Twilight and the others were relieved of their armor and weapons (except for Blackboard, who had somehow disarmed himself during the trip to the palace) and treated to a full royal dinner as a sort of quiet celebration. None of their names had been released to the papers, at Twilight's insistence, and the whole incident was officially solved by the Royal Guard. Twilight spoke at length with Celestia, barely leaving her teacher's side, and engaged Luna in some stilted conversation that gradually grew easier. The other changelings joined in periodically, all save Blackboard and Octavia a little awed by the presence of the twin deities.

Twilight seemed to draw strength from the presence of her mentor, growing more talkative and animated as she discussed the fate of the little fillies and colts recovered from Nebula's den. None of them had parents, Nebula had seen to that with a certain cold efficiency and he had made sure the foals had seen him do it. Celestia was unwilling to put them through the orphanage system after such trauma, but felt that they shouldn't be left out in the cold either. Twilight and, to the purple unicorn's surprise, Luna argued for the children becoming wards of the palace, to serve as pages, as the children of nobles used to, if their parents died in war. Celestia agreed, finding it an amicable solution, and the talk shifted focus to the other changelings around the table.

The Princesses were curious about their origins, especially Trixie, who had been released shortly before the dinner with a clean bill of health, to the bafflement of the medical ponies. Trixie reluctantly revealed that she had been a student at the School for Gifted Unicorns, about a year behind Twilight, before she was taken during a magical prank by other students. Octavia said nothing, but Vinyl chatted easily about how she'd been finished with a set and more than a little drunk, when wolf-creatures burst out of the shadows and took her. Blackboard, when asked, merely said he had been employed to protect Twilight, and made his living as a odd-job pony.

Several rounds of wine later, Blackboard was regaling the dinner party with the most raunchy, hilarious stories. Vinyl was almost out of her seat with laughter, while Trixie giggled, blushing and Twilight tried her best to shut Blackboard out, blushing like a sunset. Princess Celestia looked on with mild disapproval, though a smirk colored her expression nonetheless, while her sister just roared with entirely un-ladylike laughter.

Afterwards, Blackboard and Twilight boarded a flight to Ponyville, where Twilight slept most of the way. Blackboard simply watched the night go by, thinking about the recent events, not inconvenienced by the wine in the slightest. He eyed Twilight's saddlebags, which held the bulky shape of Nebula's journal. If there was a plot going on, it was too subtle for him to pick up, which worried the nogitsune. Complex plans were no stranger to the spirit, but he had a feeling that he had better leave before this one became lethal. Fortunately, he only had a few more months left of his agreement with Pinkie Pie, but until then he resolved to watch his step.

Twilight stirred in her sleep as the chariot began to descend, causing Blackboard to sigh softly and look away. It was a shame, really, he hated to leave a lady in the lurch with such dreadful enemies around, but he did have other responsibilities. Blackboard watched the night go by for the rest of the trip, then nudged Twilight awake when they landed, the sun just barely rising. She rolled over and fell back asleep, exhausted. Blackboard sighed and bodily dragged the purple unicorn out of the chariot by her tail. The guards looked on with mildly disapproving expressions, but Blackboard stared them down until they flew off. He tried to rouse Twilight again, to no avail, then sighed and dragged her slowly into the library.

The light clicked on before Blackboard could fumble for the switch, and he whirled to find the library full of five annoyed-looking ponies. He sighed and bowed to the five mares, who immediately began questioning him. Twilight slept through the whole ordeal, even when one of them, the yellow pegasus whose name eluded Blackboard at the moment, checked the bandages on her neck and sides. The orange earth pony with the ridiculous hat seemed particularly agitated, and wouldn't stop pestering Blackboard until he described in detail the events of the past few days.

After all the descriptions were done, the orange earth pony left, as did the others, except for the yellow pegasus, who said she'd spend the night. The orange pony gave Blackboard a suspicious look and passed a note to the pegasus with instructions to give it directly to Twilight. Blackboard didn't particularly care, but once everypony was gone, the yellow pegasus helped him ponyhandle Twilight into her bed. Once that was over with, Blackboard bid her good night, then trotted out into the chill night air. The nogitsune knew there was something going on, and he had a duty to find out what.

Twilight woke at around noon, warm and comfortable for all of about five minutes before the aches and pains of her exertions hit her like a proverbial freight train. The bite on her neck hurt like crazy, as did the burns along her sides, and her head ached like she'd stuck her horn in a light socket. She groaned and clutched her head in her hooves, resolving to avoid any and all alcohols. The noise woke Fluttershy, who'd been sleeping by the bed waiting for her friend to awaken. She softly nudged the aching purple unicorn, “Um... Twilight,” the sound of Fluttershy's voice made Twilight try to sit up, only to lay back down with a strangled noise. Fluttershy sighed, “I know you're really not feeling well Twilight,” the yellow pegasus said quietly, arranging things on a tray for her ailing friend, “your friend Blackboard explained things, but,” She set the tray down next to Twilight and sighed unhappily, “Nevermind, I'll talk to you about it later. Spike and your new squire are cooking breakfast... Lunch... Well, you know... Anyway, Applejack left a letter for you, I'll just put it on the tray, alright?”

Twilight grunted an affirmative weakly and slowly sat up, wincing as the pegasus flew off, presumably to help with meal preparations. Fluttershy had arranged painkillers, a pair of seltzer tablets and a glass of water on a tray, with what seemed to be crackers to tide her over until real food could be made. The sight of it made her tear up a little, though she still took the painkillers and drank the seltzer. Fluttershy. Her friend, who hadn't heard from her in weeks thanks to Trixie's well-intentioned bungling. The thought of that drew Twilight's attention to the letter, which smelled faintly of apples and earth. Applejack. Twilight opened the letter with some trepidation, fearing the worst,

Twilight,

I know you're busy, but Applebloom's in a bad state and we need your help. I don't know if you're not getting our letters or don't care about us anymore, but if you have one shred of friendship left in your heart, get over to Sweet Apple Acres pronto. We really need you, I really need you, for the sake of my sister please, please come help.

Applejack

Twilight cried softly as she re-folded the letter and slipped it gently back into its envelope. Applejack had every right to be upset with her, given the circumstances, and Twilight was determined to make it up to her friend somehow, starting with heading over to help Applebloom. She ached, hurt in body and soul, but her friend needed her and that was that. She ate a couple of crackers, then her brain caught up with what Fluttershy had said. “Squire?” Twilight said to herself, “What squire?”

When she came down, wincing as every step sent stabs of pain through her skull, Twilight found Fluttershy and Spike seated at the table, already eating pancakes and chatting softly, while a small white unicorn filly with wearing a pink and purple vest sat rigidly at attention, looking as serious as only a youngster given a task can. Her creamy yellow mane was cut like Twilight's, but her tail was wavy and curled at the end. As soon as Twilight arrived, she jumped down and pulled a bulky letter out of her vest, practically throwing it at Twilight in her fervor to complete her task.

Twilight caught the envelope with her telekinesis and smiled at the young filly, who blushed and bowed for some reason. Twilight examined the outside of the bulky envelope, and blinked at the royal seal stamped in the scarlet sealing wax. She broke the seal and her eyes widened at the contents as she slid out the paper, written in the official gilded ink, on the extremely official royal paper.

For deeds above and beyond the call of citizenship, and for extraordinary defense of the realm, the crown of Equestria recognizes Twilight Sparkle. Henceforth, she shall be granted the title of Dame Twilight Sparkle, Defender of the Realm, and granted the Castle of the Pony Sisters and its traditional lands and incomes, in return for her further defense...

Twilight read on through the duties of her new office, stunned. She was a knight? The last Knight of Equestria, Bright Pages, died five-hundred years ago, and something like half the nobility in Canterlot derived their status from being related to him. After the initial shock had worn off though, she realized that she'd been made a knight in the least offensive manner possible by giving her a castle and lands in the middle of the Everfree Forest, with all its associated incomes, of which there were none. As a knight she'd be expected to provide a percentage of her income (which was none) to the crown, as well as being willing to come to the defense of the country in times of need (even though Equestria had no more significant enemies). Most of the other duties were purely ceremonial or no longer applied, but it was still a significant honor.

The next page consisted of helpful notes on the duties of a knight, which were significantly easier to read than the official letter and penned by Princess Celestia herself, if the script was any judge. Twilight was expected to repair the castle and make it fit for pony habitation, for the purposes of creating a safe haven for newly arrived changelings. The lands around the castle were overgrown, but extremely fertile and suitable for farming if given proper attention. The final page was almost an addendum, written in silver ink in the extremely elaborate script of Princess Luna.

To aid thee in this thy task, the crown hath assigned to thee Trixie Stargazer to be thy aide and Luminous the unicorn, who was until lately an orphan, to be thy squire. They shall walk beside thee and act as thy voice if need be, as well as support thee in battle, should it come to that.

Twilight looked to the youngster, who stood so rigidly she may as well have been one of Rarity's dress forms. She looked like she couldn't even lift rocks with her magic, let alone support her in combat, but she read on.

Both unicorns hath been instructed by myself in a basic shield spell, but otherwise their training lies with thee. If it is thy wish, we can instruct thee further in advanced spellcraft, but it is my sister's wish that her assignment to thee concerning the magic of friendship not go neglected.

Twilight sighed, she had to repair relations with her friends, fix up an old castle in a monster-infested forest, and find some way to help Applebloom. She nodded to the little filly, “Luminous?”

“Yes, Dame Twilight Sparkle?” Luminous said, still bowed. Spike's head turned at the sound of the filly's voice, which was clear as crystal and resonated a little with a sort of velvety smoothness. Fluttershy giggled a little at the dragon's reaction, which made him blush and hunch his shoulders.

“I have a very full schedule today, and I've never had a squire before, though Spike would be close,” she added with a weary wink to the little dragon, making him smile, “so I'm sorry in advance if it takes me a while to get used to your presence.” She sat down at the table and gestured for Luminous to take her seat while she started levitating pancakes over to herself, “Now Luminous, let's have breakfast before we start, I have a feeling it's going to be a long day.” With that, Twilight poured syrup over her pancakes, did the same for Luminous and had a pleasant breakfast catching up with Fluttershy and Spike, and getting to know her new squire.