A New Start

A New Start

Story 4

Chapter 7: Knowing Luvenhëgen

By: FluttersIsAwesome

When he approached, Cobalt’s expression was almost an exact opposite of what he left with: his lips were bent into a frown and his brows were arched downward like somebody just insulted his mother.

I opened my mouth to speak, but had to keep myself from laughing as Peppermint’s voice spoke the words I had planned.

“Uh, Captain Edge... are you okay?”

He eased a bit, but still wasn’t completely cheerful as he bowed to the girls. “Yes, Peppermint. Just another run-in with my little sister. You three have met her, you know how she is.”

All three backed up at hearing Cobalt mention his sister. I heard a loud gulp from Alkali as she searched for words. “I-Is she still here?”

Cobalt merely shrugged. “I just left to get something, and that’s when I ran into her. She said some rather... nasty things about my new friend here, which in turn made me mad. However, there’s no use arguing with such a bigoted filly, so I just walked away. Who the hell knows where she is?”

Peppermint, I noticed, had begun tapping her hooves rapidly, and her lip was quivering. “Uh, girls, can we go somewhere else? I’m starting to cramp up from not walking.”

They all nodded in agreement and took off, leaving Cobalt and I alone again. Admittedly I wasn’t too upset at that, but it would have been nice to get a chance to talk to my new friends a bit more. Turning back to Cobalt, I saw that at least his face was normal again. “So you got bitchy siblings, too?”

He merely nodded before handing me my gauntlets. “Yeah, her name’s Cerulean. She was the product of a spoiled rotten childhood. Heh, Cyan and I always joked about how Cerulean was the reason our parents didn’t have any more foals. They were afraid they would turn out like her.”

That’s what told me Cobalt was back to normal. If he really was still as angry as he looked before, he probably wouldn’t have even thought about making jokes. “Is she really that bad?” Without realizing that he would probably respond immediately, I turned my attention to putting on my metal gloves. I felt a quick sting in both hands after putting them on, but shrugged it off.

“Believe it or not, yes. She always got her way as a foal, so now she has a breakdown whenever somepony disagrees with her or does something she doesn’t like.” After a quick shake of his head, his grin returned and he looked to me. “Ready to go?”

Standing up made me cringe; I felt another sharp pain in my hands, so I made a mental note to check on my hands when I had the chance. If anything was sprained or cut, I needed to take care of it, but I was more eager to see the city with my friend. As we walked, he took a deep breath and explained the layout of the city, pointing out each district as we passed through it.

Luvenhëgen was divided into 7 main District: Defense, Business, Residential, Aristocratic, Market, Artisan, and Recreational. When we sat in the town square, we were on the border of the Residential and the Aristocratic, so Cobalt led me through the Aristocratic first. We approached a large gate with a booth beside it, and in the booth sat a rather drowsy looking colt. When we came up to the booth, Cobalt gave it a little tap. After waiting a moment, he gave the booth a little more love.

The loud ‘thump’ must’ve been enough, because a mix of curses and slurred speech came from the booth. “Hey! I’m trying to get a nap in, here.”

Cobalt turned to me with a smirk as he cleared his throat. “Nap? Officer, I believe we’ll need to have a discussion about your reliability.” His warning was immediately followed by a loud thump and another string of curses.

Walking over to the front of the booth, I noticed the colt pushing himself back up, rubbing the back of his head. “C-Captain Edge, forgive my incompetence!” He snapped a salute, and Cobalt nodded him off.

“Don’t worry about it; I was just getting your attention. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

He saluted again nervously. “Of course, Captain. I’ll raise the gate right awa-“ I guess he noticed that his Captain was not the only one present. “Um, a friend of yours, Sir?”

He joyfully put his foreleg around my shoulders. “Yep. This here’s Gilda, and I’m killing two birds with one sto-“

An elbow to the ribs solves everything. I never did like that phrase, and I assumed Cobalt used it without even thinking about who was around. “He’s showing me around the city.”

After a short chuckle, my friend rose from his cringing position. “Pretty much. I’m doing my duty as both a guard and friend.”

The gatekeeper stared at us blankly for a moment, but it felt more like his gaze was focused on me. Finally, he nodded and turned around to the back of the booth. “Alright, both of you please stand in front of the gate.”

A loud, metallic ‘clang’ preceded the gates’ opening. The two sides slowly moved back to give Cobalt and I enough space to walk through, and once we were on the other side, he turned back to the operator with a bow. “Good day, Officer.”

He seemed stricken by his commander’s relaxed attitude, but did not hesitate to salute one final time. “The same to you and your friend, Sir.”

    *    *    *

The Aristocratic District, at least in Cobalt’s words, was where Luvenhëgen’s most well-designed and ambitious architecture was found. I started to think he was right as we passed by tall, whitewashed stone buildings that looked more like temples than living quarters, but my guide assured me they were.

“Luvenhëgen is governed by seven Counselors, and this district is meant to be their housing and meeting area. They rarely leave the area, so it’s not likely you’ll see any of them out in the open.” As he led me down the street, it felt like we were going nowhere due to the fact that each of the Counselor’s homes looked nearly identical.

However, when we approached the large, gold-plated dome, I realized that Cobalt had not exaggerated when he spoke of the architecture. Looking upon the shining gold structure, sizing up the scarlet, gold-trimmed pillars supporting the roof, and staring into the faces of various silver gargoyles surrounding the roof and the two marble lion statues standing guard in front of the marble staircase left me speechless. It was a struggle merely to find strong enough words to express my amazement. In the end, all I could manage was a quiet mutter. “How is this even possible?”

I was answered by a moderate pressure on my head. “This is what happens when the able-minded and the able-bodied work together. This is Trenniholm, the building where the Counselors meet. Quite a sight, isn’t it?”

His hoof finally left my head, allowing me to nod. “It is to me, I’ve never seen anything even remotely close to this before.”

He winked, and that coupled with his trademark grin made him look way too relaxed; if I didn’t know better I’d have thought he was a normal pony. My friend just seemed way too laid back to be in any sort of stressful position, and I was sure being captain of a city’s guard force was stressful. “And this isn’t all, either. You’ve yet to see what’s on the way back, too.”

If he didn’t have my full attention before, he had it now. Just thinking about what else he had left to show me put me a little on edge as the street turned right and Cobalt led me further. More of the stone houses lined the street, but these all had on marble column on the right side of the door, each with a different symbol carved into it.

“These houses are for the Board of Twelve. The court here is run by twelve jurors that preside over hearings and cases. The final decision is made by the judge, but they have tremendous influence. Hell, I think the only reason we even have a judge is so he can serve as a tie breaker. I can't think of even one case where the judge disagreed with the Board." He remained silent for the rest of the walk, but probably for good reason, as there were a few well-dressed ponies roaming the street.

When one happened to turn our way, my friend bowed his head before we contiued. He advised me to do the same, which told me it was a sign of respect rather than a gesture of rank. "How can you tell the difference between a Counselor and a Board member?"

His response was expected. "You can tell by what they call you when they speak. A Counselor will call you a 'worker' and Board member will either call you 'innocent or 'guilty."

I didn't actually care either way, I was just glad to hear him break his silence. "Meaning they only speak to you... when?"

He chuckled before responding. "Only when they're in their respective building. If you ever see one out in public, don't expect a warm greeting. These guys are far too 'busy to waste their time talking to simpletons like us."

I wanted to say something, but I decided to wait as our pace slowed to a stop. We stood before a marvelous white pantheon of carved marble. Four large pillars supported the extended roof in front of the courtroom, and standing guard in front of this building were two black hawks. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that they were made of obsidian, which even I knew must've costed a ton. "You weren't kidding, this is pretty impressive."

"Told ya. Luvenhëgen is well known for its architectural achievements. Not only that, but we also have a not-so-good reputation as number three on the list of cities with high federal spending." He turned back to me with closed eyes. "If there's one thing these high-horse ponies love more than anything, it's money. I wouldn't go so far as to say they were corrupt, though they are quite greedy." He opened his eyes again and turned to his right, pausing for a moment. "You coming?"

It took a moment to realize he was actually telling me rather than asking, but we were soon off again, passing through a gate similar to the one we came through. The line between the fine, white stone streets of the Aristocratic District and the weathered, grey cobblestone of the Artisan District was so exact that it looked like a drawn border. Looking ahead, I saw that we were headed towards a long street lined with what looked like different workshops on both sides. The air was filled with the smell of smoke and sweat, and the sounds of clashing metal, breaking wood, and enthusiastic workers permeated my thoughts and kept me from being able to focus on anything but the noise. As the the distance between us and a large, stone shop with an open front window for customers came started to shorten, Cobalt quickened his pace.

"This is Ironhoof's forge; he's one of, if not the most skilled blacksmith in this side of Equestria. If there's anything made of metal you need created, repaired, or improved, he's the colt to go to. Isn't that right, Ironhoof?"

The grey coated, red maned Earth pony turned away from whatever he had been hammering on his anvil and turned to us. As he did so, I noticed Alkali run up behind him and take over. "You know I prefer my goods to speak for me, Captain. Besides, even if I were to truly earn the right to be called 'the most skilled, there will always be a smith greater than I."

Cobalt stood and leaned against the counter with a smirk. "Really? And who might that be? Keep in mind, I know how to read bluffs, Ironhoof."

The colt merely shrugged. "No telling. I just know that no matter how good I get, there will always be somepony else whose level I must rise to match. So, do you need anything?"

When I turned to find somewhere to sit, I felt another sharp pain in my hand. "Hey, Cobalt, can you help me?"

He nodded to Ironhoof, who nodded in return, then turned to me. "What is it?"

Either I took him by surprise, or I was just heavy, but he fell back slightly as he became my leaning support. "I'm gonna check my wrists... I think I pulled something." I soon realized that I had a different problem then what I initially thought when I saw the smeared blood on my hand. I looked at my gloves for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly happened.

"I'll bet money saying that they broke when my sister hit me in the head with 'em. Dad always said I was hardheaded enough to break steel... sorry, Gilda." He picked up the gauntlets, then turned to me. "I can't tell exactly what's wrong, but the moving pieces in the joints are probably loose and protruding out."

"That would explain your cuts. Mind if I take a look at them?" Had he not said that, I probably would have forgotten that Ironhoof was even there.

I set my gloves in his outstretched hoof and watch his foreleg recede behind the counter. "Thanks..." was all I could really think to say.

After a few minutes of silence, the blacksmith turned back to me with a gleam in his eye. "My friend, where did you get these?"

His enthusiasm for his job was... admirable, I guess. With as shrug, I decided to answer simply. “I used to live in a city called Wellsprings. There the-ironically enough- captain of their city guard actually had them made for me to help with my discomfort when I walked on stone.”

The colt raised his brow with a smile. "Wellsprings, eh? A lot of quality metal work comes out of that city. How long have you had them?"

I couldn't remember the exact amount of time, though I didn't think he expected me to anyway. "I can count the months on two hands; I'd guess about eight. It could be more, could be less, I'm just giving you what I know."

He nodded quickly. “That’s all I ask. I should be able to repair them, and if I can’t, making a new pair will be a cinch. Come back tomorrow, around the same time, alright?”

I opened my beak to respond, but was beaten to the punch.

“We’ll be here, but we can’t stay any longer. I’ve still got the rest of the city to show to Gilda.” Cobalt nodded assuredly, then turned to me.

After some futile kicking and protests, I decided just to let him do what he wanted, which apparently meant being my chauffeur. I wasn't thrilled about it, but I did think it was more comfortable than walking without my gloves.

He had to turn his head awkwardly to face me, but was still smiling. "Shall we go, then?"