Twilight ran towards the golden doors, not waiting to see if the Solar guards standing at the sides would open them for her in time or not. She would just teleport in if they were- ok, turns out that their reflexes were as sharp as ever. This meant that she wouldn’t smash into the doors as she slipped and almost tripped on her own hooves; however, it did mean that her new roadblock was now Princess Celestia herself.

Luckily, the princess was quick enough to sidestep.

Hello wall.

Pinkie was right behind Twilight the whole time, managing to keep up with her rampant teleporting and running, by way of non stop hopping. She landed next to Twilight with one final jump and grinned at her newly accordion shaped friend.

“Princess…” Twilight had trouble breathing. All that running, along with teleporting so much… her stamina had been completely drained. She also had a new found difficulty in breathing through her nose. She felt ready to fall down and take a nap where she stood, but that may have been the concussion and not exhaustion.

“Spike… wasn’t there,” she gasped as she tried to talk and breathe through the same hole. “Nopony saw any of them… we made it… phew, we made it all the way to the fourth station, the guards are, ouch… we had to spend the day there, the guards were exhausted… nothing! Spike wasn’t there either! We searched all day!” she cried out.

“It’s alright Twilight. Breathe and rest. I received a message a little while ago while you were gone. Spike is fine,” Princess Celestia comforted her student. Pinkie Pie clapped with her hooves next to Twilight. Twilight shot her a venomous glare. The pink earth pony wasn’t even out of breath. How the heck did she do that?

“What- what did they say?” Twilight asked with plenty of relief as she surrendered to her exhaustion and lied down on her side. Not the most dignified way to hold yourself in front of the princess, but who cared right now? Thank Celestia, literally, for her fondness for plush carpets.

“Not much I am afraid. They wrote on the back of the letter we sent them, using lipstick. Rarity’s I assume. Luna says that all of them are fine but they had to make a change of plans. She didn’t give any details.”

“Can we write them back?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I already have. I think we should wait for them to write to us again before we send another message. If they don’t in the next couple of days, then yes. Until then we will have to wait. There is an issue they have to deal with,” Princess Celestia said.

Twilight covered her eyes with her hooves, afraid to hear the rest. “Oh no. What happened now?”

Princess Celestia served tea for all of them and set the cups on a nearby table, gesturing for them to take a seat. Tea meant that either the princess was comfortable, or she wanted to ease her guests, or believed the intrinsic calmness of her usual tea service ritual was needed. Two out of the three meant that she wouldn’t like the news then.

Her cup floated in front of her, wrapped in golden magic. Twilight took it in her own. For half a second she looked suspiciously at the gold liquid within. Princess Celestia’s blend always made her feel extremely mellow. She wondered if Celestia was adding a little extra something in her cup.

Pinkie Pie was piling so much sugar in her own tea that it was in danger of overflowing. Pinkie was obviously over her incident, or her love of sugar was not to be deterred by a mere deadly poison.

Twilight drank deeply, letting the hot tea soothe her nerves as she waited for Princess Celestia to speak up.

Celestia followed suit. She put down her cup with a gentle clink. “There was an… episode involving Raegdan.”

“It- what? Is everypony alright? Applejack, Rarity, Spike, is any of them hurt?” Twilight asked, getting back into panic mode.

“Everypony is fine Twilight,” Celestia said. “Raegdan is fine too, just unconscious.”

“Oh, good. I was worried somepony had gotten hurt. Did Applejack or Rarity write anything?”

Celestia threw a curious look at Pinkie Pie who shook her head in response. Twilight basked in the warmth flowing down her throat. “No Twilight. Of course, that is good news in its own way. It means nothing of much importance happened.”

Pinkie Pie made eye contact with Twilight and nodded towards Celestia.

“What?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie Pie nodded harder, her hair bouncing like jello.

“Pinkie Pie, what?”

Pinkie Pie got up from her seat and stood on her hind legs. She stomped around for a few steps. Suddenly she gawped widely, brought her front hoof in front of her eyes, and fell down on her back. She quickly popped right back up, looked around as if confused, and went back to nodding towards Celestia.

“Pinkie Pie, I have no idea what you are trying to say,” Twilight said. She looked back at Princess Celestia and shrugged to display her ignorance at her friend’s antics. Celestia had been looking straight at Twilight, only occasionally glancing at Pinkie Pie while she performed her charades.

Pinkie Pie pulled at her ears and sighed, disappointed. “Is something wrong with dad?” Pinkie asked.

“Dad? Twilight, have I missed something?”

Twilight groaned. “Ugh. They have kinda adopted each other.”

“He calls me little pink!” Pinkie Pie said proudly.

Celestia beamed a wide smile at them and laughed. “Oh, this is just precious. I can’t believe he did that. See Twilight? I told you your presence does him good.”

“What happened anyway?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight… has Raegdan ever told you how old he is?” Celestia asked.

Twilight considered the question. Had he ever told her? She could remember asking him one time. She had wanted to have a birthday party for him at her parents home. She knew she had asked him when he had been born. He said he doubted the calendars they used matched so she had chosen a date at random. She must have asked then but he didn’t answer, she couldn’t remember why, he used some of his usual excuses probably so… she could remember that they had put one single candle on the cake.

He had let Twilight blow out the flame.

They never repeated it. Twilight thought hard on that. Why didn’t they ever do it again? She had tried to, she was certain, but she kept getting sidelined either by Raegdan or her own parents.

Did her parents know more about him than she ever did? He could ignore Twilight’s questions, but if her mother asked him something she was determined to know, something she deemed important enough, would Raegdan refuse to answer? She doubted he would. If there was somepony who could out stubborn him it was Twilight Velvet.

“No. I asked him but he never told me. He never told me a lot of things,” she said, with her bitterness returning. She felt the anger and resentment bubbling up again. It was like an infection that was once again slowly filling up with pus, ready to explode, in her mind. She thought it had drained out yesterday, when he assured her he would finally talk to her, when he assured that he loved her.

Did he? Did he really? Or was it like Honest Serenade claimed? A selfish thing, meant to ease what conscience he had. As long as Raegdan could claim that he loved somepony he could excuse himself in his own mind.

She tried to think of Raegdan as she used to, she did. It was hard. A new feeling of violation, of resentment, of pure anger, of abhorrence and disgust, would suddenly come forth at times. Each time she knew, knew it down to her core, it was because of him, of it, of- of… whatever Raegdan was now. A shadow in her mind, engulfing every good thought she had of him and staining it or- or revealing it for what it truly was. She could almost hear her own heartbeat as those thoughts resurfaced.

It sounded like a hammer striking a nail. It made her feel sick somehow.

She felt confused, torn, so much more than she did just a few days ago. A gap between how she used to think of him and how she did now that was widening day by day, hour by hour. There were bridges left, connections back to an oblivious or uncorrupted past, but they too were cracking. Some of them had been repaired those last two days but they were slowly starting to crumble again.

She wished she could talk to her mentor, to Celestia. It was all backing up inside her, clamoring for release. She could not. More than the fact that she had agreed not to speak to her teacher and ruler about what Raegdan did, it was a feeling that strained her heart every time she thought about going ahead and talking to her regardless. A horrible feeling shouting that to do that would be horribly wrong. Forbidden.

“What does this have to do with anything?” Twilight asked. “I mean, why is it important to know how old he is? Did he get angry because someone asked? No, that makes no sense, and you said he fainted… Princess Celestia, what is wrong with him this time?”

Celestia was looking down on her student, with a hint of sadness on her expression. “I cannot answer that question Twilight. I do not know enough myself. I believe I can make an accurate guess, but I could be entirely wrong. We will have to wait until I talk with Raegdan himself. Until then-”

A series of knocks came from the outside of the golden doors of Princess Celestia’s chambers. A Solar guard opened one of them and walked inside. “Princess Celestia, the bearer of the element of Loyalty is here and demands to speak with miss Twilight.”

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked. “We wondered where she was.”

“Let her in, please,” Celestia gave permission.

They could hear Rainbow Dash’s loud voice from outside when the guards told her she was allowed to go through. “Thanks for getting me out of there Smoke Ring. See ya later!”

“Dashie! Where have you been?” Pinkie Pie hopped over to Rainbow’s side and tried to hug her. Rainbow’s hoof kept her at a distance.

“Where I’ve been? I was locked in the dungeons for two nights and a day! Rarity put me in there for “overstepping social boundaries”, and none of you jerks came to find me,” Rainbow said, looking seriously peeved.

“I’m so sorry Rainbow. We didn’t know-”

“Oh yeah? I was gone all day and none of you tried to find me?”

“We thought you had gone flying again like usual and-”

“Well let me tell you something. I, Rainbow Dash, by my authority as the bearer of the element of Loyalty, decree that you guys suck! Applejack sucks. Fluttershy sucks.” Rainbow pointed at Pinkie. “You suck.” The hoof moved towards Twilight. “You suck. And most of all, taking the championship grand prize of sucking, Rarity sucks. She especially can go ahead and suck a big-”

Twilight coughed violently, interrupting Rainbow Dash. She nodded towards Princess Celestia, warningly shaking her head and raising her eyebrows.

Rainbow Dash stalled, biting her lip. Then she took one long breath and let Tartarus loose. “You know what? I don’t care anymore. All of Equestria must know.” Rainbow Dash shouted at the top of her lungs. “Rarity can go ahead and suck a big, thick, meaty, fat co-”

The door clanged shut. Rainbow fell upon the door, kicking it as hard as she could. “Twilight! Twilight, that ain’t funny! Let me out! Come on, the princess didn’t mind it, she is like thousands of years old, you know she has heard way worse, I saw her giggling, I know I did! Twilight, don’t, don’t dispel the-”

“Great, she turned off the lights. Hello darkness my old friend.” Rainbow Dash sighed heavily. “I hope Smoke Ring’s shift ends soon and he gets me out of here again. I guess it’s back to scratching stuff on the walls until then. Let’s see, how do you spell “Twilight Sparkle is a screamer”? I think I left some space by the door.”

“I’m telling you, it’s all about the money,” Cast Iron said. “Someone is trying to keep his piggy bank safe and fat.”

“Who in their right mind would seriously try to kill a princess for a few bits? No, it’s because of Nightmare Moon,” Stream Leaf insisted, striking the rock beneath her for emphasis.

“A few bits? Hello! Did you miss the train we were riding on?” Cast Iron waved his arm towards the exit of the small shallow cave they were in. “Do you have any idea how much money rolls on these? Ignore the constant stream of ponies and the bits that flow in their coffers from the passenger tickets. Just the cargo trains alone... We are talking about a railroad made of gold!”

“What the hay do the trains have to do with anything you idiot?”

“She wants the Lunar Guard to clean up Equestria of most monsters right?” Cast Iron blinked. “Oh gods, she wants us to do that... “

“Focus!” Leaf Stream told him. “Finish up what you were saying.”

Cast Iron shook his head. “Ok, let’s say she manages to do what she wants, ok? Even though it will take a very long time. The roads become safer and you ponies can frolic around. Suddenly merchants can use the roads to move their merchandize. Well, what happens to the railway then? It basically loses its monopoly on travel and cargo shifting. Ponies get more options, prices will have to go down to compete… It turns back to a buyer’s market, the worst nightmare of someone having an iron grip on a whole pie. And that’s just one thing that changes because of her.”

Leaf Stream stopped and gave some thought to Cast Iron’s claims. She didn’t look entirely convinced yet. “Ok, I admit, that makes some sense. But whoever wants those two dead would have to know about that before and she only recently started the Lun… oh.”

“What?”

“That’s what she was basically doing anyway before she became Nightmare Moon. Hunting down monsters. She said so herself,” she said, scratching her chin. “I suppose someponies might know if they dug enough. Just because it’s not widespread knowledge-”

Solid Charge interrupted her. “Do not refer to Princess Luna as Nightmare Moon if you can. Miss Rarity asked us to cut that out.”

The aforementioned mare smiled approvingly from her soft perch. It had taken three bedrolls and a few blankets, but Rarity now felt comfortable enough. If she spotted any spiders however she would have Cast Iron clean them -again.

“You two will make a wonderful couple,” Leaf Stream cooed. “Dibs on being the bridesmaid. Unless Cast Iron would rather wear that dress instead.”

“Hey!”

Solid Charge kept both his eyes focused on what Luna ordered him to do, ignoring the conversation next to him. Rarity looked at the object of his intense focus, Raegdan. It had been hours and he hadn’t regained consciousness yet. He was lying on a bedroll with a blanket rolled up beneath his head, acting as a pillow. If you ignored the ropes Luna had ordered them to tie him with, keeping his wrists behind his back and his legs bound together, you would think he was just napping.

“I still say it’s because of her possession. I mean, look at the guy she keeps by her side.” Leaf Stream unnecessarily pointed at Raegdan’s sleeping form. “He didn’t even bother making his gear look any friendly at all. They see him in his armor, all black and evil looking, looming over them; it’s not that big of a jump to thinking she is getting ready for round two, you know? So bam, somepony thinks it’s better to get them first. They might even consider themselves big damn heroes.”

“Money makes more sense to me,” Cast Iron refuted her, his blunt nails scratching his fur. “What do you think Charge?”

Solid Charge did not turn his stare away from Raegdan even for a second. “I think it’s politics.”

“... yeah, sure, why not?” Leaf Stream said. “I mean, banquets and hanging out in rich, opulent embassies has to get seriously boring at times, right? Makes sense that they try to up the excitement with some regicide-”

Rarity cleared her throat to interrupt Leaf Stream from going off on another taunting monologue. “Solid Charge might not be that wrong. I’m certain that the pony who originally hired them to attack me was lady Honest Serenade.”

“That one? Oh, I’ve heard of her.”

“You have?”

“Sure, who hasn’t?” Leaf Stream said. “She is Prince Blueblood’s aunt, though some say she is his mother. Others say she partied too much when she was younger and passed him off as her brother’s, others say old Pureblood was the one who partied too much if you get my meaning… Anyway, she doesn’t have anything like Blueblood’s title, but she has a lot more unofficial power.”

“Let me guess,” Rarity said. “She has dirt on everypony, doesn’t she?”

“Bingo. Everypony knows what a nasty piece of work she is, but you can’t do much of anything if she wants to get involved somewhere. She has a problem with our boss I take it?”

“Yes, though it seems Raegdan is her prime target. She really, really hates him for some reason,” Rarity said, thoughtfully.

“Gee, I wonder how that could have happened with such a swell guy,” Leaf Stream said, her obvious sarcasm dripping like always. “If she wants to she could pull in some big names to help her, though I don’t know if even she can get anypony to join in a plot to assassinate a princess, no matter which.”

Solid Charge spoke up. “What if she doesn’t have to convince them? I wouldn’t try to guess too much since I know squat about how the Equestrian government works, apart from the fact that the princesses stand on top. Some ponies in important positions have to be afraid that she is gonna upset the power balance. How hard would it be to convince them to get rid of her before she starts rocking the boat?”

“...Damn it, that might not be that farfetched,” Leaf Stream admitted. “Princess Celestia, everypony knows what to expect from her. Princess Luna on the other hoof-”

“They know nothing about. Worse, I don’t think she’d care about keeping appearances. She’d be blunt and to the point,” Solid Charge finished. “It’s… I guess as far as politics go she would probably be like the Minos Chargers. She would disrupt things, keep everyone off balance, reveal the weak points-”

“And then Princess Celestia would know where to strike and set them right. She is very nice normally, but if she finds out you are abusing her ponies… Ok, like I said, that makes sense. You might be onto something.” Leaf Stream patted Solid Charge’s lower back. “So, part of our job will be to protect her from our own people. Neat. And to think, I believed I had a bad taste in my mouth before. Oh sweet ignorance, how I miss thee.”

“Well…” Solid Charge continued, looking uncomfortable. “That might not be all.”

“What do you mean?” Cast Iron asked, edging closer.

Solid Charge’s eyes quickly glanced at his fellow minotaur before turning back to Raegdan’s sleeping form. “You ever ask why we call her the Night Bringer back home?”

Cast Iron was taken aback. “What? It’s obvious ain’t it? She is the one who raises the moon.”

“Then why don’t we call the other one Day Bringer?”

Cast Iron opened his mouth to answer. He left it hanging open for a few seconds before closing it with his teeth snapping against each other.

“There’s a very old story,” Solid Charge said, “that we minotaurs knew how to raise the sun and moon. So did the unicorns. So did the zebras. Maybe others too.”

That drew Rarity’s attention. “Oh yes, that’s mentioned in the Hearth’s Warming tale. Unicorns used to raise the sun and moon. I suppose with the princesses around there’s no longer a need to do this anymore.”

“Yes miss Rarity. I’ve heard that one too. Thing is, we minotaurs don’t know how to do this any longer. Neither do the Zebras, and I’d hazard to guess that neither does any unicorn alive,” Solid Charge said.

“Of course not,” Leaf Stream said, taking a bedroll out of the dwindling pile and lying on it. “Princess Celestia is the Sun now.”

Solid Charge nodded. “For unicorns and ponies, yes. But why would other nations let such precious knowledge get lost?”

Leaf Stream huffed. “I guess you are about to tell us?”

“The story goes on to say that the knowledge on how to control the heavens was not lost. It was erased. The Night Bringer came and robbed the nations of every instance of the spell, of every person who knew how. That’s how she gained that title.”

Leaf Stream covered herself with a thin blanket. “I kind of wish you had waited for me to lie down first. Was there a point to this or are we doing our very own story thing? I know a very good one about a pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony going into a haunted bar at midnight.”

“No one ever went to war with Equestria for over a thousand years,” Solid Charge said.

“Heck yeah. We would kick their flank.”

“Are you sure that’s the reason? You have your Royal Guard, but are they enough to face off against an army the likes of Minos can field?” Solid Charge countered.

“We have a lot more magic on our side.”

“But is that enough of an advantage?” Solid Charge asked. “I doubt every unicorn can cast useful magic in battle. Whatever your unicorns can do with magic Minos can do with other means. Experienced means.”

“We have the princess,” Leaf Stream reminded him.

Solid Charge sighed. “Yeah. That’s what I was thinking. I wonder now, thinking about that story… who in their right mind would try to fight a war with Equestria if it means that the Princess could stop the sun in retaliation. Or, something I just thought up… what happens if there is a war and Princess Celestia dies?”

“Uh oh,” Cast Iron said. “That would be pretty bad. But we got Princess Luna now, right? She could replace her.”

“Yeah buddy, she can. What does that mean though? Is Equestria now no longer immune? Is Princess Luna a prime candidate for a prisoner? Is our King and his council back in Minos making plans in case the Night Bringer attacks them? Are they making plans to attack Equestria themselves or kill her?”

“Whoah, hold on,” Leaf Stream called out. “Why would your people want Princess Luna dead?”

“Round two, like you said. What if they are afraid that she might try something like it and this time she wins? Who could stop her if Princess Celestia dies? To kill her afterwards would be madness.”

“Princess Luna would not do that!” Rarity said, condemning that train of thought. “This is in the past. It won’t happen again.”

“Yes miss Rarity,” Solid Charge said, trying to placate her. “Do they believe that though? And even if they did, well… Princess Celestia is a fair ruler. Everybody believes that. She has shown that repeatedly for a thousand years. Everyone trusts her and asks for her help. Princess Luna however… Politics can be a cutthroat business, you know?”

Leaf Stream covered her head with her blanket. “I thought having to stay near him and take orders from this monster was the worst part… Seriously, each possibility is worse than the last. I seriously hope we ain’t right about any of them.”

“Uh…” Cast Iron lifted a hand like a schoolcolt. “What if… what if we are right about all of them though?”

Rarity hadn’t thought of that shocking possibility. She genuinely thought they only had to contest with a few ponies like Honest Serenade that wanted Luna and Raegdan dead. That was bad enough. The idea that… that the whole world could set out against them… that so many felt they had so much to gain from Luna’s death, within Equestria and without...

No, that was nonsense, she decided. Luna and Raegdan would have thought along these lines before they ever had. If they believed they really had to face such odds…

Rarity remembered Applejack telling them of Luna’s response when she believed for a few moments that they had no chance of making the Lunar Guard work. Would they really need their own personal forces if all they wanted was to protect themselves against the likes of Honest Serenade?

No, that didn’t make much sense did it? Raegdan would be easily able to take care of somepony like her. He could reach Honest Serenade’s bedroom and leave undetected, he had done so a few days ago. He didn’t even consider it hard to do. He certainly wouldn’t shy from killing her or whoever wanted to hurt Luna. He would make sure she talked before killing her. They would know everypony involved right there and then.

But why… why hadn’t he done that already? Almost a year and they knew nothing? They didn’t even attempt to question Honest Serenade or anypony else? Raegdan said he couldn’t touch her for some reason, not yet, those were his words. But nopony else? Raegdan, out of everypony she could think of, would not cower of doing so.

It didn’t make sense. They must have known about Honest Serenade. When they explained things to all of them they claimed they had no suspects. Did they lie? What was she thinking, of course they lied. Why would they keep that sec-

“That’s a scary thought,” Leaf Stream said to Cast Iron. “You think that might be true, oh great saviour, Rarity the magnificent? Are we really screwed that much?”

“Language, please,” Rarity said. “I do not know. This is all conjecture at this point.” What was she thinking about before? It seemed important. She decided not to push it. It would come to her on its own. She was more worried about the slight headache that she felt. She rubbed the left side of her head, attempting to soothe the pain.

“You think that’s scary? I got something real scary for you,” Solid Charge said.

“Oh boy, what a treat,” Leaf Stream said with false enthusiasm. “Let me guess. This cave is an Ursa Major’s home and it will be back any second now?”

“Too small for one of them. No, that’s not it.” Solid Charge pointed at Raegdan. “He’s been awake for twenty minutes now and I think he just managed to cut the ropes around his arms on the rocks behind him.”

Rarity and Leaf Stream threw their blankets off themselves as they stood up, faster than they both thought possible.

Raegdan opened his eyes.

Fluttershy was enjoying a quiet morning tea with her new friend, Commander Steadfast Ray of the Solar Guard. His office had a magnificent view at the east and he had personally placed vitro windows that filtered the sun’s rays in magnificent colors. He had left the centre of the window unpainted however. He wanted to always have an unfiltered view of the sun.

They were making small talk while Steadfast Ray was reading reports from the night before with a bored face. He made no secret of hating this part of his job, but he was diligent at it nonetheless and he expected perfect reports in return from his Solar guards.

They talked mostly about their respective hobbies. Steadfast Ray had a great love for painting, on any medium, but never had enough time to practice. He showed her how he had a single inkwell in his office and always kept it covered, otherwise he would find himself doodling on the edges of the documents he was reading.

The Commander’s adjutant knocked on the door and entered almost immediately, without waiting for a response. The mare did not even glance at her commander’s guest. She immediately headed for his side and whispered quickly in his ear.

“Hmm. Let her in,” Steadfast said. He turned towards Fluttershy. “I’m having an unexpected visit, but I intend to send her off quickly. You can stay and wait here if you want to my dear.”

“Oh, what if your guest wants privacy? Maybe I should go.”

“If she wants privacy she can go to her own home,” Steadfast said, resolute.

The door opened once again and a mare with a white coat and vibrant pink mane entered. “My good Commander. Always so direct. May I have a seat?”

“You may, lady Serenade. How can I help you?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened with surprise when she heard the name. She instantly regretted not leaving when she had the chance. She hid her face behind her mane.

“Oh, look at the shy pony,” Honest Serenade cooed. “Isn’t she adorable, Commander Steadfast? Come on Kindness, I don’t bite.”

“Some ponies would claim otherwise. My time is limited lady Serenade,” Steadfast said, warningly.

“Of course, of course. This tea and cookies won’t consume themselves will they? And Kindness won’t let herself be plowed without intense courting.” Fluttershy became a single color hue, matching her own mane. Steadfast was trying to pierce a hole through the mare using only his eyes. “Oh, was that too much? Did I overstep my boundaries? I am so, so sorry.” Honest Serenade smiled widely.

“If that was the last of your vitriol my lady, the door is right behind you-”

“So, the Lunar Guard. Catchy title, right?” Honest Serenade managed to make sitting on a wooden chair look as comfortable as sitting on a plush armchair.

“A mere shadow of the Solar Guard. It is almost not worth thinking about.”

“Ah,” Serenade said, with utmost satisfaction. “What a way to phrase it. Almost. Yes, almost not worth thinking about. Of course, it might be worth thinking now that they actually do have a few members and are heading out to claim more.”

“Two minotaurs and a crippled pegasus who should have been…” Steadfast almost growled. He took a deep breath and continued, “she should have remained in the care of the hospital. If they can amass one hundred times that number then maybe they could have a chance in a fight against the castle’s maids.”

“Somepony’s been counting I see,” Serenade giggled. “Steadfast, Steadfast… come on, you must know what happens when ponies see somepony who has already crossed a threshold and nothing happened to them. More will think about joining in. Some of them will.”

“Mere scum and dredges that have nowhere near the training, equipment, or resolve of our Order. What are they to us?”

“Training can be remedied. Equipment can be provided. Here’s the thing however as the common pony will soon see it. Solar Guard, Lunar Guard. They guard the respective princesses. They are the same,” Serenade sang, mockingly. “At the very least, they will soon be.”

Steadfast Ray clenched his teeth. Fluttershy stayed completely still, hoping they had completely forgotten about her. She really didn’t want that tongue turned against her. Not when none of her friends knew she was here.

“This abomination-led farce is not the same as our Order! The Solar Guard carries on a holy duty!” Steadfast almost screamed, spit leaving his mouth.

Honest Serenade closed her eyes and… did she purr? “Oh, now we are reaching the part I was waiting for. The abomination. Luna’s pet. Your fellow... commander,” she said with glee.

Steadfast Ray stood up and went around his office, standing in front of Honest Serenade. “What are you here for?”

“Ooh, straight to the point? I can’t complain, I like the point we are getting to. By the way, you do know why Kindness is here, don’t you? You can’t be that blind.”

“I have complete trust in my comprehension of miss Fluttershy’s allegiances.”

Honest Serenade laughed, a deep hearty laugh. It made Fluttershy’s hair rise. It sounded so off…

“Love it, I love it. Ok. It doesn’t make any difference anyway. Our dear monster is gonna be away for so long,” she sighed, sadly, “it feels wrong not to have a welcome back gift. So, how would you like a chance to beat that thing down to the ground? Bleed it, maybe cripple it a little if things go too far in the heat of the moment. Prove the superiority of the esteemed Solar Guard? Without getting into trouble with Princess Celestia of course. We don’t want to bring the ire of our holy ruler upon us.”

“... Go on.”

Honest Serenade grinned like a predatory cat.

“Is that enough Applejack? We could make a fire big enough to be seen all the way to Canterlot by now,” Spike said as he unloaded another pile of drywood near the cave.

“Eh, ah think you can stop now. That’s enough,” Applejack said from where she lied on the soft grass under the shade of the trees. The cloak she was forced to wear was a little too hot, but Luna had been very clear that she was not allowed to take it off for any reason if she stepped out of the cave. Applejack supposed that it was better to endure a little discomfort than to take chances and get on Luna’s bad side.

“Great!” Spike wiped the sweat off his brow. Little guy had been working for a couple of hours non stop. “Are we gonna build the fire now?”

“Nope. No fire. Luna’s orders. We ain’t starting a fire unless she says so.”

Spike looked at Applejack with wide, unbelieving eyes. “But… but why did you have me gather up all that?”

“Just a little preview of what’s waiting for ya,” Applejack said. “If you think that’s bad, wait till we get back to Ponyville. Ah’ll have ya moving rocks just for the sake of it.”

“This isn’t fair.” Spike kicked a small branch out of his way. “Twilight is gonna take my comics for sure, you will have me working my scales off, and dad… oh, dad is gonna think up something cruel and unusual!”

Applejack pulled her hat off her eyes. Luckily, brown was an acceptable color as long as she didn’t go waving it about. She never did, but she really had the itch to do so now. Let out an yeehaw and rear up on her hind legs just like cousin Braeburn.

Weird.

“Spike…” Applejack started. “Ah know it seems strange that we had to tie up Raegdan like a prisoner, but Luna-”

“Eh, no biggy,” Spike said with a shrug, resembling too much like Raegdan for a single second. “Mom- Princess Celestia did that a couple of times anyway.”

“What, tie him up? Really?”

“Sure.” Spike sat next to her in the cool shadow of the tree she had chosen. “Sometimes they would talk together while Twilight and I were studying. I saw him faint once during their talks. I guess it must have happened before because Princess Celestia seemed to know what she was supposed to do. She tied him up and put him in another room to wake up.”

Applejack could only stare for a little while. What kind of wacky… “Why?”

“Dunno. They never said why. Dad was fine when he woke up, but mom kept an eye on him and they talked almost nonstop at every opportunity for a few days. I asked dad what that was about but you know him enough by now, he never-”

“Says much, yeah. Ah figured out that much. So… you’re ok then?” Applejack asked, still concerned.

“Yeah, I’m… why did he faint like that now?” Spike asked. Guilt was written all over his face. “It’s my fault, isn’t it? I shouldn’t have asked that.”

Applejack sighed and brought the little guy closer to her in a hug. She was ready to comfort Spike when another voice joined in, doing it for her.

“This was not your fault young drake. If someone is to blame for what occurred it would be me,” Luna said as she walked into the tree covered area they were camping in. Applejack felt the temperature cool just a little bit and almost saw the shadows become a smidge darker.

“But I’m the one who asked him-”

“Something that I should have asked long before. I’ve never had a friend before and I never thought to ask his age. I’m surprised Celestia never did either, though I guess she didn’t think of it for the same reason as me. I didn’t think to ask even when he told me of his kind’s average life expectancy,” Luna sat across them, beneath a different tree.

“How much is that?” Applejack asked.

“On average? About eighty years from what he told me. They can make it to a hundred or more, but from my understanding it depends on a lot of things.”

“How… how old is dad? I mean, I’m a dragon, I’m gonna live for a long time. How long does he have left you think?” Spike asked. Applejack tightened the one hoofed hold she had over him. Shoot, she never thought about that. Even if she had she wouldn’t consider that Spike had reason to start worrying about that, but the baby dragon obviously did now. She ought to have a talk with Twilight when they get back, let her know about Spike’s worries.

Luna shook her head, looking dejected. “I do not know. That’s the problem. I do not think he knows either. Eighty years… if that’s true, by the accounts of his travels, the sheer distances alone, he should be… Gah, this is frustrating!”

“What’s the problem? Why doesn’t he know? How can he not know such a simple thing?” Applejack asked, genuinely shocked that something so normal had turned into such a big deal.

Spike was thoughtful. “It’s not the first time dad forgets things…” Applejack looked at him curiously, her expression urging him to explain further. “One time, after he got released for hurting a pony really bad -he stayed in the dungeons for a long time for that- he had forgotten how to read.”

“To read? How can ya forget how to read?”

Spike simply shrugged. To him it simply was something that happened as far as his father was concerned.

“You see part of the problem now,” Luna said.

“Part?”

“It’s… complicated. It’s also something I’d rather discuss with everyone present if it comes to that. We need to be very careful. A misstep here could have dire consequen-”

There was a small cave where they camped. Nothing spectacular, more like a small room dug into the stony hill, a few meters deep at best. However, it was cozy enough to sleep in without needing to bother setting up any tents. It was where they had left Raegdan to sleep.

It was where Rarity’s shout came from.

“Applejack! Help!”

Luna, Applejack, and Spike ran. Luna was leading ahead with Spike far behind them, his little legs not letting him keep up. Luna was about to go through the cave entrance when something barreled into her and knocked her a couple meters back and down on the ground.

It was Rarity.

Applejack changed course so she could check on her friend and the princess. While she was passing in front of the cave’s mouth she felt a rush of air as something jumped over her. She turned her head and saw Raegdan landing on the other side of her.

“Raegdan? What are you doing? What happened?” she asked.

Luna pushed Rarity off her, the white unicorn landing next to the princess with a loud, pained eep. “Applejack, stay away from him!” Luna yelled.

Applejack almost disobeyed that order and tried to approach Raegdan. The glint of silver light on his right hand instead warned her off much more effectively. He was holding a knife. Details she hadn’t given attention to came to the fore. There was blood on his wrists and around his mouth. His eyes were wild, and his head was swivelling around in little increments, trying to keep everything in sight. He kept his stance low, legs spread apart, blade ready. He was talking, muttering to be exact, but not in Equestrian. He was talking in his own language.

Worst of all; he didn’t seem to recognize any of them.

Applejack stepped back. She didn’t know what was happening but she’d be one stupid pony if she even entertained the notion that trying to go near him right now was a good idea. He seemed to relax a bit when she distanced herself. She took another step back and so did he, getting further apart from each other. Luna was slowly getting up, trying to attract as little attention as possible. Applejack hoped she had a plan.

If she did it was probably completely ruined when Spike caught up to them. The small dragon quickly ran towards Raegdan before anypony could warn him off. “Hey dad! You’re ok!”

Raegdan, moving exceedingly fast, grabbed the green scaled child and brought him in front of his torso, holding him up with his left arm. His right hand held the blade right below his chin, the sharp point ready to pierce through his neck.

“Dad?”

Pinkie swallowed the mulch that used to be a respectable pile of cookies with an audible gulping sound and a little more effort than ponies gave her credit for. Making your throat stretch wide enough for all that to go down into your belly all at once is not as easy as it looks.

Princess Celestia was looking at her with wide eyes. “There is some cake left if you want it…” she said, sounding hypnotized.

Pinkie Pie nodded cheerily and licked her lips as Princess Celestia pushed forward a double decker chocolate cake. There was only one piece missing from it, located completely untouched in a small plate in front of the princess.

The ravenous hole of darkness opened wide and closed again. The only sound apart from chewing was a clap, as air rushed to fill the sudden gap. Princess Celestia’s jaw fell one more millimeter closer to the ground.

“Are you going to eat that?” Pinkie Pie asked, pointing at the lone surviving slice of cake. Princess Celestia shook her head.

Clap.

“Phew!” Pinkie Pie lied back on her chair, rubbing her pink, distended stomach. Celestia’s still open jaw dropped open a little more as she watched Pinkie’s stomach slowly, but visibly, go back to its normal dimensions.

“I can’t believe I was arrogant enough to think I have seen everything…” Celestia whispered.

“You know what would be great right now?” Pinkie Pie said to her ruler. “A nice, sweet cupcake to chase it all down.”

Celestia’s eyes wandered over the desolate carts that only minutes before carried enough pastries, sweets, and snacks to make a bunch of ponies comatose . “I’m… afraid we are out,” Celestia said, with equal parts regret and relief. “How about I pour us some more tea to help us digest?”

“Ok. Do you have more sugar?”

“I… yes, I think there’s some left. Here you- it’s ok Pinkie Pie, I’m fine with just cre- oh, I guess I can make do with plain tea just as well.”

“Thanks princess! Hey, you know what we should do? We should go to the kitchen and bake some more cupcakes since you are out! I have this idea for a triple decked cupcake with different frostings and chocolate chips. I’m not sure which frostings I should use. I have narrowed them down to twelve. Hey, we can make all, uh… one thousand, three hundred and twenty of the possible combinations and try them out! We can make the ultimate royal cupcake.”

Celestia’s insides rumbled their protest at the idea of having to chew their way through such a number. “Maybe later. I think I’d prefer we talk a bit first.”

“Okie dokie! About what?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Twilight and Raegdan. Twilight is hiding something from me. I have become very worried these last few days.”

“Oh.”

Celestia waited patiently, drinking her tea. She let a minute pass before continuing. “You are being very quiet Pinkie Pie. Based on Twilight’s letters and what I have personally seen, this is a little out of character.”

“Sorry. I’m not sure if I should even say anything,” Pinkie Pie admitted.

“Has Twilight or Raegdan forbidden you from talking to me?” Celestia asked.

“Nope, just the voices in my head. I can ignore them a little though. What do you want to know?”

Celestia paused for a second, obviously torn in asking a million different things. She settled for her original course. “Twilight has been trying to hide it from me, but I can plainly see how strained her relationship with Raegdan has become these last few days. I’ve noticed her showing signs of derision towards him, sometimes less, sometimes more. Raegdan himself seems to be extremely disappointed in himself. Of course, he has been trying to play it off as something inconsequential. The last time this happened Pinkie Pie, I had to stop one of my closest friends from killing himself. If you can, I’d like you to help me stop things from reaching this point again.”

Pinkie Pie nodded. “I’ll try my best princess. I don’t want either of them to get hurt.”

“Pinkie Pie, what happened?” Celestia asked.

“Um, I’m pretty sure none of them would want me to go into details…” Pinkie Pie said, scratching her head.

“In your own words then,” Princess Celestia spurred her on. “What is wrong?”

“I think Twilight is very, very tired of dad lying to her. I think she is blaming herself for things that she shouldn’t and she is also blaming dad for not being “not-dad”. Mostly, I think she is very confused. That bad mare we met yesterday isn’t helping any.”

“Bad mare? Who do you refer to?”

“Honest Serenade,” Pinkie Pie said. “She kept telling Twilight that Raegdan doesn’t really care for her.”

Princess Celestia snorted angrily. “Honest Serenade? Oh, that complicates everything. Raegdan has been insisting I stay out of their feud, and I have done so as long as they kept it to threats and insults only. Pinkie Pie, whatever she says about Raegdan she says out of hate. Don’t put any weight in her words. Make sure Twilight knows that.”

“She really hates dad, doesn’t she?”

“It’s so weird to hear someone else apart from Twilight and Spike call him that… Yes, she does. She can be very nasty to anypony she sets her sights on, though nothing can ever approach the bitterness she directs at Raegdan.”

“Does she even like anypony? She seems to hate everypony she meets. I bet she doesn’t have a lot of friends…” Pinkie Pie murmured, sadly.

“No, no she doesn’t. She isn’t all that bad however. She completely reworked how orphanages operate in the last two years, making sure the foals get quickly adopted to worthy families and checked on regularly. If there is somepony she likes it’s the orphans. But it’s not her I want to talk about. What lies is Twilight tired of?” Celestia asked.

“Well, everything,” Pinkie Pie said, jumping up from her chair and spreading her hooves wide. “Twilight doesn’t know even his real name!”

“Oooh,” Celestia whistled. “I can see why she would be upset if that’s how she thinks about it. Though to be honest, he hasn’t been lying so much as, ah, avoiding answering to her. There are no easy answers that he can give and he has been trying to keep her from knowing how bad things can get for some.”

“He told her they would have a talk when he gets back,” Pinkie Pie admitted.

“Good. It might clear up the air between them. I’ll have a talk with him before that, make sure he understands that it’s time for some certain secrets to be told.” Celestia stood up. “Pinkie Pie, if you need my help in any way, don’t hesitate to ask. I do what I can but it seems a lot of ponies have been hiding things from me,” Celestia said, letting some of her own bitterness show.

“Well… I was supposed to organize a big, proper party for Luna, so ponies can meet her and see that she isn’t bad, but I’m worried they won’t accept the invites again…” Pinkie Pie said hesitantly.

“Hmm. I do believe I may have a solution. If we can push it back for a little while we can pull off the good old bait and switch. Ooh, this will be fun! How do you feel about taking over an already existing event?” Celestia asked.

Pinkie Pie put on an eyepatch. “I think I’m ok with it.”

“Put him down, now!” Applejack yelled.

That was obviously the wrong thing to do. Raegdan might not understand her words, but he certainly understood her tone. He backed up a step and used the dagger to push Spike’s chin upwards. The baby dragon was ready to burst into tears.

Luna attempted to move in a better angle of attack without Raegdan seeing her. The biped was not fooled however. He barked a word at her and tightened his hold on Spike enough to make him cry out in discomfort. Luna froze where she stood, glaring daggers at Raegdan’s direction.

“Can’t ya talk to him?” Applejack asked Luna, helplessly looking while the little dragon that she was supposed to take care of was endangered.

“I can’t,” Luna answered, her voice cold. “I don’t think he understands what we are saying.”

Darn our luck, Applejack thought. He forgets how to read, now he forgot how to speak and understand Equestrian on top of forgetting who they are? “Well, can’t ya talk to him in his own language? You must have picked up a few words, haven’t you?”

“I can call him a fornicator of his own progenitor, but I don’t see how that would help. We need to wait for our chance-”

“Chance, schmance! Come on big guy, it’s us,” Applejack pleaded. “You remember us, don’t you? Come on Raegdan.” Applejack spoke slowly and clearly.

Raegdan remain unaffected. At least until Applejack said his name. He looked at her, visibly shocked. “That’s it. Raegdan. You remember? Raegdan!”

Raegdan screamed at her. His left arm twisted and tightened its grip, Spike screaming himself as the dagger pushed hard at the soft scales of his throat. He roared alien words at her, a stream of hatred and fury directed right for her. Applejack dashed backwards and fell on her flank in her haste to distance herself and stop him from harming Spike.

“What… what happened? What did he say?” Applejack asked, shocked, when Raegdan stopped shouting. He was showing his gritted teeth at her, like a rabid dog.

“I believe he called you a fornicator of your own progenitor, among other things. Stay back, don’t antagonize him,” Luna instructed. “And don’t say his name anymore.”

Raegdan was slowly and steadily stepping backwards, prodding behind him with his foot before setting his weight on it. If they hoped he would trip and fall they would be extremely disappointed. He had reached the trees when Applejack heard Leaf Stream’s voice behind her.

“Applejack, out of the way, now! Go gramps go, just like I told you!”

Applejack glanced behind her and immediately got out of the way, barely keeping a scream from erupting. Solid Charge and Cast Iron had dropped on all fours and galloped towards Raegdan. Solid Charge was using only one hand, his broken arm kept tight against his chest. His enormous horns were hazardly moving up and down at the rhythm of his broken gallop. Despite his disadvantage, the former soldier was moving faster than Cast Iron.

Solid Charge reached Raegdan. Luna’s companion was watching the outstanding, horny mass galloping for him. He was standing right next to a thick tree trunk, leaving him with only one way to dodge. He waited till the last second and half leaped, half crouched to the left of Solid Charge’s path.

Exactly where Cast Iron was headed.

Raegdan saw him coming. He took a half step back and threw the baby dragon towards him, turning his back on the charging minotaurs and starting to run while Spike was still in the air. Cast Iron leaped and snatched Spike, holding tightly onto him as he fell on his shoulder and rolled on the rough ground, his charge broken.

“Got him!” Cast Iron shouted in triumph. Solid Charge ran to his side to help him and Spike get up.

“Back off now, both of you. Princess, he’s all yours now!” Leaf Stream called out as she came out from the shadowed entrance.

Luna didn’t have to be told. Raegdan barely had time to make three running steps before a furious Alicorn was on his back. Luna’s front hooves hit Raegdan’s head from the sides like a set of cymbals while her back hooves kicked his legs behind his knees. Raegdan fell down, clutching his head. Luna jumped off him and strode to his side.

Raegdan was still holding the dagger. He half rose, swaying on his feet and struggling to maintain a semblance of balance, and tried to slice at Luna’s head. Luna simply turned aside, letting the edge bypass her harmlessly. Raegdan barely managed to stand straight up, his legs shaking. Luna easily dodged the next few strikes, his swipes too broad and too far from their actual target, and kicked the side of his knee. His leg bent slightly at a direction it was not meant to go. Raegdan fell down on his knees again. Luna used her chance to remove his dagger by biting on his hand while he was distracted by the pain. The dagger fell down and Luna kicked it far away.

“I believe it is time to finish up with this foolishness. Raegdan, you must listen to-”

At the mention of his name Raegdan growled, a deep guttural sound. He leaped forwards, attempting to grab and wrestle Luna.

Luna didn’t even blink at the attack. Raegdan was too dizzy and confused by the smashing twin blow she delivered on his head to fight efficiently. She ducked low and met him halfway. Right as Raegdan was on top of her she brought her hoof up, the shall shred of strength she put on her blow was enhanced by Raegdan’s weight as it was brought down on her.

Hoof met crotch. Unseen by Luna, the minotaurs also went down in sympathy, clutching their own parts. Applejack and Rarity winced at the sight. A choked laugh came from behind them all.

Applejack could barely believe her eyes. Luna took him down in less than half a minute and he didn’t even manage to touch her.

“Lie down and don’t try this again. I know every single weak point, you showed them to me. You need to listen,” Luna said to the moaning figure lying down in a fetal position. “But if you can’t understand me this is- ah, of course. This might help regaining your trust.” Luna’s horn lit up. An extremely small object was lifted from behind her neckpiece, tied on a string around her neck. Raegdan’s half lidded, teary eyes widened at the sight.

Applejack wasn’t near enough to see what it was apart than the fact that it was black and tiny.

Raegdan dug underneath his shirt with one hand, the other still cradling his injury. He had a similar object tied around his own neck. His eyes wandered from one black… pendant, perhaps, to the other. His eyes seemed to clear and confusion reigned on his features.

“L- Luna?” he gasped, his voice filled with pain. “I’m- where am I? What the hell hap-” He lost his grip on the string he held and violently threw up on the ground in front of him. Luna stepped back to avoid getting splashed. “Oh heavens. Did- did you kick me in the-”

“Yes. You deserved it, trust me,” Luna answered.

“I bet.” He rolled on his back, gripping his boys tight. He was sweating and his face was red. “Next time kill me instead, please?” he croaked.

There ought to be a campfire in Applejack’s opinion. The sun might still be up for a little while longer, but issues like this, out in the wild, you solve them over a burning fire. Something they could all congregate around. Now, they were just standing around the cave, some of them lying down, some of them sitting, some of them standing. It felt wrong somehow. Cold.

You’d think they would have done this sooner, but no. Luna told them all to go to sleep while she and Raegdan were talking through what happened on their own first. From what little Applejack managed to see, it wasn’t much of a conversation as much as Luna giving him something to stand on. Luna seemed to know what drove him crazy like that. He had started to remember what happened and he had huddled himself against one of the trees. Luna was talking to him like Fluttershy would when she tried to approach a wounded or sick animal. Applejack left them to it. Her presence there wouldn’t help at all. Raegdan would try to keep up his tough act if she stayed.

Weariness, stress, and the day’s events took their toll and everypony was asleep pretty fast despite their misgivings. Spike had been too shaken up at first to sleep. He was full of questions and fear. He wanted to ask his adopted father what happened, why he threatened him like that, but at the same time he wanted to stay away from him, for a little while at least. The baby dragon didn’t say anything like that out loud, but his body language spoke volumes.

It was Rarity who had come to his rescue. The white unicorn coddled him and praised him for his bravery. The young dragon fell all too easily before Rarity’s wiles and smiles. Rarity kept him too occupied to let him think about what happened and, if they were lucky, Raegdan would say the right words to keep Spike from being hurt from this day’s events.

Raegdan was now inside the cave along with all of them, as far away from them as he could get... or as far away from him as they could get. He was keeping himself busy donning his armor. Applejack had wondered in the past couple of weeks -had it really been only so little time?- if he kept his armor on almost all the time out of paranoia or if he liked the effect it had on ponies. Watching him wearing it, she asked herself if it was at least partly to save time. He inspected each piece and buckle before strapping in on his body, testing out if it was tight enough or not. He moved and flexed his limbs, checking their range of motion, and only when he was satisfied did he move to the next one, and oh boy, there were plenty of them! It probably took him a good half hour at least to put that thing on.

Applejack was the first to talk, breaking the awkward silence. Nopony knew how to start, but she wasn’t going to start hiding behind her own hoof. “Alright princess, Raegdan. Could one of ya kindly please explain to me what the hay happened today?”

“Not much to say, is there?” Leaf Stream said. “The guy who’s supposed to be giving us orders is crazy.”

Raegdan was leaning with his back against the cave’s wall. He had started putting on the pieces around his chest. He was watching them but didn’t try to deny Leaf Stream’s accusations.

“Nothing to say to that?” Least Stream asked. “Just gonna- yeah, you are just gonna stare at me? You beat the crap out of us, you almost ripped my stitches out and bit Solid Charge’s hand hard enough to almost cut a piece off, you held your own kid hostage, and you are just going to stand there? Seriously?”

“What do you expect me to do?” Raegdan asked.

“Anything apart from standing there like a dolt! Answer some questions perhaps,” Leaf Stream said. “Also, and I know that this is extremely crazy but stay with me here, apologize to us? Your friends? Your own kid?”

Luna raised her hoof, silently asking Leaf Stream to calm down. “This is what we intend to do. What questions do you have Leaf Stream?”

“Ok, first question; Is this gonna happen again? Second question; If it does, can I be the one to uppercut his balls next time?”

“Would you mind treating this situation with the gravity it deserves, please?” Rarity yelled, losing her usual patience. “Poor Spike could have been traumatized by this.”

“We’ve all been traumatized here missy. Some more than others. Forgive me if I’m trying to look at the bright side.”

“Is that what you consider the bright side you insensitive b-”

Applejack cut them off, striding to the middle of them. “Alright, everypony knock it off. We all want answers and to be assured this won’t happen again. Luna, this ain’t gonna happen again, will it?”

Luna exchanged a look with Raegdan. Raegdan turned his eyes away almost immediately. “We… cannot know. I don’t believe so, but even if it does we all know what to do now. Is this enough?”

Applejack glanced at the frowning faces around her. “Ah’m… gonna go out on a limb and say no. Not yet. Ok, did this have anything to do with-” Applejack paused, hesitating. “With a certain question?” She continued.

“You mean when little flame asked me how old I am? Yeah, it did.” Raegdan answered gruffly.

“...ok, ah admit, I thought outright saying it might make ya go all crazy again. Care to explain what happened?”

“It’s… personal,” Raegdan said, rubbing his face.

“I think you made it clear that there isn’t much room for personal issues when you questioned me. Or are you exempt from that?” Leaf Stream asked, scowling.

“This is different.”

“Why? Because it’s about you? You almost slitted the kid’s throat, did the princess tell you that?”

“That wasn’t me! I would never hurt little flame!” Raegdan shouted.

“Try telling that to the kid, why don’t you?” Solid Charge scoffed.

Raegdan glowered at the minotaur. “Don’t you try and judge me after what you let that griffin try to-”

“The difference “sir” is that I apologized to miss Rarity. I am here, as she asked us to be, as penance for what I almost allowed to happen to her. I’m still here despite realizing that you have no business trying to lead as much as a bunch of baby ducks to a pond. So with all due respect, “sir”, don’t try to stand on a higher moral ground than me. At least I stopped digging a hole beneath my hooves and I don’t put the blame on ghosts and possession!”

Cast Iron put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Hey, calm down buddy. You don’t wanna mess with-”

“Like tartarus I will!” Solid Charge yelled. “I’m not doing the same mistake twice in a row. Leaf Stream is right.” He pointed a finger at Raegdan and addressed Rarity. “I’m sorry miss, but either he explains himself adequately or I’m taking you, Cast Iron, and the kid, back to Canterlot.” He turned back to Raegdan. “And you will have to kill me if you want to stop me!”

“Alright, why don’t we all calm down for a bit?” Applejack said, getting in the middle once more. If this thing erupted in her face she was going to get thoroughly trotted on. She tried not to think about it. “Come on Raegdan, Solid Charge has a point. Speak to us, be-”

“Honest?” Raegdan spat. He threw down the pauldron he had been trying to tie on himself. “Fine. Just fu- fine!”

They waited. Raegdan took his time, calming himself down. Nopony complained. They all needed a few minutes.

“Fine. I’ll explain why I went backwards there for a little while. I think it’s quite obvious to all of you that I’m not from around here?” Raegdan asked, looking at all of them. Luna moved to her usual position, right next to Raegdan, giving her silent support.

“I’ve certainly never seen or heard about anything like you, “sir”,” Solid Charge said, You do resemble minotaurs in general shape but apart from that…”

“Yeah. Thing is I’m from pretty far away,” Raegdan explained. “I’m not gonna bother you with distances. Further than you can imagine is good enough.” He closed his eyes. “I left home when I was… in my twenties? I remember my birthday when I turned twenty but I’m having trouble recalling the ones after. I vividly remember getting a new helmet for a- a mode of transport my kind uses. It was custom made. I crashed and broke it a few months later. It did it’s job fine though, saved my head from turning into a broken melon.” His interlude was broken by Luna’s gentle cough. “The point is I’m much older than my twenties now. I never thought how much before. I never thought about it,” he hissed.

“I’m an idiot. I’m the greatest moron that ever lived. That’s my main problem,” Raegdan said, angrily. “I should have thought of it. I never meant to leave my home you know. It was an accident, a random thing that could have happened to anyone, and it happened to me, my friends, and… huh.” He paused suddenly.

“What?” Applejack asked.

Raegdan turned to Luna. “I had a girlfriend. I had forgotten about her,” he said with wonder. “I know she died but can’t remember what happened to her…”

“We’re sorry for your loss,” Rarity said.

Raegdan shrugged off Rarity’s condolences and sombre tone, opting to revel in his rediscovered memories instead. He was no longer talking to them but Luna, who mirrored his own growing smile. “I remember her now at least. Crap, I can’t believe I forgot her. She was a tiny thing. Reached me about this high.” Raegdan brought his hand somewhat lower than the height of his shoulder. “She was so friendly with everyone, she was like a small angel of my own. She even rode on my shoulders from time to time. Hah, she and Celestia would have made great friends! She had this adorable way of fake shrieking if I teased her, always made me…” The joyous smile that had pulled his lips apart died instantly.

“I remember how she died now. It- she didn’t deserve that. It was my fault, like always. I should have- I was so scared, I didn’t even try-” Luna spread one of her wings behind him, covering his back. Raegdan trembled for a few seconds before regaining his composure.

He rubbed at his eyes, suddenly looking so exhausted that Applejack could feel her own muscles hurting. “I think I stopped caring, stopped being scared, soon after that. I became who you saw out there. I spent so much time, so much effort. I did so many things I shouldn’t have done, all for the sake of going back home. If I made it back and saw my family again it would all be worth it then, wouldn’t it? I abandoned friends. I left people to die. I killed, and killed, and killed. I wasted everything that ever mattered for a chance I never had,” he finished.

“Ok, that explains nothing,” Leaf Stream said. “Can you make it a little clearer for us? Maybe stop talking in riddles?”

Raegdan opened his eyes and addressed Applejack. “Luna told you how much my kind’s average lifespan is, right?”

“Oh, yeah, she did,” Applejack agreed, breaking out of the trance she had gone into. “Eighty years.” A thought came to her. “Ya ain’t dying out of old age or something are you?” Spike gasped when he heard her.

Raegdan chuckled. “No. No, that’s not it. My friends were about my age. My… my sister, I had a sister, was younger than me. Eight years younger I think. My mother and father were a little over their forties, that’s what I think at least.” He signed and put a palm over his eyes, holding it there. “I’ve been travelling for so, so very long. I had to cross mountain ranges, oceans, deserts, I crossed whole continents. All of it, so many times it became monotonous in a way. It all blended together. All I remember is- is walking. Walking and running. There were also… delays for other reasons. A lot of people didn’t trust me. Others feared me. Others wanted things from me. It caught up to me so many times to have its fun. And I forget. I keep forgetting so much. Maybe my mind is too broken or maybe I forget so it doesn’t break any more. I can’t recall even half of the places I’ve been. I don’t know how much I remember. Almost everything? Almost nothing? I have scars that I can’t remember getting.”

He pulled his shirt up, showing them his ravaged body. He pointed at a row of circle-like scars that crossed his torso diagonally. “Something bit me, almost ripped me in half, and I can’t remember it. I can’t remember treating the wounds, I can’t remember healing from them. But I might remember tomorrow. Then again, I might never.”

Applejack started to get a sense of where this was heading, the general shape of what brought Raegdan to that fit of madness. She looked at Rarity, wanting to see if her friend had managed to reach the end of the still misty path before her. Rarity was smart, smarter than everypony gave her credit for. She had already seen way ahead than all of them. She was looking at Raegdan with a horrified expression, her hoof covering her mouth, and her eyes were full of pity.

“Raegdan…” Rarity whispered, “how long ago should you have died?”

“I don’t know. A long time ago probably. I can’t be only as old as I look and I fear that if it wasn’t for the scars and what I’ve been through I’d look younger. Have I changed at all in how long you’ve known me little flame?” Raegdan asked Spike. “Have I aged at all?”

“I- I don’t know,” Spike said, trembling. “I can’t tell- no, I don’t think you have. You’d have to ask mom to be sure.”

“I intend to,” Raegdan answered, looking at the shaking dragon with new sadness in his eyes.

“I don’t get it. So you are immortal or something?” Leaf Stream said. “Well, whoop de doo, what’s the problem? Shouldn’t you be happy about that?”

“Leaf Stream,” Rarity explained, “his kind doesn’t live anywhere near that long.”

“Yeah, I get that. That’s why I say he might be immortal or close to it. What’s the problem?”

“The problem is,” Raegdan said with a dead look, “that even in the best case possible, if I returned home now all that I would find would be the graves of my family. There hasn’t been a home for me to return to for a long time now.”

“Oh.”

“That’s if I just… don’t age properly. Maybe I’m a hundred years old now and I’m going to fall dead in a year or two. Or maybe… maybe I’m as old as Luna or Celestia. Maybe I’ve been home already and I didn’t recognize it. Maybe I- maybe my sister had children or grandchildren and I…heh, maybe I’ve met my nieces or grandnieces already,” Raegdan said, starting to break up in hysterical laughter.

“You know, I could have gone all “here’s uncle Raegdan,” and then, ha, haha, I could have shot-” Raegdan coughed as he tried to stop himself from laughing long enough to finish his sentence. “I might have done it already, who knows? Ha,” he laughed, “I certainly don’t! Oh heavens, wouldn’t that fit the bloody theme so well?”

Raegdan pushed himself off the wall and limped towards the exit, his hands trying unsuccessfully to choke any more of those terrible barks of laughter escaping his lips. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he managed to say with difficulty. “I gotta- I gotta go out and- ha, haha, hahaha!”

Luna glanced between the exit and them, her front hoof half raised.

“Go,” Rarity urged. “You can’t leave him alone now!” The princess rushed to follow the fading mad laughter of her friend.

Solid Charge sat down carefully next to his fellow minotaur. None of them spoke. They just sat, waiting, looking at the rocks opposite of them. Leaf Stream was examining Raegdan’s leftover pieces of armor from where she stood. Rarity and Spike had bunched together, Rarity’s hoof stroking his small head. Spike got his wish. His adopted father wasn’t going to leave him any time soon from the sound of things if Raegdan was right.

Applejack felt like she was in a funeral with the way they all stood around, silently and with their heads down. She was in a sense. Raegdan had buried his hopes of seeing his family right here in front of them. Applejack knew how it was to admit the truth in front of others, to actually say the words. No wonder he didn’t want to talk at first. Death was not real, not as long as you didn’t say it out loud. You always harbored a bit of hope that somepony would come one day and tell you there was a horrible mistake. That they would tell you that your parents were fine and coming home soon.

Until you said it out loud. It becomes real then, and it hits you hard. It shreds you. Applejack knew, and she also knew that for years afterwards she blamed herself for doing it. She had woken up so many times thinking to herself that if she hadn’t opened her mouth, if she just kept silent and waited, her parents would come back one day.

Stupid, yeah. You still believed it though.

“He’s crazy, right? I seriously mean it. He’s insane,” Leaf Stream said.

Solid Charge tried to scratch his skin beneath his cast, but his fingers were too big to reach down there. He huffed in resignation. “I ain’t sure what to think about all that,” he said.

“Me neither,” Cast Iron agreed. “Imagine trying to spend so much time going back to your people only to-”

Solid Charge shoved him lightly. “Bad choice of words. I don’t want to think about it.”

“He said he had friends with him,” Rarity said with a deep sorrow in her eyes.

Applejack took off her hat. She stared at it. It felt easier than looking at everypony else. “Marefriend too. Ah guess he saw them all… go.”

“Perhaps not all of them. He said he left them. Abandoned them if I’m not mistaken. I wonder why?”

“Perhaps they decided to stop,” Cast Iron said. “They quit trying to go back if they had been too far by then.”

“Gods, this is a depressing line of thought,” Solid Charge joined in once more. “If that happened, I doubt it went smoothly or they would have let him go on alone without an argument. I barely know him and I can guess how that would turn out. No wonder he went insane.”

“My dad is not insane,” Spike muttered. “He will be fine, just watch. He’s always fine.” Rarity patted Spike’s back with her hoof. She shook her head at the rest of them behind his head, telling them not to challenge him on this.

“So… we let it slide?” Leaf Stream asked. “Just like that? One sob story and it’s all well and done?”

“I don’t know if it’s ok but… what else can we do?” Solid Charge asked. “Are you staying miss Rarity?”

“Yes, I am,” Rarity stated proudly. “I don’t run away from my friends at the first sign of trouble.”

“In that case…” The two minotaurs exchanged a short glance. “We are staying too. We said we owe you and we meant it.”

“Leaf Stream?” Applejack said. “What about you?”

Leaf Stream sighed deeply. “Alright. I think I’m gonna give him a pass too, just this once. Only this once though, ok?” She looked at them warningly. “And if it happens again, remember, I called dibs on the crotchkick.”

“Was having Solid Charge and Cast Iron attack Raegdan like that your idea Leaf Stream?” Luna asked.

Leaf Stream emptied the last bite out of her bowl with guilt in her face. It wasn’t fun to eat while others watched and went hungry. Applejack, Rarity, Leaf Stream, and Spike were the only ones who ate today. Even the minotaurs were able to get something solid in their stomach when Luna managed to catch a rabbit. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough for all of them, so Raegdan and her chose to completely starve this day, citing greater familiarity with enduring hardships.

In Applejack’s opinion it was this exact way they took discomfort in stride that made it hard for anypony to keep grudges. Luna was a princess and she hadn’t slept or eaten while keeping her own untrained guards as safe and in as much comfort as she could provide under the circumstances. Raegdan was pretty much the same, though in his case he didn’t seem to consider doing that out of any reason apart from being used to it - Spike’s case being the only exception where he actually thought about the dragon’s comfort. He had stared back at Cast Iron with obvious puzzlement when the minotaur thanked him and Luna, like he had trouble understanding why for a few seconds.

Leaf Stream stumbled her words at the unwanted attention. “I, er, yes princess. I thought if he saw them commit to attacking him he would try to escape, hopefully letting Spike go, rather than keep using him as a hostage.”

“How did you know he wouldn’t do something rash instead?”

“Personal experience,” Leaf Stream said, showing off her amputated wings. “You see something massive charge towards you, you try to get out of its way, training be damned.”

“Hmm. Your mark. What does it mean to you?”

“My cutie mark?” Leaf Stream turned her head to stare at her mark. It was a few leaves, colored lighter green than her coat, tumbling in the wind. “I was very good with currents. I always had a sixth sense about how the air would shift and what would happen, no matter how bad the weather got. I could have become a good weather pony, but I decided to become a guard instead. Why?”

“Nothing,” Luna answered. “Just thinking about translations and potential. Get ready, we will be leaving when it gets dark.” She headed towards the loaded cart where Raegdan was unpacking some of their gear. A couple of their boxes had opened, revealing that they had brought along plenty of weapons and even Raegdan’s second set of armor along with the one they had made for Luna.

Raegdan was stringing one of the bows. He would head north and move parallel to their own course, on his own. He hoped he would make a good target for something to come after him if he was alone, and secure some meat for himself and the others. He also hoped he would be able to spot if anypony was searching for them after all.

He seemed to be fine if you ignored the random, reasonless bouts of giggling he burst into every now and then. Everyone stood still and watched him carefully every time he did that. He pretended he didn’t notice.

Applejack moved to Rarity’s side. The white unicorn was watching the darkening sky with a smile. “Ever heard of the “use yourself as bait” hunting method?” she asked.

“Oh please darling, you sound as if any of us should be surprised by now. You are not worried, are you?”

“Nah. Ah hope it might help him clear his head. How did his talk with Spike go?”

“Fine. Everything’s been settled.”

“So Spike is ok?” Applejack asked, worry creeping into her voice. “He ain’t gonna be hating on Raegdan too, is he? Ah reckon it really wasn’t his fault for what happened and ah don’t think he would really hurt Spike if it came to that.”

“I don’t believe he would either. If somepony had pushed him I believe he would have snapped back to his senses rather than hurt Spike, ending this much sooner. He didn’t even bruise him you know. If Raegdan repeats this again however, excused or not, I will castrate him.”

“So Spike forgave him?”

“Please, Spikey has a heart of gold.” Rarity turned her eyes back to the sky. “He is worried about his father right now, not what happened. Spike will be fine. As long as Raegdan keeps up his tough act a little longer, Spike will be once again convinced he is invincible.”

“True. That’s good for something at least. It was pretty damn scary to see him break apart like that earlier. That laughter will be sticking with me in mah dreams,” Applejack said, shaking her head.

“I know Applejack, I know. He took it better than I would have, even so. I am worried that it hasn’t sunk in completely however.”

“Oh boy. Ya ain’t thinking we are gonna have a repeat, will we?”

“I have no doubt in my mind that it will take him more than just a few hours to come to terms with what he told us. Right now he is just ignoring it. I think he’d better find a good target for his frustrations tonight or somepony is gonna be turned to paste when it does. Keep a close eye on him, will you?”

“Ah will. You too.” Applejack frowned. “What the hay are you looking up for anyway? Something wrong with the sky now?”

“Oh Applejack, you haven’t realized?” Rarity asked, her eyes shining. “It’s gonna be nighttime soon!”

“Uh, yeah. We are getting ready to depart. So what?”

“No, no. It’s gonna be nightfall… the moon is going to come up and Luna is right here,” Rarity explained, shaking with excitement.

“Oh. Ah see.”

“You do realize that nopony has seen Princess Luna raise the moon for over a millennium? Out here she will have no choice but to perform her duty publicly. Oh, it’s going to be such a sight!”

“Alright, alright,” Applejack laughed. “Don’t go all fanfilly on me now!”

“I’m off,” Raegdan announced, loud enough for everypony to hear him. “Luna will stay with you. I’ll either be back with you by morning or waiting for you if I find a good camp site before you do. Keep safe and quiet, alright?” He pointed a finger on Rarity. “And no lights, I don’t care how much you are scared of mud.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Luna warned him.

“If I don’t, won’t I break the greatest streak of fail and stupidity creation has witnessed?” Raegdan said. He sighed when he saw Luna scowl. “I’ll be careful and I’ll be back in time. I promise.”

“Ya know, ah can’t help but wonder if it’s wise to let him go off on his own now that he’s actually gone.” Applejack whispered to Luna.

Luna turned to address both Rarity and Applejack. The hard, half-bored expression was replaced by one of frustration and worry. “What else was I supposed to do? Keep him tied up like a prisoner? No, I had to send him away from Spike and the rest of you until he can make himself forget once more.” Luna lowered her voice so none of the others could hear her. “He’s too scared to accept the truth. By the time he’s back he will only half-remember what happened. Denial will serve for now, but at the same moment he will be a ticking bomb. When he returns keep an eye on him. Keep him busy until we are back in Canterlot. Celestia will be able to help.” Applejack and Rarity nodded their understanding.

They watched turn and leave under the waning daylight. He had armed himself with a bow and a spear apart from his usual gear. He didn’t look back and they didn’t say anything. They just watched.

Spike decided he didn’t want to stand there and watch him go.

The little dragon yelled for the armored figure to wait. Raegdan stopped and the green scaled child managed an outstanding jump that reached Raegdan chest height. Raegdan grabbed him in mid air. The minotaurs at the side, along with Luna and Leaf Stream stood a little more rigid as they watched.

“Hey little flame. Look, I’m sorry for-”

“Nevermind that. Are you gonna be back soon? I tell you, this place is scary! I keep hearing noises. I know Princess Luna and the rest are good but… can you come back a little sooner? Please?” Spike pleaded.

Applejack couldn’t tell what Raegdan was thinking, not with the full helmet he wore. Bless Spike’s little heart though, this request full of trust really must have helped. Raegdan regained some of the smoothness he had lost while speaking. “Tell you what. I’ll be back in a few hours whether I find something or not. At worst I can look for something to eat tomorrow again. What do you say?”

“Ok. Hey, if you find any berries-”

“I’ll get them for you,” Raegdan laughed. “Just stay near Luna and the girls until I’m back, ok? Don’t go wandering off on your own.”

“In the dark? I’m not crazy! I’ll stay on the cart until you are back.”

“Good.” Raegdan patted Spike’s cheek and put him down gently. “I’ll be back soon with some goodies.” He waved goodbye at Spike and the rest and left once more, his steps lighter. They watched him go until his figure vanished behind the curve of the hills.

“Or we could do that,” Luna whispered to Applejack, looking extremely surprised.

Luna and the rest kept busy while waiting for darkness to fall by securing everything on the cart, trying to minimize the shifting of weight and clattering sounds while they would be pulling. Rarity kept turning her attention from the sky, where the first pinprick stars had started to show, to Luna.

The Alicorn called out for their attention. “It is time for us to continue our journey. Climb up Leaf Stream, Spike. I’ll follow behind in Raegdan’s place, giving a push when needed. Applejack, do you need help with the reins?”

“Uh, no, Ah don’t… Ah mean… nope, I’m fine, it’s easy enough.” She threw a questioning look at Rarity before heading to her assigned spot. Rarity didn’t notice her. She was still staring up at the sky with her lips slightly spread.

The sky was clear and the moon, though no longer full, was giving them plenty of light to trudge along the coarse ground. It would only get worse as the days passed. Things were still pretty good however and hopefully would remain so until they reached their goal.

It’s just that when the moon rose Luna was busy tying a knot.