I was almost back to the bedroom when my brain finally woke up enough to remind me that I had completely forgotten to talk to Celestia about my guards. Cursing my absent-mindedness, I briefly considered turning around and heading back to the Doctor's lab, but eventually decided against it. I had no idea if Celestia would even still be there or not, and I didn't want to deal with the mad griffon and changelings by myself.

Mentally reminding myself─again─to speak to Celestia about the situation, I continued down the hallway. The palace staff was up and running now, and I could hear the sounds of work echoing softly through the halls. Ahead of me, a maid crossed the hall from one open room to another, a feather duster held in her magic. She gave me a quick glance, but continued with her duties.

The windows of the hall were opened wide, allowing a pleasant spring breeze to roll in and fill the air with the fresh aroma of springtime. I took a deep breath, a small smile touching my lips.

As I rounded the corner, I nearly collided with a guard walking in the other direction. She skirted around me quickly, making a loud clicking noise with her teeth as she swatted the back of my leg with her wing, causing me to flinch. Ouch! That stung!

I huffed in annoyance before reaching back with my other leg and using my foot to nudge her flank, causing her to stumble. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw her give me a confused look, her ears perked. Her gaze darted to the back of my shirt, which had Twilight's cutie mark embroidered on it, and her eyes widened.

“S-sorry, sir,” she said, a red blush touching her cheeks, highly visible against her white fur. “I mistook you for one of the servant humans. I meant no disrespect.” The embarrassment clear on her face, she gave me a quick bow before turning and continuing down the hallway at a hurried pace, her ears pressed firmly against the back of her head and tail tucked between her legs.

I watched her go, a brow raised in confusion. What was the wing slap suppose to correct? Continuing to stare after the guard for a few more seconds, I then shrugged my shoulders. Whatever.

Pushing the matter from my mind, I walked past several more guest room doors before reaching the correct one.

Twilight wasn't present when I entered. Her side of the bed was empty, and the bathroom was unoccupied. A rolled-up scroll rested upon my pillow, tied together with a thin bit of string. The balcony doors were opened wide, a warm breeze stirring the curtains.

Picking up the scroll, I approached the opened doors. As I unraveled the string, I peered outside. There were a few lavender feathers scattered across the balcony, the breeze teasing them along the floor. Every so often, a particularly large gust of wind would pick them up and throw a couple off of the edge.

I leaned against the doorframe as I unrolled the scroll. A quick glance over it revealed Twilight's familiar hornwriting.

Max,

Gone to take care of something special for later. Depending on when you get done with Dr. Mac Griffon, meet me in the gardens around 3:00pm, okay?

Love,

Twilight Sparkle

I blinked a couple of times, a small frown touching my face. How did she know where I was? Celestia never told me where we were going until we got there, so she couldn’t have overheard, could she? Reading the note a couple more times, I flipped the paper around and glanced at the back of it, which was blank.

What special thing does she have planned? I thought as I rerolled the scroll and slipped the string back around it. She hadn't told me she had anything planned for today, although no one really told me anything anymore. Which was fine by me; I liked to go with the flow anyways. That way, if something came up, it didn't derail your original plans.

A glance at the clock informed me that it was a little after eleven-thirty. I still had just over three hours before I was supposed to meet Twilight in the gardens for whatever she had planned. Scratching at my beard, I tried to figure out what I was going to do with myself until then. Luckily, my stomach decided at that moment to provide me with an answer as it growled loudly. I smiled to myself as I tossed the note back onto my pillow. To the kitchen!

Pushing the door to the bedroom open, I strolled out into the hall. It took me a second to orient myself and remember where the kitchens were located, but when I had, I quickly headed off in their general direction. If I got lost, I could either wander around until I found them, or find a guard that could actually understand me and point me in the right direction.

Upstairs and downstairs I went, humming tunelessly to myself as I traversed the many halls of the castle. I would occasionally come across a maid or two, doing their jobs diligently. They ignored me for the most part, only shooting me a glance or two as I passed. Occasionally one would have a human with them—dressed in a plain, white smock—who was helping them with their cleaning.

I had just reached the ground floor and was beginning my search for the food when I heard the sound of something running up behind me. I turned to see what was approaching, only to be about bowled over as a human raced by me.

Quickly moving to the side, I let him run past, not wanting to get in his way.

He had only taken a couple dozen steps before he suddenly slid to a stop in the middle of the hall. Breathing heavily, he glanced back towards me, cocking his head to the side and giving a soft chirp. He shuffled in place, glancing back and forth between me and the direction that he had originally been running, clearly anxious about something.

After a few seconds of indecision, he huffed loudly before turning and stalking back down the hall towards me.

I tensed up as he approached, unsure of his intention. He didn’t appear hostile, but I wanted to be on the safe side, just in case.

He stopped just in front of me, and I was able to get a good look at him. Standing a head shorter than me, he had to tilt his head back just to look up at my face. He was donned in a white smock, a golden sun embroidered on the center, with a rope wrapped around his waist acting as a belt. A white collar around his neck bore the numbers ‘626’.

All-in-all, he looked like a normal equestrian human, although slightly rough around the edges.

Huffing again, he made several soft cooing noises followed by a sharp chirp. He repeated this several times—each one sounding more and more impatient—until he finally reached out and grabbed ahold of the front of my shirt.

Reaching up quickly, I yanked his hand off of me with a low growl. When he reached up to grab at me again, I swatted his hand away and took a step back.

What the fuck do you want? I thought as I bared my teeth, trying to intimidate him.

The human whimpered softly, bobbing his head a couple of times before making a low clicking noise with his teeth. I tried to brush past him, but he would just grab onto my shirt again and I would be forced to pry myself free.

I was just about to turn around and head in the other direction when a guard rounded the corner, looking flustered. Upon seeing the pair of us, his expression changed to relieve and he laughed.

“There you are, ya bastard,” he chuckled as he approached. His horn lit up and the human was lifted into the air, where he immediately went limp.

“I’m sorry if he was bothering you, sir,” the guard said to me as he levitated the human behind him. “He got out of his kennel and pulled a runner on me when I wasn’t looking. Managed to get the lock open and everything. I swear, we’ve never had this issue before,” he continued, glancing over his shoulder at the human. “Those locks were designed to be human-proof, but somehow they’ve recently managed to figure out how to open them from the inside.”

He trailed off as I stared down at him, and blank expression on my face, and eyebrow cocked. Licking his lips, he swallowed loudly before saying weakly, “I’ll just let you get back to your day, sir.” With that, he turned and quickly trotted off in the direction he had come from. The human chirped loudly as he was levitated along behind the unicorn.

I watched the pair go, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

What the hell was that? I thought as they disappeared around the corner. I stared after them for a few more seconds before my stomach growled again, reminding me of what I was originally doing.

Taking one last glance over my shoulder, I turned and headed in the opposite direction that the guard had went, whistling softly to myself.

“Oye, you can’t be in here!” the overweight earth pony chef cried, waving a wooden spoon at me as he chased me around the busy kitchen. The other kitchen staff paused in their duties in order to watch, several of them stifling their laughter with flour-covered hooves.

I scampered quickly around the kitchen, dodging his wild swings.

“Hey, put that down!” he cried as I grabbed two pieces of flatbread. “Down! Down, I say! Heel!”

Batting the spoon away with my hands, I quickly jump over a mare that was kneading a large pile of dough. She giggled, ducking slightly to allow me over before returning to her task.

Throwing the two pieces of flatbread onto a nearby kitchen island, I glanced around the kitchen─dodging the chef’s spoon in the process─as I searched for the ingredients I needed to complete my meal. My eyes lit up upon seeing a mare messing around with a large wheel of cheese. Ducking under another swipe from the spoon, I quickly made my way over to her.

She flinched upon seeing me heading towards her, only to sigh in relief as I grabbed a chunk of cheese she had just recently sliced off. Snatching up a nearby grater as well, I quickly rushed back to my flatbread and began to liberally grate the cheese over one of the pieces.

“No, what are you doing?!” the chef cried, grabbing his head in his hooves, the whites of his eyes showing. “Stop this at once!”

I ignored him and continued to gather more ingredients. Diced tomatoes, chunks of spicy peppers, onions, a little more cheese, and some black beans; all of them went on top of one of the pieces of flatbread. I assembled everything I needed while running a circle around the island, the chef hot on my heels, ranting and raving as he went.

Once I had gathered all the ingredients, I threw a bit of butter onto one of the many hot flat grills currently running. It began to melt almost immediately, coating the grill in a thin layer of melted butter.

The chef nearly had a heart attack.

“Butter! On my grill!” he screeched, his pupils shrinking to mere pinpricks. “What horror! This isn’t a two-bit restaurant! This is the royal kitchen! Nooooo!” He swung the spoon frantically, the wooden utensil a blur as it whistled through the air.

I winced as he landed several stinging blows across my back. Baring my teeth, I thrashed about with my arms, trying to grab the spoon out of his hooves. It took me a few attempts, but I finally managed to snatch it out of his grip. Tossing it aside, I quickly flipped him the bird before returning my attention to my concoction.

Carefully picking up the laden flatbread, I placed the second piece on top of it, smushing the ingredients together between the two. By that point, the butter had completely melted over the grill, evenly covering the heated steel. I tossed the makeshift sandwich onto the grill. A loud hiss filled the air, followed by the sweet smell of cooking food.

A nearby mare crept forward, a curious look on her face.

“What… what is he doing?” she asked, ears perked.

“Ruining my grill, that’s what he’s doing!” the chef shouted, scampering to find his spoon. “Possessed human, demented human, ruining my kitchen! Guards, help!”

The mare rolled her eyes, before returning to watching what I was doing.

Hissing over my shoulder at the overweight pony, I picked up a nearby heated skillet─which was full of diced potatoes─and placed it on top of the two pieces of flatbread. Melted cheese immediately began to ooze out the sides with a hiss as I pressed down with the pan, holding it in place.

The chef came at me again, having found his spoon.

“Do you know how long it will take to clean that cheese off, you filthy human?!” he squawked.

Keeping the pan pressed down upon my cooking quesadilla, I balanced myself on one leg while using the other one to hold the angry chef at bay. Unable to reach me properly, he opted instead to attack my leg with a vengeance. Spoon met shin several times, and I winced with each strike.

That’s gonna leave a bruise, I grimaced. Trying to ignore the growing pain in my leg, I peek under the skillet, eyeing the cooking quesadilla. The cheese was fully melted now, gluing the two pieces of flatbread together.

I poked it with a finger, only to hiss and stick said finger in my mouth as I burned myself. I think it’s done, I thought as I ran my tongue over the stinging flesh. Removing the finger from my mouth, I wiped it off on my pants before returning my attention to the quesadilla. Before I could do anything else, a metal spatula floated in front of my face, suspended in a reddish aura.

Glancing to my left, I spotted a unicorn mare cutting carrots at another counter. Her horn was alight with the same colored aura, and she glanced over her shoulder at me, smirking. Her eyes seemed to flash red for a moment, but that could have just been the trick of the light.

“This might help,” she said in a condescending tone.

Grabbing the spatula out of her magic, I gave her the bird as well before carefully scooping the quesadilla off of the grill and onto a nearby, cleanish looking plate. I then proceeded to scrape as much of the excess cheese off of the grill surface as possible, placing it on top of the quesadilla. Waste not, want not. Then, using the edge of the spatula, I cut the quesadilla up into eight slices, thick strands of cheese connecting the individual pieces.

While all of this was going on, Chef Boyardee was still whaling on me. Having finished with the spatula, I used it to swat his muzzle. He immediately stopped hitting me, instead reaching up to grab his stinging muzzle. As he did so, I removed my foot from his chest, causing him to topple forward onto his face. This earned a couple of more laughs from the surrounding workers, including an effeminate-looking stallion.

I had just moved to pick up my food when the side door flew open, and two guards burst in.

“What’s going on in here!?” one of them asked, glancing around at the ensuing chaos. Oops, time to go!

Quickly picking up my quesadilla, I ducked down beneath the counter before the guards could get a good look at me. Hurrying along, I made a beeline for a pair of doors at the opposite end of the room.

As I pushed my way through the doors, I heard one of the guards shout, “Hey, stop!”

When hell freezes over, pal, I thought. Ignoring the guards, I quickly ran off down the corridor and ducked through the first door on my left, only to find myself in the guards’ mess hall.

There was barely anybody there at the moment, just a dozen or so Royal guards and a couple of Lunar guards near the door. The Lunar guards glanced up at me as I entered, giving me some curious looks before returning to their card game.

I glanced quickly around the room, looking for a place to lay low, only to smile when I spotted three familiar faces sitting in the far corner of the room. Without missing a beat, I hurried over and collapsed upon the bench, my quesadilla nearly sliding off the plate in the process.

“What the─” Avera squawked as I sat down, nearly falling out of her seat in surprise. Upon seeing who it was, she calmed down and gave me a confused look. “Well, this is a surprise. Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here? I would have thought you’d be hanging out with Twilight.” Beside her, Ebony was eyeing my plate curiously, her nostrils flaring. Primrose just scooted over in order to give me room.

~What?~ I signed as I placed the plate on the table. ~I can’t have lunch with a few of my friends?~

Avera opened her mouth to reply, only to stop and glance over my shoulder with a look of confusion. Chancing a look as well, I saw a pair of Royal guards trotting over, their expressions stern. Shit!

Quickly turning back, I ducked my head down and started to eat my quesadilla, trying to look as innocent as possible. The first bite nearly burned my tongue, but I muscled through, enjoying the taste despite the heat.

“Excuse me, you four,” one of them spoke up, and I could feel their eyes boring into the back of my head. My body tensed and sweat started to drip down my brow.

“Can we help you, sergeant?” Ebony asked, cocking her head to the side. Avera was looking back and forth between me and the guards, her eyes dancing with mirth as a small smirk slowly grew on her face. Beside me, I felt Primrose shift slightly, lightly pressing her elbow against my side.

“We just came from the kitchen where apparently there was an issue involving this human and several of the cooks,” I heard the other one say. “We’re going to need him to come with us.”

Several cooks? There was only one! I paused in my eating when the soft ‘clink’ of chains came from behind me. The hell…?

“What─” Ebony began to say, her eyes widening, before Avera suddenly slammed her hooves on the table.

“Impossible!” she sneered, glaring over my shoulder. “It couldn’t have been him. He’s been with us the whole time!” I heard the clop of a hoof and assumed that one of the guards had taken a step back at the sudden anger.

“But…” the first one said, his voice sounding unsure.

“You did say that you just came from the kitchen,” Primrose spoke up, glancing over her shoulder at the pair, her red eyes narrowing, “and he’s been with us for nearly an hour. You do the math, sergeant, or do we need to get his owner involved?” I felt her tail slap my back, right over where Twilight’s cutie mark was.

A smirk crossed my face as I heard both guards swallow audibly. Hurray for abusing the power of friends in high places!

“I… I guess we may have been mistaken,” the first one muttered, sounding unsure of himself. “We’ll, uh… we’ll go look else where then.”

“You do that,” Primrose grunted as she turned back around. The guards hurried off, their hoofsteps fading as they exited the room.

There was a brief moment of silence before Ebony groaned loudly, her head thumping onto the table top.

“I can’t believe you two just did that,” she grumbled into the polished wood. “We’re in enough hot water as it is already!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Avera said nonchalantly, reaching forward and stealing a quesadilla slice off of my plate. “He’s been with us the whole time.” I glared at her with faux anger as she shoved the slice into her mouth. “Not bad,” she mumbled as she chewed. “A little too much cheese, in my opinion, but not bad.”

I finished chewing what was in my mouth before glancing around at them. ~Speaking of hot water, how are you guys doing?~

“Splendid,” Avera grunted through a mouthful of food as she glared at the table in front of her. “We’ve been relieved of duty until further notice pending an investigation into our actions while under your command. Until the investigation is over, we can’t leave the castle. Oh, and we also have these fun little things,” she said, motioning towards her sides.

Leaning forward, I saw that she was pointing towards a pair of bands that were wrapped around her wings, pinning them to her side. A quick glance at Primrose revealed that she had them too. Ebony, on the other hand, had a silver band around the base of her horn, which glowed a soft blue.

“Restraints,” Primrose growled, her wings twitching against the binds. “Avera and I can’t fly, and Ebony isn’t allowed to do magic until the investigation is over. For lack of a better term, we’re under house arrest.”

I swallowed thickly and stared down at the remainder of my quesadilla, my hunger temporarily forgotten. There was a tightness in my chest that made it difficult to breathe, and I nervously rubbed my hands together.

~I’m sorry~ I finally signed, not looking up.

“Beg pardon?” Primrose said, her ears perking as she glanced over at me in confusion.

~This is all my fault~ I signed. ~You’re all in trouble due to my stupid decisions~

“No,” Ebony said softly, raising her head from the table. “No, that’s not true. It’s not your fault.” I stared at her, and she cringed. “Okay, so it might be partially your fault, but it’s not like we blame you. We made several bad decisions as well. We’re in this together.”

~But you’re the ones being punished. Not me~

“Nothing to punish you for,” Primrose yawned, closing her eyes and leaning her head on a hoof. “You were our charge. We were responsible for you, not the other way around.”

Silence fell over the table as I fidgeted with my hands under the table.

~Do you regret it?~ I asked, glancing up at them through my bangs.

“Regret what?” Avera asked. “What we did?” At my nod, she paused, head cocked to the side as she considered it. After a few seconds, a small smile spread across her lips and she glanced back at me.

“Honestly,” she said, “if I was given the chance to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a single thing.”

“It was about time for me to consider other careers anyways,” Primrose huffed, an ear twitching. “There’s only so long you can be a guard before it gets to be too much. Two hundred years seems like a decent service record, no?” I blinked in surprise at her words, but before I could ask, Ebony spoke up.

“While there are some things I would change,” she said, glancing over at Avera, who was helping herself to another slice of my quesadilla, “I wouldn’t change the majority of what we’ve did. Sure, there were some stupid times, but there were some fun ones as well.”

“You’re only saying that because you got a couple of barrels of Cinnamon Apple Cider out of it,” Avera snickered, strings of cheese dangling from her muzzle. A dopey smile appeared on Ebony’s face, and she sighed happily.

“Yeah, that stuff is unbelievably delicious,” she cooed, a faraway look in her eyes. “I’d sell out the nation for a lifetime supply of that stuff.”

“Don’t let Tempest hear you say that,” Primrose warned. “She’ll use it as more evidence against us.”

“Don’t worry, tall stuff,” Avera said as she licked her muzzle clean before giving me a big smile. “Everything will work out fine. You’ll see. And if it doesn’t… well, we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.”

~You don’t have a plan for if the worst happens?~ I ask, cocking an eyebrow.

“Nah,” Avera scoffed, waving a hoof at me. “Plans are overrated. I’d much rather do it the Max way.”

~”The Max way”?~

“Blunder blindly through everything without a care in the world,” Primrose replied with a smirk. I glared at her, but she just shrugged her shoulders. “Hey, don’t be mad. She’s right, you know. Improv is kinda fun, making everything up as you go along. How did you describe it earlier, Ebony?”

“Like laying the tracks down as fast as possible while the train is hurtling towards you,” came the reply, Ebony smiling softly.

“That’s it,” Primrose said, grinning good-humoredly.

I tried to hold back my smile, but couldn’t. Snorting softly, I laughed as I shook my head, mentally reminding myself again to talk to Celestia about them and their punishment. I wouldn’t let them go down without a fight.

“That’s enough talk of that, anyways,” Primrose said. Reaching down, she pulled a deck of cards out of the pouch strapped to her thigh.

“How about a nice game of cards?” she asked as she began to shuffle the deck. “Anypony up for Old Maid?”

“Yeah! Gotta win some of my bits back!” Avera grinned, finishing off the rest of the quesadilla before pushing the plate aside.

“Sure, I’m in,” Ebony said, rubbing at the band around her horn absentmindedly.

The four of us got comfortable as Primrose started to deal out the cards. I picked up my first card and looked at it.

It was the Joker.

Despite losing track of the time due in part to a couple of fierce games of Old Maid, I still managed to make it to the gardens before three o’clock.

The soft sound of birds chirping filled the air, accompanied by the gentle hum of insects. Trees were in bloom, cherry blossoms floating lazily on the wind. The stream was babbling away, and I could see fish swimming just beneath the surface, heading towards the nearby pond. Flowers covered the ground and hedges, blues and reds and yellows mixing with the earthy green. Vines crept out from beneath several rose bushes and onto the dirt path.

I didn’t see Twilight anywhere, so I assumed that I had arrived before her. Deciding to explore a little bit while I waited, I made my way slowly down the dirt path and enjoyed my surroundings.

Hummingbirds flitted from flower to flower, dipping their long noses into the center before flying to the next one. A curious one buzzed my head, nearly sticking its beak into my ear, but I dissuaded it with a gentle wave of my hand. It flew off without further fuss.

A trio of sparrows drifted by overhead. Glancing up at the avians, I watched them spin and twirl through the air before alighting on a branch of a nearby tree, chirping happily to one another.

I wandered aimlessly, slowly moving deeper into the gardens as I went where my feet took me. I had no real destination in mind; I was just killing time until Twilight showed up.

As I rounded a bend in the hedge, I blinked upon spotting the lone statue of Discord. He was still in the position I saw him in last: his tail beneath him like a chair, hind legs crossed in an relaxed manner. He smirked out at the world blindly through steepled fingers. Vines were starting to crawl up his pedestal and tail, and his head appeared to be covered in a thin layer of grime and bird droppings.

A smirk touching my lips, I strolled over to the petrified draconequus with a swagger in my step. Reaching up, I flicked the tip of his nose with my finger. A soft ‘tink’ echoed around the clearing as my fingernail met rock.

Deep beneath Canterlot, within a large cavern dug into the surrounding stone, magic pulsed, humming softly. It flared once, illuminating the surrounding area in a sickly-yellow glow before slowly dying again. Several dozen meters away, through solid rock, a human digger paused before continuing her digging, albeit at a quicker pace. Her unicorn handler’s ear twitched, a frown of confusion crossing the guard’s face. He scratched his horn, which had suddenly become itchy, before he shook his head and returned to his duty.

After all, the digging crew was nearing their destination. Only a couple more days and they would be at the source of the strange magic.

I sneered up into Discord’s frozen eyes.

How’s the view? I snickered, tapping his nose again. Hope you’re comfortable in there.

He didn’t answer, just stared forward into nothing, oblivious to the world around him.

Taking a step back, I gave Discord’s petrified body one last look over before turning and making my way back down the path, leaving the draconequus behind. A hawk fluttered down and rested upon one of his horn’s, tilting its head and watching me through a golden eye.

I headed back towards the pond, intent on finding a nice spot to rest beneath the blooming willow trees while I waited. Sticking my hands in my pockets, I hummed a soft tone as I walked.

We lay my love and I beneath the weeping willow…

Lying flat beneath a large rosebush, Silent Blade eyed the human through the foliage, her yellow eyes unblinking. Beside her, her partner, Arsenic, was watching as well, his eyes narrowed, a small frown on his face. He shifted, wincing as a root dug into his stomach, before glancing sideways at her.

“Are you sure this is the human?” he asked, his voice a raspy whisper. He was a medium-sized earth pony, his fur a dark gray color that allowed him to blend into the shadows. His mane, trimmed short, was dyed black, as were his fetlocks. A black horseshoe was painted on his forehead, the signature mark of their order: the Blackhoofs.

Silent nodded her head.

“Yes,” she hissed, not taking her eyes off of the human as he walked through the garden. “He matches the description and has the princess’s mark on his back. It’s him.” Silent didn’t know what the human had done to warrant a killing, but that didn’t matter. Dark Spice had told the pair that the Archmage wanted him taken out, and that was enough for her. A loyal Blackhoof never questioned orders if they knew what was good for them.

The pair of assassins had been tracking the human for most of the day, ever since he had parted ways with Princess Celestia. However, much to Silent’s annoyance, they couldn’t seem to get an opportune moment to strike. There had been a maid outside of his room that would have heard the commotion, and while he was walking the hall, there always seemed to be at least one guard around the human at all times.

However, now that he had finally left the inside of the castle and was alone in the garden, this was their moment to strike.

Noiselessly reaching her hoof back, Silent grasped the handle of the knife she kept strapped to her lower back. It was a long, straight bladed dagger with a darkwood handle. A small ruby was embedded in the bottom of the handle, acting like a pommel.

The blade slid out of the sheath with a whisper, the steel glinting in the broken sunlight peaking through the wall of leaves. Beside her, Arsenic did the same, his blade tainted with his specially made cocktail mix of poison.

The pair slithered out of the bush, their hoofsteps silent in the grass. Sticking to the shadows, they crept along, following several dozen meters behind the human as he headed towards the nearby pond.

Silent grimaced in annoyance as they were suddenly faced with a flaw in their plan. The area between the pond and the garden was nothing but open space; no cover to allow them to hide. The human would notice them before they even got close enough to strike. She and Arsenic were forced to duck behind the last hedge in the row to avoid detection. Peering around the corner, the pair watched as the human settled down with his back against one of the many willow trees surrounding the pond, his feet dangling just above the water.

Silent’s ear twitched as she picked up the faint sound of humming coming from the human. He leaned against the tree, putting his hands behind his head.

A soft smile touched Silent’s lips. He suspected nothing. This was going to be an easy kill. The human would be dead and they would be long gone before anypony knew what had happened.

The human closed his eyes, clearly enjoying the spring day. Silent’s eyes widened. This is it.

Glancing over her shoulder, she nodded to Arsenic before making a soft clicking noise and pointing at the human. Her partner grinned wickedly around the knife handle in his mouth before nodding as well. Moving quickly, he stepped out from behind the hedge and faced the oblivious human.

One hundred feet separated him from his prey. He could easily run it before the human was even aware of his presence. The poor bastard wouldn’t know what hit him. The poison blade between his ribs would see to that.

Arsenic took a step forward, muscles tensing as he prepared to spring forward, only to have a blue blur suddenly slam into him, knocking him backwards through the air. His head whipped to the side due to the force of the collision, the knife knocked free. He crashed into the ground with a grunt as the air was forced from his lungs. Pain immediately flared through his shoulder.

Trying to ignore the pain, Arsenic quickly rolled over onto his stomach and stood up. He heard his attacker groan nearby, and hurriedly started to look for his knife. The throbbing pain in his shoulder was beginning to fade, replaced instead by a wet sensation, which slowly dripped down his foreleg. Confused, Arsenic turned his head and inspected his injured shoulder. His eyes widened in alarm as he saw his own knife sticking out of his shoulder blade, the blade sunk halfway into his flesh as blood flowed down his leg.

He had accidentally stabbed himself with his own poisoned blade!

As the cold, numbing sensation slowly began to spread through his body, Arsenic opened his mouth to cry out, but a hoof was shoved hard against his muzzle, silencing him and cracking several of his teeth in the process. His attacker pressed against his back, forcing him to the ground beneath their weight and keeping him pinned there. Arsenic tried to struggle, but he could already feel the poison going to work, his special blend of herbs and toxins causing his vision to begin to blur. His limbs weren’t listening to his brain anymore, and he could feel himself slowly slipping into unconsciousness. The pony on his back was hissing something in his ear, but the words were muffled and distorted; he couldn’t make out what was being said.

His eyelids, suddenly so heavy, slowly began to close against his will. He fought back briefly, but to no avail. The last thing to enter Arsenic mind before he slipped into the darkness forever was, What hit me?

…

Silent yelped as Arsenic suddenly went flying backwards, tackled by a blue blur of fur and feathers that fell out of the sky like a thunderbolt. What in Tartarus was that!?

Swearing explosively, she whirled around quickly, knife bared, in order to help her partner, only to freeze when a sharp whistle sounded behind her. That’s impossible! she screamed in her head. How the buck did somepony sneak up on her!? There had been nopony around, and she hadn’t heard anypony approaching.

Wheeling around quickly to deal with the new threat, she thrust her knife through the air, only to have it batted aside by a wing. The knife fell from her grasp, and before she had time to recover, the new pony spoke up.

“Ma’am.”

Stars exploded in front of Silent’s eyes as something hard slammed into the side of her head. The last thing she saw before she fell unconscious was a grinning gray muzzle, and a brilliant pair of blue eyes behind it.

I wasn’t sure how long I was sitting there waiting for Twilight, but I didn’t mind the delay. With the warm weather, cool shade, and pleasant breeze, as well as the birdsong in the background, I found myself in a very relaxed state. In fact, I was having difficulty in staying awake as I sat there, staring out across the calm waters of the pond.

I had just started to doze off when I heard my name shouted from a distance. Sitting up, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I looked around. The shout came again and I glanced up, a smile crossing my face as I saw Twilight fluttering down towards the pond.

“There you are!” she chirped as she alit on the grass in front of me, a large smile on her face. She was practically brimming with excitement, her tail swishing back and forth energetically. She nuzzled my cheek happily, one of her ears flicking as she inhaled deeply.

“So, how did your meeting with the Doctor go?” she asked after pulling back.

~He’s kinda grabby~ I signed as I stood up, dusting my pants off. ~Talk about no concern for personal space~

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Twilight giggled, bouncing on the tips of her hooves. “You should have seen him in the weeks after the Changelings Invasion. There was a lot of guards complaining that he was sticking probes in places where probes should never go.”

I grimaced, suddenly glad that all he did was try and pry my jaw off.

~So, anyways, what’s up?~ I asked the bouncing mare. ~Why’d you want me to meet you here? You note was kinda vague~

Twilight began to fidget, her ears splaying sideways as a small blush touched her face.

“W-well, you see… it wasn’t that I wanted to meet you in this exact spot. It’s just the first place that came to mind that we could meet up for─” she paused, scuffing at the ground with a hoof “─you know what? I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Hang on a second.”

I gave her a confused look, only to yelp as her horn suddenly lit up and the world dissolved into white. A feeling of weightlessness came over me, followed by the feeling of nausea as my stomach threatened to regurgitate my lunch. Just as suddenly as it had come, the feeling left and the whiteness faded away as the world returned.

I blinked in surprise, looking around at our new location. Twilight had teleported us into a small, carpeted room. A round table sat in the middle of the room, a large couch wrapping around it in a semicircle along the back wall. The walls were plain, and a small glass chandelier hung from the ceiling above the table. There were no windows, but there was a door.

~Where are we?~ I asked, glancing around the room.

“We’re in one of the private rooms just off of the main ballroom,” Twilight answered, her wings fluttering nervously by her side. She chewed on her bottom lip, unable to look me in the eye. “Um, c-could… could you stay here for a second while I make sure everything is set?”

Pulling my gaze from the chandelier, I turned to look at her, tilting my head slightly to the right to get a better look.

~Make sure what’s set?~ I asked. ~What are you planning?~

“It’s a surprise,” Twilight repeated as she backed up towards the door, giving me a weak smile. “Just… just stay in here until I call you, okay?”

I eyed her for a few more seconds─my brow furrowed─before sighing and nodding my head.

Twilight’s smile grew, her ears perking up.

“Excellent,” she said, opening the door. “I’ll just be a moment!” With that, she slipped out, closing the door behind her with a soft ‘click’.

I waited for a few seconds before walking over and pressing my ear against the door. I could just barely make out the muffled sound of voices on the other side, although I couldn’t hear what was being said or by whom. It sounded like two ponies, though.

Pulling myself away from the door, I scratched at my beard in contemplation. What are you up to, Twilight? I eyed the closed door for a few more seconds before deciding that whatever it was, it couldn’t be all that bad.

Moving over to the couch, I flopped down on it and waited.

I wasn’t kept waiting long. After about five minutes of silence, the door was suddenly surrounded by a rosey aura, and it cracked open. From the other side, I heard Twilight call nervously, “O-okay, you can come out now.”

Upon exiting the room, I found myself in a massive ballroom; the same one that the gala had been held in. Thin, purple curtains had been pulled over the windows, and the light bleeding through cast the entire room in a lavender haze. The lights far above had been dimmed, keeping the room in a nice state of semi-darkness. Between the lights and the covered windows there was just enough light to see by, but not enough to take away from the atmosphere.

The ballroom was almost completely bare; no tables or chairs present anywhere within. Instead, a large, velvet carpet had been spread out across the marble floor, with handfuls of rose petals scattered about. The sweet scent of lilacs reached my nose, as well as a hint of raspberry.

And there, standing in the center of all of this, with a light blush on her face, was Twilight.

I had to do a double take when I finally saw her: she was breathtaking. She had on a lavender saddle—a few shades lighter than her coat—that had decorative frills extending out, over her croup. There was a matching choker around her neck. A bow rested behind her left ear, a white rose accenting the piece. White beads hung from the bow, traveling up to wrap delicately around her horn. Her cheeks had a subtle touch of rouge on them, and her eyes were accented by a some mascara.

She fidgeted under my gaze, her blush growing stronger.

“D-do you like it?” she asked, lowering her head slightly. “I’ve never really done something like this, at least, not without Rarity’s help. I hope it’s not too much.”

Closing my mouth—which had fallen open—with an audible ‘click’, I waved my arms at her before managing to sign, ~You… you look gorgeous!~

This caused her face to go bright red, and her ears splayed off to the sides.

“R-really?” she asked, looking at me through her bangs.

~Yeah, I just… I…~

Wow, I have no words for this, I thought as I continued to stare wide-eyed at her.

~You look amazing~ I finally managed to sign. Glancing down at my clothing, I laughed softly. ~I feel a little underdressed now~

“Oh, you didn’t need to dress up,” Twilight said, rubbing a hoof against the carpet. “This is more of a surprise for you, and also something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.” Upon seeing my confused look, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steadying her nerves.

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and gave me a warm—if somewhat nervous—smile. Bowing her head, she flared her wings slightly before asking, “May I have this dance?”

The minute the words left her lips, soft music began to play to my right. Glancing around, I blinked in surprise when I saw Octavia standing on the stage, a large cello in her hooves and a soft smile on her face.

“She asked for my help putting this together,” she said as she continued to play softly. “Can’t dance without music. I was more than happy to help. Besides, now you owe me a favor. We’ll discuss that at a different time, though. For now, I’m not the pony you’re suppose to be paying attention to.” She nodded her head towards Twilight, who was still waiting for my answer.

Glancing down at Twilight, I signed, ~I can’t dance~

“That’s okay,” she replied, her smile not fading. “I can’t really either. We’ll figure it out together.”

~In that case~ I said, returning her smile, ~I’d be more than happy to dance with you~

Twilight’s face lit up, and she ‘squee’d softly before composing herself. Walking over to me, she flared her wings before standing up on her hind legs, and wrapping her forelegs around my neck. I placed my hands on her barrel in order to stabilize her. In the position, she was almost the same height as me, her muzzle just a few inches shy of reaching my cheek.

We started off shaky at first, and there was several times that Twilight nearly stumbled, not used to being just on her hind hooves. However, we soon managed to develop a rhyme to our dancing, the position allowing her to rest most of her upper-body weight upon my chest and shoulders. With that, it became a simple matter of making sure she didn’t step on my feet with her hooves.

Octavia was very patient as we struggled to become familiar with the movements, playing the music slower in order to accommodate us, as well as pausing whenever Twilight stumbled or I misstepped. As we became more in tune with one another, she gradually began to increase the tempo to a more reasonable pace. Soon enough, she was playing normally as we danced along.

The sweet sound of the cello filled the air as Twilight and I swayed back and forth. No fancy stepping, no intricate dance moves. Just a simple to-and-fro motion as we held each other, slowly turning in a circle.

As we danced, I stared into her eyes. They seemed to sparkle in the low light, and I found myself slowly become lost in her lavender irises. She was staring back at me, both of her eyes focused on my one good one.

The world slowly faded away as the music continued to play, until it was just us; just me and Twilight. Nothing else mattered in the moment. The entire world could have been crumbling down around us, and we probably wouldn’t have noticed, lost as we were in each others gazes.

Twilight’s wings slowly wrapped around me, holding me close to her as she placed her head upon my shoulder, the faint scent of lavender filling my senses. I could feel her heart beat against my chest, and her breath tickled my ear every time she exhaled. I ran a hand softly down her back, and she shivered.

Seconds, minutes, hours; I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but Octavia played dutifully on, never missing a beat. One song flowed into another as Twilight and I lost ourselves in the moment.

I’m not sure which of us stopped moving first, but eventually we stopped dancing and just stood there, enjoying the others embrace. The music slowly trailed off as Octavia finished up the last song, and a peaceful silence descended upon the room.

I felt Twilight's grip around my neck tighten slightly, and she nuzzled my cheek. The feeling of damp fur upon my face concerned me for a moment, until she whispered in my ear, “Thank you.” As she pulled away, I saw that she had a big smile on her face, as well as tears in her eyes.

“Thank you,” she repeated a little louder as she rubbed at her eyes with a hoof.

“I must say,” Octavia spoke up , her voice soft, “you two make a fine couple. It always warms my heart to see young love.” As she placed her cello back in the case, she shot us a warm smile.

“‘Young love’,” Twilight chuckled as she finished wiping her eyes. “Come on, Ms. Octavia. You aren’t that much older than me.”

“I’m older than you think, Princess Sparkle,” she replied, her smile turning into a smirk. “Anyways, don’t you have something else you want to do with your mate?” She nodded towards me as she spoke, closing her case and locking it.

Twilight looked confused for a second, but then her eyes lit up.

“Oh yeah!” she chirped. Turning to look up at me, she smiled. “I asked the kitchen staff to prepare us a nice, relaxing dinner for this evening. I was thinking we could take it up to the observatory and watch the sunset, as well as stargaze a little. What do you think?”

~That sounds wonderful~ I signed with a smile.

Dancing on her hooves excitedly, Twilight giggled before darting towards the door. Halfway to it, she stopped and glanced back over her shoulder, giving me an expectant look.

I just chuckled and made to follow her, but paused when Octavia spoke up behind me, “I’m sorry to intrude on your date, but if I may have a word with your mate.” I glanced over my shoulder to see her giving Twilight a questioning look.

Twilight blinked in surprise. “Oh, um… I guess?” She gave me a confused look before shrugging. “I’ll just wait outside then. Please don’t take too long, though.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t keep him long,” Octavia called after her as she exited the ballroom. “I just have a quick thing to discuss.” As the door closed, she turned her attention to me.

“She is rather smitten by you. You do realize that, don’t you?” she said. “She was nearly out of breath when she showed up on our doorstep this morning, begging for help in making this date possible. You’re very lucky.”

I nodded in agreement, having nothing to write on.

“That’s not the reason I wanted to speak to you, however,” she continued, her smile fading. She suddenly became serious, staring up at me with a cool, neutral expression on her face.

She was silent for several seconds before saying, “Vinyl wishes to speak with you, in person. She requests that you meet her tomorrow, four o’clock, at the Mystic Melody Club on High Stable road, in Canterlot. She asks that you don’t be late.”

With that, she turned and, picking up her cello case, trotted off, leaving me standing there, confused and bewildered. I watched as she exited out a side door to the ballroom. It wasn’t until the door closed behind her that I moved to follow Twilight, all while wondering what Vinyl wanted.

But, that was a concern for later. Right now, I had a date to attend to.