I was never the most clever guy upon first waking up, especially from being knocked unconscious. There was a little kind of mental “reboot” that was necessary, and so awareness and cognizance tended to come back a little at a time.

Which is why I noticed a number of things only one at a time. I was alive; I was in a fair amount of pain; I was actually alive; I was cold; I was freaking alive, and I was tied down to something that was rocking back and forth a bit more violently than I felt comfortable with.

And then, through the objections of a throbbing headache, I opened my eyes... and found only clear blue sky above me. And to the left of me, and to the right of me. Below me I found patchy clouds, and below them, much farther away than I would like, the ground. I had to arch my neck to look at what was keeping me aloft- two armored pegasi, seemingly twins, at least from the limited view I had in my position. Then again, it had appeared to me that all of the golden-armored ponies had looked alike, though I certainly was no expert.

I'm being flown somewhere was my only thought.

I didn't have problems with heights, really. You'd likely never see me hang gliding or skydiving, sure, but I could look down from a high spot and be perfectly fine... if I was on my feet. Being tied to a rickety wooden platform was an entirely different case, and it took more than a little effort for me to calm myself down and convince myself that I wasn't bound to take a very long trip with a very sudden stop at the end.

There was absolutely nothing I could do but wait. The ponies had me, and they were obviously taking me somewhere. Once I got there, then I'd see what would happen... and until then, resting and collecting myself was the best out of the very few options I had open to me- so that's precisely what I did.

(-)

Air Sergeant York practically threw the year-old magazine aside as the doctor finally opened the door and trotted out of the intensive-care unit- only to yelp as he found a fairly large and fully-armored pegasus practically charging up to him. “How is he, doc?” she said quietly.

The unicorn cleared his throat. “Aircolt Swift Wind is... alive, in critical condition but stabilized, at least for the time being. He's very lucky- we have a visiting trauma specialist from Vanhoofer who was doing some training with our staff when you brought your injured Guard in. I'm not sure Aircolt Wind would've survived had he not been here.”

“Thank Celestia for moderately-sized miracles.” York let out a soft sigh. “What's his outlook?”

“We're not sure. The surgery was tricky; the amount of damage that metal slug did....” The doctor shivered. “He also hasn't awakened yet. It's possible he might not for quite some time- it's not uncommon for ponies who've suffered acute trauma to lapse into a coma-like state until the healing process is done, or at least nearly so.”

“So there's no way to use magic to make it go faster? I mean, I don't want to rush things, but finding out what happened is kind of a priority.”

The doctor shook his head. “Healing magic can be very problematic. Princess Twilight did about the best I've seen anypony do with on-the-spot thaumatic coagulation and epithelialization acceleration....” He caught her blank stare and cleared his throat. “Ahem. In laypony's terms, healing magic basically makes the damaged parts of the body heal faster. But if done too quickly or with too much intensity, you can run into a host of issues even worse than the original injury- from the rest of the body being drained of essential reserves by grossly-accelerated healing, to tissue malformation and organ malfunction, even to spontaneous cancerous growth.”

York winced. “Ouch. I guess that explains why ponies still need hospital stays after getting hurt.”

“We've made great strides over the years, but in the end basic biology still has its say.” The unicorn shrugged. “But I'm sure you're not here to listen to medical lectures. Did you want to see Aircolt Wind?”

She considered for a moment, then shook her head. “Not if he's sleeping, no. Probably better to let him get his rest. I do need an official diagnosis for my chain of command, though, so that we can push the paperwork through and get him what he needs.”

“Certainly; I'll do that right now. Just a moment.” And it took him about that long to write up a half-page's worth of medical jargon that York hardly understood. “Oh, one more thing, if I may,” he asked as she plucked the paper out of his magic field.

“What's that?”

“The, err... the creature they're calling the Everfree Yeti. I've heard that it was taken to Canterlot... do you know anything about it?”

York felt a cold anger shoot through her for a moment at the mention of the monster's “name”, before she squashed it down. “Sorry, doc, but that's above my pay grade.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I won't keep you any longer. Rest assured that Aircolt Wind is in the best hooves here at Ponyville Hospital. We'll send word to the guardpost if anything changes.”

“Yeah. Thanks, doc.” York tucked the paper away in a small pouch hidden behind her peytral, then went to the nearest balcony and took off into the late-afternoon sky.

(-)

“So why're we bringing him to Canterlot when we've got a perfectly good hospital at Ponyville, Twi?” Dash asked. “I mean, he looked pretty messed up.”

“Unfortunately, Ponyville Hospital has almost no expertise in treating non-ponies. Remember what happened with Spike two and a half years ago?” Twilight sighed. “I've had lots of long talks with the mayor since then... it's just not cost-effective to keep a specialist on-site when the town has exactly one non-equine citizen and sees maybe three more in a year. I quit arguing with her about it when I ascended and could just either teleport Spike to Canterlot or bring a doctor from there to here pretty much inside of a minute.”

“Oh, gotcha. So you're getting the Yeti-” she coughed slightly when Twilight shot her a look- “I mean, the creature brought here so that doctors who work on other species can have a look at him?”

“Precisely.” She gazed out into the skies expectantly.

Dash was about to make a comment on something when she heard Fluttershy speak up. “Um... Twilight?” she asked hesitantly. “Are... are you okay?”

She saw Twilight open her mouth to speak, pause a moment, then close her mouth again and shake her head. “I don't think I am, no,” she said quietly. “But there's no time to talk about it right now. Fluttershy, as soon as the guards land, I'll need you working with the castle medical staff, and... two others to help determine his condition and whatever treatment he might need. Rainbow Dash, I'll want you on standby in the event that he escapes again. Remember that you must not touch him while you're flying- if he does get loose, just trail him so that others can find him.”

Dash blinked in confusion. “Wait, hang on. Why would I have to worry about not touching him while I'm flying?”

“You saw what happened when Rarity tried to lift him, didn't you? Somehow the creature either absorbs or negates magic.”

“Okay, whoa. You told me yourself that kind of thing's impossible.”

Twilight stared at her in shock. “You remember one of my lectures?”

“Yeah, I tend to remember things when you use words I can understand, egghead!” Dash gave her friend a playful glance.

“Well, how 'bout you clue th' rest of us in, Profess'r Dash?” Applejack teased.

With an assenting nod from Twilight, Dash cleared her throat. “Okay. Magic's kinda like water, you see? Now, when you've got water, you can boil it into steam or freeze it into ice. But whatever you do to it, it doesn't just 'go away'. Even if you can't see water vapor, it's still there, and it's gotta go somewhere, even if it turns back into rain or becomes dew or fog or something.”

“That's essentially correct, yes.” Twilight nodded, and Dash felt a peculiar pride in being right about something complex. “And I can't explain just how it is the creature did what he did... but you felt it, didn't you, Applejack? When you tried to lift him?”

“Boy howdy, did I.” The cowpony took off her hat. “Everythin' was okay for the first few seconds... then I felt like somebody'd put a tap in mah leg and was drainin' all my strength out like I was a keg a' cider. Right after I let go, though, I felt right as rain again.”

“Yeah. And the pegasus Guard who tried pulling him up couldn't stay airborne, and I couldn't affect him at all with direct magic or thaumatic constructs like barriers.” Twilight shook her head, an obviously irritated expression coming over her for a moment. “It's against everything I've ever learned about basic magic theory! I'm going to have to wait for answers, though, especially if he's as injured as he looked- getting him treated is priority one.”

“Twilight, there's one question I feel the need to ask,” Rarity said. “You obviously don't want us to call this creature a yeti... but then what exactly is he?”

Twilight let out a sigh, scraping her hoof lightly across the cobblestones. “I still don't have the slightest clue. He's obviously not even remotely related to minotaurs, and they're the only sapient bipedal race we know of. I came across an ancient legend of something called the 'Ipotane' that also went around on two legs, but what little I could learn of it didn't seem close either. If I had to base a guess just on what I've seen of him, I'd say he almost looks like an offshoot of one of the great apes of eastern Zebrica.”

“Apes? You mean like monkeys?” Pinkie giggled. “Twilight, that's silly! I've seen monkeys before, and he didn't look anything like them! They're all hairy and they run around and swing on trees and eat bananas and throw their own-”

“We get what yer sayin', Pinkie,” Applejack interrupted hastily. “But I do kinda see what Twi means. Better guess 'n anythin' I can dream up, that's fer sure.”

“Actually, that does give me a pretty good baseline for treatment,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I mean, I've never worked with apes or monkeys, but I do know a few things about them. That should be helpful when I start working on a treatment and feeding schedule.”

“Um... a-heh. Fluttershy?” Twilight chuckled nervously. “Let's not go overboard. He's apparently been living on his own for weeks, so I'm sure he knows how to feed himself.”

“Well, I know that, Twilight. But if he's related to primates, then he might be an om-”

“Hey, look! I think that's him!” Pinkie started jumping up and down in excitement, pointing a foreleg at a speck in the distance. “Or, well, the pegasi that are flying him in! But still!”

“I think you're right, Pinkie.” Twilight turned and raised a hoof; the team of doctors who had been waiting by the castle entrance rushed forward, their oversized stretcher rattling along the cobblestone walkway between them. A contingent of four Guardsponies, much more impassive and stern-looking, came up a short distance behind. “Stallions and gentlemares,” she addressed the quintet of medical experts, “the creature we're bringing here is of an unknown species, with possible multiple serious wounds sustained from a long chase through wilderness. I'm going to be having three individuals working alongside you to help determine the best course of treatment. One of them is Fluttershy here.”

The named pegasus seemed to try to hide behind her mane. “Um... hello....”

“The other two I'll be bringing once the creature is stabilized. Now, please understand that direct magic infusion is not an option here, and oral medications, injections and salves must be tested beforehoof to ensure against anaphylactic reaction. I'm sure all of you know this already, but we can't be too careful when working with an unknown species.” All of the assembled doctors nodded, and Twilight smiled. “Excellent!” she exclaimed, turning back to face the oncoming pegasi. “Then let's get ready to help our newcomer heal.”

(-)

It said something that by the time I neared my ultimate destination, I was more nervous about where I was going than I was about being in the air. Mother of fuck, that place is enormous, I thought when I finally got a good glimpse of the city, as the pegasi pulling me along swung wide, probably on some kind of final approach; it looked like it had either been built on, or carved from, the side of the enormous mountain it sat upon. It was an architectural impossibility- hell, it pretty much slapped physics across the face.

And yet as I approached, still strapped to the back of this thin wooden pallet, I found my sense of awe swept aside by an all-too-familiar feeling of dread. Why bring me here? Look at the place... it's enormous, it's high up.... An overwhelming feeling of being trapped suffocated my rational thoughts, and it was all I could do to not pull against my restraints already, my fear at least allowing for enough strategic thought to realize that now was not the time for escape.

Finally, the pegasi carrying me landed, and I felt the makeshift litter I was still bound to scrape along the ground before coming to a stop. Through my facade of unconsciousness, I could see almost a dozen ponies gather around me- and my blood went cold at the sight of the purple pegacorn, though her expression as she gazed at me was hard to read- was she angry? Curious? Afraid? It seemed like she was trying to hide her emotions. She watched carefully as my ropes were untied, and then the pallet I was laying on was lifted and brought alongside what seemed to be a gurney- with restraints.

Visions of being dissected or tortured while bound and helpless shot through my mind, and before I could even think to stop myself, I rolled onto the gurney, then jumped off- and kicked it towards the assembled ponies with as much force as I could manage... which was far more than I'd expected, considering my state earlier. I didn't waste time thinking about it, instead charging at and through the line of guards- they were quick, but my speed and element of surprise were just enough of an edge to get by- and sprinted towards the only doors I could see, slamming them behind me. Only for a second did I consider blocking those doors before I remembered that the pegacorn could teleport; getting out of sight was my best bet at evading capture again.

It was only while I was running up the nearest flight of stairs that I bothered to reach for my weapon, and found it missing. I was unhappy but not in the least bit surprised- the ponies had to know about the weapon, and leaving me armed would've been patently stupid. All I had to do was stay a step ahead of my pursuers long enough to find where they'd put it-

-which seemed like a simple enough plan until I reached the top of the staircase, and found myself in what appeared to be a welcoming hallway that was longer than a football field. Rows of stained-glass windows lined both walls, letting in the early-evening sunlight and turning it into an explosion of color. Shouting behind me reminded me that I didn't have time to stop and admire the scenery, though, so as quickly as I could, I sprinted across the hall and took the first door I could find.

And just as suddenly as last time, the chase was on.

(-)

“Jeez! Did you see how fast he went? I didn't think anything on two legs could move like that!”

“Dash!” Twilight shot her a look. “You can admire him all you want after we find him!”

“But I'm not- oh. Right. On it!” The cyan pegasus was gone in a rainbow blur; Rarity shook her head slowly. “Twilight, what are we to do?” she asked. “The castle is vast, and the creature certainly seems resourceful.”

“That's true, but remember- there's no way out of this place that isn't guarded.” Twilight led her friends to the Welcoming Hall, her nostrils flaring; Rarity tried herself to catch the creature's scent, but was unable. “And the Princesses know this castle like the backs of their eyelids,” the alicorn continued. “If we can't find him, I know they could.”

“Well, he ain't got his weapon, right?” Applejack said. “So sure, we wanna find 'im fer his own good, but ain't we overreactin' just a mite?”

Twilight fixed the cowpony with a flat stare. “Applejack, are you harmless without weapons?”

“I, uh....” The earth pony glanced down at the floor. “Okay, I getcher point.”

“I'm not that worried about him attacking ponies out of the blue. The problem is that the castle is host to a lot of ponies and other creatures, some of who might react badly to a perceived threat. Backing him against a wall is a bad idea.”

“Could that be what happened with the guard?” Rarity asked.

“It's possible. I don't know.” Twilight looked up, and Rarity followed her gaze to see a contingent of guards, led by Shining Armor, approach from the far side of the hall. “Twilight, what's going on?” he asked. “I just got reports about a guard being injured in Ponyville, and now ponies are yelling about the Everfree Yeti-”

“He's in the castle, Shining,” Twilight interrupted. “We captured him in Whitetail Woods after a chase, and he was injured, so we airlifted him here for treatment. He got loose and ran inside.”

Shining stopped short. “Does he still have-”

“No; I confiscated it. But that doesn't mean he's not a potential danger. We've discovered that he possesses some sort of magic-nullification ability; direct and area-of-effect spells dissipate on contact with him, and earth ponies and pegasi lose their innate magic when touching him.” She paused for a moment. “He's also possibly injured and may not be fully rational.”

“I understand.” The stallion turned to the guards behind him. “You understood the Princess. The creature known as the Everfree Yeti is within the walls of the castle. Begin a regimented search- every room, every closet, every last square inch of this place is to be searched under the authority of the Crowns. Lethal force is authorized only as a last resort to preserve innocent lives.”

“...lethal force...?” Fluttershy's expression was one of horror.

“Captain,” Twilight said quietly. “Remember what we discussed. Every effort needs to be made to not be seen as a threat by him. Our best hope to salvage this situation is if we can just make it clear that we only want to help him.”

“I understand that, Princess. But I have to keep my ponies safe too.” He turned again, cantering away from them as his already-moving Guards split up.

“Twilight,” Fluttershy half-whispered, “they wouldn't... wouldn't....”

“They'll only do what they feel is absolutely necessary, Fluttershy.” Rarity tried to pretend not to hear the concern in the alicorn's voice. “This is a chaotic situation and we all have to be prepared.” She glanced around, obviously thinking. “Okay, here's what we need to do. Fluttershy, I want you to stay with the doctors; we might need you on a moment's notice if the creature needs immediate medical attention. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, I want each of you to attach yourselves- not literally, Pinkie- to a guard team and assist them with the search. I'm going to report to Princess Celestia....” She glanced out one of the windows. “...right now, before she has to lower the sun for the evening. Once that's done, I'll try to catch Rainbow Dash and get her to coordinate with the pegasi and bat-pony squadrons so that there's no wasted effort. After that... as Lyra likes to say, we'll play it by ear.”

(-)

To say that I felt strange would be a gross understatement. I could feel my body complaining with every step I took, every cell of my body feeling drained- and yet somehow I still found the energy to run. I couldn't just call it an adrenaline rush anymore; the human body couldn't maintain one for this long.

And I couldn't find it within myself to care. In fact, I was having a distressingly difficult time focusing at all on anything beyond the basics; I couldn't get myself to pause for any longer than it took to catch my breath, and when I was moving it felt like the blood pumping through my ears shoved all rational thought out of my brain. All I'd been doing for the last few minutes- I didn't even know how many- was running, resting and hiding. It was only luck that I hadn't run into any ponies along the way.

So, of course, that luck ran out in short order, when I quite literally ran into what seemed to be a group of servants with a few metal serving carts laden with food; by some miracle I managed to slip past the whole assembly without slamming into anything, but a crash behind me got me to look back- the ponies had panicked and slammed into each other and the carts in an attempt to run in every direction at once and were now coated with pretty much everything that had been on the carts.

It would've been nice to at least have a moment to laugh at the scene, but I still needed to move. After a few more minutes of ducking through hallways and climbing stairs, I found myself in a small, seemingly-disused bedroom of some sort, the single window of which overlooked a wide balcony two floors down. It was dark enough inside the room for me to avoid being seen from outside, so long as I stayed out of the incoming sunlight, so I took the opportunity to rest for a few minutes, opening the window a bit to get some fresh air into the room.

A couple of minutes later, I heard doors open below me, and glanced down. What had to be the largest pony I'd seen yet- this one was close to the height of an actual horse, though she kept the proportions of her kin- trotted out onto the balcony; she was a pegacorn like the purple one I'd seen before, decked out in bright golden regalia of some sort, complete with what looked like hoof-boots and a tiara. An image that looked like a rising sun decorated her flank, and a mane and tail that looked for all the world like an aurora borealis flowed gently behind her. Everything about her exuded power and authority, and I stood transfixed in awe.

And then she lifted her head and gazed directly at the sun, which hung just above the horizon. Her horn, and then her entire body, began to glow with golden light that brightened steadily until it was almost blinding- and then the sun began to glow the same way, and slowly, gently, slid out of sight.

I slammed the window shut and practically flung the door open, only by sheer luck not blundering into a patrol of guards as I dashed out into the hallway, with one thought running through my mind at super-fast-forward: I am dead. I am beyond dead. I remembered that one evening when the sun seemed to hang around and then practically slammed itself into the horizon, connected that to what I'd just seen, and came to one impossible and yet inescapable conclusion.

The big white pegacorn controlled the sun.

The purple one had been scary enough. I mean, I didn't know what the deal had been with me and her magic, but that big three-headed creature had never stood a ghost of a chance against her. But this one? Granted, I knew squat about how magic really worked here, but it wasn't a far leap of logic to figure that moving a celestial body took one heaping helping of magical... err, horsepower. And wouldn't it make sense to make a pegacorn like that a ruler? Hell, for all the medieval-era bling she was wearing, she was likely a queen.

And here I was, the chucklehead who'd shot and possibly killed a pony, stuck in the same castle as her. If she decided that proportionate punishment was in order, I'd be lucky if I ended up a pile of ash.

The little nugget of paranoia that had made its home in the back of my brain wouldn't let me risk it. Every rational argument I made to myself about how they'd combated the creature in the town bounced off of it, and the idea that they'd treat me differently because I was intelligent and armed gnawed away at my psyche. Even the fact that I knew by now that something was wrong with me- my aching joints, my jittery hands, my inability to focus were all strong symptoms- and that my only hope for treatment was surrender wasn't enough to stop my legs from moving. It was like I was fighting a battle with my own base instincts... and losing.

I slowed for just a moment in a thinner hallway, well-lit by hanging oil lamps, and took stock of my situation. No idea where I was, except well inside the structure of the castle if the lack of windows for the last few minutes was any indication, and no idea of what sort of force I had arrayed against me, intent on my capture or worse.

Then a door further down the hall opened, and I reflexively went through the one I'd been leaning against to keep from being seen- only to blunder my way in front of an entire contingent of armored ponies, with a taller, broad-chested unicorn stallion in a smart-looking dress uniform in front of them. I could only stand and stare for a moment, while the ponies in front of me apparently felt the same way.

I flinched first. “Fuck my life,” I spat out as I turned on my heel and ran.

(-)

“Miss Windwhisper, your presence is requested immediately by Princess Twilight.”

Sveti looked up from her nearly-empty dinner plate to see one of the Night Watch ponies standing in front of her table; the strange, bat-winged pony's slitted golden eyes were set intently on her. “Err... okay,” she said, motioning to her dishes. “Let me just-”

“That'll be attended to. This is an urgent matter.”

She could just pick up the edge of impatience in the stallion's voice, so she quickly got out of her seat and followed him out of the dining hall. Questions would be pointless- if he'd been authorized to tell her anything, he'd have said so, so she held her tongue as they walked.

Twilight was waiting for them in a small antechamber, and looked up at their approach. “Thank you, Corporal,” she told the bat-pony, who bowed his head respectively before cantering off; the alicorn turned her attention to the griffin. “Sveti, there's a situation and your help is needed,” she said quietly.

“What is it?” Sveti's mind had been turning over possibilities the entire way here, but there was no way she could have anticipated what the Princess told her next.

“The creature is here in the castle, and we need your help in finding him.”

She sat there, completely still, staring at the alicorn for ten full seconds before her brain could finally process what she'd heard. “...he's here?” she repeated. “How...?”

“Long story short, we found him in Ponyville, but he was injured and unconscious. We had him airlifted here for specialist treatment- but as soon as he arrived, he got loose, and he's been evading capture in the castle for the last hour.”

The words “what the pluck did you do to him” almost escaped her throat. Almost. But even as a specially-privileged guest, saying something like that to a Princess was ill-advised. “He's evaded capture?” she asked. “I know the guards have locator spells, wards, tripwire alarm spells....”

“All of which are useless in this situation. Sveti... I don't even pretend to know how, but somehow the creature can nullify magic.”

This time she'd spent twenty seconds staring at Twilight, and couldn't keep from blurting out a disbelieving “Princess... is this a prank?”

“No, this is absolutely serious.” The alicorn's deep purple eyes fixed on hers. “He used his weapon in Ponyville. There's a guard in critical condition in the hospital right now. I don't know what exactly happened or why, but it's clear that the creature is frightened, and I'm running out of ways to keep this from escalating into something tragic.” Her expression and voice became pleading. “Sveti, you're the best option I have left. He helped you- maybe if he sees you, he'll understand that he's not in danger and will stand down.”

Sveti's beak hung open for a moment before she nodded. “I understand, Princess. Tell me what you need me to do.”

(-)

Those poor foals are going to have nightmares of a blood-red, silent specter chasing them for weeks.

Shining cursed his luck as yet another servant's quarters turned up empty, except for the confused and frightened mare within- who of course had been minding her own business and knew nothing of some tall, agile biped storming through the place.

And Luna's teats the creature was agile. And damnably quiet! The strange thuds of his foot coverings weren't completely silent when he ran, but compared to the sharp clops of hooves, they might as well have been. And Twilight, as usual, had been completely correct about his ability to somehow “drain” magic- Shining's restraint spell had failed the moment it had started to form around his legs, and the barricade spell on a door likewise faded when he'd touched it.

The good news was that, at a full straight-ahead gallop, overtaking him was easy for a pony. The bad news was that the creature seemed to know that, and put his superior maneuverability to work in the maze of hallways and corridors that made up most of the castle. He and his Guards- well, they weren't technically his anymore since he'd been relieved of active duty, but he still held a position of command- knew this castle like the fronts of their fetlocks, but everything was so interconnected that it was ridiculously difficult to box him in.

“Captain!” came a shout. “Heading your way!”

At last, a chance to get him to stop, Shining thought, readying himself. The only ways out were the door directly behind him and a long staircase to his left- but the creature would have to go through him to get to either, and while it was technically larger than him, there was no way it had the mass to tackle him cleanly, nor did he expect it wanted to risk impaling himself on his horn. He'll have to stop, the stallion reasoned, and then maybe we can get somepony here to calm him down.

And then there the creature was, tearing down the hallway, his upper limbs swinging in counterpoint to his legs- that was probably how he kept balance while running- and heading right towards Shining. The unicorn lowered his head and widened his stance, making it clear that it was time for this chase to stop.

But the creature didn't stop- in fact, it seemed to speed up. Shining let out a groan of disappointment even as he braced for impact...

...only to have the creature literally run up the wall for three steps, then jump over his head, grab the banister and haul himself over it and onto the staircase. The biped was already up the stairs by the time Shining could get himself turned around to pursue, galloping upstairs with one though on his mind- How the buck did he do that?!

(-)

How the fuck did I do that?!

Sure, I liked to watch parkour videos from time to time. Maybe even imagined myself running across rooftops or vaulting fences. But until that moment I'd never done anything more acrobatic than walking along a street curb like it was a tightrope. Now I was practicing ninjitsu? I wasn't sure where the idea to do that had even come from. If necessity is the mother of invention, then desperation is the bastard father, I thought.

I was hurting something fierce by now, though. I'd wrenched my left shoulder pulling myself up that staircase, and it throbbed with every step I took, but I couldn't stop for it. If I could just get ahead of the guards that were looking for me, find some decently secure place to hole up, then I could maybe rest for a while and recuperate- but that wasn't going to happen with Captain Pale Horse and his merry... err, stallions nipping at my heels.

I figured that if I wanted to lay low, I had to go low... lower, rather. I was no expert on castles, but I could guess that the lower levels would be less visited and have more places to hide- the ponies had the home-field advantage, but there could only be so many of them, and in a place as big as this it would take a while to search and secure every last cubbyhole.

I noticed as I made my way down every staircase I could find that I wasn't running into any more civilians. Had they gotten the alarm out and evacuated, or were there fewer workers down here as a matter of course? It didn't matter terribly much to me either way, so long as I didn't have another run-in like I did with that group of foals. The poor kids were probably going to have nightmares with the startle I gave them.

Once more I found myself “lost in the moment” as I ran, until I came to a somewhat darker-looking hallway- it was just as well-lit as any of the others, but the rock looked hewn instead of stacked and seemed to reflect less of the light. Did I finally make it underground? I wondered. Kind of a dungeon-y feel... though there's got to be somewhere to hide here.

I walked for a short while, then chose an ordinary-looking metal door with a pull handle, checked to make sure I didn't have anyone waiting for me inside, then went through. I found myself in yet another hallway, only this one was more dimly-lit, with strange glowing crystals mounted on the wall at regular intervals. The golden, fancy-looking nameplates that had been next to nearly every door on the upper levels were instead here brushed-steel and much more businesslike. My sight was almost immediately drawn to one of the doors at the far end of the hall, with a number of placards that I couldn't read but- judging by the number of warning and hazard symbols- seemed to promise some pretty horrific damage to whoever blundered inside.

Perfect. With a push against the door- and a weird buzzing sensation that faded almost immediately- I slipped inside.

What awaited me wasn't something I would've expected. I felt like I'd stepped back into my high school's chemistry lab, with long metal tables and shelves holding all sorts of tools and equipment neatly stacked and organized. One wall held a long chalkboard that had an almost insane number of notations and equations scrawled on it, and a rack not far away from it held numerous test tubes, all of them filled with colorful liquids- some of them glowing. There was even a logbook or diary of some sort left on one table, with a symbol on the front that matched the flank mark of the purple pegacorn. Am I in her private laboratory? I wondered, making my way towards the back, careful not to touch anything that looked like it could explode, remove a limb or reduce me to my basic chemical components.

And then, on the back table, almost invisible in the darkness of the rear of the lab, I saw something familiar on the scuffed metal tabletop.

And I grinned like a complete maniac.

(-)

It was quite possibly the largest search operation the Royal Guard had undertaken in the last three hundred years... and it showed. There was no lack of dedication and professionalism in the castle Guard, certainly not... but what there did seem to be a fair lack of was imagination. Have we grown so complacent in our mastery of magic, Celestia wondered as she sat upon a cushion in her study, that we are bereft without it? Even the earth ponies of the Guard seem to be frustrated, and some of the pegasi are practically besides themselves with irritation that their quarry remains indoors. Thank Faust that Lady Applejack chose to assist- the skills she possesses, honed on her farm, are making no small difference. She sighed. And I cannot blame Shining Armor; he developed his training regimen with me after the Changeling incursion, both of us determined that no threat could overwhelm our Guard again whatever tactics it employed. Well, as Sun Shoe once remarked to me, no battle plan survives first contact with the opponent....

And what a strange 'opponent', this. Luna insists that the incident in Ponyville is most likely an accident or self-defense. Captain Armor seems divided on the subject and is remaining professionally neutral, but I have heard whispers of some of his lower officers believing that the creature is innately hostile and must be imprisoned in Tartarus, or even “put down”. The creature himself seems supremely determined to remain free, which is of course understandable... but impractical at the moment, until we can communicate with him and he is able to explain his aims. And now I begin to worry about Twilight....

As if summoned by her thoughts, the Bearer of the Element of Magic trotted into the study, her head hung low and her eyes downcast. Celestia frowned, sitting up. “Twilight?” she called, careful to keep her voice just a shade away from neutral. “What's wrong?”

“Celestia....” There was so much worry in those violet eyes. “I... I think we should talk.”

“Certainly. Have a seat.” Another cushion materialized next to her in a flash of golden magic, and slowly Twilight settled herself down. “What troubles you so?” Celestia asked, though she had a feeling she knew at least some of the problem.

“Have... have I been mishoofing all this, Celestia?” Twilight asked quietly. “This whole thing with the creature... I was so excited when we found that carriage in the woods; it seemed like such a wonderful discovery! And then... and then there was the 'sideshow'.” Her ears drooped. “Here there was a new creature we'd never seen before, a sentient and sapient being owning strange technology unlike anything we know- and we find that he's been abused, tortured, caged like an animal... by ponies!” She shook her head. “I should've known then that I was in over my head, Celestia. All of a sudden we had a possibly hostile creature, deliberately hurt by ponies, loose somewhere in Equestria. I should've delegated that to somepony else, shouldn't I? But- but I didn't. I felt....”

“You felt as thought you had to do something to help?”

“I... I guess so.” Twilight gazed down at the floor.

“I understand, Twilight. I honestly do. Learning to detach yourself from events and rise above circumstance... it is both the earliest, and one of the most difficult, lessons to be learned by a leader.”

“I think I might've failed this lesson, Celestia. The more out-of-control things got, the harder I tried to be aloof, to be more rational and less emotional. I thought I could work out what to do if I kept intellect above feelings.”

“Twilight, this entire situation has seen missteps from many of those involved. How can we say that not even the creature himself hasn't made mistakes and misjudgments? If he's as frightened as I've been told, then perhaps all he needs is some form of assurance that all he needs to do is stand down and give us a chance to prove ourselves trustworthy. Your recruitment of Sveti towards that end was a wise maneuver.”

“Maybe it's too little, too late. There's still so much that can go wrong, I-”

There was a knock at the door- the official pattern used by the Guard; both Celestia and Twilight recognized it. “Enter,” they said together, sparing each other just a split-second's amused glance before the door opened and a Guard showed her head.

“Princesses.” She bowed slightly. “The creature has been spotted heading towards sector D-8. We're reorganizing our teams to isolate him there- it's much more closed-in there. We're hoping to hem him in and force his surrender.”

Twilight blinked, and a look of pure horror came over her face. “You said D-8?! But there's only two ways into that area, and one of them... oh my gosh!”

She vanished in a burst of purple magic, leaving Celestia and the guard to stare at each other in confusion for ten seconds or so before a now-hyperventilating Twilight reappeared. “I should have known. I didn't think! What wards would stop a creature like him?!”

“Twilight!” Celestia said sternly. “Explain.”

“When we captured the creature, I confiscated his weapon and teleported it into my laboratory to keep it safe. I thought... I couldn't have known he'd get loose inside the castle! And the odds were astronomical that he'd....”

Celestia frowned as she felt a chill of fear run through her. “Twilight, are you saying...?”

The Princess of Magic took in a deep breath. “He found the lab. He found his weapon. He's armed again.”