Celestia's eyes fluttered open, her back sore and her fore-hooves a little restless. The princess of the day looked around herself, taking in the fact that she'd woken up in such a state; normally she'd wake up in a near pristine bed, the sheets completely smooth and she'd always be on her left side. She'd actually made a faint groove where she normally lay. Today, however, she'd woken with her sheets strewn about and unruly, her mattress damp with sweat and the sheets around her groin were a little stained; her mane was a little tangled and she could feel the grit in her eyes; her legs were spread around her body, all except her left fore-hoof, with which she was tightly clutching her stuffed phoenix to her body.

The peerless mare looked at her right fore-hoof and saw the dried fluids there; when was the last time she'd clopped? Centuries at least, she couldn't remember the last time she'd had to pleasure herself. She couldn't help but feel slightly agitated; she'd always seen masturbating as a sign that she was annoyed, stressed and angry beyond belief, and was in need of desperate relief. She knew for a fact that if she hadn't gotten rid of Shining when she had, she'd likely have some explaining to do with Cadence. Not that she'd have been truly bothered by it; when it came to her old foalsitter she allowed herself to take some very desperate measures. Be it banging her guard Captain or turning Ponyville upside down looking for him.
Her eyes rested on the ceiling in thought, absentmindedly lapping her juices off her hoof as she did so.

'He's at large. Blood Moon is still at large, in Ponyville to boot. Oh Twilight, I hope you never see his true nature, and I also hope he doesn't live long enough for you to have the chance. Friends with Blood Moon…is it irony or fate? I just don't know anymore, who can with that stallion?'

With a small sigh, the princess of the day got up, making her bed with her magic as she trotted away from it. She sat at her vanity, sitting down at it and taking a long look at herself; the state her mane was in, her tired eyes, the trail of drool and the scent of sweat and sex lingering on her just made her sigh, propping a leg up on her table and holding her head up with her hoof. Philomena fluttered over to her, coming to a rest next to her and padding over to her owner's head. Celestia smiled slightly as her bird approached before she looked back at her reflection; she'd never considered herself a vain pony but it was the simple fact that Alicorns were unnaturally, and infamously, beautiful. But, after all the times Celestia had looked into a mirror and had never been victim to such a sight looking back at her before was making her slightly depressed.

Philomena sensed her mood and nuzzled her head, Celestia's slight smile returning to her as she nuzzled her back, memories of the time Fluttershy had 'taken care' of her that once and how the fire bird had never left the dark stallion's shoulder when he'd owned her. Memories both good and bad. She thought about that, she often thought about how she felt about Blood Moon's leaving her; she hated the fact that he'd left, the fact that he'd gone as soon as he felt he wouldn't like it, the very simple fact that he'd been so selfish as to do so. But right after these thoughts passed through her head, others to the contrary would soon follow after; he'd taken good care of her and Luna, practically raised her and her sister as his own, despite only having been hired to look after them, act as a bodyguard and foalsitter, not the father they never truly had, he'd given up at least a third of his life for two foals it took him a few millennia to truly get to know, a difficult task for anypony, but a thousand year old assassin who had no experience raising foals, never mind even how to even act around them? A near-impossible task, especially for somepony who'd had a foalhood like his. She hung her head, a sad look on her face that Philomena picked up on, nuzzling Celestia's head again and cooing slightly. She had to admit it to herself;

She missed him.

He'd been gone for so long, having left her and Luna ten thousand years ago…she looked at the calendar on the wall and her eye widened a fraction; eleven thousand years today he'd been gone. She huffed; it would be his birthday soon. She turned away from the calendar; she often wondered what she'd have done should she have ever captured him; question him? Try to kill him? Throw him in the dungeons and melt the key into commemorative coins? Torture him in punishment for leaving her? Cast him into Tartarus and make sure he never name back? Would they take one look at each other and fall into each other's embrace, suddenly noticing how much they truly missed each other? Would he try to kill her, or just spit in her face and disappear again? Perhaps in some form of twisted fate they'd wind up being each other's demise. She doubted any of those would ever happen, he'd evaded capture for more than ten thousand years and he wouldn't give himself up now. He had too much pride for that.

The princess of the day stood up, heading for her personal suite and stepping into the shower; turning on the water and letting it flow over her as she straightened out her mane and tail, washed away the leftover juices on her hoof and scrubbed away the scent of sex on her. Once done destroying the evidence of her clopping, she stepped out and went to grab a towel and dry herself, but not before she caught herself in the mirror; she grinned and put a sexy look on her face, striking a pose before relaxing back onto her hooves, giggling to herself slightly. Such behaviour was unbecoming of a princess, but she couldn't help but feel just a tad cocky about her looks sometimes. She quickly dropped her smile though, her previous thoughts swarming back into her mind like a hive of bees as she towelled herself off. Once done, she trotted back to her vanity and sat at it, picking up a brush and running it daintily through her mane with her magic, reclaiming some order to the silk-like hair atop her royal head. She looked over at her golden and jewelled slippers and the ceremonial armour she'd worn for as long as she'd been princess before her attention went to her tiara. She lifted it to eye level with her golden magic, spying her light magenta eyes in the reflection of the headpiece.

'Was it because of this he left, because of mine and Luna's assentation?'

She lowered her head with a slight sigh and placed it atop her brow before she stood, slipping her armour over her head and onto her body before placing her hooves into her slippers. She turned for the door and trotted out, catching her little sister, Luna, as she went to bed.

"Morning Lu-Lu" Celestia greeted, wrapping her hooves around her sister's neck.

"Morning Tia" the princess of the night replied "art thou-ahem, I mean, are you well sister" she asked, Celestia giggling slightly at her sister's close call with the archaic language.

"I'm fine Luna, why do you ask?" The darker princess of the two cocked her head to the side slightly.

"No reason, it's just that you've been acting…a little differently lately" she commented. Celestia chuckled slightly, smiling fondly at her sister.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. Things have just gotten a little…stressful lately" she admitted, technically not lying. The mare of night looked to be in thought, humming slightly before she dropped it, yawning deeply as she stretched her back, her spine cracking a few times.

"Alright Tia, if you say so. Just remember, I'm here if you need to talk" she said as she opened her bedroom door with a tired spell. The princess of the day's mood darkened slightly.

"That's what Blood Moon always said" she murmured, just a little too loud. Luna picked up on her words, her ears perking up, and stalled, holding up in the doorway. She turned her head back to her sister slightly.

"What" she asked shakily. Celestia swallowed slightly.

"T-that's what Blood Moon used…to say" she said slowly. Luna swallowed, both because she hadn't told Celestia that she'd known Blood Moon was in Ponyville long before she'd found out about it, she wasn't sure how she'd take it, and because after she'd had her little heart to heart with their old foalsitter, she found herself thinking about him much more often. Too often for her own good. Put simply, she'd been thinking exactly what Celestia had just been thinking, but her stronger bond with him and greater time to mull it all over had left her a little emotionally unstable. Her reaction was evident to this fact: she took a deep breath and calmed herself before she trotted into her room.

"Oh" she said simply, her voice on the verge of tears, moving quickly into her room and slamming the door hard behind her. The princess of the day could hear her sister burst into deep tears a single second after the door had closed. Celestia suddenly felt a little guilty; she knew Luna had a much closer bond to Blood Moon than her and although she'd been hurt more by his disappearance due to their deeper relationship, Luna had seen him as an actual father, rather than Nocturnal, their biological father, so she'd been cut particularly deep by what they both saw as a betrayal. She trotted to the throne room, suddenly realised she really didn't want to attend day court; the nobles would very probably push her over the edge and she really didn't need that right now, not with Blood Moon in her grasp. She thought about what Blood Moon had 'supposedly' done last night and decided she wanted to take a direct hoof in the investigation herself, after all, she was leading the search for the Hunter.

'To Tartarus with it, I'm the damn princess.'

She arrived in the throne room, a long and beautifully designed hall lined with stained glass windows depicting famous scenes from Equestria's past. As she entered the room, one of the guards spoke up.

"All rise for princess Celestia" he said, speaking loud so the whole room could hear the deep and authorities voice that reverberated across the hall. The nobles just raised their noses slightly while the peasants stood to attention. The princess of Equestria was not supposed to pick favourites, the simple fact that she was an Alicorn meant she was supposed to be a neutral voice throughout the land, but if she were honest, she'd say she always liked her lower class citizens more than the upper class ones, if only because their heads weren't shoved so far up their own asses they could taste their scalps. She went to her throne and sat upon it delicately, before clearing her throat slightly as she prepared herself to speak.

"My apologies my little ponies" she started, her voice carrying as well as the guard's with only half the effort "but day court has been cancelled for today. A situation has arisen and it desires my upmost attention" she explained, her motherly voice meeting the ears of all attending ponies across the room. Pretty much all of her citizens were annoyed but some hid it better than others; her well trained ears picked up the nobles muttering something about 'no respect' and the peasants things like 'wonder what's going on.' Yet another reason she liked the lower class ponies of Equestria more than the higher class ones.

Celestia waited until all her ponies had left, but as she was doing so, a single noble approached her; you know what she did? She glared at him. Princess Celestia, of Equestria, who had vowed to rule with harmony, justice and love for her subjects narrowed her eyes at her approaching citizen until he got the message and backed up, moving quickly for the exit with wide and fearful eyes. Celestia quickly realised what she'd just done, hanging her head in shame; she'd always strived to keep up her kind and motherly ruler appearance but she'd felt herself slipping lately. This must have been what Luna had been noticing, hay, of course she would; Celestia was known for having an exceedingly long fuse but Blood Moon had a way of making it much shorter. Luna would be the first to notice her temper getting hotter, what with them being so close and all. Getting up out of her throne, having to actually put effort into looking regal this time, she trotted back to her room. She turned to the guard who'd been watching over day court.
"I'm going to the crime scene at Fancy Pant's home; make sure I'm not disturbed" she told him, the guard simply nodding his understanding. Upon arriving in her room, she headed for the balcony and went to leap off, but faulted just before she took flight.

'Am I over reacting? Could this be nothing and I'm just making a big deal about it? No, there's no 'over reacting' when it comes to Blood Moon. If anything, not sending the whole of the Equestrian army after him is under reacting.'

She shook the doubts from her mind with a 'foolish filly' look on her face, aimed at herself, before she took to the skies, spreading her swan like wings and gliding for a while before she gave a few powerful beats of her wings and flew for Fancy's estate, letting her thoughts return to her head.

'Blood Moon after Fancy Pants? Technically it isn't surprising; high-rise noble, plenty of enemies… but it wouldn't have been much of a challenge for him, so it begs the question; why would he go after him? A simple contract? No, he's always after challenge rather than coin, also, he's always careful to draw no attention when he's being paid. It's when he's doing a favour he's loud and proud; he sends a message. He must be doing a favour for somepony then. But who?'

When Celestia could see Fancy Pant's home in the distance, she decreased altitude until she met the ground with her hooves, taking a few quick steps until she'd broken her momentum and could trot regally forwards properly, covering the brief distance between her landing position and Fancy's home quickly. The estate had undergone a few changes since the battle, for instance; the front gate seemed to have been blown off its hinges and instead of the big iron gate protecting the compound, there was crime scene tape across the gap, one of her day guards either side of it, standing to attention and bowing as she approached. Celestia continued on through and almost tripped when she saw what was inside the walls; at least nine guards, their remains really, were strewn across the gardens and pathway to the front door in a bloody and gory mess; entrails, blood, lungs, a few hearts here and there and a head missing its body was sat in the corner. Celestia put disappointed and angry look on her face.

"Starswirl's beard" she growled, no other real curse available to her shocked mind.

"Princess Celestia" a gruff voice said from behind her. Celestia turned to the voice and saw an old friend of hers.

He was a unicorn, smaller than Shining Armour but with just as many muscles; he had smoky grey fur and a very dark shade of midnight blue mane and tail that looked black during the day and blue at night, giving him the appearance of a misty alleyway at night time; his eyes were deep, thoughtful and constantly narrowed, a fact that reminded Celestia of Blood Moon a little, and were a shade of moonlight silver that always seemed darker when there was no light, they were sunken in, had deep crow's feet on the corners and looked tired, but the eyes themselves were wide awake; his horn was chipped slightly here and there, the results of an attempt to bring down the Shadow Weavers, it hadn't gone well but he'd made a decent attempt, having made a severe dent in the chapter's numbers, power and wealth; his mane was slightly matted, a thin scar ran over his head, cutting through his mane and making a thin line through his hair, while his tail was long, flowing and trailed on the ground behind him; his maw was covered in a small dark grey stubble, suggesting he'd been up all night again; and his cutie mark was a magnifying glass, grey clouds flowing over it, the glass having a small flare of light around part of the edge, looking a little like a sun reflecting off it. He wore an oak brown trench coat, beaten and old but characterful, with the belt around the waist hanging loose, the iron buckle swinging low; and a fedora sat on his head, oak brown like his coat, while the silk band running through it was a midnight blue, the same shade as his mane.

"Skulduggery" she replied as she shook his hoof. Skulduggery was Celestia's personal detective; he wasn't technically top detective considering he was a private eye but he was better than most of her investigation team put together. "How is the investigation going" she asked. Skulduggery growled, a habit he'd picked up the day he'd taken a broadsword to the skull; it normally meant he was more pissed off than you could possibly imagine but was doing damn good job of holding it down, his growl being a small steam vent he used to let it loose carefully.

"Awful" he rumbled as he looked around at the corpses below him. He shifted through a few of them before he looked up again. "All of these guys are mercs, low rent and impossible to track. No ID and no names, the only ponies who know what they're called are the other mercs, and most of them are dead or in no state to talk just yet" he says as he continues to pick through the cadavers.

"How many were there" Celestia asks as she watches him work through the dead guards systematically. The stallion shrugs.

"Forty or so, give or take" he says as a guard gives him a short report. He reads it through before passing it to Celestia. It was Shining's initial report.

Suspect seemingly broke in under cover of night but was unseen by all guards outside. He apparently went unnoticed by the patrols inside too, having dispatched three and hid the unconscious bodies in a compromising position. It is still unclear why he did so. He then dispatched the two guards protecting Fleur and went on to search her quarters for information on the locations of a pony holding up with them and Fancy Pants. Suspect then seemed to go on to find a thug from Ponyville by the name 'Lock Pick' and kill him for reasons still unknown. He then approached Fancy Pants in the library and the two fought. Fancy claims to have been able to fend him off until the guards arrived, according to Fancy Pants, he abandoned the hit and escaped soon after.

Celestia looked up from the report and gave it back to the Skulduggery, who slipped it into his coat.

"Are all the guards accounted for" Celestia asked, more for formalities than anything. The detective took her by surprise when he shook his head.

"No, two professional mercenaries by the name Dark Guard and Gloom Watch have gone missing." Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Professional mercenaries" she repeated "who were they?" Skulduggery shrugged.

"Just that, pro mercs, but they weren't hired by Fancy Pants" he reveals. Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Apparently, they weren't on his payroll, but they were posted outside Lock Pick's door." Celestia put a hoof to her chin in thought.

"If they were outside this Lock Pick's door, that means Blood Moon must have run into them" she murmured. Skulduggery shrugged and turned for the door to Fancy's home. The fact that he had the balls to turn away from Celestia without permission made him stand out from pretty much everypony, even without his attitude and dress sense. It was supposed to be considered a mark of great disrespect to look away from Celestia before she'd looked from you, but both of them knew he'd never cared much for manners around monarchs, though if Celestia were honest, she'd say she didn't care much; it was actually rather refreshing to find somepony who treated her like a normal pony.

"This is both ridiculous and frustrating. You'd have thought out of everything that's been left behind, something, anything, could be used in court against him" he growled "but there's nothing; not a hair, not a fibre, not a useful witness, not a scrap of evidence, nothing" he continued, halfway between ranting and reporting his findings, or lack thereof. Celestia nodded, she'd expected as much.

"No witnesses" she asked. The stallion grunted.

"There's Fancy himself, his marefriend Fleur and a few of the guards. All of them claim to have nothing to say. Not unless you count information they're holding back, because I know for a fact that they know something but, for the life of me, I can't get it out of them." That actually surprised Celestia; Skulduggery was known for getting information out of the ponies he interrogated, having somepony who could keep things from him was sort of impressive.

Annoying, but impressive.

"Who exactly are our witnesses" Celestia continued.

"There's Fancy Pants himself, guy who owns this place, as you know; his marefriend Fleur Dis Lee, long time partners but they've never really gone further than mare and coltfriend; and besides those two a few of the guards survived this whole ordeal" the detective answered. The princess nodded her understanding.

"Take me to Fancy Pants" she said, Skulduggery returning her nod and veered off the hallway they were trotting and turning down another. Celestia stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what she was supposed to trot through."Son of a…"

The hallway before her was a battlefield;blood was sprayed across the walls, dead bodies were all over the floors and what was once a display of the finest works of the best designers in Equestria had been reduced to a slaughterhouse. Celestia couldn't help but swallow at the scene, while Skulduggery just trotted through it acting like none of it was there. As she brought herself to move, Skulduggery had stopped and turned back to her.

"Princess, you alright" he asked, his own brand of gruff concern shining through. Celestia nodded noiselessly and started moving. She'd be lying if she'd said she wasn't shocked by this; every crime scene she'd gone through that had involved Blood Moon had been pristine, silent and perfectly performed, the only ponies who'd known he'd been there were Blood Moon himself and the target, but this…it was something she'd never expect from him. She could actually see where it had all started going downhill; at the end furthest away from her were a few spatterings of blood here and there, probably where he'd been cutting tendons and disabling his opponents, all the living guards having been already been taken to the hospital; closer to her, the blood was slightly more frequent and abundant, sprays covering more of the marble floor and walls, most likely where he'd been taking less care to keep his opponents alive; then there was the first fatality, a merc with a long, wide smile across his neck, the red grin drooling blood; after that he seemed not to care anymore, and had just let loose, ponies having been killed indiscriminately. Celestia stopped, frowning slightly at the patch of blood at her hooves; it seemed darker than the other spots of blood and stood out to her somehow, it was coming from a different angle than the other wounds and almost seemed to be shaped like an arrow… "Princess, take a look at this" Skulduggery said slowly. Celestia looked up at the detective and saw him gazing in the direction the blood seemed to have been pointing at. When she looked up her face slackened slightly. Blood, sharp and harsh was caked across the wall in pointed letters that read:

Celestia swallowed slightly as she read the words, they seemed to jump out at her and felt just a little intimidating. It was the way he'd signed it too, 'your loving foalsitter.' It troubled her more than a little that he'd actually sent her a message but calling himself her foalsitter again…it made her heart prang a little, her thoughts from this morning not helping her. Skulduggery watched her face with a practised eye, taking note of her reaction.
"Celestia…do you know who did this" he asked with caution. He could have been mistaken, but he almost thought he'd seen her lip wobble.

"I-I do…he…he was my foalsitter a long, long time ago" she said, her eyes still locked on the message scrawled over the wall.

"Yes, I figured out that much for myself" he said, glancing back at the message "but is there anything else I should know?" Celestia shook her head.

"No, nothing that would help" she answered. Celestia managed to tear herself away from the spot she'd been standing on and trotted further down the hallway before she looked back at the detective. "Are you coming, Skulduggery?" The stallion hums before he follows her. He leads the way to Fancy's front room, where the stallion of the house sits. "Fancy Pants" she greets as he stands up, bowing to her slightly.

"Princess Celestia, an honour" he answers. The princess of the day smiles slightly.

"Fancy, let's cut the formalities; I want you to tell me what happened to you" she told him.

"Alright, but I've already told all of your guards the same thing" he says. Celestia nods, as Skulduggery makes movements with his hoof for him to go on as his horn sparks to life and pulls out a notepad and pencil from the inside of his coat. "The stallion approached me, trotted in like he owned the place, and told me he was going to kill me. We fought, the guards came and he galloped for it. There's nothing much else to say."

"That's all a little vague Fancy" Skull comments, his eyes narrowed further as he speaks. The aristocrat glares back.

"I have nothing more to say, because I have nothing to say" he retorts.

"Then how about the small war that went on inside your home, most ponies I know would be just a little shaken up, but you're acting like you couldn't give a crap about the fact an assassin has been in your house." Fancy looked insulted.

"Are you accusing me of lying? You'd do well to watch your tong-" as Fancy had been speaking he'd raised his hoof and pointed it at Skulduggery, who'd grabbed it out of the air, twisted him to the floor and pinned him down, a vicious snarl on his face.

"I know, you're holding back information Fancy Pants, and I will find out what you're holding back from me" he growled out.

"Skulduggery" Celestia said in warning. The detective looked up and relaxed slightly, letting the nobel up.
"Of course, princess" he said as he straightened up, letting Fancy Pants get up. "I'm gonna go find the guards who were knocked out by our suspect" he said as he trotted away. Celestia watched as he went.

"I'm sorry about that Fancy Pants" she said. He shrugged it off.

"Don't worry about it" he said "I've had worse" he muttered. Celestia followed after Skulduggery, finding him just outside the door with his eyes closed and taking deep breaths to calm himself.

"What was that all about" Celestia asked quietly. They both knew had it been anypony else she'd be enraged at them for acting out before her, but Skulduggery had a way with ponies that got things done and a such sheer disregard for the opinions of others that she knew he wouldn't care even if she'd yelled at him in the Canterlot voice. Skulduggery glanced up at her.

"I can tell something about this case is bothering you Celestia; you're heading it up yourself, then there's that message on the wall, you seemed taken aback by the scene in the hall and you didn't exactly hold me back just now." Celestia took a breath through her muzzle.

"I knew I'd made you my personal detective for some reason" she muttered, prompting a short smirk from him "but that still doesn't explain your actions" she said. Skulduggery looked up at her properly.

"It's because I can tell something about this is bothering you, more than bothering you, it's angering you. If something is making the princess of Equestria angry that gives us all cause for concern. That… and you're my friend, and if you're annoyed at something, I want to help you" he told her as he got up and trotted away, towards where the guards were being treated for their wounds. Celestia couldn't help but smile slightly when he said that. She suddenly felt slightly coy about questioning the guards with him.

"Skulduggery, didn't you say Fleur Dis Lee was one of the witnesses." He turned back and nodded once.

"Yes, but, as I said, I couldn't get much out of her. You're welcome to try if you wish, mare to mare, she's in her room" he told her, nodding to a hallway off to the side of them. Celestia nodded her thanks, turned away and made her way to the supermodel's room.

In her room, Fleur was stood in front of her dress mirror, standing to the side and holding low down her stomach, where her womb would be. She stroked it gently, imagining the foal growing in there; you may be taken by surprise to know that she'd wanted foals for a time now, but Fancy hadn't, he'd never said it out loud, simply brushing it off with an 'of course, some day Fleur' and be on a conveniently timed 'business trip' when she was in heat. Last night had been a rather pathetic 'not tonight dear, I've got a headache.' She sighed slightly; she loved that stallion, but he had some real problems with age insecurity and, apparently, having a foal would just worsen that feeling. Now it wasn't his choice, Blood Moon had very likely just made her pregnant and there was nothing he could do about it. When it came to explanations she'd just have to put it down to her desperation, he'd ask who it was and she'd answer with 'oh, just the assassin who was meant kill you. Y'know, 'e said you didn't deserve to die didn't 'e? Y'know, if you did 'urt me…I don't know, I just don't think 'e'd like that for some reason.' She smirked at the thought; Blood Moon was nothing if not intimidating.

There was a knock at her door, prompting her to turn away from the mirror and let go of her stomach; she trotted over to it and opened it with her magic to reveal princess Celestia stood before her. Fleur's eyes widened before she bowed, straightening up again to find that Celestia seemed lost in thought.

"Princess Celestia" she asked, pulling said princess from her stupor.

"Hello Fleur" she said quickly but not hastily "I'm here to ask you about what happened last night" she told her. Fleur nodded.

"Of course, would you like a seat" she asked. Celestia shook her head.

"No thank you, but I'd like you to tell me what happened to you last night" she answered.

"Well, just what I told your guard Captain; I woke up and found 'im snooping around my room. I think 'e was looking for clues as to where Fancy and Lock Pick were. When 'e saw me awake 'e left" she explained. Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Did you try and warn anypony?" Fleur shook her head.

"I did, but when I tried to open the door it wouldn't open, I think 'e cast some kind of spell on it" she says. Celestia turned to the door, a spell invisible to Fleur being cast as she searched the door for traces of unusual magic. There was none.

"Alright" she said, dropping the point but planning to pursue it. "Is there anything else I should know?" Fleur put a hoof to her chin briefly before shaking her head. Celestia nodded and stepped back. "Well, thank you for your time, one of the detectives should be up shortly to ask any more questions" she told her. Fleur nodded silently and bowed again, shallower this time, and watched as Celestia stepped away. Fleur shut the door softly and went back to the mirror; she wasn't sure why she kept looking into it, maybe it was in a subconscious attempt to see if there had been any developments in her pregnancy. She managed to pull herself away and sat on her bed, thinking about her decision last night. She was known as a simple supermodel, hoof-candy for Fancy Pants and little more; she'd wanted foals for a while now, feeling that when she had a little one to call her own she might be seen as something more than just an airhead. That wasn't her only reason, no, nothing so petty; she also wanted to finally have somepony looking up at her and somepony glad to see her when she got back home. She wanted somepony to love her the way she loved them.

Celestia took her horn away from the door and killed her spell as she read the mare's mind; it was possible to read a pony's thoughts but it was incredibly difficult to attune your own mind to theirs, though after so long Celestia had gotten good at it. The main downside was that the glowing horn gave it away.

She smirked slightly as she reviewed Fleur's thoughts just now; pregnant. And if her guess was right, Blood Moon was the father. That'd freak him out. She trotted away from the mare's room and found her way outside, her sun casting a pretty yellow glow over the otherwise horrible garden. She spotted Skulduggery leaning against the wall to her right, looking through his notes as he glared at them, likely still annoyed at the lack of information.

"What d'you think" he asked without looking up. Celestia looked up at the sky, a small sigh escaping her maw.

"They're not telling us something. I think Fleur may be pregnant with our suspect's foal, but isn't going to tell anypony any time soon. I also get the feeling that Fancy is in cahoots with Blood Moon. Beyond that, we've nothing to go on." Skull looked up at her.

"Blood Moon? Is that our suspect's name?" Celestia's eyes snapped open, only just realising what she'd just let slip. She went to answer when she noticed him looking through a different part of his note book. "Blood Moon, eh? The killer who can't be seen, caught or killed. I wondered if I'd run into him…again." He turned his gaze slowly up to Celestia as it fell into place in his mind. "So that's what's bothering you…Blood Moon is…was your foalsitter" he looked back at his notes. "It makes sense" he murmured "no known origins, rumoured to be immortal and now…Celestia's old foalsitter." He turned his full attention to Celestia, looking up at her with his ever watchful eye; she seemed ashamed about something, biting her lip and averting her gaze, something he never thought he'd see. Celestia noticed his lack of words and looked back at him. "Interesting" he said simply.

"Interesting, that's it, just…interesting? That's all you have to say?" Skulduggery just nodded.

"I think no less of this for this Celestia, this is the assassin's doing, not your own. But I must ask, why didn't you say anything before?"

"Because I don't want this information getting into the wrong hooves" she told him simply. The detective cocked his head to the side.

"I don't count as the wrong hooves?" Celestia couldn't help but grin slightly.
"Wasn't it you who said we're friends" she asked. Skulduggery grinned back, chuckling slightly.

"If memory serves me correctly, I believe so" he answered. Celestia shook her head amusedly as she went to answer but the moment she'd opened her maw to speak a Pegasus guard landed next to her and cut her off.

"Princess Celestia" he said, his tone as hard and official as any other guard. The princess of the day turned to him.

"Yes?"

"Somepony has arrived at the castle, asking for you" he explained. Celestia frowned at him, pointedly.

"I asked not to be disturbed" she told him. The guard nodded.

"Yes, I understand princess, but I think you'll want to hear this" he told her. That caught her interest.

"What is it then" she asked.

"This pony, grey fur and blond mane, claims to know where to find a ‘Blood Moon’ individual. I was to to bring this to your attention at the orders of Lieutenant Quartermane. He said it was relevant to this case" he told her. Celestia couldn't hold back the grin.

"Good" she said simply "dismissed" she said simply, the guard saluting sharply before taking off immediately after the word had left her mouth.

"It seems you're needed Celestia" Skulduggery observed.

"Indeed" Celestia answered slowly. She looked at her personal detective and caught his slightly annoyed look. "I'll be sure to see you tonight Skulduggery, to report your findings" she told him. Skulduggery grinned slightly, tipping his hat to her as she took off.

"See you Celestia" he murmured, mentally cursing himself, not for the first time, and wishing he'd had the courage to ask her to dinner. Before they'd lingered for too long, he shook the thoughts from his head.

'Don't kid yourself Skull, it'd never work.'

He looked back at his notes, something not quite sitting right in his stomach. He thought about it all; Fleur, the guards, Fancy… Lock Pick. Lock Pick.
'Just who in the hay is this guy? I've never heard of him before, and he's meant to be from
Ponyville? Why was he here, hanging out in Fancy's place.'

The detective raised his head slowly, a grin forming on his lips; why was he here anyway? Skulduggery turned back to the door, trotting through and returning to the place he'd left Fancy Pants. One of the detectives that worked in the guard was asking Fancy a few routine question when he got there, Fancy answering them all in a bored manner.

"Fancy Pants" he said as he crossed over the room to him. The other detective looked up, an annoyed look finding its way to his face when he saw Skulduggery.

"Get out of here Skulduggery, this is a real investigation for real detectives" the stallion questioning Fancy said. Skulduggery ignored his words and just shoved him out of the way.

"Fancy, why was Lock Pick staying with you" he asked bluntly. The noble raised an eyebrow.

"He's a friend" he said unsurely. Skulduggery shook his head.

"No, he's from Ponyville, I know for a fact the only friend you have in Ponyville is Rarity, the tailor." Skulduggery's mind set into a sort of battle stance; he'd asked Fancy a question, he'd answered and now he'd poked the hole through. Now all's he had to do was keep poking holes through until he could see the truth hidden behind it. Fancy flinched, narrowing his eyes at Skull.

"Well, when I say he's a friend, I of course mean he's a friend of Fleur's" he said, ever so slightly shaken. Skulduggery grinned.

"I…don't think so; Fleur Dis Lee is a supermodel, she only interacts with those on her social level" he countered, taking Fancy's retort on his shield and striking back. The way Fancy growled ever so slightly told him he'd struck true.

"Yes, well… F-Fleur didn't say much about how she knew him, I'm sure they're just old friends." Skull shook his head.

"Ah-ah, no, you and Fleur are long time lovers, you tell each other everything; she knows all of your friends and you know all of hers and I know that she'd have told you some story as to how she met him." Fancy growled again, narrowing his eyes in frustration. Skull smirked again; it was so amusing to question nobles and celebrates, the newspapers told you everything about them so it was easy to find their weaknesses.

"Yes, well-I…FINE, you want to know why he was here?" Skulduggery nodded, taking out his pad and pencil. "I was giving him a room here at the request of the Goldhooves, nothing more." Skulduggery snorted.
'The Goldhooves. I should have known.'

"Are you sure that's all?"

"Yes I'm sure" he exclaimed. Skull grinned.

"If you were sure, you'd have told me why there were two professional mercenaries outside his door" he said. The other detective gaped.

"What? There were no pro mercs, I checked them all personally. Low rent grunts, thirty eight of them." Skulduggery looked over at him.

"Make that forty, two have gone missing" he said, the detective scribbling it down in his notes. Fancy, meanwhile, had trotted over to a hoof-chair and sat in it, pouring himself a drink.

"Oh, those two" he muttered "I honestly don't know much about those two. They showed up with Lock Pick and told me and my guards they were his personal protection, though to be honest, they didn't seem very eager to do so" he told the detective.

"Really" Skulduggery murmured as he scribbled it down, his eyebrow raised slightly. "Tell me, why would such a low rent thug be being protected by such professional fighters?" Fancy shrugged, an honest lack of information seeping through the basic motion.

"I'm honestly not sure: I think it has something to do with the-the…" The detectives couldn't help but glance at each other, both of them curious about the same thing.

"The what" the detective who'd been here before prompted. Fancy growled again, knowing there was no getting out of this corner now that he'd let it slip.

"The…listen, if I tell you this, I want you to guarantee me that this will get nowhere near the ears of the Goldhooves" he told them. Skulduggery couldn't help but turn his eyes to the other detective, who had nodded his head at Fancy Pants. Skull moved his hoof to his hat, adjusting it slightly before he chopped the hoof into the nerve on the pony's neck, putting him out cold.

Fancy, to his credit, didn't look the least bit fazed. Skulduggery lifted the fallen detective's pad to his face with his magic, flipping through his notes. He grunted; all of it was to do with any connections to the Goldhooves, any possible links to them were noted in his pad and he seemed to be jotting down possible ways to cripple them.

"So, you were saying" Skulduggery continued nonchalantly as he tossed the pad into the fire.

"I was keeping him here under orders of the Goldhooves; according to his, rather loud, maw, he's gathered dirt on Mayor Mare." Skulduggery raised an eyebrow.
"Mayor Mare, mare of Ponyville" he clarified, prompting a nod from the noble.

"Hmm, apparently these efforts have gleaned some rather damaging information, but at a price." Skulduggery got the picture.

"Would this price be in the form of an assassin, per chance?" Fancy Pants nodded once, deeply.

"Yes" he said simply. Skulduggery scribbled it down in his pad.

"Fancy, I'm curious; how did the night end? Between you and the suspect." Fancy looked at him, frowning at him.

"The way I said; we thought, the guards came and he left." Skull shook his head.

"I don't think so; Blood Moon isn't the type of assassin to just run when a job's half done." Fancy looked as annoyed as ever, grunting and resting his head on his fore-hoof.

"Sweet Celestia" he muttered "very well; when we were fighting Blood Moon stopped us, claiming I didn't seem like the type to send somepony to gather dirt on Mayor. Anyway, we spoke and ended up agreeing we'd help each other out with dealing with the Goldhooves. Then, the guards did arrive and… well, you probably know the rest." He nodded.

"I do. Now, one last question. Why was he here in the first place, I mean; what's the point in him trying to kill you?" Fancy seemed unwilling to answer but with one look at the fallen detective he soon changed his song.

"Because I organised Lock Pick's information gathering; I told him where to go, where to set up shop, what to look out for and so on. Blood Moon's trail lead back to me so I can only guess he was here to kill me to insure I never did anything against Ponyville again." Skulduggery grinned, pleased with his information; it'd taken its sweet time getting to him, but it was worth it.

"Thank you Fancy Pants, that will be all for now" he said, slipping his notes into his coat as he tipped his hat to him. Glad that he finally had something, Skulduggery made his way to the palace, ready to present what he had to Celestia.

Celestia sat in her throne, watching as a trio of ponies approached her. The middle one was likely the one her guard had described to her; a mare with grey fur and a blond mane and tail, Pegasus wings folded by her sides, though the poor dear was afflicted with fractum oculus nervus. The other elder was a brown fur, mane and tailed stallion, the fur lighter than the mane and tail. The final pony rode the mare, a pale purple filly, her mane and tail the same style and colour as the one she rode, the main difference being the unicorn horn atop her head. As they got closer, Celestia let a calming and motherly smile spread across her face.

When they got appropriately close, they bowed to her Celestia motioning for them to rise almost as soon as their heads had gotten to the floor.

"Please, rise my little ponies. I have no care for formalities today; I have been told you know where to find a suspect in a crime." Ditzy nodded.

"Yes princess, his name is Blood Moon" she said. Celestia nodded.

"Yes, I know this" she told them patiently "please, tell me where he is."

"He's in Ponyville" she said. Celestia nodded again.

"Yes, I know this too Miss…"

"Ditzy, my name is Ditzy Doo." Celestia nodded her head. "But I know where in Ponyville he is." That caught Celestia's attention, but she held back her enthusiasm.

"Oh, and how do you know this?"

"I managed to figure it out. He's been seen with the elements of harmony lately, so I just looked around their houses. Twilight, Rainbowdash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack weren't home, so I looked around Fluttershy's house. I saw him leaving the place for the Everfree the other day so I made my way here to tell you" she tells the princess of the day. Celestia nods.

"Thank you, this is highly appreciated. You will be appropriately rewarded for your help" she told them "but I must ask you Miss Ditzy; why did you come to me with this information?" Ditzy lowered her head very slightly, but the simple movement cast deep shadows over her face.

"Because he hurt me, and I'm sick of ponies hurting me and getting away with it" she said venomously. Celestia cocked her head to the side; that hadn't been what she'd meant but the answer intrigued her anyway.

"Very well" she said slowly "again, you have my thanks for this information. Now, please excuse my manners but I have to think on this." Ditzy and her party bowed again, rising and turning from her and trotting from the princess of the day. Celestia had to grin to herself as she stood up and turned for the doorway to her and Luna's quarters. She turned to the guard standing beside it. "Let nopony but detective Skulduggery to my room" she ordered, the guard responding with a salute and sharp 'yes princess.'

In her personal chambers, Celestia flopped onto her bed and wide, happy grin on her face.
She'd got him.

After all these years, all these deaths and her suffering, she had him within her grasps. All of his work, for these last ten millennia, had been undone by a single mare in a barely a five minutes. At long last, one of his ill performed deeds would come back and bite him in the flank. He'd finally get what was coming to him.

'Finally.'

Celestia suddenly noticed something in the room, something that shouldn't be there. She sat up on the bed, her eyes narrowed and her head angled around so she could look behind her without turning it the whole way.

"Cadaver" she said simply. She got nothing in return, just more of that suddenly eerie silence. The princess of the day turned around until she could see her visitor; the pony stood before her had always had the strangest ability to only let anypony know they were in the room when they wanted you to know. And the way they did so was incredibly creepy; you simply knew they were there,you could just feel them behind you. There was no gut feeling or a shiver running down your spine just a sudden awareness to them being in the room.

"Celestia" her visitor said plainly. Princess Celestia watched as the visitor trotted around the room, taking very slow and deliberate steps, moving in such a way that gave of a very strange sense of purpose and presence. He trotted over to Philomena, letting her take him in as he approached; when he got close to her, he raised his armoured hoof and petted her very gently. Philomena's lack of reaction should have shocked Celestia, but it didn't; her bird of fire was very picky of new ponies, and could get very, VERY, aggressive around them. But the way she just let him stroke her was a very unusual occurrence. He stepped out of the deep shadows and trotted very slowly towards Celestia's bed.

He wore a set of very distinctive armour; it was bulky and thick, providing plenty of protection to its wearer but was unnaturally quiet in the way it moved when he moved, barely a creak or a whisper would sound as he moved around; the armour covered every inch of his fur in its dull grey and dead-skin pale white protective plating; iron greaves and boots protected the fore and hind-legs, the metal exposed to the elements was dull grey, while the reinforcement behind it was pale white, all strapped to black leather that was buckled tightly to his legs and hooves; grey knee-caps sat at the middle of both legs, a pair of bolts either side of the joint; and the shoulders were identical to each other, the bulky metal only differing in the white and grey colour. The chest was covered in more plated metal, the pair of armour plates curved roughly around the pectorals, the gap between the grey and white metal giving way to black leather; across the chest a belt sat, reaching from the right shoulder to the bottom left side of the chest, along it, a trio of small collapsed crossbows sat holstered along it, a combat dagger hanging from the right-most side; nine extra bolts for the crossbows sat on the left shoulder, while three throwing knives were sheathed on the left . Reaching under the chest and along the stomach was more of the armour plating, just as heavy as the chest and the legs, as to not give his opponents a 'soft underbelly' advantage. The pony's back was covered in more of the same armouring, reaching over the neck, back and flank in square and rectangular plates, the same black leather peeking through the very slight gaps in the armour; the armour was very plain, only a few scratches and cuts over it, there was also no substitute for the cutie mark, making the stallion appear strangely plain, but not the 'nothing there' kind of plain, more like a void, like there is nothing there, never was and never will be anything anywhere. It wasn't helped by the iron mask he wore; the left half of it was the pale white and the right was the dull grey, both colours were cut evenly in half down the middle of the mask; on the right side was a tinted black glass eyepiece, behind which were three magnifying lenses that allowed him to zoom his vision in by fifty, one hundred and two hundred present if he so desired; the other side didn't hold an eye hole, all's would stare back was the pale white that should only be seen on a corpse; along the jaw were a scattering of small holes, air filters hidden inside the mask turning his breaths from the simple intake of oxygen to deep and metallic inhale and exhale of everything in the air, only the mask protecting his lungs. The pony's mane was dark grey, spanning from a shade of white that could only come from old age, kept in order by a black and white bandana wrapped around it, letting its length flow in the wind. The tail of the pony was the same grey as his mane, the old white going further down the hair, while a silver streak went along the length of it. The unicorn's horn pushed through his helmet; to any who could see it, they would find out where the pony had gotten the 'dead-stallion' white from, the alicorn of the horn following suit of his invisible fur; the horn was sharpened to a deadly point, though instead of the swirling pattern going around it, a single crack ran around it instead.

On the pony's back sat his arsenal; a bow-staff was sheathed in a leather holster, a pair of loops holding it in place; the weapon itself was barely three foot long, but a staff of iron was retractable on either side of the handle and from one side of the staff a retractable blade lay, capable of turning the extendable bow-staff into a spear. The second weapon available to the stallion was a straight-blade katana sword; the sheath being plain, brown leather that hung from his side. A set of side-arms sat alongside the weapons wielded by the stallion; three rope darts, poisoned darts, smoke pellets, flash bombs, shuriken, collapsible razor shuriken (built and carried to kill around corners), bolas and caltrops. It was almost impossible how he managed to keep his weapons under wraps, only his sword and staff visible to naked eye, while the rest of his weapons only seemed to perceptible when he pulled it out of its pouch, pretty much all of them being built into the armour.

"It's been a while" he said plainly; his voice wasn't muffled by the mask, simply given a metallic tint that went so deep into his voice that it made it impossible to try and figure out what he actually sounded like. Celestia stood up from her bed but didn't approach; she couldn't help but notice that even though her sun was still shining through the windows it looked undeniably darker in her bedroom.

"It has" she responded. She didn't bother with any 'how did you get past the guards' questions or 'why are you here?' Celestia knew that only she and the pony before her knew that said pony was in her room. She also knew that the reason he was here was because he knew there was a high risk and high pay contract available. There was no use asking how he knew what he knew because he'd never answer her properly.

"I take it you know why I'm here" Cadaver said softly, still running his armoured hoof over Philomena's head before rubbing briefly under her chin.

"Yes Cadaver, I do. Blood Moon had resurfaced" she told him simply. This stallion was never one for beating around the bush. The armoured pony hummed in thought and Celestia knew he was smiling, albeit very slightly.

"Interesting…the killer who cannot be seen, caught or killed versus the assassin of assassins. A fight for the ages."

"A fight for the ages indeed" Celestia agreed. "Tell me… if you were willing to take this contract…"

"A favour. Anything I want, anytime I want. Be it pardon, bits or the hoof of a mare…or their skull." Celestia thought about it.

'A favour, any favour in exchange for Blood Moon's life. No doubt he has some idea as to how to kill him. I can only wonder what he has in mind.'

"I accept your terms, under one condition." Cadaver cocked his head to the side. "Your favour cannot be damaging to my sister, my nice or my student." Cadaver took a single deep breath through his muzzle.

"Your sister and nice I can understand, but why your student? I can only presume your relationship goes deeper than teacher and pupil, but to the same extent as your own sister and adoptive nice… do I detect a hint of… oh my" he said with a grin Celestia could practically smell. "Does dear, sweet Celestia desire a daughter?" Celestia narrowed her eyes at the assassin of assassins, a stallion who had earned the title well.

"I…I do think more of Twilight than a mere student, this is true, but my wishes for you to leave her be are far from a desire for an adoptive daughter-"

"Don't lie to an assassin Celestia. It's unadvisable to lie to your parents, wrong to your foals, illegal to a judge but it's simple fact that you just. Don't. Lie. To. Assassins." Celestia bit her lip lightly.

"Alright, fine, you got me" she growled, admitting this kind of information to the last pony in Equestria she ever wanted to. "I love Twilight like she's my own, but she'd got parents already and I'm not going to just declare she's my own while they're still there for her." Cadaver relaxed his stance very slightly, leaning his weight on his hind-hooves.

"That can be easily changed" he told her. Celestia's glare turned to a death-stare.

"If you go anywhere near them…" she seethed, making the stallion raise a hoof to stop her.

"Of course, I jest. But we're getting off topic; Blood Moon is to die. Am I to start this contract with nothing or do you have information?" Celestia nodded.

"I know that he's in Ponyville" she said. She didn't tell him she knew he was Fluttershy's cottage, Celestia wanted to keep that information for herself, wanted an ace up her sleeve in case she had to make a move before he got to her old foalsitter. Cadaver nodded once as he committed the information to memory.

"Thank you Celestia, I'll be back within the week." The princess of the day returned his nod and was about to dismiss him when a voice from behind spoke up.

"Celestia" a voice said from the doorway. Said princess turned her head to the door before she looked back at where Cadaver should have been stood, only to find he wasn't. She scowled slightly at his sudden disappearance but turned back to the door anyway.

"Yes" she asked. In response, Skulduggery stepped in.

"You wanted to see me princess" the detective said. She nodded, and bid him enter.

"Yes, we were to review what you'd discovered in your investigation" she said. Skulduggery grinned slightly as he stepped in.

"Yes, and we have a lot to go over" he said. Celestia cocked her head to the side, a pleased smile finding its way to her maw.

'I know exactly where he is, I have one of Equestria's top assassins on his tail and now Skulduggery has managed to squeeze information from Fancy Pants. This just keeps on getting better and better.'

"Oh, and what, pray tell, do we have to go over" she asked as she sat before the fireplace, bidding the detective do the same.

"For starters, you were right; Fancy Pants is in cahoots with Blood Moon, he admitted having fought him before our suspect called it off. Now they're working together to deal with the Goldhooves." Celestia's smile left her face; he was working with Fancy Pants to bring down Equestria's most powerful and corrupt families?

"Anything else?" Skulduggery nodded, but it wasn't lost on Celestia that he something troubling seemed to be lingering on his mind.

"Yes…the reason for his being there; it seems he was doing a contract or favour or whatever for the mayor of Ponyville. According to Fancy, the Goldhooves have been making their move to take over the place but when they went after dirt on Mayor Mare Blood Moon got wrapped up in it, that must be how he got involved." Celestia nodded again, weaker and less enthusiastic this time; all of this, the hit, the battle and everything else, was the result of a good deed. She couldn't believe it; she had him in her grasp and she felt less inclined than ever to go after him; he'd protected Ponyville from the Goldhooves, ergo he'd protected Twilight and her friends from them. She buried her face in her hooves; she wanted to cry, she honestly did, and probably would have had Skulduggery not been there. She suddenly had to stifle a sniffle and felt the moisture on her hooves.

'Damnit.'

Now that the floodgates of frustration had opened for Celestia, there was no sealing them again and she knew that Skulduggery's well trained eye would pick up on the tears running down her face and he was bound to have heard that sniffle just now.

"Celestia" he said cautiously "you alright" he asked. The detective didn't know what to do; here he was, sat in Celestia's personal bedroom, a room few living had seen, and the immortal princess of Equestria was crying before him. What could he do? Put a hoof on her shoulder, offer a shoulder for her to cry on? He doubted it, for as long as he'd know the mare she'd been very independent, asides her sister, and fiercely personal when it came to her personal life. That said, he liked to consider himself a gentlecolt, and although it could be seen as a bit 'stallion supremacy', it was only right to offer a hoof to a mare in need. With a nervous gulp, he stood up and crossed the small distance between them. "Celestia" he repeated, using a voice he normally reserved for scared fillies and small animals. "Are you okay?" The princess of the day looked up at him, her eyes damp and a little bloodshot.

"Would you be" she asked him, her voice calm but still distressed. "Do you have any idea how long I've been searching for this stallion? How much of Equestria I've personally combed, how much of my country's wealth I've wasted searching for him? How much I've sacrificed, how many times I've come within a hair's breadth of capturing him only for him to slip away again? Just how much I hate him but…how much I miss him as well?" She suddenly broke down further, falling forward and leaning her head on his shoulder as she sobbed quietly a few times. "He just-just frustrates me so much, the way I can see that damned smirk an inch away from my face whenever I close my eyes, the way I can hear him laugh in my face whenever I look through one of his crime scenes. The…the fact that I know I'll never see him again under pleasant circumstances, that…" she sobbed a few more times, and Skulduggery steeled himself for the breaking of the dam "that I'll never have my foalsitter baaaccckkk" she wailed, falling into deeper sobs as she got to the end of her sentence, her tears pouring from her eyes in earnest as her fore-legs wrapped around the wide-eyed detective's neck in her grief, her body shuddering with each wail as she tried to calm herself, and failing miserably. Skulduggery managed to pull himself from his stupor and wrapped his fore-legs around Celestia's neck, using his limited knowledge of consoling ponies to try and settle the most powerful pony of all.

"C-Celestia, I'm…" his lack of words said it all, he hadn't an idea what to say, what to do or, buck, what not to say or do. He wasn't a foalsitter or a shrink for Luna's sake! "I don't know what to say, I knew something was bothering you about this but…not to this extent" he said slowly. Celestia gulped back her tears and leaned back slightly.

"You-you don't need to say anything" she told him, getting up off of him before slumping back in her chair "just…leave me be" she told him. Skulduggery lingered for a second, casting his eyes over her.

"You're sure Celestia?" The princess of the day looked up at him.

'No, I'm not, please stay with me Skulduggery, don't make me have to face the prospect of my foalsitter again, don't leave me alone.'

"Yes, I'm fine. Just…just go." Skulduggery lingered a moment longer, making Celestia almost reconsider her orders, but not a moment of remaining later, he was gone. Celestia sighed deeply at the empty room, her horn sparking to life as a small flame ignited at the tip and flew onto the logs, setting them alight. She looked around her room; luxury in its purest form.

'Lonely most are those who have everything they could ever desire. That can't be true, if it were Blood Moon would be here, be it just his head or the foalsitter I once knew. Then again, if my foalsitter were here, I wouldn't be lonely…somepony should really rework that phrase.'

Celestia tried to settle, but couldn't, instead the chair suddenly felt overly lumpy and uncomfortable. As she shifted she glanced something sat on the table besides her; a book, bound in brown leather with gold accents around the corners, in the middle, in big gold letters read 'memories'. The princess of the day frowned; she knew this book but…she wasn't sure how. She picked it up with her magic and opened the first page; inside there was blank page with nothing but black ink scrawled across the first page, a few words having been scribbled down in sharp hoof-writing that she'd recognise anywhere.

Celestia, treasure your memories, for one day they'll be all you've got.

Celestia swallowed once, feeling her tears tempt back.
'Oh, you can NOT be serious' was her only thought as she opened the second page to reveal a pair of pictures, one on each side of the book.

The first was her, Luna and Blood Moon, a filly Luna on Blood Moon's back and her in her teen years (technically, she was around one and a half thousand years old at the time) being held in Blood Moon's fore-hoof. Suddenly there was a new addition to the page, a small mark that made the parchment a little darker. She looked at it a little closer and figured out what it was.

'Damnit Celestia, get a hold of yourself' she mentally scolded herself as she wiped the water escaping her eyes. The second picture was of her, Luna, their parents and Blood Moon, who was stood off to the side of the picture, his hood covering most of his face. Nocturnal and Illumination were stood side by side, both dressed in clothing a king or queen would be expected to wear, while Celestia and Luna wore the sort of thing a princess would wear, their garb following suit of their fur and mane colours. Celestia turned the page.

The first picture to greet her was one of her and Blood Moon, dueling with wooden swords in the training ring. Blood Moon was armour less, as was she, but the main difference between the two was their expressions; the stallion wore a grin on his face as he blocked Celestia's clumsy swipe, while Celestia had the look of ultimate concentration on her face. This had been one of the days Blood Moon had trained her to use a sword, she remembered when her father had gotten back; he'd been enraged with Blood Moon for not having Celestia wear her training armour. Blood Moon had simply stood and took it all, all his ranting and raving. She was fairly sure he'd fallen asleep once or twice. At the end of it all Blood Moon had looked up at his employer with a look of total nonchalance and just said 'yeah, sure boss' and trotted away. Nocturnal hadn't liked that one bit.

The next picture was a stark contrast to the other one, technically anyway, it was him and Luna in the training ring, but rather than the two fighting, Luna had lunged at him and wrapped her hooves around his neck, the two of them laughing all the way down. Two more of those marks found their way to the page as Celestia sniffled slightly.

The rest of the day went quickly for the princess of the day; she never re-emerged from her room, or the photo album, and the hours passed by her in the blink of an eye as memories filled her mind. None of them were bad, the only thing that Celestia saw as bad, was that she suddenly really, truly and absolutely, wanted her foalsitter back.

She wanted the stallion who had stepped into her life and become her father back.