"Welp, we're here again" Blood Moon observed as he looked around. He was indeed, here again; a vast, endless nothingness of darkness and shadows. The fact that this was his mind said a lot about the assassin; there was nothing and nopony here, loneliness incarnate. He took to trotting forwards, the sounds of his hoofsteps echoing throughout the void like thunder, exploding in his ears from every angle at once; he kept trotting for what seemed to be an eternity, though he seemed to cover no ground, and came across nothing. This, it seemed, would be one of his ventures into the depths of his mind that would be more lonesome than others; normally he would converse with a voice or something along the lines of that, now however…

Something came at the assassin from the distance, a shape of some sort; as the assassin stayed at the same pace, the shape increased its speed, rapidly getting closer and closer to the assassin from a seemingly endless distance until they finally met; it was a broken piece of time, the floor fractured and split, floorboards fractured and split, crumbling off but hanging in the air, as though an untrained hoof had tried to surgically remove this scene from history; it was Blood Moon, stood before Nocturnal in a rotten wood room, the furniture covered in mould, the walls sagging and close to collapsing. It was the assassin's first meeting with the king of darkness, when he'd first approached the immortal assassin in a bid to recruit him to the Illuminating Night uprising. The dark stallion remembered the conversation as though he'd had it yesterday.

"Assassin" the dark, tall stallion started. Blood Moon froze as he rummaged through the bag he'd kept beneath the bed containing all of his assassin equipment; a simple arsenal that consisted of a simple iron short sword, rusty and a little chipped in places. Ten years of practically no work would do that to your weapons. Alongside that was simple, thick black leather armour that covered his body, as well as his trade-mark black hood and a few throwing knives.

"Yes" he asked as he pushed the satchel further under the rotting cradle. Nocturnal didn't alter his stance one bit, in fact he seemed to be barely moving at all; not breathing, not moving his eyes, not even blinking.

"I trust you know who I am" he stated. Blood Moon cocked his head and observed the mysterious stallion closer; his mane and tail appeared to be liquid darkness, cascading over his neck and flank, it was dark purple, almost as dark as the night sky, and was thick and wavy; his fur was truly midnight blue, twinkling stars all over his wings, horn and fur, spanning from his cutie-mark of a full moon, the north star and a scattering of other random sparks of light covering him; on his chest was deep grey armour, a jewel in the centre matching the purple of his mane. The armour was dented and scared, but not heavily so. Blood Moon simply shrugged.

"Your face looks familiar, have I threatened you before?" Nocturnal let a ghost of a smile find his face, though it was gone before the assassin could decide whether it was a trick of the light or not.

"My name is Nocturnal" 'Nocturnal' told the assassin "lord Nocturnal" he added. "Blood Moon, isn't it?" The assassin didn't react to this stallion's knowledge; not a breath nor a blink.

"It is" he answered plainly before he turned back to his satchel. "Five hundred gold a head, price goes up if they're expecting company and special requests are to be arranged and negotiated" he recited. Behind him, Nocturnal chuckled.

"You think I need you to kill somepony, colt" he asked, slight insult in his voice. To that, Blood Moon did react; he stopped moving, tensed, his hoof going for his weapon and a snarl finding his lips.

"How old are you" he demanded. Nocturnal cocked his head.

"Pardon-"

"How. Old." Nocturnal raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Twelve hundred and nineteen" he answered with a slightly smug tint to his voice. Blood Moon answered the smugness with more anger, gritting his teeth and growling slightly as he moved his hoof away from the metal.

"There aren't many who can claim to be older than me" he told the alicorn before he turned and faced him, looking him dead in the eye "and be honest about it." He gazed into the tall pony's eye; ambition, arrogance, but a desire for order and serenity. A sense of duty and purpose, but wariness and caution. A soldier of a king, this Alicorn.

"What are you doing" Nocturnal requested, more demanded. Blood Moon narrowed his eyes at the stallion, before he smirked back.

"Wouldn't you like to know" he retorted. Blood Moon went for the window and peered out of it; the streets made of bubble-gum cobblestone were being traversed by many a miserable looking pony, earth, Pegasi and Unicorn alike. Gone were the days when the unicorns sat in their castles, the Pegasi in their barracks and training grounds while the earth ponies worked the fields. The union of the three tribes that faithful day when Commander Hurricane, Chancellor Puddinghead and Princess Platinum had put aside their differences and come together to survive had brought peace and equality to their new homeland. But the arrival of Discord had brought only anarchy to the land of Equestria; he'd kept the name, as to spit in their faces and give them one last ray of sunshine in a deadly and never-ending storm. "Why are you here" he demanded. Behind the assassin, Nocturnal glared at him; he detested being spoken down to, or finding a whelp like this assassin that tried to treat him like an equal.

"Watch your tongue colt, and remember who you're talking to" he growled. Blood Moon rounded on the pony of night.

"And just who am I talking to? A failed stallion, that's who! A king without a kingdom, without a castle nor a crown!" Blood Moon squared up to Nocturnal, putting his face into the taller stallion's. "I know about you colt, I know all about you and your beloved" his glare went deeper. "You. Are. Nothing. A hopeless king with dreams never to be realised, a mare at your side you want nothing more than to crown with you" he gestured outside "a stallion who wants nothing more than to sew order into a field of chaos. Noble goals, with immoral ends in mind" he spat. "Arrogance and ambition; both are too deeply rooted within you to give you even a glimmer of hope." Blood Moon snarled, letting his eyes narrow further for a second before he backed off again. "Our business is concluded. Until you can find an ounce of dignity to show; until you can prove to me that you're-" Nocturnal's hoof flashed, aimed at Blood Moon's jaw, but a thousand years of training would naturally leave you with reactions fast enough to dodge lightening; the assassin caught the strike against his fore-leg, a dull 'thud' sounding with the connection between the two. Nocturnal glared and his other hoof moved; his right pulled back as his left jabbed forwards, Blood Moon catching it in the same hoof he'd used to block the first. The Alicorn pushed against the block, Blood Moon pushed back and the two didn't change in their position. "Like I said" Blood Moon started "a failed stallion. You see yourself as above me, don't you? Tell me; why is your head shoved so far up your ass?" Nocturnal snarled once more.

"Crude. Childish. You don't deserve the title 'assassin', colt, and never will you. What's more, a king does not explain himself to the likes of you" Nocturnal told the assassin. Blood Moon smirked at him.

"Then it's a good job you're not a king then, isn't it" he said. Nocturnal flinched as though struck.

"Well I'm still a damn sight better than what you are; you are nothing but an assassin, with no place in this world, with no statute, no home, no friends and no family. I have all of these things and more; I have a loving family, a stable home, the likes of you are to address me by lord Nocturnal! Do you have any idea what I could have done to-"

"Husband. Enough" a kinder, much more gentle voice said. Nocturnal looked to where the voice had come from, finding a hoof on his shoulder, midnight blue, leading to bronze, to copper to white.

The hoof of Illumination. A perfect example of beauty if there had ever been one; a stunning face and body, of impossibly pretty colours and proportions. Blood Moon would have paid more attention to her curves, only he was in the company of her husband and it was sheer principle that he respected their vows. Her mane and tail were the same colour combination as here furs; the midnight blue hairs at the tips of her mane and tail had sparks of white similar to that of Nocturnal's, which lead to the light copper that faded to pure white that made you think of something that was white with heat rather than something like pure virgin snow. Around her neck was a golden necklace with a ruby in the centre. On her forehead was her horn, the colour following her fur, only lacking the colours of night. Her wings looked more like flames, flickering and curling in a strong breeze, no individual feathers palpable to the eye, instead they looked like one big one. On her flank was a tightly twisting symbol of the sun, blue at the outer edges, once again, following her colour patterns by turning to white in the centre. Her eyes were pale red, calm and kind but were deeper, much more thoughtful than most.

"Illumination as well" the assassin observes. The mare of light smiles at him, the room brightening up with her expression.

"Blood Moon" she greets with a slight bow. Blood Moon, deciding he liked this mare, returned her manners with a shallow bow of his own. "Forgive my husband's…lack of proper etiquette. He is simply nervous." Nocturnal tried to glare at his wife, but just couldn't bring himself to do so. Instead it just came out as a lovelorn gaze. The assassin smirked.

'Stuck in the trap of love, it seems. Not so tough around Illumination are we? A weakness if I ever saw one.'

"Illumination, you need not apologise for me" he said gently. He then turned to Blood Moon.
"Especially to the likes of him" he hissed at the assassin. Illumination didn't change her expression or stance at all, but what did change was the air around her and the atmosphere in the room; it darkened, got much heavier, and, put simply, got much more intimidating around the Queen of light.

"Nocturnal, need I remind you that the stallion before us is the only pony in Equestria, the only being that we know of in the world, that can help us." That caught Blood Moon's interest; he trotted over to a close-to-collapsing table that was his business desk, which doubled as his dinner table, and sat at it, resting his head on his hooves. He used one of his hooves to offer the spare chair to either Alicorn; Illumination sat across from him while Nocturnal stood behind her.

"So…why exactly are you here" he asked. Nocturnal answered, his voice harder and more business-like.

"We are here with a proposition" he told Blood Moon. The assassin cocked his head. A lord and lady at his door with an offer? That had peaked his interest, if his greed.

"What kind of proposition?"

"As you very likely know, or at least I'd hope you do, there is a threat of war lingering in the air." A grin found Blood Moon's face.

"So, the rumours are true then? The Illuminating Night uprising really does exist" he observed "and sat before me are its architects" he paused, his eyes jumping between the two "I wonder how Discord would reward me if I brought him your heads" he pondered aloud. Nocturnal stood straighter, his eyes narrowed in hatred as his horn began to glow. Illumination turned her head back to him slightly.

"Nocturnal, please" she implored. The Alicorn of darkness didn't stop building up the magic in his horn.

"Darling, he's just threatened to turn us in for our bounty. Do you really trust him not to follow through with that kind of threat? Greed can be a very powerful motivator" he told his wife.

"I understand your concern, but if you'd take a moment to take stock of our situation you'd notice he's been sat there watching us throughout our whole conversation, waiting for a chance to speak" she told him. Nocturnal turned his gaze to Blood Moon, who was, indeed, watching the two of them with a bemused interest. He narrowed his eyes at the assassin.

"Speak" he ordered.

"But the simple truth is that I'm stubborn and spiteful and although I may have told myself that I won't be killing Discord anytime soon, I also hold no loyalty towards him, nor do I owe him anything. So I won't be turning you in" he revealed, the slightly smug grin on his face aimed at Nocturnal. Nocturnal narrowed his eyes slightly further, but killed the glow in his horn, while Illumination's smile went kinder.

"Thank you. I appreciate how somepony living like this would be tempted to turn us in" she told him. Blood Moon shrugged.

"Either way, my question is yet to be answered. Why have you come to my place of business and home?" Nocturnal grunted.

"Because of what you just said; you call this hole your home" he asked as he looked around the decrepit apartment. "Even I can respect your ability and skills as an assassin, yet you live in a dump like this? You called me a failed king, and you're right, but me and my wife live in a castle in the Everfree. Not the best location, I admit, but the general comforts and luxuries owned by this 'failed king' are well worth it" he answered. Blood Moon raised an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to win me over by boasting at me?" Illumination shook her head.

"Please, hear us out. We offer you a roof over your head, decent food and drink" she glanced at the satchel beneath the bed "weapons and armour not made of rust and broken leather, if you desire. Station in this world" she listed. Blood Moon leaned back in his seat as he considered this half of the proposition.

"That's a lot of honey" he said with an interested grin. Before long, however, his smile dropped and his eyes narrowed. "Where's the bee" he asked with suspicion in his tone. Both Illumination and Nocturnal smiled slightly, apparently glad that he hadn't been swayed purely by offers of a better life, that he'd thought about this, that he was paranoid.

"Very good" Nocturnal muttered.

"Yes, our half of the bargain. Tell me Blood Moon; are you familiar with protection details?" The dark stallion crossed his fore-legs.

"I've been trained to protect ponies, places and objects under a number of circumstances" he told them with a shrug. Illumination, to his surprise, shook her head.

"I…doubt you've been taught how to do what we'll be asking, or at least half of our offered job" she told him. Blood Moon made a thinking face.

"Alright, let's quit beating around the bush; what's the job?" It was at that point Illumination and Nocturnal glanced at each other, caution and wariness in their expressions; a silent conversation going on between them in a language only husband and wife could have a hope of understanding. With a sigh, they seemed to mutually agree on something, and Blood Moon was beginning to get very intrigued. Could it be that they hadn't been beating around the bush earlier, could they have been stalling instead, seemingly unwilling to broach this subject?

"The reason we're here, is because you have the potential to become instrumental to our plan" Nocturnal told him.

"Really" Blood Moon murmured. Nocturnal nodded and looked to his wife.

"Show him" he said. Illumination's horn started to glow, the copper/bronze sparking up in a flowing pattern of the three colours, and an image materialized from the thin air. Upon it, the coloured flash-sketch representation of a filly, pink mane and tail with white fur, sat on a plush seat, smiling broadly. The stone cold, rock hard assassin did have to admit, she was apocalyptically adorable. "Our child" the Alicorn of darkness said, stating the obvious but unavoidable.

"Okay" Blood Moon said at oblivious length.

"Our plan is as follows" Illumination started before she faltered and changed the subject "but you must understand; we are taking a very large, and potentially fatal, risk by telling you this." Blood Moon nodded his understanding. "We are going to wage war against Discord and his forces; the ponies of Equestria will have somepony to back and gather behind, us, but we can't risk them suspecting us of tyranny." The assassin frowned.

"Tyranny" he repeated "how so?" Nocturnal answered.

"It's a viable threat that some of the ponies of Equestria will see our rebellion as an attempt for me and my wife to take power purely for ourselves. I can assure you Blood Moon, our intentions are purely, as well as strictly, honourable, but not everypony will see it like we do. It is for that reason, we are not fighting Discord to take the throne for ourselves; we plan to take it for our child, Celestia." Blood Moon could suddenly see where this was going. Illumination picked up.

"As you can probably guess, having a foal on the battlefield isn't exactly good parenting. That is why we are both; in the final stages of completing a palace in Canterlot to house her, and are looking for a bodyguard to protect her." Blood Moon couldn't suppress the un-amused grin.

"You mean foalsitter, not bodyguard" he corrected. Illumination shrugged.

"If you want to call it that" she conceded. Blood Moon leaned forwards and looked at the two incredulously.

"So let me get this straight" he said with doubt in his tone "you're going to wage a war on the aspect of disharmony in an effort to push him off his throne, but for your plan to work, in your eyes that is, you need an heir to take said throne when this war is done with, your daughter Celestia. But, through your strategizing you've developed a weakness, in that your new-born can't look after herself, so you're hiring myself to protect her and change her diaper" he explained to himself. Illumination nodded her head.

"Yes, that is, in a nutshell, our plan" she confirmed. Blood Moon considered his options carefully; put simply, he was living in a dump and was getting tired of being treated like a piece of dirt whenever he tried to find work so he didn't really have any options, which made things pretty simple. His eyes went back to the alicorns.

"I trust Hurricane, Puddinghead and Platinum are behind you" he said. Nocturnal nodded.

"Yes, they support our daughter's claim to the throne, and the three tribes will fight for us" he answered. Blood Moon stroked his chin in thought before he shrugged and hopped out of his seat, trotting towards his bed and satchel, slinging the bag over his back and turning back to them.

"Alright, I'm in."

As the parts of the day Blood Moon had deemed important and committed to memory drew to a close, the assassin took a single breath. That day had been the fateful day that had changed his life. More than once he'd wondered what might have happened if he'd made another decision that day; if he'd turned them down, sold them out to Discord or killed them outright for discovering his hideout.

"Do you ever regret making that decision?" Blood Moon looked to his left and found the outline of a pony; just the grey line that revealed his body, there was no somatotype, no details to make out a race not even a mane or tail. Just the outline of a generic pony. Blood Moon looked at the quickly decaying scene of his past, watching it crumble into nothingness.

"Never" he answered. The simple attempt at a physical representation of the voice in Blood Moon's head did nothing to acknowledge the answer, instead it just followed the assassin with his head as he trotted past.

"Are you quite sure that's the truth, Blood Moon." Said dark stallion didn't look at the detail-less pony as he came up besides him, matching his pace.

"Yes. You know I don't regret Black Star" Blood Moon retorted.

"Be that as it may, you've been living in the shadows for ten thousand years now, and the only reason you won't kill Celestia, nor Luna, is because of the four thousand years you knew them?" To that, Blood Moon did react; he stopped trotting and rounded on the outline.

"No, not four thousand years of knowing them; four thousand years of raising them, protecting them, teaching them. Of me being their father, and them my children. I can't just erase that from my memory." The outline cocked its head, and Blood Moon could tell it was smirking at him.

"You can't wipe out the last ten thousand years of Celestia hunting you down, either." Blood Moon narrowed his eyes, snarled a lip and raised his hoof to strike his avatar of madness, but with a short growl he lowered his limb and turned away again.

"Ten thousand years is a long time. Those years weren't just spent with me trying to evade Celestia. I had a wife, foals. A family." Blood Moon's voice was suddenly depressed. "Ten thousand years can't be spent just performing contracts. I spent some of the best years of my life as a fugitive" he paused for a second, taking a breath and hanging his head "as well as all of the worst" he finished with a sigh before he started trotting again. The voice didn't say anything, instead it just watched as he went.
"You wouldn't give up your flesh and blood, nor your beloved. But you'd so readily leave Celestia and L- AHG!" The voice didn't get any further before Blood Moon had gripped him by the throat and lifted him up off of his hooves, a deadly growl on his face.

"I could argue this point, only someTHING of your station isn't worth my time" he growled. The voice spluttered and gasped for air it didn't need.

"No. You-you won't argue the p-point, because you know I'm right." Blood Moon's snarl became more viscous as he tightened his grip and crushed the outline's windpipe, neck muscles and finally the spine. Or he would have, were his victim a real pony. As it were, however, the outline simply faded into mist and flittered away, slipping through Blood Moon's hoof. "You know I'm right."

"And you know I'm gonna shove your head up your ass the next time I find you" the dark stallion barked. The voice's laugh echoed for a while as it faded into the distance. "Dick" the assassin muttered. Blood Moon sighed heartily and restarted his trotting, knowing from experience that when he could feel his body in this void there was nothing better to do. Blood Moon's trotting took him far, yet as before, no distance seemed to be covered. After a while, however, he suddenly heard the sounds of hooves on cobblestone, that annoying 'click-clack' that repeated itself so insistently. Blood Moon hated cobblestone, he sometimes felt that whoever had invented the stuff either had some kind of grudge with him, or was a diabolical mastermind, living inside an active volcano somewhere with the intent of destroying Equestria by annoying one of its most powerful inhabitants to such a degree he'd snap and go on a murder bender. Blood Moon paused in his movements suddenly.

'I have gotta lay off the cider.'

The age old assassin shook his head, both at his rather ridiculous thoughts and in an effort to chase said thoughts away. As he kept trotting, he began to notice something about the cobblestone, namely; the fact that there was cobblestone. He stopped and looked around, finding himself in a courtyard of some sort. He'd gone and stumbled into another memory.

Blood Moon, Nocturnal and Illumination trotted through the near-complete courtyard of the nearly-nearly-completed Canterlot palace. The assassin of the trio was dressed in a much more…sanitary garb than when he'd been living in the depths of Manehatten; now he was dressed in a black fur cloak, fine brown leathers going over his chest, a black hood draped across the back of his neck and a sword that could actually cut through hot butter hung from his waist, rather than one made of rust that had trouble cutting through hot air.

"Impressive" he muttered as he looked around the close to completed palace. Nocturnal nodded.

"Indeed. Some of the finest architects, engineers, stylists and designers came together to create this masterpiece of luxury, style and security, at full strength, Discord himself wouldn't stand a chance of breaching these walls" he said proudly. The assassin nodded and slowed his steps with Nocturnal and Illumination until they'd stopped.

"I don't doubt it" he answered "will the two of you be staying here too?" Nocturnal shook his head.

"No, we're going to stay in our palace in the Everfree forest. To Discord, this will be little more than a stronghold, because of that, we're hoping he'll focus his efforts on attacking us rather than you and Celestia." The assassin nodded his understanding.

"Clever. And if he does attack this palace?" Illumination turned to him.

"That's why you're here" she answered.

"And if I fail?" Illumination narrowed her eyes, though unlike Nocturnal, it actually made the assassin pause for thought.

"You won't though, will you" she told him. Blood Moon narrowed his own eyes.

"I won't make any promises" he told her "I can't bring her back from the land of the dead, and I've never even thought I'd find myself in this kind of situation. I'm not a foalsitter, not a bodyguard, I'm an assassin. I kill" he finished, his point made. Illumination put her face in his.

"I suppose I should tell you Blood Moon; should you fail, should my daughter die. I. Will. Destroy you" she hissed, a side Blood Moon had been waiting to come out revealing itself. The assassin grinned.

"I'd like to see you try" he retorted. Illumination straightened up again, the air about her getting lighter once again. The dark stallion had to wonder if she was doing that with magic or not.

"To be honest Blood Moon, I don't think you'll fail; with such a fearless nature, I doubt you'd let anypony get close to her anyway" she told him. Nocturnal cleared his throat, both pony's attention going to him.

"Now that that's out of the way, I hope we can get back to business" he said as he resumed trotting, heading for the main door to the palace. The assassin nodded and followed in his wake, Illumination coming up behind before she got to Nocturnal's side.

"So, where is she? Celestia I mean" Blood Moon asked.

"She should be being taken around the palace, given a tour of her new home" Nocturnal answered.

"Does she know anything about me" the assassin asked. Illumination shook her head.

"No, all's she's been told is that we're looking for a new playmate for her." The assassin almost laughed.

"Playmate, huh? So, how old is she?" The mare of light smiled slightly.

"Seems you'll be able to ask her yourself, here she comes" she told them, nodding in the direction of the filly galloping towards them.

"Mama, daddy" the tiny white filly shouted excitedly as she rushed towards them, her little wings fluttering and her legs carrying her as fast as they could. She leapt into the air and should have crashed into Illumination, instead however, the queen of light caught her out of the air easily and held her against her chest lovingly. It was at this point the assassin noticed she didn't have a cutie mark yet.

"Hello Tia" Illumination giggled. They held each other for a few seconds before the mare gave her one final, loving squeeze and set her down, kissing her cheek lightly as she did. The image of a truly loving mother and daughter warmed Blood Moon's heart. The feeling made him want to snap a few necks to reclaim the masculinity that had escaped him, maybe do a few push ups. The pink mane and tailed filly then turned to her father.

"Hi dad-I mean, uh, h-how art thou father" she said hesitantly, suggesting she was still in the process of learning the 'upper class' tongue. Nocturnal smiled proudly.

"Evening Celestia, how are the lessons coming along?"

"Oh, uh, ye lessons art going fair, father" the tiny pony answered. She then noticed the other presence in the courtyard and turned to Blood Moon; upon sight of him her eyes widened and she dashed behind her mother's fore-legs, hiding from the assassin.

"M-momma, who's that" she asked shakily. Blood Moon, apparently un-amused, stood still as he kept his hard gaze on the filly. Illumination leaned down to her daughter looking behind her own legs.

"Well, why don't you come out and meet him?" Celestia whimpered slightly, retreated further behind her Illumination's legs and squeaked out a small 'mm-mm'. Illumination giggled slightly before she looked up at Blood Moon; she motioned him over to her, the assassin obliging and approaching cautiously. He rounded the mare until he could see beneath her and lowered his head to the filly's level and found her cowering a little.

"Hello" he said dumbly. The filly backed away from him in response. The assassin frowned and searched his memory for any training pertaining to this kind of situation; he didn't have a single thing, the closest thing he had was trying to relax a filly or colt that may have caught him in the act, and how to convince them to stay quiet. Not exactly useful in this situation. "What's your name" he asked quietly, just as scared of this situation as the filly was.

"M-m-my n-name is C-Celestia" she answered timidly. "W-who're you" she asked. The dark stallion gave a small half-smile to try and reassure her, although he doubted it did much good.

"My name is Blood Moon, little one" he replied, slowly getting more comfortable with this situation. "Tell me Celestia; how old are you?" She swallowed slightly but came out from behind her mother's legs, revealing her small body, pink mane and tail and her kind eyes.

"Uh, I-I'm six" she answered. Blood Moon cocked his and tried to smile kindly; he was fairly sure it hadn't come out as kind as he would have liked, but it likely go the point across.

"Six? And such an elegant young lady already? I'm impressed" he told her. The filly blushed lightly at the compliment and smiled in return, stepping further out from behind her mother's legs, finding the courage to approach the stallion.

'Relaxed and casual. Just how Silk Tongue taught me.'

"Thank you. How old are you" she asked.

"Celestia" Nocturnal scolded. Blood Moon ignored him.

"Oh, I'm pretty old. I'll bet you can't guess" he told her. Celestia grinned at the challenge.

"I'll bet I can" she retorted. Blood Moon chuckled and rested on his front.

"I'll give you three guesses" he told her. Illumination, meanwhile, had smiled happily and stepped away from the two, standing beside her husband and watching the two of them talk.

As Celestia was about to take her first guess, a stone grey furred and clay brown mane and tailed earth pony cantered out of the main door towards Celestia.

"Princess Celestia, there you are! Why did you wander off" he asked gently, though it was obvious he was annoyed with the filly. The small pony turned to the taller one.

"Because I saw mommy and daddy come home" she explained. The stallion frowned at her un-amusedly before he looked up at Nocturnal and Illumination and nodded his head at them.

"Yes, well, we must continue our tour" he told her. Celestia pouted at him.

"But I wanna guess how old Blood Moon is" she moaned. The stallion raised his eyebrow.

"Hey" the assassin greeted, waving a hoof. The architect looked the stallion disapprovingly up and down before he spoke.

"He's thirty, maybe twenty six, now come along." Blood Moon, meanwhile, had stood and shook his head.

"Wrong" he told the stallion.

"Thirty one th-"

"Hey, I'm guessing" Celestia exclaimed before Illumination broke it up.

"That's enough you three" Illumination said good humouredly, a small grin on her face "perhaps we can continue guessing while we finish our tour, hmm?" Blood Moon looked back and shrugged a shoulder.

"Sounds like a plan" he admitted as Celestia gained a grey glow and floated onto his back, her curious gaze turning to a grin when she figured out what was happening. The assassin, lord and lady, architect and filly all made for the door.

"So, you're not thirty" Celestia murmured. Blood Moon shook his head.

"No. Let me give you a clue; think more like you dad's age."

"You can't be THAT old" she told him. At that, Blood Moon did laugh, and he heard Illumination giggle at the comment while Nocturnal himself grumbled something.

"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, Celestia. May that be your first lesson of life" the assassin said. Celestia nodded and hummed a small 'mm-hm' but it was clear she was too engrossed in trying to figure out how old he was to have heard properly.

Blood Moon grinned as the memory flickered out like a flame in the wind, soon dying; she never had guessed his age. Blood Moon sighed deeply, the outer corners of his eyes going down in sadness as he reviewed his abundance of memories with Celestia and Luna. His many, many memories of the two of them. He frowned as his instincts kicked in for some reason and he looked around, wondering why he was suddenly paranoid; he couldn't tell anypony, including himself, why but he started trotting away from the spot that had his hackles raised, galloping towards another piece of darkness that seemed much safer than his current one. He kept going, completely confused as to why he was doing this until he felt a sharp pain in his side, stumbling and losing his hoofing, falling face-first to the ground.

"Ow" he grumbled as he felt his features press into the blackness that was the floor of his mind.

Then he heard the sob.

Celestia glared at the doorway her sister had just galloped out of before she'd slammed the door and started to cry her eyes out. Celestia shook her head at her silly sister before she cringed as the pain in her cheek came back and she couldn't hold down her hoof as it rose to caress her sore face; Luna didn't know her strength at the best of times but when she was scared, angry or excited it sometimes got like she could win a tug of war against a bunch of fully grown dragons singled-hoofed.

Celestia suddenly noticed that the moon was still lingering on the horizon, waiting for the final push to be sent over the horizon, while her sun was waiting to rise properly as it loitered just below the skyline, its yellow glow peeking over. Celestia trotted over to her balcony with dignity, despite still dripping with sweat, love juice and splatterings of cum, and closed her eyes as she concentrated her magic on the massively complex, advanced and not to mention magically demanding spell. Her horn glowed and the princess of the day straightened up elegantly, her back arching and her horn rising as she conducted her magics through the sun and moon simultaneously, the moon dropping gracelessly as she pulled the sun up without much thought put into her method. She wasn't in the mood today. When Celestia was finished with her first job of the day, more exhausted than usual given that she hadn't had to lower the moon in a good while, she turned back into her chambers.

The white Alicorn trotted to her mirror and peered at herself; she was more dishevelled than she'd ever been before in her life, her mane completely out of whack, to such an extent that the flowing effect had ceased and there was more than one split end; her muzzle was plastered in an almost clear fluid, the liquid clinging stubbornly to her almost always pristine white fur, while her nose seemed to have joined in its antics. What she'd done to get it there she couldn't even guess. Her lips and tongue were sore, as if they'd been pretty occupied last night, but it wouldn't take Skulduggery to figure out why; even her horn was covered in sex juices, her forehead and mane around the area much damper than the rest of her body.

'Starswirl's beard, it looks like Molestia came out last night' she thought as she tried to wipe away some of the juices and cum with her hoof, to no avail; there was just too much of it. Celestia shook her head at her reflection, completely aware that this was pretty much exactly the same way she'd woken up yesterday: covered in cum and juices, stank of sex, completely frazzled and, not to mention, in desperate need of a shower. Deciding to take the path of sense, Celestia trotted for her suite and pushed into th-

"What in Tartarus" she gaped, her brow creased and her lower jaw hung a good foot below her upper jaw. Her personal bathroom, for whatever reason, was now home to around six washing lines, all of which had no small amount of G-strings and thongs hanging from them, all of which were twisted, wet, tangled up or somehow evidence to Celestia and Luna's 'activities' last night. Some were coloured to complement Celestia, others to complement Luna's, a few of them seemingly random colours and more than a few were leather or lacy. Celestia noticed one in particular that was made of tight, black leather, a zipper going down the centre to allow a stallion, or in some cases a mare, 'access'. The princess of the day then noticed that the mountain of underwear wasn't the only somewhat personal items of question in here; where her toothbrush should have been a pair of dildos were sat, her and Luna's personal, not to mention favourite, sex toys, a rather blunt and blush invoking gift from Blood Moon after their first heats; the other thing was the album filling amount of photos of the two of them during their various sexual pursuits last night. She couldn't bring herself to count them, but if she had to guess, she'd have to say there were at least sixty of them. Celestia's horn glowed and a few of the pictures floated to eye level; the positions her and Luna were in were eyebrow raising to say the least, not to mention they'd make her millions if she were to sell them. Shaking her head and pulling down the washing lines, removing the undies from the line and flinging them into the hamper, rolling up the string and setting it aside before she took the pair of rubber stallionhoods and placed them in their oak wooden box and locking it tight, before hiding it somewhere nopony would ever think to look, A.K.A under her bed. Celestia then gathered up the pictures scattered along the floor, suddenly wondering what they were doing in her bathroom, and placed them in one of the draws in her vanity, still mentally debating whether to burn them or keep them in a new album. Memories, after all.

Celestia stepped into her shower, turning the tap and letting the water blast down on her. She turned the pressure and heat up higher than usual, making sure it got rid of any leftover sweat or sex on her. The sponge and soap were worked overtime, neither staying still for more than a second as she scrubbed herself down, getting to spots she wasn't in the mood to be exploring. Her mane and tail took much longer to unravel than yesterday, some spots having cum or juice on them and making it difficult to bring order to them. Her tail was worse by far though; Luna's and her own nectar had leaked from their marehoods, thoroughly staining and tangling her tail. She was fairly sure she'd have split ends for weeks. It must have been two hours before Celestia had stepped out of the shower again, having spent more time in the shower than she had in a while, more so than that one time she'd made the mistake of getting into a mud-slinging fight with a trained assassin even. She trotted for the sink, once again looking over her appearance; she looked better now, at least, and her face was once again one of a princess's, asides that red cheek.

She trotted out and went back to her vanity, brushing her mane and tail back to order, daintily applying concealer to her slowly bruising face. She leant back and re-scrutinized her features; the white make-up on her cheek was just bit too obvious for her liking. She bit her lip awkwardly; Celestia, despite any rumours, wasn't exactly a master of makeup or anything of the sort. She was an unnaturally beautiful mare, pretty even amongst other Alicorns, and had simply never had to use the stuff that often so she hadn't much experience in its use. Sure, it was something she was utterly smug about sometimes but at the times that called for it, such as today, it was something she really wished she knew more about. Maybe Twilight's friend Rarity could give her some pointers. What she did know, however, told her that she had to draw attention away from the spot on her face that was damaged. With an unsure look on her face, she opened a few draws and took an inventory; she had a few sticks of lipstick of varying colours, foundation, blusher, powder, eye-shadow and mascara, along with all necessary applying tools.

'All necessary applying tools? Damn Celestia, you really don't know anything about this stuff, do you?"

The princess of the day sighed, shrugging at her reflection before she concentrated on making herself look presentable; draw attention away from her wounded cheek? Make the rest of herself look pretty maybe? It wouldn't work against too many mares, depending on their tastes that is, but the stallions would be easily distracted. Celestia leaned forwards so she could see herself better in the light and got to work; first she applied faint blush over her cheeks, technically counterproductive but she would be covering her cheek further while at the same time she'd be making her efforts look less suspicious to onlookers by not ignoring the spot; then came the lips, she lightly ran a light pink over them, faint but visible to the naked eye; then she went to draw more gazes to her eyes, running mascara along her eyelashes, careful that no clumps were left at the corners. She hated clumps.

Celestia placed her make-up back inside the draws of her vanity, softly closing the drawers before she looked up at her-

"Oh, my" she muttered, catching sight of her fresh appearance as a whole, now that she'd leaned back to take herself in. And she looked gorgeous.

'Perhaps I knew more about this stuff than I'd first assumed' she thought as she turned her head left to right, her mane flowing glamorously around her head as she did so; her sparkling eyes looked so much better, much sexier, now that her lashes were fuller and more abundant. She batted them playfully before she giggled; oh she would definitely have to try that on one of the guards. Her lips looked much more appealing and…well the best way to put it was 'kissable' now, thanks to the pink tint to them. Oh yes, she got the feeling nopony would notice her cheek; they'd be too busy drooling over the rest of her.

With a confident sway in her flank, Celestia began to hunt for her usual garb, her slippers, armour and tiara; she found her tiara hung off of one of the bed posts, her armour unceremoniously dumped at the side of her bed and her slippers a little ways away from her bed. She picked them up, one by one, and took all of her golden attire to her vanity; once there, she sat down at it and used her magic to open one of the draws and took out a tin of polish and small rag. She used both items to polish and clean them all; first was her slippers, then her armour and finally her tiara, but she couldn't help but linger on the headgear. She peered into it, gazing at her the reflection of her own eye; she sighed slightly, running the cloth over a spot next to her reflection. As she moved it away, she caught sight of a dark figure stood behind her; her eyes widened and she gasped, whipping her head around to find the intruder.

There was nothing there, just her empty room. She frowned at her imagination; or had she imagined it? A dark figure lingering behind her, now who did that remind her of? Blood Moon. How did that stallion keep returning to the forefront of her mind? She shook the thoughts away, not wanting to dwell on them right now. She stood up, slipped her hooves into her slippers, placed the armour around her neck and placed the tiara on her head before she trotted out of her room. Pushing through the door, she heard the sound of Luna sniffling to herself. Celestia shook her head.

'Silly filly.'

"Says she'd not a foal anymore, and then she starts crying her eyes out, no doubt cuddling her teddy bear" she muttered as she trotted away from their rooms. As Celestia trotted the halls of the Canterlot palace, she considered heading down to the kitchens and grabbing a quick breakfast before she shook the idea away: she was only just going to make it on time to day court as it was. The second thing to cross her mind was why she was getting so many looks from her guards and staff; then she remembered why. She replaced her slightly bewildered look with one that was confident and sultry. The way a few of the gold clad guards had to swallow and forcibly avert their eyes from the princess to avoid drooling at her told the peerless mare that her makeover this morning had done its job. Celestia decided to test how disciplined her guards were; she made eye contact with each one of them, winking every now and then, and made sure to sway her flank heartily as she trotted. It was perhaps one of the most entertaining trots she had ever had thorough the Canterlot palace; the blushes on her guards' faces were hilarious, she drew more attention than she'd gotten in a very long while and by the way a very large number of the guards stepped a little further towards the told her that very few of them had managed to divert the blood rushing to their private areas.

With a very satisfied smile on her face, Celestia found herself in the throne room of her castle. The guard at the door had seen her coming, his hind legs widening a little to make room for his steadily growing stallionhood. He cleared his throat, rather heavily, and took a breath to clear his head and try and get the colour to drain from his face.

"All rise for princess Celestia" he boomed, his words coming out as a shout after having merely lifting his voice. The ponies in the room all did as asked and stood to attention. It wasn't lost on Celestia that she got the same reaction from the peasants and nobles as yesterday. She trotted to her throne and sat upon it, watching her citizens settle again. The lingering stares from pretty much all of the stallions, not to mention a good portion of the mares, weren't lost on her either. The steward stepped up beside Celestia, an aging but loyal stallion by the name Elder Scroll. Well, technically his name was just 'Scroll' but his signature grey beard, mane and tail had earned him the rather fitting nickname. His fur was dark brown, a patch of dust grey over his flank were his cutie mark sat, an old blue book opened on a page marked with a ribbon book mark, the same colour as the book. His unicorn horn glowed its white-grey glow as he adjusted his full-moon spectacles.

"First order of business" he called, his voice old but authoritative and carried well across the room "the Las Pegasus-" he was cut off when the doors at the end of the hall flung open, the guards behind them nonchalantly raising their hooves and catching them. And in trotted the two ponies Celestia loved most. Lord Loaded and Madam Prosperous Goldhooves. Such… wealthy titles, if Celestia had ever heard them. She couldn't help but wonder how a mother or father could bring themselves to name their child 'Loaded' or 'Prosperous'. She knew that the 'Goldhooves' thing was something they had thought of when they'd first come to power; running last names in a family weren't common in Equestria, they related of course, take Twilight for example: her mother's name was Twilight Velvet and her father's Night Light. Twilight Sparkle made sense then, given her heritage. An actual family name, however, was rare nowadays; they still existed of course, just look at the 'Apples'. In the aristocracy, however, it was supposed to be some kind of social thing, where having a last name made you more important somehow. Celestia, despite technically being amongst their numbers, had no idea how that was supposed to work.

The two trotted regally up the clear path before them, the aisle between the peasant's waiting area and the noble's. Celestia smiled grimly at the two of them, spotting no small amount of the lower class ponies glare and snarl at them, while the upper class watched them pass with a grudging respect. The Goldhooves themselves didn't take their eyes off of Celestia as they made their way towards her, and the princess of the day didn't take her eyes from them.

Loaded Goldhooves, the master of the family; he was a tall stallion around a head above the average pony, a fact he used to his advantage; his mane was metallic gold, finely kept in flowing locks that flowed down the back of his neck and around his horn, his tail much of the same, although it was cut short so it didn't trail along the ground; his fur was light brown, or dark tan if you will, and was probably better kept than Celestia's; he wore a finely tailored suit, the jacket black, the waistcoat grey and the shirt pure white, the silk red lining peeking from the breast pocket; he had the appearance and complexion of a stallion who hadn't worked a day in his life, like the lap of luxury was his hunting ground, his wealth his weapon, blackmail his shield and slime his blood. His cutie mark was a golden key and padlock, tied together with a piece of midnight blue ribbon, the key aimed at the closed lock.

Lady Goldhooves, the first lady of the family; she was a more petite mare, shapely but small when compared to her husband; she had a sapphire blue mane and tail, ruby red tips to it; both were kept in a fine style, wavy and flowing, her tail clinging to her flank while her mane flowed around her neck, framing her face and flicking around her horn; she had peach fur, it was well kept and hugged her skin tightly; her cutie mark was a golden set of scales, the left side weighted down with an invisible mass. She wore a sparkling red dress, draping over her back and over her chest, her fore and hind-legs bare, clinging tightly to her body; over her chest, the dress parted in a 'V' shape, a pair of a sashes that revealed black silk beneath that was decorated with subtle, flowing designs, accented with silver. When the dress hit her rear-end, it flared gracefully, sparkling ruby red and deep black in overlapping patterns. She had the face of a vixen, pretty but shrewd, cunning. In the Goldhooves family business, Loaded may have dealt with the business, finances and thing that required loosening the purse strings, but Prosperous was all about relations; her silver tongue, and other attributes, made that kind of encounter a piece of proverbial cake for the mare. But behind her pretty and cunning face was an equally cunning mind; it was an interesting tactic, putting so much attention to her body and face to appear as a simple trophy wife, but she was anything but. Her face held slight touches of makeup, ruby red lipstick, slight blusher and a slightly darker shade peach on her eyelids. The placement and subtlety of it made it apparent that Prosperous had more experience of using it, between her and Celestia, but the princess of the day still felt she looked way better.

The two stopped before Celestia's throne, ignoring the guards either side of them, and looked straight up at Celestia without bowing.

"Loaded, Prosperous" Celestia started "a pleasure" she said, her slightly strained voice telling everypony who would listen it was a blatant lie. Not that she cared that everypony could see through it.

"Celestia" Loaded stated. Celestia had to restrain the eye roll; that voice. It was just so slimy and conniving, just so sly. If it was a little raspier and he rolled his S's he'd sound just like a snake. He certainly reminded her of one. "You didn't hold a day court yesterday" he said "and Luna didn't hold night court either."

"I know this" Celestia answered "and it concerns you why, may I ask?"

"You may" Prosperous answered "it concerns us, for a number of reasons" she told the princess of the day "first of which is the attack on Fancy Pant's home two days ago. We wish to know how the investigation is going" she said. Celestia raised an unimpressed corner of her maw and eyebrow.

"I'm afraid it's still an on-going investigation. I can't reveal any information relation to its progress" she told them.

"Be that as it may" Loaded retorted "you will. Fancy Pants is a very dear friend of ours. We simply wish to know how he fairs" he said. Celestia narrowed her eyes.

"Fancy Pants is fin-"

"And Lock Pick, the stallion staying with him" Prosperous cut her off, an act that should have prompted some gasps but didn't, considering who had done the cutting off. Celestia cocked her head very slightly.

"And why would that concern either of you" she retorted.

"That's none of your concern" Prosperous told Celestia. The guards either side of them tightened their grips on their spears, their eyes narrowing but not straying to the nobles but it was only their discipline stopping them from lunging at them. "We wish to know whether or not he lives now. Tell us" she borderline ordered of Celestia, before pausing and adding "now." Celestia glared at the pair of nobles and stood from her throne.

"You wish to know if he lives or not" she said, her pretty face corrupted with a silent rage "well I'll tell you: he's dead. Slaughtered by an assassin, within the walls of Fancy Pant's home" she told them harshly before she smirked "I…trust this is the news you were hoping for" Celestia told them. The way they both grimaced slightly made the princess want to hoof-bump one of the guards.

"Interesting" Loaded mumbled "well, whatever his condition, that doesn't explain why you didn't hold court yesterday" he said.

"On the contrary, it explains why I was absent perfectly; I was conducting an investigation" she answered curtly.

"And do you have any leads, Celestia?" Said princess narrowed her eyes.

"As I've already said; it's an on-going investigation, I can't release any details" she argued. The noble shrugged.

"Whatever you say, we'll find out" he shot her a look "one way or another."

'Oh, what I would have Blood Moon do to you, were he here.'

"Of course" she said in a voice and with an expression so sweet they were mouth numbingly sour "anything else you'd like to say?"

"Why yes there is" Prosperous chimed "we want to know why Luna didn't hold night court, and didn't even think to grace us with her presence to formally cancel it" the noble said. Celestia grunted.

"Royal business came up we both had to see to, urgent business. Not that it concerns you" she added. Loaded took to pacing back and forth, looking like a lawyer in court.

"We were not aware that there was such important business to be seen to" Loaded pointed out.

"You wouldn't. It's royal business, not the kind of business your type sees to." A few 'ooo's and pained hisses went through the gathered ponies like a wave. The Goldhooves simply snorted at her.

"How long did it take for you to think of that one, Celestia" Prosperous challenged.

"Oh, a few days. So still a shorter time than your make-up regime." Full out 'ouches' were called out, one pony in particular calling out 'somepony prep the burn unit!'

"Is this what our princess has been reduced to, petty insults as she sits upon her throne, looking down her snout at us" Loaded calls out, pointing at the seat Celestia had retired to.

"Perhaps, but when we see what Canterlot nobility has been reduced to, can you blame me" Celestia asked. Small chuckles and more 'ouches' were out sniggered from the gathered ponies.

"Enough of this foolishness" Prosperous snapped, breaking up their little spat. "We came here for answers and answers we shall have" she told them both of them. "Celestia, the third reason we're here is to find out what happened when the sun went down yesterday and why the moon was late going down this morning." Celestia glared before she frowned.

"When the sun went down" she repeated.

"Yes, it dropped from the sky like a rock" she said, before a small smile that Celestia desperately wanted to rip of stretched across her face "distracted, Tia" she posed "could you and dear Luna be losing your touch?" Celestia took a single deep breath before she stood from her throne once more, and trotted slowly towards the stallion and mare. Once she was down the steps leading to her throne, she leaned her face down to the pair of them.

"Now then, you two, let me tell you both one thing" she whispered to them, an eerie smile on her lips "I, I repeat, I, as in me, I am the princess. Do you understand what. That. Means" she asked. "That means, my little ponies, that *I* am the boss, *I* am in control. Equestria, is *my* country, under my and my sister's rule, and you have no say in what happens. Furthermore; you will address me as princess Celestia, not Celestia, not Tia, not any other name nor title. Now, tell me, do you understand what I am saying, what I am telling you?" The nobles remained expressionless. Celestia smiled and took another breath. "I'm sorry, I'll speak up for you; what I said was: DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING" she roared, right down their ears in a volume of the Canterlot voice that she had never used before. The mouths and eyes of the nobles were blown around, their mane and tails being blasted around in a violent gust of wind from the princes of the day's maw. When Celestia was done, Loaded raised his hoof and pushed Celestia's muzzle away from his.

"Such barbarism" he tutted, pulling his hoof away from her muzzle "such behaviour is unbecoming of a princess." He looked up at the ruler of Equestria and shook his head. "You really don't deserve to rule a country" he told Celestia. A collective gasp went through the hall, the guards advancing on the pair of them with spears aimed at their throats. Celestia's rage was only matched by her sheer desperation to rip Loaded's noble head off and shove it up Prosperous's noble ass.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Palace" she ordered. Loaded and Prosperous smirked before they turned at once, straight into another pony.

"Well, well, well. If it ain't my two most favourite ponies in the world" the pony greeted insufferably, his voice as rough and dry as gravel.

"Ah, detective Skulduggery" Loaded stated "it's been a while." The detective grunted.

"Not long enough, obviously" he replied. The two of them scoffed.

"Remember who you're talking to, peasant" Loaded ordered "and I'll consider forgiving you." Skulduggery felt the sudden urge to snap off Loaded's horn and shove it where Celestia's sun didn't dare explore. "Now, what do you say" he sneered. Skulduggery growled at him, while Loaded's sneer just got more and more aggravating.

"Out of my way, Loaded" Skulduggery grumbled as he barged past the noble and his wife. Loaded raised his fore-legs to stop him.

"What, do you say" he demanded. It was clear that this encounter wasn't going to end with sunshine and roses from either party. Skulduggery took a breath.

"Loaded" he started "I'm sorry" he grumbled, swallowing his pride. Loaded smirked.

"What was that? Speak up will you, so everypony can hear." Skulduggery lowered his head, his hat casting shadow over his face.

"I'm sorry Loaded" he repeated, louder. Unbeknownst to everypony in the room, his eye twitched slightly. Loaded chuckled and smirked.

"There's a good peasant." Skulduggery turned to Loaded, fire in his eye, while Loaded just smirked at him as he trotted away. Skulduggery just tugged his hat over his eyes aggressively with a small snarl. He swallowed his anger and trotted towards Celestia again.
"Morning, Celestia" he greeted as he approached, his tone as dark as ever. Celestia's smile lit up the room in a heavenly glow, her well-made face prompting similar reactions from Skulduggery that she'd gotten from her guards. The hardened detective had seen much in his life, but little could compare to the sight before him that was Celestia's smiling face. Warmth ran to his face with the blood, though he'd take a blush over an unwanted erection any day, and felt his knees wobble slightly. He was fairly sure, had he been a Pegasus, his wings would be harder than rock right now. He shook the thoughts away quickly, not allowing himself to show weakness before his current employer.

"It's good to see you too, as well as your impeccable timing Skulduggery" Celestia greeted in return. "Now, I trust you're here for good reason, that said with your rather effective removal of the Goldhooves I wouldn't care if you were here just to say 'hi'" she told him. Skulduggery shrugged one of his shoulders and grunted.

"There's been a development in the case" he informed Celestia. The princess's manner shifted strangely when he told her this; it was a strange combination of happiness and reluctance. It was an eyebrow raising reaction that the detective made a small mental note to look into later.

"Indeed? May I suggest we take this somewhere more private then" she suggested, glancing about the room. Celestia paranoia towards the Goldhooves was rivalled only by her hatred for them. "My chambers" she suggested nonchalantly. Some of the nobles and peasants gathered in the room murmured slightly amongst themselves. The peerless mare looked up to her citizens. "Apologies, my little ponies, but once more circumstances arise to interrupt day court. I hope you understand" she said as she rose. The reactions were more disgruntled this time, much more complaining as they vacated the hall. No nobles approached Celestia this time. The Alicorn and unicorn waited until everypony had left before they turned to the doorway leading to the stairs that lead to the halls that lead to the door that lead to the other hall that lead to the door that lead to the last hall that held the two doors that lead to the chambers of Celestia and Luna. Celestia lead (sorry, I'll stop it now) Skulduggery to her bedroom. Upon arriving, Celestia sat upon one of the leather seats beside the fireplace. The princess of Equestria looked at the detective in her room and caught his slightly disapproving look. "What" she asked innocently.

"Why do you let them treat you like that, the Goldhooves." Celestia chuckled slightly before she looked back at the fireplace. She offered the spare seat to the detective; he took it but didn't take his eyes off of her.

"You've answered your own question, detective. They're the Goldhooves. One can't expect much more from them" she explained. Skulduggery cocked his head.

"That can't be it, you were well in your rights to have the guards thoroughly introduce them to their weapons, not mention you could have shown them all your best holiday pictures of the guillotine" he commented. Celestia giggled slightly.
"Oh stop" she sniggered, shaking her head at the awful ‘joke’. "So then, this progress in the case" she asked expectantly. Skulduggery glanced at her with a strange look on his face.

"There hasn't been any" he answered. Celestia's frown was somewhat annoyed.

"Then why, pray tell, did you tell me that there was" she asked sternly. Skulduggery took her aggression in his stride.

"Because there's something bothering you about this case, and I want to get to the bottom of it. That" he paused and held her gaze with his own "and I wanted to make sure you were okay" he told her. Celestia couldn't help but smile as she felt something in her chest warm and melt slightly.

"Oh, thank you Skulduggery, but that's really not necessary" she told him. The detective raised an eyebrow.

"With all due respect princess, I beg to differ" he told her. Celestia frowned at him as he stood up and crossed the small distance between them; he hopped up slightly, holding himself up with the arm of the chair with his hoof while his other went to Celestia's face. "Now before I do this, might I comment on how miraculous you look today" he said dryly, causing the slightly confused princess to smile slightly, momentarily lowering her guard as the private investigator moved in; his hoof brushed gently across her face, the well-applied make-up brushing smoothly off her face, revealing the fur beneath it, and the dark, bruised skin beneath that. "Exhibit A" he murmured. He looked up at the princess's expression, his own a mixture of disapproval and gruff concern. "Been getting into fights now, princess?" Celestia looked sheepish, as though she'd been caught with the last cookie in her maw. "And don't try and tell me you walked into a door" he told her, causing her to raise her eyebrow "I heard your and Luna's…disagreement earlier" he told her.

"Oh" she muttered "y-you heard that" she asked quietly. Skulduggery nodded.

"Princess Celestia, the whole of Equestria heard you" he said with very slight sarcasm in his voice. "I wanted to catch you before you went down to day court, but I wasn't going to try and break up that shouting match" he told the princess. He cocked his head. "So what happened? A disagreement turn ugly" he posed. Celestia huffed in bad humour.

'Disagreement turned ugly? Understatement of the year.'

"Yes, you could say that. Me and Luna had a disagreement as to who the…no, I wouldn't want to worry you with this, it needn't concern you Skulduggery" she told him. He sat back in his seat, analysing her thoughtfully.

"If you say so, princess" he murmured. Celestia chuckled slightly.
"You know, it's quite amusing" she commented.

"What is?"

"That one of my closest friends still calls me 'princess' rather than Celestia" she answered "we've known each other for a while now Skulduggery, call me by my name, please." Skulduggery shrugged.

"We may be friends, but you're still my princess" he retorted. Celestia shrugged her slender shoulder.

"Maybe" she murmured, trailing off. "Just how long have we known each other now" she wondered aloud. The detective shrugged.

"Nine, ten years now" he posed. Celestia smiled slightly as she remembered.

"Ah yes, your first major case. Another one of Blood Moon's hits wasn't it?" Skulduggery nodded.

"Yes. He'd murdered four members of your counsel, each member at least eight blocks away from each other. All apparently killed at once by the same pony" he mumbled before he turned his head to Celestia "a near impossible murder to pull off, but not too hard a trick when you think about it." Celestia nodded.

"You'd figured out the mechanics, but not the details. What was it you said?"

"I can set of one mouse trap with a rat, I can set off four with a piece of string" he quoted himself "an ingenious murder, impossible to pin it on any one pony, never mind the Hunter" he said, slight nostalgia in his tone. Something seemed to occur to Celestia.

"Y'know, I've just noticed; we've never really conversed outside of work" she said. Skulduggery shrugged.

"Never had a reason to, the only reason I'm here now is because with the way I left you last night, it seemed only proper to at least check on you." When he stopped talking, he seemed to be considering something. "I…hope you don't take my sentiments the wrong way" he added quietly. Celestia frowned.

"The wrong way" she repeated. "Whatever do you mean?"

"What I mean is that…for as long as I've known you, you've always been very…independent. I'm not trying to…to look after you or anything, I'm just trying…" the detective frowned at his words, trying to figure out how to say what he was trying to say. "Damn, I had it" he muttered "what I'm trying to say is…" Celestia giggled lightly and held a hoof up to stop him.

"Skulduggery, you needn't defend yourself. I think I know what you're trying to get at; you don't mean to smother me with concern but that you're there, should I need it." The detective looked up and gave a very small half smile.

"Yeah, that's…wasn't nearly as hard as I was making it out to be" he muttered. Celestia giggled again.

"Y'know, I've never seen you act so awkward before Skull" she commented, using his shortened name, something she'd never done before. And it wasn't lost on either of them. "Are you trying to tell me something" she asked with a small blush and a filly-like smile on her face. Skulduggery grunted as though struck, the smoke grey fur about his face having gone red before he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"No, it's just you've never spoken with me off of the crime scene" he answered "we're more a business friendship than a social one. I'm not very good at this whole…social shtick."

"That may be changing" Celestia commented, out of the blue, her gaze focused on the fireplace. Skulduggery raised an eyebrow. Celestia glanced up, awaiting his answer, and found his questioning face in its place. "My student, Twilight Sparkle" the detective picked up on the no small hint of affection in her tone when she said her name "has been studying friendship as of late" she told him. The stallion nodded.

"I know, her and her friend's exploits are borderlands legendary" he retorted. The peerless mare nodded.

"Indeed, they are. But I fear I may be guilty of hypocrisy" she revealed.

"How so?"

"When she first went to Ponyville, I told her to try and make friends. At the time, it hadn't occurred to me that I didn't really have many myself" she said, her voice telling the detective she was running memories and regrets through her tone. A pastime he knew well. "I hadn't many friends, I still don't, and I've never had the incentive nor opportunity to make any. I want to change that" she told him. "Skulduggery, today you've done something nopony has done in…" she thought about it before a rather depressing realisation crept into her mind "has done ever since he left" she murmured "you wondered how I faired, and your curiosity went so far as to make you wish to check up on me." She turned her head to him. "Thank you" she told him.

"Any time" he told frankly. Celestia smirked at his bluntness.

"Skulduggery, may I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"W-will you…be my friend?" The lack of maturity in the question almost made Skulduggery smile, something in him telling him to call her out on her joke, but he didn't. One of the most powerful ponies in Equestria had just asked to befriend him, that sort of thing wasn't a laughing matter to him. He took into consideration what the question entailed; princess Celestia had asked him to be her friend. A frown inducing question, given that he already saw them as friends, but perhaps Celestia was looking for something more than a business relationship. Official friends with one of the rulers of Equestria? What would that entail; it wasn't likely to be the same as any normal friendship, how could it, but one thing was for sure, his life would get much more complicated if interesting. He looked over at the princess.

"Sure why not…Celestia" he replied with the faintest hint of a ghost of a grin on one corner of his maw.

"Thank you, my friend." Celestia's smile was matched only by…nothing, Skulduggery couldn't think of a sight he'd rather have the pleasure of taking in. Well, he could but it was rumoured that Celestia could read minds.

"So…what was your and Luna's…disagreement about earlier" he asked cautiously. Celestia gave a soundless laugh.

"Oh, that…it's nothing you should worry about…girl stuff, y'know?"

"Not really."

"Pardon?"

"I don't really know many mares." Celestia cocked her head.

"What do you mean?" Skulduggery shrugged.

"One of the occupational hazards of being a detective is that it doesn't allow much time for socialising, never mind trying to pick up mares. And I've seen too many other investigators' marriages implode because of their jobs; a cop doesn't see much of his home, nor his family, so I took out the middle-stallion and didn't bother" he explained. Celestia couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him, knowing that in Equestria, her country of love and friendship, he hadn't any friends or even a love life. Skulduggery seemed to pick up on her pity. "Don't feel bad for me" he insisted, slight humour in his voice "better me than somepony else" he told her.

"Why's that" the princess asked. He shrugged.

"Because, in all honesty, it's never really bothered me that much. I've always been a little…cold" he answered. Celestia frowned in disagreement.

"You're not cold Skulduggery" she told him "you just keep yourself to yourself. There's nothing bad in that" she told him.

"I beg to differ" he retorted. Celestia smiled slightly.

"You're the detective, prove it" she told him.

"The day my mother died, my father took to heavy drinking, my elder brother became a soldier and all's I did was say 'eh' and got on with my life. I'd been close to my mother, loved her, she helped develop my keen eye but the day the fire of her life extinguished I cared very little" he told Celestia. "I'd seen and met other detectives and watched how their lives and the lives of those close to them developed, and came to the conclusion that given my disregard for the opinions of others, my cold nature and ability in the field, it was my fate to become a detective. That was the day I got my cutie mark" he added as an afterthought. "As dark and as cold as midnight."

"The clouds…" Celestia whispered.

"As bright as the sun in the sky."

"The spark of light…"

"And the eyesight of a dragon."

"The magnifying glass…"

"A recipe for mischief" Skulduggery finished.

"Skulduggery…you can be very profound when you want to be" she commented.

"Only as much as it takes to know yourself" he shrugged.

"You don't take compliments well, do you?" He smirked and grunted.

"Not exactly."

"Even still, I'm glad to feel comfortable to speak about such things around me" she told him.

"I don't think I've ever told anypony about that. You're the first I've told" he mumbled. Celestia smiled slightly. The two glanced at each other at the same time, there eyes meeting for a second. Then a minute. Maybe fifteen. Perhaps an hour. Celestia looked away first, her eyes going to the floor in slight embarrassment, a small and bashful smile on her face. She tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. Then she remembered something.

"Oh, Skulduggery, be a dear and fetch me my concealer. I wouldn't want anypony seeing me like this." The detective recognised it as a way to momentarily kill the awkwardness, and he was grateful for it. He stood and trotted over to her dressing table, nonchalantly going over to it before he realised he didn't know what draw it was in. With a shrug he started looking through them, one by one until he came across it. What he found instead was much more interesting, as well as disturbing.

"Seems the answers are the type to remain buried" he muttered as he looked through the pictures. Seventy three in all. They told a strange story, starting with the pair of mares on the photos relatively clean before they progressively got more and more suggestive, dirty, unclean and incredibly arousing. He put the picture together in his head:

In his hooves he held an act of debauchery. He looked discretely around the room; there, in the corner, a liquor cabinet; its door was cracked open, empty, the only bottles in there were empty too. Celestia had gotten drunk last night.

He looked to the bed, his coned gaze darting over it quickly as he looked for-there it was, a photo album, there's always an album, it was lying open, beside the bed, open on a pair of pictures, old ones, some of the first mechanically taken photos rather than the flash-sketch. Celestia had been remembering herself depressed last night.

He looked back at the pictures in his magical grip. Luna was with her in most of them, almost all of them; a lonely mare, if his suspicions, his theories, were correct. In her drunkenness she'd seduced her own sister, this morning, at an educated guess, the pair of them had been arguing over whose fault it was. He replaced the pictures, all but one, and re-began his search for the concealer. He soon discovered it and lifted it with his magic, slipping the picture into his coat. He trotted back to the princess and gave her the make-up.

"Thank you" she said quietly. He nodded and retired to his seat. After three minutes, the detective spoke up.

"I'm still curious, as to what you and Luna were arguing about" he commented, casual, quietly. Celestia smiled slightly as she continued to daintily apply the concealer.

"It's nothing, I assure you." One second, she thought he was thinking. Two seconds, she thought he'd dropped it. Three seconds, she dropped her guard for a second, the natural reaction when you thought the enemy had given up. It was momentary reaction, almost impossible to properly time.

"I beg to differ." Jackpot. Her tiniest of flinches told him he'd struck true.
"And why's that, Skulduggery."

"An argument of that magnitude can't come about from nothing but 'girl stuff' Celestia" he answered. Done with her make-up, she turned to the detective.

"What are you getting at?" He looked back, his gaze hard.

"This." He pulled out his photo, his only piece of evidence, and Celestia's eyes looked like somepony had detonated something inside them. She snatched the image out of his hoof and held it in a death-grip.

"Where did you get this" she demanded.

"I stumbled across it looking for your concealer" he told her calmly, but Celestia wasn't calm anymore; she shot up, out of her chair and glared at him in a way that could melt stone.

"You stumbled across it! I thought I could trust you Skulduggery" she exclaimed "how could you do this" she demanded, clearly hurt by this apparent betrayal. The detective continued like she'd said nothing.

"You call that 'girl stuff'?" Celestia turned away, trotting away from the fireplace and into the middle of the room.

"You wouldn't understand" she snarled.

"You were depressed last night, you had a drink, understandable, and you had another. And another. And you kept drinking, drinking until even you were completely out of it. I've been there. I do understand. But then Luna turned up, and you, for whatever reason, got inexplicitly horny. Luna was the only pony with a pulse and genitalia around, and things went from there." He nodded at the picture. "That became because of it." He trotted up to the mare, who was still turned away from him. "I understand Celestia, time is not a healer. We live, we regret. It's the way of life." Celestia looked around herself, suddenly ashamed of her outburst, of accusing him of being untrustworthy.

"You…I…you...damnit, I knew I'd made you my personal detective for some reason" she muttered. Skulduggery smirked.

"Just doing my job, ma'am" he said, tipping his hat. Celestia couldn't hold down her laugh at his joke, his old noir reference. "You okay Celestia" he asked her unspeaking form.

"Yes, it's just…you being able to figure me out like that" she huffed "it's kind of a wakeup call, that I'm not totally impervious to the deduction of others" she answered before she turned to him. "Tell me, Skulduggery, what is it you regret?" He raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"

"Well, you said just now that you drink a lot…I was wondering why." He looked away from her.

"That's something…very personal" he answered. "Forgive me for my hypocrisy, but if there's one thing I rarely discuss with others, it's the cause of my drinking habits. I'm sorry, but…it's something I rarely think about myself." Celestia assumed she'd struck the wrong cord.

"Oh…I'm…my apologies if I brought up any bad memories" she whispered. He shrugged.

"Don't worry about it" he shot her his version of a grin, more like a grimace "guy-stuff, y'know?" Celestia chuckled.

"All the same, my apologies, the last thing I would ever want to do is cause a friend of mine any kind of mental distress" she told him, the detective nodding in understanding."Sk-Skulduggery…I know I can trust you but…you won't tell anypony about this" she said, still holding the picture in her hoof "will you?" He didn't say anything.

"Celestia" he said after a while, his low voice prompting her to lean her head down slightly.

"Yes?"

"I'll never, ever betray your trust" he told her "not because you're my princess, not because you could easily kill me and not even because I'm a gentlecolt. But because you're my friend" he told her. Celestia swallowed slightly.

"Thank you Skulduggery. It warms my heart to know I have a…a true friend" she admitted.

"Yes, well" the stallion stared "I shall always, be your friend" he told her. Celestia smiled warmly, but after a second it turned slightly devious.

"You aren't hiding anymore pictures in that coat of yours, are you Skull" she asked slyly. Skulduggery grunted in amusement, looking down at his trench coat.

"No, I don't-" He got no further before Celestia moved forwards and pushed her lips to his.

Hearing somepony, or something perhaps, crying in the void was an unusual occurrence. Mainly because Blood Moon's voices couldn't cry, he didn't cry and nopony else could get here. He looked around himself, eyes narrowed in caution, and drew a blade from the ether. The weapon was the identical as the one he'd left at his old home, a weapon he was most comfortable with, and he held it in the same manner; with a lethal intent. He trotted slowly, deliberately, his old habits of paranoia drifting to the surface; he trotted forwards, his body spinning around as he tried to find the source of these sobs.

He heard a twig snap.

His gaze snapped down, having felt his hoof break something beneath it; he'd stepped on the broken off piece of branch. He frowned; there was no vegetation in the void nothing of the sort. The whole point of it being a void was that, it was a void. He shook his head and looked up to find that he, in actual fact, wasn't stood in the void anymore. Instead, he was stood in an all too familiar forest. He trotted around again, his hoofsteps no longer explosions in his ears, simple trudges through grasses, leaves and the occasional stick.

Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled at the unnaturally large full moon, lingering in the skies. Somewhere else, an owl hooted into the night. Winds blew through the branches, leaves fell from said branches and a friendly looking grass snake slithered through the foliage. Blood Moon didn't understand pony's problem with snakes; they had big cute eyes, a friendly puppy dog mouth, liked to lounge about in the sun and just plopped down where you left them. They only bit you if you annoyed them, so take that information and act on it; don't piss off a snake.

The assassin heard another sniffle and his ears perked up as he tried to pinpoint the source of the sound; he rotated his head slowly, mentally cutting the forest into segments and searching each one carefully for anything out of place. He expected Luna out of anything that may happen, and he wanted her to show up; he had questions. He traversed the forest much slower, still thoroughly searching the treeline. Something stuck out to him; the tree line seemed to converge on a single spot, as though hiding something from Blood Moon. Another sob leaked out from whoever was crying, and the dark stallion homed in on it this time; it was, indeed, coming from the small bunker of trees. He stepped over to it, hearing a few stifled sobs leaking through, all of them quiet. He stepped back and looked it up and down; he swung his weapon, the dream-blade slashing easily through the dream-branches. He pushed through the remaining shrubbery and found his way into a clearing; laying in the clearing, crying into her hooves, was Luna.

Blood Moon's eyes narrowed; he didn't trust the mare of night just yet, and he knew that her bitterness went deep. He also knew that she wasn't above tricks like this; she'd lull him into a sense of confusion as to why she was in tears, he'd approach and when he was just about to say or do anything, she'd pounce and he'd be in for a real bad time. He trotted forwards cautiously, his blade pointed downwards; in the dream it was useless, but it was a reassuring presence. She sniffled and sobbed to herself, shaking slightly as she did so. He drew closer, his hoofsteps silent on the grassy soil. He wasn't sure what to do; normally, Luna would have pounced already and he'd be getting whipped while strapped to a tree. Blood Moon shook his head.

'No, biding her time, don't fall for it Hunter.'

As he got steadily closer, he could hear her start muttering incoherently, the words gibberish but no doubt made sense to her. Blood Moon let a single breath increase in volume, his way of declaring himself. Luna froze, having apparently heard him; she gazed over her shoulder and Blood Moon knew what to do.

The blade sung as he brought it down.

The weapon clattered across the other side of the clearing as he scooped her up, holding her against his chest and letting her weep into his shoulder. He stroked the back of her mane, gently whispering soothing words to her as he calmed her, gradually holding her tighter and tighter against his chest.

"Come on Luna, let it out." She did as he asked, bawling in earnest now that she had a shoulder to cry on. Blood Moon's fur was quickly getting soaked by Luna's tears, but he'd be damned if he cared; Luna needed comfort and he was here to give it. Luna's hooves drifted around his back, pulling him in further while Blood Moon's went around her neck, pulling her in further. The ex-foalsitter knew that something was deeply wrong with his daug-Luna; he hadn't seen her like this in the longest of times.

She kept it up for a long time, neither really keeping track of how long they sat together. Luna's maturity had long since drained away, along with her pride and any residual dignity. She didn't care anymore, she didn't care that her foalsitt-no, that Blood Moon…that her father was cuddling her again, and that she was cuddling him back. Her stream of tears didn't curb for the longest of times, and even when she did she took the longest of times with it, slowly wiping her eyes dry with his shoulder. When she tried to pull away, he wouldn't let her, pulling her back into his body and she suddenly realised that his own eyes weren't as dry as they'd been when she'd started.

"Blood Moon" she stared shakily, still sniffling slightly.

"Luna" he replied, just as uneasy. The princess of the night sniffled again.

"B-Blood Moon" she tried again before she broke down "daddy" she wept, more tears leaking through her closed eyes, her maw leaking sobs.

"Little Luna" he growled out, his voice cracking as he spoke, trying hard to push down his own emotions and doing an awful job of it. They took to crying into each other's hold; Blood Moon had quit trying to hold his emotions down and took to following his own advice and just let it out. He cried silently into Luna's neck, as she wept into his shoulder. They were done with him consoling her, now they were just basking in the fact that they were holding each other.

"I've missed you so much" she continued. Blood Moon nodded and stroked the back of her mane, kissing her cheek lightly, tasting the salt of her tears.

"I missed you too" he told her. They stayed together for another insurmountable amount of time until Blood Moon spoke again. "So…what's got you so blubbery" he asked shakily, a small smile in his face. Luna grunted her own laugh but it soon fell to deeper sobs.

"T-" she wept a few more times "Tia's a bitch" she wailed, the memories clearly causing her grief. Blood Moon laughed hoarsely, nodding his head.

"Yes, yes she is" Blood Moon agreed. "What did she do this time" he asked. Luna released him, Blood Moon letting her, and she stood again, trotting away from him.

"I…I can't really say" she told him. Blood Moon came up besides her.

"Luna, you can tell me anything" he assured her. The dark mare looked back at him, a small smile on her face.

"I…it's not like that, it's…kind of embarrassing" she admitted. Blood Moon turned her to face him.

"Luna…my little girl shouldn't be embarrassed to tell me anything" he told her. The Alicorn's lip wobbled slightly before she threw her fore-legs around his neck again.

"Blood Moon" she whimpered "why did you have to leave? Why did you abandon us?" It was a heart crushing epiphany for the assassin, to realise how much he'd really missed Luna…how much he still missed Celestia. He opened his eyes slightly and caught sight of the outline.

'I...I did, didn't I…I…I really did abandon them…didn't I?" The outline didn't make a move, not that he really would; moving wasn't his thing. That said, the outline seemed…different somehow, less insulting more…reasonable than anything. It took a deep breath it didn't need.

"Yes, you did."

The answer hit him like a brick in the balls, like a hammer to the knee. His eyes couldn't hold back the dams anymore and he broke down completely. Blood Moon sobbing harder than Luna now, the mare of the two, consoling him as much he was her.

"I don't know Luna…I honestly don't, not anymore. There might have been reasons at the time but…none of them a viable excuse for my leaving you" he answered. Luna sniffed a few more times.

"No…there wasn't" she told him "there's nothing you can say to make me forgive you" she told him, spitting her words out like poison but not releasing her death-grip on him.

"Lu-Lu, little Luna…I'm sorry, from the bottom of my heart, I'm so sorry" he told her, the sincerity in his tone nothing in comparison to the sincerity in his heart. Luna sniffed again, her tears falling again in earnest.

"Except that" she whispered.

Time became unimportant to the two, to the father and daughter holding each other; neither could care less about the amount of time they'd spent hugging, so why bother keeping count? After a while, the two found themselves on a hill, looking over a calm field of long, wavy grass, their hooves tucked beneath their bodies.

"So, what had you crying just now" he asked again quietly. Luna took a breath before she glanced his way; he was watching her out of the corner of his eye, a questioning expression on his face. She sighed before she leaned in, whispering into his ear. As she spoke, Blood Moon frowned, grunted in amusement, gave a confused 'whaa' before his eyebrows shot into his mane-line. "Well" he said at length.

"And she blamed me for everything" Luna repeated, leaning her head on the ground in misery; she didn't like being at odds with Celestia, she could be mean at the best of times but her threats of sending her back to the moon lingered in her mind. Blood Moon looked over Luna, his hoof finding its way into her mane as he petted her softly, stroking her soothingly.

"That's what she does; when she was younger, I remember her taking the rap for the two of you stealing the last cookies. She didn't want me berating both of you so she said she did it…I knew you'd both done it, but her standing up for you like that made me proud, so I didn't say anything" he said, Luna nodding her head slowly as she remembered.

"Now though…" the mare of the moon started gloomily. Blood Moon nodded.

"Yes, now she's not nearly the same mare; a few days ago I'd say it was just her growing up, her becoming princess that did that to her. Now though…" he echoed. Luna turned over, laying on her back to she could see him while she relaxed on the ground.

"You can't blame yourself for everything wrong with her" she told him.

"Yes I can; I raised you both properly, to respect, to share, to stand up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves, to rule with merciful might" he said quietly "but when I left…that's not the kind of thing that helps with raising a foal." Luna nodded slowly.

"Maybe…but you also taught us to live through difficult time, to face the hardship with a strong heart and that there is no shame in leaning on your loved ones. Your leaving is no…not much…it's not the only reason she got so…bitchy, I think you may be have been half right just now, I think she did get a little…cocky when she was crowned" she said, more simply saying it out loud than admitting or releasing anything. The assassin nodded as he thought.

"Yes, well…love potions of that sort and such large amounts of liquor never add up to make rose petals and sexy music, she was way out of her mind and, if what you say is true, she was massively depressed…but that's still no excuse for blaming you" he agreed. He looked down her and lay his hoof on her belly, and proceeded to rub it. Luna giggled.

"You always did like belly rubs" she cooed. The assassin smirked.

"Not as much as you" you he retorted before he tickled her a little. The mare wriggled around a bit as she laughed, Blood Moon grinning at the princess of the night's foalish form. He stopped tickling and returned to just gently rubbing along her belly. "I wouldn't forgive her, if I were you, but try to put it behind you; Tia's Tia, and she sees herself as above everypony now…I sometimes think about going back there just to teach her some manners" he muttered before he paused "again" he added. Luna giggled slightly, her thoughts still a little muzzy from the rubs.

"I sometimes wish you would just come home" she replied. Blood Moon's hoof faltered slightly on her tummy, prompting Luna to look up and catch his distant face.

"You have no idea how many times I've thought about doing that. I considered going back for your birthdays when I first set out, but when you started invading my dreams and I started to find the bounty notices around Equestria I thought it less than prudent" he told her. Luna suddenly looked horrified, an expression Blood Moon didn't regret invoking.

"You…you what" she asked shakily.

"I would have stopped by, maybe a few times a year, I could have been a valuable ally to you, somepony to do your dirty work but capable of offering zero accountability" he said, watching her eyes get damp again "wars won before they started, threats ended before they were realised and the amount of time you've been putting aside to give me grief could have been used much more productively" he listed, watching Luna's face show her heartbreak. She sniffled again.

"You…you…"

"Evil, mean bastard?"

"Yes" she sobbed, pulling him in again "why did you have to go and tell me that" she demanded "I was laying here, happy that we were getting along again, and then you have to go and tell me that I could have had my daddy the whole time anyway" she squeaked, regret lining her words as a boulder sat in her chest and refused to leave.

"Why? So I could make you understand just how much I've hated the fact that my own daughters wanted me dead" he leaned back "so you could see this is just as much your and Tia's fault, as it is mine." Luna felt like she'd been stabbed in the chest.

"B-but I-I…you" she continued to stutter as he looked into her eyes "oh, damn you Blood Moon" she cursed as she put her face to his chest, quietly weeping once again. Her fore-legs wrapped around his back as she listened to his heartbeat, which was much slower in his dream state. "I'm sorry" she whispered. Blood Moon pulled back and looked her in the eye.

"That's all I wanted to hear" he said as he hugged her back, tighter this time. "Look at that, I got one of my girls back, and all it took was some blubbering" he commented, prompting a small laugh from Luna.

"Look at that, I got my daddy back, and all it took was my big sister bucking me half to death" she commented in return. Blood Moon couldn't hold down the slightly disturbed laugh. After a while, the pair had resorted to lying on the slightly chilly grass with each other, Blood Moon leaning on the bigger mare while he absentmindedly curled her night-sky mane about his hoof. They stayed together for a while, no words exchanged between them, and they just basked in the company.

"So" Blood Moon started, trying to fill their limited time together with at least a conversation "how've you been" he asked casually "well, y'know, asides the dubious fun with your sister." Luna giggled slightly.

"What would you like to know?" He shrugged.

"I dunno, met any stallions?" Luna turned her head back to him, but when his hoof vacantly went over her shoulder muscles found the knots, his hoof slowly kneading them, she changed her song, relaxing into the grass again, and a big, relaxed smile found her face.

"Hmm, not really. I keep getting looks from the guards but…well, you know what I'm getting at. One thing on their mind and all that" she mumbled. Blood Moon raised an eyebrow.

"Really, after all that time alone your first priority wasn't to get laid?" Luna snapped her gaze around.

"Blood Moon" she exclaimed, but said assassin was just laughing at her embarrassment.

"Eh, just saying" he assured. Luna turned over, onto her back and crossed her fore-legs.

"And I'll have you know" she suddenly seemed to lose confidence in what she was about to say, a red blush on her cheek "I-it was my first priority." The stallion laughed again, rolling onto his own back as he cackled like a mad stallion.

"So tell me little Luna, how does one sate one thousand years of lust" he asked with blunt humour. Luna paused for a while.

"Six, all night guards, five rounds… four couldn't patrol for a week" she finished with a slightly smug grin on her face. The assassin rested his head on his hooves, which rested on Luna's belly.

"That's my girl" he chuckled, Luna laughing with him. After a second, he frowned. “Wait...just now you told me-”

“I was hardly going to tell Celestia my coital habits in that kind of situation...not that it would have made any difference” she mumbled. He just chuckled again.

“Eh, don’t feel so bad. Lonely most are those who have everything. You just needed some more...intimate company, at a guess.” Luna smiled and nuzzled him gently.

"You never did once put me down; you were always proud of the smallest of efforts, you were proud of me when I managed to escape lessons that once by escaping down the drain-pipe, hay, you were even proud of me when I stole your sword that once" she recalled.

"It's because I had no reason not to be. I told you right and wrong but I also had to give you credit when you worked up the courage to break the rules, or defy the word of your parents, because I knew they were strict with you" he explained "and to be able to break into my chambers, find my sword and actually steal it was a pretty impressive feat. Even for a four hundred year old filly" he added. Luna sat up, prompting him to do the same as they looked at each other.

"Well, even with the stuff any other father, including my actual dad, would have been massively annoyed at, you were still proud; when I broke my virginity when I was only sixteen, well y'know, in Alicorn years, you didn't shout or rage at me, like my dad, you weren't disappointed with me giving myself to a stallion I'd met in a stream, like my mother, you weren't even angry with the fact that I'd begun dating a commoner, like Tia. You didn't even mind when I brought him home, like Faust. You just supported me, you were there for me." Her eyes showed a few bad memories. "You were the only one who'd talk to me about him" she chuckled slightly "I've just noticed; I had most of my 'girl talks' as a filly and a young mare with you, my uncle and bodyguard rather than my big sister, mom or even my nanny." Blood Moon shrugged.

"That's what I did" he said. Luna smiled grimly. "You'd taken a major step in your life, losing your virginity is a big thing for a mare, despite your age you were practically still a teenager but you didn't regret it despite how everypony treated you, you stayed with him for your love." Luna sighed at days long past.

"You were the only one who'd listen or even hug me when I heard he'd been killed across in the griffon kingdom" she murmured, remembering how distraught she'd been when she heard the Pegasus who'd been her first coltfriend died in a skirmish against a few of Discord's cultists back in the war. He had, at least, died in battle. Blood Moon recognised the signs of somepony recalling bad memories and put a hoof on her shoulder. Luna had tasted the pains of losing her first love, a pain Celestia had never had to, and probably never would, endure.

"Harrowing Wind had been a good stallion; I still don't get what everypony's problem had been with the poor guy" he admitted. Luna shrugged and hung her head. She'd never really had another relationship after Harrow had died.

"I wanna stop remembering this no-" Blood Moon lunged at her and put her in the same full-body restrain he'd put Pinkie in a while back and used the same tactic to cheer her up as he'd done with the pink, party pony. Luna's uproar of laughter was something that the ex-foalsitter hadn't realised how much he'd missed in his time away from her. He was glad to hear it again. Once he was done with his tickles, Blood Moon finally stopped, obeying her begging of mercy from him but he didn't release her from his grip. "I needed that" she giggled.

"I can tell" he answered. He let her go and they fell to the floor, both on their backs, side by side and Luna still tittering slightly. "So…anything else interesting happen" he asked.

"Not really" she answered. Luna felt a gaze on her and looked to find Blood Moon watching her. She returned his look for a while before his hoof went to her nose and he poked her.

"Boop" he muttered as he pushed down on her muzzle. "I just booped ya, whaddya gonna do about it" he grinned. Luna grinned back.

"Imma boop you back" she giggled as she poked his nose "boop" she giggled as Blood Moon chuckled foalishly. She liked it when Blood Moon treated her like a filly; he didn't treat her like a foal like Celestia did, he didn't patronise her or treat her in an overly protective manner and then insist it was for her own good. He just acted like she was the cute (well, cuter), mini version of herself now; he had fun with her, he goofed around, he booped her and hugged her. He made her feel like she wasn't a day over six hundred years old. "I've missed this" she said quietly.

"I'll bet I've missed it more."

"Is that a challenge?"

"You'll never beat me at Killable Kombat." The mention of the video game perked her interest.

"Oh yeah? I've got the high score in the castle" she said proudly. Blood Moon revealed his own, and her pride hit the bottom of an endless pit and she felt like crying a little. The assassin, ever sympathetic with Luna, rolled to the side slightly and wrapped his hooves around her neck in a hug. "I'm getting closer to your high score" she muttered, trying to boost her own ego slightly. Blood Moon chuckled, and kissed her forehead.

"Yeah, maybe you'll get there someday" he reassured as he pulled back "…maybe in five thousand years" he smirked. Luna pouted, and Blood Moon had to restrain himself from squeezing her in pure unbridled love of the adorableness; Luna could pout like nopony else. When he released her and rolled away again, Luna spoke again.

"Blood Moon" she started, nervous about something.

"Something the matter?"

"T-Tia knows where you are now" she told him. Blood Moon nodded nonchalantly. "I-I didn't tell her" she added.

"I never thought you had" he told her. He looked at the mare of night lying beside him. "Lu-Lu" he started. She hummed her attention and looked at him. "I think Celestia ordered an attack on Twilight and the rest of the Elements of Harmony" he revealed. Luna sat up, shocked but she didn't let herself panic.

"What?"

"I'm not too sure myself; recently, Hardhoof, the guard lieutenant in Ponyville attacked Twilight and her friends to get to me. He's WAY too much of a cocky dumbass to be able to strategize like that, not without some kind of help anyway. So I have two scenarios here; one, is that Loaded ordered him to do so, for reasons still unknown; two, is that he was ordered to do so by Celestia to get to me" he explained. Luna smiled slightly and shook her head. "What's so funny" he asked, curious as to the joke.

"I don't think Tia would have her guards do anything to the elements of harmony" she said. Blood Moon nodded.

"Yeah, I thought it was unlikely too, but-"

"No, you don't get it; she wouldn't do anything to hurt Twilight or her friends. Celestia doesn't see her as a mere student anymore. A while back, I noticed the way she was talking about her, how she treated and acted around her, how much she seems to care for her. I pointed it out to Cadence" the name didn't mean much to Blood Moon, but he knew it belonged to the Alicorn princess of love and that she was Shining Armour's wife "and she looked into it. From what she's seen of Celestia around Twilight, she sees her as a daughter" she explained. "A deeply, beloved daughter" she added, to drive the point home. Blood Moon put a hoof to his chin as he thought.

"Really" he murmured. That changed things; if Celestia really did see Twilight as her daughter, then there was little to no chance of her having Hardhoof attack her. Now that he thought about it, since Shining Armour was her big brother, he wouldn't have let it happen himself. It did, however, raise one more question; was Celestia aware of the corruption within her forces? The Goldhooves had control over almost all of the lieutenants over Equestria, were they all as bent as Hardhoof? Yet another question in a seemingly endless stream of them.

The assassin suddenly felt his eyelids grow heavy, a sign that he was about to awaken. Luna seemed to notice this and turned to him.

"Seems our time is drawing to a close" she observed.

"Seems so" Blood Moon answered as he watched the forest flicker around him. They stood and embraced for a final time. "I love you little Luna" he told her. She nodded.

"I love you too, dad" she answered. He gave her a final, loving squeeze before he released her. He was about to fully emerge from his slumber when Luna stalled him. "Blood Moon" she said.

"Yeah?"

"Could-could you come visit me…some time, y'know, quietly" she asked. He grinned and hugged her again.

"You don't get it, do you Luna?" She pulled back and raised an eyebrow. "You're the princess of the night, of darkness and of shadow. I've always been there anyway" he said before he flickered from existence.

Skulduggery's eyes were wide open. He felt Celestia's lips move across his own, slowly, seductively, carefully, teasingly almost, if she hadn't been so invested in their mutual lip contact. It was a sensation he'd never forget for as long as he lived, the feeling of Celestia kissing him. The Alicorn pushed in further, the detective feeling her kiss harder. He mentally shrugged and kissed back; the princess of the day seemed to be pleased with his efforts as he felt her grin slightly. She turned her head to avoid their horns bumping together as she lightly closed her eyes. Skulduggery followed suit and closed his eyes, but before they were completely shut, Celestia pulled back suddenly.

"I…I shouldn't have done that" she told herself, standing up to full height to put as much distance possible between them as she put a hoof to her maw. She seemed awkward and had a shameful blush on her face. "I'm sorry Skulduggery, I…I didn't…"

"It's alright Celestia" he answered. They were both talking very quietly, and refused to look at one another. The air in the room grew very heavy and the awkwardness could practically be tasted.

"Listen, that was wrong of me, I shouldn't tempt or tease you like that" she said a little shamefully.

"Don't worry about it" he told her. Celestia shook her head.

"No…it's that…I don't want this to change our friendship at all" she told him. Skulduggery nodded.

"Yeah, I understand. Don't worry about it, we're too good a friends to let something like this come between us" he reassured. "I mean, you're my princess, and I'm too disciplined, cold and heartless to feel that way about you." They both knew it was a blatant lie, that neither of them felt the same way at all anymore, but couldn't say it aloud simply because of Celestia's station in this world.

"Yes, agreed, thank you for understanding Skulduggery" she said with a small smile on her face. Yet another lie: how she wanted to re engage their kiss, maybe carry it to the bed… The grandfather clock chimed ten, prompting Skulduggery and Tia to look over at it. It was a random and tissue-thin excuse, but the detective took it.

"I should be going, villains to catch and all that" he muttered. Celestia nodded.

"Quite" she said, her regal manner coming back, ten-fold to try and block out any emotions she kept trying to convince herself were unwanted. "I shall see you next time you have something to report detective Skulduggery" she told him "goodbye" she said simply. Skulduggery knew where her manner was coming from, and didn't take it personally. He tipped his hat to her as he took a step back.

"Aye, and you princess" he replied as he turned and trotted for the door. Once he got there, he paused and looked back. "I…it was a good kiss" he said quickly before he swiftly left. All sense of duty and station dissipated at the compliment, and Celestia wanted nothing more than to gallop out after him and clamp her lips to his and never let him go. But she didn't. Something was stopping her from moving; something was stopping her from following him and fulfilling her desires.

"Thank you" she mumbled to herself. She looked back at the pictures she'd left on her dressing table and trotted over to them. She sifted through them and found one of just her; she bit her lip and did something devious and risky, and something she probably hadn't thought through completely. She lifted it with her magic and with a flash of her horn it was gone, sitting comfortably in one of Skulduggery's coat pockets.

With a small smile, she hid the rest of them in one of the pictures in one of the lockable drawers and turned the key, hiding them with a vibrator, small pot of lube and a mixture of cookie dough, one of which she kept in there for emergencies. She trotted away and plopped herself on her bed, sat on her flank. She was suddenly at a loose end; she'd no paperwork to do, couldn't do anything to help with investigation as she had to leave all the informants, following clues and detective-ness to Skulduggery and the likes. She took a breath and hopped off her bed again, moving for the door.

As she passed her mirror, she caught her reflection in it; she was slightly flushed and her lipstick was smeared, no doubt Skull had a pink tint to his lips now. She smiled slightly at the memory still fresh in her mind as she took a wet wipe and ran it over her lips before she re-applied the make-up to her maw. Puckering her lips to make sure it was evenly distributed, she stood up again and trotted for the door. As she past Luna's room, she heard her sleeping soundly. She smiled slightly before she put her disgruntled look back on her face and trotted aimlessly around her castle, mulling over recent events.

Blood Moon seemed to have retreated back to Fluttershy's home. What he was doing there, she'd never know; Blood Moon holding out with such a delicate and innocent pony? It shouldn't have been possible; she hoped he hadn't corrupted them somehow, gotten inside their heads. Next to her mind was her and Luna's current relationship; she didn't like Luna being upset, but she'd have to understand that sometimes you had to take responsibility for what you didn't do as much as what you did. Then, inevitably, her thoughts went to Skulduggery; she replayed the scene over and over in her head, the kiss. He'd called her a good kisser, and she had to admit: he wasn't too bad himself. She thought about the talk they'd had; it was obvious that he liked her more than just a friend or boss now, and she wasn't sure if she didn't see him as something more herself now.

Then she thought about the gravity of what she'd actually done; as princess, she was expected to remain neutral between the three races of pony, though now that she'd kissed Skulduggery, a unicorn, she could be accused of favouritism. It made little sense to the princess of the day, but she was certain that's how the nobles would react, specifically the Goldhooves. She wondered how many problems this could bring up, now that she'd kissed somepony she was supposed to rule. Now that she'd shown romantic feelings towards somepony.

"Discord's antlers, what's so wrong with me liking a stallion" she muttered. She sighed deeply and plotted a course for the kitchen in her head, planning on grabbing a big slice of cake. Or maybe the cake was a lie, and she was just after booze? No, after last night, she just wanted some frosty, sugary, sweet, tooth-rotting goodness.

"Auntie?" Celestia perked up at the voice, recognising it anywhere. She looked around for its source. She looked behind her and found the Alicorn; she had pleasant pink fur, the colour calm, gentle and soothing, the hairs clinging tight to her skin, as most of her ilk's did, her wings were that of a swan, though slightly more delicate than Celestia's, and were pink with purple tips; her mane and tail three tone-a light purple/dark pink was the most prominent colour, a cream streak running over the top of this colour while dark purple went beneath it-was styled simply, curving slightly before flicking and curling at the tips, spiralling almost on the tail; her eyes were kind, but were truly beautiful in the love they expressed, they were light purple and almost foalish in their size and innocence; her horn followed her fur's colour, the alicorn following her kin's suit in length and point; an ornate crown sat atop her head, flat at the bottom and flicking out into three tips, the outer two curving and the middle one having a purple jewel on them, another jewel in the centre; she wore a golden necklace around her neck, a slightly curving pattern in the middle; on her hooves were golden shoes, flaring in a flower-like pattern around her legs; on her flank was her cutie mark, a crystal heart with golden flairs around it. Her curves and contours were something any stallion would drool at, and would be the cause of any number of requests for dates, were she not betrothed; they actually gave Celestia and Luna's a run for their bits.

"Cadence" she exclaimed as she cantered over to her and wrapped her fore-hooves around her neck "what are you doing here" she asked. Cadence didn't let her go, not that Celestia minded; Cadence could hug like no other pony in Equestria.

"Shining Armour told me how you were acting about this 'Blood Moon' character" she answered as she nuzzled her aunt's chest "I left the Crystal Empire in the hooves of my advisers and counsellors for a few days so I could come see you" she explained as they released each other. Celestia smiled, feeling the small spark of warmth in her chest.

"Oh, thank you Cadence. But that really wasn't necessary, I'm…fine" she posed as she caught the younger Alicorn's look. "Cadence" Celestia asked as said Alicorn cocked her head at her elder. A blush then exploded across the pink Alicorn's as she took a step back, a hoof going to her mouth.

"Auntie…" she started, her tone making a stone in Celestia chest drop "w-what did you do" she asked, making the same stone gain a few tonnes. Celestia bit the inside of her cheek sheepishly; Cadence simply knew love in a way Tia couldn't possibly hope to match, and since sex was an aspect of love- "Oh auntie" Cadence squealed as she lunged forwards and wrapped her fore-legs around her suddenly confused aunt's neck "oh, I'm so happy for you" she almost screamed, a huge smile on her face as her face as her hind legs did a small, exited dance that complemented her 'little sister's first crush' excitement. Cadence caught herself, and pulled back a little, a big smile on her face still.

"C-Cadence?" Said princess moved past Celestia and she followed with her head as Cadence's wing went over her back.

"So, who's the luck stallion" she asked merrily, a small skip in her trot. It suddenly snapped into place for Celestia; Cadence hadn't picked up on her and Luna's debauchery last night, she'd picked up on her and Skulduggery's kiss. The thought of their supposedly 'forbidden' love prompted a small blush from Celestia, and Cadence noticed it, no that it was exactly subtle against her white fur, and her smile and the spring in her step only increased.

"C-Cadence, please, there's nothing going on, I assure you" she insisted. Cadence, however, didn't consider this meeting as one to be taken too seriously, and didn't believe her aunt's argument.

"Are you sure" she said playfully. Celestia's muzzle scrunched in frustration as she looked left and right.

"Can we at least take this to my bedroom" she hissed slightly as she turned around and cantered for her room. Cadence smiled slightly and followed behind, the pair of them soon returning to the princess of the day's chambers. Celestia trotted inside and waited for Cadence to trot inside before she closed the door behind them. When she looked back in her room, she found her adoptive niece sat on her bed, having apparently been made by her chambermaids that were apparently ninjas. Get in, do job, get out. Silent, no question and above all else, never let your face be seen.

"So" Cadence sang, sat on her flank, propped up with her fore-hooves behind her and her hind-legs dangling over the side as they swung playfully "what have you been up to" she asked with a small giggle. Her niece's juvenility proved to be contagious, and Celestia soon found herself incredibly, and inexplicitly, excited as she cantered/skipped to her niece and hopped on the bed beside her. Celestia suddenly felt all too much like a teenager, but she wasn't sure if she cared though.

"Well" she started "I…it was kind of a 'heat of the moment' thing" she answered. Cadence waved her hoof.

"Oh, I'm sure it was purely by accident" she assured sarcastically. "What did you do" she asked, sounding like a young gossip-monger. Celestia smiled slightly as she sat properly on her bed, legs curled beneath her.

"W-well I-I sort of…k-kissed him" she revealed. Cadence's response was immediate; she squealed again, throwing her hooves around Tia's neck and laughing in glee.

"Oh, auntie, I'm so proud" she burst out, remembering some of the times the Alicorn princess of love had insisted Celestia go out on a date sometime, to take the edge off, but Celestia having answered with 'I have no time, desire or need for any kind of relationship, Cadence'.
"So" she said at playful length "who's the lucky stallion?"

"H-his name I Skulduggery" she answered. Cadence's reaction was a little different this time; it was playful, but a little more…maturely so.

"Ohh, kissing commoners, now are we? I didn't think that was your style" she teased. Celestia smiled slightly, turning her head away from Cadence.

"Oh, stature has nothing to do with this…oh, who am I kidding, of course it does" she pouted. She took a long sigh. "Who's damn idea was it to make it socially unacceptable for a princess to like somepony like that when they're of lower born blood" she asked nopony. Cadence gave her a sympathetic look.

"I thought it was your father" Cadence murmured. Celestia huffed.

"Father always was a stickler for doing things 'regally' you know" she answered quietly "it's hard to believe that a decision made…millennia ago is affecting me today." Cadence's own mood lowered with her aunt's.

"I feel so sorry for you auntie" she told her "if it makes you feel any better, I don't mind it at all; as far as I'm concerned, you can love anypony you choose to" she told her. Celestia shot her a short look when she said the word 'love'.

"Yes, well; if you really don't mind, would you mind keeping this a secret?" Cadence nodded.

"I will auntie, don't you worry" she assured "if, in exchange, you tell me what else's going on" she posed, the more political side of her princess stator coming out.

"What do you mean?" Cadence gave her one of those looks, one of those 'don't try and fool me' patronising looks.

"There was a disturbance in the force" she said dryly "come on, auntie, I'm the Alicorn princess of love; that extends to the love between families too" she pointed out. Celestia gave a 'damn' look when Cadence revealed that she'd noticed her and Luna's falling out too.

"Oh, well that's nothing you should concern yourself with" she said slightly bitterly. Hearing her tone of voice, Cadence's worry increased. "We…we just disagreed on something, is all" she said tightly.

"Aunt Celestia" Celestia recognised her stern tone of voice; she only used it when addressing a misbehaving foal or somepony annoying her "what. Happened" she demanded gently.

Celestia didn't like answering to anypony, it was one of the things that had rubbed off of Blood Moon onto her own character: let it be so that your pride will hold your head up, so that you may never bow to anypony. Neither liked bowing to anypony (in fact, Blood Moon detested the idea, that being one of the many reasons he and her father hadn't gotten along well) but it was only Celestia who didn't like talking about this kind of thing with other ponies; one might describe Blood Moon as being feminine for that, but that was pretty difficult to do when you'd just seen the stallion rip out somepony's spinal cord, pelvis and intestines before making a banjo with them and then playing it…playing it well.

Celestia glanced at Cadence's questioning face and growled out her frustration. She crossed her fore-legs like a filly, and pouted. She went on to tell Cadence what had happened last night, sparring the pony embodiment of love few details, and watching as her face grew more and more shocked, confused, slightly aroused at one point and finally slightly disappointed.

"Well" Celestia asked, awaiting her opinion. Cadence stood, that look of disappointment still on her face. She put a hoof on Tia's hoof.

"Aunt Celestia…I really hope you realise what you did" she said, shaking her head slightly. Celestia glared at her trotting form as it headed for the door.

"And what's that supposed to mean" she demanded. Cadence didn't answer, instead she just kept trotting.

"I'm going to see if Luna's alright" she said. Celestia's glare turned to a death stare as Cadence continued trotting.

The Alicorn princess of love pushed through the golden door, closing it behind her. When it was shut she sadly shook her head. Her aunt had a way with looking past her own flaws, looking over her own faults and seeing what everypony else did and bending it to her defence. She'd done it before, once or twice, some more major than others. Cadence opened Luna's door softly, peering inside and finding darkness peering back. She trotted inside and closed the door behind her.

"Luna" she said quietly, trotting towards the bed and looking over it; she could faintly see the outline of the princess of the night's body. Her horn lit up in a light, baby blue glow and she cringed sadly; Luna had obviously cried herself to sleep, and judging by the large stain of water next to her eyes and head, she had cried a lot. More than a lot. But what confused her was that she had a slight smile on her face. She raised her hoof and nudged her slightly to awaken her. "Aunt Luna" she cooed. The dark mare stirred in her sleep before her eyes fluttered open and she found Cadence's glow meet her, her light dimmed down so it wouldn't strain her eyes.

"Oh, C-" she gave a small, cute yawn, Cadence coming close to mimicking Rainbowdash's signature 'squishy face' in response "Cadence" she tried again. "It's good to see you" she greeted as her hoof went up and wrapped around her neck and pulled her in for a quick hug, her drowsy state almost making her fall out of the bed before Cadence eased her back in. "What brings you here?" Cadence hopped onto Luna's bed and sat next to her.

"I was just talking to Celestia" she said, Luna's face suddenly growing depressed as she plopped her head down onto the pillow again "and she told me about what happened" she revealed. Luna should have been bothered or concerned by this but didn't really give a damn; she knew that her sister had started it and wasn't going to let anypony tell her different.

"My sister can be a bitch sometimes" Luna muttered. Cadence smiled slightly at her aunt's choice of words.

"Don't tell her I said this but…" she laid her head down next Luna's so she could look into her in the eye "she really can" she agreed. Luna seemed to brighten up a bit, her smile slight but there. "I want you to know aunt Luna; I'm on your side, Celestia seduced you and…well we needn't go into details" she mumbled, a small blush on even the love goddess's face at their debauchery. Luna offered a small smile in response.

"Thank you Cadence; it feels good to know I have somepony on my side" she said. Cadence nodded in response, silently welcoming her to her support.

"Aunt Luna…Shiny told me about a stallion named 'Blood Moon'. Who is he, because from what Shining Armour told me, he sounds like pretty bad news" she said. Luna huffed slightly.

"There's neither good nor bad when it comes to Blood Moon; he's a…a beautiful monster, the shadow that distinguishes darkness from light. He's the bad guy that works for good ponies" she answered slightly poetically. "He's was our foalsitter, with a heart of gold and pure darkness at the same time, a truly kind psychopath" she finished.

"That was beautiful" Cadence murmured. Luna smiled slightly.

"Thank you."

"Auntie, I don't want to ask Celestia right now…so can you tell me what he was like? Blood Moon, because you make him out to not be a so bad stallion, but Celestia makes him sound like the next Discord" she said. "So could you tell me what he's like? Please" she asked, her eyes pleadingly wide. Luna smiled, glad that she was older than somepony around here so she could tell them stories.

"Alright Cadence, since you asked so nicely" she giggled. "Anyway, the first thing to know about Blood Moon…"