Gleaming had informed the Princess about what had happened that day, including the fact that Corvo knew something about the leader, but couldn't tell them anything. At first she wasn't happy that he was withholding information, but when she was told that it would put Twilight in danger, she dropped the matter. Instead, she had unicorns that dealt with all kinds of magic summoned to investigate the phenomenon. Unfortunately, none of them came up with much. Except for one detail, they were all stumped as to what could have happened. All of them had come to the conclusion that dark magic had been utilized. This much was rather obvious however, so nothing was really learned.

Corvo was spending time with Twilight as the investigation had been going on. "So how are you?" he asked.

"I'm good. The doctors said that tomorrow I would be able to leave this room and walk around," she said. With a slight frown, she added, "But they want me to keep this bandage over my eye for a couple more days."

"I'm glad that you'll be able to get out of here. And with how delicate eyes are, it's better safe than sorry," he said.

"I know, it's just going to be hard to get around with one of my eyes covered."

"Well, I don't have anything planned, so I'd be glad to help you out."

Twilight smiled, "Well, my parents want to meet you soon, so that's perfect."

"I look forward to meeting them." He glanced at the clock in the room and noticed that it was ten-twenty. "Sorry Twilight, but Octavia's concert will be starting soon and I don't want to be late," he said.

"I still can't believe it was Octavia that you saved from a bunch of punks. She's a pretty well known cellist," she said.

"I can't wait to see her performance. I'll see you later Twilight," Corvo said and turned to exit the room.

Before he could leave however, Twilight stopped him, "Hang on, Corvo." He looked back at her. "Before you go, I want to do something," she said, motioning him to come closer.

As he stepped closer to her bed, he saw her magic flare around her horn. He wondered what she was doing, when he felt a tug around his waist. Looking down he saw her magic surrounding the pouches on his belt. After a few moments, the magic dissipated and he glanced up at the mare, arching a brow.

"I noticed that, judging by the size of those elixirs, you could only carry two of them, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's as many as I could hold," he confirmed.

"Well, I made it to where your pouches are able to hold more than they normally can. You can't hold an unlimited amount, but you should be able to carry like eight of them."

"That will be very helpful. Thank you Twilight."

"You're welcome Corvo. Tell me how the recital was when you get back," she said.

"Later Twilight," he then left the room. Just as he exited, he nearly ran into a unicorn mare and in order to avoid her, he had to step over her. "Sorry, about that ma'am," he apologized.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have been standing right... in front of..," her sentence petered out as she looked at who she had almost bumped into. She looked up at him in shock.

Corvo took a moment to look over the mare he had avoided. She looked kind of like Twilight with glasses. She had the same mane and tail style, with their colors practically being inverted. Her coat was a pale yellow and her eyes were dark purple. Her cutie mark was a purple crescent moon with three light purple stars around it.

"It's probably pointless to say this considering what happened the other day, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Corvo Attano," he said.

Regaining her voice, she stuttered, "I-I'm M-Moon Dancer. You're Corvo?"

"Yes I am. So you're Moon Dancer."

"Y-You know about me?" she asked, rather nervously.

"Minuette mentioned you," he said. "She told me how you and Twilight are rather similar to each other."

She blushed slightly, "I don't know if we're that alike."

"You here to talk to Twilight?" he asked.

"Yes, I haven't really seen her in a while and then I heard that she's been injured," she said, her voice laced with concern.

"That's really all my fault," Corvo said, guiltily.

Moon Dancer looked up at him in confusion, "How is it your fault?"

"For the past week she's been teaching me about your world, so I've been taking up all of her time. It's because of me that she was where that foalnapper was. I had planned to introduce myself to her family so that they knew why she wasn't visiting them very often. Because I suggested that, she was almost taken and was injured," he explained.

"But didn't you save three mares? If you hadn't been there, who knows what would have happened," she said. Corvo began to chuckle. "W-What?" she asked, slightly defensively.

"Sorry, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that Twilight said much the same thing," he told her.

Moon Dancer smiled, "It sounds like she doesn't blame you."

"I don't!" Twilight called through the doors. "He's just too stubborn to let it go."

Corvo chuckled again, "She's not wrong in that regard." Remembering his plans, he said, "Sorry to cut this short Moon Dancer, but I have a recital to attend. Let's talk again sometime."

"Sure. I look forward to it," she said. Opening the doors with her magic, she entered the room to spend time with her friend.

He started to make his way to the concert hall. As he was heading out of the castle, he ran into the Princess. "Hello Princess Celestia. Did you find out anything else about what had happened?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Unfortunately not. I really wish you could tell me what you know."

He grimaced, "I do too, but, for one thing, what I know isn't really that much and I really don't want to put Twilight in anymore danger."

"Neither do I, which is why I haven't pursued the matter," she said. "By the way Corvo, I've finished what you requested."

She pulled out two masks with her magic. It still baffled Corvo on where ponies would pull things from when they weren't wearing anything, but he figured in a world such as this it would be better not to question things the inhabitants considered normal.

"I managed to find a pony that was able to duplicate the originals design. If you damage it just ask and I'll tell you where you can find him. I've also charmed them both so that they will filter out anything harmful in the air and change to fit anyone's face, unless it's too big. Even putting it on a buffalo would be putting it to it's limit," she explained.

"Thank you for all of your help Princess," he said, bowing. "You've done so much for me since I showed up here and I can't even help you catch whoever is responsible for Twilight almost being foalnapped."

"You've done plenty Corvo. You saved not only her, but three other's. Plus you are helping us to be better prepared if something like that happens again. With a small guard able to use your special kind of magic, they will be able to do what you did. They'll also be able to look through floors and not waste time looking in every single room. And if a building's on fire, they'll be able to look inside without even entering," she told him.

"I told them this and I feel I should tell you. That spell doesn't have an unlimited range. At a certain point you won't be able to see ponies," he said.

"I'll keep that in mind, but my point still stands. The Blink will come in handy for when there's an obstacle that they can't get around. The Pull would be able to move somepony out of the line of fire. The magic you've shared with us will very useful. Also, I'm sure you'll do your best to protect the innocent whenever you can."

"Of course, I will. If they are in danger, I will protect them no matter what. If the one I saved broke some law then you and/or the guards will be the one's to sentence them," he said.

"You'll be saving ponies in more ways than one if you do things like that," she said, impressed with his conviction.

"Of course. Justice should be handled by the law. And if a pony were to carry it themselves, they would only end up regretting it." Glancing down at the device on his wrist, which ponies called a watch, it was ten-thirty five. "I don't mean to be rude Your Highness, but there's a performance that I'm planning to attend," he apologized.

"It's fine, Corvo. Even when you were just learning of our world, you worked nonstop. Go and enjoy yourself for once. But before you do, there's something that my guards mentioned to me."

"Yes?"

"The method you used to get their attention. They said that it sounded similar to an explosion, but not exactly like one," she said.

"Oh that was my gun," he told her, holding it up. "Do you have crossbows here?" The Princess nodded. "Well, it's a stronger, but shorter-ranged version of it."

"That's interesting. May I see it in action?" Celestia asked.

"I suppose. Do you know of something that I can use it on?" In a flash of golden light one of the training dummies from the field was several feet in front of them. "That'll work. Do you have some way of silencing the sound? I'd rather the guards not come running here after the shot and see me with my gun out near you."

"I do know of one spell," she said. Her horn flared and a golden bubble expanded around them. "This is a bubble of silence. Nopony will be able to hear the shot outside of this."

"Alright, but you should cover your ears. Like your guards said, it's pretty loud," he warned. He walked toward the dummy and stopped several feet from it. Glancing over at the Princess, he saw her ears pressed against her head. He pointed his gun at the targets chest and fired.

Celestia watched in slight horror as the dummies chest was ripped open. She felt slightly sick thinking of what would happen if used on a living being. "That's rather disturbing. You aren't going to use it, are you?" she asked, waringly.

"I really hope not. It will be a very last resort kind of thing," he said.

"I hope you don't have to either. Now before I keep you any longer, you should head out," she said.

"See you later Princess." He then walked past the alicorn and left the castle. Before leaving, he changed to his pony form to attract at least a little less attention than if he was in his normal form.

Walking through the streets, Corvo was getting several glances from the nobles of Canterlot. Most, if not all, of them were disgust or even anger. He recognized a few from the mob chasing Screw Loose and glared right back. Knowing his strength, they disappeared so fast he almost thought that they had Blinked. The others likely recognized him because of the clothes he was wearing. They were in the style of the ones he was wearing when he had showed himself to Canterlot, except that they were dark red.

Continuing through the road, he soon stopped by a unicorn stallion and could already tell that he wasn’t going to like him. He looked like the most pompous looking pony he had come across. Which was quite the feat considering how haughty the nobles were. He was snow white with an amber mane and light blue eyes. His cutie mark was a compass rose. He was looking at Corvo with utter disdain.

"I can't believe the Princess even associates with a commoner like you," he said, condescendingly.

Corvo arched a brow at him, "And you are?"

The unicorn sneered, "Listen well peasant, because I am Prince Blueblood."

Glancing around he saw that many of the nobles weren't looking at him with contempt anymore. They were now directing their dislike at this Blueblood. Some of them seemed rather conflicted on who to hate more. This only served to increase his dislike for him. Directing his attention back to the unicorn, he said, "Uh-huh." He then stepped around the stallion.

Several gasps rang through the crowd as he ignored the pony standing in front of him. Although he noticed several smirking, obviously pleased to see somepony snub the supposed prince.

"Don't you dare ignore me!" he shouted. "I am the Princess' nephew."

Corvo paused and glanced back. The unicorn smiled arrogantly, probably thinking that he had scared him. Turning back, he said, "Sorry, 'Prince' Blueblood, but I have more important things to do than listen to your prattling." Corvo continued walking to the concert hall. His ears perked, as he suddenly heard the hum of magic being charged. Jumping to the side, he dodged a golden beam of magic. Looking back he saw Blueblood with his head lowered and his horn glowing.

Raising his head slightly, he glared at Corvo and shouted, "You will not ignore me! I will not be disrespected some peasant mud pony!" Gasps ran through the crowd at this.

Corvo scowled deeply. He had learned that long ago ponies were specist and even racist. He could hardly believe it when he had heard, but had found out that it had pretty much disappeared after a certain point. Apparently, though it wasn't completely gone. He didn't care that he was called it, but he didn't like that this stallion was racist against his own species and thought lesser of them because of what they were. He really hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for what he was about to do.

Blueblood was having a rather bad day. Just the other day his aunt had put something that was not only an earth pony, but barely even a pony in charge of a new guard. Just because he had managed to save a few inconsequential mares, he was being treated as though he were a hero, when all he was, was a freak. He was heading to the castle to try and talk her out of such a horrible decision.

On his way, he ran into the stallion in question. He couldn't pass up the chance to degrade him. Now he had his horn pointed at the mud pony, ready to fry him. He continued to glare at him, until he suddenly vanished. Everypony on the street exclaimed in shock.

Blueblood looked everywhere, trying to find where the stallion had disappeared to. Unable to find him, leering at the gathered ponies, he said, "Hmph, run away has he? That's only thing that mud ponies are good at. He was right to though, for not taking me seriously." In his mind, however he thought, 'How in Tartarus did he disappear?'

There was an unexpectedly strong tug on his collar and he was suddenly face to face with the stallion he had just attacked. His legs began to shake instantly as he looked into the earth ponies eyes. He was glaring death at him.

"You listen here you pompous little ass. I don't care what you say about me, but don't you dare insult ponies just because of who or what they are. If you do it again, I swear that you will regret it," he threatened, raising his left hoof and showing Blueblood the fetlockbow on his boot. Shoving him back, the earth pony turned around and walked away.

Blueblood stood in the middle of the road, completely stunned by what had just happened. Hearing snickering, he turned around and glared at the ponies at the crowd. Most of them cowered, still scared of what the prince could do to them. Glaring back at where the stallion had gone, 'I will make you will regret that.'

Now in a bad mood, Corvo practically stomped through Canterlot. He reached the concert hall at around ten-fifty and took out his ticket. He approached the usher and was shown to his seat. Walking through the rows of seats, he saw that the hall was packed. Nearly every seat was filled. He was seated dead center in the front row.

After ten minutes, Octavia walked onto the stage and prepared her cello. Once ready, she began to play her first piece. Instantly, Corvo was enthralled by the music that she was playing. He could feel all of the negative emotions he was feeling from his encounter with Blueblood disappearing. Closing his eyes, he let himself become immersed in the music. He could practically see himself back in his world, relaxing to the peaceful music coming from an audiograph player. He could feel his eyes begin to water as memories from his world began to surface. Corvo hadn't really thought about any of his more personal memories since he had arrived in this world.

He became so entranced by the music and lost in his thoughts, he barely noticed when the next pieces of music began. He was only dimly aware that a piano joined in the final piece of music. However, as soon as it had, the image of him playing the piano for Jessamine and Emily entered his mind. He made a mental note to begin practicing again sometime. It wasn't until he felt a tap on his shoulder, that he noticed that it was over. Looking to his left he was surprised to see Vinyl Scratch sitting next to him.

She looked at him slightly worriedly, "Are you okay dude? Your eyes are watering."

Corvo began to wipe the tears from his eyes, "Yes, I'm fine. The music just brought back some memories." He then confusedly said, "Miss Scratch? I thought you said these were boring."

"That they are. Doesn't mean I can't appreciate Tavi's music. Especially when she isn't playing for these snobs." She then scrunched her face in annoyance, "And dude, call me Vinyl. None of that 'Miss' crap."

"Very well. Tavi?" he questioned.

"Oh, just my nickname for her. Come on, let's hurry backstage and see her," she said, standing from her seat.

They walked over to where a security guard was standing and flashed their backstage passes. He stood to the side and allowed them to enter. Walking through the hall they soon came to a room with Octavia's cutie mark on the door.

Vinyl, without even knocking, opened the door and waltzed right in, saying, "Amazing and as boring as ever." Corvo, however, stayed outside of the room.

"Honestly Vinyl, can't you at least knock. And thank you for that backhoofed compliment," Octavia said.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey that stallion is here," she said, somewhat excitedly. Turning around, she noticed that he was still standing outside. "What in the hay are you still standing out there for? You don't want to meet her or something?" He didn't really know why, but Corvo could swear he heard anger in her voice.

"That's not it at all, Mi- Vinyl. It's just not exactly polite for a stallion to just walk into a mare's room."

Octavia glanced at the unicorn with a slight smirk. "You can come in Corvo," she called out.

Vinyl rolled her eyes and, exasperatedly, said "It's not like this her bedroom."

"Be that as it may, entering a room that is meant for a mare without her permission is very disrespectful," he said, walking into the room and closing the door.

"You two are like peas in a pod," Vinyl said, irritably. "Complete bores, both of you."

"And yet it seems like you are very good friends with her," Corvo observed.

"Well, we've been friends since we were fillies," Octavia said, reminiscently.

"You two seem like total opposites though. How did the two of you become friends?" he asked.

"It's not that long of a story but, how about we talk over lunch instead of just standing here?" the earth pony mare suggested.

"That sounds wonderful, Miss Melody," he said.

"Splendid. I know just the place. And please just call me Octavia," she said.

Vinyl groaned, "We're not going to go to one of those hoity-toity restaurants are we?"

"With you joining us? No, we'll be going somewhere more low-key. Though, you may be rather overdressed for it Corvo," Octavia said.

He looked down at his clothes, "I figured I should dress up if I'm going to a recital."

Vinyl arched a brow at him, "You realize that a lot of the ponies in there weren't wearing anything right? Hay, even Octavia and, what was his name, Fred weren't really wearing anything, except for a bow tie."

"His name is Frederick, Vinyl," Octavia said, exasperatedly.

"Like I said, Fred."

"*sigh* Anyway, she has a point. Ponies, even the nobles, don't really wear much. Why do you?" Octavia asked.

"I've been doing it my entire life, so it's rather deeply ingrained," he said.

"Why's that?" Vinyl asked.

"You both know how this isn't my normal form, right?" he asked. The two mares nodded. "Listen, this is relatively a secret. Ponies know what I actually look like, but that's all they know. I feel like I can trust you two, though, so I'm going to tell you, but you need to keep it a secret okay?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," they both recited.

Corvo looked at them in confusion.

"Sorry, it's a thing that a friend of ours came up with. We just Pinkie Promised that we wouldn't tell anypony," Octavia explained.

"Yeah, and Pinkie takes them very seriously. If somepony broke one and she found out," Vinyl shivered.

"Is she violent?" he asked.

The two mares looked at each other and then started to laughed.

"Pinkie? Violent? Not at all," Vinyl said.

"She can come on a little strongly, but she a very nice mare," Octavia continued. "Which is why when she gets angry at a pony for breaking a promise, it's more than enough of a reason to not break them."

"Judging by the fact that you know, I'm guessing somepony did break a promise," he surmised.

The unicorn nodded, "Yeah, some stallion promised that he would attend an old friends party that she was putting together. The two hadn't seen each other in a long time and she was throwing it for them to spend some time together. However, he didn't attend. I don't think he ever gave a reason as to why he didn't, which just made Pinkie angrier." The two shivered, obviously remembering the event.

"I see. Well I'm glad that you are taking this so seriously. The reason this is secret is because ponies are already on edge just with me looking different. If they knew this, there's no telling how they would react," he said. "Hang on," he then activated his Dark Vision and looked around.

Vinyl and Octavia's eyes widened as his eyes suddenly turned red.

Not seeing anypony, he ended the spell and turned his attention back to the two mares. They were both looking at him in complete shock.

"Yes?" he asked, slightly nervously.

"Your eyes just turned red!" Octavia said.

Corvo grimaced, 'Shit. Now I have to explain that to them. Oh well, that was going to get out at some point anyway.' He began to explain, "That sort of fits into what I'm about to tell you. You see, I wasn't originally a pony. I was what's called a human. We look like what you saw me as that day, except that we aren't covered in fur like you all are. That's why we wear clothes, so we aren't exposed the elements." He then added quietly, "We also use them to cover our modesty."

At this, a small blush appeared on Octavia's cheeks, while Vinyl snickered behind her hoof.

"That's why I wear clothes. It's something that I did all my life, so it's not exactly easy to stop. Now as for why my eyes turned red," he said. When he said this, they seemed to begin listening intently. Slightly confused on their intense focus, he continued, "It was a type of magic." At his admission, Vinyl seemed to deflate slightly. This only confused Corvo more.

Before he could begin to dwell on it, Octavia asked, "You are able to do more than the normal magic an earth pony can do?"

Turning his attention to her, he said, "Yes, I can. Watch." He then used his Pull to snatch on of the brushes off of the table. Having the object fly past them caused both of them to jump.

"That's amazing!" Vinyl said, seeming to regain her usual energy.

"That is very incredible," Octavia agreed. Glancing at the clock, she said, "Oh dear, it's past time for lunch. How about we just go somewhere to get a snack and we can tell you about how we met."

"That sounds good," Corvo said. Opening the door, he gestured with his hoof, "Ladies first."

Vinyl smirked, "Are you being polite or is it because you don't know where to go?"

Octavia groaned, "Do you always have speak so forthright?"

However, Corvo looked at Vinyl and, smiling, said, "Both, to be honest."

Shock crossed Octavia's face, as he answered her seriously, while Vinyl began to crack up.

"Maybe you aren't completely dull," she snickered.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he said.

As they all exited the room, Octavia said, "I'm rather surprised you answered her like that."

"I knew she was just messing with me. It wasn't a big deal."

They then left concert hall, Corvo following behind the two mares.

As they walked, Octavia asked, "Did you enjoy the recital?"

"Did I enjoy it? It was magnificent. I was in a rather bad mood when I showed up and your music was very soothing," Corvo said.

"Why were you in a bad mood?" Vinyl asked.

"I ran into somepony named Blueblood," he told them. Immediately, disgust crossed the two mares muzzles. Noticing this he asked, "You heard of him?"

"Heard of? We've met the bastard," she said.

"Vinyl! That's not something you call the Princess' nephew," Octavia reprimanded. She then muttered, "Though I don't know how she could be related to such a miserable stallion." Vinyl let out a snort at this.

"Well, he just pissed me off. I've dealt with a great deal of nobles, but he has to be one of the worst," Corvo said.

"What did he say?" Vinyl asked.

"I'd rather not repeat it, but suffice to say that he called earth ponies the worst thing you can call them," he said, his anger rising.

"He made a racist remark to you!?" Octavia exclaimed.

"I could care less what he said about me. He insulted you, Screw Loose, and ponies that had nothing to do with what was happening." Noticing their confused looks, he elaborated, "The other mare that I saved. I wasn't going to let what he said slide."

"What do you mean you wouldn't let it slide?" Vinyl asked.

"I threatened him," Corvo said simply. They paused and looked at the stallion in shock.

"You threatened him?" Octavia breathed.

A huge grin spread across Vinyl's face, "Way to go!"

"Vinyl, you shouldn't be happy about that! There's no telling what Blueblood will try to do to him," Octavia said, worriedly.

"He can't do anything to me. Even if he manages to get me fired from the Crow Guard, that's all he can do. He doesn't know anything about the ponies I consider friends and I have no family here. And if he tries to fight me, he'll find out that there's a reason I was the personal guard of the Empress of my world."

The two mares glanced at each other. One of the things Corvo said had gotten their attention. The fact that he didn't have any family here made them feel bad for the stallion.

They continued in relative silence, until eventually they reached their destination. The building was several shades of pink with some giant round pink sculpture on it. Walking inside, Corvo saw that it didn't look anything like he was expecting from something in Canterlot. The atmosphere was very laid back and not at all uptight.

"What is this place?" he asked.

However before they could answer a familiar voice called out, "Corvo? Is that you!?"

Looking over he was pleasantly surprised to see three familiar mares. He trotted over to them, "It's good to see you ladies again."

Minuette giggled, "It's nice to see too. What are you doing here?"

"I came with a couple of new friends," he said. Looking back he saw that they were still standing at the front. He gestured with his hoof for them to come over.

Looking over, Twinkleshine gasped, "Is that Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch?"

Corvo glanced back, "You know them?"

"We haven't actually talked to them, but Octavia's a very popular cellist and we've been to Vinyl's nightclub in Ponyville," Lemon Hearts told him.

"Ah. Well Vinyl, Octavia, this is Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine," he introduced them.

"Are they friends of yours?" Octavia asked.

"I only met them yesterday, so I'm not really sure I can call them that," he said.

"What do you mean?" Minuette exclaimed. "Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of ours. Right, girls?" The other two unicorns nodded. "Plus, you made it to where she's really opening up to us. I think that makes us friends. Which means that you can call me Colgate."

Corvo looked at the three mares in surprise. That so many ponies here were as friendly as they were, really blew him away. "Maybe when we've become better acquainted Minuette."

"Fine," she said, pouting slightly. However, it didn't last long and she smiled wide, "So what are you doing here with those two?"

"We're going to eat and just talk," he told them. Looking at their table all he saw were strange circular food. He looked around and saw that everypony had the same thing. Some of them looked different, but were the same type of food. "What exactly are those anyway?" he asked, pointing at the odd ring-shaped food. He had learned a good deal about food from Exquisite Dish, but he had never made or mentioned something like this.

At this, four of the mares stared at him in shock. Octavia seemed only seemed slightly surprised.

"You don't know what a donut is?" Vinyl asked incredulously.

"Vinyl! He's not from," she paused and glanced at the three other unicorns. She then looked at Corvo, who, noticing her look, shook his head slightly, letting her know that he hadn't told them. "Equestria. You can't expect that they'll have the exact same things," she said.

"So, that's called a donut?" he asked, looking at the food.

Minuette suddenly raised her voice, "Donut Joe, a dozen assortment!"

"You got it!" the unicorn stallion called. He levitated a box over to them and set it down on the table. Lemon Hearts, in turn, levitated several bits over to him.

Corvo looked at the shop owner. He was a good deal bigger than most of the stallions he had seen. However, he was smaller than Blueblood was. He had a light amber coat, brown mane, and green eyes.

Returning his attention to the table, he reached for one of the donuts and grabbed the one that was chocolate covering the top and nothing on the bottom. He brought the pastry to his mouth and took a bite. His eyes widened in surprise, as he ate the confection. The small pastry was absolutely delicious, so light, fluffy, and the chocolate on it made it all the better.

"Good, huh?" Vinyl said, smiling.

"Delicious," he confirmed.

Octavia looked around and, not noticing any empty tables, asked, "Do you ladies mind if we join you?"

"Spend time with our new friend, as well as Octavia and Vinyl?" Minuette exclaimed. "Sure, pull up a stool."

The three got stools for themselves and pulled them to the table and sat with the three unicorns.

"So were you going to talk about anything specific or were you just talking about anything?" Lemon Hearts asked.

Corvo glanced at the two mares, "Well, Vinyl and Octavia were going to tell me how they became friends, but with an audience I'm not really sure if they want to talk about it."

"I don't really mind telling you, if they don't mind us talking about ourselves," Octavia said.

"We'd love to hear how you two met," Minuette said. Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine nodded their heads enthusiastically.

Octavia began, "Alright. Well, when we were younger, we lived in Manehattan. Both of us already had our cutie marks at the time. We had both joined the music club. Right away, we found out that our tastes in music were completely different. I liked classical, while she liked dubstep, techno, those kinds of things." She paused to eat one of the donuts.

"Yeah and almost immediately, we figured that we wouldn't get along," Vinyl picked up. "I mean, we were complete opposites in not only the kind of music we liked, but we soon found out that our personalities were completely different. I liked to have fun, where as Tavi was a killjoy."

The earth pony looked at Vinyl with indignation, "I like to have fun too Vinyl. It's just that my definition of fun isn't having music blaring while you go crazy."

"And yet you come to my nightclub quite a lot," Vinyl said, smirking.

A small blush appeared on Octavia's face, but she smirked back, "Well you come to my recitals, despite how boring you think they are." The two continued to playfully glare at each other until Octavia continued, "As we spent more time together, we began to get closer. I listened to some of her music and found out that some of it was pretty good."

"And I listened to some of her's and found out that, while rather dull, wasn't that bad."

"When we got older, we even tried playing each other's genres. Vinyl tried out my cello and came up with a very good idea on how to play it."

"Yeah and Tavi tried out my turntables and came up with an interesting mix of classical and dubstep."

"They sound very interesting. You'll have to show me some time," Corvo said.

"Anytime your in Ponyville we'll be glad to play for you. Right Vinyl?" Octavia said. The electric blue maned unicorn nodded.

"It was nice hearing how you two became friends," Twinkleshine said.

"I'm glad we didn't bore you with talking about ourselves."

"How could anything with me in it be boring?" Vinyl questioned.

Corvo leaned to Octavia and whispered, "She doesn't seem like the kind of pony you would be bored hearing about."

The earth pony giggled, and whispered back, "No she isn't. She's very loud, somewhat obnoxious and is pretty uncivilized, but she's a very good friend, extremely supportive, and a never ending source of fun."

He smiled and stood, "Well ladies, I don't mean to cut this short, but I think I'm going to head back."

"Aw, already?" Vinyl and Minuette moaned simultaneously.

"Sorry, but I haven't trained at all today and I really should," he apologized. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out several bits and tossed them on the table. "Get some more donuts on me. I'll see you ladies later," he said, leaving the shop. He then started to head back to the castle. 'They said that they live in Ponyville. I should find out where that is and visit sometime.' Corvo was so lost in thought that he bumped into somepony. Staggering back from the impact, he apologized, "Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Oh it's alright. I was rather lost in thought myself," they said.

Looking at the pony he had bumped into, he saw that it was a unicorn mare. She was pink with a rose, violet, and light gold mane. Her eyes were light purple and her cutie mark was a crystal heart with two golden arches at the bottom.

"Again I am sorry ma'am. I wasn't watching where I was going," he said.

"Like I said, it's fine. My head was in the clouds," she said. She then took a closer look at him. After a moment her eyes widened, "What's your name?"

Confused on the sudden question, he answered, "Raven Armor. Why?"

She smiled, "So I was right. You're the stallion that save Twilight."

At this, Corvo's eyes widened, 'How does...?' He looked around to see if anypony was listening. Narrowing his eyes at the mare in front of him, he asked, "How do you know that?" Confusion spread across her face, "The Princess never revealed who I had saved. Only that I had helped four mares in trouble. So, I ask again, how do you know who it was that I rescued?"

This time the pink mare looked around, she then gestured toward an empty alley, "Do you mind if we speak away from any prying ears?"

He looked over, then said, "I suppose." He started to walk down the alley, the mare following close behind. He stopped once they were far enough in that nopony would hear them. "So will you explain?" he asked.

"That's politer than most ponies would ask," she said.

"Demanding an explanation could very well make it to where you don't want to explain," Corvo said.

"Very true. Now then, I know because I know the Princess," she said, cryptically.

At this he sighed, "Don't tell me you are another relative of the Princess."

"Another?" she questioned. Comprehension dawned on her and she facehooved, "Damn it Blueblood. *sigh* Yes, Celestia is my aunt, but I am nothing like him."

"You aren't?" he asked. A thought occurred to him, "Hang on, you knew who I was, but I don't know who you are."

"You mean neither of them mentioned me?" she asked, hurt in her voice.

"Princess Celestia never mentioned she had two unicorn relatives, no," he said.

Confusion spread across her face, "Two unicorn..? Oh right I'm still hiding them." She walked past Corvo and further into the alley.

"Hiding what?" he questioned.

She stopped several hoof steps away from him and turned around. She closed her and seemed to begin to concentrate. After a moment, pink wings with purple tipped feathers sprung from her sides.

He stared at her in surprise, his jaw practically on the ground. "Are you Princess Cadance?" he asked.

"Yes I am, but please just call me Cadance. From what Gleaming Shield has told me, you two are pretty good friends, so don't feel obligated to be formal with me," she said.

"That might take some getting used to, Pri- Cadance." He smiled sheepishly, "See?"

The alicorn giggled, "It's fine, Corvo."

"How did you hide your wings?"

"It's something that alicorns are able to do. Aunty can do it to, but since she's like three times the height of other ponies, it's kind of pointless," she explained. Worry appeared on her face as she asked, "How is Twilight? Gleaming told me about the incident, but I've yet to actually get to the castle and visit her."

"She told me that the doctors said that she would be able to walk around tomorrow. She still needs to wear the bandage around her eye for a few more days," he told her.

She let out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad she's doing okay."

"How do you know Twilight?"

"I foalsat her," she said.

"She was foalsat by a Princess?" he asked.

"Well, I was still young, so I didn't have any royal responsibilities and I wanted to get to know some of the ponies in Canterlot," she explained. "I found a request for a foalsitter and I applied. That's how I became so close to Twilight and Gleaming."

"Ah, I see. That's interesting to know. I was just heading back to the castle. Shall we go together?"

Cadance's wings disappeared from sight, "Sure. We can talk some more on the way."

They then started walking back to the castle. The two talked about all kinds of things as they walked. Gleaming Shield had informed Cadance about what he was and where he was from, so they took turns talking about each other's world.

When they reached the castle they noticed an extra guard standing at the entrance. When they reached her, she said, "Captain Corvo, the Princess wishes to speak to you."

The sudden use of his new title caught him by surprise, but he quickly recovered, "Understood, I'll head to her immediately."

"I'll go with you. It's been a little while since I saw her," Cadance said.

He nodded and the two followed the guard to the throne room. Once they reached it, the two entered. They immediately saw Blueblood standing in front of the throne where Celestia sat. Frowning, the two continued into the room and, while Corvo bowed, Cadance rushed up to the throne and hugged her aunt.

"It's good to see you Cadance," the Solar Princess said smiling. Lowering her head, she gave Cadance her version of a hug. Raising her head, her expression returned to being serious, "Corvo, the Prince has told me that you assaulted him."

Cadance's eyes widened, "Aunty! I really don't-"

She was silenced by a look from Celestia. Returning her attention to the earth pony, she said, "This is a very serious thing if it's true. He is my nephew and if what he's saying is true, I'll need to do something."

Corvo glared at the prince, before focusing on Princess Celestia, "I won't lie Princess. I did threaten him." The pink alicorn looked at him in surprise, while Blueblood smirked. "However, I only did because of what he said," he continued. The prince's smirk instantly disappeared.

The Princess glanced at her nephew, "And what did he say?"

"I'd really rather not repeat it. Would you look at my memories of the incident? There's also the fact that you can't lie about memories," he suggested.

Celestia nodded, "Very well." She stood and approached Corvo. She began to gather her magic, but before she could do anything, Blueblood interrupted.

"Wait! How do we know that he hasn't had his memories tampered with?" he questioned desperately.

"Corvo doesn't seem like the kind of stallion to mess with dark magic, Blueblood." The prince was about to say something else, before she interrupted, "And even if he did, there would be traces of it on him." She then continued to cast the spell and looked at his memories. As they played out in her mind, she slowly began to frown. When they ended, she glared at Blueblood, who shivered under her gaze. "It seems that you withheld a great deal of information. Such as the fact that not only did you make a racial remark towards him and earth ponies in general, but you also attacked him for no reason." She continued to glare at him, until finally she said, "Leave, Blueblood."

The stallion was all to happy to oblige and darted from the room.

Once he was gone, the Solar Princess sighed heavily, "Sorry about that Corvo, but without knowing exactly what happened, I need to be impartial until I do know."

"I know Princess. I've been a part of these kinds of things before and know how you have to act. Plus, as you saw, he, while not telling the exact truth, wasn't necessarily lying," he said.

"Yes, and it's because of this that I need to do something. We can't have the guards threatening civilians. Even if they do insult you," she said regrettably. "I'm afraid I must remove you from being the Captain of the Crow Guard." She then smiled slightly and continued, "But only as Captain."

He looked up in confusion, "Wait, what do you mean?"

Cadance smiled, "I think she's only going to demote you to Lieutenant. You'll still be part of the guard and you'll be able to lead them, but officially you won't be in charge."

"That's rather sneaky," he said with a slight smirk.

Celestia shrugged, "You live as long as I do and you learn things about how to keep ponies happy while still protecting them. Besides, he only said that he didn't want you being in charge. He said nothing about you being completely taking out of it."

Corvo looked back to where the prince had disappeared to, "Are you really related to that prick?"

She sighed, "Unfortunately, yes I am. Thankfully though, he's so distantly related even calling me his great-great-great-great-great aunt is a stretch."

"That's not surprising considering how long you've lived and he's probably only thirty at the oldest. Cadance seems more closely related to you than him."

The Princess cocked an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'seems'?"

"Well I'm just guessing, but from looking at you two you don't really look like you're related," he said.

"You realize that your practically saying that Twilight and Gleaming aren't sisters, right?" Cadance asked.

"Well, I don't know what their parents look like so I can still see them as being siblings."

The two alicorns looked at each other and started to giggle.

Corvo looked at them confusion apparent on his face, "What?"

"Maybe looks play a bigger part for humans, but with ponies it doesn't. I mean, I've seen a family where the ponies were green, red, yellow, blue, and all kinds of other colors. So just because a ponies coat doesn't match another's doesn't mean that they aren't related," Celestia explained. "That being said, you are actually correct."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I actually adopted Cadance as my niece. I'm sure you can guess why she's my niece and not my daughter," she said.

"Because your over a thousand years old and she isn't?"

The Princess nodded, "Exactly. Even if she's immortal too, she's much to young to be my daughter by adoption."

"I don't exactly see why that matters," he said. "I mean if you fell in love with somepony and you two had a foal they would be you son or daughter, right?"

"That's... true, but," she sighed heavily. "I suppose, it was that because I raise and lower the sun and moon, as well as me being the ruler of Equestria takes all of my time. I didn't want to become a mother that ignored her daughter. As an aunt, I could spend time with her, but not get so close as to where she would expect to see me all the time like you would a mother."

Corvo could understand exactly what Princess Celestia meant. It was something that Jessamine had to deal with. Even though she spent a good deal of time with Emily, most of the time she had to deal with matters of the government, money-grubbing nobles, and when the plague appeared, it only got worse.

"I know what you mean Princess. Jessamine had much the same problem," he told her. "But she always made time to spend with her daughter. I mean she was the Empress after all," he said with a slight smirk.

"I know that, as princess, I can choose what I'm able do with my time, but there's a great deal to take care of." Her face fell as she murmured, "Maybe if she was still here."

Corvo and Cadance glanced at each other, worry etched on their faces.

"Princess?" "Aunty?"

"*ahem* Anyway, you've given me something to think about Corvo." She glanced at Cadance, a small smile on her muzzle, "I hope we can properly talk about this soon."

Cadance nodded somewhat eagerly, "Of course!"

Corvo smiled, glad that she was taking what he said into consideration. Excusing himself, he gave them some privacy so they could discuss what had been talked about.