It was the middle of the night, when Cobalt Blue woke inside his Manehatten apartment, his white coat and turquoise mane soaked with sweat. Yet another dream about his old marefriend Jupiter. He had loved her, and she had loved him, but he left her anyway. At this point he cant even remember why. The Wonderbolts wasn't anything like he had imagined, he had trained hard, and enjoyed the crowds cheering him on, but that was nothing compared to the love he and Jupiter shared.
He was just about to attempt to continue his sleep, when he became aware of someone watching him from his open bedroom door. He sat up quickly. "Wh-Who's there?" he called, trying to sound brave.
"Fear not, Cobalt Blue, I do not wish you harm" said a voice, and a figure emerged from the shadows. It was none other than Princess Luna herself, long blue mane flowing behind her as she stepped forward, turquoise eyes twinkling.
"Princess Luna?!?" Cobalt Blue exclaimed, his shock plain on his face. "What are...How are you...What?!".
"You needn't panic, this is only a dream. My body still slumbers in Canterlot Castle, whilst my spirit is brought here." explained Luna, briefly looking out the window at the moon, as if to check the time, before fixing her gaze back on Cobalt.
"So...Why exactly are you here?" asked Cobalt, his panic being replaced by confusion. He had a good guess as to her reason for being here, though he wasn't sure.
"Because, Cobalt Blue, you have been suffering ever since you left your old marefriend, whether you wish to admit it or not." Luna paused to see if he would argue with her, when he didn't, she continued."I cannot heal your pain with a dream, however, for all dreams must end at some point. But I did not come here just to tell you that, someone is coming to you, someone who can help you in a way I can not."
Once she had finished talking she gave him a minute to take in the information she had just presented him with. He sat there for a while, occasionally opening and closing his mouth in shock and confusion. She glanced out the window once more then spoke.
"I must go, Cobalt Blue, but do not forget my words. I wish you luck in making the right decisions." and with that, Luna disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Cobalt to wonder what she could've possibly meant. After thinking for what seemed like hours, he decided to lie down and attempt to get some rest, if it was even possible within a dream he did not know. It was worth a try.
When he awoke the next morning, he thought back on his dream. Surely it had been nothing more than a dream, was his conclusion. He was a practical man, only really believing what he saw, the rest was left up to the scholars and academics. He looked over to his alarm clock, and saw that it was 8:34am, his alarm should've gone off 4 minutes ago. Yet another problem in his life.
Cobalt had been up for about an hour, and during that time had had a shower, used the toilet, and was now eating some breakfast. He was halfway through chewing his first bite of toast when there was a knock at his door. He swallowed the mouthful, and went to open it.
On the other side of the door was a young unicorn mare, looking to be around 13-14 years of age. That wasn't all he noticed about how she looked, for she looked almost exactly like his Jupiter. Her deep blue coat was speckled with white dots, looking reminiscent of the night sky, and her short white mane faded into a pale turquoise. She also had a single lock of purple hair tucked behind her ear, which was studded with a silver earring. Her eyes were not the pale blue of his old marefriend, but his own deep turquoise eyes. There was no way...Could she be his daughter? He looked exactly like Jupiter, all except for the tips of her hair and her eyes, which seemed borrowed from himself. "Quick, Cobalt, say something!" he thought.
"Uh...can...I...help you?" he asked nervously, shifting his hooves awkwardly. His one mouthful of toast turned in his stomach.
"Are you Cobalt Blue?" she asked, in a voice that was as smooth as silk, just like his Jupiter.
"I am." he replied, no doubt in his mind that this was Jupiter's daughter now that he had heard her voice.
"My name is Arche, I believe you are my father." she said, her voice calm and collected as she spoke, no doubt visible if it was there at all.
"Um...Well, would you like to come in for something to eat?" he asked, not really knowing what to do with the situation.
"That sounds nice." she replied, and he stepped to the side for her to enter. As she did, he caught sight of her cutie mark. It was a full moon, with the letters "XLVIII" curved underneath it. Roaman numerals, he thought, probably hinting to a talent for astronomy, or something to do with numbers. "Oh, and may my friend come in also?" she asked, turning to face him after entering his apartment.
"Friend?" he asked, curious as he had not seen anyone behind her when she entered. He turned to face the door, and a young mare of similar age to Arche stepped into the doorway. She was an earth pony, with a tan coat and short scruffy reddish-pink mane. Her cutie mark was a pair of scissors, with apples as handles. She flashed him a cocky smile which quickly turned into a small smile due to Arche glaring at her, silently demanding she stop.
"Uh...sure?" he replied, and after the mare had entered, he closed the door behind her.
"Thanks. My name's Bab seed, you can call me Babs if you want." she said, her voice was that of the typical Manehatten accent, and she went to stand by Arche. Cobalt motioned to the couch and they both sat down. He passed by his forgotten plate of toast and sat across from them in his armchair.
"I suppose you want me to explain why I'm here." Arche said, after they had sat in silence for a short while. Cobalt simply nodded, still quite shocked. "Well, it started when there was an attack on our town. I tried to fight them, and I managed to take down a few, but more arrived, and I knew I couldn't fight them for long. My mother was also fighting, using her magic and her hooves to take many down. But then one of them kicked her in the chest. I ran to her as soon as I saw. She told me to come here and find you, and then..." she stopped talking, tears beginning to slip down her cheeks. The sight made my heart clench.
"You don't have to keep going.." he said softly, doing his best to comfort her whilst not seeming creepy, as they had only just met.
"No, you deserve to know" she said, clearing her throat and continuing. "I ran away from the fighting, and camped in a nearby forest. I would've frozen to death whilst I slept if not for a bear wrapping itself around me." Cobalt's eyes widened, shocked that she hadn't been killed by the bear. She chuckled when she saw his face. "Don't worry, Barnabas is quite nice, you can meet him if you want."
"Wait, what? You named him Barnabas... and brought him to Manehatten?? How in the world of Equestria did you manage that??" Cobalt asked, being shocked for the 20th time that day. This filly was going to be the death of him.
She chuckled once more and continued her story. "Anyway, I made my way to Manehattan and found Babs. Her parents died, so she was living on the streets, a bit like me. We became friends, and we eventually found you. Now here we are." Her tears were gone now, and she rubbed Babs on the back, as the earth pony had a sad look on her face at the mention of her parents' death. Cobalt sat there for a while, not sure how to react to all he had just been told. She noticed this and spoke once more, "I'll give you a moment to process it all." Cobalt could only nod. He couldn't quite believe it all. Jupiter was dead? He had a daughter? She had a bear??
After sitting in silence for what seemed like hours, Cobalt looked up to see Arche and Babs eating some toast with jam. Arche noticed him staring and quickly said "Don't worry, I used my magic to get some bread, I didn't use any of yours." They both finished their toast and then stood. "We should probably get back to Barnabas, or he'll start causing trouble" said Arche, turning to Babs.
"Yea, lets go" Babs said quickly. "You gonna come meet Barny, Cobalt?" Babs asked, turning to Cobalt and raising an eyebrow.
"Oh uh...Sure...as long as he doesn't bite" he replied, and they walked towards his door.
The young mares followed him as they went down the stairs and out the main door. Then, Babs led him along the street and towards a forest not far away. They walked through the forest for about a minute before coming to a clearing. In the middle of the clearing lounging on his back, was a big brown bear. Babs and Arche had no fear walking up to him, but Cobalt kept his distance. Arche shook the bear lightly, who responded my huffing and rolling over. Cobalt felt a bit nervous about them waking a sleeping beast, but trusted their opinions on it.
"Come on Barny, you gotta wake up so we can have some food!" Babs exclaimed, trying to wake the beast. Finally, the bear gave in, and stood, following Babs off in another direction to catch some food.
"So, you're my daughter, huh?" asked Cobalt, after Arche had finished gathering fire wood from the surrounding area.
"Mhm" she replied, placing the wood in a way that made it easier to burn. "You never knew about me, huh?" she asked as she readied her horn and shot at the wood, lighting it instantly. Cobalt shook his head. "I don't blame you y'know, my mother tried writing you a letter not long after I was born, but received a letter from your agent saying how this attempt to get a wonderbolt to marry them wouldn't work and was just pathetic" said Arche, not really paying it much mind. It was just some information her mother had told her long ago, that stayed tucked in the back of her mind.
Cobalt was stunned and angry. How could his agent have done something like that and not even told him about it?? Then an idea popped into his head. "I have an idea" he said, and Arche looked over at him curiously. "How about we pay my agent a visit later and confront him about this?" he didn't know his daughter very well, but if she was anything like him, she would most definitely seek revenge for something like that.
A wicked grin spread across Arche's face as she nodded. They spoke for about an hour, before they heard Babs returning.
"Uh...guys? I kinda found something whilst we were getting food, and you might wanna see it." Babs said, before emerging into the clearing, shortly followed by Barnabas, holding none other than a small bugbear.
Arche immediately ran to the cub, and scooped him into her fore-legs, holding it like you would a foal. "Aw...its so cute!" she exclaimed happily. Her bright smile was then replaced by a look of slight confusion. She held the cub out in front of her and turned it around, before reverting to the way she held it before. "Looks like a boy to me." she said, clarifying the situation.
"What do we call him? Do we name him after the bug part or the bear part?" asked Babs, pulling faces at the cub.
"How about...Buggy?" said Arche, smiling down at the cub.
"Eh, sure" replied Babs, taking Buggy from Arche. The three of them cooked the fish Barnabas had caught, and then played with Buggy for an hour or so, and even convinced Cobalt to join in, when Arche asked,
"Should we start heading to your agent's?". She looked over at Cobalt, who was resting against a tree whilst Babs and Arche rested against a sleeping Barnabas.
"Oh, sure, he should be in his office now." Cobalt replied, and stood up, dusting himself off. "Are you coming Babs?"
"Nah I'm going to stay here with Barny and Bugs" replied Babs. "Some-ponys gotta keep an eye on 'em". Cobalt nodded and followed Arche out of the clearing.
They walked along the streets, and other than getting hooted at by a couple drunk stallions, it was quite an enjoyable walk. She did look quite a few years older than she actually was. Cobalt had been understandably angered by this, and offered to beat them up, for he was still a very strong stallion, but Arche refused, and instead quickly turned and fired a spell at the stallions. When at last they reached the office building, Cobalt walked inside first, shortly followed by Arche.
"Ah, my finest client! Its been a while...you look good! And who's this fine young lady?" asked Top Quill, when Cobalt entered his office. Cobalt grit his teeth. At least Top Quill wasn't as rude as the other stallions, but as a father, Cobalt didn't appreciate it much.
"My daughter." Cobalt replied, teeth still gritted. "Y'know, the one that was "a pathetic way to try and get a wonderbolt to marry them? Ring any bells, Top?"
Top gulped hard, his white coat going even paler, if it were even possible. "Uh...Um..." He couldn't find the right words to make this easier on him.
"Whats the matter Top? Didn't think twice about my mother who had just given birth, and actually wanted my own father to know about me?"asked Arche, keeping a calm look about herself, though her eyes were burning with anger.
"I...I...Look, ok! How was I to know she was telling the truth?! Cobalt was a young attractive star! Mares would've killed to be with him!" said Top, looking desperately for a way to help himself out of this.
"You could've at least mentioned it, Top! I mean, What the hell?!" Cobalt yelled, and was only slightly resisting his urge to punch Top in the face.
"Look! Even if I knew it was true, How was I to know she wasn't just some slut y-" Top was cut off by a hard punch in the face that sent him flying to the floor.
"NEVER TALK ABOUT JUPITER LIKE THAT!" Cobalt yelled, so loud he wouldn't of been surprised if the whole building heard him. Top was about to attempt to stand, but Arche's magic closed around his neck and he let out a little yelp as she moved to stand over him.
"I really hate you for what you did, Top, but I hear your security guards coming up the stairs right this instant, so why don't we take this somewhere a bit quieter?" Arche said, eyebrow raised and eyes still burning with anger. If he could talk, he would swear that her pupils just transformed into slits.
Just before the security burst into the room, Arche teleported both herself, Cobalt and Top to the clearing in the forest. She saw that Babs was there, still resting against the slumbering Barnabas, with a baby sling made of a giant leaf holding Buggy around her side. She looked up when she saw the trio return.
"Hey you guys are back. Whos this?" she asked, nodding her head at Top and standing up.
"This is my father's agent, who did not pass along the letter my mother wrote to my father, notifying him of my birth. Aka, the entire reason my father never knew about me." Arche said, rolling her eyes and moving to stand by Babs.
"I see" said Babs "And you brought him here so Barny can help with exactin' revenge?"
"Yes, well, that and his security was about to burst through the door" Arche explained whilst taking Buggy from Babs. "Wake Barnabas up, will you?" Babs nodded and walked back over to Barnabas.
"Barny. Wake up, we got some work to do." Babs said, and Barny woke up quickly, following Babs over to where Cobalt and Top Quill were standing. Top had remained quiet whilst Arche and Babs had been talking, and looked just about ready to start shouting, when Cobalt spoke.
"Don't worry Top, we wont kill you. I'm not becoming a murderer just so you die, but you will have to pay some way or another. Any ideas, daughter of mine?" asked Cobalt, turning his gaze to Arche. However, before she could reply, Top used the distraction to his advantage, and kicked Cobalt in the stomach. Cobalt immediately buckled over, and Top quickly got to his hooves, trying to run out of the clearing. Luckily, Arche and Babs acted quickly, Arche shooting a ball of turquoise energy at Top, and Babs quickly running after him with Barnabas. Top was able to dodge the first ball of energy, but the second sent him to the ground. Barnabas easily picked him up in his mouth, and carried him back over to Arche.
Arche's horn lit up with a turquoise glow, and she aimed at Top, ready to fire at any moment. Barnabas dropped Top about 3 feet away from Arche, who's horn was growing brighter by the second. After powering up for 10 seconds, she fired at Top.
