A heavy moan broke into the darkness. A pair of hand, soft-skinned and smooth, slowly moved across his stomach, working their way down between his legs. They made a point to start at the base of his shaft and pull up as far as they got, before they came down again.

**

“Ugh,” Shining Armor woke in the back of the flying carriage. Despite having to ride it several times in his career, he had never quite gotten used to them. Flying should be for Pegasi.

“Bad dreams, Sir?” a woman looked down on him. They had had to leave in the middle of the night, after the news of Luna’s assassination had reached them.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, but didn’t move. In his head he finished the sentence with “that’s as good a lie as any”. No, the dream wasn’t the problem. The problem was his sister. Or maybe the other Princesses. The news had been delivered by a Wonderbolt Messenger sometime after dawn. What the hell had gotten into everyone’s mind? Whoever it was that had identified Twilight as the perpetrator had a lot of questions to answer. Preferably while being chained in a dungeon under charges of treason against the crown.

Knight-Sergeant Hen Runner was the alleged witness. A good man, Shining had thought, if getting a little old for his job. What would prompt a man with an implacable service record to do something like this? To Shining’s mind, there was only one thing.

Celestia may have declared that the Changelings were no longer a threat, but to him they had never ceased to be a reality. Even now Cadence suffered the nightmares. She wouldn’t tell him what had happened, other than being trapped in the caves, but the hesitation he sometimes could glimpse in her eyes when they were intimate…

Intimate. He hated using that word to describe it. It hadn’t felt like it was intimacy there ever since the wedding. It was just sex. No, not even that. It was Cadence putting her own needs aside to please his, pretending to be fine, and getting insulted whenever he wanted her to do what she wanted and not what she thought he wanted. He had mostly gone with it to keep the peace in the palace while encouraging her to get help. If not from a professional, at least from her aunts.

He shook his head. He didn’t have time to think about his personal life right now. The Changelings. That was what was important. He remembered little to nothing about what had happened to himself, but if it was enough to get him, he doubted anyone else in the damned Royal Guard had a chance. And the only explanation for a rogue Twilight was a lying or bewitched Royal Guardsman.

Or a bewitched Twilight. Or a Changeling imposter, his brain told him, letting his heart descend to his gut and beyond. Or that. But regardless, he needed to get his hands on Hen Runner to get to the bottom of any of this. And Twilight. Or the one pretending to be either.

Canterlot appeared on the horizon.

**

Shining and the guard stepped off the carriage on a landing platform within the castle limits. Waiting for them was a tall, blond white-coated man wearing a tuxedo. He had a rose behind his left ear, as he usually did. He stood with his hands folded behind his back.

“Dismissed,” Prince Blueblood said to the guard. Shining noted that he was alone, something he didn’t believe he had seen before.

“Aren’t I supposed to be in charge?” Shining asked, not very friendly and raised an eyebrow.

“From dawn tomorrow, yes. Until then, I was appointed to be the regent for the regent. To give you time to settle in. But we are getting ahead of ourselves,” Blueblood smiled and reached out a hand. There was a playful and teasing tone to his voice as he continued. “The Soldier. Not enough skulls for you to bash in the Empire?”

“Blueblood,” Shining responded. He only shook his hand for a second or so. Deciding to humor him, he added “How did your last date go?”

“I think ‘cognitive dissonance’ is the only way to describe it, I fear. He was a true gentleman and had everything perfectly planned to the last detail… until we got to the bedroom. I would say it was a let-down, but that would imply that he actually got up.”

“Ever considered that was your doing?” with a smirk Shining glanced around. No one else in sight.

“Now, now, dear Shining,” Blueblood just laughed. “Are you sure you want to stroll down this road one more? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed watching you squirm. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone quite so embarrassed before or since.”

The smirk, along with most of the blood, disappeared from Shining’s face, much to the pleasure of Blueblood.

“Have no worried, my dear Soldier,” he continued, now being the one with the smirk. “I haven’t told anyone. Nor will I.”

“And I suppose you have a price for that?” Shining would give anything for Blueblood to be stricken with amnesia about what had happened that night.

“No, I do not. I wouldn’t for the life of me do anything to undermine Cadence’s claim to you. Her obsession with you in the past alone is enough to make me want to stay clear of getting involved in that, save for teasing you. We are the only ones who know, and that is how it will stay.”

“What do you want?” he was tired of playing games. Couldn’t the Prince for once just come out with his intentions openly?

“Only what is best for the kingdom.”

”And how will this benefit you?”

“You’re paranoia does you no credit, Shining Armor. You are not prepared for the challenges of ruling Equestria. That is why I am here.”

“I’ve been ruling the Crystal Emp-“

“At Cadence’s side, whom, I remind you, have been trained to be a monarch. You’re a military man, and I would not dare undersell your qualifications as Knight-Commander of the Royal Guards, but this is politics.”

“Well, you- so what do you propose?”

“Simple. I take on the role of Regent Steward for the time of your reign, counseling you on the proper course of action and assuming responsibility for whatever tasks you consider fit. Transparency of my actions will be absolute, so you’ll be able to step in or review anything you see the need to.”

“And I need this why? I could appoint anyone to be Regent Steward.”

“Let me tell you something, Soldier: The nobility have been restless, at best, since the reappearance of Princess Luna. It was only made worse by the resurgence of the Crystal Empire and before the dust could settle on any of these changes, your sister becomes an appointed monarch herself, with no word even spoken about it to the noble families. There have been many shifts of power in recent years, Shining Armor, and none of them were met with smiles. Twilight Sparkle may be a celebrated hero, but a commoner nonetheless. And now she has assassinated the Princess of the Night. You are both her brother and a ruler of the Crystal Empire. You perfectly represent everything that makes the nobles uncertain. You’re going to need all the help you can get, and the only one who can offer you the validation you need in these times is someone of Celestia’s and Luna’s blood. You need me, and I am offering to take on this responsibility with no cost to you. I expect you to be present at the Council tomorrow morning, at dawn. Good day.”

He wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he could only stand there. He noticed that his mouth had been left open, so he closed it.

**

As Hen Runner regained consciousness, he became aware of another sensation beside the throbbing pain in his head and chest. There was a warm feeling that seemed to be coming from beneath him. He tried to place in his mind as he winced and prepared to open his eyes. Thankfully it wasn’t intense enough to be fire and not wet enough to be incontinence. The closest he could come up with was that it felt like a candle in a dark room looked. Strange, very strange.

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand in a futile attempt to block out the spots of light behind his eyelids. He knew he couldn’t put off his return to the conscious world any longer. Hen did not fancy the disaster he was sure to find.

He blinked several times until the blurs became recognizable shapes. Thankfully it seemed as though someone had brought a lamp so Hen could see once his eyes refocused. He realized that he was lying on top of an overturned bookshelf, looking up at the ceiling. ‘Well at least the building is still standing. Not even my shield could have protected me from an explosion that powerful.

He grunted as he tried to prop himself up on his elbows. The prodding of the shelves against his back was replaced by the sharp pain of cracked ribs in front. His head was swaying like a fishbowl next to a train station.

“Don’t try to get up too fast. You aren’t in danger anymore.” Hen Runner felt a hand on his shoulder. He tilted his head up to see who the hand belonged to. It was connected to the arm of a middle-aged woman with pale amber skin and gray hair. She looked down at him with concern behind gold half rimmed spectacles and a simple red night robe.

“Where is Twilight?” he asked.

“Gone,” she said sadly. “She, Zecora and the Stranger were seen fleeing back to the Everfree forest.”

‘Damn,’ Hen was torn between disappointment and relief. Obviously, it would have been a problem if he had woken up with the Stranger standing over him, but it was going to be hard to explain to Canterlot how he had let her get away. There were going to be a lot of hard questions, and Hen knew he wouldn’t be able to answer all of them.

He turned his head to examine the destruction caused by the Stranger’s spell: It was bad. The library was all but demolished. Every bookcase had been knocked over and their contents strewn across the floor, most of them either blown apart or burned. Even the chemistry set on the table in the center of the room had been shattered. Hen looked down to see his armor hadn’t faired much better. It was so singed and dented that he was surprised the Stranger hadn’t blown a hole through it. That was worrying, Hen was sure he had at least tried to activate his shield when he saw the Stranger’s eyes and chest started to glow. And yet the spell had torn through his defense as if it wasn’t even there. He knew the others were not as fortunate as he had been.

Hen spotted two of his comrades almost immediately. Whisper Winds was across the room, lying on her front with her head turned to one side. He couldn’t see the condition of her armor, but it was probably as bad as his. Thankfully there didn’t seem to be any blood pooling beneath her so chances were she has still alive. Hen Runner guessed that the blast had knocked her body against the wall behind her and she had collapsed on the floor unconscious. As he looked on, two young women gently raised Whisper into a sitting position. One pink skinned and blue haired and the other blue skinned and pink haired, a color scheme that made Hen Runner suspect they were twins. They had to handle her gingerly as one of her wings was broken. Hen was relieved to see that her chest plate, though dented and burned like his, was still un-punctured. Thank Celestia for small favors.

Iron Feather lay in a heap at the foot of the stairway, the very stairs Hen Runner himself had descended earlier to confront Twilight after she had brazenly returned to the library. Unlike himself and Whisper Winds, it appeared Iron Feather’s armor was still relatively intact. An orange haired man with a head mirror and a grey-skinned woman that looked somewhat familiar to Hen were rolling Iron feather onto his back as well. He didn’t appear to be seriously injured. Aside from a few lost feathers, it seemed as though Iron had been affected more by Zecora’s dust than the blast.

“Is he alive?” Hen called over to them. The orange haired man turned and straightened his classes.

“Yes he’s fine, just appears to have gone beddy bye.”

“What?” Hen Runner asked, not sure if he had heard correctly or if the supposed doctor was trying to be silly.

The grey-skinned woman next to the doctor rolled her eyes. “If you thought that was bad, just imagine what it’s like having Doc Top as your primary care physician is. He means your fellow soldier here is in a very deep sleep.”

“Sorry,” Doc Top said, wincing. “I spent most of my career as a pediatrician. Some habits are hard to break. I can confirm that Miss Melody is correct in her diagnosis.”

Well that explains that, Hen Runner thought. He continued looking around the ruined library trying to find Raven Racer. Judging by Iron Feather’s condition, it would seem the severity of the stranger’s attack was determined by threat level. Iron Feather had been unconscious so the spell had merely put some space between them. Whisper Winds had been restraining Zecora and Hen Runner had been the only hostile magic wielder present. Hen’s heart sank: Raven Racer had been the one holding the Stranger down when his attack activated. He looked over to where the stranger had stood. The hinges had been blown off the door and Hen had a good idea where Raven Racer had ended up.

“The other knight, who stayed Ponyville with us, she’s outside isn’t she? What condition is she in?” Hen Runner asked, but he already knew the answer.

The Mayor frowned sadly. “Yes, and I’m afraid that whatever destroyed the library and injured you killed her outright. I’m sorry, Knight Sergeant.”

“Damn,” Hen Runner said simply.

There would be time mourning and anger later, right now rational thought was needed. Raven Racer’s death had confirmed his theory, but it was only part of this situation that made any sense. The attempt to capture Twilight had been a disaster. Not just because the Stranger’s power had taken them by surprise, but also because Hen had never thought for a second that Twilight would return to Ponyville. Why would she? She had to know that would be the first place the Royal Guard would look for her. Why would she walk into what was such an obvious trap if she couldn’t even use magic?

Hen thought back to the night before, trying to reconcile the Twilight he had seen in Luna’s bedchamber with the one he had encountered just an hour ago. How could there have been such a contrast between the two? Those cruel scheming eyes that blasted him across the room could not have been more different from the look of utter despair as he put her in handcuffs.

And then there was the horn. There had been no reports of Twilight being seen anywhere between last night and this. Hen, along with the rest of Canterlot, had assumed she was in hiding. What the hell could have happened between then and now to crack her horn like that?

Why had she come back in that condition? Had she been depending on the Stranger to save them? But if that was the case, why go through the charade of being captured at all? Nothing was what it had appeared to be.

Nothing was what it had appeared to be…

The revelation hit Hen Runner almost as hard as the stranger’s attack had. It was so obvious now that he almost struck his forehead with the palm of his hand. Only two things stopped him: the first was that his head already hurt enough, and the second was the timely arrival of Nurse Redheart.

Hen Runner saw the physician walk through the wrecked doorway and stand there a moment to appraise the situation. She was a short woman and had a stocky build. She had skin as white as her nurse gown and skirt and her pink hair tied into a bun under her nurse cap. Redheart’s expression was a mixture of bewilderment and sadness. Hen doubted that she’d had much experience with triage. Her eyes passed from the conscious Hen, to the sleeping Iron Feather, to the still unconscious Whisper Winds. She frowned, gripping her first aid satchel and took a deep breath.

“Aloe, Lotus, get her helmet off. I need to check for cranial damage.” She said as she walked over to them quickly and knelt down beside them. They did as instructed and Redheart ran her fingers through Whisper’s scalp. Her back was to Hen Runner so he couldn’t see her face while she performed her examination. He could see her take out her flashlight to check her pupils.

“Concussion obviously.” She said, putting the flashlight back in her bag. “I can use smelling salts to wake her up, but there’s a chance she won’t be coherent. In the meantime we need to check the torso for surface and internal injuries.” She looked back at Hen Runner over her shoulder. “Commander, how do we get the chest plate off?”

“There are two straps on each side, and a hook over the shoulders,” he replied. “The sports bra is also standard dress for females in the Royal Guard.”

Redheart nodded and reached into her satchel. She took out a small bottle and rubbed a pinch of the contents under Whisper’s nose. Her head jerked back a few times before the knight-errant opened her eyes. Her head wobbled from side to side as she groaned and gripped her head in pain.

“Knight-Errant Whisper Winds, report!” Hen Runner called over to her.

“Present… Commander,” she replied still in a daze. “What… what are your orders sir?”

“Stand down, Winds. The enemy has retreated and you are in need of medical treatment. Do you read me solder?”

Whisper Winds nodded, still holding her head. “Yes, sir.”

Redheart and the twins set about undressing the half lucid Knight-errant. Once the chest plate and back plate were off, Redheart held her stethoscope to Whisper’s back and told her to take a few breaths.

“Good, the lungs sound fine so there isn’t any serious damage to the chest cavity.”

She took the stethoscope out of her ears. “Cracked ribs appear likely, no need to check for bruising as discoloration has already set in. Which reminds me,” she turned to address Mayor Mane. “Be sure to get that helmet off before possible swelling sets in, otherwise we’ll have to cut it off.”

“Yes, of course, dear,” the Mayor replied, relieving the Hen of his helm. Redheart did the same for Whisper Winds. She felt around the back of her skull.

“An ice pack should help keep that down.” The angry red skin under Whisper’s collarbone gave the nurse pause. “We should run some cold water on that before we risk taking off anymore. I don’t want the skin to come of with it.” She frowned. “If the Knight Sergeant is as badly burned as this… I don’t think I have enough salve.”

“I have something that might help,” the blue haired girl spoke up. She pulled a small jar of ointment from the pocket of her sweatpants. “It’s something we use down at the Spa. Probably worthless medically, but it might help soothe the burns.”

Nurse Redheart raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”

“Aloe’s right,” the pink haired girl replied, “It has a very high rate of customer satisfaction.”

Redheart sighed, “I suppose it’s better than nothing. Lotus, fill a pot with cold water in the kitchen and bring it back here. We need to cool her down first.” The pink haired woman nodded and left. The nurse turned to the other twin and handed her a roll of gauze. “Get her top off before you try to bandage it. Make sure you wrap the ointment tightly with this.” Aloe nodded.

Redheart stood up, still visibly flustered. She looked over at Iron Feather again, then over at Hen Runner.

“What happened to him?”

“The Zebra who was with Twilight blew some sort of dust in his face.”

Redheart gripped her satchel and ran her fingers through her hair with clear agitation.

“Damn, I never thought something like this would happen in Ponyville. And Twilight of all people… well I can’t say for sure anymore, but the Zecora I knew would have only used a temporary sleeping powder.”

The grey yellow skinned woman sitting next to Iron spoke-up. “Well, he’s breathing evenly and he seems to be resting peacefully.”

“His pulse is normal so he’s not under any kind of duress, mentally or physically,” the orange haired doctor added.

Redheard sighed with relief. “Good, I was afraid it would be something more sinister. One of you, get a pillow for his head. Since we don’t have anything that could counteract whatever Zecora’s used on him, it’s best to make sure he’s comfortable while the magic runs its course.”

So it’s safe to assume that was the real Zecora and Twilight at least. Hen Runner thought. But, if Twilight had been framed, why had she been absent from Ponyville for the whole day? And why had she come back so late at night, apparently unaware of what had happened in Canterlot?

Redheart sat down beside him and she and the Mayor helped Hen Runner out of his armor. Once that was done, she gave him the same examination she had performed on Whisper: Eyes, skull and lungs. Thankfully he was in at least as good condition as his subordinate. Hen watched the nurse’s sapphire eyes as she applied the salve and gauze to the black and blue blotches on his torso. He could tell she was dedicated and skilled at her profession, something Hen admired in any career choice. This was not the first time Hen had received medical treatment, but he still couldn’t help but wish that they had met under more fortunate circumstances.

Once she had finished she looked up at him. “I think it’s best if you and the others come with me back to the hospital for overnight observation. Even if your injuries aren’t life threatening, you’re still in no condition to perform any strenuous activities.”

Hen nodded in resignation “She’s already long gone, and it would be foolish to pursue her into the forbidden forest at night. What arrangements can you make for my fallen knight?”

“Well, even though it hardly ever gets used, the hospital does have a morgue. She’ll be fine there until you can arrange transport back to Canterlot.”

Speaking of Canterlot.

“I need to get word of the confrontation back to the capital as soon as possible. Mayor Mane, do you have any messengers on call for an overnight trip?”

She thought for a moment. “Well, there’s always one.” She turned her head and called out the door, “Derpy, are you out there? Could you come in for a moment?”

‘Derpy?’ The name didn’t exactly inspire confidence to Hen. A woman with blue grey skin, blonde hair and dressed in a nightshirt and sweat pants walked in. She looked around the room before finally spotting the Mayor. “You wanted to see me mam?” she said as she crossed the room, tripping over several books along the way. Hen wondered if she might be drunk, until he realized she was cross-eyed. But that didn’t exactly reassure him.

“The Knight Sergeant needs you to get a message back to Canterlot immediately. Non-stop overnight express,” the Mayor explained.

“Can do!” Derpy exclaimed. She turned to Hen and gave a salute, focusing one eye and then the other at him expectantly.

Hen Runner looked around. “Um… Can someone get a quill and parchment?”

“I’ll do it,” said the woman sitting next to Iron Feather. She made her way over to Twilight’s writing desk and retrieved the items, along with an inkpad and envelope. She came back and handed them to Derpy, and the Mayor gave her a book to write on. Derpy sat down in front of Hen and waited for him to begin.

“To the Order of Royal Guards in Canterlot,” Hen Runner dictated. “Twilight was spotted Ponyville late this evening. Knight-Sergent Hen Runner attempted to bring Twilight into custody with three of Luna’s personal guards. She managed to elude capture with the help of conspirators, who killed a knight-errant and incapacitated the rest of us. Request reinforcement of a full squadron of Royal Guards… Under the command of Knight-Sergeant Diamond Dust, post haste.”

Derpy finished scribbling the letter and one of her eyes looked back up at Hen. “Anything else?”

“Well I’ll need to sign it and put my personal seal on it before you go. And I’ll also need to make sure it’s legible,” Hen said, holding out his hand.

Derpy handed him the book and the pen. As he turned the book around to view the letter, he was prepared to see a trail of chicken scratches. He was rather taken aback to discover rather elegant calligraphy. Hen raised an eyebrow and looked up at Derpy. She smiled back at him:

“That’s how most people react when they see my handwriting. I use cursive because if I start and stop again for each letter, I can’t keep them in a straight line.”

“Hmmm,” Hen Runner though. I guess that makes sense in a weird sort of way.

Hen signed the dispatch, his signature much rougher than the rest of the document. He folded the letter and put it inside an envelope the third woman gave him. After the envelope was sealed, he pressed his signet to the inkpad and left his mark on the envelope. Then he handed it back to Derpy.

She took the message with a salute and turned to exit the library. Hen watched as she slipped on another book and caught herself on her way to the door. Once she was out of sight, he turned to the mayor.

“Is she really fine delivering that by herself?” he asked with concern.

“Oh, you have nothing to worry about. She’s a little clumsy on her feet and with her hands, but she’s a strong flyer. She’ll be able to find her way there as fast as any other pegasi, I promise you.”

‘Good’ Hen Runner thought ‘It would be nice to have something go right tonight.’

He felt Nurse Redheart’s hand on his shoulder. “I need to get Whisper back to the hospital to get her wing set now. And its time we got the rest of you out of here too.”

Hen Runner took one last look around the demolished library. “Well there’s no real point in staying here. Someone will have to look after the animals upstairs though.”

“I know someone who can,” the orange haired doctor. “Mane Goodall is the local vet, his clinic will have plenty of room.”

Hen Runner nodded as Nurse Redheart unrolled a stretcher and the mayor helped him walk over to it. Redheart scratched the back her neck nervously as he lay down on the stretcher. “Umm, just a formality, but we usually sedate pegasi while we set their wings. I’m not sure if we need to ask your… permission… or something, but they’re usually more cooperative that way. No offense.” She added looking over at Whisper Winds.

The Knight-errant merely shrugged. “If you’re going to put them in a cast, I’d rather be knocked out anyway.”

“Thank you for telling me, Nurse. I hope I’m not too heavy for you.”

“Oh needn’t worry about that,” Readheart as she took one end of his stretcher and the mayor took the other. “You may have noticed that there is a distinct deficit of men in this town. That means…” The mayor and the nurse grunted as they easily raised Hen Runner off the floor. “…Us girls have gotten used to picking up the slack.”

Hen Runner managed a meager grin as he was careered outside. “My boss is a goddess, I know better than to underestimate women.”

***

When Hen Runner awoke in the infirmary the next morning, the melancholy began to set it. He sighed as he tried to sit up in bed. He could see Whisper Winds laying the bed across from him with her wing in a cast, still asleep. They were both wearing faded green hospital gowns. He thought back to seeing Raven on the table in the morgue the night before: seeing the hole that had been blasted through her armor and into her chest. Hen had lost solders in combat before and at least it was safe to assume her death had been instantaneous. What bothered him was that he had been there and had completely powerless to stop the stranger’s attack. Worse still, if his theory was correct her death might have been completely unnecessary.

“Good to see you up, Commander.”

Hen Runner turned towards the sound of the voice, and saw Iron Feather standing at attention in the corner of the room.

“At ease, Knight-errant. How long have you been standing there?”

“Well, I woke up about an hour ago. Nurse Tenderheart briefed me on the situation, so thought it prudent to stand guard while you recovered.”

“Thank you, Iron, but I doubt Twilight will be returning to Ponyville any time soon with a broken horn.”

“With all due respect, sir, she’s not the one we should be worried about.”

True, thought Hen Runner, at least not the Twilight we met last night. It was the Stranger’s power that had defeated them last night. Hen Runner needed to take time to analyze this new threat before deciding on a course of action. There was precious little information to go on. All Hen could say for certain was that whatever power he had was capable of nullifying unicorn magic. That and the fact that it had targeted his knights based on their threat to his personal safety. But then Hen remembered something else: the Stranger’s attack hadn’t been triggered by his own capture. He had done it to protect Twilight.

Hen Runner needed to consider the implications of this. Could it be that the former princess was an essential asset for achieving whatever goal the Stranger was trying to achieve in Equestria? No, the circumstances of the encounter suggested otherwise. It was foolish to risk capture, and reveling such an ability, by returning the library after Luna’s assassination. That was even assuming the stranger’s presence in Ponyville was related to Luna’s death, which Hen doubted. All three of them, including Zecora, seemed to be genuinely unaware of what had happened in Canterlot the night before. And just how had Twilight’s horn been damaged?

Hen concluded that this was something else entirely. The Stranger appeared to have been motivated by genuine concern for Twilight’s safety. It was possible that they had become friends, or even lovers, in the time since he had reportedly materialized in her study. Despite her studious nature, Twilight had proved to have a knack for making friends quickly. This was the woman who had assembled the Elements of Harmony in a single day without even trying. But just what was the Stranger and what kind of magic had he been using? He didn’t have a horn, so he must have been using some kind of tool to channel so much power. Did it have anything to do with that warm feeling Hen had felt when he regained consciousness?

There was something else Hen had to consider. If the assassin he saw in Luna’s chamber really had been an imposter, then the situation was far worse than he had previously thought. Before becoming Luna’s Royal Guard, Hen Runner had served for many years in Special Ops for Princess Celestia. He had a natural affinity for detection so even if he couldn’t see through the assassin’s illusion, he would have been able to detect that there was one. In fact, throughout his entire military career, there had only ever been one time when he could not see through an impersonation. That was when Chrysalis had taken Princess Cadance’s place in Canterlot.

So, if this was some Changeling plot, Hen couldn’t be sure whom to trust. There was a reason he had asked specifically for Diamond Dust. He glanced over at Iron Feather again. Could he be a changeling in disguise? Unlikely. If they had presence in Ponyville, they never would have let the real Twilight appear in such an arbitrary manner. Hen Runner had learned the hard way that they wouldn’t risk exposing themselves until all their preparations were complete. Still, this was all just speculation: Hen needed was irrefutable evidence before he could challenge Celestia’s assertion that the Changelings had been eradicated.

Hen gave a heavy sigh and lay back down on the bed: Nothing to do now but wait. A knight didn’t live as long as Hen, especially performing the kinds of tasks Celestia gave him, without developing an appreciation for healthcare. Off the battlefield, doctor’s orders carried as much weight as any officer’s. Hen Runner wasn’t about to leave the hospital until he was cleared to do so.

As Hen Runner lay there thinking, the door opened and the doctor came in pushing a food cart in front of him. His skin was amber and his horn pointed out from underneath his brown bangs.

“Good morning, Commander. I hope you’re feeling better,” he said as she walked over to Hen’s bed and placed a tray on his lap. Hen Runner looked down at his breakfast grimly: Cup of juice, a cube of Jell-O and a lump of spinach. Still better than field rations.

Whisper Winds awoke as the nurse placed the second tray on her bed. She shifted around uncomfortably as she stretched her one good wing.

“Glad to see you’re awake. I’m your physician, Doctor Horse.”

Whisper Winds stretched. “How bad was it doctor?”

Dr. Horse’s horn lit up as he levitated the X-ray of Whisper Wind’s wing out from the bottom shelf of the cart. She sat up the get a better look at it.

“It a was a clean break so it’ll take about a week to heal.”

Whisper sighed and slumped down her bed.

“I know how much pegasi hate being grounded,” Doctor Horse said. “Our last winged patent actually tried to sneak out in the middle of the night. Now we have something to help pass the time.”

The Doctor opened the drawer of the nightstand by Whisper’s nightstand. He took out a thick worn book and handed to her. “Some Daring Do might help pass the time.”

Whisper held the book in front of her and examined the cover. “Quest for the Sapphire Stone. I haven’t read this one in years.” She opened it and started reading.

“We have the whole series. But don’t forget to eat your breakfast,” Doctor Horse reminded her.

“Um not to be rude doctor, but isn’t feeding patients usually a nurse’s duty?” Hen Runner asked.

“Usually,” The doctor replied. “But I figured if I was going to give you both an examination anyway, I might as well bring you your breakfast myself.”

Horse walked over to Hen Runner putting on his stethoscope. He performed the standard check-up: testing Hen’s blood pressure, taking his pulse, examining his throat and checking his breathing. Iron Feather looked on stoically, his arms crossed over his chest. Then the doctor carefully unwrapped Hen Runner’s bandages and checked his wounds. Hen winced as the doctor prodded his chest and examined the back of his head.

“Well, the swelling has gone down since last night and your skin is healing nicely. No sign of necrotizing tissue or infection. Your ribs are cracked but those will heal well enough on their own. As long as you don’t over exert yourself, I’d say you’re good to go,” Doctor Horse said with a smile.

“Where is his armor?” Iron Feather asked impatiently.

“The mayor is keeping them at city hall. I’m afraid they’re pretty much beyond repair. Even if they weren’t, I wouldn’t advise wearing it his condition. The extra weight will compress his ribcage,” Doctor Horse added.

Hen Runner sighed. “Well it looks like I’ll be commanding from the rear from now on, if Diamond Dust doesn’t decide to send me back to Canterlot.”

“All the more reason to enjoy your stay while you can,” A familiar feminine voice said. Hen looked up and saw Mrs. Cake enter the ward, along with Nurse Redheart, carrying a tray of cupcakes with rainbow colored frosting.

“Nurse Redheart!” Doctor Horse exclaimed. “ What are you doing at work? It’s not your shift.”

“I know doctor, I but I wanted to check in on the royal guards,” she replied as she walked over to them.

“And I baked you some cupcakes because I thought you could use some cheering up,” Mrs. Cake chimed in as she came to a stop at the foot of his bed. “Will that be okay doctor?”

Horse rubbed his chin. “I guess so.”

“Excellent,” Mrs. Cake replied, beaming. “Care to join us?”

“Hmmm, I really shouldn’t,” he said, regarding her tray of appealing confectioneries wistfully. “Knowing your cooking, Mrs Cake, I’d never be able to stop at just one. I should see about getting Hen Runner some proper cloths.”

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind,” Nurse Redheart offered. “I don’t have clinic duty this morning an I have nowhere to be.”

“Well, as long as you’re here, remember to change the Commander’s bandages before I get back,” Doctor Horse said as he headed for the door.

Hen called after him “There is some back up armor in the treehouse. Don’t try to open the suitcase, just bring it straight here.”

“Yes, Doctor,” Nurse Redheart replied before turning back to Mrs. Cake and snatching a cupcake off her tray.

“Iron, care to join us?” Hen Runner called to his subordinate. Iron Feather shrugged and came over to Hen’s bed.

“What about you dear?” Mrs. Cake said turning around to ask Whisper Winds.

“Huh?” She said looking up from her book “Oh, I probably shouldn’t. If I’m going to be laid up for a week, it’s best if I avoid sugar all together.”

“Suit yourself,” Mrs. Cake replied, turning back to Hen Runner and handing him a cupcake.

Hen Runner took a bite out of his. It tasted like strawberries, raspberries, carrots and grapes all once. It was a combination Hen had never tasted before, but he rather liked it. He swallowed and took another bite. “This was very nice of you, Mrs. Cake. Thank you,” He said around a mouth full of sweet dough.
“It’s the least I could do to thank you for your service to Equestria,” she said as she took a bite of her own tasty treat. Hen Runner chuckled to himself. ‘If you knew half the things I’ve done in the service of my country, I doubt you’d even let me in your shop,’ he thought.

After Hen Runner finished his cupcake, he licked his lips happily. He felt much better now, all things considered. No point in worrying until Diamond Dust got here. For now, the danger was far away.

“Might I inquire as to where you’ll be staying, seeing has how the library is a mess?”

Hen Runner hadn’t thought of that. “I suppose we could just requisition another building.”

Mrs. Cake looked down at the floor, holding her hands behind her back. “I hope it’s not too presumptuous, but with Light Red Pie missing, we do have a spare room at Sugar Cube Corner. One of you could stay with us.”

Hen Runner thought about it for moment. Normally he would be against splitting his forces, but with Whisper already bedridden, the issue was redundant. He decided it would be permissible to allow Iron Feather to stay with the Cakes while he made other arrangements. A good commander always put the needs of his troops before his own. Plus it would give him time to investigate what he had felt in the library on by himself. For some reason he felt that should be done privately.

“If Iron Feather doesn’t mind, he can stay with you for awhile. Equestria is grateful for your assistance Mrs. Cake,” Hen said glancing over at the Knight-errant.

“Not at all,” Iron Feather replied. Perhaps Hen Runner was imagining it, but Iron seemed a little more cheerful, than his usual serious self. He certainly hadn’t smiled since they had started out for Ponyville the day before, but now his face was looking a little brighter. Maybe it was the sunlight coming in through the windows?

“Excellent,” Mrs. Cake said happily. “It’ll be nice having someone around the house who isn’t walking on the ceiling or burping magic.” She folded the now empty tray under one arm and audaciously took Iron Feather by the hand and led him out the ward. As they passed through door, Iron Feather turned his head and gave Hen a parting salute.

Nurse Redheart finished her cupcake and tossed the wrapper in the bin by Hen Runner’s bed. “Well, now that’s done, I suppose I should get to bandaging you up again before Doctor Horse gets back.”

She reached into the nightstand beside Hen’s bed. She took out another roll of gauze and Hen Runner pulled off his hospital gown to accommodate her task. As she bandaged him up again, Hen couldn’t help but notice that her eyes and hands kept lingering on his chest. He was old and his skin was sagging slightly, but Hen had always kept his body in top shape. He thought back to what Redheart had said last night about the ratio of males to females in Ponyville. He wondered if the attention she was giving him had something to do with that lack of available mates.

He looked over at Whisper to make sure she was still engrossed in her story. Then he leaned over and whispered to Nurse Redheart. “Are you this attentive to all your male patients?”

Redheart jumped and her cheeks turned bright red. “Sorry, that was totally unprofessional.”

“It’s alright,” Hen Runner said dismissively. He didn’t really mind, but now he caught himself stealing a glance at her chest. Even though her uniform was buttoned up all the way and fit her conservatively, he could still make out the shape of her breasts underneath. They were full and round and Hen had to stop himself from imagining her top open all the way down past her cleavage. He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. She was right: it was unprofessional.

Thankfully she didn’t notice him staring as she was still embarrassed from her own indiscretion to look him in the face. She finished wrapping the gauze and stood up to leave with her hands fidgeting nervously. “Ummm, have a nice day.” She said before turning and leaving the room.

Hen Runner would have liked to just forget the incident, but he soon realized a part of him wouldn’t allow that. He looked down and sighed in annoyance as the bulge under the blanket. He had worked with women long enough to not be embarrassed by the occasional awkward erection, but it was still annoying. Better get to the bathroom and deal with it quickly. Whisper Winds didn’t even notice him getting up. Hen hoped he didn’t run into any of the nurses along the way: his hospital gown did little to obscure his condition.

He made it down the hallway without incident, but before he could find the restroom, he caught whiff of a strong and unmistakable sent. There was an aroused woman somewhere nearby and he had a pretty good idea who it was. Hen followed he smell to a supply closet at the end of the hall. The door was slightly ajar, as though someone had closed it in a hurry. He peeked inside and saw Nurse Redheart. She was leaning against the shelves on one arm with her back to the door. Her skirt hiked up and her panties were down around her knees and she was masturbating.

Her scent was overpowering and Hen Runner couldn’t hold back any longer. He stepped through the door and advanced on the unaware nurse. He reminded himself that she had demonstrated an attraction to him, so she should be open to the possibility of copulating with him now. He reached her in two steps. He grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and spun her around, pinning against the shelves. She cried out in surprise “Commander!” before he smothered her voice with his mouth. Despite the ache in his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, feeling her large breasts and hard nipples against him through her uniform.

Nurse Redheart froze for a moment in surprise, but then she closed her eyes and surrendered to his kiss. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as their tongues slid together. After about a minute of being wrapped his embrace, she suddenly opened her eyes. She turned her head away to break the kiss and bit her lip to keep Hen from drawing her back in. “We can’t. Not like this. Your ribs.”

“Right,” Hen Runner said breathlessly.

She stumbled slightly as he set her down on the floor again. Hen slipped out of his underwear while Redheart finished taking off her skirt and panties. Then she hoisted herself up on the shelves and wrapped her legs around Hen’s waist.

“Push against me with your hips,” She said as she hung from the top shelf.

Hen grasped her waist with one hand while aiming his cock at her slit with the other. As the head connected he could feel just how wet she was already. Nurse Redheart moaned as he pushed inside of her “Oh yes. Now fuck me you stud.”

‘The women of this town don’t waste words’ Hen Runner thought as he gripped her waist firmly with both hands he carried out her demand. Normally he would have taken the time to start off slowly but not this time. There was a certain thrill to screwing so recklessly that he hadn’t experienced since his days as a cadet. He plunged in and out of her faster and faster, not really caring how long it he could keep the pace.

Redheart gasped and moaned as he thrust into her repeatedly. He could tell she was getting closer as she arched her back and her mouth fell open in a silent scream. He tried an old trick of swaying his hips around in a circle. Redheart trembled and her arms let go of the shelf. She wrapped them around Hen Runner’s shoulders as she pumped herself up and down on his dick. Hen spun around to lean his back against the shelves.

Redheart let out a cry as her body seized up and she came. Her thick thighs squeezed his waist in a vice, panting as she rode out her orgasm. But Hen wasn’t finished yet. He sank down to his knees and laid Nurse Redheart down on the floor. Luckily closet was just wide enough to accommodate the length of Hen Runner’s torso. Redheard loosened her grip around his waist and Hen resumed fucking her.

He was getting tired by the time he felt his penis twitch. He buried himself up to the hilt as he came hard inside her. She panted as his cum shoot deep inside her pussy.

“Please… kiss me,” she pleaded. Hen Runner complied and their mouths locked together again. Hen was just about to separate himself from Redheart when he heard an impatient cough. He turned to see another nurse with blue-grey stripped hair and yellow green skin looking down at them. Her arms were folded across her chest and her face was impassive.

“Nurse Snowheart!” Redheart exclaimed in surprise.

“I’d hope this means the doctor cleared you to be discharged then, Commander?” She said in a deadpan tone.

***

‘Just what the hell was in those cupcakes?’ Hen Runner thought as he made his way back to Ponyville. After Nurse Snowheart had caught him and Redheart in the supply closet, Doctor Horse had returned with Hen’s spare armor set, which he wore now. It was a scouting uniform, designed to be lightweight and flexible. The only parts made of metal wear the helmet, a small breastplate, the vambraces and the shin guards. The rest was boiled, reinforced leather. It was much easier wearing this than the usual steel suit, especially now at the beginning of summer. In the past, Hen had worn even less while carrying out clandestine missions for Princess Celestia.

As he reached the town proper, Hen Runner considered stopping by Sugar Cube Corner and confronting Mrs. Cake about the contents of her desert. Then he realized that if she and Iron Feather had eaten the same cupcakes as he had, then they probably wouldn’t want to be disturbed for a while. Iron could use the excitement. Hen chuckled to himself: The man rarely showed any emotion whatsoever. It would also be a good excuse for Hen to investigate the library on his own. He wanted to make sure he hadn’t been imagining the feeling he’d had when he regained consciousness: It might turn out to be nothing. It was in Hen’s nature to conduct searches alone anyway. He wasn’t an introvert, but he didn’t like having an audience.

He found the library in pretty much the same state he had left it in. Most of the part of the square had been cordoned of with police tape. Hen assumed that was where Raven’s body had landed. As he stepped under the tape, it occurred to him that its presence was a bit of a non-sequitur given that Ponyville didn’t seem to have any police force to speak of. Perhaps the Mayor just kept some on hand in case of emergencies, Hen thought as passed inside the doorway. Ponyville was certainly small and prosperous enough that crime shouldn’t really be an issue.

As soon as he made sure there were no observers, Hen’s horn sent out another pulse as he scanned the room again. He hadn’t imagined, this time there was an unmistakable purple glow right where he had landed the night before. Hen wondered how he could have missed it on his first sweep of the premises. What might have changed since then? Then he realized that there was a chance that whatever it was had been dormant until the Stranger unleashed his attack. If Hen’s discovery and the Stranger’s magic were somehow related, that made recovering this object the highest concern.

Hen stepped closer to the overturned bookshelves. He used his magic to move it out of the way so he had an unobstructed view of the bare floor beneath. He saw a small trap door with a handle cut into the floorboards. That had definitely not been there before last night. Twilight Sparkle had been living in this library for three years: there was no way she would have overlooked something like this in all that time. And she certainly wouldn’t have left such an obvious clue about her ally’s power for Hen too find if she had abandoned the library ahead of time.

Hen Runner raised a magic barrier around himself before cautiously kneeling down to open the trap door. It was far too small for a person to fit in, as was the storage space beneath it. Inside there was nothing but a soft blue glowing crystal. Somehow Hen felt drawn to it, as though it had a glamor charm cast on it. The moment he touched it however, he knew something was wrong: He could no longer feel his magic. It would have been difficult to describe to someone who wasn’t a unicorn. The closest approximation he could think of was losing one’s sense of touch. Not as dramatic as the loss of sight or hearing: you barely noticed you had it, but you certainly knew when you had lost in.

Hen Runner pulled his hand away quickly, hoping to avoid any other effects the crystal might have in store. He was surprised to feel his magic return to him. Strange: If this had been a trap the effects would have lingered to leave him vulnerable. He touched the crystal again, and his magic was gone a second time. It wasn’t as though the crystal had drained him of his magic, but more like it had just been turned off. Hen picked it in his hands and tried levitating one of the many books that littered the library floor. He would have expected a shock or some type of pain from the crystal in response. But nothing happened: the book stayed where it was and the crystal merely continued to glow in his hands. Convinced (and certainly relieved) that the effect was not permanent, he held the crystal up to his face to examine it more closely. “What the heck are you?” Hen Runner mumbled to himself.

“Something far beyond your comprehension, I fear. If you want an answer, I suggest that you bring us to the Element of Magic as soon as possible.”

Hen Runner’s eyebrows shot up and he almost dropped the crystal in surprise. A sentient crystal was something he had never heard of before, let alone held. He certainly glad he had discovered it alone now: even for unicorns, hearing strange disembodies voiced in your head was never a good sign.

He slipped the crystal into the pouch on his belt. Again he forced himself to suppress his astonishment and confusion, and consider the implications. Why and how a crystal would be talking was a mystery, but he knew someone who might. If this crystal came from anywhere, it came from the Crystal Empire. And something that canceled out alicorn magic could be the work of only one person: Sombra. Obviously it was some sort of relic hidden away long ago before he was defeated by Luna and Celestia. And if it had been activated by the Stranger’s attack, then it would seem he had been using crystal magic as well.

But like everything else he had discovered since his arrival in Ponyville, this just raised more questions. How was the stranger able to use crystal magic if he wasn’t even a unicorn? Why would the crystal instruct Hen Runner to bring it to Twilight? Why would a crystal even be able to talk? How was any of this related to Luna’s assassination? Was it something else entirely?

Never mind that now, there would be enough time to discuss this with Diamond Dust when she arrived. Once I make sure she is the real Diamond Dust that is. Right now, Hen Runner decided it would be a good idea to regroup with Iron Feather. If only to make sure he wouldn’t still be in a compromising position when reinforcements arrived.

He reached Sugar Cube Corner soon enough, walking up to the porch and knocking on the front door. He waited patently for someone to answer the door, hoping that Iron and Mrs. Cake weren’t still mating. ‘That would be impressive though and it would give Diamond Dust a good laugh.’ Eventually he heard someone moving around inside and the door opened. Mr. Cake answered wearing an apron and shorts. The combination struck Hen as less a fashion statement and more the result of Mr. Cake throwing on anything within arm’s reach.

“Are your wife and the Knight Errant still… copulating?” He asked simply. From the look on Mrs. Cake’s face when he had questioned her the day before, it wasn’t hard to tell they had an open marriage. While monogamy was the norm, such a thing was not uncommon in Equestria. It was more due necessity than lifestyle choice: husbands couldn’t always be around when their wives were in heat, so they would have to elsewhere for relief. Hen had served with females during their heat season, and dealing with it was considered a normal aspect of military service.

Mr. Cake rubbed the back of neck nervously. “Oh… yeah… the cupcakes. I’m afraid that was my fault,” He said as he stood to one side to let Hen Runner enter. “I think I may have given her the wrong ingredients while she was baking them this morning. That’s a little something invented by our Pinkie Pie, for her ‘special’ cupcakes.”

Hen Runner pulled up a stool at the table in the center of the room. “Its fine sir, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t let this happen again.”

Mr. Cake nodded. “It won’t Knight-Sergeant.”

Hen Runner sniffed the air and caught the faint scent of arousal in the air. He turned back to Mr. Cake. “So are they…?”

“Well, they were when I left. Its my day to make the twins breakfast you see. Usually we only sleep with other people when the other is out of town. Now I’m thinking the misses would like to have threesomes more often.” Mr. Cake chuckled.

Hen Runner turned his eyes up to the ceiling wondering if he should wait or go up and confront the two lovers now. He was surprised to find the adorable face of a cream-colored pegasi foal looking back down at him. It smiled back and let out a squeal of delight. Mr. Cake looked up.

“Pound Cake, what are you doing up there? You know you should still be in your nursery.”

He picked up a broom and began to shoo the rambunctious infant back towards the staircase. Hen decided to follow, wondering just how open the Cakes’ marriage was.

While Mr. Cake was directing “his” child back to the nursery, Hen went up the hallway to the Cake’s bedroom. He found the door to the bedroom slightly ajar. Looks like were in just as much of a rush as Redheart and I, he thought. Hen listened for a moment for the tell tale sounds of continued rutting. Thankfully there was no slapping flesh, heavy panting or bed creaking, so he decided to enter.

Iron Feather and Mrs Cake were still on the bed, naked. The knight-errant was sitting up with his legs over the side, while Mrs. Cake was lying next to him enjoying a post-coital smoke. Various items of clothing as well as Iron’s suit of armor littered the floor around them. They both looked fairly spent, so Hen decided it was time to collect his soldier. He coughed softly into his hand and the two of them looked up.

“Knight-Sergeant,” Iron Feather said in surprise, dutifully standing up and saluting with his dick openly hanging between his legs.

“Commander,” Mrs. Cake said pleasantly, sitting up with an uneasy smile on her face. “I’m afraid there was a mistake with the cupcakes. If you’re still in the mood I’ll try to make it up to you. Just let me finish this cigarette first.”

“Yes, your husband already told me. I appreciate the offer, but my urges have already been addressed. Have yours, Iron?”

“Yes, Sir,” he replied.

“Good. The reinforcements from Canterlot should be arriving soon. I think it’s best if we’re both present when they do.”

“Very well, sir,” Iron said as he began to reassemble his armor. Mrs. Cake watched him for a moment before looking back at Hen Runner with a concerned expression on her face.

“I do hope the special cupcakes didn’t cause you too much trouble, commander.”

Hen Runner shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it was an unpleasant experience, but a little forewarning would have been appreciated.”

Mrs. Cake took another drag of her cigarette. “I assure you, sir, I was caught just as much off guard as everyone else. I suppose it was just as well your other knight-errant didn’t have one; the broken wing would have made things difficult.”

“Indeed,” Hen Runner replied, as he stepped forward to help Iron Feather strap on his chest plate.

Once Iron was dressed, the two knights said good-bye to the Cakes and made their way to the town square. When they got there Hen was pleased to see that the reinforcements he had requested had arrived: A full squadron of 12 knights and their commander. Four pegasi, four unicorns and two earth pony knight-errants, two unicorn knight-protectors and one earth pony knight Sergeant. Since Canterlot was primarily a unicorn city while both Luna and Celestia had pegasi in their personal guards, only a few earth ponies ever rose to the rank of Knight-Sargent. The one standing before Hen Runner was an earth-pony he knew quite well.

As he and Iron Feather approached, the earth pony Knight Sergeant stepped forward to greet them with the two knight-protectors in tow. When they came face to face Iron and Hen saluted the knight sergeant and she returned it.

“Knight Sergeant Diamond Dust,” Hen said, as he removed his helmet

“Knight Sergeant Hen Runner,” she said, as she removed hers.

Her skin was robin’s egg blue and dabbled silver. The dots were so fine on her skin they looked like specks of dust, hence the name. Her hair was a dark shade of pink, almost purple. Her signature twin daggers hung on her belt.

“At ease. This squadron has been dispatched to Ponyville to reinforce this position as per your request. However, in light of recent events I have been authorized the acting Regent Shinning Armor to assess your fitness to continue command of this mission. If I feel it necessary I have the authority to relieve you of commander and lead the search for Twilight myself,” she said in a formal tone.

“Understood,” Hen replied “Permission to speak freely?”

“Granted.”

Hen Runner held his hand between them at about shoulder level. Still with a serious look on her face, Diamond Dust grasped it around his thumb and locked their forearms together. Hen Runner smiled. “It’s good to see you, partner.”

“It’s good to see you too,” she smiled back. “I wish it was better circumstances. Not to pour salt on the wound, but I think you were better off in Special Ops.”

Hen Runner only shrug, he was beginning so too. “Raven Racer is in the hospital morgue. You should get her back to Canterlot as soon as possible.”

Diamond Dust nodded. “Mighty Mail, Ace. Retrieve the body and get it on the carriage.” One of the earth ponies and a pegasi saluted and Hen pointed them in the direction of the hospital.

“Just tell me you found something. Shinning has assumed command in Canterlot and you can bet your ass he’ll jump on any excuse to discredit you. These two knight-protectors,” she pointed the unicorns standing behind her. “They’re not here for Twilight. Shinning sent them to keep you in line with me.”

Hen Runner regarded them for a moment. There were no factions within the Royal Guard. It was understood that Celestia had the final say in all matters and she had never permitted any disagreements to develop beyond personal rivalries. Before Luna’s assassination, Hen and Shinning had always regarded each other with mutual respect. These knight protectors were loyal to Celestia and the Royal Guard first, but that also meant if they thought Hen was unfit for duty, they would confront him of their own volition. Best to play it safe.

“I do, but first I have something to discuss with you in private,” Hen said.

“Just like old times? Sure,” Diamond Dust grinned.

“Iron Feather, you come too. It’s time I filled you both in on what my investigation uncovered,” Hen said, turning to head towards the library. Diamond Dust gave Iron a quizzical look, and then they both turned to follow him.

They passed through the foyer of the library to a nook that served as the kitchen. Hen looked out the window to be sure they weren’t going to be overheard, then turned back to the others.

Diamond Dust looked around the nook nonchalantly. “You planning on assassinating or hexing me in here, Hen? Should have taken me somewhere further away and not told me in front of the others. You two wouldn’t get far even if I let you kill me.”

Iron Feather scowled and Hen rolled his eyes. “You know that’s not why we’re here.”

“But you still haven’t told me why I’m here,” Diamond replied, her tone switching to one of slight annoyance. “Not that I wouldn’t love the chance to work together again, but asking for me specifically seems a bit odd, even suspicious for such an overt assignment. You and I never let our presence be known until the mission was complete.”

Hen looked back and forth between his two comrades and took a resigned breath. “Because I didn’t put everything in my dispatch. And since then I’ve made another discovery that I don’t want Canterlot knowing about just yet.”

Diamond Dust raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“Before I tell you, I would like to ask you a question Diamond.”

“Sure,” she said.

“What was the call sign for our second mission together?” Hen asked.

Diamond Dust whistled. “Well that takes me back. We’ve been on so many and I do recall being sworn to secrecy.” She glanced sidelong at Iron.

Hen’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I remember every single one and considering how it turned out, it could hardly be considered a mater of national security by now.”

“Wow, you really aren’t taking chances, Hen. I haven’t seen you this paranoid in a while. But before I answer, what makes you think we can trust him?” Diamond asked, tilting her head toward the knight-errant.

“Only that I know for a fact he hasn’t left my side since the mission began. But until you answer my question, you’re just as much of a risk as he is.”

“Okay, okay, Hen, I’ll play along. The call sign was Whistling Mutter. Now do you have anything else to quiz me on?” Diamond Dust folded her arms over her chest.

Hen shook his head. “If that wasn’t obscure enough, then we’re all fucked anyway. Iron, are you willing to find out the truth behind Luna’s assassination? No matter where it might lead?”

“I swore an oath,” Iron said simply. “It is my duty to bring justice to those responsible for the death of Princess Luna.”

“Good,” Hen said. “Then both of you should know that I’m almost certain that the Twilight we confronted here last night is not the one I saw in Luna’s chambers.”

Iron Feather’s face turned grim, Diamond Dust’s eyes narrowed. “So unless she’s learned a duplication spell, you’re saying Twilight was a patsy?”

“It makes more sense than her deciding to murder Luna three years after she changed her back from Nightmare Moon,” Hen reasoned.

“But why would you think the one you met here is the real one?” Diamond asked.

Hen listed his reasons “One; she was with two known allies: the Stranger and Zecora the zebra. Two; her horn was broken…”

“Seriously?” Diamond asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Iron Feather said. “It was cracked.”

“Through-out the entire encounter she never once tried to use magic. She would have known better than to risk coming back here after letting me see her at the palace and live.”

Diamond Dust nodded slowly. “Any other reasons?”

Hen Runner scratched his mustache. “Her conduct and emotional state right up until her escape strongly suggested she wasn’t even aware of the assassination until I placed her under arrest. She was the only one who offered no resistance when we attempted to take her into custody. Her despair appeared genuine upon learning of Luna’s death. Her surrender seemed motived primarily by a desire to save her friends. Behavior much more in line with her reputation.”

“Then how did she get away?” Diamond Dust asked.

“It was the Stranger she brought to Canterlot a few days ago,” Hen replied. “He unleashed a type of magical attack I’ve never seen before. It knocked two of us out and killed Raven Racer in one shot. Iron Feather had already been put to sleep by Zecora the Zebra, so he avoided the worst of it.”

“So you think he might be the one behind all this?” Diamond Dust said in a serious tone.

“Not really, he’s far too careless with the real Twilight’s freedom to be a mastermind and too protective of her to be framing her. I doubt he was even aware he had this power.” Hen explained “If he had been he could have activated it at any point after we confronted Twilight. But instead his attack was released as a last resort in response to her emotional distress. But we’ll get back to the implications of his power later.”

“But then who would be framing her? And to what end?” Diamond responded.

“In all my years, there has only been one disguise I couldn’t see through. Diamond, I think you remember who that was,” Hen said grimly.

This time, Diamond Dust’s mouth fell open. Iron looked back and forth between the two knight-sergeants, unaware of the implications of Hen’s statement.

“Hen, do you know what you’re saying? Celestia assured Equestria that the Changelings had been destroyed,” Diamond Dust said.

“I know what Celestia said, and you and I also know she’s willing to lie when it suites her purposes,” Hen said coldly, “If she wasn’t we wouldn’t have had a job.”

“It would be advisable to prevent panic,” Iron Feather suggested.

“Okay… even if I accept this as a theory, you’re going to need more proof than that to convince the aristocracy and the rest of the Royal Guard,” Diamond said shaking her head.

“We’ll start looking for that soon enough. But there’s something else you two should be aware of,” Hen said. “This morning I came back to the library and I found something that wasn’t here yesterday. I’d felt its presence when I regained consciousness after the Stranger’s attack.” Hen reached into pouch “Needless to say, nothing I have told you two so far goes beyond this room. What I am about to show you is no exception.”

Hen shivered involuntarily as his fingers wrapped around the crystal and he felt his magic disappear. He doubted he would ever get used to the feeling.

He held it out to show the others. They both stepped closer to get a good look.

“Interesting…” Diamond Dust said. Then she straightened up, “but I’m not sure what point you are trying to get across Hen.”

“I believe this was activated when the Stranger cast his spell. If I couldn’t find it when I arrived, and Twilight never uncovered it while she was staying here, then it needed a very specific type of trigger to be revealed,” Hen explained.

Diamond Dust scratched her head. “Seems a bit counterintuitive to hide a Crystal that can only be found by blowing up the building it’s in.” She said.

“I don’t think it was so much the type of spell, but the nature of the magic behind it.” Hen said

“Which is?” Iron Feather asked simply.

“Crystal magic. That’s why it also canceled out my magic shield,” Hen told him.

“Didn’t Celestia’s examination conclude he couldn’t use magic?” Iron Feather asked.

“He wouldn’t need to necessarily be magical. He could have found an artifact imbued with magical powers,” Diamond Dust said. “But he wouldn’t necessarily have control over it.”

“That would explain why the spell didn’t activate until he was desperate. I got a good look at him before I lost consciousness,” Hen recalled, “He seemed just as confused as I was. He might have not even have realized what it was when he acquired it. If he knew he would have tried to activate the artifact the moment he saw me.”

“But why was the crystal hidden here in the first place?” Diamond wondered, scratching her chin.

Hen decided it was time to put the crystal back in his pouch. The inherent vulnerability of being without magic was making him more uncomfortable the longer he held it. And if he tried thinking about Diamond Dust’s question, there was a chance the crystal might speak to him again. He still wasn’t ready to reveal that particular fact to Iron or Diamond, and he didn’t want the crystal inside his head at the moment.

“Well if it was activated simply by coming in contact with crystal magic…” Hen wondered aloud. “Then it would seem that whoever hid it was willing to rely more on chance than someone actually knowing the crystal’s location.”

“Clearly a last resort, but for what?” Diamond asked.

“Whatever the purpose was, I have a feeling this isn’t the only crystal that was hidden. If we want to find out more, we all know the best place to look for anything related to crystal magic.”

Diamond Dust chuckled but then Iron Feather spook up “Sir, I realize the discovery of the crystal is significant, but shouldn’t we be looking for proof of the changeling infiltration first?”

Hen looked up. “That’s true.”

“Do you think they have a presence in Ponyville?” Diamond Dust asked urgently.

“I don’t think so,” Hen Runner explained. “If they did they never would have let the real Twilight move freely inside the town and risk exposing their plot. They may of have tried to apprehend her at another location, which would explain her broken horn and the disappearance of the other Elements of Harmony.”

“And why she snuck back to Ponyville in the middle of the night,” Diamond Dust added.

“Where should we start looking then, sir?” Iron Feather asked.

Hen looked out the window. “The Everfree forest seems like a safe bet. Twilight and her accomplices were headed in that direction when they fled Ponyville. It would be the prefect place to hide an invasion force. We should send out patrols to watch the road going through it.”

He stepped past Diamond Dust and Iron Feather, heading back outside. “Sweet Apple Acres is right on the edge of Everfree, we should head there immediately and question the inhabitants.”

Diamond Dust smiled as she and Iron Feather followed Hen out of the library. “It’s nice to have some clandestine activity in this job again. It was getting pretty dull being cooped up in Canterlot for so long.” She rested her hands on the hilts of her daggers.

“If you say so,” Iron Feather said as he followed a step behind her.

***

It was mid day by the time the trio reached Sweet Apple Acres. The sky was clear as they passed under the arbor archway with a panel depicting the farm’s namesake fruit. There was a short wrinkly green skinned old woman sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch of the farmhouse as they approached. When she noticed them she stood up on her wobbly legs to address them.

“Well hoody-do there, sirs, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. The name’s Granny Smith. Heard about that terrible business down in Ponyville last night,” she shook her head sadly. “Never would have figured Twilight Sparkle capable of doing something like that. Damn shame.”

“Good day, Granny Smith,” Hen Runner said diplomatically. “I am Knight-Sergeant Hen-Runner. This is Knight Sergeant Diamond Dust and this is Knight-Errant Iron Feather.” He gestured toward his companions respectively.

Granny Smith nodded. “Well I’m afraid we can’t be much help to yer investigation, sir. Haven’t seen hide ner tail of Twilight or the others fer the last two days. Mah granddaughter AJ went missing the night a fore that. Yer welcome ta search for them yerself, they was last seen a-heading to the Diamond Tunnels outside ah town. I ain’t letin any more a my kin in there until we know what happened to AJ. ya’ll will be needin more than three ifin you mean to go in after ‘em.”

Diamond Dust looked at Hen Runner with concern.

“Do you know anything about what’s been happening in the forest?” Hen asked.

“Well…” Granny Smith began “The day AJ disappeared, Applebloom and her little club said they were going to the library to look-up something they found in the forest. Wouldn’t say what it was, shouted ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders Pathfinders’ as they run off.” She frowned sadly “When they came back, Sweetie Belle wasn’t with them and they was utterly despondent. Wouldn’t let on what happened and since then they’ve been spendin’ every minute uh the day hole’d up in their clubhouse. Big Mac is out there with them now. With AJ gone, He won’t let Apple Bloom outa his sight.”

“You said Applebloom is part of a club? Who are the other members?” Hen asked.

“Oh just her, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Her cousin Babs Seed also a member, but she’s in Manehatten and don’t visit very often,” Granny Smith answered. “Scootaloo is with Applebloom now. Sweetie disappeared the same day as AJ, so those two have been even more inseparable than usual.”

“How old is Applebloom?” Diamond Dust asked.

“She just tern’d 16 this year mam.” Granny Smith replied.

Hen Runner chewed his lip: this wasn’t going to be easy. Dealing with teenage girls was hard enough, but if she and her hadn’t told anyone else what happened, there was no other choice.

“I’m afraid time is of the essence. If you could direct us to the clubhouse, we’ll try to as considerate as possible in our questioning.” Diamond Dust said.

Granny Smith pointed her thumb back at the house. “Just past the orchard thataway, sir. It’s a bit outta the way but your Iron Feather should be able to spot it easy enough. Big Mac will be out there with his lady friend, Cheerilee. Tell ‘em I’ll have lunch ready by the time they get back.” She added, as she turned around and started ambling back into the house.

Hen turned to Iron Feather. “Iron, fly ahead and see if you can find the clubhouse. Diamond and I will follow.”

Iron Feather saluted and took off. Diamond and Hen followed, walking side by side as they headed off around the house and toward the trees.

“You have any idea how to handle this?” Hen asked bluntly.

“Can’t really say until we meet them,” she replied, “Despite what you men think, teenage girls aren’t a separate species.”

“No they just act like we are,” Hen Runner joked.

“Sometimes,” Diamond Dust admitted.

Hen Runner sighed. “Things were a lot simpler back in the old days. Back then it was just…” he was interrupted by an elbow in his side.

“We’re the same age. If you’re old enough to say the ‘good ol’ days’, then that mean’s I’m old enough to say the ‘good ol’ days’. And am not old enough to say the ‘good ol’ days’,” Diamond chided him.

Hen Runner smiled back. They were still technically middle-aged and the years had been kind to his former partner. Her amber eyes were as sharp as ever and that elbow had demonstrated she was still in top physical shape. It didn’t hurt that her face was easy to look. As they continued walking Hen Runner found himself reminiscing about how long they had known one another. They worked well together and in between missions they had become close friends.

That was when Iron Feather returned. He landed in front of them to give his report.

“I found the clubhouse. It’s a tree hut about a mile southeast from here. There are two individuals sitting at the base, most likely Big Mac and Cheerilee. I believe the girls are currently inside the structure.”

“Well then, lead the way Knight-errant,” Hen Runner replied.

A few minutes later they reached the clubhouse. It was a more remote area of the farm and the apple trees here a bit more wildly here. The structure itself was in a tree the middle of a small clearing. There were two people lying against the trunk as Iron Feather had said. One was a large red skinned, orange haired man dressed in a plaid shirt and jeans. He had is arm around a shorter woman who was resting her head on his chest. She had purple skin and two-toned pink hair and wore a flowered knee length skirt and light yellow collared shirt.

Hen Runner approached them ahead of his companions.

“Big Mac and Cheerilee I presume?”

“E-yup,” the man replied in a deep voice.

“I am Knight Sergeant Hen Runner. I’m here to ask your sister Applebloom about what she witnessed in the Everfree Forest.”

Big Mac frowned “Don’t think you’ll get much outta them, sir.”

Cheerilee chimed in. “Big’s been here trying to console them since yesterday, but Scootaloo and Applebloom have been keeping to themselves. They seem to be trying to block the traumatic memories with sex.”

Big Mac shot Cheerilee an annoyed look. Cheerilee recoiled abashedly “Did I say too much?” she asked.

“E-yup,” Big Mac replied.

“Are they engaged in sexual intercourse at the moment?” Hen inquired.

Big Mac tilted his head to point his ear toward the tree house above them. “Sounds like they’re taking a break,” he said.

“Commander, before you question them, there’s something should probably tell you,” Cheerilee said.

“What’s that?” Hen Runner inquired.

“I… I saw Twilight and the Stranger together last night. They were embracing right in front of my door. I tried to go back into my house, but then someone grabbed me from behind and strangled me until I lost consciousness,” she confessed, staring at the ground in front of Hen Runner. Big Mac stroked her hair in a comforting manner.

“Why wasn’t this reported sooner?” Hen demanded.

“When I woke up in my bed the next morning, I thought that it was dream until I heard about the explosion in the library. I tried to go see you in the hospital but they told me you had already left. Then I lost my nerve and went to see my boyfriend,” she said, wrapping her arm around Big Mac’s torso.

Hen Runner sighed. Better late than never, and at least this confirmed his suspicions. If Twilight had tried to pass off sneaking back into Ponyville as a midnight stroll with her boyfriend, then she clearly hadn’t been expecting to be arrested and charged with treason. This was definitely the real Twilight.

“Would you mind checking to see if Applebloom and her friend are in a good state to talk?” He asked Big Mac. “I understand the sensitivity of the situation, but it’s urgent we get this resolved as quickly as possible.”

“O-kay,” Big Mac replied. He got slowly to his feet, revealing that he was almost a head taller than Hen Runner. He climbed up the ladder and stood on the porch of the house looking in the window. He stood there a moment regarding the interior of the clubhouse before knocking on the door and entering. Hen Runner crossed his arms and tapped his fingers impatiently. Every second wasted meant Twilight Sparkle and the truth were slipping further away.

Big Mac finally emerged from the clubhouse and called down to Royal Guard. “You can come up now.”

Hen and Diamond Dust climbed up the ladder while Iron Feather stood guard outside. When they entered the room they found the two teenage girls in a sofa with their eyes downcast. Big Mac introduced the yellow skinned one as his sister and the orange one as Scootaloo. The clubhouse itself was quite well furbished: Five chairs, shelves of books and comics, a stand with a microphone and a large map of Ponyville on the wall. There was also a king sized bed with a pair of fuzzy handcuffs still attached to one of the posts. Hen looked back at Big Mac, who was standing almost defiantly by the doorway. He wondered if the hulk had assembled the bed inside or simply carried the whole thing up the tree himself.

Diamond Dust introduced herself to the girls and pulled up a chair in front of the couch. She had a good deal of experience with interrogations negotiations, from both sides of the table (although in this case there wasn’t one). Most people thought it was simply a matter of psychological warfare: that you had to break the subject’s will in order to get them to reveal anything. The reality was quite different. Fear and intimidation were only part of the tools an interrogator had at their disposal. Torture was only used as a last resort, or in situations where you needed simple answers quickly. It was certainly out of the question in this case.

What really mattered was establishing a basis of mutual understanding. The girls were already clearly traumatized, so first Diamond Dust had to gain their trust. It was best to attain information in a round about way, try to put the subjects at ease and build up their confidence first. Avoid any judgmental statements; try to sound encouraging without coming off as patronizing. Celestia knows that’s the last thing those poor girls needed.

“Tell me, why do you call yourselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” She asked politely.

The two girls continued to stare at their feet before Apple Bloom mumbled something Hen Runner couldn’t quite make out.

“What was that?” Diamond asked.

“Because…” the purple haired Scootaloo spoke up. “… we don’t have our cutie marks yet.”

“Well that’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Diamond Dust said to the first girl.

“All the grown ups say that,” she replied in a country drawl. “But ya’ll already got your cutie marks. We were the only ones in our grade that haven’t got ours yet.”

“We got sick of waiting for them appear on their own, so we formed the club with Sweetie Belle to figure out ways to discover what they might be,” the Scootaloo explained.

Diamond Dust smiled. “That’s a good idea, putting all your heads together. As long as you keep trying you’ll get them eventually. And they’ll probably be the last thing you expected.”

“Don’t feel much like trying anymore,” Bloom said sadly as she tugged on the pink pink bow in her hair. “Not if it means ah keep losing friends and relatives.” Scootaloo wrapped her arms around her and held her close.

“Is that why you two were looking around the mines?” Diamond asked. “Was it something to do with finding your cutie marks?”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said with a sob. “We thought we might get our cutie marks by tracking. We went looking around the Diamond Dog Tunnels and we found some weird tracks. Then they changed into pony tracks so we figured we’d go to the library and look up what they were.”

Diamond Dust, Hen Runner and Big Mac looked at each other. Hen and Diamond’s expressions were grim, while Big Mac was alarmed. Unlike his younger sister, he knew exactly what sort of creature left transforming footprints.”

“Twilight and her boyfriend came back with us to investigate,” the orange one said.

“And what happened after that?” Diamond Dust asked.

Both girls bit their lips and help each other tightly. It was clear this was when the traumatic event had taken place. Diamond Dust tried to lead them on.

“Is that when Sweetie Belle disappeared?” She asked.

“Kinda,” Apple Bloom squeaked.

Instead of pressing the issue, Diamond Dust switched to a different line of questioning. “Does this have something to do with AJ’s disappearance as well?”

They both nodded.

Diamond Dust leaned in and spoke in a serious tone. “Listen to me girls: this is very important. Do you think you could show us where you found these tracks?”

“No way!” Scootaloo said incredulously. “Twilight and the others went down into those tunnels and never came back. What chance do you have?”

“Well that’s not entirely true,” Hen Runner cut in “I saw Twilight Sparkle just last night.”

“What!? Are you sure it was the real one?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Pretty sure. She was with the Stranger and Zecora the Zebra, when I found her. Someone impersonating her committed a serious crime in Canterlot. We came Ponyville because we thought it was her,” Hen decided to leave out that the crime was assassinating Luna. It was doubtful the girls had heard about it yet and they didn’t need to be told that one of the rulers of Equestria was dead while they were in this fragile state.

“Where is she? Did she say anything about AJ?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Or Rainbow Run?” Scootaloo added.

“I’m afraid we… scared them off before we could ask them any questions,” Hen said with regret. “I’m sure she’s still safe. It turns out there’s more to Stranger than we thought.” He added bitterly, remembering Raven Racer’s body in the morgue.

“They’re probably hiding at Zecora’s hut,” Apple Bloom said. “If you promise not to hurt them ah ken show you were it is.”

Hen Runner thought for a moment. If Twilight knew that Apple Bloom knew where Zecora’s hut was, then they were most likely long gone. What mattered now was searching the tunnels. He turned to Diamond Dust and shook his head.

“Twilight Sparkle and her friends probably aren’t there anymore, my friend scared them pretty badly and they think all of the Royal Guard is after them,” she told the CMC.

“Well now you’ve gone and made everything worse!” Scootaloo chastised him. “Twilight would never turn criminal unless she was doing it to help someone else.”

“I know that now,” Hen Runner admitted.

“What’s important now is that we search the tunnels for clues about what happened to her and her friends,” Diamond Dust emphasized.

“Yer a few apples short of a pie if ya think goin down there is a good idea,” Apple Bloom replied.

Hen groaned: this was going nowhere.

Diamond Dust had more patience. She sat there thinking for a moment, then spoke again in calm even tone. “Do you know my friend and I have fought the Changelings before?” She asked.

Scootaloo and Applebloom looked at her curiously. “When?”

“When they invaded during Princes Cadance and Shinning Armor’s wedding,” Diamond Dust said.

“Wait,” Scootaloo said suspiciously. “Twilight Sparkle was the one who found the real Cadance, and it was Cadance and Shinning who defeated the Changlings.”

“True,” Diamond Dust replied. “But we were there and we fought all the same. And we survived didn’t we?”

“But so did the Elements of Harmony,” Apple Bloom pointed out. “And they still got captured by the Changelings in the tunnels.”

“Well we have a bit more experience with combat than they do,” Diamond Dust said. “And we came prepared. I brought a whole squad of heavily armed and armored knights with me. They’re waiting for my orders in Ponyville.” She put her hands on her daggers. “I’ve learned how to use these quite well, and my partner Hen Runner is really good at magic.”

“How good?” Scootaloo demanded.

“I’ll show you,” Hen said with a smile. He turned around and lit up his horn. A pink magical barrier appeared in the doorway beside Big Mac.

“Big Mac, try and break through that barrier,” Hen instructed the protective brother. “Hit it as hard as you can.”

Big Mac shrugged as he turned to face the door. He brought his fist up and slammed it into the barrier with enough force to demolish a house. The barrier shock but stayed were it was. Big Mac, however, was knocked off his feet and landed on his back on the floor between the two fillies and Diamond Dust.

“Wow,” Apple Bloom said in astonishment. “I an’t never seen nuthin’ strong enough t’ knock down Big Mac a’fore.”

“Actually he did that himself,” Hen Runner explained. “The magic shield merely reflects the force of the blow back at the attacker. Your brother must be as durable as he is strong to survive a punch like that.” He looked down at Big Mac, still laying wide eyed on the floor as if he had been stuck by lightning. “I hope you didn’t break any bones, sir. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“Nope,” said Big Mac shaking his head. “I’m fine.” He turned his head to address Apple Bloom. “Looks like he can keep you safe while you take him to the tunnels.”

“Can Big Mac come with us anyway?” Scootaloo asked Diamond Dust. Big Mac looked over at her awaiting her answer.

She looked down at him with a mischievous smile on her face. Hen rolled his eyes; he had seen that look before. He could tell by her scent that Diamond wasn’t in heat, but that hadn’t stopped her from pursuing men in the past. There was a good chance poor Cheerilee would end the day in tears if Diamond decided she wanted a taste of Big Mac: When it came to men she usually got what she wanted.

Thankfully the smile passed and Big Mac and Cutie Mark Crusaders seemed not to have noticed.“I think he might prove useful,” she said. She pointed down at him. “If you promise to be careful about who and what you aim those punches at.”

“E-yup,” Big Mac replied. Diamond reached out her hand to help pull him up to his feet. Scootaloo and Applebloom got to their feet and stood beside him.

“Once we’ve assembled the troops, we’re going to march down there and see if we can find your friend,” Diamond Dust said confidently.

“Then what in the heck are we still doing here?” Apple Bloom said.

She and Scootaloo held hands and cried out in unison. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Rescuers!”

Hen grumbled to himself as the two girls raced out the door and down the ladder. If that turned out to be their catchphrase, it was going to get old real fast.

***

Once they had assembled the entire squad, The CMC led them off to the Diamond Tunnels. Hen was disappointed that the tracks had been filled in by the time they got there, but he wasn’t surprised. The tunnels were much closer to Ponyville than he thought they would be. If Twilight had managed to escape then they would have cleaned house as soon as possible. He just hoped there was still some proof they had been there.

Diamond Dust thanked Scootaloo and Apple Bloom for their help and sent them back with an escort. However, Big Mac insisted on accompanying them down into the tunnels. “If’n there’s a chance of finding out what happened to AJ, I gotta keep goin.” He said in is slow deep voice. Diamond and Hen agreed that he could come along.

Inside the tunnel was tall and wide enough for the pegasi to fly through. There were still no footprints: the Changelings had been thorough. Not that they would have left many footprints if they could just fly through the tunnels. Hen Runner led the way with his horn letting off a soft pink glow.
Aside from the noises of the troops marching and the flapping of pegasi wings, the tunnel was completely silent. Normally Hen would have preferred the quiet, but here it was a bad sign.

After about twenty minutes they ran into a problem. The tunnel they had been following terminated in a large chamber, with a dozen more tunnels leading out of it in different directions. Diamond Dust took off her helmet and ran her fingers through her hair.

“I don’t much like the idea of splitting up down here,” she said to Hen.

“Me neither,” he replied. “And I doubt the Elements of Harmony were foolish enough to split up when they passed through here. I’ll light this room up a bit brighter and see if we can’t find some clue which way they went.”

Hen’s horn glowed more brightly until everyone could clearly see from one end of the room to the other. The squad split up to examine each of the tunnels simultaneously. Hen was beginning to worry that the Changelings had been too efficient in their cover-up when Iron Feather called him over to the tunnel he had been investigating. He directed Hen Runner’s attention to the ceiling.

“See right there? There’s a faint burn mark there that the Changelings overlooked.” He told Hen Runner.

Hen squinted to make it out. Iron was right, there was a faint black streak in the dirt above them. It wasn’t much of a clue, but it was the only one they had.

“This way solders,” Hen called out. He showed the burn mark to Diamond when she came over. She shrugged. “I guess that’s enough.”

They continued down the new tunnel until it split into three. This time it was much easier to figure out which way the Elements had gone. Two of the tunnels ran forward almost parallel to each other, while the third was blocked by rubble. It appeared to have been deliberately sealed off.

“That’s where Twilight and the others went, isn’t it?” Big Mac asked in an angry tone.

“E-yup,” Hen answered.

“And that’s where they would’ve taken AJ?”

“E-yup,” Diamond Dust answered

“Then that’s where I’m a’goin,” Big Mac said as he strode forward determinedly.

“Remember what I said about where you aim those punches,” Diamond Dust reminded him.

“Don’t worry,” Big Mac said as he stood before the pile of rubble with his hands on his hips, sizing up the obstacle. From where he stood, Hen Runner couldn’t see Big Mac’s face, but he strongly suspected it was an expression he wouldn’t want directed at him. “One AJ, plus one Big Mac, plus one pile of rubble between them, equals…” He let out a grunt as he spun around in a blur to deliver a thunderous sidekick to the hapless pile of earth. It shook visibly and collapsed in on itself, now only half as tall as it had been before. He proceeded to stomp and tear the rubble into oblivion with his bare hands. Hen Runner and the others watched in awe as he threw aside the largest rocks as if they were tennis balls.

By the time he was finished, the third tunnel looked as though there had never been anything blocking it to begin with. Big Mac turned to face the Royal Guard, wiping his hands against each other. “…one less pile of rubble.” He finished simply.

Diamond Dust bit her lip hungrily. “An unstoppable juggernaut and good at math? That Cheerilee is one lucky girl.” She said.

Big Mac smiled bashfully. “E-yup.” He replied.

Hen Runner turned to address the others. “This is good. If the Changelings thought that we couldn’t access that tunnel, they have left something in there that could prove they were here. Let’s get going.” He set off down the tunnel with his horn glowing brightly.

The tunnel was long and took many turns, which limited their line of sight. It was much smaller than the initial passage, Big Mac’s head brushed against the ceiling. After some time, the tunnel widened out. Then the group came to one last turn. Hen Runner knew they coming to the end and braced himself for what they would find again.

It was a large circular room with a tall ceiling. There was another entrance on the far side. Along the walls there were pods, or rather torn empty shells that had once been pods. Each one had been cut open and it’s contents removed. Hen wasn’t sure what they were for, but he was sure who left them there. He walked over to the nearest pod and kicked it with no small amount of distain.

The others would take some convincing. Nobody had ever seen a Changling nest before, or could even be sure that they even lived in nests. Up until the attack on Canterlot last year, reports of Changelings had been inconsistent and unconfirmed. What little literature there was only had the minimum of reliable information, the rest was merely theory or supposition. While Hen was fairly certain that pods of this size had never been connected to any other species, that in itself did not prove they were changeling in origin.

As Hen Runner turned his head to look back at the others, the changing position of the light revealed something on the wall that got his attention. He turned and squinted at it for a moment before he realized what it was

Diamond Dust called over to him “What is it Knight-Sergeant?”

Hen Runner stepped back a few feet and lit his horn up: “Tracks.”

The all those present, including Big Mac, turned their heads upwards. As Hen moved to the center the changing shadows revealed a series of footprints along the walls and ceiling of the cavern. They were like nothing Hen or Diamond or any of the others had ever seen. If Hen had to say what they reminded him of, it would be the front end of chicken tracks. Big Mac frowned “Ya reckon those were made by the Changelings?”

“It’s very likely,” Diamond Dust replied. “But it’s still not definitive proof.”

Hen Runner sighed. As much as he would have liked to throw the whole hive right in the court’s, and Celestia’s, face as proof, it wasn’t enough. Even without the gravity of questioning the Sun Princess’ claim, all this was still circumstantial. Until they had recovered an actual Changeling, there was nothing to be gained by revealing their findings to Canterlot. They were on their own.

“Then these r where they kept mah AJ?” Big Mac asked, pointing at the pods.

“E-yup,” Iron Feather replied.

Diamond Dust spoke up “Since Changelings feed on emotions, it would be in their best interest to keep the people they replace alive as long as possible.”

“Well, now we know where they were keeping the Elements of Harmony, now we need to find out where they took them.” Hen said.

“How long is that gunna take?” Big Mac asked, the worry clear in his voice.

Hen Runner spoke up “I don’t know, but right now my partner and I have another matter to investigate.” He said looking at Diamond Dust.

“That’s right.” She said looking up “Knight Sergeant Hen Runner, I am invoking the authority of the Regent of Canterlot to relieve of the command of the search for Luna’s assassin and placing my subordinates in charge.”

“Ma’am?” Asked the brown skinned Knight-protector that had come with them to investigate the tunnels.

Diamond Dust turned to face him “I trust you and Blank Slate can handle the search on your own. I’d advise sending the pegasi out to do recon on any roads or rivers that pass through Everfree. Have the Apple Bloom lead you to Zecora’s hut and see if you can find any clues as to where Dusk Sparkle and her companions might have gone. Meanwhile keep watch on Ponyville. Monitor all travel in or out and be on the lookout for anyone acting strangely. Given all these pods we can’t overlook the possibility that they might have left a spy or two behind to monitor our activity. Lastly, and this is very important,” She said leaning in close “Always travel in pairs. You got that soldier?”

The knight protector nodded and Diamond Dust straightened up. “Good,” she said, “Because Hen and I are going on a road trip. Would you care to join us Knight-errant?” She asked, turning to Iron Feather.

Iron Feather looked down at the floor for a moment in thought. The he looked up as his eyes took in the room full of abandoned pods. He turned to face Hen Runner “I made an oath to bring Luna’s killer to justice. I understand the significance of what you and Diamond are looking for, but my mission lies in another direction.”

Hen Runner nodded. “It’s been my privilege to serve alongside you Iron Feather.” He said, extending his hand out towards him.

“It has been an honor sir.” Iron Father replied, taking Hen’s hand firmly in his own and shaking it.

“Suit yourself” Diamond Dust said, before turning to the rest of the soldiers assembled in the pod room “As my last act as your, commander, I order you to document this discovery and excavate these pods. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” they responded in unison and saluting. Diamond Dust returned the salute and made her way through the ranks and back out through the tunnel they just came through. Hen Runner followed close behind her. They were off to requisition a train for an express trip to the Crystal Empire.

**

She walked through the city. Canterlot. She hated this place. Had ever since the damn catastrophe. At her side were Enman and Ebel. They had taken the form of something that hadn’t lived in this city for a very long time, as had she done herself. Being an unknown visitor had its benefits. No one was questioning ones behavior, for one. As long as no one had an intimate memory of long dead people, they would be fine.

In the sky she saw a carriage of gold arrive. Even from this distance she could tell what was in it; the prince, Shining Armor. She had to get out of this city. The Royal Guard had been increasingly suspicious since the night before, pestering everyone they could get their hands on, asking about Twilight Sparkle.

The tools. She had seen “Twilight Sparkle” flee the city. Like all of her kind, she could see through the disguise. Cephora.

“I am wondering if my sister is okay,” Chrysalis wondered aloud to Enman and Ebel. Their eyes narrowed for a moment.

“No, Mom, I don’t think she is,” Ebel shook his head. “Our family has fallen on hard times, no doubt about that.”

**

“Knight-Errant Dancing Silver, at your service,” a brown coated Pegasi with silver eyes and hair had entered Shinings chambers, saluting him. He smiled at her, shaking his head. She was a bit bulkier than most Pegasi, and had always favored strength over speed. Still, she had a narrow, attractive face with elegant curves and a cute nose. Her lips were thin, and she wore no makeup, but she was still reasonably attractive.

“Fuck the formalities, Silver,” he laugh, with fake cheerfulness. He was, however, glad she had been able to respond to his summoning so quickly. He had decided that sending word in advance would be a risk, so he had called for her after Blueblood had left. “It is good to see you. I want you to take command of the Royal Guards while I act as the Regent, and to set up a continuous message exchange with Celestia. I feel it is best if we can be certain of her location, should something happen.”

“Um, Shining?” Silver scratched the back of her head. “The Princess is in the castle.”

“What!?”

“Yeah, she has barred herself in her chambers, refusing to answer anyone. No one has dared enter, as of yet.”

Shining didn’t bother to reply to what she said, but instead waved for her to follow him and started to run in the direction of Celestia’s chambers. It didn’t take many minutes before he arrived, Silver flying behind him. With the Royal Guard’s gesture that indicated silence, Shining took a deep breath and opened the door to Celestia’s quarters.

The door wasn’t locked, which was strange. Inside the room there was a mess of books and scrolls on the floor, as if the Sun Princess had gone through them hastily and then just thrown them away. The Princess herself was clearly visible through the open doors out to her personal balcony. She was staring out at the sun, the only movement her body made was the natural shifting of her hair.

“Your Majesty,” Shining said, approaching her. She turned around and looked at him with bloodshot eyes. “Why are you here?”

“What? I- I mourn my-“

“You mourn your sister instead of trying to get to the bottom of what is going on? What happened to you, Celestia? When I got your summons to be the Regent Steward I assumed you were going to lead the investigation yourself, like any true monarch who cares for their people would do. Instead, I find you here, sobbing. Have you become so dependent on my sister and her friends that you’ve grown incapable of acting for yourself anymore?”

His voice rose as he spoke, and Celestia looked more and more doubtful. A feeling of guilt spread from his gut, but he ignored it. This had to be done.

“I- you’re right…” she eventually replied, looking down at the floor. “I can’t stay here, I need to find the one responsible for this. And it won’t do anyone any good for me to stay here anymore. Farewell, Shining Armor, I hope I’ll see you again soon.”

Shining didn’t say a word as she spread her wings, only nodded to her as she took off with an encouraging smile. But when he was sure she was out of earshot, it turned to a frown as he turned away and left the balcony. Dancing Silver looked at him, confused.

“That takes care of that problem,” as he brushed past her, he mumbled to himself.

“Um, what? I don’t follow. The Princess being here was a problem?” Shining stopped when he heard her question. His horn lit up, closing the balcony doors behind him and he did a quick swipe of the room. It harbored no magic, safe for traces of the customary wards on the door and windows, which had been deactivated.

“That was not the real Princess,” the reply had a pessimistic tone. He assumed that Celestia, if she really was a Changeling, would have taken command of the upper echelons of the Royal Guards, but he assumed it would be too much trouble getting an army under control. That is why he had chosen Dancing Silver, because she was not an officer, but a rank’n’file soldier of the Guard. She was also someone he had befriended in his time at the Royal Guard Academy, but never kept in touch with much since then, so she was effectively off the radar. She was one of the few people he felt he could trust in this city, as of this moment.

“How do you know? Because she was mourning her sister, instead of acting? Haven’t you acted irrationally out of grief before?”

“I am married to an Alicorn, and she said that nothing about this makes any sense. Alicorn doesn’t die, not permanently. Luna is still alive, even if her physical body perished. Cadence said she’d come back eventually, just like Sombra did. So either Celestia has somehow lost the knowledge of her own kind…”

“… Or that is an imposter that doesn’t know the Alicorn are immortal. You think the Changelings have returned,” Shining nodded, before Silver continued. “I thought the Changelings were dead.”

“That is what Celestia said. Maybe the real Celestia thought they were, or maybe the Changelings had put in the imposter already then. What I do know, is that most took it for granted that she was right, like she always seemed to be. And who are the people to say differently, if the ever-wise and courageous Savior Celestia declares Twilight Sparkle, the real Twilight Sparkle, to be an outlaw? At best, saying the Changelings are involved would be treated as mad conspiracy theories, and at worst you’d be greeted with a witch hunt. She is treated like a deity in her own right; her word is law and her thoughts, however moronic and simplistic they could possibly have been, is defined as wisdom. Her humble and humorous attitude to the commoners, that leaves nothing but a shadow to contrast the light of her ferocious and unflinching resolve when circumstance calls upon her to defend her kingdom and people, perfectly fits as the final piece of the puzzle. She is adored and celebrated; most people would die for her sake. I too, as I know the benefit her experience, kindness and occasional ruthlessness she brings to Equestria, and there is no worthier brow for the Crown to rest upon. This fake has to be stopped, and the real Celestia located. And I suspect that the only way to do that is to find my sister.”

“And to find your sister, we need Knight-Sergeant Hen Runner.”

“Get some people I trust. Off-radar people from our school years, and get them to accompany Hen Runner. If there is someone who can track Twily, it is he, but I don’t think he can be trusted to do the right thing when his orders to capture and bring Twily back came from the Princess herself. And I don’t think for a moment that Twily would be safe, even with my protection, in this city. Now get out of here, I have to prepare for the meeting with Blueblood and his ‘noble families’.”

Author's Notes:

Hen Runner's POV written by Hanky-Spanky of Hentai-Foundry. Chrysalis and Shining Armor written by me.