The disappointing results of his mission to Ponyville still tasted bitter on Shining Armor’s lips. He had returned to Canterlot, expecting Princess Celestia to immediately debrief him, perhaps even dismiss him. Instead, Silken Flight was waiting for him alone, a handwritten note from Princess Celestia to prove her orders came direct. He was to take the rest of the night off, and spend it with Princess Cadence, providing she cared to have his company.

And Shining Armor was grateful for Cadence’s company that night. It had been too long since Luna had taken her to explore the north, to hunt for signs of something they only called 'the wolf'. He must have laid awake for half the night, tracing the lines in her neck with his idle fingers, relishing in her warm body and close contact beneath his sheets.

When he awoke, it was to her fingers tracing the lines of a still fresh bruise on his chest, where Trixie had throw him into the wall, or one of his soldiers. The fight had collapsed into chaos so quickly, he almost couldn’t recall how quickly she had pulled his ambush apart. But that was the past, and his one love was softly cooing a lullaby. "And hush now, my little pony. Let go your fretful dreams. The Princess' and their consorts watch over yee. By day, by night, in dreams or any fright~. Start Swirl brings truth to light, Luna drives away the horrors of the night. Celestia guides the dawn, and leads us ever on~."

Smiling up at the mare, Shining Armor twisted around in her arms, soft planting a kiss on her throat. But something in her song nagged at his mind, and he looked up into her enchanting eyes. "I know challenging things like nursery rhymes is more Dusk’s territory, but it says the Princess' had consorts, yet only Starswirl is named. Who was Princess Celestia's?"

Blushing at his kiss, Cadence wrapped her wings around the stallion’s body under the sheets, pulling his body closer to her own and shaking her head. "I'm no historian, Shining. Celestia has told me about a few of her past consorts. Probably to help me understand why she rarely makes them publicly known, why she keeps her children mostly private and secret."

Armor snuggled in closer to the mare's strong arms, shaking his head. "Except Blueblood."

Cadence laughed gently, shaking her head. "Well, Blueblood is Blueblood. I don’t think even Princess Celestia has dealt with quite so... unique a stallion as him."

Snorting with laughter and hardly attempting to suppress it, Armor let his voice drop to a low tone, nearly mumbling in prayer. "And Celestia help us, I hope no one else will ever have to!"

Leaning in, Cadence dragged her lips in a series of tender kisses over the right side of his jaw. In the distance, the university bell began to ring six am, causing the alicorn to pause in her affection to her stallion. Lingering on his eyes, she asked the question they both knew was coming. "Should we go together? She is usually the most alert first thing after sunrise... but, she is also more irritable."

Letting his eyes linger on her own, Shining Armor lifted a hand to stroke his thumb across the line of her jaw. “You’d come with me? And risk her anger?”

Leaning into his touch, Cadence cupped his hand to her cheek, but her eyes went fierce. “Of course, if I had to, I’d fight her for you. You should know that Armor.”

For a moment, Armor had no words. Yet as she held him close and stroked his hand across her cheek, he found the words that fit. “I love you Cadence.”

Lyra groaned as Minuette’s hands began to work, the oil and liniment from Lyra’s medical pack added a strong and lingering mint scent to the air, and Minuette’s fingers worked that soothing oil into the kinks in her shoulders. Shuffling her quill across the letter on her desk, Lyra couldn’t help but wince a little, enjoying the younger mare’s soothing attention.

A sudden knocking at the door caused both to freeze up, staring at one another as a soft voice spoke through the door. “Minuette? Lyra? I know its early, but I couldn’t sleep and got some pastries from the Cake’s Bakery.”

Twisting around in place and searching around the room, Lyra’s eyes caught the heavy lilac bathrobe hanging from a hook on the wall. Holding a finger to her lips to silence Minuette from answering, she stood up, peeling her legs out of the sweat stained leather armor, throwing it to her assistant before rushing to pull on the bathrobe. “It’s not too early. Please, just let me put on a robe. Minuette was just helping me put on some ointment on my back.”

Catching up quickly, Minuette shoved the armor studded leather pants under the bed, along with the matching jacket. While Lyra rushed to pull on the robe to cover her naked body, Minuette had changed into a simple white pair of shorts and a tight and clingy t-shirt. Taking the extra few seconds she had while Lyra pulled on the robe, Minuette collected Lyra’s field bag, as well as the rest of their gear, quickly moving to toss it all beneath her bed. Giving Lyra a nod as the older mare turned to check with her to insure they were ready, Minuette spoke up, making sure to be just a little too loud, so Bonbon would hear. “I’m sure she was just concerned, it’s okay for you to stay a few days, cousin.”

As Minuette moved to open the door, Lyra returned to her chair, smiling to herself, but suppressing it. “I forgot my cover story. Thank you for the reminder, Minuette.” As her eye turned to the letters upon the desk, they suddenly took on a whole new meaning. Resorting the pile so no important information was visible, Lyra’s pen began to scribble upon the page, while her free hand dragged its nail just below her eyes, to redden her cheeks and cause her eyes to water a little.

Stepping through the door, Bonbon had placed the freshly baked treats, which were still steaming hot, onto a platter, some of the rich fruit filling spilt from a split in one of the strawberry danishes. Smiling to the mares, Bonbon would shake her head, her voice whisper-quiet. “I’m really sorry girls, I know things in town haven't been very quiet.” Placing the platter of pastries on the desk beside Lyra, the mint scent of the ointment was almost strong enough to overwhelm the aroma coming from the baked goods. Wincing a little, Bonbon put a hand on Lyra’s own, her voice whisper-quiet. “Dear, if you ever need to talk in private, please let me know. I know about stallions.”

Lyra couldn’t totally suppress a wince. “Why do they always use that as the first cover story to be established? It’s effective in suppressing most questions, but it creates so many misconceptions.” Turning in place on her chair and smiling to the watchful landlady, Lyra shook her head. “No no, it’s quite okay, really. I was just trying to write a letter to his mother. We were such good friends, see. And I wanted to try to tell her, personally.”

Bonbon had seen Lyra’s attempt to suppress her wince, and gave a little sigh, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, dear. I understand though. While I wasn’t so close with my stallion’s family, his sister worked at the clinic I went to when he-“ Bonbon went quiet, and shook her head, catching her breath. “I’m sorry, you don’t need to hear more painful stories right now. Have some pastries, and let the liniment do its work. If Minuette hasn’t told you already, Ponyville’s Spa is run by two sisters who are very good at respecting privacy.”

Minuette smiled, stepped forward, and snatched up one of the flakey pastries and took a small nibble before speaking up. “I took advantage of a few hours of quiet the other night, we have a private room booked for just before noon today. But thanks, Bonbon, it was exactly what I was thinking as well.”

Placing the platter of pastries on the desk beside Lyra, Bonbon gave the mares a warm smile. "Well, eat up then girls! Fiddle Faddle said her roof was leaking, so I'm off to the labor board. I'm sure somepony with a little skill with a hammer will be free now that harvest is over!"

Lyra cocked her head over her shoulder, looking at the soft smile of the landlady. Shaking her head, she had to ask. "This early? Even in Canterlot, most of the labor board offices don't open to the public until seven bells at the earliest."

Giggling a little, Bonbon shook her head. "Oh no, Ginger Gold has a box on her door so you can drop notes off before she gets up. I'll be back in about ten minutes. Do take care, and if you need me, I'm right downstairs."

Dusk lowered his pen, folding up the letter he had been writing and slipping it into his outbox. Barb would find it when she got up, and send it off to Princess Luna. Dusk already had more important matters on his mind, most of all, Lyra’s sudden appearance in Ponyville. “She was in most of Shining’s classes at Starswirl U. I’d hardly know her otherwise, so why here, why now? There must be a reason. A story behind why she showed up so suddenly, with military grade anti-magic rings. I can’t wonder any longer, I need answers. Now.”

Looking out the library window, Dusk could see the first hints of sunrise in the distance. “Must be six in the morning or so. The fact that AJ is still asleep suggests it is still a little early. No clue where Lyra is staying, but she was with Minuette before Trixie attacked, so I’ll start there.” It took Dusk no time to find the library’s latest copy of the residential records submitted to city hall. Flipping through the thin booklet, Dusk froze, his eyes lingering at the information listed. “It makes sense. Bonbon. She rents rooms out in her house, and the neighbouring one she owns, but that’s mostly just to keep herself busy. She travels to Canterlot a lot, has some job there, something to do with making movies, which means anyone renting from her gets a lot of privacy, and can come and go without anypony really paying much attention.” Just as Dusk was about to slam the book closed, another detail pulled his mind back, making him pause to reread the dates. “Two months to the day. She moved to Ponyville two months to the day after Princess Luna returned.” Slamming the book closed, Dusk knew where he was going. No more wondering, it was time for answers.

Shining Armor again lifted a hand to tug at his collar, his dress suit was always just a little too tight around his throat. Cadence immediately stepped in and pushed his hands out of the way, her fingers cupping the collar of his suit jacket and tugging it around a little before flattening down the ruffles with two dragging strokes of her open palms. “Stop fidgeting, Shining, and you really need to stop putting off getting your dress uniform properly tailored.”

Holding still as Cadence straightened up his clothing, Shining gave his answer in an even tone while admiring the mare’s pristine, lacey pink dress. “I might occasionally need a suit for important public meetings, but its hardly a major part of my work. No reason to waste time or money on suits I’ll never need. Besides, you look far better in fancy clothing than I ever will.”

Leaning in close, letting her lips linger on his cheek, Cadence cooed to the stallion. “But, I like how you look in a good suit. And a properly tailored one? Mmmmm, I just can’t wait to see that.”

Blushing at the suggestive sounds the mare cooed into his ear, Shining gave her a soft hug around the hips. “Then I’ll make an appointment. For you, Cadence, I’d do anything.” Just as Shining leaned in to place a soft kiss to the mare’s lips, a throat cleared across the room. Wincing, Armor looked over, realizing Silken stood across the room, watching them. Leaning up just a little, he gave Cadence a soft kiss, not the deep and lingering one he longed for. Drawing back and turning to look to the spy, he gave her a nod. “I take it they are ready?”

Rolling her eyes and tapping her foot, Silken Flight crossed her arms over her own chest. “Oh, no not really. They just sent me here to watch you two make kissy faces for fun.”

Grinning, Cadence shook her head and leaned in, planting another light kiss to the shorter stallion’s cheek. “See! She does think I’m cute. I told you so.” When Silk started to lift a hand and respond, Cadence burst out in soft laughter, unable to hold up her act. “Oh relax, Silkie! I know you’re heart belongs to another princess, but it’s cute to see how badly you hide it!”

Shocked at Cadence’s spontaneous invention of a nickname for her, Silken Flight took a step back and tried to hide a dark blush at the younger mare’s piercing deduction of her feelings. Shaking her head and trying to wave her hands dismissively, Silk pressed for them to change the subject. “Rather than waste the Princess’ time with talk about who was making kissy faces at whom, let’s get in there so Princess Celestia can toss Shining out the window, okay?”

Accepting Cadence’s hand into his own as he stepped towards the open door, Shining Armor gave her finger’s a strong squeeze. “Thanks, Silk. Lead on.” Of course, Shining could have guessed where Celestia and Luna waited for him. It was early enough, so they were both still in Celestia’s lookout, sharing a morning tea after the extreme effort of sunrise.

A scowl crossed over Celestia’s lips as Shining and Cadence entered, her evening tea replaced with heavy, black morning coffee, the steam radiating off it in a torrent of wisps. Cupping both hands around the bottom of the cup, she gave Cadence a single nod before speaking up. “First of all, welcome back, granddaughter. My sister has told me all about your trip, we will talk about it more when we’ve dealt with the headstrong colt.” Silencing herself with a long pull from the thick ceramic cup, her eyes only now acknowledged Shining’s presence.

Stepping forward and drooping to kneel, Shining expected something harsh, the dismissive hello to Cadence making it clear he had earned her fire. Kneeling, and without meeting her gaze, he spoke up, his voice attempting apologetic while aiming for an even tone. “Princess, I know my headlong rush to my brother’s aid ended up doing little to help the situation, but I ask for some measure of mercy, knowing the pain of loss as strongly as you do, you must understand why I did something so foolish.”

It was Luna who answered, Celestia’s eyes were still weary with signs of a poor sleep. Leaning forward and tapping the tip of the stallion’s horn, her voice was softer than Celestia’s, but only just. “We have talked, and have considered your actions. You are right, sir knight, but our sister warned you why you could not help and you went anyways. Mine sister has used up too much mercy as of late on others who did not learn their lessons well.”

Lowering her cup to rest on its platter, Celestia let her fingers stroke Shining’s hair, her voice kept to a nearly indifferent tone. “As you’ve duties to fulfil, we have decided not to get in your way. You are the Captain of my guard, and as such, I trust your judgement… but it would seem to a fault. You’ve avoided two of your duties, and we mean to use them to correct your behavior. First, a proper speech and presentation is needed for the population of Ponyville. Since it was your troops who were injured the most during Nightmare Moon’s attack, and who received so much help from the denizens of Ponyville, I have decided it is only appropriate for you to show your gratitude.”

Shining couldn’t hide the exhale of relief as he realized she clearly planning to keep him around. Somewhere, a part of him still didn’t really believe it totally. A public speech? He hated them, but Princess Celestia was right: he owed the people of Ponyville, they had opened their homes to his men and cared for them, even while Nightmare Moon still attacked their town. “Appropriate, Princess. I-”

Luna cut him off, pushing a thin ledger into his face. “We are also dissatisfied with your reports on your prison population. We know you only spend a day a month accessing your charges, but the fact that so many have yet to be reviewed by you personally disappoints us. We have selected two for you to interview. Silken Flight will accompany you, to learn herself and hopefully add to what you may gather from them. One is the newest member of your life wing, the griffon Gilda.”

Accepting the book and flipping to the first bookmark, Shining was met with a face he had already seen. He had been planning a visit for her very shortly, but the Trixie situation had delayed that trip. Flipping to the second bookmark, Shining looked up to the Princess, unable to hide how he he began to sweat. “But this other one, he-”

Luna shook her head, her voice very serious. “He is real. You will find no reports on his crime. No lists of his sentence. No details of his life. But he is waiting, and you will be the first warden to interview him. The ‘Demon of Tartarus’ is real, and you’ll have the honor of being the first warden to even see him face to face.”

Dusk’s knock at the door was light, rapid, and even. He had even made the excuse of stopping at the Cake’s, but when they told him off-handedly that Bonbon had been in, he knew he needed a different excuse. Their selection of chocolate molds had been limited. Except for birthdays, they didn't have many occasions for them to keep them in stock. With Pinkie Pie’s help, Dusk had turned the tables on that headache, by managing to use birthday letter molds to make a somewhat suitable welcoming basket. Letters, in a rich mixture of dark, milk and white chocolates, now decorated a platter, spelling out the simple message: “PoNyville welcomeS aNy gueSt!” Dusk had made sure the small N and S molds disappeared just after they started, much to Pinkie’s frustration. The message was subtle, anypony who saw it would just assume the batch was rushed.

As Bonbon opened the door, her eyes shot from Dusk to the basket, and back again. “Oh… dear. You see, Dusk, it’s just. Well. She-”

From the stairwell, Minuette spoke up, her voice kept low, but welcoming, not worried. “It’s okay, Bonbon. He is a friend from school. Lyra and his brother used to date years ago. It might even cheer her up to see a friendly face.”

“I knew it! Anypony who knew Shining, who knew Cadence, would have known that they had been dating for ages. Minuette, you played your cards too openly, does this mean you’ve been replaced?” Dusk shut his mind off, and gave the mare on the staircase a nod, his voice kept quiet. “I’d heard about poor Lyra suddenly appearing in town the other night and knew something must have gone wrong. I know it’s early, but-”

Bonbon’s posture changed in a second, from defensive house mother, to welcoming host. Stepping aside and waving him in, she was suddenly close to his side, her voice both frantic and delighted. “Oh, thank you, Dusk! The poor mare really could use a friend. I- I don’t mean to speak ill of a stallion, but the bruising on her back? I hope the princess sends the guard after him.”

As her words helped Dusk form a picture of Lyra’s cover story, Dusk looked to Minuette who was visibly wilting as Bonbon carried on with such personal information so quickly, she cut in to end the embarrassment. “It’s really okay, Bonbon. I’ll take him up. We can catch up before the spa opens.”

Bonbon backed away, but looked up to the mare on the staircase, her voice serious. “Just remember. When I rented you the room, it was for one mare plus one guest. If you choose to have more over, you keep it quiet, and leave your door open! We can’t have ponies talk!”

Waving to Bonbon as Dusk followed her upstairs, Minuette offered him a small shrug before ushering him into her room. Taking the basket from him and speaking a little too loudly in case her landlady was listening, she gushed praise over the chocolates. “Such a kind idea, Dusk. Really!”

Lyra turned in her chair, her arms folded defensively across her chest while she watched him. The soft hue of her robe didn’t add to the intimidation factor, but for a moment, Dusk was impressed. For all that she was sitting down and watching him, the mare did look like an iron wall. Her gates barred to his questions and presence. Speaking in a soft enough tone to avoid Bonbon overhearing them, Dusk stressed his words in just the right places. “I’m sorry to hear you took the worst of the last few days, Lyra. I hear she did a real number on your back.”

Without missing a beat, Lyra responded, her eyes showing no hint of confusion at his words, no opening. “He was a bastard, Dusk. Nowhere near as good to me as your brother. I really should have stayed with Shining, such a kind stallion. But he only had eyes for Princess Cadence.”

Minuette appeared torn, turning from Dusk to Lyra before pulling a spare chair from her closet and offering it to Dusk. “Please, do sit down. No reason to be uncomfortable while we talk, right?”

Relaxing into the chair at Lyra’s side, Dusk offered a smile to the older mare, his voice lowered to a near whisper. “Funny, I don’t remember you and Shining ever having dated at SSU. Was it before I started there? I mean, there were a few months before I got moved from the youth prep school to SSU after Armor started his own classes, mostly directed towards his military training of course.”

Lyra’s eyes flared for a moment; he was getting to her, he could tell. “Of course, Dusk. I know you were so young at the time, but trust me, Shining was a proper gentleman. Now please, tell me why you’re up so early for a visit?”

Dusk leaned back, his shoulders lifting in a small shrug. “Nothing really, just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were okay. I was about to send some letters to Princess Celestia on the topic of the strange things that have been going on in town. People coming into town on the mail train, a former classmate of mine suddenly showing up in town hoping for my help, only to be attacked by two other mares from my school. That kind of thing. You wouldn’t have anything to add that might shape my letter, would you?”

“Ahh.. I understand now. What do you say, Minuette? Do we have anything we should tell Dusk?” Turning to look to her junior, Lyra continued to stonewall Dusk, offering the stallion no extra information, no opportunity to learn anything new.

Wide-eyed at the conversation before her, Minuette began to realize how far out of her depth she really was. Deferring to Lyra’s judgement, she gave Dusk the smallest smile she could manage and shook her head. "As my cousin says, Dusk. It's a shame some classmates of yours can't get along. I'm sure they must have had some reason. Hopefully you can find a comfortable answer. Princess Celestia always was good at explaining complex situations with relative ease."

Shaking his head, Dusk stood up again, stopping only long enough to offer the mare his hand to shake. "Then, until Princess Celestia replies to my letter, consider your time in Ponyville limited. I do not enjoy ponies sneaking around behind my back. And I hate lies and half truths even more."

The sound of footsteps on the staircase broke the tense moment, and just as Bonbon rounded the corner to pass by Minuette’s room, Lyra took Dusk's offered hand, holding it and smiling up at him. "Thank you so much for coming, Dusk. It's so good to have a friend from school return. You really don't have to write the Princess just for my sake."

As Bonbon looked through the open door and smiled at them before turning to walk away, Dusk realized what she was really saying. Stepping in close to the taller unicorn, Dusk gave her the lightest touch of his horn to her own. "I promise, Lyra. I will get to the truth. No matter who I must ask. Because no pony deserves what happened to her. To be treated so poorly? No mare, no mare at all, ever deserves to be treated like that."

As he started to walk down the hall to the staircase, it was Minuette's soft voice that made him pause. "Dusk, we never meant for this to happen."

Stopping on the staircase, he gave the younger mare a smile. "I'm sorry your visit to Ponyville has gone so poorly. Maybe if things with your cousin get cleared up, we can finally invite you over for dinner. I'm sure Rarity and Applejack would enjoy getting a look into my school years." Turning away and leaving the house, Dusk headed home, the letter already forming in his mind.

"Take a note, Bronze Feather. I need to make an appointment with a tailor as soon as possible."

Even as Armor tugged at his dress suit's collar, Silken Flight couldn’t suppress her own titter of laughter. To her credit, his squire, Bronze Feather kept her face straight, a quill dancing across the page in her ledger. "Of course, sir. Should we have extra time before your appointment at the new hospital in Ponyville? We could stop and ask your brother's mare, ummm I think his letter named her Rarity? She apparently runs her own private clothing shop, maybe she can at least fix this suit jacket's collar?"

Armor laughed gently, shaking his head. "I don’t know, I remember his letter. The other mare is Applejack, a giant earth mare who runs her family farm. And I'd feel just as intrusive asking her for a bushel of fruit, let alone asking his new marefriend to do an emergency alteration to my suit jacket. I can live with it, now please, Bronze. Update me on the latest reports from Tartarus."

Silk was bored by the numbers and figures and the facts that they spent the next hour pouring over, but she kept an ear focused on their conversation. Her mercenary days had taught her hard lessons, and an army marched on its belly. Sitting up in her seat, she had to pick more of the details apart. Interrupting Armor, she inserted her way into the conversation."You keep talking about 'mining duty' and ‘short-timers’. With so few even knowing the location of Tartarus, I've never gotten the full picture. Care to help a lady out?"

There was a moment where Shining Armor almost thrilled. For all her spies’ talents, she still hadn't managed to sneak a peek into Tartarus. Leaning back in his chair, Shining gave his squire a nod. "Go ahead. Silken Flight might as well know everything you know, at the very least."

Embarrassed to be put on the spot, the young mare, hardly more than a filly, really, by Silk’s judgement, stammered for a moment before getting her footing. "O... of course, sir. Tartarus is a universal prison for all of Equestria. If a pony commits a crime, any crime, and is judged to be guilty, they are sent to Tartarus to serve out their sentence. The majority of the ponies in Tartarus are short-timers. Ponies who have committed minor offenses, assault, theft, and the like. Those assigned to Tartarus for a period of less than ten years can volunteer to work up to five days a week in Tartarus' gem mine. Every day in the mine counts as a week off their sentence, and any gems found take off additional time from everypony working that shift’s time. Plus, two hundred and forty or so years ago, Princess Celestia declared that any pony who works the mines will receive a stipend when they are released from Tartarus at the end of their sentence. It currently stands at six and a half bits per day worked in the mine."

Silk shifted her weight, looking from the filly to Shining Armor. "So ponies who commit crimes, small crimes, but crimes none the less, get paid when they leave?"

Shining Armor gave her a shrug. "Yeah, Princess Celestia explained it to me once: 'The mine teaches them the value of hard work. Once they finish their sentence and leave the jail, they are given a small monthly stipend to make the transition to normal life a little easier.' Or something like that. I'll admit it mostly works. The majority of our short-timers never commit a second crime. Only around two percent of our yearly turnover end up returning."

Looking back out the window of the chariot, Silk pressed on. "And the long-timers? The lifers?"

Bronze swallowed, shaking her head. "Most of the non violent long-timers are required to work in the mine two days a week, the two days the short-timers are given off. The violent ones are caged and evaluated on a case-by-case basis by three different psychiatrists. The lifers are mostly caged for life, given around three hours of sunlight a day before being returned to their cell."

Lifting an eyebrow, Silk looked back to the girl. "And the death row wing? In the battlefield, we don't always have the choice, the luxury of taking prisoners."

Shining stepped in, shaking his head. "Princess Celestia has long refused the death sentence. She feels it's a waste. Period."

Silken Flight gave a shrug, turning back to the window again. "Makes sense. Just don't expect it to happen in the real world."

Shining Armor gave a shrug. "We both have had to fight, often other ponies’ battles. I can respect where Princess Celestia is coming from, and whenever possible, I'll try my best to respect her wishes."

Shining’s words had caught her attention, drawn her back to the stallion's eyes. She watched him in silence for a moment before smiling. "But if you'd have been there instead of Rainbow Dash and my agents..."

Armor released a slow breath, controlling his response with an iron grip. Revealing as little of his emotions as possible. "If I had been there, we probably would be going in for one interview, not two."

Passing through a cloudbank, Silk broke the silence. "Looks like we have finally arrived.”

Dusk had only one thing on his mind as he stormed back into his library. Quill already freed from its inkwell, Dusk began to write before he even found his way into his chair.

“Dear Princess Celestia,...”

As Dusk paused, a thought returned to nag at his mind. “She had to have condoned it. Lyra admitted she was an agent for Silken Flight. Just how much of this was a test she planned for me?” Swallowing, forcing that sense of doubt away, Dusk lifted his quill again.

“I find myself forced to question what happened yesterday in Ponyville. Beatrix Lulamoon came to Ponyville, seeking my assistance, panicked and fleeing from, as she put it ‘Your plan to throw her into a cell in Tartarus’. I know you always have a reason behind your actions, but please, I need to know what Beatrix did. Why she was to be jailed? Why did two of Silken Flight’s agents assault her in the middle of town?”

Dusk let his quill hover. His mind roamed over a thousand additional questions that begged to be asked. But he knew Princess Celestia. She had her reasons, she would never tell him everything. Not if she wanted him to learn a lesson.

“Forgive me for questioning your actions, my grace, but I had few mares at school who I might have called a friend. Beatrix is gone now, and Sunset Shimmer has been missing for nearly five years. I just want to know why this was necessary. I will always be your faithful student, but some kind of answer, any kind, would bring me peace of mind.

As Dusk looked over the finished letter, drops of the ink dribbled across the edge of the page. Only as he looked at those drops did he realize his hand was shaking, and his eyes had begun to run with tears. Aggressively slamming the quill back into its inkwell, Dusk wiped his cheeks dry, he almost felt dirty, signing a letter to the Princess so differently. But he needed an answer. He needed her to take this seriously.

From the doorway, Fluttershy’s soft voice lifted, calling gently. “Um... hello? Is anyone up? I thought I heard someone breathing hard, but I didn’t want to intrude…”

Quickly folding the letter in half and shoving it into his outbox, Dusk tried to compose himself as quietly as he could. He must have left the front door open, because now Fluttershy had wandered in. Standing up and walking to meet her at the door, Dusk gave the mare a small wave. “Hello, Fluttershy. Sorry, I was just writing a letter, I didn’t realize I must have left the door open. What are you doing, wandering town this early in the day?”

Fluttershy blushed, shaking her head. “Oh, no, not at all. Rarity and Applejack sent Barb to bring me a letter this morning. So I figured I’d come over, since nopony has an appointment for their pets at my clinic today.”

Something in the quiet warm smile Fluttershy always wore touched Dusk’s heart. The stallion grinned, while he leaned into the doorframe at his side. “Well, why don’t you come inside, I am sure I can find some daisies or the like for breakfast. To tell the truth, I have not had anything to eat yet, myself.”

Shaking her head, Fluttershy took a half step back, looking down and rubbing the knuckles of her right hand across the back of her other hand. “Oh, well. I don’t want to be a bother, Dusk. Besides, if they aren’t up-”

From the staircase, Rarity spoke up, her voice almost cooing down to the pair at the doorway. “No, please stay, Fluttershy. Dusk has an open schedule for today, and I know you were saying you needed some help picking flowers sometime this week. Isn’t that just perfect?! A rare and peaceful day for Dusk to help you go flower picking. Besides, there isn’t that much time left before the weather turns and you won't be able to pick flowers until Winter Wrap Up.”

Even as Dusk looked up the staircase towards Rarity, it dawned on him, he was being set up. Shaking his head, he flashed a soft smile to the blushing pegasus. “I have a feeling it will go easier on us both if we just agree with her. Rarity has a talent for setups like this.”

Slowly nodding, Fluttershy stepped inside and returned Dusk’s grin, speaking up just loud enough for Rarity to hear at the top of the stairs. “You’re right! The last time she asked me to go to the spa, we ended up on a double date with two stallions who ‘just happened’ to be visiting the spa at the time.” Together they laughed, while Rarity watched them from the top of the staircase, grinning quietly to herself.

The heavy iron door creaked open, and three guards with blunted lances stepped through the outer door, watching the griffon shift in the dim light of her inner cage. Shining Armor stepped through that first doorway, looking over the iron walled chamber, and through the bars to the towering woman whose piercing yellow eyes followed his every movement. Lifting a hand, he waved the guards off, his voice level. “She doesn’t have any missing forks? Knives? Spoons, or plates? Then it’s fine. I don’t think she’s crazy enough to try clawing my eyes out through the bars.”

Reluctant, the three guards slowly lowered the wooden weapons, muttering to themselves and backing out of the outer cell. As space opened up, Silken Flight and Bronze Wing stepped in, the younger mare carrying a small writing desk with her. Perching on the bench behind the massive iron door, Bronze began to type, while at the same time reading from a report pinned to her desk. “Prisoner #1441347. Gilda; griffon. She had to be moved to this heavier cell when she was caught ripping the bars off a normal pen. Due to assaulting the guards who were assigned to her sunlight walk on her first day here, she gets six now instead of the normal four. And two minimum are unicorns, to ensure she can’t just break her wing restraints and harm more guards by dropping them.”

Gilda spit on the floor at Armor’s feet, her eyes unblinking and transfixed on the stallion. “You look a lot like him. Taller. A few more scars. Must have done some kinda fighting to become the warden of this hell hole. Why bring two mares in, though? Do I get to have the little one for a pet if I’m good?”

Bronze froze up for a moment, those piercing yellow eyes trapping her for just a moment. Armor snapped his fingers, his voice breaking her free of her transfixed daze. “Continue your report, squire.”

Shaken from her trance, Bronze looked back to the page before her, focusing on that to ignore the griffon’s powerful presence. “Of course, sorry sir. She continues to complain that our regimented diet is a starvation diet for a griffon. Currently, I’ve asked for someone to quietly look into it, but-”

Gilda threw herself at the bars, hissing from the base of her throat. “It’s a starvation diet! Only six ounces of meat a day!? No griffon can live off so little!”

Bronze continued, ignoring Gilda’s attempt to cut in. “- since we haven’t had a griffon in Tartarus for some time, we might have to ask the Princess, or Ambassador Velvet.”

Slowly nodding, Armor gave a quiet inspection of Gilda’s cell, and the condition she had left it in. “Beginning my notes, the prisoner is still hostile to all authority figures. Have the psychiatrists’ guard doubled to make sure she cannot threaten to harm them in any way. For now, double her meat portion, but only at dinner time, until you get feedback on the situation. Feel free to write for Ambassador Velvet’s input, but don’t bother sending it by express, it’s clear with all the energy she has, we aren’t starving her, even if it is a thin diet by her standards.” Pausing, Armor looked to Silk, his tone turning more casual, letting Bronze know she didn’t need to record this part, word for word. “Silk, did you notice how she has left her bedding intact? That she hasn’t tried to throw her toiletries at us yet? You can tell this is a measure of her sanity, she wants to be able to sleep and take a crap comfortably.”

Brought into focus, Gilda leaned into the bars, licking her lips as she inspected Silk from head to toe. “Ohhh, a bat! Rarely see your type on this side of the border. You know we let some of your cousins set up a colony inside the empire, don’t ya? Way more comfortable to live free than, you know, being just another slave to the murderer of the Night of the Red Sun.”

If Gilda’s attempt to set Silk off balance had any impact, she showed no sign of it. Leaning forward, she let her keen eyes inspect the griffon’s cell. “But her feather brush is missing, meaning she has probably traded it, or is carving it into a shiv. In either case, you’ll probably want to toss her cell and find it, or whatever she traded it for.”

Shining hadn’t seen that yet, and shot his gaze from Gilda to the very tidy collection of simple items the prisoner was given. A simple hand gesture told Bronze to quote that, word for word, and his tone returned to a more serious level. “Do you have anything you’d like to admit before the guards are forced to chain you to the wall and rip apart your cell to find whatever you’ve done with that brush?”

Frustrated at the lack of any kind of response to her jabs from Armor and Silk, Gilda stomped her foot on the ground, shaking her head. “It’s strapped to the back of the toilet. The ambassador taught me to hide my more valuable items. So other prisoners or corrupt guards can’t steal them from me. If you want, I’ll get it and show you I haven’t made a damn shiv. Your guards are good enough, I don’t want them tossing my cell more often than they gotta, my jaw still aches”

Armor leaned back against the doorframe of the cell, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head. “Alright, Gilda, you want to be candid, let’s be candid.You’re currently accused of seven major crimes, and a further five minor. I’m here to assess if we should bother giving you a trail, how many of your crimes are worth charging you with, and what chance you have of being reformed. Considering your record already, I won’t waste my breath offering you the chance of getting moved into the short-timers’ cell block, but if you want to talk to us, maybe I’ll be able to convince the psychiatrists you can at least make it as a long-timer. Give it ten? Twenty years of hard work, and maybe Princess Celestia will look at your record, if you can keep it clean, and she might take pity and exile you back to the empire. Now, does that interest you? Or do we just lock the door and throw away the key?”

For a moment, Gilda’s hands wrapped around the bars of her cell, squeezing down at the thick iron while she strained to suppress a growl of rage. As her breathing slowed, and her emotions came back under her own control, Gilda looked back up to the stallion, her voice level, but bitter. “Let me ask you one question first: is any of that not bullshit?”

As Dusk’s last sip of water cleared his throat of the remainder of his breakfast, the sound of rapid knocking pulled his attention back to the main hallway. Just as he started to push his chair back to stand, Applejack’s voice called from the front door. “Dash?!! Why are you up so early!”

Now worried, Dusk nodded to Rarity and Fluttershy, walking past both of them and stepping out into the hallway, already trying to piece together what must have called Dash to rise so early in the day. Before he made it halfway down the hallway, Dash came rushing up that same hall, forcing herself to skid to a halt before slamming face-first into Dusk’s chest. Grappling his open shirt, Dash looked up into his eyes. “Dusk, you know that clearing you and Trixie made in the Everfree? It’s growing a whole field of Black Lotus! I mean, like, mature flowers are already blooming! My weather team is FREAKED! We never had to deal with Lotus before, the Everfree is already crazy enough!”

Dusk leaned back, relaxing a little at last. Something easy to fix, at last! Thank Celestia! “Don’t worry, Dash. That is normal enough. Black Lotus grows very quickly in the presence of strong magic. I’ll put together some special tinder that the royal guard uses to burn any crops of Black Lotus that bloom up.”

Shocked, Dash took a step back, looking over to AJ and back to Dusk, in disbelief. “Dusk, you want me to set fire to the Everfree?? Don’t you realize how crazy that sounds!? We’d NEVER be able to control a blaze that remote, and I wouldn’t want to risk my team having to spend that much time out in the middle of such a dangerous place!!!”

Dusk shook his head, placing both hands on Dash’s shoulders, his voice lifting to try and soothe her worries, and stop her panicking. “Dash, Dash! Calm down! This stuff is very specifically made. You could dump this on AJ’s thickest, driest grove, and you’d never manage to light a spark. Trust me, all you’ll have to do is scatter this over the clearing of Lotus flowers, and watch as the fire spreads through the crop.” About to step away from Dash, Dusk was about to step away from Dash, when he noticed AJ scowling at him. It then dawned on him, that she took his comment way too seriously, forcing him to wave his hands defensively at the agitated mare. “Not that I’d ever advise dumping ANYTHING on AJ’s grove without double or triple checking for her permission!”

At last relaxing, Dash leaned back, only to end up resting her back against AJ’s crossed arms. Looking up to her taller friend, Dash quickly caught up with Dusk’s pointed comment, snapping her head back to Dusk and nodding heavily. “Of course! Never even considered it for a second! I swear!”

As AJ relaxed, Dusk turned to wave for Dash to follow him back to the kitchen, his key for the basement laboratory pulled from an inner pouch of his shirt. “Come on, Dash, I’ll mix up a batch if you help me throw this together quick enough, I can still go flower picking with Fluttershy.”

As they passed through the kitchen, Dash snorted, her voice a little too loud. “What, you’re going on a date with Fluttershy? How nice! So wha-"

The sudden cry of shock from Fluttershy on the other side of the kitchen pulled Dash’s attention back across the kitchen, to the two mares sitting together at the table. As it dawned on Dash, Dusk paused, twisting the key in the lock to the basement door, before speaking up quietly. “No. We are going flower picking. Fluttershy needs help collecting some herbs for her medicine supply.” Once he had stared Dash in the eyes for long enough, he turned to look to Fluttershy, offering the bashful mare a smile. “Right, Fluttershy?”

Reassured by Dusk’s serious tone, and the way Dash dropped the topic when he stared her down, Flutters sat back a little, giving him a small smile and a nod. “Uh huh, I need to stock up badly before winter comes! Do you know how hard it is collecting roots and herbs once the snow starts falling?”

Dash gave Fluttershy a nod, now very aware of the glare that Rarity was giving her. “Of course I do, Fluttershy! You asked me to help you just before last Winter Wrap Up, remember? Man, that was a damn mess!” Waving goodbye to Fluttershy, Dash turned and took Dusk's arm, quickly moving down the stairs while making a mental note to herself. “Watch what you say at Dusk’s place, there are WAY too many other mares around every corner!”

Thankfully, Dusk had all the supplies he needed to put together the Lotus blight on hand, and with Dash’s help, he would make up a five pound batch of the grey powder. Leaving a small pile of the pitch on a tin tray, Dusk lit a match, letting it hover over the dusty mixture. “The best part of this is that it is very fire resistant. But…” Dusk unlocked a small drawer on his laboratory desk, pulling out the empty pouch that Lyra’s Black Lotus petal had been in. Using a pair of tongs, Dusk lifted a tiny chunk of the powder to rub against the outside lip of the bag. Instantly, the mixture of powder and a nearly clear oil that had coated the inside of the pouch resulted in blue-green flames that licked every dribble of that nearly clear oil. Spreading quickly, it burned out just as fast in only three seconds. Lifting the pouch, Dusk let Dash inspect it, grinning at the mare. “And like that, it’s gone. Very safe, only spreads where Lotus oil has collected, and it doesn’t burn hot enough to set anything but Lotus on fire.”

Shocked that an open flame got no response, yet the slightest contact with the clear oil light up and burned out so quickly, Dash could give only one answer. “Man, Dusk you make all this science gibberish awesome! Can you do the same thing with other fire stuff? Cause we could totally use a safe fire resistant torch of some kind. Carrying metallic lanterns during a thunderstorm is WAY unsafe, ya know?”

Dusk shook his head, giving a sigh. “Sadly, there really isn’t a lot of choice when it comes to other things you can make a lantern from. Most metals are too attractive to the electricity in a storm, and most other materials are too flammable, they can’t handle the heat of a strong flame. I’ll try looking into it, Dash, But I can’t promise any miracles.”

Sealing the lid on the jar, Dash looked at the grey powder, giving Dusk a shrug. “Nah, you’ve done a fantastic job on this already. I’m sure if anypony can figure out a safe torch, you’ll manage it. I’d better go deal with that Lotus field, before anything from the Everfree Forest tries giving them a taste.”

Sudden joy spawned in Dusk’s eyes, and the stallion turned, grabbing Dash’s wrist, stopping her from leaving just yet. “Dash, before you sprinkle this, do me a favor? Look to see if you can find a Blue Lotus flower. They are really rare, but are way safer to handle than the Black Lotus. I’d like to give one to Fluttershy, I think it would make her happy.”

Laughing gently, Dash stepped in, lightly nudging Dusk in the ribs. “So it is a date?”

Shaking his head, Dusk gave Dash a shrug. “It’s a setup by Rarity and AJ. If I had to guess, they probably hope to make Fluttershy a little more comfortable spending time alone with me. She is a sweet girl, but painfully shy.”

Dash gigglesnorts, lightly punching Dusk in the shoulder. “I’ll take a look for you, Dusk. Fluttershy was a friend back at Cloudsdale, I’d love to see her happy.”

Shining Armor slammed the ledger closed, wincing with frustration. "Alright, Gilda. Enough going around in circles. You admit that you planned to kidnap Dusk and Rainbow Dash," He paused, then gave in as it was clear the griffon intended to interrupt him once again. "As war trophies, I'm sure your emperor might have been impressed... if you'd have successfully completed the act. We also have Rainbow Dash's confession, that adds three cases of sexual assault on top of your other crimes. At this point, I really only see two options. We take your case to Princess Celestia for judgement. With the depth of your crimes, I doubt she would offer any mercy: a guaranteed life sentence."

Gilda gave a snort of derision, arms crossing over her chest, while her lip curled up. "Right, and since you dweebs are too scared to give me a chance through trial by combat-"

"Because we don't believe in trial by combat, your other choice is simple: accept a 25 year conditional sentence based on good behavior. Two days a week in the mine, and regular positive reviews from your psychiatrists. One of my guards will deliver you a copy of my notes on your case. You've lots of time to consider the matter."

As Shining Armor turned to walk away, Silken Flight spoke up for the first time in more than an hour. "Of course, she does have a third option. Princess Luna has authorized me to present her a last chance at a pardon."

Shocked, momentarily enraged by the suggestion that Princess Luna might just let Gilda off, Armor was left stammering while he watched Gilda lean back and assess the mercenary. Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she finally broke the silence to address the offer. "Oh, right. I'm SO sure that Princess Luna wants to give me my freedom, no questions asked."

Stepping in close to Silk, Shining Armor attempted his best to control his emotions, and keep to a whisper. "Why was I never informed about this third option? And how can you offer freedom to this mon-" Shining Armor cut himself off, forcing himself calm, to quiet down his angry tone. "How can they offer freedom to some griffon who crippled my brother?"

Leveling a silent glare at Shining to silence the stallion, Silk stepped around him and leaned into the bars. "Be careful, Gilda. This is a limited-time offer. You're only getting this offer because I know your uncle. I remember his first name, and the reputation he had before the new emperor chose to make him the focus of his resentment. If you're half as smart as your uncle, then you already know what we want. The question is, will you do it?"

Gilda spit into the corner of her cell, shaking her head in distaste. "If he was any kind of warrior today, he would've taken a dagger and gutted the bastard for taking his name. But to spy for your Princess? They may have disowned me because I'm inconvenient right now, but the ambassador raised me. I'll rot before I betray my homeland."

Lifting her shoulders in a half-shrug,Silken Flight began to walk away, her voice kept to a mild tone. "Then rot. The offer stands and you can dwell on it while going over Shining's offer. And trust me, you'll be hard pressed to find a fourth option."

Furious, Armor followed Silk from the cell, with Bronze scrambling to keep up. As she rounded the corner of the cell block, Silk stopped, her piercing gaze inspecting the stallion’s barely-contained rage. Calmly placing her hands on her hips, she gave Armor a nod. "Alright, now you may feel free to fume and spit in futile rage."

Instead, Armor turned to his squire, his voice nearly as quiet as a whisper. "In your experience, is the offer she made to Gilda worth it?"

Stunned to be called into the middle of their conversation, Bronze Feather stammered for a moment, her wide eyes attempting to stare at both simultaneously. "I- bu- that is..." As she realised she did have an opinion, she swallowed back the lump in her throat, and continued. "As much as I fear saying it, yes sir. I think Princess Luna and Silken Flight are right. We get so little real information from the Griffon Empire, we'd be blind if they started trying to build up a new raiding army, even worse if they decided to invade. A spy in the ambassador’s house would be invaluable, even if Gilda was the worst possible choice."

Armor's breath had continued to slow, to even out and calm as he listened to the mare. As much as he wished to argue any of her points, in the end, he simply gave the girl a single nod. "You are a lot smarter, and more even tempered than your young age suggests." Turning to face Silk again, he gave her a lingering glare. "I dislike the idea. Immensely. I have a number of reasons that tell me she would only betray us and use it as leverage to get in good with the ambassador and the emperor. But you are also right. We are blind and mostly deaf to the current emperor’s true intent. A spy in their ranks could prove invaluable."

Silk shrugged, unphased by the stallion’s doubt. "Understandable. Our own list of concerns was nearly as long. We have already begun preparing a few countermeasures to keep abreast of the situation should it ever become an option. Now let’s finish here, if i see you fight with that collar one more time, I'll adjust the damn collar for you by cutting it off."

The breeze whipped through the open field, causing the wild long grass to bend and twist in the wind. Dusk moved to turn up the collar of his fall trench coat, before his eyes settled on Fluttershy, her pink ponytail hanging down her back across the thin yellow windbreaker that went down to her knees. With a flower basket resting on her right arm over her elbow, Fluttershy picked at the yellow lilies that had grown together with a wild patch of morning dew. Stepping to her side and kneeling beside her patch of flowers, Dusk let a finger inspect the Morning Dew's petals. "No good, right? The white spots near the stem show the chill has gotten to them, right?"

Grinning, Fluttershy gave him a nod, wrapping a thin silk cloth around the lilies, before tying them off with a thin silk ribbon. "Uh huh. It's a shame because I only have a small space in my greenhouse for herbs, so I don't have much space to grow things like Dew. Maybe next year, I'll get Harry and Angel to build a bigger greenhouse..." Fading off into thought, Fluttershy contemplated what to do about her greenhouse.

Charmed by the way talking about herbs distracted Fluttershy from her usually private nature, not to mention the small but thoughtful smile she wore while deep in thought. Shaking his head, Dusk leaned in, shifting around a few of the petals. "If you want, Fluttershy, I could take a look at the plans for your greenhouse expansion. With the right rigging, you could add a few hanging planters to add on one-third more space without reducing the light the lower shelf receives."

Delighted, Fluttershy grinned openly up to him, nodding enthusiastically. "Hanging planters! Of course, such a simple idea and it would greatly expand the types of plants I can grow for the critters! You'd never know it, but Angel gets a little grumpy if we run out of carrots in the winter."

Dusk suppressed a fit of outright laughter, if only for her sake, giving the mare a nod. "I'm sure he doesn't mean it, Fluttershy. It's probably just the bad weather dragging at his heels."

Pouting a little to herself, Fluttershy rambled on. "Not to mention how sleepy Harry the Bear gets. The poor fellow ends up sleeping the whole winter away in the cave he built in my root cellar."

Shining Armor's hand was drenched with sweat. The ancient pathway into old Tartarus, the original jail, had been carved in haste, even his inexperienced eye could tell from the rough tool marks in the stone. In places a natural underground hot spring had been pieced, resulting in small streams of boiling water cascading into the darkness. The atmosphere was damp, and mold tormented the nose. Worse had been the key. Shining Armor had seen it before, inside the iron box that rested inside the warden’s safe. He had never opened that box before, he never even expected the key to be made of solid mithril as thick as his gauntlet. And the letter. Four signatures he had never expected to see together on any page but a history book.

"Dearest Warden. Thine duty is the most dire we have ever set before any of our servants. Should all four of we who hath signed below fall for any reason, be it old age, illness or regicide, we charge thee: this key must be melted down, and the prison known as Tartarus must be buried in melted iron or the strongest ore thee can procure! And we beg thee! Do not approach the door! Do not look through the portal! And for thine soul’s sake, never open the lock, or all life in Equestria shall surely end.

Together we sign, Princess Luna and mine consort, Starswirl the Bearded. Princess Celestia, and mine consort Cielan"

"Shining. Are you going to unlock the gate, or do we stand here and sweat?" The sweltering heat was destroying Silken Flight’s normally greatly restrained mood, even her wings had wilted, spread wide and reflexively flapping to try and stir up some kind of cooling breeze.

Lifting the massive mithril key, Shining aligned the key with the seven notches in the gate door. As he leaned against the heavy gate and prepared to struggle to force the lock to open, the sudden ease of the keys movement inside its lock. Shocked at the ease, Armor could find only one answer. "The whole lock must be made of pure mithril. The wall covering it is rusted, pitted and corroded iron, but the mithril lock works as good as new, it even feels freshly oiled." Shifting his weight into the gate, Armor leaned his body against it, forcing the straining hinge to swing the gate open.

The staircase continued down, stretching past the light that glowed from his horn. Past here, the stairs were no longer maintained, and most were coated in a thick layer of oozing green moss. The dank reek of rot engulfed them all as they continued into the pit.

Dash turned, her goggles cutting the breeze that howled through the sky over the Everfree Forest, but the cool breeze made her glad for the warmth of her wool-lined flight jacket. Giving a nod to Cloudchaser and Thunderlane, she found herself forced to yell to be heard over the wind. “Remember, keep your eyes open for anything that moves! I’m going down and delivering the stuff Dusk gave me. Remember, use your whistles, this wind will drown you out if you try just yelling.”

Nervous, Cloudchaser twisted around, pulling her whistle from inside her heavy flight jacket and placing it to her lips to give the brass whistle a test. Reassured by the rich shrill noise it raised, she looked back to Dash, her wing-beats forcing her to repeat herself when she was thrown out of position by the wind’s roaring force. “Dash, you sure this stuff is safe?? You saw what happened when Dusk let Trixie eat a single petal! Shouldn’t one of us risk going down instead?”

Grinning, Dash shook her head and thumped a fist against her chest. “Are you kidding? I’m WAY faster compared to you two, so if I go down, there is way less risk of something going wrong if I’m the one who has to flee, right?!”

Turning to Thunderlane, Cloudchaser expected to see some kind of support, instead the stallion was already watching over the forest below them. When she grabbed his arm, he gave her a small grunt before shaking his head and answering. “Dash is right. I might agree with you that she shouldn’t be the one risking her head, but she is the boss, and there is no way we could keep up with her if something comes chasing us. Let’s just get this over with, things are quiet and I want to get home before that becomes a problem, all right?”

Dash gave the stallion a salute before twisting around and adjusting her goggles, her own eyes inspecting the clearing and the collection of budding flowers that had filled it overnight. What had Dusk said before she left? “Black Lotus eats the ambient magic, plants in the Everfree Forest will bloom and grow very quickly.” Shaking her head, Dash adjusted the bottle before dive-bombing her way into the middle of the clearing.

Kneeling, Dash let her fingers stroke the buds of one of the Lotus flowers that were growing at her feet. Smiling a little to herself, it took her a moment to realize that already, dozens of the buds had spontaneously flowered in the short time since she had landed. “Freaking weird. All this trouble from some little flowers...”

Standing up again, Dash gave the lid of the jar a single easy twist, the thin wax seal popping instantly. Taking a slow breath Dash winced as the strong acrid smell filled her nose. “Ugh, I’ll definitely be glad when this is over with.” Turning slowly, she began to shake the jar with light rocking motions of her wrist, causing small wisps of the powder to sprinkle free, drifting in the calm air thanks to the trees that stood guard around the clearing, collecting on the small flowers collected at her ankles.

The effect was instant, as quickly as the powder came into contact with the flowers, it burst into flame. Dash quickly found herself forced to start hovering, the flames licking at her feet warm enough to make her uncomfortable, and the trail of fumes choked her lungs as she accidentally breathed in the plumes of the black smoke. Hovering in place and beating her wings to keep the smoke away, Dash grinned as a patch thinned out, revealing a small patch of ash where three flowers had been growing seconds ago. "Alright Dusk! Man, this stuff works like a charm."

Slowly walking around the clear circle she had created, Dash laid down another wider circle. Looking over the thin grass that had been growing in the clearing, Dash could see small brown spots and hints of heat damage where the first batch had burned. Finished with her lap, she moved to take off right away, wanting to avoid another mouthful of fumes, wanting to watch the sky this time. Thunderlane gave her a nod before returning to his watch, while Cloudchaser fidgeted with her whistle, never looking away from her half of the forest.

Dropping low again, Dash prepared to finish the rest of the clearing with a single lap of the outer ring of the clearing to finish the rest of the plants off. Halfway around, Dash's eyes caught sight of a single Lotus flower that stood out from the rest that had been growing in the clearing. With crystal blue petals, it stood out in contrast to the nearly black petals that the others bloomed. "I'll be damned! I guess Dusk is gonna get his gift for Fluttershy." Making sure to avoid hitting the area around that sapphire hued lotus, Dash finished her lap,and flew up to join her lookouts. "Just one last patch, everything clear?"

Forced to lean in and shout in Thunderlane's ear to be heard, Dash laughed when he jumped in shock, realizing he must have been watching the woods too closely and missed her approach. Flustered and stammering, he gave her a dumb nod before yelling back. "Something was moving through the south for a while, but it ran off."

When Dash turned to ask the other mare, Cloudchaser gave her a thumbs up, before turning away again. Dive-bombing back to the last patch of flowers, Dash hooked the lid in place to avoid a spill, setting the jar to the side. Slipping her hand around the base of the blue lotus flower, Dash plucked it out at the root, and stuffed it inside her fluffy flight jacket. Two sets of whistles blowing sudden sharp blasts set Dash’s skin on edge, and without thinking, she bolted back into the air, leaving the jar and five lotus flowers behind.

Circling around, she rose to join Thunderlane and Cloudchaser, her eyes hunting for what had set them off. The way the trees to the south bent and twisted made it clear, Thunderlane's 'something' had turned around and was rushing towards the clearing. Judging its pace, Dash cursed herself under her breath, she had no time to fetch Dusk’s jar. In seconds, the creature charged through the clearing beneath them, and the sharp sound of shattering glass echoed in the shockingly still air.

Defeated, Dash hung her head. In stunned silence, they watched the misshapen beast trudge deceptively quickly back into the woods. It was Cloudchaser who spoke up first. "Should we go just pluck the rest? There couldn't have been more than three or four left..."

About to answer, Dash froze, shocked as she realized something was coming from the same direction the titan had fled. The path this creature beat through the woods was far smaller, closer to the movement of a pony. Putting a hand on Chaser's shoulder to silence her, Dash watched as a cloaked figure stepped into the clearing. He, it... the cloaked shape left its hood up and knelt in the last patch of lotus flowers, a bone knife cutting each bloom off before wrapping it in an oiled leather cloth, a silent process repeated with all five plants. Harvesting finished, she? It? Took a cloth bag from inside the folds of the heavy cloak, and to Dash’s shock, sprinkled some more of that same grey powder onto the exposed roots, causing them to burst into flames.

Looking up, Dash locked eyes with the cloaked figure, then Thunderlane's voice bellowed out. "Dash! It's coming back this way!!" Breaking her focus, Dash looked to the trail the returning beast. Twisting to look back down, all Dash caught was the sudden flick of a grey and black striped tail before the cloaked pony disappeared back into the woods.

Flying higher to give the roaming titan more space, Thunderlane addressed Dash with a simple question. "What do you think, boss? Time for a rescue mission?"

Cloudchaser's gasp of shock wasn't required, but it was the final straw, Dash turned away, looking towards town. "For a pony harvesting illegal drugs in the Everfree Forest? I want to, but we can’t risk it. She clearly doesn't want to be found, I just pray to Celestia, it's nopony we know."

For a moment, Thunderlane looked to the woods, and Dash worried she might have to force him to give it up. Looking back at her and the near panicked Cloudchaser, he relented. "Alright, Dash. You're right, can't risk more lives for somepony who doesn't want to be found. Come on, Cloudchaser. You and your sister still owe me dinner for taking your shifts last week."

Still hanging onto her last frayed nerves, Cloudchaser started blindly at the stallion for a minute before shaking her head a little, her jaw falling slack. “I… well, yeah. We did promise, but, after all this? Seriously?”

Thunderlane gave a shrug, heading off towards town. “Just ‘cause I can’t cook, doesn’t mean I don’t need to eat, besides I can’t eat out every day, it gets expensive.”

Shining twisted the key in the final lock, attempting to ignore Bronze Feather's awed murmurs. The final gate had been a shock to discover, made of pure mithril ore; not even refined metal! The gate stood nine feet tall and eight feet wide, plugging the thinning tunnel. And its value was nearly immeasurable. Speaking up from her calculations, Bronze voice nearly drooled with greed. "Sir... this gate... the ore here might likely double the amount of mithril in all of Equestria..."

Silk broke the silence, shaking her head. "What I wouldn't give for even simple chain mail, let alone a suit of real armor."

Shining didn't care about the metal. He was worried about what Princess Celestia and Luna had gone so far to contain. Shoving open the door, the glow of his magic poured light over the chamber inside, illuminating most of the room, before falling dead. A iron gate split room roughly in half, and in the shadows on the far side, he could just make out the sound of a figure breath the fresh air with relish. Four sets of iron chains glowed with the power of four different magical auras. To his shock, Shining Armor could recognize two of the auras. Extending his light spell to drive away more of the darkness, his eyes following the trails of metal and magic to a set of manacles that held a fifth glow, worlds dimmer than the others. "The gold and purple magic are Princess Celestia and Luna's respectively, leaving the silver with black nodes and the yellow to be their old consorts, Starswirl and Cielan... so whose magic could last so long to still power a spell this long-"

Something was wrong. No matter how much power he poured into the light spell, something absorbed the light. No, not the light, the magic he used to power the light. The shadowed figure suddenly took several deep breaths, before speaking up in a lazy gravelly tone. "Pony... stallion... a unicorn. Mid-twenties, yet well seasoned. And two mares for dessert as well, oh my! Have the Princesses finally sent me a meal?"

Drawing his magic back, Shining lowered the light and took a step forward. The only fixture in the room, a single stool, upon which rested a thick tome, its spine bound in mithril. Ignoring some primal sense of fear demanding he flee, he shifted his gaze to the shadowy figure that dwelt in darkness, alone, nearly a mile below the surface, Shining forced himself to speak up. "I am Shining Armor, warden of Tartarus, head of the royal guard. Princess Celestia has charged me with one task today: Demon of Tartarus, will you confess your crimes against the people of Equestria?"

There was silence for a moment, then the shadowy figure snickered. This grew into a chuckle, before bursting out in outright laughter, the chilling noise sent a chilling ripple up his spine. Standing up and takIng one step forward into the light, the sound of a hoof impacting the stonework rang out. The outline cast by Shining's glowing horn lay across the wall, twin horns of ivory glittered in the light. A malicious, yet calm voice bellowed forth. "My crimes, boy? I've never committed any crime. Only your princesses’ seduction of my spineless brother saved your species from your rightful extinction. Know this CAPTAIN of the guard: One day, I will be free. And on that day, I will find you, and I will make you my first meal since that unicorn whorse gave her life to shackle my hands! And if not you? Your children. Or their children. You kind will never be safe, captain. Someday, I will be free."

Bronze Feather was writing. It was all she could do, keep busy and try not to look into those shadows. Her quill shook, and her knees nearly buckled at the raw hate that poured forth from the caged man. The sudden, soft pressure of Silken Flight’s grip on her shoulder forced her to blink, and look away from the demon, smiling up to the spymaster. “I… th-”

But Silk shook her head, stepping past the girl, stepping forward to stand at Armor’s side. Looking up at the monster, she spoke with authority. “If we have to, we will drown you here for another thousand years, demon. However long it takes for you to break.”

The Demon of Tartarus reared up and kicked out with both legs to smash at the bars of his prison, revealing the chains binding his legs no longer bound him to the wall, the shattered ends making a terrible cacophony of noise as metal hit metal. "Two of your guardians are dead, mare! How much longer can the last two manage to hold me back?!!"

Fluttershy smiled up at Dusk, as she adjusted the weight of her basket off her elbow so she could accept his hand to stand back up. Even though she blushed a little, she still looked more comfortable than she had after Dash’s comments about them going for a date. “Thank you, Dusk. It’s getting late. Maybe we should head back to town? I think our baskets are more than full enough. Besides, this bouquet of flowers is getting heavy, and we should get the lilies into some water for Rarity and Applejack before they start to wilt.”

Glad to see how much her attitude had improved as they had talked over the day, Dusk looked up to the sky, examining the lowering sun. “You may be right, these days we lose the light so quickly. Besides, Shining is coming to open the new hospital today, we might as well head back to town.”

Slipping her basket to her left arm and moving to link her right arm with his own, Fluttershy offered the stallion a nod. “Then we should go. If we hurry before they make plans for dinner, we can use the cinnamon root to make some buns for dessert! Um… if you like them, that is.”

Linking arms with Fluttershy, Dusk enjoyed the feeling of her weight leaning against his side, even with the soft fall breeze blowing against them, he simply smiled down to the cheerful mare, walking from the edge of the Everfree while they retraced their steps back towards the main ‘road’ into town. A sudden harsh gust shot overhead, and when he looked up, he couldn’t help but smile. “Look at that, Fluttershy! Dash and some of the weather team are on their way back.”

When Fluttershy looked up, and offered a wave to the returning flyers, Rainbow Dash split off from the formation, twisting around and spiraling down in broad, lazy circles until she was able to land at their side. Swiftly saluting while she offered a cocky grin. “Hey there, herb hunters! I was cleaning up that ugly mess of lotus flowers and found this. Kinda different from the others, right?”

As Dash pulled the soft, sapphire blue flower from the inside of her jacket, Fluttershy’s eyes went wide, and she rushed forward, her fingers tracing a petal. “It’s so beautiful, Dash! Did you have somepony in mind to give it to?”

Looking over Fluttershy’s shoulder to Dusk, she looked apologetic for a moment, before pushing the blue lotus into her friend’s hands. “Take it. I’m no flower expert, but I figured you might like it.”

Dusk couldn’t help but enjoy the way Fluttershy was suddenly torn between accepting a gift and admiring the rare flower. Lifting it gently from Dash’s hands, she stroked her fingers over the fragile petals and smiled up to the taller mare. “Thank you so much, Rainbow Dash! I love it! To think, a sapphire lotus, even rarer than the black. Nothing magical, but it’s so beautiful!” Wrapping her free arm around Dash to hug her, she planted a light kiss to her cheek.

Shocked at Fluttershy’s affectionate attention, Dash shook her head and gave a shrug. “No problem, Fluttershy. Mind if I walk back with you two?”

Dusk laughed, stepping up beside Dash and holding out his free arm. “Tell you what, what if you tell us about the fun you had in the Everfree. We had a quiet day picking flowers, but maybe you had a little more fun?”

Dash grinned, breaking the hug with Fluttershy and linking arms with both Dusk and Shy, before she laughed boastfully. “You’d never believe it. Somepony was sneaking around the Everfree Forest, trying to harvest some of those Black Lotus flowers!” And so, Dusk and Fluttershy listened to Dash's embellished tale of her time in Everfree, with flourishes and dramatic arm gestures included.

Shining Armor rushed past some guards, ignoring their salutes, as he returned from the old dungeon. Using his magic, he pulled the key to the warden’s office from his dress suit, thrusting it into the iron door lock, while a cold sweat ran down his back. Throwing the door open and charging inside, he rushed to the safe, returning the heavy mithril key to its resting place after tossing everything else out of the deep iron safe. While waiting for Bronze and Silk to catch up, the stallion unbuckled the top three buttons of his collar, before raking a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. As soon as one of the mares was in sight, he pointed to the pile of books, his voice clearly showing the stress he was trying to repress. “The demon, please, look for anything talking of him. Any hint of another name he might be known as. Any record of where he came from. Any clue about what he did to get in here. Anything!” Turning away from the mares, he lifted the heavy tome he had found just outside The Demon’s cell, his fingers tracing the mithril binding as he moved back to his chair, and opened the book, looking through the pages while turning them with great care, the paper was brittle and incredibly fragile.

Pushing through the pile of paperwork Shining had tossed to the floor, Silk selected a random worn book and began to flip through it while speaking her mind. “His kick. The way he moves. What species is he even? Four hoofed legs? And why couldn't your light magic spread through the rest of the room so we could see him properly?”

Bronze took to sorting the loose papers, organizing the mess before trying to join them in research. As one of the guards peaked into the room, she shot a glance up, her voice sharp. “The Captain needs a drink. Get us a pitcher of water, and something with fruit.” She paused, thinking for a moment before calling out before the guard got too far out of the door. “And a bottle of whiskey.”

Shining froze, his eyes locked upon the text on his page. Only when he felt the silence press down on the room did his attention return to the questions Silk raised. “Wha-? Oh. I’m sorry, Silk. Princess Celestia told me stories as a child, I just assume they were foalstories, he is a Haurk? Something like that. What little I could see resembles the tales she told me. Think a minotaur, but four legs.” Drawn back to the book, the stallion fell silent again.

Watching him as she talked, Bronze returned the pile of papers to the safe once checking over the pile to make sure there was nothing of importance being overlooked. “My lord, I know today has already been chaotic, but what about ‘the ritual’?”

Armor winced, and lifting to pinch his brow by his eyes. For a second, he considered just skipping it today. Yet even as the thought entered his mind, he pictured the mare’s sad, innocent, and confused smile, and he knew he couldn’t. A guard entered carrying a tray with a pitcher of water and a bottle of whiskey. Pushing back his chair, he took a glass from the pitcher of water, chugging back at the cool and refreshing liquid, stopping only when he decided to peel off his suit jacket, pouring the rest of the glass over his face before turning to the small closet and removing the spare shirt he kept there. Turning back to the mares, he chugged back a mouthful of the whiskey, before buttoning up his shirt. “Alright, I’ll deal with this, you two keep looking.”

As Shining Armor left the room, Silk looked to the younger mare, her voice kept low. “What ritual?”

Bronze shook her head, smiling to the spymaster. “There is a mare prisoner here, I don’t know the full details, but the old warden’s always made note of visiting her before leaving.”

Silk furrowed her brow, already seeing several issues with the explanation. “Wait, I know Shining took over as captain of the guard only a few years ago. How old is this mare? How long has she been here? And why is she here in the first place?”

Bronze gave a shrug, shaking her head. “I… I don’t know, sorry. I’ve never talked to her. She doesn’t look terribly old, maybe twenty?” Silk shook her head, returning to her research while taking a glass of the water. “See why I wanted to sneak an agent in here? So many questions.”

Rarity sipped at the bubbly white wine, releasing a low sigh of delight. With the hot and bubbly water of the spa bath soaking up to her neck, she leaned back, until her body lay against Applejack’s chest.

Releasing a content sigh, AJ slipped both hands around Rarity’s hips, hugging her close and nibbling at the tip of her ear. “Mmmm. You were right, sugarcube. I do feel a lot better now.”

“But of course, Applejack! You worry too much about the little things; the farm is in good shape, Dusk is relaxing, on our orders, and Fluttershy is getting out and talking to people instead of hiding in her cottage. I’ve even hired the Cakes to make some dinner. They already made some treats for the new opening of the hospital, but I figured we should have something for him to eat in case he hadn’t had a chance to eat properly.”

Applejack shook her head, giving a Rarity a glare. “We could have made sandwiches, Rarity. No reason to spend more money on something simple like that.”

Twisting around in AJ’s arms, Rarity looked up into the other mare’s eyes, pouting deeply. “But, if we did that, we wouldn’t have a chance to come here and bathe together. Wouldn’t that be a shame?”

For a moment, Applejack attempted to continue glaring at the older mare who was propped up against her. Releasing a small sigh, she cupped up the other mare’s jaw and gave her a soft kiss. “Alright, ya got a point. This is nice, but, I’d rather have done it myself.”

Happy to lean into the kiss, Rarity curled up against Applejack again, closing her eyes and murmuring in joy. “When we are done soaking, is there anything we should do before heading back to Dusk’s?”

Settling back as she focused on Rarity’s breathing, Applejack considered for a while, before giving a nod. “Yes. Let’s go borrow one of the massage rooms. You can make it up to me by helping me with the knot in my back.”

“Oh my, it would be my pleasure, Applejack.” Softly giggling, Rarity let her fingers fondly brush back Applejack’s hair into a ponytail, while brushing away any knots. “Whenever you’re ready, it would be my pleasure, darling.”

The chariot roared through the sky, the lighter load, due to Shining being the only passenger, making it faster. Shining had continued to read the heavy tome, yet page after page the manual appeared to be endlessly identical. A pony was named, and then identified, and their family history was detailed. Then in the end, a single simple line was given: Killed by Tirek. “Tirek. Even that demon has a name.”

Outside, Silk had peeled off from the formation to head back to Canterlot. But Bronze was doing her best, struggling to keep up with the pace the wing of pegasi nearly ten years her elder, even though they were weighed down by pulling the chariot.

Flipping to the back of the book, Shining found the final entry, the last victim. “Polaris. Daughter of Princess Luna and Starswirl the Bearded. Mother of …” Shining Armor froze, and realization dawning on him. “Luna had a daughter, and a granddaughter? No stallion is named, but there is a foal listed. Does Princess Celestia know what has happened to Luna’s descendents? Dare I even ask?” Shaking his head, Shining flipped to the final details, tracing his finger across the line. “Lost her life in defying The Demon of Tartarus.”

Shutting the heavy tome, Shining shoved it across the chair and shook his head. “A name. That massive book and all I found was a name. Maybe a historian would like the book to draw lines between the dead and their descendants, but I give up.” As he sat in silence trying to stop his mind from racing around, a slow smile curved his lips into a grin. “Dusk. Brother, have I got a job for you.”

It took time for Shining Armor to get privacy. First, there was lunch. Then came smalltalk with the mares. Dash saved him in the end. She wanted to report to him directly about the Black Lotus smuggler in the Everfree Forest. Using that as an excuse to escape the more festive grouping, Shining Armor, along with his brother, Rainbow Dash, and Bronze Feather, headed back to the library. Shining Armor leaned back against Dusk’s desk in the library, offering a nod to the mare while Bronze Feather lifted her notebook, the older stallion continued to question the mare. “So, any other details. Just black and gray hair? Nothing else?”

Dash winced, shaking her head when all eyes turned back to her, leaving her staring at her feet and struggling to think of any other detail. “Well, I think her eyes were green, but she had her hood up, and it was dark ‘cause she was standing at the edge of the clearing, right? The cloak was kind of a faded tan color. But otherwise? I… I don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say she was an earth mare. Cause, you know, she was tall enough and had no wings or horn.”

Dusk shook his head, closing his own note book and looking up. “Well then she is not from Ponyville, Dash. Nopony in town has tail hair matching that coloration. Are there any other farms outside of town that might not be on the books? Maybe some hint of ponies who don’t want to be found?”

Dash shook her head, tapping a foot on the floor before her. “I… No. Sorry, Dusk. There was a family who was hiding just north of town before you came here, but when it was announced the summer Sun Celebration was coming to town, they came to town and bought up a lot of supplies before moving way to the south.”

Armor gave a nod in agreement. “She is right. I remember hearing about it. It’s rare that some small families of ponies will decide to go live off by themselves, but it’s still rare. Besides, a black marketer would need contacts. Connections to help them move the drug.”

Dusk gave a sigh and fidgeted with the quill on his desk. “Alright, alright. I guess all we can do is keep watching for more signs. Thanks for reporting all this to us, Dash.”

Shining gave a glance to mare, trying to decide if the time was right. As she blushed and murmured to his brother, he knew it was time to push on, stepping forward and offering a hand to the mare. “Agreed. My brother is right, we will watch for any signs of somepony selling more.” As Dash shook his hand, he nodded to Bronze Feather, who opened the door for Dash. “Now, if you can tell the others, I’d like a chance to talk with Dusk for a few minutes.”

Dash was happy to shake Armor’s hand, flashing a grin up to the towering stallion. “No problem, just a sec though.” Releasing his hand, and slipping over to Dusk, she cupped his chin and leaned in, planting a heavy kiss on his lips while her fingers raked aggressively through his hair. With everypony shocked into silence, Dash let this linger, breaking off the kiss and nuzzling his cheek, before she cooed into his ear. “Thanks for letting me steal all the credit with Fluttershy, I owe you.”

When Bronze locked the door behind Dash, Dusk stiffened, his gaze snapping back to his older brother. “Shining…”

The stallion paused a moment, shaking his head, and gestured to his assistant, his voice hardly above a whisper. “Dusk, this is very private. I haven't even cleared it with Princess Celestia yet.” The mithril-spined tome was placed on the desk before Dusk, its fragile pages and musty smell instantly capturing his attention. Leaning in closer to his brother, Shining lowered his voice to a considerably softer tone. “We found this in the oldest cell of Tartarus. There is no record in all of the warden’s journals for who he was, or what he did. But reading this, I found a name. Tirek. Can you help me, brother? Any clues you can gather might prove priceless.”

The gravity of Armor’s words were not lost to Dusk. He gave his brother a nod, and smiled up to the older stallion. “Of course. I understand exactly what you’re saying. Keep it quiet. Keep it private. Can I keep this book for now, for reference?”

Shining Armor gave his brother a nod, his hand resting on the younger stallion’s shoulder. “I would be very grateful, Dusk. Any hints about who could do everything listed in this book could be invaluable. I’d rather see another monster like this one coming ahead of time. Just in case.” When Dusk looked up, Armor shook his head, giving a sigh. “It gives no details here. Just his crimes.” The brothers shook hands, their agreement finalized: Dusk would hunt for answers to soothe his brother’s worried mind. Looking around Dusk’s office, Shining Armor gestured around the room. “With all your work for Princess Celestia, don’t you need some more help? I could leave Bronze Feather to assist you if you need help?”

Dusk laughed, shaking his head. “I will be fine, Armor. I have five mares I can ask for help, and Barb to boot. I finally understand you and Cadence, how you find such strength in one another.” He leaned in, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I love them, Shining. And the strength they give me makes me feel so strong.”

The crowd poured around Shining as he walked through the gathered ponies. The fact that nearly the entire population of Ponyville and its local farms had showed up made him worry, the thick crowd rumbling in conversation. Yet as he stepped into the crowded path that had just barely been left for him to follow to the podium, mares he had never met turned, and cheered his name, stallions gave him a nod, a salute, or even asked for a handshake. And foals of all ages rushed up, cheering and crowding around his ankles. At last, Shining Armor was seeing a hint of what the Princess must feel. “What have I done to earn this? I failed in a fight against Nightmare Moon. Surely they should be more grateful to Dusk and the Elements. They accomplished something.”

As if she read his mind, Rarity leaned in, patting his hand with her own free hand. Walking with arms linked with her stallion’s brother, she leaned up, whispering into his ear, more shouting than anything else, to be heard over the crowd. “Ever since you ordered your men to help them escape city hall, all some ponies have talked about is your dedication to the people.”

Armor was embarrassed. First she fixed the collar of his jacket, and cleaned the sweat that had soaked its fabric. Then she insisted he not walk alone through the crowded street to the the stage set up before the new hospital, soothing his frayed nerves with her calm and smiling disposition. Looking down into her eyes, he shook his head, but couldn’t hide a smile for the mare. “I did nothing, my men were the ones who did the real work.”

Uncrossing her arms from his as they reached the stage, she gave him a look. “And who was the one who led those men?” Fingers straightening his collar and smoothing down his hair, she gave him a nod. “Now go say hello. You don’t need to be long or fancy, just say thanks for their reception, and open the hospital.”

Armor smiled, and leaned in giving her a hug before heading up onto the stage. “Dusk has good taste. She is almost as good at making me feel both like a foal and like everything is within my grasp as Cadence is.” As he walked across the stage, the crowd grew noisy again, roaring with delight as they cheered him on.

He paused beside the podium, while a unicorn mare with thick shades leaned in close, yelling into his ear while holding a hand between them and the speaker. “You dealt with mics before? Good. Then remember, anything you say, even under your breath, will echo across the crowd.”

Shining leaned forward, hovering over the mic while he watched the cheering crowd. After a minute, he lifted a hand, waving to the crowd. Almost instantly, a hush spread over the gathered ponies, and he spoke into the mic. “Hello, Ponyville. How can I thank you all for such a warm welcome?” He paused, laughing a little along with the crowd. “Thank you, Ponyville. You’ve opened your doors for me and made me feel welcome. I only hope I can be as good of company to you all.”

“I have come here to thank you all. With all the horrible things that has happened to your city, you have all pressed on and restored your homes so quickly after such a disaster. Be proud of your own families, of your hard work, and of such a productive harvest.” As he let his voice fall off, Shining looked into the happy crowd. “Mares and Stallions. Fillies and Colts. Families. These are the people The Demon wants to kill. Princess, was this what you wanted me to see? To realize.”

Turning to the mayor, Shining Armor took the heavy scissors from the mayor, turning and cutting the ribbon from the doors of the new hospital. A rich cheer of joy erupted, echoing forth from the crowd, and Shining couldn’t help but smile. “I will protect you all from The Demon, I promise.”

Shining Armor dropped to a knee, touching hands to the ground and bending forward until his horn pointed towards the floor. In silence, he waited, while upon their twin thrones, Celestia and Luna finished a near whispered conversation. At last, Celestia gave a small nod to her sister, turned to the knight and spoke. “Welcome back, my dear captain. You have had a long and busy day. There was no call to report back so quickly.”

Lifting his head, and nodding to the princesses, Shining shook his head, his eyes level and voice calm. “I’m afraid it couldn’t wait, Princess Celestia. Today was a lesson, it opened my eyes and showed me more… more of life than I’d known I was missing.”

When Celestia waved for him to continue, he rose, and gestured at Bronze Feather. The young mare forcefully swallowed, and walked to the base of the dais where the princesses sat on their twin thrones. Kneeling and offering the report she had been working on all day, she averted her eyes, shivering with nerves in the presence of her goddesses, even after the events of the day.

Luna was shaky as she stepped up and walked to Shining Armor’s side. While her sister started to read Bronze’s report, she leaned in and knelt down at his side, to whisper into his ear without meeting his gaze. “When you spoke with the beast… were the cuffs still in one piece? The ones on his wrists…”

Armor realized there was more here than the princess was saying, and turned his head to stare straight forward again, focusing on the base of Celestia’s throne. Speaking out of the side of his mouth, the stallion nodded once. “They were, princess.”

For a moment, she breathed a sigh, shaking her head. “Thank you, Shining. We… we are sorry we sent you into his cell. Is the final chain still binding him in good shape?” Able to at last relax, she sat back on the stone steps, looking into his eyes. Her own were red, a single tear had escaped despite her best efforts.

Shocked, but at the same time, glad that he could offer some good news, Armor shook his head before answering. “Not only was it in good shape, but the second chain on his other arm was also in fine shape.”

There was a gasp from Luna, before she pulled back, almost crawling back up the stairs to find comfort in Celestia’s company upon the dais proper, lightly holding her sister around the neck. They shared a long look, before Celestia spoke up, looking back to the stallion. “You are sure of this, Shining Armor?” She paused, then shook her head, fingers flipping the paperwork several pages forward, turning her gaze to scan quickly while she spoke. “No, no. I believe you. But that can only mean that-”

Luna had recovered, shaking her head and placing a hand on her older sister’s shoulder. The act cut off her line of thought, and Luna picked it up again. “Cielan always had the strangest talent with magic, even Starswirl struggled to keep up with him when something caught his attention. To think, all these years, and his spell has not faded.” Waving to the stallion she spoke up again. “Forgive me. I interrupted your report. Please continue.”

Shining Armor stepped forward, looking from one princess to the other, before speaking up. “Gilda went about as I expected, your majesty. She was uncooperative, but did not attempt any further violence. Silken Flight can provide her own assessment of Princess Luna’s offer and how well it went over. If you asked for my view, I’d state only that I feel it is ill-advised, but likely the best chance we have of getting a spy so close, so quickly.” He stepped to the side, gesturing for the silent mare to take her turn.

Silk had been sharpening one of her daggers. Suddenly being thrust into the spotlight, she fumbled a little with it before she could sheathe it. She then pulled her own scribbled notebook from a pocket hidden inside the knife belt. Stepping up, she gave it to them straight. “Expect a year, maybe two before Gilda cracks from being penned up, no flight, and minimal sunlight. Finding a sympathetic guard mare to put in the cell beside her, pretending to be a fellow prisoner, to try and help speed up the process. I…” For a moment, she allowed her voice to drift off, before stepping forward, looking up to the princesses. “I witnessed far more in the Demon’s cell than I expected. Is there any way to replace the two lost chains now that Princess Luna is back?”

Luna shook her head, stepping down the staircase and stroking a hand idly across Silk’s jaw. “We have considered it. Currently, only very few unicorns could handle the raw power the spell demands. Perhaps, in time, Dusk, Shining, Lyra, maybe a half dozen others have been added to the list. But, most would not be able to handle the stress, or even make the spell last longer than their own lifetime.”

As Silk nearly melted at Luna’s touch, Armor shook his head and stepped forward, taking over again when it was clear Silk was very distracted. “Currently, my advice would be to consider drowning the old Tartarus jail. The demon is powerful. And spiteful as well. Even now, he continues to fight every day against the chains you’ve bound him in.”

Celestia gave the stallion a nod, closing the report and setting it aside. “And Ponyville? How was your brother? How was the new hospital?”

Armor had to laugh, shaking his head. “Dusk is one of the most adaptable, resilient stallions, I’ve ever known. I swear nothing will stop him once he has an objective in mind. Without spoiling his innocence, I asked for his assistance with the Demon of Tartarus. He started looking into history for references, and before I returned, he was able to find references to four books that might provide more knowledge.”

Just as Luna and Celestia turned to answer him, Cadence stepped into the room, smiling warmly and rushing up to his side, hugging him gently around the hips. “Welcome back, darling!”

The royal sisters stopped for a moment, looking to one another in silence. Luna gave a nod, stepping away from Silk and looking out the open window. “Time for our tea, Cadence. I was wondering if you might mind if Silk joined us? I trust her sense of discretion.” When Cadence gave a nod, she turned to her sister. “I think we are done here, right dear sister?”

For a moment, Celestia looked to Armor, and then back to Luna. Sitting back on her throne, she gave a nod. “I believe so. I will talk with Armor for a few minutes more. Enjoy, mares. I will head to my study should you need me again.”

After the other mares left to the garden, Armor felt his eyes linger on Cadence, even when he was forced to watch her through the massive picture windows. Celestia spoke with quiet authority, her words pulling his attention back into the throne room. “Was… Was the Mare well?”

Shining Armor shook his head, offering her a shrug. “As with every month, your majesty. She is well, she told me about the books she has been reading, and she drew me a picture of her taking Cerberus for a walk. I was worried for a while, but the guards promise they haven't let her out.”

Princess Celestia froze for a moment, leaning forward, her voice a soft whisper. “Can… that is, if you still have it, may I see it?”

Armor walked slowly up to Celestia’s side, a folded piece of paper placed into the princess's hand, while he spoke with very carefully selected words. “She is doing very well. Healthy, and inquisitive. But she remains respectful of the guards, and doesn’t argue with them either.”

Celestia unfolded the paper, and for a moment looked upon the page, drawing a ragged breath between lips that had only just parted. After staring at it for five seconds, her horn suddenly flared up, and flame burst forth, evaporating the page to dust. Wiping a single tear from her cheek, she spoke softly. “Thank you, warden. Please feel free to return to your usual duties.”

Shining Armor began to turn away, but Dusk’s words returned, forcing him to pause in the middle of his stride “Dusk was right, She gives me strength.” Slowly twisting around in place, he looked back to the princess as she sipped at her tea. Taking a slow breath to calm his nerves, Shining called for her attention. "Princess Celestia, can I ask you a question on a more personal matter?"

Amused by the sudden about face from serious business to personal affairs, Celestia offered the stallion the wave of her hand, beckoning him to speak on. "Anything, Shining. I am always here for you."

Unable to help himself, Shining Armor found his nervous fingers tugging at the new collar of his dress uniform, nerves bringing back the habit. Forcing his hand back to his side, he took a single step forward, gazing out at the open windows to Princess Celestia's private garden. To Princess Luna and Cadence, who were outside having tea with a very flustered Silken Flight. "It's about your granddaughter. It's about me and Cadence. Princess Cadence, I mean, sorry."

Celestia couldn’t restrain a titter of laughter that escaped from beneath her hand. Shaking her head and quickly pouring herself a cup of tea, she lifted the cup to hide the wide grin she wore, more for the sake of the nervous stallion, than herself. "Of course, I've met her once or twice."

Flustered, Armor turned back to face the princess, shaking his head and struggling to get the conversation back on track. "I- its- I'd like to ask for your blessing to marry Cadence."

"Why, Shining! You know I'm not her mother. The mare is free to make her own choices in life." Suppressing a grin behind one hand, she couldn’t help but press the stallion for more. "But, I have to ask, Shining, why ask for my blessing?"

Smiling, Shining Armor gave the princess a half bow, shaking his head gently. "Because, Princess Celestia. Today you showed me... you showed me Tirek, who you've protected us from for so many centuries. But you also showed me life and joy, the innocent, grateful people of Ponyville, and so much more. I choose life and joy over fear and pain."

Settling her teacup back upon its platter, Celestia gave Shining Armor a long look before at last nodding. "Then, with all my heart, you have my blessing. I doubt Cadence could ever do any better."

Author's Notes:

As always, my most massive thanks to my editors for helping me put together this new chapter! Can't wait to hear what you guys think, and I'll be watching your comments! Remember to use the spoiler tags!