Applejack leaned against one of the train station’s columns and watched Raegdan have a discussion with Rarity as they stood near the platform. If he didn’t say a few things that needed to be said, she would have. For once, providence was doing her a solid and she could hang back and enjoy the show with a satisfied smile.

Raegdan was pointing at the pyramid of suitcases that towered over him, casting its shadow upon him. It was a mountain, with peaks made of duffel bags, rockholds carved out of suitcase handles, and a stream of silk and satin that flowed down to the valley of pearl beaded purses, under the guarding shadow of four separate umbrellas. One of them had a flower motif. “What the hell is all this?” he asked, flabbergasted.

“My absolutely necessary luggage,” Rarity answered. “If we are going through the wilderness as you told us then I’m going to need a lot of hygiene products, bug sprays, a decent tent, and other amenities. And of course, if we are truly heading to Manehattan afterwards, I will need to carry along my dresses, jewelry, more beauty products, as well as a range of my creations, fabrics, and tools in case I find an enterprising chance in such a prolific hub of fashion. Is there going to be a problem? Should I leave a couple of my towels here?”

Raegdan was rubbing his temples with his fingertips. “I am trying very hard to come up with a nice way of saying it, I really, really am. On the other hand, there’s something to be said for simplicity and directness. I am not carrying all of your shit.”

Applejack was doing her best to hide her giggles. This went exactly as she had imagined so far.

Rarity pursed her lips in displeasure. “Language, please. Besides, I have spotted what you and Luna are bringing along. You were dragging whole crates with you.”

“These are supplies we need. As in, to live.”

“We are going to be using a cart to carry them, correct? Surely there is enough room for my measly belongings?” Rarity looked at him with wide, pleading doe eyes.

“There are…” Raegdan briefly stopped to count in his head. “Seven of us. Solid Charge might not be able to help because he has a broken arm, Leaf Stream is still not completely healed, Luna is a princess, and you are… you. That leaves me, Cast Iron, and Applejack. Pulling a cart through rough country. Carrying equipment for seven people. Plus rations. Plus some… weapons and sensitive gear we are bringing along just in case. No, there is no room. Quit it with the puppy eyes. I raised two kids, I’m immune.”

“This is an outrage! I am coming along with you on such a dangerous trip out of the goodness of my heart to give you the help you asked for-”

“Oh, I suppose Manehattan has nothing to do with it? Or Thestral weavings?” Raegdan smirked knowingly at Rarity. Applejack copied him. It sure hadn’t taken him long to spot Rarity’s buttons.

“These are purely coincidental, ephemeral opportunities that I-”

“Your crap stays here. End of discussion. You can take… two suitcases.” He raised two fingers in front of Rarity’s eyes. “Not large ones, especially if you expect me to carry stuff back,” Raegdan said, now wagging his finger at Rarity. Out of the crowd that was watching them a single pony dared to approach a little closer and stare at him open mouthed. Applejack figured him out for a tourist.

Raegdan turned to look as he spotted the movement so close to him and the stallion made a very poor decision.

“Does it know any tricks?” he asked Rarity.

Raegdan unhooked the hammer from his belt and took two heavy steps towards him. “Sure. Let me show you my favorite.”

A sharp cough came from Applejack’s direction. Raegdan stopped moving towards the petrified stallion and turned back to Rarity with a sigh. “Choose what you want to bring along and have your friends carry the rest back to the castle. We don’t have that much time.”

Raegdan left Rarity gawping at the monumental task of choosing only a small percentile of her precious commodities to carry -or to be exact have them carry- with her and moved down the train station, ponies rushing out of his way. Applejack hurried to catch up with him.

“You are being cranky today,” she observed. She kept smiling at the ponies around them in an effort to appease and calm them. She was debating whether it was better to let him scowl or tell him to put the helmet on. She remembered the sight of him in a dark dungeon cell. Might be better to let him show his frowning face instead, she decided.

“Just tired. I haven’t slept. There were a lot of preparations to make before we leave. We had to lock down the tower and make sure no one tried to dig through our stuff… again,” Raegdan said with a pointed look that left Applejack blushing.

“Ah suppose Luna performed some kinda ancient magic? Forbidden dark rituals of the night?”

“No. We simply stashed everything in the armory and trapped the mirror door so if someone opens it the wrong way a lot of things will go boom. A lot easier and effective. Hopefully it won’t come to that, we worked our asses off to build everything in there. We put a sign on the doors and every window, advising anyone trying to get in to make sure their will is up to date and if they could be so kind as to inform the guards of their attempt so they can make sure no one is anywhere near the tower to get caught in the blast radius,” he chuckled.

“Ya really did that? What if somepony innocent gets injured-”

“Look, it’s a shocker, I know, but we lied. It’s not going to be anywhere near that bad. For anyone else. If someone does stick their nose in the wrong place,” he sighed, “I’m gonna be spending days clearing Luna’s chambers of body parts and intestines.” He paused for a second before adding, “and a couple of walls… and the floor.”

The image he described popped into Applejack’s mind in vivid detail. For a second there she could almost smell the blood, deep red as the ripest apple, on her nostrils. “Ah think ah’m gonna be sick,” she declared with a gag.

“You might want to ask Rarity for some barf bags. She probably has some packed, heavens know she has everything else. We are going to be doing quite a bit of walking through rough areas. If something comes for us we are not going to run unless it all goes to hell. If you are that uneasy at the thought of blood… unless it’s the idea of cleaning plaster and bricks that disturbs you,” he joked.

“No, no. Ah’m ok. As long as it’s not other ponies or anything ah can manage,” Applejack said, hastily. A thought occurred to her. “There’s not gonna be anypony… coming after us out there, right? Ah mean, there won’t be anypony else around or anything so if-”

“I will fall down on my knees and kiss one of Celestia’s statues so hard on the ass that the real thing will get a bruise if that doesn’t happen. That’s why I am trying to get us to leave as fast as possible and why we will be abandoning the train before we reach Baltimare. What the hell is wrong with it anyway, did you find out? We should have loaded up our things by now.” Raegdan was looking up and down the tracks looking for the train that had not arrived yet.

“Ah think it’s an engine problem. They told me something cracked. They’re gonna hitch the coaches on another one but it’s gonna take some time,” Applejack answered.

She had volunteered to find out what was the reason for their delay. Normally the railway would have opted to cancel this run and repair the engine but reconsidered when Applejack mentioned that the princess was going to be one of the passengers and was in a hurry. She just didn’t mention which princess in order to avoid the chance for any disappointment to strike at her. Also, if they knew it was Luna and chose to ignore her needs, even a little, it would be Raegdan that would be striking at them instead. Applejack doubted she would be able to stop him if he was given a reason such as this to break some heads for Luna’s sake.

“Damn our luck. We just can’t get a break, can we? I guess we can only wait now,” Raegdan said, shaking with head with disappointment.

“Actually, there’s something we can do. There’s this little cafe right around the corner. Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie should be there. What do ya say we go and have something to drink with them, huh?” Applejack tried to entice him.

Raegdan stopped walking. He looked back, towards where Applejack had nodded. “I… don’t know. Maybe I’ll be pushing it-”

“Nope, wrong answer. We are going.” Applejack put her noggin to good use and started pushing him from the back. “March, boy, march. Ya ain’t leaving without saying goodbye!”

“Stop shoving your head against my ass! I’m walking, I’m walking…”

“I’m just going to say goodbye and then leave, ok?” Raegdan haggled. “I have to go find Luna and the others, I’m very busy and-”

“Yeah, yeah, ya little, clucky chicken. Look, they are sitting over there…” Applejack slowly lowered her pointing hoof. “Huh, who’s that with them? Do ya know her?”

Raegdan stopped keeping his eyes on the ground and looked where she had pointed. He frowned. “That’s Lady Honest Serenade. Maybe you should wait here.” He moved purposefully through the patio, knocking chairs and tables in his way. Ponies were shoved aside in his passage and whirled to speak their mind to whoever acted so rudely against them, only to rapidly change their mind when they had to lift their heads to look up at the pillar of black metal that walked among them.

“The one who had Rarity attacked?” Applejack asked with rising anger as she tried to match his gait, jumping over fallen chairs. “To hay with that!”

“Allegedly had her attacked.” He stood at the side of the table the party of three were sitting. “Hello Serenade. I did not expect to see you.”

The mare turned towards Raegdan with a pleased smile, pretending to have noticed him only after he spoke. “Nopony ever does my dear monster. Oh, is this the armor I’ve heard so much about?” She pointed at the helmet hanging from his belt. “Do put on the complete ensemble, please. I’d like to witness the full effect.”

Raegdan obediently wore the horned helmet. “Do you like it? I also have a hammer I could acquaint you with.” he said, his voice distorted with metallic, hollow undertones.

“Oh yes, I approve. It is so very much… you! Shouldn’t you have a cape too? Maybe something made out of ponies’ skin? A collage of their cutie marks perhaps. We wouldn’t want anypony to misinterpret what you represent,” Serenade said laughing.

“I’m working on it. I’m thinking of getting something in white and gold with a dash of red for a centerpiece,” Raegdan answered back, the slits clearly pointed at Honest Serenade’s cutie mark. Applejack coughed. His helmet turned towards her long enough to spot where she was looking at.

Twilight was sitting next to Pinkie, both of them looking sad. Twilight’s eyes were making her displeasure at Raegdan known. He straightened up as if chastised.

“A splendid choice, but I believe it would clash horribly. Does this armor design have any special meaning besides the obvious? Did a genocidal murde- forgive me, I meant hero, of your people wear something similar?”

“In a way. Kind of like my name, I believe it suits me.” Raegdan’s index finger slid along one of the tall horn extrusions on his helmet.

“Was this really the best you could do?” she asked, chuckling.

“There was another one I could have chosen, but I don’t think I ever went the extra mile for it. Besides, it was taken by something far more deserving of it. Let’s have a seat Applejack. What have you been talking about?” he asked. Applejack was astounded at how… courteous he acted towards Honest Serenade and how she did so in turn. If you ignored the words they actually said of course.

Applejack herself wanted to buck that sneering smile right on the teeth and to hay with the witty repartee or whatever this was.

“Aren’t you going to take your helmet off first?” Serenade reprimanded him. “There are ladies present.”

“Yeah, but they don’t mind,” Raegdan said while pulling a chair for himself from a neighboring table. The small wooden chair groaned dangerously when he put his weight on it.

Serenade laughed. “Oh, I will miss you in a way. I really will. Maybe the stories about necromancy are true and I can find a way to bind your soul to your remains when it’s all said and done. Then we could keep having those delightful back and forths. You do have a soul, don’t you?”

“For all you know, I have more than one. Maybe I even have one that you would be interested in.” A loud slurping noise came out of the black helmet. Honest Serenade’s smile faded away and her gaze turned to hard steel. “What were you talking about before we interrupted?”

“The glorious past,” she said. The smiles and laughter was gone. It made Applejack nervous. “Your rescue of the young mare in front of me for once.” Serenade nodded towards Twilight who was examining her half filled beverage.

“That again? What is there to talk about? Everybody else involved is dead. There’s nothing more to say but good riddance.”

“Yes, they are, aren’t they?” Serenade growled. “But there is still the matter of your motives. Why you did what you did?”

“Motives?” Applejack asked from her side.

Honest Serenade had three glasses in front of her. One of them was empty, one of them was full of wine, and the third still had some left. She grabbed that last one with her magic and drained it in one gulp. “My bits are on a suicide attempt. I don’t think you were trying to save a little filly. You went there to die while trying to save a little filly.”

“Has anyone ever told you it might be unhealthy to spend so much time thinking about me?” Raegdan’s fingers were rapping in sequence on the table.

“Oh, no. I have an obsession. Whatever shall I do?” She said in deadpan while taking hold of the last glass. “It would be so much like you. So bucking selfish. Were you thinking that dying while trying to save a little filly would make up for something? When it would leave her in no better position? You must have been so surprised when you lived through it. Why, somepony might start believing you would be trying to make up for that for the rest of your life when you realized what a total selfish bastard you were even while trying for redemption. As if you have a candle of hope.” She took a measured sip and sloshed it in her mouth before she swallowed. “Maybe I’m not the only one with an obsession sitting here.”

Applejack eyed Twilight. She kept her head low and her breath seemed to hitch. Pinkie was not much better off but she probably hadn’t been able to counter the spewing bulge of filth that sat with them and all she could do was sit next to her friend in support. Applejack understood Twilight’s duress. If what that filth said was true, and Applejack didn’t even entertain the idea of believing anything that came out of her hole, Twilight was not somepony whose fate he cared for but only a means to an end.

Applejack gave enough credit to Twilight to not believe that under normal circumstances, but sometimes it is just too easy to believe you are not really loved.

“Ya really are something else, ain’t ya?” Applejack said, angry. “If ya think you can convince anypony that Raegdan doesn’t love Twilight and Spike then ya really are off your rocker.”

Honest Serenade looked at her as if spotting her for the first time. It made Applejack gnash her teeth. “Ah, the esteemed Applejack of the wide spread Apple family.” Her smile returned, showing too much of her teeth and looking hungry. “I have heard so much about how selfishly you aid our tall, friendly monster here miss Honesty. Oh, how I laughed. It warms my heart to know you are so close to him, so helpful. My dear monster, you must be getting quite the kick out of having her of all ponies helping you! Oh, you poor mare! I woke up in the middle of the night the day I heard, thinking about it, and I just couldn’t drift off to sleep again because I giggled like a schoolfil-”

A fist wrapped in leather and metal crashed on the table. One of Honest Serenade’s glasses was shattered beneath it. Applejack saw a shard manage to pierce through the thick material and into his hand. Raegdan gave it no notice. He growled with unconcealed hate.

“You are just one step away from crossing a line, Serenade. One more word out of you and I’ll rip your tongue out and shove it up your-”

Honest Serenade jumped up and leaned over the table, mirroring Raegdan, bringing her muzzle so close to his iron visage that Applejack could see her reflection on the dull metal. “I don’t have to say another word. I only need to nudge things along. I used to dream about the day I would tear you to shreds, but I have come to realize that I don’t have to. You are going to do this for me. You are going to ruin everything you ever loved, everything you try to protect because that is the only thing you do. I’ll barely have to flex my hoof.”

She turned towards Applejack, her eyes glinting. “The truth has to come forth someday, doesn’t it Honesty?” She bared her teeth at Raegdan. “When it does, I’ll be there, watching and laughing. I live for that day. The truth will come out singing and you and your bitch will lose everypony around you before you DIE!” She took a deep breath and smiled. “Which reminds me; Do let Princess Luna know that there are some who are in… possession of a few questions about one or two spells of hers. Mainly about their… effectiveness. Have a nice trip to Baltimare,” she waved.

Applejack swore she could hear Raegdan’s teeth grinding against each other, even through the thick helmet he wore.

She took hold of her wine glass and turned around. “Waiter!” she called out. “Put everything and whatever else they order on my tab. It’s my treat!” She headed towards a white carriage trimmed with red, drinking while walking.

Raegdan stayed immobile over the table until she boarded her carriage and departed. Only then did he let himself fall back on his seat. The undersized chair could not take this sudden weight and broke apart, making him fall first on his flank and then his back with a grunt.

Pinkie was on his side in an instant. “Are you ok dad?” she asked full of worry.

“Peachy,” he said. He stayed lying down and weaved his fingers together over his stomach. “Are you two ok? You shouldn’t listen to her. She is full of-”

“Was anything she said true?” Twilight asked in a voice full of sadness.

“Truth. I have come to really loathe that word. Every time I hear it lately...” Raegdan made his way up to feet, letting out a grunt of pain as he straightened his back.

He knelt next to Twilight and took off his helmet. He placed it on the table, rotating so it looked the other way and took one of Twilight’s front hooves in his hands. Twilight hesitated and briefly pulled away, but allowed him to go through with it when she saw he didn’t resist.

“Twilight, I’ll tell you this. This is the one thing I am entirely sure about and what you should never, ever doubt. I love you. More than anything. No matter what, I’ll never stop loving you. Do you believe me Twilight?”

“I… I… I think so but… if you love me so much why do you lie to me? Is Raegdan even your real name? Honest Serenade claims you have never told me a single true thing about you.”

“Twilight…”

“Is Raegdan your real name? Tell me this at least,” Twilight insisted.

“...no. No, it’s not.”

“So… you lied to me even about your name. I don’t even know your real name. How? How do I believe you or trust you?” Twilight pulled her hoof out of Raegdan’s cusped hands.

“Twilight, the important thing is-”

“I lied to Princess Celestia. She asked me a few things and I had to lie to her. I’m not sure if I am doing the right thing, I am doubting myself all the time, and my head, my head feels so clouded. What about Spike? When the truth comes out… what will I say to him? He will be devastated. It will all be my fault. You went and did that because of me. Spike and I will lose you and it will be because of me. Princess Celestia will realize that all the trust she put into you was for naught because of me. Those ponies died because of me. All because of what I am and because I didn’t try harder to change you when I was a filly, I let you remain a monster because I was more interested in my studies and having fun and-”

Twilight’s descent to a panicked, stressed bout was cut short by a slap delivered to her cheek, courtesy of Raegdan’s four fingered hand. It wasn’t a hard hit, it barely made a sound even, but the sheer shock of Raegdan hitting her was enough.

Raegdan was furious. He pushed the tip of his finger against Twilight’s muzzle, making her look cross eyed as she tried to keep it in view. “You listen to me and you listen well. You will never say something like this again. You won’t even think of it. None of this was ever even remotely your fault. I will deal with Spike. I will deal with Celestia. I will deal with everything. This is not your fault, the blame of whatever I do lies with me and only me. I’m the one who’s supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around, and if I hear you spew this self-blame crap again you will feel my hand once more. Am I understood?”

“But I-”

“Am I understood young lady?” he said in full strict parent mode. Applejack could almost hear Granny Pie’s voice overlaid over his.

“Yes,” Twilight said, quietly. Applejack might have been wrong but she honestly believed she could spot the corners of her mouth curving imperceptibly upwards. Maybe she had needed a taste of real parenthood to help her get set straight again.

It would be an insult to the element she represented to say she wasn’t feeling mighty jealous of Twilight having two sets of parents looking after her.

“We will talk when I am back. Really talk. I promise. Little pink,” Raegdan said. Pinkie Pie rose up straight on her hind legs and saluted. Raegdan threw a large pouch at her that jingled when it landed. “Take this and Twilight, find Spike, and go have some fun. Go on a shopping spree or something. Find her some rare books. Do whatever and go wherever the mood strikes you. Just have a lot of fun, ok?”

He rose to his full height and picked up his helmet. “I have to go. Too much to do. Goodbye Twilight. I love you,” he said before leaving, putting on his helmet instead of hanging it on his belt once again. The few customers of the Cafe quickly pretended to be absorbed in their drinks once more.

“Goodbye…” Twilight whispered softly after he left their sight.

Rarity saw her life being shred in tatters. She felt the heat as it went up in flames. She knew the pain as it was beaten worse than a pinata on one of Pinkie’s parties. Oh world, know the misery and fall from grace that once was Rarity.

She would enter Manehattan with almost nothing to her name but two paltry suitcases. She carefully placed them near the rest of the group’s property that was awaiting the train to load them up. She was very, very gentle with them. The lightest unnecessary movement and the clasps would fail. They were already trembling with the effort of holding almost twice the amount they were designed for.

Solid Charge and Cast Iron, the two minotaurs from… the other night were standing nearby, keeping an eye on their items. “Excuse me, gentlestallions?” she called out. “If you would be so kind as to be very careful with my luggage when you load it on the train?”

They both stood up, almost at attention when she addressed them. They were adorable in the way they rushed at her every word. “Of course miss Rarity!” Solid Charge, the largest of the two called out. “We will be paying special attention to them, we promise!” He tried to salute with his broken right arm, forgetting the cast. He smiled sheepishly and did so with his left. His friend chuckled at his side.

Rarity raised her eyebrow at his behavior. Cast Iron lowered his head ashamedly and whispered an apology to Solid Charge.

Adorable.

Solid Charge sharply turned his head and menacingly lowered his extremely large horns at somepony who approached. “Miss, this is the property of Princess Luna. I advise you to move away now,” he growled in his baritone voice.

“Oh good. I’m in the right place then,” Leaf Stream said and threw a small satchel on the pile.

The minotaur pair moved towards her, threateningly brandishing the weapons Raegdan gave them: a long spear for Cast Iron and a one handed axe for Solid Charge.

Rarity held them off from doing anything. “Boys, stand down, please. We were expecting her.” The pair stopped advancing on Leaf Stream and moved protectively at Rarity’s sides. “Allow me to introduce you. This is Leaf Stream. She is also part of the Lunar Guard. Leaf Stream, this is Solid Charge and Cast Iron.” Rarity pointed at each minotaur as she introduced them, like a proper lady should.

“Wow, our numbers have gone through the roof, haven’t they? There’s enough of us to guard a single door if we do eight hour shifts,” Leaf Stream said.

“There’s no need for such sarcasm. Princess Luna and Raegdan are working on it,” Rarity said.

“Leaf Stream… That sounds like a pegasus kind of name, doesn’t it?” Cast Iron asked.

“Yep. I probably have it because I am a pegasus.”

“Where are your wings?” Solid Charge asked, unabashed.

“Our esteemed commander took them off when I fought him in a tournament. What happened to your arm?”

“Our, uh, commander broke it when… we… fought him…” Solid Charge said with apprehension, glancing at Rarity.

“Neat,” Leaf Stream said as she took a seat on one of the crates. “If that’s how recruiting will work we are going to end up with an army of cripples. How come this guy is not broken?” She pointed at Cast Iron.

“Miss Rarity stopped him before he… before he did more,” Cast Iron answered.

“Huh. How nice of her.”

Rarity watched as the well of conversation ran dry particularly fast. She tried to spark them back to talking again. “I guess you are all very impatient for your training to begin, right?”

“That will be something to look forward to,” Cast Iron said. “You guys have any idea what kind of hurdles they will put us through?”

Solid Charge shrugged at his friend. “Dunno. Something tells me it might be worse than the one the Minos Chargers go through. I don’t believe the Night Bringer is going to be any soft on us.”

“Minos Chargers? What is that?” Rarity asked.

“Frontline division of the Minos army,” Leaf Stream answered. “Their job is to disrupt enemy formations and create openings for the rest of the army. Long distance sprinters in extremely heavy armor. You need to have quite the endurance to withstand their training.”

“Oh. You were a part of them, Solid Charge?”

“Yes miss Rarity. I joined up for seven years. Got bored, left, then hooked up with Cast Iron here. We decided to travel and ended up destitute and homeless in Equestria.”

“What about you?” Leaf Stream asked the younger, smaller minotaur.

“I worked as a blacksmith but… well, Minos is crawling with them. Unless I wanted to earn nothing but scraps I had to get out. I thought we could make a decent living here but you ponies don’t care about good quality work. It’s all about the magic and we had none since we don’t know runework and unless we hired a unicorn with funds we did not have...” Cast Iron said, bitterly.

“A blacksmith? Truly?” Rarity asked. “You should mention this to Princess Luna and Raegdan. They do not seem to be willing to put a lot of trust on magic alone. Especially with Raegdan’s issues.”

“That thing has even more issues?” Cast Iron taunted. Solid Charge quickly slapped the back of his head as soon as Rarity glowered at him for this insult. “Sorry. It won’t happen again miss Rarity.”

“Let’s hope so. Magic doesn’t work on Raegdan or anything he touches,” Rarity informed them.

Cast Iron eyes glowed with hope. “Really? Maybe I can work for them as a blacksmith instead and get out of training-”

“Don’t get your hopes up buddy,” Solid Charge let him down quickly. “I think they are more interested in bodies right now. What use is armor and weapons if you don’t have anyone to use them?”

Cast Iron bent his head at the rejection of his idea. “I hope they are not too harsh at least.”

“Yeah, keep dreaming,” Leaf Stream said, sarcastically. “I asked our glorious commander about that. He didn’t outright say it but I seriously think he is planning to take us into the Everfree Forest for training.”

Solid Charge stood ramrod straight when he heard the name. “Isn’t that the forest south of here that’s like the Underkeep in Minos with all the-”

“That’s the one! Enjoy your bodyparts while you still have them boys. Turns out he hunts in there for meat or fun. On his own. After dark,” she cackled disbelievingly at the words coming out of her own mouth.

The two minotaurs went white. “We are going to get brutalized…” Solid Charge said while carefully sitting himself down. “I should have stayed in the army…”

Applejack went into the train station’s waiting room. She finally had some good news. The train was out on the platform and the two minotaur lads were loading up their gear. They were finally getting on their way. It would be good to stretch her hooves, as soon as they left the train that is.

She was looking forward to the trip. She enjoyed the countryside, but ya just didn’t get enough chance for sightseeing, at least not on your own. Now that she would have somepony like Raegdan with her, Applejack felt she could indulge herself.

If she tracked him down so they wouldn’t miss their ride that is. Where was the tall… fella… uh oh. That didn’t look good.

Raegdan was sitting in a corner, his posture screaming that he was busy feeling mighty sorry for himself. Luna was sitting in front of him, talking to him quietly. Neither of them had noticed Applejack approach. Probably because they were too busy whispering loudly to each other.

Applejack made her way behind a column close enough to hear them. She knew she shouldn’t, not after all the mess they had just gone through, but curiosity is too great a force to resist when given such an opportunity.

Raegdan was talking to Luna now who was gritting her teeth angrily at what she was hearing. “-she doesn’t know but she suspects. Look, let’s face facts. We can’t touch her. We might reach a point we have to give her what she wants!”

“I am not making this trade! I say we kill her and be done with it.” Luna hissed.

Raegdan made an x motion with his hands. “I’m not willing to make that risk. I’m not letting them get hurt. They’re beginning to get their life in order. Silver Tallow is even getting married. I did it by mistake but I did it. Me! I am not losing this!”

“Fine! Then we do nothing. She has nothing but suspicions anyway. She cannot hurt me.”

“If the wrong people get wind of those suspicions it’s all over!” A loud sound echoed in the building as Raegdan brought his fist upon a wall. “If the Lunar Guard manages to get off the ground you won’t need me any more. You can continue on your own. Just make sure you keep my corpse so you can make-”

Luna’s hoof silenced him with a hard slap. “You did not just say that!”

Raegdan rubbed his cheek and moved his jaw sideways a couple of times before speaking. “I thought we agreed that I am expendable-”

“No, you keep saying that and expect me to agree. I do not.” Luna shoved her face against Raegdan’s briefly, pushing his back against the wall. “This is a joke! You know full well that even if I agreed you would not be able to go through with this. You would wait till the last moment and kill everyone that stopped you from fleeing. The point is moot anyway. Either we do this together or we run. That was the deal.”

“Luna, if we don’t do our best you will lose it all to her. You have one chance only and if you waste it then this world is hers,” Raegdan said warningly.

“You do your part and I will do mine,” Luna growled. “If one of us dies on the attempt, fine! But we are not marching to the gallows without a fight. Do you understand me, my Lunar Guardsman? This is an order! We will fight to the bitter end.”

Raegdan leaned his weight on his legs as he sat. “It will be a pretty bitter end anyway, no matter what.”

“That is the nature of endings.” Luna shook her head and chuckled. “I came here to try and cheer you up after your disastrous attempt at becoming a foal entertainer and what happens? We both get depressed.”

The conversation seemed to be over. Luna and Raegdan just sat together now, seemingly content as they were. Applejack retreated, carefully. She didn’t even dare lift her hooves off the floor. She more or less slipped her way back like a skater on ice.

All she got from that was that the only reason Honest Serenade was safe from these two was because she blackmailed them or had something hanging over them. Applejack wondered what that was, but she wasn’t going to be a fool again and start digging around. She would keep her eyes and ears open, keep what she heard to herself, and work on gaining their trust. The cloak and dagger stuff just wasn’t paying out enough for her. The living proof was wallowing in misery just a few meters away from her.

They sure were being dramatic though. They talked like Honest Serenade could take over the world or something. What was the deal with that? That mare seemed interested in one thing only and that certainly wasn’t world conquest.

Why the heck did she hate Raegdan so much anyway?

Well, she wasn’t going to bother with all that. Not unless they asked for her help. Till then, mouth shut, ears open. It served her well in the marketplace with all the gossip she overheard, it would serve now. There’s a time for being honest in words and a time for being honest in actions. They wanted to keep their secrets? Applejack would keep them for them too, like a friend should. When the time was right and proper she would let them know she overheard, apologize, and make her reparations.

Applejack walked back to the duo, this time overdoing her steps just a tad to make sure they noticed Applejack approach. Luna whispered something to Raegdan and met Applejack halfway.

“Is there something you need Applejack? Has any progress been made so far with our mode of transport?”

“Uh, yeah. Train’s here and your new guards are loading everything up. Rarity’s keeping an eye on them. Is he ok?” Applejack asked with a flick of her head towards Raegdan. She was actually worried about him. Things weren’t going as well as she had hoped with Twilight and he seemed to be taking everything much more to heart than Luna did.

At least that’s how it looked. Luna wasn’t very keen on being expressive most of the time.

“He is in a bit of a foul mood. Some young colts and fillies approached him earlier on. He tried to be friendly and he was handling himself very well, winning them over.” Luna sighed deeply. “Until he tried to pat one of them on the head. He had a piece of glass embedded on his hand that he either forgot or hadn’t noticed. He accidentally cut the colt’s ear.”

“Ah, horseapples. Ah was there when he got that in his hand but ah didn’t think he would leave it there. That’s mah fault princess.”

“I highly doubt it. It was just bad luck. We seem to be getting a lot of it lately. The colt started screaming, the foals started screaming too when they noticed the blood, the parents rushed in and saw Raegdan over them with blood on his hand. Then they started screaming too…” Luna shook her head in disbelief. “If I wasn’t certain that Discord is trapped in stone… Luckily, your friend Fluttershy made her appearance. She treated the foal and managed to settle them down after I arrived and got everypony to quiet down enough to hear her.”

“Ah guess Raegdan is not taking it well.” That explained how they got into such a morose mood. Poor guy.

“I think he was trying to prove something to himself and it backfired spectacularly. He will be fine. We will be joining you shortly. You should go and make sure our belongings are treated with respect. The last thing we need is for the train to explode and have even more delays,” Luna told Applejack.

“Sure. Ah let them know you are on- wait, what? Explode? You have brought your explosives along?” Applejack asked, horrified at the idea.

“Of course. The Thestrals did not inform us on what monsters plagued them exactly so we decided to be ready for anything. Is there a proble- Applejack?” Luna called at Applejack as she ran back outside as fast as she could go.

Applejack had to do a number of things. Like find plenty of soft padding, rope, and pray nothing went off while she tied everything down as securely as she could.

Oh Celestia, Solid Charge and Cast Iron were throwing Luna’s crates on top of each other all willy nilly when she left them. She hoped she reached them in time to stop them.

Fluttershy was waving goodbye at the train as it was leaving. Applejack and Rarity were hanging out of the window, all of them exchanging farewells with each other until the smoke churning machine took them out of sight. She sighed. She was going to miss them so much. Oh, she hoped they would be alright. It all sounded so dangerous.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy, did the train leave? Are we too late?” Fluttershy turned her head to see Twilight and Pinkie Pie running towards her in a frenzied state. Twilight’s hair had exploded in various directions.

“Yes. I’m sorry girls. I know you wanted to say goodbye but they were already unbelievably late as it is. I… I asked the stationmaster to wait a bit but… I’m sorry, I should have insisted more!” Fluttershy said in her usual self blame.

“Wha- No, that’s not it, Fluttershy. I mean, it would be nice to be here to send them off but-”

“Spike!” Pinkie Pie cried out, hopping in place. “Fluttershy, have you seen Spike? Small baby dragon, about this tall, purple and green, likes gems? Did you see him?”

“Pinkie, I know who Spike is. Um, wasn’t he with you Twilight?”

“No!” Twilight shouted in dismay. “He told me he was going to hang out with you!”

“Oh. I… I didn’t see him at all Twilight. I’m sorry-”

Twilight ran to the edge of the platform and looked for the distant speck in the horizon that was the train her friends had boarded. “Oh Spike…”

“Daddy’s gonna have his hide when he finds him,” Pinkie Pie observed with straightforward calmness.

“So will Applejack and Rarity. If he is lucky Luna simply won’t care.” Twilight’s mouth trembled as she tried to hold back her anger from showing. “And when he is back he is going to have to deal with me. Come on Pinkie, I need to write a letter and ask Princess Celestia to send it.”

The pair ran off, ignoring Fluttershy’s protests that were barely louder than a whisper.

Fluttershy looked at the distant black mark and then her friends as they left her behind. She walked down the platform until she was shrouded in a dark shadow. She looked up.

A spent volcano made of Rarity’s mountain of luggage, trunks, and suitcases was hiding the sun. Dresses and fabrics, victims of a torrent of hurried repacking and crocodile tears were draped like sad curtains, hiding the truly horrible sights, like a tea towel discarded in favor of a night mask and extra lipstick. A mass of red pincushions was creeping from the top, like lava making its way out. Thousands of needles shined with the unfulfilled promise of painful prickling.

She wondered how she was supposed to bring all that back to the castle on her own. At least it would give her an excuse on why she delayed to tell him where Luna and Raegdan were going.

Still, all of that on her own- hold on a second. She looked around wildly.

Where was Rainbow Dash?

“Hello? Anypony out there?”

“Rarity? I’m sorry! I won’t do it again. You didn’t really swallow that key, right? That was a magic trick, right? Rarity? Did you really leave me here?”

“Somepony get me out! It’s dark in here…”

The compartment door slid open and Luna walked in to join all of them. They had the whole two front coaches to themselves, Raegdan made sure of that. Every now and then he would march up and down the train, even checking the driver’s cab.

Applejack asked him what did he expect to find but he just shrugged. Better safe than sorry, he said. For her money, she bet he was just feeling too antsy to sit down.

“I told you, you wouldn’t be able to sleep with all that racket,” Raegdan told Luna. “You are not used to this kind of noise.”

“This dreadful infection upon my ears is nothing a spell can’t fix. It’s the blasted movement that I can’t get used to.” She sat heavily next to Raegdan. “This will be a long trip.”

“Give it some time. You will be too tired to mind it in the end.”

Luna leaned forward and looked over where Raegdan was looking. Applejack had noticed he kept staring at something in the distance, as if looking through the train walls, somewhere in the direction of Canterlot. It was unnerving in a way so she stopped paying attention to it. The train swivelled and turned at a couple of points. His head had rotated as if keeping whatever he saw in sight, even though nothing was there.

“Is there a problem I should be aware of?” Luna asked.

“Hmmm?”

“The way you stare…”

Raegdan straightened up on his seat as if he realized he had been caught doing something naughty. “Sorry. Nothing, there’s nothing wrong. It’s just… it’s weird travelling the opposite direction, you know? There’s a voice in my head screaming I’m going the wrong way. It’s an instinct that’s hard to ignore after so long.”

“I see. This is good,” Luna assured him. “You are no longer bound to- are we stopping? It’s hasn’t been any longer than three hours.” She looked out the window.

The constant, repetitive thumping of pistons was slowing down and a high pitched squeal was rising in volume. The train whistle blew twice.

“The train needs to refill on fuel and water. It will be doing five more stops before it reaches Baltimare. We will get off on the last one.” He had resumed looking back to wherever while talking.

Applejack did the math quick in her head. “Just at the crack of dawn then.”

“About. Get as much rest as you can.” Raegdan rose up from his seat. “We will need to cover as much distance as fast as we can and we will go through some really hard patches. There are almost no roads to where we are going and we have too much stuff with us.”

He walked to the end of the coach, stopping short of the door. “And keep your eyes and ears open. I swear, I keep hearing something.” He took his hammer in hand and went off on another patrol.

“Has it occurred to him that he could have us patrol instead of doing it himself?” Leaf Stream asked around her.

“He is probably not used to the fact of having you available,” Rarity defended him.

Leaf Stream hummed. “Nah, I think it’s because he’s a suspicious ba-” she paused when she saw Luna staring at her, waiting for Leaf Stream to finish her sentence. “Ba- bas… bar… ok, I was going to say bastard. But I didn’t do it, I mean- shoot!”

Luna yawned. “You are excused this time. Raegdan is your leader now and I expect you to act accordingly from now on. Otherwise, I’ll kick you out.”

“So no insults unless we are one hundred percent certain nopony can hear us. Gotcha!” Leaf Stream nodded.

Solid Charge laughed. “Pony military doesn’t seem that different from the minotaur one on that aspect at least. What kind of officer ranks do you have anyway? I suppose since we are the first to join we might have a good chance of advancing later on?”

“It’s pretty straightforward,” Leaf Stream started explaining. “We got the initiates, who are the rookies. The full fledged guards, then Corporals followed by Sergeants-”

“We won’t be using this system,” Luna interrupted Leaf Stream while gazing out the window, watching the ponies who were refueling the train. “It does not suit our needs.”

“How are we supposed to have orders coming down the chain then?” Leaf Stream asked.

“We are not aiming to have anywhere near the numbers the Solar Guard does, at least for the foreseeable future. We are hoping for thirty guards if we can get them. We will consider an increase in numbers later on. We need a backbone first. You will be divided in squads according to your talents and specializations under the command of team leaders.” Luna turned back to her three new guards. “This will not be set in stone however. All of you must be able to take proper action on your own. I refuse to have a separate army comprised of officers with nothing else to do but babysit the rest and fill rooms with nothing but paperwork. We will be working too much to afford something stupid like this.”

“So… no initiate ranks or…” Leaf Stream asked.

“You will go through training with Raegdan first. The survivors will be training with me. Then both of us for the final stretch. Only then you will be Lunar Guards. Right now you are just weight around our necks.” Luna lied on a booth and closed her eyes.

Cast Iron leaned over to tap Leaf Stream for attention. “Did she say “survivors” or was it just me?”

“Get up! Everyone wake up now! We are leaving!” Raegdan’s voice hissed through the coach. Applejack lifted her neck lazily and looked around with half opened eyes. She hadn’t slept well at all. Just like Luna, the train’s stupid tremors kept her from sleeping deeply. She kept half waking up.

Raegdan was up among them and started kicking them, though the one he gave to Applejack was more of a nudge. It got the message across though. She lifted her covers off her and climbed on her hooves.

“The hay is going on?” She looked out the window. “It’s still dark and we haven’t stopped yet,” she said while rubbing the sleep off her eyes. Next to her, Rarity was mumbling and trying to wrap herself deeper in her blanket to avoid Raegdan’s voice and pushing.

“We are getting off now!” he whispered as loud as he dared. “All of you be up and about in ten seconds or I’m going to use my hammer to wake you up, I am not kidding. Get up you fuckers, now!”

“Language,” Rarity mumbled sleepily.

Raegdan grabbed the water bottle Cast Iron was drinking from and emptied it on Rarity’s head. She started screaming like a banshee but Raegdan quickly closed her mouth with his hand.

“Are you insane? This is no way to wake up a lady you brute!” she said in a low volume after a few -about ten- attempts where she was being gagged as soon as she talked too loud.

Raegdan unhooked the single lantern that was still lit on the ceiling and brought it in front of him so the weak light could illuminate him. “Does it look like I’m joking? Get up!”

Applejack gasped along with Rarity. Raegdan’s armor was splashed with vivid red and she highly doubted it was paint. Cast Iron’s mouth fell open at the sight. It woke them up faster than any cold shower ever could. Solid Charge picked up the small axe and took position next to the door, Leaf Stream following right behind him. “What happened?”

“Supposedly that griffin had enough friends that somebody wants revenge for his death, but I call bullshit. I think he just made a decent excuse or false lead for someone. They’ve set up an ambush. They are waiting for us at the next refueling station-”

Solid Charge opened the door he was guarding to let Luna in. “It’s all clean. There’s no sign anything ever happened,” she said.

“Good. Can you make the drivers stop the train?” Raegdan asked.

“Please. Is that even a question that needs answering?”

“Solid, Cast, Leaf, Applejack, you are coming with me. As soon as the train stops we unload everything and put it on the cart we brought along, fast and quiet. We need to cover as much distance as possible while it’s still dark. Rarity, you take a walk down the train. If anyone wakes up and asks what happened tell them it’s just a brief stop to fix something. Move!”

Raegdan rushed through the door, heading for the cargo carriage, his new guards following behind him.

“Ah’ll be right along,” Applejack whispered loudly behind them. “Ah just need to find my hat!”

Nopony answered her. She sighed and turned to Rarity. Luna was already gone. “What a mess, huh?”

“I was looking forward to a pleasant trip, not another repeat of…” Rarity sat down heavily. “Have things always been this bad and we were just too blind to see it, Applejack? Or is it just them?”

“Ah think it might be a combination of the two. They’re like magnets for the worst kind of trouble. We’d better hurry along before-”

“Rarity? Applejack? What is going on? Did something happen? Are we in Baltimare yet?” Applejack and Rarity looked in shock as a baby dragon crawled out from under a bed, rubbing his eyes with his little claws.

“Spikey?” Rarity voiced their surprise. She looked at the direction Raegdan went, biting her lips. “Your father is going to kill you!”

Raegdan,

If Spike did as the first letter said, you should be reading this before you stop at the first station. He lied to me and claimed he was off to meet with Fluttershy when in truth he hid on the train to follow after you. Please, leave him on the refueling station. Princess Celestia is lending me a chariot and some pegasi guards to retrieve him. I’m on my way as soon as we send this letter. Let him know he is in big trouble when he gets back.

Twilight.

Hey daddy-o!

Writing a letter that is not an invitation is weird. Very weird. How can Twilight do that anyway? It’s unnatural!

Anyway, please be kind with Spike. Poor guy probably didn’t want to spend time away from you. Tell him I’ll be coming along with Twilight to protect him from the meanies. They are going to torture him dad!

They want to cut off his desserts!!!

Your little pink.

Dear Raegdan,

I pride myself on my patience and understanding. I realize that this is a trying time for Spike and he missed you terribly these last two years. But he has to understand that you are not out on a picnic and by doing this he has exposed himself to terrible danger. You yourself outlined your plan to move through areas that have been marked as dangerous (recent events had led me to believe that the conditions there might be harsher than I was previously assured they are) and you and Luna have too much on your mind already without having to keep an eye on a baby dragon.

Please, send back a response with Spike to inform me of his punishment. I do not usually say this but in this instance there must be one and it must be strict.

Otherwise I might be tempted to blacken his lying bottom with my own hooves!

Your friend,
Celestia.

“What did they write?” Spike asked, trembling.

Raegdan passed the letter back to Rarity who was using her magic to give him enough light to read. “Nothing much. Just… hoping you are fine. We are going to have a long talk you and me when we are somewhere safer though.” He sounded utterly calm but Rarity could hear the cracking of his knuckles as his fist tightened.

Rarity read the letter herself. What Raegdan said wasn’t really the underlying message but Spike would find out soon enough when they returned to Canterlot. The important thing now, as Raegdan and Luna claimed, was to cover as much distance as possible. They would try to send a message back later, though Celestia only knows with what. None of them packed any ink.

“He won’t be the only one to talk with ya about this, Spike. What ya did was… whelp, no point in crying over spilled milk now but ah’m gonna have a talk with Twilight about a certain dragon who is gonna be spending his summer working on a farm instead of having fun.”

Raegdan moved to the back of the cart and started pushing from behind when needed while Applejack and Cast Iron were tethered in front, pulling. The four wheeled cart groaned and creaked as it made its way over rocks, holes, and shrubs. Leaf Stream and Spike were riding on top. Rarity hoped she could charm Raegdan into letting her climb on the cart too after they stopped.

Stumbling around in the dark was not fun. The only light they were allowed, apart from her brief horn glow while Raegdan read the letter, was whatever they got from the moon and the stars. Rarity wondered what would break first; one of the cart’s wheels or one of their legs?

Perhaps she shouldn’t be jinxing their little trip even more.

“Any chance you tell us what happened back there?” Applejack asked as she grunted while trying to pull the cart over a dense cluster of foliage. Applejack’s orange coat was hidden beneath a dark green cloak.

Rarity herself was covered by a dark blue one that she desperately hoped wasn’t the same one Raegdan had used to cover that griffin’s corpse two nights ago. He had wound it tightly around her in a way that really made her no favors, muttering about brilliant white coats all the while.

She did not think he meant it as a compliment on this occasion.

“A griffin had boarded on the train two stops ago. He saw me.”

Rarity blinked and felt her ire increase as she stepped on something squishy in the darkness. “That’s it?” she asked, disbelieving. “We are out here, getting ourselves covered in mud, because you saw a random griffin?”

“He saw me and he was neither curious or scared. He barely looked at me,” Raegdan explained. He grunted heavily and the cart lurched forward over the obstacle they were trying to make it climb over.

“Huh,” Leaf Stream said from her envious seating. “It seems patrolling up and down by yourself paid out after all.”

“No offense, but I think I’m way more of a suspicious bastard than any of you. Luna and I waited for everyone to fall asleep and then we went in to ask him a couple of questions. He was there to keep an eye on us, let whoever was waiting for us know if we left the train too early.”

“And the… red thing?” Applejack asked, phrasing her question so Spike would remain unaware of what she meant.

“Things got intense,” Raegdan said, laconically.

There was a sudden flutter of wings and Luna slipped out of the dark as if by magic. “I have gotten rid of the sack. Nopony is following us and the grass is long and wet enough to partially hide our trail when the morning sun dries it.”

“Finally, some good news,” Raegdan’s voice came from behind them. “Any spot we can camp for the day?”

“There is a thick copse of trees further along. It will shield us from any prying eyes while we wait the day away,” Luna answered.

“Excuse me, sir? I thought we were going to travel all day,” Solid Charge asked from his position next to the cart.

Rarity looked back at Raegdan who wasn’t answering. “Raegdan? Solid Charge asked you something,” she prompted.

Raegdan looked up in surprise. “Hmm? Oh, he meant me? Of course he meant me, I’m the only other guy here,” he mumbled to himself. Luna chuckled as she jumped on the cart next to Leaf Stream and started taking inventory, silently. “That plan is a crapshoot now. There are griffins who might be looking for us. If we peek out during the day they will spot us. No, we will travel during the night from now on. It’s safer.”

“Did ya really think this through? The more dangerous critters are nocturnal,” Applejack said. “What do we do when one of them comes at us?”

Raegdan shrugged. “We let it find out that it could have better ideas. I’m more worried about that ambush turning into a hunt for us. Monsters don’t carry crossbows.”

“Ah admit to being a little surprised you ain’t itching to go and fight them,” Applejack commented.

“They fly, I don’t. I have brought bows along but they will have the advantage. I don’t go for fights where I don’t have enough of it myself if I have a choice. Besides, I’m not risking a fight with anyone while you, Rarity, and little flame are here. If, by any chance, I can get the jump on them first though…”

“Then what? Two of us can’t really fight if you noticed and Cast Iron isn’t trained for this,” Leaf Stream said.

“You let me and Luna worry about them. If they do find us first, the plan is for all of you to ditch the cart and run. The three of you will keep Applejack, Rarity, and Spike safe while you head for cover. Luna and I will stay back and fight them off on our own.”

“I seriously doubt they would be picking a fight with an Alicorn unless they massively outnumber us. What if you the two of you can’t win?”

“If there are more than we can take then you will head for the nearest village. Luna will take Spike and fly away. Hopefully most of them will try to go after her, but good luck on catching her.”

“Ah noticed you ain’t mentioned what you will do,” Applejack interjected.

“I will buy time for the rest of you to get far enough.” Spike cried out in dismay, but Raegdan quickly shushed him. “That’s an if, little flame. I highly doubt they will find us now. Even if it comes to that I am not going to let them simply kill me. I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“Why don’t we just send a message to Princess Celestia with Spike and ask for help?” Rarity asked. “There’s no reason to risk-”

“No! This… look, we can’t go begging Celestia for help at the first sign of trouble. Even if we did, any pursuers would just back off when the guards arrived and all that everyone will understand is that Luna and her people can’t even step out of Canterlot without Celestia holding their hand. We don’t need them anyway. We are fine. None of you worry about anything, we had to improvise a little, and we have to travel some extra distance, but-”

“Raegdan,” Luna interrupted him. She was gazing at the cart’s contents. “That sack you gave me… did you check its contents first before emptying it?”

Raegdan groaned. “Why am I not surprised? No Luna, I did not. I was in a hurry and it was dark, and something tells me I’m gonna regret not using some light to see if that was ours… It was ours, wasn’t it? Fu- Graagh!” he yelled in frustration. “What did I throw away?”

“Almost all of our food. We have less than half left. Considering we are going to be traveling on hoof for longer and we have an extra mouth with us-”

“Sorry…” Spike said with his shoulders hunched and miserable.

Leaf Stream laughed. “Not worry about anything, hah. Isn’t that what you said Commander?”

Rarity tried to bring some optimism to their situation. “A little bit of dieting never hurt anypony. We can stand missing a meal or two. What’s important is that all of us are fine and unhurt.”

“I think I’ve lost enough weight already, thanks,” Leaf Stream countered.

“That’s enough. This is no great issue,” Luna assured them.

“She is right,” Raegdan agreed. “Look, do we have enough for… Leaf Stream, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike?”

Luna mumbled as she calculated. “Perhaps, though we will have to ration and forage a little on the way.”

“What about the rest of you?” Rarity asked.

Raegdan addressed the minotaurs. “Minotaurs eat meat, right?”

“Yes,” Solid Charge answered. “Though not often at all in pony lands. It’s very hard to find.”

“Not very hard to find out here,” Raegdan said. “Let’s hope a critter, as Applejack put it, comes along soon and tries to take a bite.”

“Yech!” Leaf Stream put out her tongue in disgust.

“What about the... Princess Luna?” Solid Charge asked.

“It is not the first time I find myself with that sole option in the wild. I have grown to enjoy meat.”

“Once more, yech! Hey, can’t the dragon eat meat too?” Leaf Stream asked, looking at Spike.

“My name is Spike and no, I can’t yet. I don’t suppose we have any gems, do we dad?” Spike asked, hopefully.

“Take a guess little flame. Take a guess.”

“Aw.”

Leaf Stream was looking Spike up and down. “How old are you anyway?”

“I’m almost thirteen. How old are you?” Spike asked back with some hostility. Rarity guessed that he had realized that Leaf Stream did not exactly respect Raegdan.

“I’m twenty six. So nyah!” Leaf Stream showed her tongue at Spike, making Applejack, who had turned her head around to watch, guffaw.

“Huh, you are a year older than me,” Cast Iron said as he pulled the cart alongside Applejack.

“Yes, I’m a crone, I know,” Leaf Stream said. “How about you lefty? How old are you?”

“Twenty nine,” Solid Charge answered.

“Wow. You are practically ancient. I bet you are giving our boss a run for her money. I’m gonna be calling you gramps.” Luna hummed in amusement next to her, still on the cart.

“Hey dad, how old are you? I can’t believe I never asked before,” Spike called out a little louder for Raegdan to hear him.

Rarity was eyeing the spot that was left empty next to Leaf Stream and wondered if anyone would object if she climbed on. She certainly wasn’t heavy at all, they could easily carry a few pounds more. She called out for Raegdan, who was rudely not paying attention again. “Raegdan? Spikey just asked you a question.” She waited a few seconds for an answer that never came. “Raegdan, don’t tell me that you of all ponies are ashamed of your age… Raegdan?”

The cart had moved along and left Raegdan a few meters behind them. He was standing still, his hand touching his face hesitantly.

“Raegdan?” Luna asked as she jumped down from the cart and approached him. “Are you alright?”

Rarity approached too. Applejack and Cast Iron had stopped pulling and looked at the scene behind them. Raegdan was pulling his mane in front of his eyes and trying to see himself in the meager reflection of the helmet in his hand. His movements were becoming more frantic by the second.

“Raegdan,” Luna called out again, her voice soothing. “Please, calm down and tell me what’s wrong.” Rarity stopped walking towards them when Luna motioned for her to stay away.

Rarity had come close enough to see that Raegdan was trembling. His breath had quickened and she couldn’t be sure in the dim light of the moon, but she didn’t like the look of his eyes. He seemed to be on the verge of full blown panic.

“Luna?” Raegdan asked. His voice was dry and he seemed to have lost the ability to intone the words correctly. “Luna… how old am I?” He sounded terrified.

It was right then that his eyes shut and he collapsed on the ground.