“Will you freaking stop nibbling on my neck?”

“I crave ze taste of ze blood!” Pinkie Pie cried out, her tongue running over her chops.

She raised her hoof dramatically, reaching for the sky beyond the ceiling. “I must feed my cursed, unending hunger,” she announced grimly. She swiftly lowered her hoof back down and leaned backwards so she could look Raegdan in the eyes. “And I’m not nibbling. I’m piercing your neck with my vampire fangs.”

Raegdan pushed her on the table in front of him and leaned to his left, inspecting the “bite” on his reflection on the shop’s window. Outside, a young colt that was watching him in fascination jumped back at the sudden movement. “You damn well gave me a hickey! I’ve told you, you can’t be a vampire, little pink, cause I’m not one. You are just incredibly weird. It’s a completely different kind of curse, and I’m the one suffering the effects.”

Pinkie Pie crossed her forelegs like Raegdan often did. “Then why do I feel an overwhelming urge to feast on something red and squishy, huh?” Her hoof rose up to point at her vampiric sire. “Explain that, daddy-o!”

“Sweet heavens, fine!” Raegdan picked up his plate and surrendered it to Pinkie Pie. “You can have my cherry donuts. Are you happy now, little pink?”

Pinkie Pie lifted her newly won treats over her head in celebration. “My vampony mystical powers of persuasion have finally manifested! I’m gonna rule the night, dance in ze moonlight, and drink ze blood of pinkie-promise breaking ponies.” Pinkie Pie slithered to her seat next to Raegdan, already taking her first taste of her conquest.

“I have already laid claim on the first part, Pinkie Pie,” Luna monotoned from her place on the other side of Raegdan, “but you can go forth with the other two,” she emboldened the pink pony.

Raegdan hit the table with his fist. “Damn it, I’ve told you all, don’t encourage her. She wanted me to file her teeth to canines yesterday. I’m the one who has to put up with her adorable madness.” He briefly tousled Pinkie’s mane before waving his arm towards the counter, but Donut Joe was too busy with another client to pay him notice.

“How are you feeling, Raegdan?” Twilight asked.

“Hungry and sour,” he answered. He was frowning as he watched Pinkie ravage his meal.

“No, I mean in respect to your health. Any dizziness, weakness, is your vision-”

Raegdan put his palm over her mouth to silence her. At least he wasn’t putting the whole thing in there, as certain ponies tended to do. The taste took a whole day to fade.

“Little one, I fainted once, for ten minutes, two days ago. I. Am. Fine.” He indicated Pinkie with his thumb. “Look, she is ok, there is going to be no more blood drinking,” Pinkie Pie paused her happy chewing to make a disappointed sound and Raegdan poked her nose. “My wounds are starting to close up -finally-, and I’ve been taking it easy for a couple of days. Now, if I could actually eat something...“ Raegdan lifted himself up a little -as if he needed to in order to stand out- and beckoned for Donut Joe’s attention once again.

“That wasn’t ten minutes dad, you woke up two hours later. Twilight is right to be a little worried,” Spike corrected him.

“Exactly, I woke up two hours later. Cause I took the chance to nap. I’m very sneaky like that.” Raegdan kept waving. He leaned towards Spike. “Is Joe ignoring me?” he asked suspiciously.

“Spell,” Luna said laconically beside him.

“Hmm, right. I forgot.”

Raegdan stood up. Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow scooted back in their booth seats to let him pass.

“I’m going up there and getting something myself. Do you want me to bring you anything, little flame? Or how about you girls? Luna?”

“Two more gem encrusted donuts if there are any left,” Spike ordered.

“What are you getting?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Raegdan pointedly looked at the plates spread around. Twilight made a mental recount. His first order of chocolate donuts had been claimed by Luna to escort her own order. His apple glazed ones were currently being shared between Applejack and Rarity. The vanilla cream ones he bought in their place were the ones Twilight was eating along with Rainbow and Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie was munching on his latest attempt. Any guilt Twilight might have felt was washed down by her juice that cleaned her palate for another taste of the delicious, creamy filling.

“I’m gonna see if he has plain bread or something. Maybe something burnt.” Twilight rolled her eyes at him. Now he was just being dramatic.

“A variety of the smaller ones that I saw on the display would be welcome,” Luna said. “I wish to taste more samples of this amazing confection.”

“I would like some too, if it’s not too much trouble,” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Heck, just bring a big platter of those. These are the best donuts ah’ve ever had!” Applejack added with enthusiasm.

Rarity reached for him before he moved away. “I’m sorry, darling, but are you sure your friend is going to be here? He is kind of late, isn’t he?”

Raegdan glanced at the clock over the register. “He will be here. He is just a lazy son of an.. something. He probably didn’t want to get up before noon.” He left them and stepped in the back of the large line that had formed up before Donut Joe. The ponies in front of him glanced over their shoulder for a second before staring straight ahead, barely daring to move.

Twilight took the opportunity to interrogate the only half-reliable source she had as far as Raegdan’s health went. “Luna, is he actually fine? He hasn’t been pushing himself, has he?”

“No, no, he is honest,” Luna assuaged her. “We have been spending most of our time recuperating, talking, and making some hypotheses. We haven’t even spent an iota of time going over our projects for the last two days. We should get to it later today,” she said, going into planning mode. Twilight did her absolute best to keep her face passive. She quickly crammed a bite in her mouth and started to chew. It wouldn’t do to let Luna know that Twilight was aware what their projects were about.

“The rest of the time he has spent with young Spike and some chores he set on himself, like talking to my sister,” Luna continued. She looked into Twilight’s eyes with some concern. “I’ll do you the favor of letting you know in advance that Raegdan is not very happy with some things that have come up, but I will let him inform you himself of the steps he has taken to correct them.”

Twilight felt her anxiety making a comeback. Spike looked puzzled at Luna’s statement as well. Who knows what Spike had said and what meaning Raegdan had pulled out of it. She decided to forget about it. She already had enough on her plate. If it was something that really upset Raegdan anyway, he would have brought it up already.

She spent a few minutes happily chewing on her share while talking over the details of the first story night they were organizing. The girls were all overly excited about the upcoming event, exchanging preferences on the genre of stories they wanted to hear, and how they could use Luna’s proficiency in illusion spellwork to enhance the experience. Luna herself, infuriatingly, kept insisting they should perform a larger version of the spell she cast at their impromptu session a couple of days ago.

“I’m telling you, Luna, you can’t do that. It’s not moral, and it’s illegal.”

“I’m a princess of the realm. I am the law. How can it be illegal? I’m only going to cast a low powered suggestive spell. Something to put our guests at ease with ourselves,” Luna countered, frowning.

“It is still morally reprehensible.”

“Morally reprehensible?” Luna spat. “Tell me, Twilight Sparkle, is it not also morally reprehensible to have everything you ever done thrown back in your face and have all your works rejected because of actions that were not your own?”

“Luna, please,” Rarity interjected herself in the conversation, “you have to understand, even all this time later ponies are still afraid of Nightmare Moon. It is not fair to you, yes, but it is understandable, is it not?”

Luna brought her hoof on the table, shaking every plate on it. Twilight noticed with the edge of her eyes Raegdan looking back at them with obvious concern while waiting for his turn. “I am not referring to my time as Nightmare Moon, but before that. I acted as the morally superior mare, and all it got me was loneliness, suffering, and eventual banishment. I think I would like to try being a little more lax in my ethics now.”

“Well, your sister might not appreciate the sentiment though,” Applejack said. “She said she is gonna be there, did she not?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes. She found me out in the gardens yesterday while I was looking for a good spot for us to set up and asked me all about it. She was very thrilled with the idea.”

Luna was thoughtful. “Celestia was never near as good at subtlety in spellwork as me, but even she would notice something with such a large radius. She would not approve of it, not without extensive explanations, and even then...” Luna tapped her hoof on the table rhythmically as she thought. “Fine, Twilight. I withdraw my suggestion. I will limit myself to illusion magic for the duration. Is this acceptable?”

Twilight let out the breath she was holding. One step done with. “It is, thank you. If you don’t mind me asking… what exactly did you do before? The books only mention something about you guarding dreams.”

“Dreams?” Luna gasped. “Are you telling me that is all that is left of my services to Equestria? That was just a… pastime, or a hobby, you could say. I was keeping the dreams of foals free of nightmares, especially those that had gone through tragic experiences.”

Rainbow Dash pulled back the hooves she was keeping protectively around her plate to keep Pinkie Pie from accessing her booty. “You can actually see ponies’ dreams? Have you seen mine?” she asked with evident rising stress.

“I can, yes. It is a conscious choice however. I do not know what you dream of unless I specifically attempt to find out,” Luna explained. “I was never very good at helping the foals anyway. All I could offer was a short reprieve and a few words of advice made up on the spot that could hopefully help them. Of course, some of them tended to have nightmares of me afterwards.”

“This is all very interesting, Luna, but you still haven’t told us. What were you actually tasked with doing?” Rarity prodded.

Luna turned her gaze to the sunlit streets outside. Twilight was fascinated by the effect that Luna seemed to have on her surroundings. While they were all bathing in the sun rays coming through the large window, Luna seemed to always find a place with shadows to stand. Or the shadows seemed to find her. Even her reflection on the glass was extraordinary. While Twilight could barely see her own, Luna’s was mirrored perfectly on the glass as if it was dark outside.

“Maybe we should save this for the event you are planning. These are not stories that should be told under the sun,” Luna said sadly.

Twilight tried to shake off the effects of this morose statement. “Alright. Let’s talk security then. Shining Armor has five or six guards in mind that he is absolutely certain will be no problem for us at all.”

“Only that few?” Luna asked.

“We don’t want to make ponies think there is gonna be trouble at something like this. Shining will be there too. Besides, for some peculiar reason, I don’t think you or Raegdan would trust to have much more than that around.”

Luna smirked. “True. I insist however that Raegdan keeps on his armor as well as his weapons.”

“Umm, that might not be the best choice, “Fluttershy cautioned. “The little colts and fillies might get scared…”

“Tough,” Luna said with a shrug. “We are endangering his life enough by having him stand in place for hours at an event ponies will know he will be at beforehand. Without his armor, all it will take is even a simple rock thrown at his head with enough force to kill him.” Luna stared Twilight down. “This is not negotiable. I am not risking him for a glorified puppet show.”

Twilight decided not to push it. Luna was putting up a good point. Their potential assassins were still out there. She wondered if she could use magic somehow to soften the visual impact of Raegdan’s armored look. A distortion field that would blur his image maybe? No, she rejected that idea, it would only make him seem worse. Maybe-

She was taken out of her thoughts by an enormous, donut filled plate landing in the midst of the table. “Make room, you food bandits. I have your orders here,” he laughed. He passed a smaller plate to Spike and made his way back to his seat holding a small stack of breadsticks for himself. “By the way, guess who finally made it.”

Twilight looked to the side and she saw him. Her face lit up with a smile and she waved cheerily at him. Trapped in the corner as she was by Applejack and Fluttershy, she couldn’t get up for a hug.

“Hello, Blueblood,” she said. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“Lady Twilight,” the white stallion greeted back, “a pleasure as always. I’m sorry for my delay, but-”

“You!” Rarity hissed, sounding remarkably like a cobra. She had finally noticed who had joined them and made her displeasure known.

Prince Blueblood blinked at Rarity twice and jumped back in reflexive defense once he recognised her. “Ah, it’s the gold digger!” he cried out in alarm.

Rarity’s anger sputtered out in a short display of indignation before attempting to reignite itself. It was not given a proper chance to do so, however, by Raegdan’s howling laughter.

“Wait,” he said as he guffawed, “she was the Gala’s gold digger you told me about?”

“Yes!”

“No!”

Raegdan kept laughing, shielding his eyes from watching too much of what he considered hilarious beyond words.

“You attached yourself to me like a leech as soon as you saw me,” Blueblood loudly accused Rarity.

“I was just trying to get to know you,” Rarity defended herself, raising her voice. “A decision I thoroughly regret!”

“Oh? And tell me, my dear “lady”, was that desire to know me born out of anything else but my title and wealth?” Blueblood pushed.

“Listen here, you miserable facsimile of a stallion, your title is all that’s known about you with the way you hide yourself. And I can see why.” Rarity spoke through her gritted teeth. “You threw me in front of a crashing cake to save your sorry hide.”

“I certainly wasn’t going to put myself in front of a pretentious mare that only cared to- Raegdan, please, can you stop with your cackling?”

Raegdan wiped the tears from his eyes. “Ah, sorry, sorry. It’s just-” snickers kept escaping him, despite his efforts. “Let me introduce you. Rarity, this is Prince Blueblood, noble lord of the House of Blueblood. Prince Blueblood, this is Rarity. Owner of Carousel Boutique -did I get the name right?” Twilight nodded. “Right. Owner of Carousel Boutique, fashion designer, and bearer of the element of Generosity.” Raegdan covered his face with his palms and kept on laughing. Luna, Spike, and the rest of the girls had joined him in a more temperate fashion.

Prince Blueblood deflated. “Oh. So…”

“Yes,” Rarity said with enough bitterness to ruin every single pastry in the shop if given solid form. “Not a gold digger.”

“Thank you heavens for this little moment, thank you,” Raegdan chanted in the muffled confines of his hands.

Blueblood timidly took the empty seat next to Fluttershy. His expression brightened up as his eyes roved over the table. “Oh, breadsticks!” he said and pulled them over his way with his magic. “I love them. Crunchy, delicious, and healthy! Thank you, Raegdan.”

Raegdan’s laughs were cut off as his food levitated away from him.

“Oh, this is so exciting! I feel like one of those femme fatales in spy novels!” Rarity squealed, clapping her hooves.

Raegdan made a snapping noise with his fingers in front of Rarity. “Look, this might be dangerous. Are you sure you want to go ahead with this?” He was loath about their choice of actions.

Rarity huffed. “Please, I’m going to be fine. Acting is in my blood. I was born for the stage!” Rarity said with flair, flipping her mane.

“It’s true,” Rainbow agreed, nodding sagely. “She has been voted Ponyville’s resident Drama Queen three years in a row.”

Rarity gave the stinkeye to Rainbow, Raegdan’s long arms getting in the way of giving her a black eye instead. “Anyway,” Rarity continued, “it’s all laughingly simple. I will attend tomorrow’s dance as Prince Blueblood’s date and make a thinly disguised show of wanting to earn favor with any nobles. I’ll “let slip” that I have unlimited access to Princess Luna’s schedule and accommodations, as well as yours, Raegdan. If somepony approaches me…” she halted. “Well, what do I do if somepony does?” Rarity asked, genuinely curious.

Luna answered her. “You seize their offer with your teeth. Promise them anything in return for access to their circle of associates. Look desperate and needy.”

Rarity hesitated. “And if… if they ask me to try and kill you?”

“Then you say yes,” Raegdan urged. “We will put up a show of an assassination you planned we barely escaped from if we need to. We will figure out the rest as we go on. First step is make contact.”

“If by any chance, any of my political opponents ask you to perform any kind of damage on me, make it plain that you do not care for hurting your noble patron,” Blueblood interjected. “Loyalty to noble blood will make you even more of a desired tool for them if they believe they can trust you. Do mark up their names if you can though. Oh, and stay away from my aunt. You do not want to end in her bad side, or her good one.”

“The one from your father’s side?” Rarity asked to confirm the mare’s identity.

“Of course. Aunty Celestia is not gonna be there, nor would she be a danger, dear heavens. If my father’s sister comes to you, and she probably will, endure her insults then hurry away.” Blueblood’s advice was filled with urgency.

“Hey, isn’t she the one that really wants me dead?” Raegdan tapped at his lips as he recalled the mare in question. “Didn’t she tell me once she would have my skull as a litter box for her cat?”

“Yes, yes she did,” Blueblood answered, tiredly.

“Fun lady. That really made me laugh,” Raegdan chuckled, slapping his hand on his thigh. “She might be a good bet actually, but Blueblood is right. Stay away from her, little white.” Raegdan had become serious once again. “She is dangerous.”

Rarity nodded, a bit shakily as the seriousness of the situation was making itself clearer to her.

“So, I just stick around with Shining Armor, playing secretary, while Rarity goes right into the timberwolf’s mouth all alone?” Rainbow Dash challenged Raegdan. She wasn’t very happy about her assignment, or letting her friend go somewhere like this alone.

“You are not going to be “playing secretary”, Rainbow Dash,” Luna said as she threw the last piece of the donut she was eating in her waiting mouth. “This will just be your front. Your real mission is another.”

Rainbow shone with excitement. “Oooh, do I have to sabotage someone? Go behind enemy lines and-”

“No, but you will still like this one.” Raegdan was nursing a glass of water, refusing to fall in what he perceived as the trap of ordering a drink for himself only for somepony else to take it from him. “Your job is to go to the Royal Guard training halls or mess hall at every opportunity and bedazzle the guards there as much as possible.”

Rainbow’s smile widened. “I like this plan! But, uh… why?”

“You go in there,” Raegdan explained, “and show off your stuff. Then, whenever you get the chance, spread stories about how you got into a fight with me and almost kicked my ass. Tell them about how you kept kicking at my stitched side,” Rainbow Dash blushed at the reminder. “We want to know which ones have it in for me, or Luna. Make a good show out of not trusting me in particular. We can’t give you explicit directions because we have none. You will have to feel your way around. Look for opportunities to dig deeper.” Raegdan winked at Rainbow. “Maybe make a comment or two about earning some extra bits to a few guards Shining Armor will point out to you.”

“So basically, I really am a spy operating freely behind enemy lines, right?” Rainbow asked with a smirk on her face.

Raegdan and Luna stared at each other before shrugging and saying “sure,” in unison.

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash fluttered in the air with her right hoof going up in a victory pose. “I’m a freakin’ spy! This. Is. Awesome!”

“You know, when you said we’d be coming here, I didn’t expect this to become a cloak and dagger thing,” Twilight said with some wonder and worry mixed in a perfect ratio.

Rainbow lightly punched her shoulder. “Ease up, egghead. This is gonna be fun!” she said enthusiastically. Twilight shook her head in exasperation. Rarity and Rainbow were treating this like a storybook plot, but there were ponies out there that were actually planning regicide. If they got wind of them, who knew what they would do?

Spike lifted his arm to ask a question. “Um, Rarity and Rainbow aren’t going to actually be in danger, will they?”

Luna shook her head. “We don’t believe so. We will be keeping an eye on them however. Do not fret, young drake. Shining Armor is aware of their assignments, as is my sister.”

Twilight’s mouth popped open. Raegdan and Luna, the “don’t tell Celestia” duo, the keepers of secrets, the pair that could stand in front of a burning building in an attempt to hide it while stating that the day was just a tad hot and insist nothing was going on, did that?. “You actually spoke to Princess Celestia about this? I thought you were dead set against it.”

Raegdan refilled his glass from a pitcher. “We couldn’t very well endanger your friends, no matter how willing they are, without taking some measures for their safety could we?” He took a quick sip.

“Have you talked to her about…” Twilight nodded her head towards Luna who raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

“Yeah, yeah,” Raegdan slumped in his seat, looking defeated. He reminded Twilight of a colt acting sour because things did not go his way. “I apologized to her first, like I told you I’d do -the old coot had me grovel at her feet at one point, but whatever, she has the right to do way more than that a thousand times over. Since it made her smile at me again... in all seriousness, she was quite happy about it.” Raegdan’s frown deepened. “I was hurting her quite badly, wasn’t I?” he mumbled.

He lifted himself straight on his seat again. “Then I told her about the Solar Guard. Turns out, she already knows. She informally allows it for some reason. I think it’s something personal to her, she didn’t want to tell me. As for Luna… she already had a talk with Steadfast the same day Luna returned.”

“And?” asked Twilight and Applejack in unison.

“Steadfast told her that it is the Solar Guard’s belief, as well his own personal one, that Luna is completely innocent of all of Nightmare Moon’s wrongdoings,” Raegdan grumbled.

“You don’t believe him?” asked Applejack.

Raegdan vigorously rubbed his face with his palms. His skin reddened and the small scars on his face stood out even more. “I believe him. I can’t imagine him telling such a direct lie to Celestia. But… I’m not underestimating him again. I don’t like this. It’s too clean, too easy. Too convenient.”

He hit the table with his forehead and stayed bent like that as he continued. Pinkie Pie used his back as a makeshift table to stack one plate of little donuts as she filled a second one from the large platter. “This religion thing has been going on in the Solar Guard for centuries, and she knows it. Supposedly, she has it under control, but…”

“You don’t think so, do you?” Twilight said, concerned.

Raegdan huffed. He turned his head sideways so he was looking outside the window. “I don’t know. Among my kind… that’s a risky thing to mess with, but maybe that was just us? I… I don’t think I should trust myself much, especially lately.” He heaved a sigh. “They haven’t done anything in a year against Luna as far as I can tell. Maybe I was the problem all along?”

“I don’t understand,” Blueblood said, concerned. “Is aunty in danger?”

“Who knows?” Raegdan answered, despaired. Luna rubbed his back in support with a hoof and he let out a relieved breath. “Best case scenario, I am getting an ulcer for nothing at all. The way I screw up lately, that’s probably it. Worst case, we can’t do anything immediate without setting things off. I’m not taking that chance. I’ll let things lie for now rather than making up another stupid mess. We have too much on us to handle as it is. Like little pink’s plate on my back. Could you…?”

“Sorry dad, I’m just done!” Pinkie giggled.

“And anyway, I need to be careful,” Raegdan continued. “One more screw up like the tournament, too soon and without ample reason, and all bets are off. She’s had it up to here with me.” He lifted his hand throat high. “All favor and special treatment has been thrown out the window.” He groaned. “Figures that now she decides to do what she should have done at the very beginning.”

“I am glad that she did not do that,” Luna consoled him.

Raegdan turned his head slightly to look straight at Luna. “Heh. So am I now.”

Raegdan didn’t get up until Luna removed her hoof a minute later. They exchanged a short lived smile. Twilight kept wondering as the past few days passed if Rarity was right after all. She couldn’t tell. They were not acting anymore lovey dovey, but should she even expect them to? On the other hoof, they seemed so much at complete ease with each other. She had seen Luna casually use Raegdan as a seat, or just nonchalantly pull his hand over to act as a paperweight, and he wouldn’t even act as if he noticed. He would do the same, leaning on her, or anchoring his elbow on her. There were those small touches too. Nothing intimate, truly. Just, every now and then one of them would reach out for the other, as if making sure of their presence. But Raegdan always had been the physical type. So this could be just that. Or not.

How the hay did you ask somepony you saw as a partial parent if they were lovers with one of the reigning diarchs anyway? She furiously scratched her metaphorical tongue with a metaphorical hoof.

She turned her attention back to the table just in time to see Prince Blueblood passing a batch of documents to Raegdan. “What are those?” she asked. “Ooh, did you manage to get some background info on potential suspects?” Twilight herself was certainly tired of beating around the bushes in the dark.

Raegdan raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “We have potential suspects? I certainly didn’t know that. No, little one, these are bank documents.”

Rarity gently put down her coffee cup. “What are these for, if I may ask?”

“These are for all of you. Here you go.” Raegdan passed a single page to every one of Twilight’s friends. Twilight got two. She scanned the first document. It was basically a long winded receipt of a bank transfer. Her own account had just been enriched with five thousand bits. That was quite a hefty sum-

Wait, what the f-

“You’re paying us?” Rainbow Dash cried out in surprise.

Raegdan shook his finger at her. “Luna’s idea. We are reimbursing you. You are all losing business and income while staying here to give us a hand. I think this will do short term. Unless you disagree.”

“Actually, ah do,” Applejack said coldly. “This here is too much. None of us makes even close to this much in a month. And ah don’t take money for helping friends, big fella.”

“Shame. You are gonna have a problem then, cause we won’t take them back.” Raegdan was stern and decisive. Twilight got busy with the second document she was given, but still paid attention to them. “I don’t care what you do with the money. It’s yours. You left your farm behind for days now and we have no idea how much longer we’re going to need you. Have your brother hire some help while you are gone, or give them to charity if you prefer he works himself to exhaustion. It’s done and over with.”

Applejack turned to Prince Blueblood. “Ah’m terribly sorry, but ah can’t accept this. You will have to take your bits back,” she told him with a tone that made it clear she would not accept no for an answer.

“I’m sorry, Miss Applejack, but you seem to be assuming you were given that sum from my own personal fortune. I only arranged the transfer. The money belonged to Raegdan. Good luck butting heads with him,” Blueblood said with a dashing smile as he left them stunned. Blueblood picked himself off his seat. “And with that, my business here is complete. By your grace, Princess Luna. Miss Rarity, I’ll have somepony pick you up from the castle tomorrow at eight. Raegdan… good luck. Au revoir.”

The little bell over the door was barely loud enough to hear in the din of the filled donut store, but to everypony, except Raegdan and Luna, it sounded like thunder.

“You have…” Rainbow paused to glance at everypony else’s papers and calculate quickly, “thirty thousand bits to pass around? Where did you get that much money?”

Raegdan shrugged. “Poker? I have way more than that. I gave Twilight-”

“Fifty thousand bits?” Twilight gasped loudly. She counted the zeroes one by one very carefully. She rubbed the print in a daze to make sure it wasn’t just excess ink. “What for?”

Raegdan ponderously pointed at Spike.

Spike looked down at his chest as if expecting to see somepony else occupying his space. He pointed at himself with a claw dubiously. “Me?”

“Spike sleeps in a basket in your room back in Ponyville, doesn’t he?” Raegdan asked.

“Yes, but it’s because we don’t have that much space. There’s only one bedroom-”

Raegdan interrupted Twilight. “When you get back, you’ll hire some construction workers and have them add an extra room for my little flame. It can’t be that hard to do. It’s basically a treehouse from what I understand,” he said with some distaste.

“Yes, but this is way too much,” Twilight said, remorseful. She always meant to do something about Spike’s living space, but her salary wasn’t that great and ponies didn’t really flock to the library. She had managed to save a few bits, but still needed a lot more. Raegdan’s offer was outstandingly more than what she needed for the construction.

“He is going to need furniture too, like a proper bed, and things a kid of his age wants to have in his room.” Spike’s eyes sparkled as he imagined a brand new room just for himself. She couldn’t blame him. He had resorted to using the space under her bed as storage for some of his things, like his comics.

“There will still be plenty left-”

Raegdan hit this thigh with his palm, making a loud slapping noise. “What’s left, you use. There must be a lot of stuff you want, things you need to repair, or replace, aren’t there?”

Twilight nodded reluctantly. Her own mattress wasn’t in the best of states, and some new kitchenware wouldn’t go amiss. The stairs creaked too much for her liking too. Especially the third step from the top. She was afraid that one day her hoof would go through it and end up coming down the stairs head first. The library was old and hadn’t been properly maintained for a long time until she came along. With this many bits she could basically rebuilt it all the way from top to bottom, actually making a proper home out of it rather than just a couple of rooms at the second floor.

Her breath was hitching. She didn’t expect something like this, but she should have. Raegdan endangered himself daily acting as Luna’s sole shield, or by his own troubles, and he still spared the time to make sure that Spike and her were comfortable back in Ponyville, no matter what.

“It’s settled then. You either take the money, or I come down there and fix everything myself with my own hands.” Raegdan was completely serious. His forehead briefly furrowed in thought before he made his decision. “If this all goes well, I’m coming to Ponyville for a visit anyway. I’m gonna make sure- hey now!”

Twilight and Spike had gone over the table at the exact same time to hug their dad.

Twilight waved through the store window at the pair that headed back to the castle. She noticed that everypony in the street gave them a wide berth. If it was Princess Celestia out there, ponies would either rush around her, or bow down until she passed. None of this happened with Luna. The Alicorn gave a simple nod back to the girls that were waving them goodbye from the other side of the window, and Raegdan gave a short wave before discreetly turning his attention to constantly checking his surroundings as they walked on.

Donut Joe came by their table, giving them a more meaningful smile than the usual he kept on at all times for his customers. “It was nice seeing you all here again. Should I expect Princess Celestia to tag along next time?”

“Hmm, maybe,” Twilight answered distantly. She kept looking outside at some ponies who seemed to murmur to each other as Luna and Raegdan left them behind. “Joe? What do you think about Princess Luna?”

Donut Joe was a pretty good read for the common Canterlot pony. He made a point of sharing a few words with his clientele, and couldn’t help but hear things. He was the equivalent of a bartender, but one that worked in the mornings. The throb of Canterlot’s thoughts was pulsing through him, a little filtered by his natural kind disposition, but still basically the truth.

His hesitation to answer right away spoke volumes.

“She seemed… nice. Quiet.” Those were all true. True, but generalisations without any real meaning. Across her seat, the corners of Rarity’s mouth gently arched downwards.

Pinkie Pie climbed on the seat and gave a little whirl. “Just wait until we get her to really open up!” Pinkie gasped as an idea came to her. “We can make this our “hang out spot”! We can come here everyday, eat creamy, delicious, soft, sugary donuts…” Pinkie Pie tapered off as her mouth slacked off and drooled excessively. Rarity softly nudged her shoulder, making her shake her head, tongue still out and launching spit everywhere. “This will be amazing! We can make this booth our reserved seat, talk about our jobs while we are supposed to be working, initiate a comedic tangle of relationships that don’t go anywhere, crown status quo as king, make a theme song where we all fall in a fountain...”

Twilight tuned out Pinkie halfway. Donut Joe’s trembling smile and half step backwards was all she paid real attention to. “You don’t want her here, do you?”

“I’m sorry, Twilight, but… she scares me.” Joe was apologetic. “She seemed really nice as I watched you all, but when I greeted you in, the look she gave me…”

“You used to be scared of Raegdan too,” Spike reminded him. “And he turned out to be great, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, indeed, but… Raegdan is, I mean he does look like…” Twilight motioned him to stop beating around the metaphorical bush. She was very aware of the first impression Raegdan gave. “Thing is, you’d expect that from him, feeling like a pastry slowly baking behind the glass as he looks on, after the first time at least. Getting that kind of feeling from another pony is… disturbing,” he admitted. He continued, contrite, “and she is- was Nightmare Moon. I mean, isn’t it natural to be a little… concerned?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “It has become boorish to have to repeat this time and time again. Princess Luna is no longer Nightmare Moon. That atrocious thing is gone for good. Princess Luna is not to blame for that creature’s actions.”

“Ya don’t believe us?” Applejack asked. She too had seen Joe’s skeptical look.

“You’ve heard the stories,” he said uncomfortably. “A lot of ponies wonder why she didn’t try to stop her from doing some of those awful things.”

“Who says that she didn’t?” Applejack countered.

Donut Joe fiddled with his apron. “If she did, she did quite a poor job then, didn’t she? I mean, the Burial alone… that one sounded like the Nightmare was taking a lot of cues from her, didn’t it?” Joe turned to leave. “I have some things in the oven in the back. I’ll see you girls later.”

Pinkie Pie had all her enthusiasm drained by that point. She had copied Raegdan’s previous stance as she faceplanted on the table. “Nopony really wants to be their friend, do they?” she said sadly.

“Chin up, Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow tried to brighten her up again. “We are on the case. With you around, they’re gonna make tons of friends! Right?” She smiled shakily at Applejack, who hurried to nod excessively.

Twilight made a mental note to do a little research. Everypony seemed to know about Nightmare Moon and the frightening stories that abounded about her. Twilight herself knew only a couple, heavily censored, that she heard before she got her cutie mark. Even those haunted her young mind. With her upbringing in the castle, it was no wonder neither her or Spike knew any of those stories that ponies took for granted. Princess Celestia would not approach such a subject that made a monster out of her sister, and Raegdan plainly didn’t know them. It was time for her to hit some books on the earliest opportunity available. Even Fluttershy seemed to know more about-

Thinking about Fluttershy, she noticed that she hadn’t spoken or even moved for a while. She was looking out the window, eyes glazed, paying no attention whatsoever to her surroundings. As Twilight watched, a stallion that passed by gave Fluttershy a short appraising look through the glass, and Fluttershy neither blushed or eeped. She didn’t even notice the attention he was giving her.

“Fluttershy?” No answer. That was odd. She tried again, louder. “Fluttershy!”

This time it worked. Fluttershy blinked rapidly, before turning her attention to Twilight. “Oh, um, sorry. I was a thousand miles away there,” she apologized softly.

“What were you thinking about?” Twilight asked curiously. It was not like Fluttershy to zone out like that.

“Oh, I was just thinking about Raegdan’s story,” she continued bashfully, “and about the little gardener. Twilight,” she asked in hesitation, “there were others in the story, right? Proper heroes?”

“Well, in the full story, yes. There are a lot of characters. There is a wise wizard, warriors, kings, and descendants of ancient bloodlines...” Twilight listed off some of the heroic characters in the tale.

“And they are the true heroes, aren’t they? I mean, not that the little gardener wasn’t brave enough himself, but it’s them that save the world, right?”

“No, not really,” Twilight explained further. “Everything the other characters do is just a distraction at the end. It’s the little gardener and his friend who save the world. There is this person, who at the end becomes the king of the world’s greatest city. He is noble, kind, strong, and wise, the greatest of his kind… and the first thing he does as the king is kneel before the little gardener and his friends.”

“Twilight, don’t spoil it!” Spike complained.

“But the little gardener was scared! He wasn’t as brave, like they were, was he?” Fluttershy was anguished with indecision. It was plain to see why. For Fluttershy, the idea that it was not the fearless that were the most important was earthshaking.

Somepony was doing some projecting upon that story’s character.

“He was scared. Really scared,” Twilight said softly. “It’s because he was so scared and weak that kings and wizards knelt before him. How can you be brave if you are not afraid? Out of every hero and warrior, the greatest of the great in that world, no one was as brave as the little gardener and his friends.”

Fluttershy’s eyes shone as she heard Twilight go on. “I see. So, it was ok to be afraid because despite his fear he was still brave enough to keep going on, for his friends, right? Thank you Twilight.” Fluttershy sat back in her most straight pose, which meant she was half crawling inside herself, but better than how she stood before.

“You are welcome, Fluttershy. Don’t worry, you will hear the whole story from Raegdan soon.” Twilight patted Fluttershy’s shoulder.

At least she could still help one of her friends with a little, simple problem.

“So what’s the plan for later, Twily?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m gonna go take a nap. I think I might have overdone it.” Rainbow Dash gently poked her belly. It was unusually shiny and round.

“Really, Rainbow, you should refrain a bit more. Also, going to bed after a meal is a horrible idea. All this weight will go to your stomach and thighs,” Rarity warned.

“Eh, I’ll burn off plenty of it later,” Rainbow said. “Luna wants me to spar with her later so she can teach me a few tricks before heading to Shining Armor tomorrow. Something tells me I’m gonna need all the rest and food I can take.” Rainbow winced in anticipation of the treatment that she was in for.

“The rest of us are going to take it relatively easy,” Twilight said. “We still have a lot to do for the day after tomorrow. We need to actually set up the seating, prepare the bonfire, order some food and drinks... we will spend today making the invitations-”

“I see I dodged a bullet there,” Rainbow said. “I think I’m gonna enjoy getting my flank beat to the ground more than having to deal with this.” Pinkie Pie shook her tongue out at her. The pink party pony could barely wait to start. She had said it would make a great precursor to the big formal party she would kick off in a few days.

“I’m not coming,” Fluttershy notified them.

“What? Why?” Twilight asked, troubled. “Is something wrong?”

“No, I just… there’s something I got to do. At the gardens. I’m gonna be a bit busy, if you don’t mind. Sorry.”

Oh. She was probably missing her animals. Twilight expected to see Fluttershy surrounded by birds somewhere in the next few hours. It was gonna be fine. Fluttershy’s presence would be needed more to help settle in the foals when the event started anyway. The rest they could take care of on their own.

“We are also going to continue our investigation later tonight,” Twilight whispered, making sure Spike was not paying attention.

“Is that wise sugarcube? Ah’m afraid we are gonna get caught. Ah don’t think we are gonna find anything important anyway. Obviously if they had something we want to know hidden away it would have been in there,” Applejack whispered back.

Rarity shook her empty glass. “Spike, could you be a dear and get us a pitcher please? I’m so terribly thirsty!” she whined.

“Right away Rarity!” Spike made a spectacular jump over the three ponies in his way and ran towards Donut Joe.

“Now,” Rarity said after Spike got out of hearing distance. “Twilight might be right to want to continue. If Raegdan acts anything like the novels I’ve read he might have hidden things in more than one location. Applejack is right too though. I think we might be endangering their trust for no reason.”

Applejack put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, is this even about trying to discover if they are really holding something back, or are we doing this because you want to find out Raegdan’s secrets?”

“This is about finding out their secrets, Applejack! If they get into trouble-”

“Ah don’t mean that and you know it. Ah think you want to go ahead with this because you are tired of being kept in the dark as far as your stepdad goes. Ok, knowing they are making all that stuff was good to know, but ultimately it doesn’t really help us out with anything, right?”

“Applejack is right, Twilight. Not only is this a waste of time, but we are risking the hoofhold we have gained with them,” Rarity said. “Let’s focus on what we are trying to achieve here, shall we?”

Twilight shook Applejack’s hoof off her. “We are gonna be fine. We got in their secret armory and didn’t get caught, right? Trust me, this is going to go just fine,” she assured them.

“They know!” Rarity said, hysterically. “Twilight, they know! I told you this was a bad idea. They are gonna have our heads! He is gonna…” her eyes flicked towards the grizzly trophy that Twilight kept in a pouch. “He is gonna have our horns!” she hissed in terror.

The heavy door behind them shook the room with a vibrating, clanging sound as it was forcefully shut.

Author's Notes:

This chapter has been edited by Requiem17, the magnificent.