Princess Luna sat on her throne looking up at the stars painted on the ceiling. The past weeks had been rough, the Asyl wasn't finished, Flash Sentry wasn't meshing well with Acropolis, plans for guard expansion still on the debate table, Chrysalis and Glint had basically vanished into their swamp, and to top it all off-

"Princess?" Agora broke her from her thoughts. As usual he was dressed well and had just finished delivering some artifacts for the princess.

"What Agora?" Her tone harsh, he had brought her many useful artifacts that she was restoring. But that did not relieve the fact that she found him insufferable.

"Shall I investigate the matter we were speaking of?" He bowed graciously.

"Yes, Do so at once." She waved her hoof at him. "And Agora, do not lay bare eyes on it. Or else you will go mad."

"Of course, Princess." Agora bowed low and turned to leave the regal chamber. There were no more scheduled meetings tonight but Luna still had a few hours left of court duty. Her gaze moved to the stallion to her side. Since the Lunar guard was still a small force some of the Celestial guard had to fill gaps in coverage. Brigade stood next to her in full combat regalia, opposite him was Coco, Who seemed to have fallen asleep. Brigade watched as Agora left the chamber, a look of disgust on his face.

"Brigade?" He tone was soft, like a lover asking for a favor.

"Princess?" Brigade came to a full salute, stomping the ground and raising his shield. The racket shook Coco from her nap.

"What do you think of Agora?" She leaned down to him.

"I-i dont care for him Princess." Brigade responded rather coldly.

"Ah," The silence fell back onto the room. Brigade moved back to his position and Coco took to reading to prevent her falling sleep. "What of Glint?" Luna again broke the silence.

"Visiting with her mother." His tone was more of a concerned coltfriend than of a royal charge.

"And of her mother?" Luna asked

"No issues, just scheduled talks with Celestia today." He deadpanned.

"I see." She sighed at her failed attempt at a conversation. Brigade was quickly becoming one of her favorite guards, even if he wasnt a member of the Lunar. He served the sisters with honor and a loyalty that few deserved, and even she thought she sometimes was unworthy of his loyalty. Her thoughts went back to Agroa, and to the armor set he had brought her. "Brigade, have you heard of the Lunar Panzer?" Her question hung in the room for a moment. She didnt look at him, her eyes fixed on the doors before her. But she could feel him become uneasy.

"I-i have princess," He gulped slightly, "Supposedly they were indestructible." His concern was growing, he had quickly learned that Luna did not ask frivolous questions. "And some even say they were, uhhh."

"Yes?" Luna actually liked hearing the rumors of her that had spread. And privately relished in how many were true and ponies just took as myth.

"That they were demons from Tartarus that you had dragged out and bonded into servitude." Brigade rambled out. Luna looked at him in surprise, her face in shock, she hadnt heard that one.

"Demons?" She let out a loud and long laugh, "really? ponies thought I enslaved demons!" She laughed again but even harder.

"That was the rumor." Brigade blushed slightly under his helmet.

"No, no they weren't demons, technically. Panzer were a special breed, tough, strong, the mightiest and bravest Equestria had to offer. Nothing stood before them, They served a function similar to Detrot's SWAT. The spearhead, first on the beaches. So to speak." Luna looked out into the garden, one of the statues depicting a Panzer victorious in combat caught her eye. The thought a reviving another branch of her guard excited her, but the pony she wanted wasn't hers to take. And the armor wasn't finished recharging its enchantment, merging with it now might kill whomever wore it. "They served with honor and distinction." Her gaze landed on Brigade who was now deep in thought.

"Ive heard they used shield and spear, as I do." Brigades curiosity peaked, Damn it, how does Acro and Luna always know what to say to get me to bite?

"They did, actually they used square shields, like the one you used in your duel. Not the circular ones issued today." Luna came down off the throne and looked out the throne room door. The lack of ponies in the hall made her sigh. "Enough of this, Brigade come with me, Coco you are dismissed." Coco quickly saluted and left. Brigade followed Luna out of the throne room and over to the Lunar wing. He was familiar with Luna asking things of him randomly but this seemed different. They went up past the barracks, past Acropolis' and Rune's room, past Spinnerets room, and past Luna's room. Coming to a stop in front of a door he hadn't seen before. Luna pushed open the door revealing a fairly large chamber filled with pieces of armor, tapestries, and old books. Luna's private armory. Her armor stood in the middle of the room, a single skylight casting a cone of moonlight onto it. The armor seemed to glow in the moonlight giving off a chillingly beautiful aura. He then noticed that he recognized this armor, it was Nightmare Moon's. Her regular armor was off to the side but still very well lit. She walked past him and over to a male set of armor. It was huge, the pony who wore this was massive. It was black as night and looked like something forged in Tartarus. Looking at it made him feel small. His gaze meet with the empty eye sockets of the heavy armor. A sensation of static came over him, the empty sockets seemed to call to him, pulling him closer. Sounds fell away all he heard was whispers, a voice to feint to call out to him.

"Panzer." He said aloud still in awe of the armor before him.

"Indeed, I brought you here to show you why they thought they were demons. Any pony in this armor was very imposing. Acropolis and Rune got off easy compared to the Panzer." She gave a chuckle. "Regardless I had another reason in bringing you here, I have a gift for you."

"A gift?" He was both excited and concerned.

"Brigade, for service of the throne I give you this." Luna moved a large square shield from behind the armor. It was about his size and forged of blackened steel with a slot for peering through. The handle was designed to be gripped with magic, grabbing with a hoof or mouth would be exceptionally awkward. It had small lumps on it periodically which he examined intently attempting to figure out their purpose.

"Thank you Princess." He gripped the shield with his magic, it was heavy, weighted, and it felt, right.

"The lumps are designed to deflect projectiles, and the shield is enchanted to deflect magic as well. Even I would have difficulty breaking though that shield." She smiled as he amorously examined the shield.

"Thank you Princess, However I doubt Lieutenant Sentry will let me carry it." He swung it in defensive motions testing its weight.

"Use the shield as you will Brigade, and if Sentry questions you about it, tell him it was gift from me. And if he persists tell him to take the matter up with me." She places her wing over him, "Brigade, you serve me and my sister very well, and have done so with distinction for many years. If you ever wish to, you may also have the rest of the set." With her other wing she motioned to the Panzer armor.  

"The Panzer?" He looked back to the armor, it made him uncomfortable. He could feel something scratching in the back of his mind. "I'm sorry Princess, I cant leave the Celestial guard. I swore myself to it, and I am a pony of my word."

"And that Brigade is why I wanted you to have the shield. You are the paragon of honor and integrity. Even when you act outside or even against orders." She gave him a soft smile. He liked Luna, and if she was around when he joined the guard he most likely would have joined the Lunar. "My offer stands, I doubt this armor will choose a host on its own anytime soon. So, if you ever change your mind, it will be here." Luna grabbed a sheet with her magic and placed it on the armor. He could feel the scratching in his mind stop. "Well I have used enough of your time tonight, Forgive me if I do not see you out. I am confident that you know your way."

"Yes, Princess." He saluted with his new shield. "Thank you again, I will use this shield in the defense of all of equestria!" He cast a glance over to the Nightmare Moon armor set before leaving Luna alone in her armory. After a moment she walked up to the Nightmare Moon armor, and gazed into the empty sockets. A cold smile came across her face as she levitated the helmet off the mannequin.

Golem stood in the reconstructed Asyl wardens office flanked by two Lunar guards. His dark blue coat now clean, his mane beginning to grow back, and he had put on some weight, but a large chunk of his right ear was still missing a cruel reminder of his life under the pastors rule. His cutie-mark of a eye in a magnifying glass was now visible, showcasing that his talent was perception. Luna sat at the wardens desk with what few records survived the thousand years of madness that had haunted these halls. The stallion before her was one of twelve that were successfully salvaged from Asyl. Out of all that had survived, only he stood completely sane. Even Luna was impressed, this pony was raised in literally a house of madness, everyday gazing upon a moonstone should have driven him into brilliant madness. She only hoped Acropolis and Rune would gain such a resistance to her madness. Which she knew was seeping into them, making them uneasy. But her attention was on the satllion before her, and not on her soldiers.

"Golem," Luna sighed, "I want to ask you something-" Golem cut her off.

"First let me ask you something, why is my cell never locked?" Golem's voice has harsh and deep.

"You aren't a prisoner." Luna replied flatly. "Which is why I asked you here."

"This has something to do with my talent doesn't it?" He was showing off his skills of perception. Luna wasn't used to such arrogance, or confidence. Either way she was caught of guard by his forwardness. It would seem that freed of his oppression he has taken to his own in stride.

"Very much so,-" He cut her off again.

"You want me to run this place." He said with a small smile.

"I do." Luna was unfazed by him at this point. After all he could see her while she as invisible, she wondered how he could see her intentions. She realized she had left all the clues for him, the old paperwork, the books he was reading, meeting in the wardens office, setting up this meeting like a interview. He saw the signals, and pieced together her intentions, a skill useful for somepony charged to watch the dangerous minded. "Your skills would allow you to rationally govern this facility. That and you are the most read up on its operation."

"And?" The question was loaded, and she knew it.

"And, you seem to be immune to the moonstone. And having somepony in charge down here that has been through madness and came out the other side in one piece is invaluable." She saw no point in sugar coating anything with him, even if she lied he most likely could see through it.

"Okay, its either work for you or get a normal job on the surface. And this place," He looked out the window and into the courtyard where some guards were still cleaning out the trash and filth,"This place is my home."

"Then that's settled then, Congratulations Golem." she shook his hoof, "the new Warden of Asyl."

"Trixie!" Rune cast as spell to hold the pipe in place. Steam poured into the room as Trixie's horn lit up to try and contain the pipe as well. The machine she was working on kept chugging along pumping more and more steam into the room. "Turn it off!" Rune shouted to Trixie in a futile attempt to prevent more steam from filling the room. Releasing the pipe Trixie moved to a control panel and began flipping levers. With a loud rattle the machine stopped pumping out steam and fell quiet. Releasing the pipe Rune turned to Trixie. "What happened?"

"I guess I miscalculated." Trixie used some of her magic to fix her hair. "This steam engine should have worked just fine, unless I got the pressure levels wrong." She quickly levitated several books over to her and began flipping through them.

"Why not just use the magic generator? Or the uhh, Tesi-thing?" Rune motioned to the barely visible massive electrodes and machinery embedded in the ceiling.

"The point is to get this machine running, that and the magic genny is broken. And its a Tesla generator, also Starswirl couldn't get it to work." Trixie unbolted a panel on the steam engine and began fiddling around inside. Her dedication to getting Starswirls defunct laboratory up and running was inspiring. Trixie had kept doing her studies under Celestia while spending her nights in Starswirls lab. She had completely re-devoted her life to her aspirations of greatness through knowledge and skill, rather than smoke and mirrors. She liked seeing the once show-pony turned lab rat work at her own betterment with a passion she had never seen before. Except maybe her own lust for knowledge and research. Rune had made a conscious decision to leave this collection and lab to Trixie, regardless of how much information it contained. The information she would gleam would only help somepony who could use regular magic proficiently. No, there were still many secrets and spells she needed to find in the Lunar collection. However Trixie wasn't the most mechanically inclined of ponies and many of the machines in this lab appeared to be fairly mechanical.

"Well I wish you luck, I need to get to work, But please Trixie, be careful." She also used her magic to fix her mane. "If you need help dont hesitate to call, okay?"

"Uh-huh." Was all she got back from inside the machine as Trixie worked at the cogs inside the machine.

"Good evening Trixie." Rune left the lab through the teleporter leaving Trixie alone with her machine. As she materialized in the library Celestia was standing before her looking rather displeased.

"Miss Rune." Celestia's tone was cold, unusual for the Princess of the sun.

"Princess." She bowed low as was expected of her station. The thoughts of why the princess was here began to swirl around in her mind.

"Trixie told me what you did to her clothes, and how you spurred her to action." Celestia seemed to tower over her. "Rather brutal actions, I was planning a more gradual lead up to her shedding her stage persona. But your tactics, while rough were effective." She turned and looked out the window and up to the moon, "Just please, be aware you and Trixie are playing with very old and dangerous magics here. I just advise caution as you move forward. You and Trixie have massive potential, I just hope you and her both realize that the deeper into the study of magic you get, the more and more hazardous it will become."

"Princess, I am aware of the dangers of runic magic." Rune replied still deep in her bow, she still respected Celestia quite a lot.

"Good, and please dont misconstrue my meaning. This is what I wanted from Trixie. I had intended for her to find Starswirls lab, but not this soon. But what is done is done." Celestia turned back to Rune. "Wether by fate or design you and Twilight found the lab and Trixie got involved. And then you feed that fire in her with a different kind of lumber. I guess I came to Thank you, for speeding up this process. Also to give you some advice." Celestia brought her head down and placed it merely an inch from Runes. "Be wary of casting to many runes at once, they can mix to dangerous results. Some can even rip you from our world." Celestia smiled releasing the tension in her face. "Good evening Rune." With a wave of her horn Celestia vanished from the library.

"Well that was unexpected." Rune was aware of the dangers of runic magic. But what she was confused by was Celestia's comments on Trixie. I guess I bothered the princess a bit, oh well. Rune took a little satisfaction in slighting the sun princess, probably more than she should have.