“Five minutes,” Ebony grumbled, burying her muzzle into her scarf. “We missed the bloody train by five minutes. All because somepony had to get a doughnut.” I nodded my head in agreement, the neck of my sweater pulled up over my nose, and my arms crossed tightly across my chest. The sun might have been out, but that wind was a killer.

Both Ebony and I glanced sideways at Twilight, who was happily munching away at a chocolate-covered doughnut with sprinkles. She paused mid-chew when she realized we were looking at her.

“What?” she asked, crumbles spraying from her mouth. “I was hungry.” Ebony muttered inaudibly under her breath as she hunkered down further into her scarf.

We were at the train station in Canterlot. Having just missed the eight-fifteen train to Ponyville, we were now forced to wait for the next train to arrive. Unlike Ponyville’s station, which was completely indoors, Canterlot’s station was open to the elements, the only enclosed space being the ticket booth. Why it was like that, I didn’t know, as I would think that the snobbish nobles wouldn’t like to be kept waiting outside in these kind of conditions.

Glancing around, I blinked when I realized that we were the only ones standing around, waiting for a train. The platform was completely empty; no other humans or ponies were in sight. We were the only ones waiting out in the cold for the train.

I grumbled in annoyance, and snuggled my head deeper into my sweater. It was too early in the morning to be this cold.

“I don’t know why you’re complaining,” Twilight said, taking another bite of her doughnut. “We couldn’t have left anyway. Avera isn’t here yet.”

“And I told you, she was taking care of something and told us to go on ahead of her,” Ebony said, her voice muffled by the sweater. “She was going to catch up with the train en route.”

Silence fell as Twilight returned to her doughnut, chewing slowly as she enjoyed the chocolatey treat. Beside me, one of the Battlemages shifted, her armor clinking softly together as it shifted. Her head swiveled back and forth, her gaze never lingering on any given spot for more than a few seconds.

All three Battlemages were on edge, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. It seemed that every guard at the palace was on high alert recently, although we weren’t told why.

Why do I feel like we are being kept in the dark? I mused as I glanced over at Ebony, who was just glaring at the empty station, her ears folded against her head to protect them from the wind.

We stood there silently for several more minutes before the sound of multiple approaching ponies reached my ears. Beside me, the Battlemages tensed immediately, their stances widening.

Turning, I blinked in surprise when I caught sight of the ponies behind us. What the…?

Princess Celestia, flanked by a dozen armed guards in golden armor, was heading in our direction, a neutral expression on her face. Beside her, walking with his tail between his legs, was Blueblood. I noted with some satisfaction that he had a bandage across his muzzle, as well as around his throat.

“Well, would you look at that,” Zen Glory whispered, eyeing the approaching group.

“Wonder what this is about,” Ebony added, moving to stand next to me as well, her eyes glued on Blueblood. Feeling something bump my leg, I glanced down to see Twilight with her shoulder pressed against me, glaring at the approaching prince.

Coming to a stop in front of us, Celestia inclined her head, a small smile on her face. “Ah, looks like your missed train has worked to our advantage. Now we won’t have to follow you to Ponyville.”

“Princess,” Twilight said, not taking her eyes off of Blueblood. “What’s going on here?”

“What’s going on, my faithful student,” Celestia replied, the small smile remaining on her face, “Is that judgment must be passed, and a grievance must be amended.” At that, Blueblood’s lip pulled back in a grimace, and he lowered his head slightly, not looking at anyone.

“I thought this was already taken care of,” Ebony said, tilting her head to the side. Celestia gave the Major a strained smile.

“My sister and I weren’t in the best state of mind when we made that decision, due to the stress of what had happened at the Gala,” she explained, her wings ruffling. “After talking to my sister when she and I were in a calmer mood, we have come up with a… better punishment. I’ve come here today to run the decision by you—” she turned to look at me “—and to have you approve of the verdict. Should it not be to your liking, we will go back with the original decision.” Blueblood opened his mouth to say something, but a look from Celestia silenced him.

I glanced down at Twilight. Her tail was flicking back and forth in agitation and she was staring pointedly at Blueblood.

“Well?” Celestia asked after several seconds, causing me to look back up at her. Chewing on the inside of my check, I cocked an eyebrow and turned my head to the side, indicating that I was listening.

Celestia straightened up, closing her eyes and clearing her throat. Opening her eyes, she began, “Due to evidence placed before us, as well as testament from a noble of the Lunar Court, we find Blueblood of the Solar Court guilty of his crimes. His punishment, as decided by both me and my sister, shall be as follows: Blueblood shall be made to pay a fine—twenty percent his wealth—to any organization against the cruelty of humans of his choosing. He has chosen the Equestrian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Humans.

“In addition to that, all of Blueblood’s assets shall be temporarily frozen until such time as Luna, or myself, has deemed that he has earned them back. Until this comes to pass, he shall be confined to the castle unless properly escorted by at least two members of the Royal Guard hoofpicked by both myself and Luna.

“Blueblood shall be required to perform two-hundred hours of community service at a local veterinary clinic, as well as weekly visits to a local hospital to talk with, and comfort, assault victims. He will be forced to report what he did that day, as well as what he has learned, in a daily report that will be read by both my sister and I to determine that he is indeed following through with his sentence.

“Is this satisfactory?” Celestia asked as she continued to look at me. Despite the speech, she kept her voice even and monotone, as if reading off a script.

Raising a hand up, I scratched my cheek as I went over what she had just said in my mind. As I thought, Blueblood huffed, grinding his teeth together, “I don’t know why I’m being punished when it was that thing that assaulted me!”

Celestia opened her mouth to rebuke him, but Twilight beat her to it.

“That thing,” she growled, spitting the word at Blueblood with enough venom in her voice to cause a timberwolf to whimper, “has been ‘attacked’ at regular intervals by a pegasus mare in Ponyville named Rainbow Dash and has not shown any signs of aggression towards her. That thing was forced into a fighting pit, but has come out no more aggressive than when he went in. That thing has rescued three fillies from a herd of manticores, despite being severely injured in the process. That thing—”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Celestia said loudly, interrupting Twilight mid-rant. Glancing down at Blueblood, she frowned, a disappointed look in her eyes. “While it is true that the human assaulted you, it was done in self-defense. That’s not even to mention that he wasn’t even your human to take in the first place. If you’d like, we can add theft and attempted kidnapping to the list of charges.”

“I don’t know why we’re making a big deal out of this,” Blueblood sneered, pulling his lips back. “You’re acting like I attacked a pony.”

I moved before anyone could respond to that. Stepping forward, I leaned down until my face was inches from Blueblood’s. He jerked back, giving me a wary look. I stared at him, a blank look on my face, for several seconds.

Nopony moved, and an uneasy silence fell over the platform. The guards beside Celestia shifted nervously, and behind me I could hear the Battlemages doing the same, although I wasn’t sure if they were preparing to protect me from the guards, or to stop me attacking Blueblood.

Celestia was watching me with a curious expression her face, almost as if she interested in what I would do.

After several seconds of staring at each other, Blueblood tore his gaze away, ears splaying backwards.

“Sparkle, control your beast, will you?” Blueblood asked nervously. From behind me, Twilight snorted in irritation. Celestia’s ear twitched once, but her expression never changed. I could feel all eyes on me as I stared at Blueblood.

After several seconds, I began to chuckle.

Blueblood’s head snapped around, his eyes widening as he stared at me in shock. His mouth opened and closed wordlessly.

My laughter grew louder, my smile widening, as I stared at the terrified unicorn. Flashing my teeth at him, I reached out and grabbed a hold of his cheek, giving it a hard pinch and a shake. As I released his face, he jerked backwards, scrambling to get some distance between himself and me.

Straightening back up, I kept the smile on my face as I turned and looked at Celestia. The guards beside her were staring at me in shock, some with their mouths hanging open. Ignoring them, I focused instead on the princess, who was giving me an amused look.

~It’ll do~ I signed with a nod of my head.

“Very good,” Celestia said, returning the nod. “Well, if that’s taken care of, we’ll get out of your mane.” Turning, she looked down at her guards and gave them a flick of her head. “Back to the castle, Captain Tempest.” One of the guards, a white pegasus mare with a blue mane, nodded her head and gave a brief salute. Turning, she barked orders at the stunned guards, snapping them out of their stupor.

As the guards began to march off, Celestia turned and gave me a strange look. Her magenta eyes narrowed and she chewed on her bottom lip. Whatever she was thinking, she seemed to make up her mind as she snorted and nodded once.

“We’ll be seeing you soon,” she said softly before turning and walking off. After several feet, she paused and looked back at Blueblood, who hadn’t moved. He was just staring off into space, a stunned look on his face.

Tsking softly and shaking her head, Celestia smirked at the frozen pony. Lighting up her horn, she grabbed a hold of Blueblood’s tail and began to drag him backwards through the snow.

As he was dragged off, Blueblood’s eyes landed on me. I slowly lifted my hand up and pointed at him, before motioning from my eyes to his. As his eyes widened, I smiled again and waved as Celestia pulled him around a corner.

Crossing my arms again and tucking my head back into the neck of my sweater, I turned and found Ebony, Twilight and the Battlemages looking at me.

“Was that necessary?” Ebony asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Yes,” replied Twilight before I could. “Yes it was.” Looking down, she studied the last bite of her doughnut before popping it into her mouth. Ebony just shrugged before snuggling back down into her scarf.

The sound of wing beats filled the air, and I glanced up as Avera dropped from the sky. Coming to a stop a few feet from the snowy ground, she hovered in front of us.

“Where have you been?” Twilight asked her before swallowing the remains of her doughnut.

“Taking care of something,” Avera said with a smirk as she alit upon the ground in a flurry of snow.

“Taking care of what?” Twilight asked, eyeing the mare.

“Something,” came the vague reply. Turning, the black pegasus looked at me and her smile grew. I allowed myself to smile as well, although she couldn’t see it with half my head inside my sweater.

~So, were you able to do it?~ I asked her.

“Was I able to do it,” she snarked, shaking her head. She reached a hoof into her saddlebags, pulled out a bottle, and threw it to me. Catching it, I glanced down at it and saw that it was an empty bottle of itching powder.

My smile grew.

“What’s that?” Twilight asked, trying to get a look at the bottle in my hand. I ignored her and tossed the bottle back to Avera. ~Any trouble?~

“None,” she said, slipping the bottle back into her bag. As she opened the flap, I caught sight of several more empty bottles. Closing the flap, Avera continued, the smile still on her face, “Getting inside the penthouse was easy. His window wasn’t even locked. I put some of that stuff on the chairs and sofas, sprinkled it on the rugs, threw it on the dining room tablecloth, sprinkled some into his… fun toys, covered his bed and sheets with it, as well as his pillows, and got some onto his bath towels. That’s when his maid caught me. Once she saw what I was doing, she gave me ten bits and took a couple of the bottles from me so that she could ‘restock the supply’ later on, after the sheets had been cleaned.”

~Excellent~

“What are you two up to?” Twilight asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked in between me and Avera. Ebony was just giving us a curious look, her face buried in her scarf. The Battlemages were scanning the area, but I knew that they were listening in, as each one had an ear pointed in our direction.

~Nothing for you to be concerned about~ I told her before patting her on the head. She opened her mouth to argue, but the sound of a train whistle cut her off. As the train pulled into the station and ponies began to disembark, Twilight sighed and shook her head.

“...let’s just go home,” she grumbled, turning and making her way towards the Royal Compartment. As she walked away, Avera and I quickly hoofbumped before following after her. With that, Twilight, Ebony, Avera, and I got on the train, leaving our Battlemage entourage behind as we began the long journey back to the quiet town of Ponyville.