h-have a lot depending o-on me." She gives short stutters and refuses to look him in the eye as she instead fumbles with the simple locking mechanism on the kit, until a wayward hand leans in and gently clips it loose.

"Are you in some kind of trouble?" His question comes alongside his renewed searching behind her despite the light shake of her head, making note of the armor clad equines among a few other untidy things. His stare comes to an end when it meets the conflicted eyes of Rainbow Dash, who seems to jerk forward before a guard impedes her approach. Such details, if perfectly hidden from expression, seek only to pull his attention away to a most unsavory memory.

"Was Rainbow Dash able to get the flowers to safety?" His hands remain hanging and relaxed.

"S-she has them with her now. B-but the princesses w-wanted to.."

"Then we should make haste less the sickness does the same." His words of haste breaths none even of himself.

"I...I don't think...that you can leave until the Princesses say so."

Making sure to retain his smooth approach. "Then perhaps it is time that we parts way so that you may return home to take care of that which almost served to meet your own."

Her eyes begin to form small beads in the corner as motherly and royally contracted artistry obligations continue to make internal struggle lost none on the one before her.

I'm sorry. He knows from past experience only to think, but never say.

Her watery eyes scan over the tattered cloth and bandages that now barely conceal it's upper abdomen, before taking notice of his seemingly unfocused stare towards the ground. She nervously turns her head towards the princesses who, like herself, are slightly put off by the seeming breakdown compared to what they saw through her memories.

Without looking up, he slowly lifts his left hand to point to the far right. "Princesses?"

"Y-yes the one who brought you up was Princess Celestia, and the one beside her is Princess Luna." She softly answers while some of the further out guards seemed to show disapproval through shifting postures, expressions, or snorts. "They're really nice." her partial smile once more chastised from some form of displeasure from behind.

He lets his fist tighten, if only for a moment, before relenting once more to the compass that has failed only to cushion his fall. Instead, while quite unsure if considered rude or demeaning, he reaches forward and plants his open hand upon the timid pegasus's mane. He neither scratches or rustles before retracting as he stands straight once more, his feet moving along with his eyes to the right.

"Joseph?" Fluttershy, having not seen such behavior so far, pushes aside any reservation as she trots to catch up. "Joseph whats wrong?" Ignoring even the not so subtle impact, and possible coronary band injury, of a royal guard who finds defenses no fancy armor can provide.

"Joseph!" She gives one last call before being forced away from his wake.

He noticed the Princess Celestia yell out, seemingly for the others to get clear, as the one called Princess Luna vanishes from her side as well. Still, with neither a raised arm in attack or defense, he just continues his casual stroll closer to a mere few feet away.

His eye sight gives way even as he can feel the heat striking across his skin, the ringing of his ears giving him a serenade of a simpler time demanding pause to his now simmering trek. The pain, he would have to admit, was humbling of a situation that in memory as viewer harmed him far more.

"Never expected to once more be the blood that the demon dogs follow." His voice etches out with the same grit as the not long ago back at a simple campfire.

The slowly focused image of a wide eyed Solar Princess staring at the brightly glowing volcanic fissure across his now barren chest almost gives him reason to chuckle as smoke and retina continues to dilute. His forearms running parallel, having at the moment of painful impact outstretched for his true purpose of making his short journey, remain wrist up fist clenched.

"Don't worry princess. One like yourself could never grant me something of such pride." His soothing tone, disturbingly lacking in expected malice, brings her eyes up to finally meet the genuine smile that ushered it. "But congratulations nonetheless on leaving your mark."

"I surrender."