“You’re wanting me to be the judge for these trials?” Cadence asked.

“Not just the ones that are coming up, all of them. You know, for the rest of Equestria’s history?” I explained. We were back in Canterlot discussing how Money Bags’ trial would be done when I had an idea to make Cadence the Supreme Judge.

Sombra had gone off saying something about checking on the condition of the guards as soon as we had reached the castle, a guard leading him to the barracks.

Sol had gone to my rooms with Mun’s hull, Golden and Light asleep on her back and Rainbow riding Mun’s main barrel. I couldn’t help but take a picture of the cute death. Don’t look at me like that, you would’ve done the same! Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to resist her pouty face if I had pulled her off.

I had been hungry, and since dusk had been only an hour ago I went to the dining room with Cadence tagging along.

“Why me?” She asked, deciding it was too early to be fighting about something.

“Because I don’t trust any of the nobles in their little ‘parliament’ that makes the laws... and I don’t trust myself to not get emotionally involved in the cases,” I admitted.

“Then how do you think I would be better than you for this position?”

“Because you would be more lenient than me; you’d be more merciful.” I yawned, having only four hours of sleep was getting to me now. “I won’t have any when it comes to cases that revolve around foals.”

She sighed. “Fine. Just don’t expect me to actually play judge for the rest of eternity,” Cadence said, walking towards the door.

“I was thinking for just a few years or so,” I said as I stood up.

“Well look at that, she wasn’t lying this time,” a voice said.

A flash of red and yellow drew my eyes towards the table. On it I saw two phoenixes, one almost as big as a pony, the other as small as a foal.

The bigger one bowed and said, “My name is Wright-”

“Let me guess, you’re of The Harvest?”

“Yes.” he straightened and motioned to the smaller one. “This is my mate, Philomena.”

“Pleasure to meet the both of you, but we’re a little pressed for time. Have a trial starting in about an hour and a half.” I turned and started after Cadence again, the two fiery birds following me.

“That’s exactly why I’m here. I’m the Phoenix of Justice, ready to prosecute or defend somepony.”

“You’ll be prosecution, then,” Cadence said. “I’d rather not have a legend defending these ponies.”

Wright cringed. “It’s that bad?”

“If you mean bad as in: he has powerful friends in the nobles, and possibly an army of super ponies under his control. Then yes, it’s bad,” I said. Might even need some backup this time, I thought, pulling out a token. Huh, Medulla’s. Well, he did want to see Golden and Light when they were born.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a token to summon someone from another universe.” I cleared my throat and said, “Hey Medulla, wanna watch a trial and catch up?”

After a few moments of silence a hole in the universe opened up above them. And a voice sounded in our minds, ”Hello world!”

I smiled as Medulla face planted, trying my hardest not to laugh. Once I thought I wouldn’t I said, “Nice of you to... drop in.”

”I can always enjoy relaxing with friends...” he looked directly at the giant phoenix, “Interesting, I wasn’t aware that phoenixes were capable of that level of intelligence, let alone could have this kind of immortality, given the fact that they come back to life.”

“Medulla, meet Wright. Wright, meet Medulla,” I said, pointing appropriately. “Wright’s the Phoenix of Justice and one of The Harvest.”

“.... Holo wasn’t lying about that either,” Wright said, dumbstruck until Philomena cawed. He glanced at her and shook himself. “Right. Medulla, this is my mate Philomena.”

”Nice to meet you both!” Medulla said cheerfully. “ ‘The Harvest’, I don’t recognize that term, are they all earth pop-culture references like Phoenix Wright here?”

“Actually, we’re a collection of beings that are almost more powerful than the Elements of Harmony by ourselves. Mostly just in our area of expertise, but there are rare cases where we can use each other’s powers. Just watch out for Murphy, he likes to make trouble and is somewhere in Equestria last we heard.”

“I’ve ran into him a time or two,” I said. “I know of Holo, Murphy, Lawrence, and possibly a dragon whose name escapes me right now.”

“You mean Barbaroi?” Wright asked.

“Yeah, that his name.”

”Ok, so where’s the filly or colt of your’s?” Medulla asked.

“I can answer that,” Mun said, finally speaking up. “Rainbow Dash, Golden Spark , and Light Sweet are being carried to the court room so they can join their mother again.”

Medulla looked shocked, “Tri… triplets?”

“Nope, twins. I found Rainbow in a cave,” I said, sending him the images of me finding her. “That’s actually what the trial is about. Finally got evidence that led back to two certain ponies.”

Medulla’s face took a dark shade, “And I’m the one that’s technically a monster. If the evidence holds any weight, then they should just give up now. But if not then there’s too much to take into account.”

“Oh, it’ll hold alright. I hired a... private detective to look into this and other cases like it where the foal was thrown on to the street. They had one of their informants tip them off about a group of ponies heading towards the cave only three days ago and went to one of the identified ponies’ house and found incriminating evidence about not only Rainbow’s mistreatment, but a conspiracy as well.”

“So this is just a mock trial?” Wright asked. “I hate those kind of trials.”

“No, unlike the others, Money Bags and his wife haven’t confessed to the crime yet. So, according to the law, they have to be given a trial.”

”It still seems like a lost cause, most defences against that type of evidence would be pure speculation and devolve into ‘Well it could have happened’ arguments. ” Medulla said rolling his eyes.

“The most we have are a copy of their account books and a note or two actually referring to what was found in the cave. They didn’t find anything that screamed ‘these ponies did it’ except the one who recognized them, and he won’t come in even with a promise of a full pardon.” I said, shaking my head. “The bigger part of what I was given pointed to other illegal activities.”

”Then it’s not so hopeless for them after all, who do they have for defence? Because the lawyer could make or break it for them.” Medulla sighed seeming to not like some of the possible outcomes. “The way I see it they might or might not have done it and they either go free or receive punishment, and based on that there’s a fifty-fifty shot of this turning out badly.”

“Ugh... I hope Murphy doesn’t show up because you said that,” I said, putting my face in my hand. “It’s bad enough that he messed with me while two other Displaced were here.”

”I could be the defence, I just need to know your Equestria’s laws. I’ll know if their guilty immediately, and I doubt that Murphy would mess this up willingly, he’d have to be one massive asshole to do that.” Medulla said looking at Wright, ”Could you lend me some of your knowledge of Equestrian law?”

“Depends on if they’ve changed in the last month or two since Celestia and Luna died,” the Phoenix replied. “Even though I’m the Phoenix of Justice I still have to read and learn the laws like everyone else.”

“It hasn’t as far as I know. And I’ll be the first one to know if that gathering of peacocks called parliament tries to change them,” I said. I cocked my head, barely able to hear what sounded like singing. “Does anyone else hear that?”

”Wait, you didn’t know that other Displaced is here?” Medulla asked.

I started to give him a confused look until I recognized the voice. “I didn’t summon Kat again.”

I picked up my pace, following Kat’s singing around the next corner and found her holding Golden. Sol was walking next to her holding Light and Rainbow was riding on Mun’s main gun again. Kat’s lyrics were simple, but her soft voice was certainly having an affect on my foals.

“Hush now, quiet now, time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, time to go to bed,” she sang, the little ones drifting off to sleep fairly quickly. Kat smiled serenely, never once noticing either of us.

“Hey Kat,” I said softly. “Nice to see you again.”

“How did you do that?” Sol asked in a shocked tone. “It usually takes half an hour to get them to settle down.”

Kat smiled. “I just have a way with children is all.” She looked at the foal in her hooves fondly. “I just can’t help myself sometimes. The saying goes that you always want what you can never have, after all.”

“It takes half an hour for them to get to sleep with you?” I asked Sol. “They settle down within two or three minutes when I’m there.”

“That’s because you’re their mother,” Mun said. “Of course they’d listen to you immediately.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that logic,” I said as I caught Rainbow before she could slip completely off her perch.

”Nice to finally meet you Kat, I’ve had your token for a while and heard about you from Jason. I’m Medulla.” Medulla said smiling warmly at the scene.

Kat bowed slightly. “Greetings. Nice to meet you, Medulla…. hmm, nah that’s too long… Oh! I’m gonna call you Meddy! Yep, that works!”

“Why not call him Medic instead then?” I chuckled, turning back to resume the walk to the courtroom.

Medulla laughed, ”I really don’t care what you call me as long as you don’t use it insultingly.”

“Nah,” she waved her golden hoof. “I don’t insult people until I’ve gotten to know them. And only if they deserve it. And before I forget…” Kat jumped at me, trying to bowl me over. “Maxie!”

I smirked as I increased the time for the force she would’ve exerted, turning a glomp into an over-enthusiastic hug. “I might not be able to influence you directly, but I can still control things around you.”

“Oh, you are no fun,” she pouted, slugging me in the shoulder lightly.

“.... You are so lucky there are foals around right now and I don’t have Medulla’s telepathy.”

Medulla put his hands on my and Kat’s head and said, “Here, enjoy.” as he linked our minds.

Thanks, I thought to him before thinking, That’s not what you were saying in bed last time you were here~... I sent her a memory of me pounding into her with the strapon.

Medulla chuckled darkly.”I’ve been meaning to keep this a secret, but I can blow your mind without even touching you. But of course I have none of those desires being completely genderless.”

“I do know a spell for that. Celestia found out how to make it permanent and work just like the real thing,” I said, showing him with a memory what I meant in case he didn’t understand.

Medulla seemed to seriously consider the suggestion for a moment, “Maybe… No, I think it would be a bad idea, I would still have the problem of being the only of my kind. I’d have to travel to a completely different side of the Multiverse to even get close to finding someone compatible.”

“.... That’s where I found out how I got pregnant,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “The spell doesn’t take into consideration species and any offspring resulting from it will be pony as long as one of the partners is a pony, if there isn’t it doesn’t work.”

”You also have to consider I only remember my life after being Displaced so suddenly introducing a sexual component to my physiology could be like puberty but far more intense.”

Kat deadpanned at me. “What happens in the bedroom, stays in the bedroom, missy. Understand?”

“Okay, I’ll not mention it again outside of my room and only if you are there,” I promised, wearing a grin that said I would take full advantage of the limitations I set for myself.

Mun tapped my leg and said, “You know, we’ve been standing outside the courtroom for the past five minutes.”

“Oh, is this a bad time?” Kat asked. “I can leave if it is.”

“It’s just a trial for the ones responsible for the cave. You can stay and watch with us if you want to.” I pushed the door open and stopped. We were standing at the top of what looked to be an entire stadium. I’m talking about one big enough to fit a million people in it, and down in the middle dwarfed by their surroundings were the judge’s stand, the witness stand and two tables for each side. The worst part? it was completely full of ponies.

I let out a tiny “Meep” when they all turned to look at me.

“The putain is this?” Kat muttered. “This is court?! Mais putain?!”

“This isn’t court. This is Court,” Cadence said. “Where only the most foul of crimes appear.”

“Never seen this before,” Wright said looking around. “Oh, right. Medulla, you can use my knowledge if you need to.”

”Thanks, don’t want to botch my first case.” Medulla said jokingly.

I pulled my eyes away from the crowd and looked down at the defense’s table. All I saw was Money Bags and a unicorn mare sitting next to him. “He doesn’t have a lawyer? What kind of banker can afford to make golems of pure emerald, yet can’t afford his own lawyer?!” I said.

“You ever hired a lawyer?” Kat asked with a quirked eyebrow. “They are expensive~!”

“Emeralds are the least common gem in this universe, one the size of a ten foot tall, beefy security guard would be enough to feed Equestria for about four months.” I looked at her incredulously. “You’re saying that a lawyer costs more than that?”

”Well you mentioned a conspiracy, maybe what he spends his money on is restricted.” Medulla suggested.

I thought about that for a moment. “Aside from curses, using dark magic without the proper training, and anything to do with the twelve super-weapon crystals in the Canterlot museum, there isn’t really anything that is restricted enough to take up all those bits.

“.... And I just realized what the project he brought before me was really about.” I face palmed again as I walked down to the royal box. All the way down right next to the jury.

“Well, this’ll be fun,” Kat commented. It looked like she was going to be staying as a pony for the time being.

“Well, looks like I have a few minutes to prepare,” Wright said before flying off to the unoccupied table. Muttering started rolling through the crowd as they realized who was the prosecutor.

As Medulla floated down he said, ”I’ll keep you apprised of anything ‘important’”

I nodded and thought, If what was found in their own home is true, they have much that is important.

Sitting down on the lighter-colored throne present in the box I said, “Please don’t sit in the other throne, Kat. There are plenty of cushions here.”

“Aw, fine. I’m not big on thrones anyway. Not as comfortable as they look.”

I levitated another pillow over and set it under me. “Tell me about it. I’d rather have a lawnchair as a throne instead of this monstrosity,” I muttered.

Medulla chimed in mentally, ”They’re going to plead guilty, and they want to hide something by doing that.”

We’ll find out about it going through their house when they’re dead, I thought back. They don’t have any family that will have anything to do with them, so the government will seize everything. I plan on sending Sky and Shadow to get what they missed before I send the cleaners in to get rid of anything personal and get the house ready to sell.

“Looks like I was right about the project,” I told Kat. “They’re going to plead guilty to try to get off more easily.”

Just then a pony in grey armor walked out and stood next to the judge’s stand. “All rise, the honorable Supreme Judge Cadence presiding,” he said.

Cadence walked out then wearing a black robe and sat behind the stand. She banged the gavel once and said, “I’d like to call this court to order. The case of Equestria vs. Mr. and Mrs. Bags.” She looked down at the two ponies. “You are charged with nine counts of cruel and unusual domestic abuse, eight counts of murder in the first degree, one count of attempted murder, and nine counts of pedophilic rape. How do you plead?”

“Guilty, Your honor.” Medulla announced emotionlessly.

Cadence was actually surprised, even though she hid it well. “Then you are hereby sentenced to be smothered in honey and tied down over a nest of lion ants until you are nothing more than skeletons.. Bailiff, if you would escort the prisoners out of the courtroom.”

The grey garbed stallion nodded, putting a magic restrainer on the prisoners’ horns. Then he gestured to a door that opened up on the side farthest away from where I sat and the three of them walked slowly out.

“Lion ants? You couldn’t just give them fire ants, instead?” I asked Cadence. The nine of us were sitting down in the dining room a few hours later eating lunch.

“Lion ants are far worse than fire ants,” She replied. “They don’t go after the skin first, even if it’s covered with honey. They go for the eyes and mouth, then the reproductive organs, and then the rest of the body.”

She took another bite of her salad and said, “Back about a hundred years it was a very common punishment for rapists to have their... you know what’s eaten by lion ants.”

“I’m a bit more vindictive when it comes to innocents being harmed, I would have let them know what their victims truly felt.” Medulla said while eating from a small bowl of chopped fruit.

“...that sounds unnaturally cruel,” Kat said, munching on some hay. I offered her an actual meal, but she insisted. “I prefer to just beat people up. Screw the legal system.”

“I’d say the same, but....” I gestured to the crown I was forced to wear whenever I left my room. It was currently hanging off the horn of the guard I had placed it on. “I wish I had something a bit less flashy, like just a little circlet for less formal things. Like now for instance.”

I glanced out one of the windows and saw a familiar Thestral. “Knew he was still around.” I waved him in as I opened the window.

“Murphy. It’s been what, four five hundred years?” Wright asked through a beakful of cockatrice.

“Who’s the bat pony?” Kat asked, mouth full of the plant.

“This is Murphy, you might know him better because of his law,” I said.

”Interesting, do you cause the misfortune on purpose or is it a byproduct of your presence?” Medulla asked staring intently at the thestral.

Murphy shrugged and said, “Both. It’s my purpose and Mantle. I’ve had the misfortune of bearing it the longest out of everyone of The Harvest. Learned it’s better to be congenial about the approach than to be an ass about it.”

“Just keep it away from me. I’ve had enough bad luck.” Kat mumbled.

Murphy stared at her for a few minutes before saying, “You do realize that tempted my powers, right? I was able to stop them, but it was almost too good to pass up.”

“And you realize your law has killed everything that has ever been important to me?”

Murphy held up his hooves. “Woah now, that wasn’t my doing. I know I can seem like an ass sometimes, but even I wouldn’t do something like that.”

“She isn’t from this universe,” I said, dipping a piece of bread in my stew. “Must have been a different version of you.”

“There you go then; it wasn’t me but it was me of a different universe.”

”To be fair in some universes you don’t really exist, it’s your law as an overriding concept of untimely inconvenience and misfortune that borders on dramatic or theatrical.” Medulla clarified.

Murphy’s face filled with dread. “M-my-....”

He looks like he just realized he became something he doesn’t like, I thought, wincing at the similarities between him and when I blew up at Kat and Typhon.

“I-I’m so sorry about ‘my’ part in your life, Kat,” He said.

Kat waved it off. “Eh, I’ve been dealing with it since I was eight. It’s cool… well, not really, I’ve just gotten used to the bad things, I suppose.”

Murphy thought for a moment then said, “Good luck is supposed to be an area I’m bad in.... But I might have a work around.” He pulled out a notebook and an abacus and zoned the rest of us out muttering something about plastic chickens.

“Okay.... We-” I started, being interrupted by a guard flying through a closed window.

“Well, that was rude,” Kat commented, taking a sip of wine.

I sighed and facepalmed. “Sombra....”

”I think they have something to tell you.” Medulla said, taking a sip from a glass of water.

“GET BACK HERE PRIVATE! YO- Oh, hello Max. I thought you would still be in Court,” Sombra’s voice sounded from the broken window.

I looked over to see him giving me an innocent look, complete with a halo. “You’re supposed to train them, not throw them around,” I said.

The grey stallion gave me a confused look. “There’s a difference?”

”You have Sombra training the guards? My Sombra didn’t even go by that name until he went crazy.” Medulla seemed fairly frightened.

“I’m not just training them,” Sombra gave him a grin, showing his still razor sharp teeth. “I’m the Captain of the Royal Guard.”

“Celly gave him a very bad scare that put him off of ruling the Crystal Empire,” I explained. “So, for him surrendering peacefully I gave him the job of whipping the guard into something at least half-way respectable.”

Kat looked down at the beaten private before looking at Sombra with a stiff nod. “I approve of his methods. I think he’ll be a fine captain with that attitude. Certainly one I would have wanted under my own command back in the day.”

I glanced at the private as well, noticing that the stallion was wearing something over his wings. Cocking an eyebrow I pulled it off, revealing feathers instead of leathery wings. ”Pegasus,” I snarled, picking him up by the neck. I made sure I wasn’t outright choking him when I hung him in midair.

Medulla stood up. ”Would you like me to make sure he’s not going to hurt anyone before you break anything on him.”

“I can handle that part myself,” I said almost distractedly as I circled the frightened pegasus. “Now, why don’t you tell me if you work for Hurricane?” I asked my captive. “And before you try to lie, there’s at least two beings in this room that can tell if you are.”

“I-I-I don’t! I didn’t even know he was still alive until he attacked the castle,” He squeaked out.

I looked to Medulla.

Medulla just said, ”He’s not lying about that. But to clear the air tell them why you disguised your wings.”

I sent Medulla everything I knew on the Split between the tribes and the hunts that persisted afterwards as I slowly let the Pegasus down. “It’s obvious why,” I sighed. “I’m sorry about this, but there might be spies in the castle working for him.”

“I-I know one of them’s posing as a maid,” the private said.

I froze, slowly turning back to him. “Who?”

“I think her name was... Crisp Linen?” He shook his head. “She’s a pale yellow unicorn with a bed as her cutiemark.”

I looked to Sol and said, “Find her and throw her in a cell. Guard her with your hull until I get there.”

She nodded and left the room, jumping onto her hull as it passed the door.

“Aaaannd.... That should do it!” Murphy said triumphantly. He glanced around, taking in the broken window and the shivering guard. “.... Dammit, I missed something exciting.”

“Yeah, ya missed out on a poor boy, trying to hide who he truly is to serve his country. I like your guts, kid. Ya got moxy.”

“T-thanks,” the private said before taking off through the window to rejoin the other guards.

“Oh, so that’s why I felt my powers flare. Anyways, I’ve managed to create my first Blessing!” he said proudly.

“A blessing of bad luck?” Wright asked.

Murphy nodded. “It works for the one it’s cast on, making their enemies more prone to messing up or letting something slip they don’t want to.” He rubbed his neck in embarrassment. “Though it’ll take most of my reserves to cast.”

Medulla’s face grew dark again, ”So Commander Hurricane is a violent eugenisist. You probably already have people searching for him, but I could make their jobs easier. It’s hard to keep yourself hidden when your only dreams are your worst nightmares.”

“Ha, I wouldn’t bet on him having nightmares, Medulla,” I said, remembering the twisted smile he wore as he plunged his dagger into Luna. “You won’t find anyone more evil or lower than him.”

”I’ll still give it a shot, loss of rationality in any form could make him more easily found.” with that Medulla closed his eyes and seemed to start meditating.

“So Kat, you want to be the first one to receive Murphy’s Blessing?” said stallion asked with a smile.

Kat looked at him strangely. “Now why in the gods’ green earths would I want a bad luck curse?”

He crossed his hooves and put on a pout. “It won’t affect you directly, just your enemies. Think of like backwards good luck; instead of making you less prone to mistakes, it makes it so your enemies mess up in ways that are advantageous to you.”

I snapped my fingers and said, “Like giving them a curse instead!”

“Exactly! As long as Kat thinks of someone as an enemy, they’ll have more accidents.”

“That’s not how I work,” Kat said with a minor glare of annoyance. “I don’t resort to trickery or curses to win my battles. I rely on my own strength and power. Plus… I wouldn’t wish bad luck upon even my worst enemy, ‘specially not the kind of luck I’ve experienced.”

Murphy turned to me with a hopeful expression.

“Oh no, I have control over time I don’t need more than my reaction time if it comes to a fight,” I said. Besides, I’d rather take Hurricane down myself.

“Honestly, Murphy, while it’s nice to see you trying to help others, that kind of a curse is not really for those of the heroic nature. You’d need it more for an...ooh hoo! I think I thought of just the pony who’d love that blessing!”

“Typhon?” I asked.

“No! Not Typhon! Your little burglars! That kind of thing would be right up their alley!”

Just then Sky came in the doors and asked, “What would be right up our alley?”

Kat pointed right at Murphy. “Our little Loki here has come up with a bad luck curse. Use it on someone and they have, well, bad luck. And it’s good to see you again, Sky.” She looked around. “My little fluff ball friend wouldn’t happen to be around too, would she?”

“‘M not fluffy,” Shadow mumbled, obviously she had just awoken and was fluffier than ever.

“I wouldn’t be able to give both of them the Blessing at the same time,” Murphy said, looking over his notes again. “But I might be able to weaken it or split it so it only works with both of them within a set distance.... Maybe set a limit for how far its effects reach?” He dove back into his notebook.

“Sky, Shadow, you already know Kat here,” I said, motioning to her. “The three you don’t know are Wright, Murphy, and Medulla.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sky said. “Got a bit more evidence for ya Max.” She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a small packet. “Just pictures and names this time. Oh and Sawbones would like a copy of his pardon so he can hang it up on his wall next to his degrees once he gets out of Canterlot Med.”

“Already has a college picked out?” I chuckled, levitating the packet over. “Should’ve known he would. At least all they require is for you to pay the tuition, keep up with the lectures, and have a cutiemark that has something to do with medicine.”

“Huh, didn’t take as long as I thought it would,” Murphy said. “And it takes only a fraction of the magic.”

“Why was it taking so much power?” I asked him.

“I didn’t set a max range for the blessing so it was wasting magic needlessly by going to the furthest reaches of the universe.”

I was about to tell him off for being short-sighted (and crack up at the irony) when something registered. I turned to Kat and asked, “You had a command?”

“Of course,” she nodded. “Didn’t I tell you?”

“No.” I looked down in guilt. “We haven’t really said much about our past to each other.”

Wright coughed and said, “Right I should probably go see when the next trial is.” With that he took off from his perch on the back of a chair, Philomena trailing behind him.

I blushed as I realized how what I said could be misconstrued. “I hadn’t meant it like that.... What I meant was that we don’t know a lot about each other.”

“Then I suppose we’ll have to find some time to get together and talk, Maxie,” Kat said with a smile. “I can’t rightly call you my best friend if I don’t know all that much about you.”

I turned to Mun and said, “Please tell Quill Weave that court is canceled for tonight and tomorrow. I’ll be visiting a nag in the dungeons tomorrow and don’t want to be rushed.” I looked back at Kat as Mun left to find Quill. “I have some time now.”

She smiled at me. “Well then, let’s converse. Would you like to know about me first, or should we talk about you?”

“Not much to say about myself. I was a small town loser who couldn’t get a job and was trying to get in the navy before I went to my first ‘con,” I said with a shrug. “Did I ever mention that I was a guy?”

“I believe you did yes. But, ooh, the navy. That’s a career right there. The military takes ordinary people and turns them into right fine warriors. Ah,” she sighed, “I miss the old days sometimes.”

“Army family back on earth?”

“Well, my father was a war vet,” she nodded. “If only he could see me now. I would certainly hope he would be proud.”

I blurred over to her side and shook her hoof. “My dad was always telling me to thank vets for their service. Or their family if they weren’t around.”

“Oh, well my ol’ man is probably saying ‘you’re welcome’ from beyond the grave. I appreciate it myself.”

“Just had to carry on my old man’s tradition. Even though I felt a little embarrassed when he did it, I knew that they didn’t get the recognition they deserved.” My smile fell as I remembered one of the more... PTSD vets. “Not nearly enough....”

I shook myself and said, “Anyways, That’s basically me before this.” I gestured to myself.

“That’s certainly something,” Kat agreed. “Before… all this, well… it wasn’t the greatest life.”

I grimaced. “I’m not going to force you to talk about this if it’s difficult.”

“It actually becomes easier each time I tell it.” Kat took a deep breath. “It all started when I was eight, my eighth birthday to be precise. We were driving home from a movie that I can’t even remember anymore when a drunk driver came careening out of nowhere. The crash sent me flying out of the car (the one time I was thankful for not wearing my seatbelt). I… I watched as the flames engulfed both cars. To this day, I can still hear the screams in my nightmares. I was the only survivor.”

I stared at her for a very long moment before finally saying, “.... That is more than messed up. A-at least your brother wasn’t there, right?” She just stared back at me. I got the message pretty quickly. “Fuck.”

“Language, Max!” Shadow piped up.

“It wasn’t until a few years ago that I found out Ben was alive. I grew up thinking I was alone, believing I was alone. Of course, I did have a few family friends helping me out from time to time, but it was just never the same.”

I gave her a small smile. “Your story turns out good in the end at least.” Her quirked eyebrow did not give me hope. “.... Just... ignore my optimism.... I don’t know when to turn it off- hell, I don’t even know how to.”

I returned to my chair and sat down heavily. “I don’t even have anything that would begin to compare to that... and-.... I’m not meaning to sound insensitive when I say this, but I’m glad I don’t.”

A silence fell over us, me trying to imagine what it had been like, Medulla still meditating, Murphy looking away in shame, and Sky and Shadow trying to look indifferent.

Suddenly Medulla’s eyes shot open, and he exclaimed, “Good to know that psychopath is keeping good company… Why is everyone looking at me like I have a frog on my face?”

“Meditating....” I muttered to myself before saying, “Kat and I were talking about our past. Before we came to Equestria. Don’t read it from any mind, Kat’ll tell you if she wants to.”

Medulla just looked at the table, “I would give almost anything for some memory of earth… Well, I do remember every movie, book, tv show, and video game I ever had but nothing else.”

I just grunted noncommittally. “What was that you said about a psychopath?”

”Well, I was talking about Hurricane. A small status report, he’s going to be acting much less paranoid. Should make him easier to track, we need some small amount of healthy paranoia to stay aware of potential threats. There was a creature with him whose avarice knows no bounds, that was the company I was referring to.”

I suddenly remembered the last thing Bluestar told me and shivered. “Did you catch a name? I have an idea of who it could be, but I want to make sure.” I took a breath and continued, “Did either one of them think of someone named Scourge or cats?”

”Yes, there were definitely very big cats involved, one name I caught was Bone.”

I felt dread flow through me. Bluestar’s warning was true, Bloodclan had invaded and was helping Hurricane.