“Damn, that colt’s been through a lot,” I said as I flipped through the report that was sent to the castle for archiving. “Mom was a raging drunk most of the time, dad used every kind of drug there is. Even had to steal some of those from the hospital for his dad.”

Kat and I were sitting in my office talking when the file had been brought in.

Kat shook her head in disgust. "I never could stand drinking parents. I had a good friend growing up whose mother drank heavily. One day she didn't come in to school. Later that day I found her mother had bashed her skull in with a liquor bottle. This colt was lucky."

“Not to mention quick on his hooves. He has a whole criminal record here. Mostly drugs and alcohol, but there were some things that were reported stolen that were found in his house. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he’s related to Sky and Shadow.” I looked up at Kat. “Where is Bronze anyways?”

"Resting in my room. The doctor cleared him this morning but he was still pretty out of it. I decided to let him use my bed."

Sol walked in then and said, “Sky, Shadow and the colt they are training just found Bronze Jewel and have convinced him to join them in trying to prank Sombra.”

Kat facehoofed. "He's supposed to be resting, not pranking a military officer."

“Well, at least he has a friend his own age if he’s with Fleet Rain,” I said, trying to find something good about the situation.

"That doesn't help at all," she groaned. "I'd rather not have my first day of having a son be saving him from the captain of the guard."

“Sombra won’t do much more than giving him a slap on the wrist. Now, Sky and Shadow, though....” I trailed off when I saw Kat’s glare. “What? Even though he is technically his evil shadowy self, he knows when to be firm but gentle. Like that one time about three months ago. He was so gentle with me-”

Kat put a hoof to my mouth. "Please don't finish that sentence. For what little remains of my sanity's sake."

“Fine. But seriously, don’t worry about Bronze. He won’t end up like a new recruit.”

“They just got caught,” Sol interjected. “Sombra’s giving Sky, Shadow, and Fleet a chewing out. Bronze was told to go get something from the kitchens.”

Kay's eye twitched, mentally going to worst case scenario. "I swear if he's doing what I think he's doing... Sombra ain't gonna be sittin' right for months."

“Anyone can see that Bronze is undernourished, Sombra’s probably just making sure he gets enough to eat,” I suggested, not looking up from the file.

“That is the case. Sombra actually had a soft voice when he talked to Bronze,” Sol said, sitting down next to Kat.

“See? Nothing to worry about.”

"He'd better have," Kat grumbled.

“You might be better off worrying if Bronze is going to nick your lunch instead, Kat.”

"I don't mind. If need be, I'll just have a nutrition cube like normal."

That got me to look back at Kat again. As I stared at her I said, “Sol, can you go make sure Bronze gets his own lunch?”

“Okay, I’ll fill up while I’m at it,” Sol said as she stood.

Kat looked at me strangely. "What was that about?"

“I’d rather you leave those cubes in your storage and eat real food the entire time you’re here.”

She chuckled a little, but relented in the end. "Alright, but only because you're family. Speaking of which, I really should bring Ben here sometime. I've never even had a chance to tell him about you."

“Maybe I’ll use his token and tell him you wanted me to meet him. Oh, that reminds me.” I set the file down and reached into my bag that was hanging off the back of my chair. “I need to summon the real guests and give them their invitations.”

Reaching in blindly, I pulled out Medulla’s token. “Huh, didn’t think I’d pull his out first.”

“Didn’t I tell you to get rid of Ben’s?”

“I did. The Merchant thought it would be funny to give me a copy of every token I already had and give me back all the ones I traded to him.”

Kat sighed. “Well, at least there’s no worry. If you look at it, you’ll notice it’s grey instead of green. Ben deactivated all his tokens, so they’re pretty much just paperweights.”

“Ah, haven’t gotten to look at his yet. Medulla, it’s Max. Just want to give you a heads up on some things.”

A few moment’s later a portal opened on the floor, and the Mewtwo floated out of it. All present heard, ”Always good to see old friends. It’s been awhile Max, so how dead is Hurricane?”

“gutted from balls to chin by his ally,” I said with a grin. “Kat, this is Medulla, a Mewtwo Displaced. Medulla, this is Kat.” I leaned a bit closer to Medulla and stage whispered, “She’s a little off her rocker right now.”

“We’ve met before, Maxie. At the trial? Don’t you…” She deadpanned at me. “Oh ha ha. Very funny.”

“Worth it. Anyways, I wanted to tell you that I’m going to be getting married in about four months, Meddy. You can probably sense the rest of the news for yourself.”

”His mind is every active already.” He said smiling, ”Also Kat, sorry for last time. I didn’t mean to offend.”

“Um… can you remind me about that? That was like, five years ago for me,” Kat said, scratching her head.

”I beleive it had something to do with the Psychic Paper that Max has, we were talking about the Doctor Who series.”

“I still have it.... Somewhere,” I said, looking around the office at the piles of files I hadn’t returned to the guard’s archives yet. “I think I put it in my bag after you gave it to me, but it could be among the files though.”

“It’ll show itself when it’s needed,” Kat said cryptically. “Just trust me on this.”

“Okay the-”

Mun burst in and said, “Sombra just flung Sky and Shadow towards Manehattan. And Bronze managed to shake Sol. We don’t know where he is right now.”

Medulla started looking around, ”Describe this Bronze. What’s his age, race, and any important events that happened recently?”

“He’s about five, a unicorn, and his mom killed his dad and then herself. I don’t think he’s troubled by that a lot though,” I said. “Probably relieved would be my guess.”

Kat, meanwhile, was doing her very best to remain calm, taking a lot of deep breaths.

Medulla scratched his chin, ”There is a young mind in a secluded area, it’s surprisingly resilient, I’ll take you to it.”

“Only one place like that. The vault of the Elements.” I stood and motioned for him to take the lead, only for them to suddenly be outside the open vault doors.

“Bronze? Bronze are you in there?” Kat called out, trying to keep her emotions in check.

“What are these necklaces for?” He asked as he came into view, holding the Elements in his magic.

“Those are the Elements of Harmony, and can be very dangerous when not used by their proper bearers. You should probably put those back, sweetie.”

I groaned in exasperation and said, “I’ve been trying to get everyone to do away with that silly notion. They’re just necklaces, the actual Elements are in the Bearers. They need a focus, yes, but these are just fancy necklaces. I would be able to sense their power if they actually held the Elements.”

Kat looked at me funny. “Then this world is different from others. While yes, the bearers do possess most of the power, they need the focuser of the jewels to direct it properly. At least until the Tree of Harmony gives them the knowledge to do it on their own. That’s how most places I’ve seen work.”

”None the less either you need to invest in better locks or this kid’s special talent will get him in a great deal of trouble.”

“That lock is the latest magitech, set to only open at my magic and my vital signs. He’s more than just talented if he can open that lock,” I said.

“Well, the vents kinda make the lock not work properly. Besides, it opens from the inside,” Bronze explained.

“Why are there vents to the vault? ...and what were you even doing in the vents?!” Kat nearly screeched.

“Well, they kinda looked like secret tunnels....”

“The castle has ventilation?” I asked disbelievingly. “And it connects to the vault?”

“At least Sky and Shadow didn’t know that,” Mun offered.

“And why do you have a vault that opens from the inside?” Kat asked with a quirked eyebrow. She shook her head. “Nevermind that. Bronze, you can’t just go where ever you please in here. It’s not our home. I promise you’ll have plenty of exploration time once we get going.”

“At least he found a design flaw for me. I don’t mind him wandering if he keeps doing that,” I said, pulling out a lollipop and tossing it to Bronze.

“Don’t encourage the bad behavior,” Kat sighed, putting a hoof to her face.

“It’s not bad if he’s helping others, is it? Besides, I’m the aunt that spoils her nephews.” I ruffled the colt’s mane a little, drawing a giggle from him.

”Children have curious minds, this one a bit more so.” Medulla leaned in pretending to whisper, ”When you go exploring you should always bring backup.”

“It’s always better to have a buddy in case you get stuck.”

“I’m starting to not trust either of you as parents,” Kat deadpanned.

“Hey, he’s your son, I’m just the aunt,” I said as I took the necklaces out of Bronze’s magic and placed them back in the vault.

”And I have no idea how I fit into all of this, Crazy Uncle maybe?” Medulla suggested.

Kat just groaned more. “Bronze, life lesson number one from me, don’t take advice from your relatives. Just… just don’t.”

“We do have good advice to give! Like: Don’t take candy from strangers and get into their chariot,” I said.

“Just, just stop you two. Please. He’ll get plenty of life lessons on the road.”

“I can’t tell him about the birds and-”

”Just no.” Medulla interrupted, ”He does not need someone like you explaining that right now. Let his mom decide when.”

“I’m not his mother,” Kat said in response. “Not yet. I haven’t earned that title.”

”I expect that you will have by the time he’s ready to learn about those parts of life.” Medulla explained, ”I can tell that you have what it takes.”

“Hopefully,” Kat muttered, walking over to Bronze. “Come on, let’s go get something to eat.”

“Um, I already had lunch. It was a very good soup,” Bronze said.

I brought my hand to my face and shook my head. “Great, he went after my stew instead of your sandwich.”

“Let’s just get out of here,” Kat sighed.

“And then, Celestia said, ‘That’s not a king, it’s a fuzzy maraca!’” I said, earning a laugh from the two colts.

Medulla scratched his and stared at me, ”I still don’t understand how a chihuahua exists in this world, let alone was able to reach such a high rank in any society. ”

“I know! He didn’t even inherit the throne, he won it somehow from the last king when he challenged him.”

“Size matters not,” Kat said as she took a sip from tea. “Though it doesn’t match the time when I beat up the dragon emperor, Paco.”

“Heard it from Gilgy when he visited. Though I doubt he embellished it as much as you will,” I joked.

“Oh hush. It was simply funny all around, considering back then I wasn’t well known. Are you gonna keep quiet while I tell the story or are you gonna keep commenting?”

”I’ll stay quiet, might be able to get some ideas for how to deal with the shit that’s around the corner for me.”

“Okay, fine. Tell us your version of the story then,” I said.

“Well, it was about three years into my Displacement, and Equestria had already been in a war against the dragon empire for many years. On a dark and stormy night, I wandered to the emperor’s cave and tricked his servant into allowing me in. How? Why acting like a weak and helpless little girl who was missing her parents. Even had the big, baby eyes to sell it. I used to be quite petite back then too, if that helps the mental picture.”

“I’m having a hard time picturing you as weak and defenseless.”

“I’ve always been very good at infiltration. Used to be quite the spy back in the day. Anyways, as soon as Pacolytese, or Paco as I call him since it irritates him, he recognized me and tackled me through the cave wall and out into the storm.”

“That’s where Gilgy’s story differs. He says you punched Pacolytese out of the thickest part of the mountain.”

“Now who’s the embellisher?” she asked with a smirk, taking another sip of tea. “Moving on, the two us continued to struggle as we slid down the mountain. Once we got the bottom, however, I kicked him in the face and he fell up the mountain. Then back down. And then back up. Over and over and over again. I think I stopped after thirty cycles. By that time, Paco was crying for mama dragon and surrendered to Equestria. We’ve been best friends ever since.”

”I haven’t had too many interesting stories, at least not ones can be condensed like that. But I did torment Tia and Lulu in some funny ways back in the day, like causing their chairs to shake while they try to read or the plumbing to back up randomly. They honestly thought that the castle was inhabited by ghosts.”

“Huh. Mother and Luna had those kind of things in the castle on purpose. Quite the thrill riders they were. Even the thrones were secret trapdoors to slides.”

“Oh, you should hear about how I tricked Luna into thinking a banana wanted to send her to the moon!” I exclaimed. “It started when I had... broken up with Celestia. We had a fight about how open our relationship would be; I wanted only a select few, but Celestia didn’t want that restriction. Anyways, it ended with me in tears and hiding in Luna’s room.”

Kat was silent, looking at me over her tea cup. “That… that’s completely different from what we were talking about. I thought we were talking comedic, not heartbreaking and tear-jerking.”

“I’m just telling you this for context. Anyways, Luna had a bad time during court that night and wanted to wind down with one of her guards I ended up joining them and about ten days later I ate the last banana. Luna walked in just as I was taking the first bite and asked if there were any more. I said no, and she asked if she could have half of my banana. I forgot to eat earlier, so I wasn’t going to just give up my food so I got an idea.”

“Should I be covering Bronze’s ears for this?”

“I wouldn’t be telling this if it wasn’t PG. Now, I decided to have a little fun with Luna, so I told her of its plans. That it was actually sentient and wanted to avenge its brothers by sending her to the moon. I knew she wouldn’t buy it straight, so I told her a convoluted mess about a scientist working on a secret project with bananas and then putting them back in the boxes they came from. The fact that they came here was just a coincidence and I had just gotten this information from the banana itself before I ate it. She didn’t find out the truth until after I got back with Celestia.”

Kat snorted a little. "Ah, poor Luna. She can't ever have it easy, can she?"

“It was a month. A whole month that she believed that. I had to tell her I was messing with her because she was having the guards check every single banana for sentience.”

Medulla grimaced, ”My only real regret is that I see myself as the cause for her going Nightmare. Those first five years in Equestria were a train wreck.”

"You know, I don't think I've actually had the chance to meet a Nightmare Moon, yet," Kat mused. "The closest I've come was Twilight's kid on Ben's world."

“Nyx, right? That little tyke was a huge genre back where I’m from. You couldn’t go through a list on FiMFiction without seeing a story with her in it,” I said, draining my glass afterwards.

"I watched the show while I was at Auric's and I honestly can't see the appeal. It's rather...boring. Kinda glad it died with Hasbro."

”I never actually met Nightmare Moon. That all happened about one hundred years after I got turned to stone. I just know I planted the first thoughts of betrayal and hatred.” Medulla said staring intently at the table.

"Ouch," Kat winced. "Well, it'll get better. It always does if you make the right friends."

I glared at Kat and said, “Then how come you can’t see that your life will get better? You have family right here who wants you to be happy and you just shrug me off.” I opened Luna’s ‘secret’ stash and pulled out a bottle of moonshine. “You’re beginning to seem like a hypocrite.”

Kat chuckled lightly. "I want speaking from experience, for one. It was based on observations of others. Two, my life hasn't changed. I only realized the truth, nothing more."

Medulla looked Kat right in the eye, ”Would you like to hear a story about what could have happened to my best friend?”

"If it's some attempt to sway my mind, then no. I already have two people talking my ear off about it. Neither of which I can get to stop."

“Any of you want some moonshine?” I asked, glancing up at everyone when I didn’t hear anything. “What? It isn’t alcoholic.”

"I'll stick with my tea, thank you."

Medulla shrugged, ”Sure, and no it’s not an attempt to change your mind. I could have done that already. Just maybe give you some perspective.”

“I’ll have some,” Bronze said, raising his hoof.

"Only one. Don't want you ruining your dinner." Kat looked at Medulla. "Fine, I shall listen, but do not expect any change. And sweetie, never think you can alter my mind. It won't end well for you."

Medulla smirked, ”I hate doing stuff like that anyways. Well my best friend is Darkrai. And he was very lucky, because I was able to help him out. But if we had never met then the mostly likely outcome would have been horrible for everyone. See, Darkrai causes mind shatteringly terrifying nightmares just by being near people. This causes most to see him as evil or destructive. They would have hunted and hated him. Years of this treatment slowly degraded him until he really became evil. This is the fate of most Darkrai, that never find someone that actually treats them as having value.”

“Guess I should tell Zinnia try to become friends with hers, then,” I interrupted, handing Medulla and Bronze their cups.

Medulla looked grimly at the cup, ”After a certain point they’re just too far gone.”

I looked at Kat over the rim of my cup as I said, “Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try your hardest.”

Kat finished taking her sip. "While that was a heartfelt story, it is nothing more to me. I do hope your friend gets better, though."

He shrugged, ”I never expected to change how you see the world. And I think he’s fine… at least as much as one could be while stuck in a timeless pocket dimension with an insane emperor and thousands of crystal ponies.”

Just then a scroll bearing Cadence’s seal popped into existence before me. “Huh, almost a month late. That’s a new record,” I said as I split the seal and unrolled it. “And it isn’t an update.”

“An update on what?” Kat asked, keeping one eye on Bronze.

“How updating the Crystal Empire’s going. Cadence is asking me if she could form her own country using the city-state.”

“I think that happened on a few other worlds. Though, it was still under Equestrian protection.”

“That’s not what she’s asking for here. She wants it to be an actual kingdom, no Equestrian protection. She does want to become allies with Equestria though.”

“Well, it’s up to how you think Cadence would do as a proper ruler,” Kat shrugged. “Every world is different and I haven’t spent much time with yours.”

“Eh, why not? If she does fail I can just save her when she’s about to be beheaded and take over the Empire again,” I said as I pulled out a piece of paper and began to write.

”This has been a lot of fun, but I need to get back and make some preparations.” Medulla said, downing the rest of his cup.

“Okay, See ya later Medulla. Hope you can visit again.”

“Goodbye!” he said as he floated into a portal on the ceiling.

“He certainly knows how to make a good exit,” Kat mused.