The cell was dark, not surprisingly, and I’d not been treated as harshly as I thought I would have. My biggest concern though was the Mistress. I’d failed her…I was a bad pony. Perhaps there was some way I could redeem myself? Try again? But how? Sighing, I lay back on the straw mattress and waited. Something or somepony would decide my fate sooner or later and that would be that. A tear rolled down my cheek. I missed my mistress terribly, the breakfast we shared, the smile she gave me. I wanted to be with her forever.

It was cold in here, I could see my breath above me, but strangely didn’t feel it at all. I wonder why? Hoofsteps approached the door, making me jump to my hooves. If I could surprise them, I’d have a chance…

“Fairlight?”

Who? The guard in the doorway stared at me. He looked like most of the palace guards, this one a white male with blue eyes. I glared at him, weighing up my chances at getting past him, overpowering him,

“Lord Fairlight, it’s me, Nimble, Corporal Nimble.”

I stared at the stallion. He thought he knew me did he? Now was my chance…

Before I could move, he took off his helmet and before my very eyes, his coat changed from white to grey, his yellow eyes strangely familiar,

“Lord Fairlight, don’t you recognise me? What are you doing in here?”

“I…Nimble?” Pain lanced through my skull so fiercely it took me to the ground. By all that was holy in the world, why wouldn’t this stop? I screamed, the corporal replacing his helmet and pulling me to my hooves,

“Get me some help here!” He shouted up the corridor, “For the princesses sake get a medic!”

The world swirled and drifted away from me, darkness pushing in on my consciousness. The last thing I saw was a beautiful green mare, looking down at me in concern, her yellow eyes and pale green mane…she was so….beautiful.

A white light shone in my eyes, blinding me. I was strapped down on a table, not uncomfortably so, but still secure. The light moved away, beneath which a large pair of brown eyes stared at me,

“Can you hear me? Nod if you can.”

I nodded.

“Good. Your majesty…” the mare began, “This pony has had his memories overwritten with a memory spell, a very powerful one at that. The coat as you can see, has been dyed, the cutie mark shaved off and artificial fur and marking applied. Same with the mane and tail. I noticed something about his eyes too, here…”

He held up a glass dish like thing, the eye covers I’d been wearing earlier.

“His eyes are an unnatural blue. See how they shine with that background light? It’s magic of a type I’ve never seen before. He’s still hornlocked though, it’d been disguised with the helmet but I’ve left it on him as you ordered.”

“Thank you doctor” the serene voice was all too familiar…Celestia

A midnight coated mare walked up, her aquamarine eyes looking down into mine sadly, “Oh, Fairlight, what have they done to you?”

“What I want to know, Luna, is who this ‘Mistress’ is.”

“At least you don’t believe it is I, sister.”

“I’m not sure what to believe any more, Luna. It would appear your warnings were not without merit after all”

Luna harrumphed, “Perhaps you should listen to me a little more often, Tia?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, “I always listen to you, little sister. Sometimes…I…” She shook her head, “It matters not, what does is what are we going to do with this…wendigo.”

“Would you please stop referring to him as a thing, Tia. He’s a pony who’s pledged himself to serve you, rescued many from the human realm and…”

“-Yes, yes, I know all that, Luna, you’ve been quite…convincing. What you don’t seem to realise is that this…’pony’, tried to murder me in my sleep.”

“He’s been drugged, hornlocked and bewitched, Tia, the pony beneath all that would never harm you, and you know that”

“The fact remains that her defied me and returned after I had banished him. Ponies died, Luna.”

“And once again, I explained what happened. You’re looking in the wrong direction, sister. The one you should be aiding is the one you are accusing. Can’t you let go of your hate from a millennia ago?”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

“Isn’t it? Do you still hate me?”

“Of course not!”

“How do I know that? How can I be sure that, like this pony before you, who pledged his life to serve you, that somewhere deep down inside you still harbour distrust and hate in your heart?”

“Luna! I won’t hear any more of this nonsense from you!”

“Then help him Tia, please…if not for him, then for me. Won’t you take a chance and give him one as you did me?”

Celestia sighed, “I can’t do this without taking that hornlock off him and with his powers he could…”

Luna placed a hoof on her sisters shoulder, “I’m here too, Sis, don’t forget that. I can and will protect you. I’m not as helpless as you seem to think”

Celestia gently touched her sisters’ hoof, “I never thought you were Luna.”

A bright golden glow flared from Celestia’s horn and enveloped my head, giving me a strange warming sensation. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but at least the pain had gone. Now…if I could only get a chance to get out of here and…

“Now!”

Luna’s horn glowed and the small device that had been stuck on my horn clicked and fell from me onto the floor. Celestia’s magic quickly grew in intensity and I could feel its presence filtering through my mind like hot tendrils.

Anger and bitterness surged through me, cold hatred and pent up frustration. So many emotions running through my veins and brain all at once, it was overwhelming. The bitch was before me! If there was one pony, one alicorn I needed to eliminate it was this one. The mistress would be happy with me, my ancestors would sing of my deeds, she had to die…now!

I could feel my teeth lengthening, my vision changing, a deep rumbling emanated from my throat.

“Luna…”

“I’m on it, Sis. Fairlight, my lord, please…its me, Luna, your mistress”

“Mistress?” She was my mistress? She didn’t look anything like her! She looked like…like the princess of the night, the goddess of the moon.

“Lord Fairlight, look at me, only at me. Remember, please try to remember…”

“Luna…”

The glow intensified, rampaging images running through my mind in a torrent of colour. I felt like something were trickling out of me yet filling me at the same time. A frozen lake of emotions and thought, the ice below preventing me from reaching them, but they were there, just below the surface.

“Yes! Lord Fairlight, you must remember. Meadow, Sparrow Song, Tingles, Lumin, Shadow. They’re all waiting for you…they need you. Please Fairlight, come home to us.”

“Home?” Home was with the mistress, the other mistress, the white mare…In my tortured mind, my anger and confusion began to be replaced with images of a sunny day beneath a large tree, a green mare in a large floppy sun hat…her yellow eyes like the warm light from lanterns. I…I loved her…

I murmured a name, one I remembered and yet had lost, “Meadow…”

The strain was telling in Celestia’s voice, “Not much longer, Luna, keep him under control a little longer.”

“That’s right Fairlight! Little Sparrow can fly now, I’ve seen her, those little wings are so strong!”

“Sparrow…” a burning sensation began in my eyes and I could feel tears begin to drip down my cheeks.

The small grey Pegasus, so tiny and frail, I missed her so much. Suddenly a bolt of pain hammered through me making me cry out. I had to escape! To kill Celestia, kill the bitch who had…

“I’m losing it! For goodness sake Luna, keep him focussed!”

“FAIRLIGHT!” Luna shouted at me, distracting me, “Remember…” She grabbed my head suddenly and placed her lips on mine, her beautiful feminine eyes filling my vision, “Remember”.

She kissed me, the scent of lavender hitting me with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. This was the smell of my mistress, my true mistress, I was her stallion and I would obey her, love her. I moved into the kiss, ignoring the burning magic running through my mind. Images of mares, foals, places, worlds, all ran through me until with a final crack, the ice broke and everything flooded back in a sudden rush. I fell, deep into the lake of memory and self, remembering who I was, who I am. It was terrifying and exhilarating. I was…me…me once again…

Panting, the effort having visibly tired her, princess Celestia looked down into my eyes, “Who are you?” she asked me levelly.

“I…I’m Fairlight, your majesty.”

Luna hugged me and whispered into my ear, “Thank the gods, Fairlight. I thought we’d lost you”

Celestia turned away, “Perhaps you should believe in me too, little sister”.

She left the room, with Luna and I holding onto each other as she magicked the straps away from my body. The warm smell of the mare made my heart ache. I wanted my family…where were my family?

I sat up shakily, then rolled off the bed onto my hooves, “Luna…my lady, what’s going on? I don’t understand…where am I? What the hell am I doing here?”

Luna handed me a glass of sparkling silver liquid, “Here, drink this and we’ll talk”

Cold, strong and pure raced through my entire being, refreshing and re-energising me. I looked down at my legs. I didn’t know whether it was the light in the room or not, but they seemed darker than usual for some reason. What had happened to me? I still felt like me, just a little ‘off’ somehow, and by the goddess my head hurt like hell!

Luna magicked the glass away to sit on the table before thanking the doctor and beckoning me to follow her.

“You’ve been missing for weeks.” She began, “Mitre received a message from Tingles to say they believed you’d been kidnapped from the village and then you simply disappeared. Only to re-appear here…like this.”

“Where am I?”

“The palace. What do you remember?”

“Sitting on the porch, watching the sunrise and then…looking into your eyes”

Luna blushed slightly, “Lord Fairlight, somepony used a very strong and unusual memory spell on you. Not only that, but they drugged you with something that broke down your own magic and hornlocked you.”

“But…”

“You were found dressed in a soldiers’ uniform…in my sisters’ bedroom. Fairlight… you were going to assassinate Celestia, you had an MAD with you.”

I stopped in my tracks. I was going to do what?! My goddesses, sure I hated her for what she’d done to my tribe, for what she’d done to me, but…to assassinate her? No. A memory of a conversation with a pony a long time ago popped back into my mind, “I’m not an assassin”. That sentiment was just as valid now as it was then, and yet Luna was here with me, saying I’d done this? The worst part was, I couldn’t deny it either. Here I was, in the royal palace and somepony had clearly messed around with not only my head, but my appearance.

I turned to Luna in silence, not knowing what to say.

“My lord, come…my sister will be waiting for us.”

“Guess this is it then” I muttered, half to myself.

“What do you mean?”

“Assassination…Treason. Don’t forget that I was warned ‘not to return upon pain of death’. I’m sorry Luna, I don’t think this is one fix I’m going to get out of unless I make a break for it now.”

Luna put a hoof on my shoulder, “Don’t you think Tia would have thought about that? Why do you think she took the hornlock off you? Think, lord Fairlight, if she wanted you dead, you would never have left her bedchamber”

I shook my mane, “Forgive me if I don’t share your confidence in your sister.”

She sighed and face hoofed, “Fairlight!” sighing, she nudged me with her muzzle, “Come along now, lets not be tardy”

I almost laughed. The whole situation was beyond strange. Weeks of nothing, a hole in my memory, only a lingering sense of…’missing’ something, and here I was being lead through the palace by one of the royal sisters. Whatever had been done to me had interfered with my magic and I doubted I had much left in me to attempt an escape in any case, let alone defend myself should Celestia decide to eliminate me there and then. What awaited me beyond the doors ahead of us remained to be seen.

I took a deep breath as the doors swung open.

The princess of the sun sat on a chair before a roaring fire. By the looks of the sky outside, it was early dawn. The princess sipped a cup of tea thoughtfully, looking into the fire with a far away gaze. She looked tired.

“Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me, wendigo?”

I kept quiet.

“Do you know how many of my guards perished trying to find you?”

She looked up at me her eyes flashing with anger and also…sadness?

“Well?”

I cleared my throat, “Your majesty, if you’re going to execute me could you please get on with it? I’d like to be re-united with my murdered wife and foal as soon as possible, if it’s all the same to you.”

Celestia shook her head, “Flippant remarks like that avail you nought, wendigo”

“Fairlight”

“Pardon?”

“I have a name, your majesty. Most call me Fairlight, but I answer to ‘my lord’ or ‘lord Fairlight’. I may be a wendigo, but I didn’t have any choice in the matter and if you have some way to turn back time and undo what happened to me and to my family, then I’d welcome that chance.”

“Would you?” she asked, “and lose every friendship, every relationship you’ve made since then?” Celestia curled her lip, “I think not.”

I hung my head, “It’s true I’ve made many friends since then, more than I ever had before in my life, but I still miss my wife and daughter, princess. I still want to hold them, to be with them.”

“I’ll tell you bluntly…Fairlight, Luna has spoken strongly for you. Ever since I made the ruling to banish you, she has beleaguered me with evidence of your deeds, accounts of what you have done for Equestria.”

She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes, “I wasn’t convinced…but…”

“But?”

The princess opened one eye and stared at me, “I have a special place in my affections for the little creatures you know as ‘Breezies’. So frail, so gentle, and now nearly extinct thanks to the actions of a few evil creatures.”

She shook her mane and magicked her cup back onto the saucer with a ‘clink’, “You accomplished something that day, something many would have quailed at. You not only saved ponies, you saved an entire species. Their reclusiveness coupled with my distraction because of certain ‘events’ in the land, let my dear breezies nearly die out under my very nose.”

There was a commotion outside the door which suddenly burst open, three identical looking guards falling into the room as they grappled one another. Celestia rose quickly to her hooves, “What is going on here, another assassin? Explain yourselves!”

Two of the guards grabbed the third who they took to the ground. He opened his mouth to speak as one of the burly males snarled at him, “Keep quiet you! Your majesty…”

“Let him speak”, she ordered waving off the guards.

They backed away a pace keeping their weapons trained on the prostrated stallion, “Your majesties, please. I am Corporal Nimble, First unicorn battalion, fourth company. This pony…he saved my life in the caverns, after I’d been sent there to apprehend him. He faced down a dragon to save me, to save one of my colleagues who then tried to murder him in cold blood. He’s not our enemy princess!”

Celestia walked up to the soldier and picked him up off his knees, “You know, Corporal Nimble, what this creature is?”

He nodded, removing his helmet. His coat changed from white to grey, his eyes turning from the blue of the royal guard to the yellow so typical of the tribe.

“Yes, your majesty” he smiled at me, “I know what he is, and who he is”. I sensed his presence as soon as he entered the palace. It was weak, but I knew it was him.”

Celestia rose to her full height, ruffling her wings, “You understand what you are saying here soldier? You were sent on a mission to apprehend him, were you not?”

“Yes, your majesty”

“And you let him go?”

“I did”

“You disobeyed an order…”

“For a friend, yes, I did. If that condemns me, then so be it. Nopony who would face death to defend another should receive betrayal as a reward”.

Celestia shot him a look before turning to me, “Your ‘influence’ appears to be spreading, ‘lord’ Fairlight. I am still not convinced I was wrong about you or your kind, however…”

“They were different times Celestia”, I said rather more informally than I meant to, “You did what you believed you had to, to protect the ponies of Equestria. I won’t deny that my ancestors relished war, but for myself, all I wish for is to protect my family and to be left in peace.”

She smiled sadly, “Peace…murder, drugs, rape…such terrible, unimaginable things are happening in my home. Equestria is sickening from it, I feel it in my heart, even at a time when my niece and the brother of my most loyal student are to married.” She snorted, “A joyous occasion amidst the horror.”

I stood up to my full height, letting the magic course through me, my eyes and teeth changing, the mist curling around my hooves. The princesses gasped at the transformation, the guards behind me readying their spears,

“Then let me help Equestria, my princess. Allow me to fulfil my promise and protect both you and your sister, the ponies of Equestria, our home.”

I bowed before her, “I renew my pledge to serve you, your majesty, both you and princess Luna.”

The princess of the sun watched me warily but smiled slightly, waving off the guards and turned to Luna, “Contact his family, Luna, they will be missing him, and Corporal Nimble?”

“Yes, your majesty?”

“I’m reassigning you. Go with lord Fairlight and help him in whatever way he sees fit. I will speak to Captain Armour about your transfer shortly.”

“Thank you, your majesty”

“Oh, and lord Fairlight?”

“Yes, your majesty?”

“I will consider your request to have the lands returned to you and your ‘tribe’. In the meantime, you are to work with the agency on my behalf to restore Equestria. Root out the evil, Fairlight, restore the beauty of our land to what it once was.”

She nodded to Luna, “Nopony should fear the night.”

I thought of the weeks of missing memory, how I’d been played like a marionette and nearly murdered the ruler of our land.

“Some should”, I whispered under my breath.

Luna walked Nimble and I to the rear door by the carriage park. Outside, several wagons and other transport vehicles sat waiting to be unloaded by the myriad of busy ponies. The princess handed me a saddle bag, “We’ve run a residual magic scan on it and its come up with nothing” In answer to my questioning look she added, “You brought it in with you.”

I shook my head in despair, I couldn’t remember anything at all, only…

Taking the bag I sniffed it, my keen sense of smell detecting a familiar scent, “Here, what does that smell like to you?”

Luna and Nimble both took turns sniffing the bag. Luna shook her head, “A faint smell of something bitter, I don’t know what that could mean.”

Nimble took in a deep huff of the bag, “Lord Fairlight?”

I nodded at him to continue.

“There’s something there, it…yes…it reminds of the barracks medical wing when I got back. They put some solution on my injuries to clean them.”

Scratching my head I turned to face towards Manehattan, “The smell of chemicals, antiseptic.”

Nimble looked at me suddenly, “How did you get here, can you remember?”

“I don’t recall, but I doubt I just waltzed in. Do we have any records of visitors or deliveries to the palace?”

“We can check in with the guards on the gate. Everypony arriving has to sign in and out”, Nimble exclaimed. He paused, tapping his chin and looked up at me with those big yellow eyes, “Smell” he muttered, “Smell! The dogs!”

In a rush Nimble beckoned me to follow him and we left a surprised Luna after bidding her a hasty thanks and farewell. The princess of the night had a bemused look on her face as she watched us go before heading back into the palace flicking her mane back with a chuckle.

Nimble and I reached the gate guards, one of whom was chatting with one of the palace guard in the gate house who was enjoying a cup of tea. At our entrance, the two looked to me then Nimble,

“Corporal Nimble? Why are you out of uniform and who’s that pony with you?”

“Re-assignment, by personal order of princess Celestia. Jet Stream, can we borrow your dog?”

The Pegasus stood there for a moment, placing his cup back on the table, “My dog? What do you want Horst for?”

I stepped in, “Soldier, can your dog pick up scents?”

He grinned, “’course he can, best nose in the guard, has Horst.”

A sleek, well fed hound appeared from under the table, licking crumbs from his muzzle. He wandered up to me for a quick sniff and a fuss. Nimble passed the saddle bag to Jet Stream,

“Here. There’s a faint smell of antiseptic on here, we want to see if there’s any trace here in the palace”

Jet Stream snorted, “Probably in the infirmary, but what’ll that prove?”

Stroking Horst I glanced up at the guard, “Let’s just see eh?”

Horst rushed from the guard room and wandered around the entrance road, following what looked like a completely random path, if any at all. Was my hunch wrong? I shared a worried look with Nimble, this could be a red herring for sure, but there were other avenues to explore. ‘Keep an open mind’, dad had always told me, ‘Sometimes your first reaction, your first opinion, is the correct one. Don’t over think things and always be ready to accept you can be wrong’. There had been a boat load of ‘dad-isms’, some useful, some…well, just dad being dad.

A bark made us jump and Horst pulled hard on the lead, heading toward a gap in the carriage loading bay where he began to circle and whine.

“He’s indicating”, Jet Stream said, “Something’s been here with that scent”

“A carriage” Nimble said.

“Or something larger”, I stated, noting the larger delivery wagons, “Who’d notice one more delivery?”

We checked with the gate guards and there was no delivery of medical goods for that day, or even the last week. At least thirty deliveries had been made that day alone but it was something.

Both of us asked around the kitchen staff and porters but all leads drew a blank. I was starting to think I’d have to re-evaluate my hunch, after all, it could have simply been a spill from a medical cabinet or maybe the bags had been used to transport medical items at some point and the smell had lingered. There were so many possibilities, but right now, I had to try and find who was behind this somehow. We already had some possibilities; the commissioner, Velvet Cream, may even that human pony he hung around with. They’d all been involved in the drug, weapon and sex trade, but assassination? No, the one most likely was the commissioner. It was her who’d think big like this, the others were just your run of the mill crime syndicate scum. This was in a different league all together.

Nimble shouted over to me, “Captain!”

I trotted over. A flour coated kitchen worker in an apron looked from Nimble to me nervously. The corporal nudged him, “Go on, tell him what you told me”

The burgundy earth pony scratched his mane, “Well, it’s probably nothing really, but there was a laundry wagon here this morning from ‘Bright Morning Laundry’. I thought it was a bit funny as the boss fell out with them a week ago and told them we’d be changing the supplier.”

“Do you remember anypony with the wagon?” I asked.

“No, it just sat there for a few hours and then it was gone”

I clopped him on the shoulder, “Thanks friend. Nimble, lets have a chat with those gate guard chaps again, shall we?”

The guards checked their books and sure enough, the wagon from ‘Bright Morning Laundry’ had arrived in the morning and then left early that afternoon. The times coincided perfectly with when, according to Luna, I had been apprehended and then had the spell removed. Thank the goddesses that the MAD I’d had in my bag hadn’t been activated or I’d have been nothing but dust motes right now. What the hell had I been planning on using that for anyway? Damn it all, my memory was completely screwed up.

We sat down in the guard room. Nimble stretched his forelegs out and stared at the ceiling, “What do we do now Captain? You’re the ex-watch guy, I’m more used to breaking heads than using mine.”

“We check in with the laundry people and go from there.” I replied, “Seems a legit company, but there could be an insider with them or it could have been a stolen wagon they used. We need to speak to the agency and see if they can get some agents to do some digging on the Bright Morning Laundry.”

“What about the watch? They’d know if any vehicles had been stolen.”

I shook my head, “No. As far as we’re concerned, the watch is compromised, Nimble. I’ll explain later, just trust me on this.”

“You’re the boss. Hey, can you hear that buzzing noise?”

My communicator, freshly provided by the princess was making my pocket vibrate,

“Agent Nox”

Nimble’s eyebrows shot up.

“Fairlight?” the voice crackled over the comm, “Her majesty has just sent word, what’s the situation?”

I explained things briefly to my old mentor, receiving a simple ‘I see’ in response. Silence followed.

“Chief, how’s my family doing?”

“Last I saw of them, they were frantic. Your ‘tribal friends’ have been out searching high and low for you, which has caused no end of worries for the towns where armed minotaurs suddenly wandered in. So much for bloody subtlety, you’ll need to have a word with those things.”

“Will do, Chief. Right now, if you can crack on with looking into the laundry peoples company, I think we’ll get ourselves over to the Canterlot agency hub and pick up some gear. Is my credit good?”

“It has Celestia’s name to it, boy. Look, keep safe out there, I’ll be in touch as soon as I have anything to go on.”

“Thanks Chief, owe you one”

The Canterlot agency hub was a fraction of the size of the Manehattan one, but held all the usual items including a set of agency clothing, shades and a PDW each. Good old ‘sun butt’ had come through, her signature the veritable golden ticket for whatever we wanted. Sadly, the cafeteria food was just as bland and flavour free as I remembered and the two of us settled down to a bowl of ‘something’ that looked like it would be best employed fixing bathroom tiles.

“Luna’s arse, Captain, what the hell is this crap ?” Nimble’s nose wrinkled in disgust, “Its bloody well inedible”

I sniffed, “Yeah, but it’s full of your ‘five a day’ and all that. Flavour wasn’t factored in.”

“Five a day? It’ll keep you regular if nothing else”

I raised my eyebrows and grinned at him. I liked Nimble, he was a good pony.

“Any thoughts on the job at hoof?” I took a mouthful of the agency gloop.

“Yeah. The chemical smell, the antiseptic.” He made a circling motion with his hoof, “The laundry wagon, if it was the one that brought you here, it may make other collections from somewhere where they use that antiseptic. The clothes and equipment come in, get cleaned, then go back to the customer.”

“So?” I asked twirling my spoon encouragingly.

“So, we’re looking for whoever has contracts with the cleaning company and may use antiseptic; clinics, doctors surgeries, hospitals, dentists, that sort of thing.”

“We need to visit the laundry and do some digging. You up for a trip?”

“Sure!”

“Lets see if we can get a pilot and a carriage”

“Yeah, just one thing though, Cap’”

“Huh?”

“Let’s stop off and get something to eat, eh?”