Thousands of miles to the north of Canterlot and only a a few hundred miles north of the Crystal Empire, Arctic Wind sat alone in his study reading one of his many books. He'd just finished giving a magic lesson to his protégé, and was ready to settle in and listen to the shadows of the night. He didn't sleep much but was ready to relax a little bit. Then a knock came at his door.

" Pouah (ugh), Pas maintenant.(Not now.)" He said annoyed.

" C'est Commandant Nexus.(It's Commander Nexus.)" Aquilam Cor called from the other side.

Arctic knit his brow in confusion. " Laissez-le entrer. (Let him enter.)"

The door opened and Captain Nexus stood on the other side in a black military style uniform. Arctic used his telekinesis to stoke the fire a bit with the fire poker.

"What may I do for you Captain." Arctic asked as Aquilam shut the door behind him.

"It's Colonel now. Or Senator." Nexus clarified.

"Congratulations on your promotion. I assume your venture was successful."

"It was. And seeing as you can read minds, I guess you know why I'm here?"

"Oddly enough, not very well, Senator. I know you are here to talk to me about Goldenchord."

"Well, yes. I've been reading through his log and that's been having some odd effects on my sleep."

"You have been seeing his life in your dreams."

"Yes. And well, I understand you're old, but some of the things you told me don’t seem to quite matchup with what I saw."

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, he's the one that said he could almost pass for a griffon. Not you."

"Living a few thousand years can cause some memory distortion Senator." Arctic said confidently. There was no way Senator Nexus was even starting to catch on.

"And there's also another thing." Nexus said as Arctic levitated a flask of water into his talon.

"Lunarus Goldenchord wanted to learn magic from you and Princess Luna," No way he was catching on. "You said that only unicorns could use levitation."

Oh no. "Perhaps I found the secret to using it."

"You know as well as I do that there isn't one. Some magic is what your born with. All might be born with magic, but that doesn't mean they can use all of it."

This wasn't good. Arctic looked away and went back to his book, not caring where he picked up.

"Funny thing about magic. The power it grants can make somepony immortal. You at least got something right… General."

Arctic sighed, knowing he'd been beat. He'd put up this act for so long he could have believed it himself if he didn't have a habit of using his magic. "You are much more perceptive then I anticipated Commandant."

"Kicking me out of your memories was a nice touch, Goldenchord."

"I had to try and keep you from looking too close. It was a vague hope I suppose."

"You did better than I could ever do. But I have to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Why did you do all of this? Was it at Celestia's command?"

"Far from it. Tia would never have asked such a thing of me. She insisted I stay hidden in Canterlot. In fact, I lived a fairly lenient life for several years after the war. Even married and had a beautiful baby girl."

"So then why'd you leave?"

Goldenchord's silver eyes glazed over slightly when the thought crossed his mind. "To put it short Senator, I couldn't bare seeing my daughter. I loved her and her mother with all my heart but it just didn't feel right after what I had done. And after all of that I was still a terrible father to her. I hardly did much other than stay in my room as ordered by Celestia as her mother worked her flank off in the castle kitchens. I stuck around and tried being a good father but I still didn't feel right teaching Gilded Heart what I knew. She was a great fighter and as loyal as these thousand years have been long. But the worst of it all, the absolute worst; was that every time I saw my wife, all I saw was everything I ever saw in Luna!"

"You know, if it makes you feel any better, just from how I've turned out, I think you were a great father."

"Why do you say that? I abandoned my wife and child to live with my teacher."

"I don't condone what you've done in that respect, but what you taught her before you left has been passed down from generation to generation. I revere Sergeant Gilded Heart. Her way of teaching her soldiers was an inspiration to me when I took over Canterlot Military Academy. Strong willed, never back down to your troops and always lead them by example."

"And what example did she set?" Goldenchord asked suddenly interested.

"She was fearless. She was notorious for being a thorn in Celestia's side but still always being within her graces for how well she trained her soldiers. It was around the time she was promoted to Sergeant 1st Class that she married Corporal Euphrates Nexus."

"Euphrates? She married shy, little Euphrates? Moreover, he joined the Guard?"

"Yeah, his wife was the stronger of the two but was no less a great mother. She passed on everything you taught her to her son and then it just continued from there to me. If you ask me you're possibly the best father she could have hoped for. And I'm sure she loved you as much as her mother did." Goldenchord looked longingly into the fire as Nexus finished. "As much as I know Luna loved you."

"How do you know that?"

"I live with her. She told me when she passed your armor down to me. And from what I was forced to watch, you loved her too."

"Yes. I only wish I could see her again." Goldenchord sighed taking a seat at his fireplace.

"Perhaps you can. Just break the spell you have on your memories that keeps me tied to them and I'll do what I can for you."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just get some sleep tonight. You won't regret it. I have to go before my wife leaves me again."

"Alright. And Senator."

"Yes?"

"Keep this business of my identity a secret. If I fooled Celestia into believing I died and I wish to keep it that way. It is best I remain away from Canterlot until Faust deems I have served my purpose here."

"As you wish General. I'll show myself out." Nexus turned around and left on his own.

Goldenchord continued to look into the fire and started to wonder what Senator Nexus was talking about. What could he possibly do to improve his situation? Given he was a sharp young man, but there was some doubt as to his ability to fulfill his promise.