Within the sacred sanctuary of her room, Princess Twilight Sparkle sat upon her bed, her contemplative stare catching the light from the window she faced. In her purple hands was the reason for her troubled thoughts: the letter from Prince Blueblood in regards to Ser Vincent. Her hooves idly swung from over the edge, pendulums to mark each considered thought. Her tail would shift every now and then, a sign that she was now unconsciously re-reading the letter from the start.

‘This is simply out of nowhere!’ A frustrated snort quickly fled from her before Twilight’s shoulders slumped. ‘Vincent didn’t act as if Blue Blood regularly sent letters out ahead of him, so is this a first?’ Prince Blueblood and she had absolutely nothing to do with one and other, to the point that either had been living their lives without the other ever crossing their minds. So why would he send this?

‘Maybe it’s a warning?‘ The Equestrian princess looked over her shoulder to the door, recalling why she entered the room in the first place. She had a bit of auditory aid at this point.

“I’m telling you! He. Had. No. Muzzle!”

Rainbow had been arguing her case for a while now, no doubt bothered by the received disbelief as her audience was for her pushing such a tale onto them and claiming fact.

“You also claim that he single-handedly took down an entire diamond dog den.” Rarity, though hard to hear from a floor above, was a clear voice of reason at the moment. “That his eyes glowed… that he, as an earthpony, was casting magic.”

With a sigh, Twilight charged a teleportation spell and held the letter in a tighter grip. A mystical pop and a moment of magic induced vertigo later, and she found herself in the library. Her friends, minus Applejack, weren’t surprised by the sudden appearance from where they sat around the center table.

Rarity was the only one present fully dressed for the tea party that had started early, and had brought up the topic of the knight. She’d brought Fluttershy, clad in a puppy-pawed- jumper, who sat beside her and poured tea for herself and others from the gilded tea set, careful not to disturb the slice of cake Pinkie protected like a stoic guard dog. They turned to face her, Rainbow twisting to face behind her where Twilight stood, magenta eyes slipping to the letter the princess’ hand.

“Oh hey, Twi, we’re still talking about Vinny.” Dash still had a green tint beneath the fur of her cheeks. “And about why he has that mask.” Twilight walked over, a nervous grin on her muzzle as she took a seat between the pegasus and the earth pony.

“Really, you know why?” She shifted in her seat, more so for the physical comfort of free her tail from under her. She still held that shaky grin. “So… what did you see exactly?” It was important to find just what had been seen, after all, Blueblood’s request depended on what others saw in regards to Ser Vincent.

“Vincent, who I believe to be an earthpony… has no muzzle.” Rainbow covered her snout with both hands, staring intently into Twilight’s eyes. “And can do magic!”

“An earthpony that can cast spells?” Her nerves were lifted from shoulders with one single raised brow of scepticism. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t as bad as she thought.

“Really, Twi?” Dash retorted, leaning back with a deadpanned stare. She folded her arms beneath her small bust. “You’re more concerned about the earthpony that can -– of course you are.” Her sigh and eye roll brought a grin to the princess’ maw. Dash glanced to Twilight’s cutie mark before turning to face the rest of the table, her three-digited hand reaching for a glass bottle of grape juice rather than the tea.

“That’s really strange,” Fluttershy softly commented after inhaling the scent of her brew, “I didn’t think earthponies could do magic.”

“Of course we can, Shy!” Pinkie chirped, her chipper voice not matching her rigid glare focused on the cake slice. “Watch.” Without removing her gaze, Pinkie Pie reached out behind Fluttershy’s ear, snapped her fingers (startling a gasp from the pegasus) before retrieving a bit.

“Ta da!”

“She means actual magic.” Dash said with a snort.

“Well do you know how Twilight’s magic works?” Pinkie replied, all bubbly voice, still eyes locked on cake.

“Eh, not really.” Rainbow offered a shrug. “Don’t really wanna know either, um, no offence, Twi.”

“It’s fine, Rainbow.” Twilight said with an amused tone.

“Did you know how I did this?” Pinkie added, waving the coin around. “Or how I did this?” She slipped the coin back behind Fluttershy’s ear, but when it returned it was open palmed and empty. The butterscotch pegasus flicked her equine ear, searching with her hands through her mane with a look of confusion.

“It’s gone!” Fluttershy said with a smile whilst Twilight merely squint-glared at the oddity that was Pinkie Pie. She still remembers the day she tried to investigate the Pinkie Sense. And every nonsensical trick of the fuchsia mare. She will always remember.

“Well, no, but—“

“Then why is my ‘magic’ not as magical as Twilight’s magic?” Pinkie inquired, tilting her head. It gave the impression she was conversing with the cake and not her fellow tablemates. “Just ‘cause a pony does it differently, doesn’t make it not magical.”

“By definition, Pinkie, casting spells relies on the weaving of mana through a focal point, the alteration of said mana to impact the physical world, which being the desired effect upon the desired body slash object.” The arcane scholar then pointed, with a tone suited for accusations of heresy, “Sleight of hand cannot be considered casting spells because no magic was involved.”

“…Ta da…”

“Then how did he trap those diamond dogs in the blue growing goo?!” Dash leant into the table. “I’m telling you, the guy’s not normal.”

“Would that be a problem?” Rarity asked with a raised brow, having quietly finished sipping her tea. The cup floated down to the table before the embers of magic dissipated. “He is a kind knight after all. A proper gentlestallion. Should we allow such a disfigurement to cloud our judgement?” Dash immediately raised her hands in defense, her wings twitching.

“Woah, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… you guys didn’t see him move… or his face.”

“Did you?” Twilight pressed, summoning her own cup close to her lips. “Rainbow, you did say you were pretty high up.” She had to know what exactly Dash saw. It was crucial.

“Twi, I don’t know if it’s because you were a unicorn before you got your wings, but pegasi have pretty darn good eyesight. I know what I saw.” Dash harrumphed before downing her drink. “Guy was untouchable and globbing anything he touched.”

“Dash,” Fluttershy’s voice drew everypony’s sight, “did you see him reach for his belt before, er, globbing the dogs?” She fidgeted with the base of her jumper, hands stretching it down to her naked thighs. “He took out a sleeping potion for animals back at my cottage to help Mr Yig Jr, so I thought that he’d have something for diamond dogs too.”

“Yeah… hey, yeah he did!” Dash cried out, smiling as she pointed with her glass bottle to Fluttershy.

“I see where you’re going Fluttershy; Ser Vincent made it a point that he was an alchemist of sorts,” Rarity added, eyes to the ceiling in thought. She looked down to offer a shrug to Dash. “I do recall him fiddling with his belt, from which he withdrew the sleeping potion, before departing… alone.” She bit her lip. “I don’t suppose we should check up on him?”

“No need, the guy sent those still left walking, running.” Dash then proceeded to down the bottle of juice, the wet gulps causing the fashionista to grimace. She brought the bottle down onto the table, burping into a fist before talking further. “Makes sense, but I thought he was a knight, not an alchemist.”

“He’s a combat alchemist.”

Everypony looked to Twilight, who was studying the letter in her hands. Dash leaned in but the princess moved to obscure her sight. With a reluctant sigh she folded the letter.

“He’s pretty tough, Blueblood made sure to point that out. He’s just… well, besides being distinguished amongst the knights he kinda…” Twilight took one look at the letter in her hands before setting her gaze upon the table once more. “Girls, it’s a long explanation so first question: do any of you know what a human is?” She was met with blank stares.

“Sorry, Twi, but it’s not ringing any bells on my end,” Dash answered with a scratch of her head. The rest of the table shared a murmur of agreement. Twilight looked to Rarity.

“What about you, Rarity, you’ve been to Canterlot a few times, you must have heard of them?” The alabaster unicorn was taken back in surprise.

“Me? I’m ever so sorry but I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Really, you never went to Costello’s Cuisine’s?” Twilight prodded further. “It’s one of Canterlot’s must-go-to’s for fine dining. I would have thought somepony would have mentioned it at least once to you.” A spark of recognition flickered in Rarity’s eyes.

“Oh! Why yes, I heard of it, even dined there! Marvelous place! Simply divine!” she replied before leaning over to Fluttershy, a broad smile on her face. “They had foods there that myself, and even a few food critics from Manehatten had never heard of!”

“But… did you see the chef?”

“Well, no but-“ Rarity stopped herself with a gasp. “Are you implying that Ser Vincent is also the master chef of Costello’s?!” A sly smirk sprouted across her maw. “My, what a talented stallion.” She tittered before raising a hand to stop Twilight’s correction. “Twilight, please, I refuse to believe one can be both a chef of a successful five star restaurant and also be a fully dedicated knight.” She brought her cup up to her lips once more. “Though I recognise the name, a Henry Costello runs it, does he not?”

“Glad I didn’t have to clear that up,” Twilight muttered with a smile of her own.

“Um, girls!” Rainbow chipped in, raising a hand and pointing a scowl. “There’s a guy out there handling diamond dogs and we’re just sitting around do nothing.” She focused her attention back to Twilight. “What gives? What does some froufrou restaurant have to do with Vinny?”

“The owner of that restaurant is as Rarity said, Henry Costello, Vincent’s father,” Twilight replied, taking a sip from her own cup. “His mother, Emily Costello, now works at the Canterlot University of Engineering after introducing hydroelectricity and wind farming years ago, alongside pointing out the dangers of burning fossil fuels—basically she stopped us burning too much coal and natural gas which would lead to severe pollution over time and threaten the lives of nearly every pegasus to live in the clouds.” Dash’s jaw dropped but Twilight continued regardless.

“All three of them are humans, not ponies.” With that the group regarded the Princess with renewed interest, even Pinkie was sharing quick glances of confusion alongside her friends. “And Ser Vincent is the only human born into Equestria.”

The door burst open. All eyes fell to the new arrival. An anxious looking Applejack stood in the doorway.

“Hey Twi, um, do you know about the knight that’s been wandering about town, looking for those crates we’re keeping?” After a mechanical nod from Twilight, Applejack quickly glanced back out the door before looking back. “Well I think he’s leading those diamond dogs through Ponyville, and by the looks of the crate their pulling, he might be heading to town hall. The Dogs look like they’ve got the horns of the bull beaten over them, that’s for sure.”

Applejack then shrugged, “Just thought ya should know.”

“Thank you.” Twilight replied in earnest, her expression shifting as she contemplated the severe nature of the situation. She rose to her hooves and trotted over to the door. Looking back, she added with a look of concern, “Girls, meet me at town hall in a few minutes. I need to talk to the knight in private.”

Twilight clenched the letter a little harder when her best friends agreed in uncertain murmurs, including Applejack who stepped aside to let the alicorn take to the air.

“W-woah!”

Shakily. She shakily took to the air with the grace of an inebriated sparrow.