After the incident with the Everfree forest where Twilight and her friends lost the elements and rescued the Princesses, things went back to normal More or less. The citizens were understandably mad about Chrysalis and Glint but Celestia and Luna smoothed it out rather well. Chrys and Glint had guards on them 24/7 and their guard was overseen by the newly formed Lunar Panzer. Brigades transition from Celestial to Lunar guard was seamless, mostly due to Luna demanding she keep him. Everything seemed to be calming down. However the Master still walked free and they no more leads, all Acropolis had was a pit in his stomach. But that may just what being around Grand Agora does to ponies.

Acropolis struggled to lift himself up off the ground with his wings. Wing ups were hard for him since the accident when he was a child. But the incident with Hannibal made it clear that he needed to train harder and learn Erde Fuasten even quicker. But first he needed to strengthen himself, which is why one very angry looking Minotaur loomed over him as he struggled.

"Push!" Iron Will shouted, "COME ON! Push like you MEAN it!" his veins bugled as he emphasized.

"I, am, trying!" Acro pushed himself up again. When he reached his height his wing buckled and he toppled to the ground. He laid there for a moment before Iron Will moved to help him up. Grabbing Acro around the mid section the large Minotaur had little issue lifting him to his feet.

"Good job, BROTHER!" He flexed as he spoke. Iron will had been training Acro to increase his physical endurance. With mixed success. While his hooves, arms, and legs were stronger, his wings seemed to refuse to co-operate. In fact they seemed to be getting worse. Iron will helped him from the gym floor. "Three more reps than last time. Oooh! YEAH!" Iron Will flexed and posed. Acro never really understood why he did that.

"Yeah, grand total, 37." Acro sighed, "Im not making progress." He stretched out his wings and flinched as it popped back into place.

"Dont rush it little man," Iron Will continued to flex, "It'll come in time. And with PRACTICE!" He flexed even harder.

"Yeah, yeah." He lingered for a moment, "Im gonna go, Iron." He collected his towel and water bottle and left Iron Will to flex in peace. There wasn't much for him to do at the gym once his wing gives out. Walking out into the streets he was greeted by the bustling of Canterlot central. He looked about at the citizens as they passed.

"Captain." A passer by greeted. He nodded politely in response. As he walked citizens would greet him every once and a while. He liked it. The citizens of Canterlot no longer feared the Lunar guard. His speech at the attempting lynching of Chrysalis and Glint seemed to have struck a cord in the citizenship. Which he liked. It didn't take him long to walk to the castle gate.

"Captain." The guard at the gate greeted.

"Afternoon." Acro acknowledged. Even his relationship with the Celestial guard had improved. Flash Sentry was making more and more trips to the Crystal Empire and his replacement was much less resistant to Lunar policy. But Flash's influence was still felt, for example Grand Agora was to audit the Lunar armory this evening. The thought made his stomach churn. Like leaving a cake alone when Pinkie Pie was near, there was no way that cake is coming out of there in one piece. They had nothing to hide, but he still didn't trust Agora. And neither did Brigade. As he walked through the Lunar garden towards the barracks there was a loud crack. He looked up towards Rune's workshop. After a second of silence her window exploded raining glass down on the garden. He quickly ran off for her workshop.

"RUNE!" He hollered as he threw open the workshop door. The soft blue mare sat against the wall where she was thrown from the explosion. Her orange pink mane frizzed and slightly brunt. "Rune?" Acro moved over to her.

"Im fine." She mumbled as he helped her to her feet. "That glyph is for expulsion, not containment. Clearly." She chuckled slightly.

"Clearly, you alright?" He fussed her hair with his wing.

"Yes, yes, im-" she stumbled, and shook her head. "I-Im fine. the explosion just shook me up a bit. Celestia wasn't kidding, this stuff is dangerous."

"Apparently. Please, try not to blow your self up." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. She smiled and nodded. Acro then quickly and left her to her studies. She looked at her library and sat down in her arcane circle.

"What to do?" she spoke under her breath as the small jewel that lay on the floor turned from red to blue.  

Golem materialized in the underground Starswirl lab. He rarely came down here as he hated teleportation but Trixie had asked for his input on something she was working on. Trixie had shared some for her recovered technology to improve security in the Asyl so he felt that the least he could do was give his input. She stood before him, her hair frizzed, grease and oils smeared about her, pencils and other odd tools stuck in her mane. He found the sight oddly attractive. The bags under her eyes told him she hadn't slept for a couple days.

"Miss Trixie, are you alright?" His question fell flat.

"Golem?" She blinked, "Golem!" She realized who was there and trotted over to him, "I want to show you something." She turned and lead him through the lab. Strange devices pumped and whirled. Concoctions and brews bubbled and churned in odd devices. Alien machinery sparked and bellowed as they walked through the laboratory. Clearly she had been busy whilst everypony else was busy with the Hannibal hunt. He had never seen anything like this before. "Here." She stopped before a strange tube covered in a cloth, he could see large coils sticking out of the ceiling above.

"What's here?"

"I want to show you something, but I need you to keep it to yourself. Never tell anypony." He magic grabbed the cloth as she waited for his reply.

"I agree Miss Trixie, I will speak of whatever I am about to see with no pony." He placed his hoof over his eye.

Pinkie Pie sneezed as she put icing on some of her cupcakes. She quickly looked about, shrugged, and went back to her cupcakes.

"Good. Cause I need a second opinion." She pulled the cloth down revealing the body of Starswirl the Bearded floating in the stasis pod. Golem observed the pod and the alicorn in the tank silently for several moments. He could see the defects in his skin, details of his beard, scars over his body, the parts of wings. As far as he could tell this was Starswirl the beared, but he seemed younger than he expected. Even the Asyl he had heard of this grand unicorn. However he was confused as to why he had wings.

"Hmm, is this who I think it is?" Golem asked, giving Trixie a shock.

"Its Starswirl the Bearded, possibly the greatest unicorn that ever lived. He slayed dragons, saved whole countries, taught the princesses, wrote volumes, and gave us the modern understanding of magic." Trixie placed a hoof on the tube.

"Why is he here?"

"Apparently, towards the end of his life he became paranoid. And apparently tried to turn himself into an alicorn. I can only assume his experiment was flawed somehow and he went into stasis for," Trixie looks around briefly, "Reasons." Golem nodded quietly as he observed the tank, well knowing she had no idea why he was in the tank.

"And what did you need an opinion about?"

"Golem, you see the device that the tube is attached to?" She gestured to the coils and machinery hanging out of the ceiling. The tubes and pipes moved down the walls and appeared to connect to a large machine attached to the chamber.

"I do."

"Its a called a Telsa, it generates and insane amount of electricity. But that electricity will pass through this tanks systems." She gestured to the machine om the back of the tank.

"And?"

"I think, it will revive him." She looked at him for his reply. Golem thought for a moment.

"Thats what you needed an opinion about. Whether or not to revive one of Equestria's greatest minds?"

"Basically. Yeah." She leaned up against a near by table.

"What else will this, Tesla, activate?" Golem had asked the right question.

"Well, so far I have only be able to access about a quarter of this facility. With the Tesla active the electric doors will unlock, and let me explore the rest of the facility." Trixie was visibly excited at the prospect of exploring the rest of the facility.

"Then I say you activate it. The risk out weighs the gains. Worse case scenario, we have one cranky alicorn." Golem smiled at Trixie as she lit up.

"Alright!" She ran over to a steam engine she had gotten working prior and placed her hoof on one very large lever. "Hold onto you plot!" She flipped the switch. The room went dark. A loud clanging began as the steam engine pumped away. The coils in the ceiling began sparking. The sparks turned to arcs as the intensity increased. The noise was tremendous as the coils sparked and arced. The flashes of light exposed a even larger coil hidden higher up in the ceiling. The smaller coils began sparking off the larger causing the coils on the larger to rotate. The more electricity it got, the faster its spun.

"Trixie?" Golem was beginning to get concerned. The massive coil began sending large charges to the tube and surrounding devices. After several large discharges they coils gave one massive discharge and fell silent. The central massive coils spun quietly every once and a while discharging into one of the smaller coils. The chambers that held Starswirl and the other specimens flickered to life. "Trixie?" She ran over to the little monitor attached to Starswirl's tube.

"Its booting, Golem, It booting a revival program." She could barely believe it. She had began the revival of one of Equestrias greatest heroes. "I did it," She looked over to Golem. "IT WORKED!" She hugged him tightly. A large door beyond the work space beeped loudly as the massive electric lock disengaged and slid open. The stale air greeted them as the air cycled through. A speaker near the door pinged and sparked to life.

"The facility is open." A robotic voice spoke from the speaker as a monitor near the door lit up.

"Whats that?" Golem asked. Trixie moved over and began reading the monitor.

"Well it seems that there are system failures throughout the facility. That is to be expected though." A loud roar that could only be described as dinosaur-esque echoed from the newly opened door. Trixie quickly pressed a button and shut the large door. "Hmm, I think I will explore that later.

"Good idea."

Brigade sat on his balcony, drink in hand, smooth jazz on his record player, sun on his face. He was having a pleasant day, a calm day.

"Brigade!" a female voice called out.

"Nope." He said aloud.

"Bri-Gade!"

"Nooope!"

"BRIGADE!"

"What!?" He leaned over his balcony. Down in the street was Glint, and she looked nervous.

"Let, me, in." She tried to whisper and shout at the same time.

"Glint, you can fly." He dead panned. She looked embarrassed for a second and then quietly buzzed up to his balcony. "What is it? Its my day off."

"I know I thought maybe I could have a day off with you?" She chittered as she landed next to him.

"Hmm, well." He took a sip of his drink, "Wait, where is your guard?"

"Oh, well mother is out and about, so hes with her." He twitched slightly, as he heard the Panzer armor in the next room chuckle in the back of his mind.

"I guess then you can stay, but I wasn't planning on doing much today." He motioned to the weapons racks, "Juts some polishing and repairs."

"Thats fine," Glint jumped up onto his bed, "I just needed to get out of the castle for a bit anyway." She dint really care what they did as long as they were together.

"Okay." Brigade went back to reclining on his balcony. Glint sort of just sat there for a few moments fidgeting, all the while trying not to stare at him. Brigade gave a sigh, "Fine, come here." He motioned to her and she quickly fluttered over to him and sat with him on his recliner. She smiled up at him as he closed his eyes and leaned back again his his chair. She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes a well. And soon the two had fallen asleep.

Chrysalis, disguised as a dark blue mare once more, stood before the small shop. Her guard stood a ways off keeping watch, just in case. She wavered for a moment but then entered the small shop. The shop was filled with ornate candle sticks, hoof crafted boxes, trinkets, jewelry, dark wood furniture, and several other crafts of royal quality. She walked about the shop undisturbed for several moments and checked the price tag of a very ornate bangle. It took her by surprise how affordable it was.

"Afternoon Miss," Anvil greeted as he came out form the back room, "looking for anything in particular?" He was wearing a leather smock which bore the efforts of his work, he was filthy. Strangely Chrys didn't mind.

"Actually, yes. I am looking for you." Her eyes flared green.

"Ah, Well then, what can I do for you," He paused, "Chrysalis?" Anvil smiled sincerely. Chrys flinched and quickly looked away from him. She could feel his sincerity, it tasted sweet.

"You led a group to lynch me and my daughter," He looked about nervously as she spoke, "I understand why you acted that way. I am unsure how I would have acted if the roles were reversed. But I want you to understand why I did what I did, and why I was out in Canterlot that night."

"I was present at the Princesses public address."

"There is a bit more that wasn't in the address and I wanted to tell you," In a slow green burn she revealed herself, "Face to face." Anvil closed his shop and led Chrysalis into the back, where his home was. It was small but well furnished. Rich woods and irons ordained everything. Several picture frames caught her eye, in them Anvil and a Mare in guard armor were smiling. The sight made her heart drop. Being around these ponies was starting to melt her cold heart. "Your wife?" She asked motioning to the picture frame.

"Yes, she died in the invasion." Chrysalis remained silent for a moment. The room hung heavy for a moment, before he sat at the table. She sat down at the table as well and quickly got back on topic.

"As you know Changelings feed off of emotions, Love is the most potent. We were exiled from our home by," she paused, "An aggressor. We were starving."

"And that gave you the right?" She held up a hoof stopping him.

"No, it doesn't. Canterlot was overflowing with love, so I sent a emissary. They never returned to the Hive. Then I sent a spy, my daughter, to asses and prep for a possible invasion. When she went silent, in my starved mind, I saw that as a act of aggression." She looked somberly off into the distance. "And then Cadance took a trip, I saw my chance, and the rest is history." She explained.

"What happened to your emissary? I doubt Celestia would do anything but welcome them."

"After the invasion, when I was thrown from the city. I found him, his head on pike, just outside the central kingdom. That was when I began to realize that maybe I had acted foolishly. So I came back in secret, and presented myself to Celestia. Of course she accepted my offer. And now I find myself here, and in need."

"I need of what?"

"A mate." Her statement made him fall silent.

"A mate? Cant you have one of your changelings mate with you?"

"I fear, me and my daughter are all that will come forward. My children are spread wide and very thin."

"Is that why you came to me? You want to breed with me?" he couldn't believe what he was saying. "You and your army took my wife!" His anger was beginning to rise.

"And that same attack nearly wiped my kind out. And now we are on the brink of extinction. This gesture, from somepony who has lost so much to somepony who has taken so much from you, would send a message that I am not here to invade. I do not want Canterlot, I want my kind to thrive. And to co-exist with pony kind." Anvil slammed his hoof on the mantle, rattling the pictures. "Clearly I am mistaken, I appreciate you hearing me out, good day." She stood up to leave.

"Wait," He spoke softly, "Im not saying no, Chrysalis. I just," He looked over to the pictures on his mantle, "I need some time to think on this."

"I am in your debt for the mere consideration." Chrysalis bowed to him and turned back into the mare from before. In defeat she turned to leave.

"Tomorrow, 6am." He said as he turned to face her.

"Whats at 6 am?"

"Your shift. You want to show your kind and mine can co-exist? Work and live among them. My shop is busy and I see all kinds. Talk with the normal ponies. Get to know the pulse of this city. And I will consider your proposition. Either that, or look elsewhere." His demands made, he gave her a stern look. Chrys just stared at him. She hadn't ever been given a ultimatum like that. The options swirled in her mind. She did have several weeks of time before her plight became dire that and she knew he wasn't wrong. She needed to show she could live among the ponies like normal. These would be her new citizens and she needed to see how they lived. "Your answer?"

"Ill be here." She extended her hoof. Anvil took it and gave it a firm shake.  

"Hows the training going?" Acropolis asked Flash Sentry as they met outside the Lunar wing. Luna stood by impatiently awaiting Grand Agora's arrival. Her stoic silence made the air heavy.

"Well, He is adapting well to command. And the guards seem to respect him." Flash replied. His attitude towards Acropolis had soften some what since he had gotten assigned to the Crystal Empire.  

"Thats good." Acro readjusted his armor. "When will I meet the mystery replacment?"

"Eventually. For now Celestia wants to keep it secret."

"Celestia and her games." Acropolis chuckled.

"Im sure my sister has her reasons for secrecy." Luna chimed in. "Is Agora showing up today?"

"Speak of the devil." Agora called as he came into sight, his grin made Acropolis' stomach crawl. "Princess, Captains. I appologise for my lateness."

"I am very busy Agora." The Princess opened the gate to the Lunar wing. "I do not have time to be waiting around for you. Now follow me and do not touch anything." Luna led them through the wing. Lunar guards were posted at every door. Guards stood at attention at their cots as they passed through the barracks. Lunar scribes had hung banners over the book shelves so they could not see that books on the books. As they arrived at the armory Luna spun in place. "One more thing. Agora. Sentry. Anything you see are secrets of the Kingdom. Do not speak of them to any pony."

"Agreed Princess. This isn't the first audit I have done." Agora gave a smirk. So close.

"Very well." She turned and opened the door allowing Agora and Sentry entry into the armory.

"Whoa." Flash marveled at the intricate ceiling carvings. Unused armors lined the walls. Each had a station for cleaning and repairs. Several stations were empty from where armors had yet to be recovered. Agora moved in and began silently recording everything he saw. Flash simply walked around the room observing the books, tapestries, and weapons from Equestrias past.

THERE! Agora came up to a mural depicting a pony holding what looked like a crystal blade. Behind the pony was the crystal empire with a beam of light coming out of the top of the castle. He looked closer and saw that the crystal sword was actual crystal.

"Don't touch that." Luna broke the long silence.

"May I ask why?" Agora asked. Take that sword!

"I consider it very dangerous. I removed it from the original armory myself. But by itself it is harmless." Luna explained.

"And the other part?"

"Unfortunately Sombra took that secret to his grave." Luna gave a sigh. "Is this going to take much longer? Morning is coming."

"Only a few more minutes." Time to spring my trap "What?"

"What what?" Acropolis asked. Suddenly the lights cutout.

"Huh?" Flash stumbled in the dark.

"AGORA!" Luna shouted.

"Princes-" Agora called back but was cut short. There was a bright flash of red light. Agora shouted. And Luna quickly cast a light spell. As the light washed over the room Luna could see the remains of what happened. Her mighty captain lay unconscious at her feet. Grand Agora was slumped up against the far wall, blood from his head splattered on the wall behind him.

"Sentry?" Luna called out. Her light searched the room for him as she moved over to Agora. A small amount of stone laid next to him. Luna quickly realized what it was and turned her magic light to the mural. Where the Crystal Sword was gone. "SENTRY!" She called again. The thought then occurred to her as she checked the bleeding business pony. "Flash Sentry, why?" Acropolis coughed. "Acro?"

"Princess." The battered captain rose to his feet. "What happened?" His head felt like it was split open. Magic induced unconsciousness usually left a massive headache.

"Im not sure. But Flash is missing."

"Flash." He paused for a moment. "You don't think?"

"Unfortunately it would seem Flash Sentry has stolen the Crystal Sword." Luna's voice became sad. "Acropolis. Lock down the city. And put out a bulletin, Capture Flash Sentry at all costs. He cannot leave this city with that artifact."