The comb ran through clusters of stars and comet showers, through hues of dark blue and deep purple. It straightened the path for meteors to follow, and shaped contrails where new constellations formed. A silver tooth passed over a star causing the light to dim and die, where another one burst into a supernova at the grazing touch. The flow and passage continued unabated in smooth trails until it met a malevolent tangle it could not conquer.

“Motherfucker!”

Bandaged fingers tried to undo the knot of hair without much success, hampered as they were in their trappings of gauze.

Rarity put down the pencil she was sketching with and looked at Raegdan with displeasure. “Language please. You’re in the presence of two princesses.”

Raegdan stopped his attempt to comb Luna’s hair as she lay still unconscious in order to peek behind him. Princess Celestia lay not so regally on the bed next to her sister, reading and notating on various parchments. She look tired, but completely at ease in the same moment. She had even absconded of her usual regalia, calling them too bothersome to wear when all she had to do was paperwork.

“She’s heard me say worse,” Raegdan stated.

“I’ve heard him say much worse,” Princess Celestia confirmed, exchanging one parchment for another. “Though you might want to cut back on the swearing Raegdan. Spike could have been on his way in or you might slip while he’s present nevertheless.”

“I know, I know,” Raegdan answered with the wind blown out of his sails. “It’s hard to start censoring myself again.” He slapped his chest over his hospital gown. “This fu- stupid salve doesn’t help matters either.”

Twilight had been reading a medical textbook. Not her first choice of reading material, but she had found out in the last few weeks how woefully lacking her knowledge on that field was. It was so awfully dry though and so far away from her usual interests that she found herself mostly watching Raegdan fuss over Luna as she slept.

“I thought the salve helped mitigate the pain from the burns,” Twilight observed.

Raegdan nodded. “It does a little bit, but it itches like crazy. It’s driving me mad.”

“Did you tell the doctors?” Celestia asked.

“Why? So they can change my prescription to the myriad of other choices I don’t have?”

“You don’t know that,” Twilight retorted. “They might have another salve they can try.”

Raegdan spit out a short piece of hair. He had been trying to undo the knot on Luna’s mane using his teeth. “With my luck I’ll end up swollen and blue. I’m fine. If the worst I have to deal with is an itch in return for some pain relief I’m all up for it.” He dug in his mouth with two fingers and pulled out another hair. “Luna needs a shower. I don’t think her mane is supposed to taste like that.”

Celestia answered without glancing up from her own reading material. “That would be the accumulation of a week’s natural oils and dirt, as well as the remains of the disinfectants they cleaned her up with when they brought her in.”

Leaf Stream chuckled from her armed position next to the door. “Should I tell the doctor to prepare the stomach pump for the mane muncher? Or is he just going to spit out a hairball?”

The sun princess spared a glance and a smile at Raegdan’s grimacing face. “He’s eaten worse.”

Twilight felt her throat constrict at the joke. Bad brain. Stop thinking about that.

Celestia let out a sigh and addressed Raegdan with a pleading tone. “It’s such a beautiful day outside. If you’d let me, I could have one of the windows restored in a few minutes-”

“Try it, and I’ll suplex you to next Sunday,” Raegdan warned her.

“Hmpf. Try it if you are so willing to hurt your back again as much as you did mine,” Princess Celestia said, but didn’t push the issue any further.

The door opened enough for a thestral to sneak his head in and whisper in Leaf Stream’s ear. She nodded and the thestral pulled back, opening the door for Rainbow Dash to come in.

“Hello Princess. Hello guys.”

“Good morning to you Rainbow Dash,” Rarity pointedly said. “I see that-”

Rainbow Dash interrupted her before she could finish. “Not coming.” She turned to Raegdan. “Same message as before big guy. They’re still cool with you but don’t really feel like hanging out with you yet. They got Spike and went out for breakfast.”

Twilight felt disappointed. She had honestly believed they would deign to stand in the same room as Raegdan today. If it wasn’t for Rarity and Rainbow she would have called sharing the fate of Raegdan’s previous adopted child a terrible mistake.

“Raegdan, I could go and talk to them…” Twilight had noticed him stalling for a second when Rainbow walked in, waiting to hear what Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy had said.

“No,” he answered. “Give them time.” He returned to his previous activity.

Rainbow Dash let out a surprised “ha” sound when she saw what he was doing. She approached him, looking at his hands as they worked for a few seconds before turning to glare at Rarity.

“I can’t believe you! You turned him into a hairdresser?” Rainbow flew to Twilight and pulled at her hoof. “Twilight, Rarity corrupted Raegdan,” she said in a whiny tone.

“I beg your pardon!” Rarity said loudly, offended beyond measure. “Just because some ponies are sensible and mature enough to understand that maintaining your appearance or that of those you care about does not make me-”

“You’re the corruptor!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Perverter of all that is cool and awesome-”

Princess Celestia was watching the scene with her usual serenity- if you ignored the parchment she had placed in front of her muzzle and her eyes sparkling with amusement. Raegdan however put a stop to it quick enough.

“That’s enough. Quiet down,” he said in a severe voice, leaning his head pointedly towards Luna’s sleeping form.

“Sorry,” Rainbow Dash apologized as she approached the bed once more. She followed the ritual she always did when visiting Luna. Rainbow carefully inspected Luna’s burnt wing, then the cast of her broken leg, and the myriad of stitches and bandaged gashes for last. Her gaze lingered on Luna’s left side where a large piece of her had been bit off, now covered with a mound of gauze, and she shuddered.

Twilight knew how Rainbow Dash always admired ponies that could do what she saw as “awesome” or “cool, and the slaying of a Leviathan was certain to be near the top for the cyan pegasus. This time however she saw the price that was paid in order to fulfill this achievement, and Rainbow seemed intent on refreshing her memory of Luna’s wounds every single time. It made Twilight ask herself, if they were sent to ask the dragon to move after they had seen this, would Rainbow be so fast on assaulting the dragon on her own?

“Still, it’s pretty weird seeing you primping somepony up,” Rainbow Dash said, smiling mischievously. “You do hooficures too?”

“Yes.”

Rainbow Dash gawped at him before silently imploring Twilight for confirmation.

“He does,” Twilight said.

“Ah, right, right…” Rainbow Dash regained her composure. “Raising a filly and all that. I bet that’s a skill that doesn’t see a lot of use now though, huh?”

“You lose,” Raegdan said with his attention still focused on Luna’s mane.

“What?”

“Your bet. You lose.” He straightened up on his chair and poured water for himself from a pitcher. “Luna doesn’t have retainers.” Princess Celestia mumbled to herself behind Raegdan, looking unhappy and angry.

Rarity put down her pencil once more. “I do believe you mentioned something similar to this before, only I didn’t expect you to be her beauty consultant.”

“I’m not. I just do whatever I can. Someone has to mop, sweep, wash, unclog the toilets...”

“...Smooch the princess into oblivion,” Leaf Stream murmured, though not quietly enough.

Twilight lifted an eyebrow at Rarity’s acting as she yelped in fake indignation. Rarity kept daydreaming about this exact thing happening, but Celestia help you if someone else was crass enough to say it straightforward in mixed company.

Raegdan, for his part, seemed to find this funny. He moved on his chair so he could look sideways at Celestia. “Well, it had kind of become an unofficial service when there was only one princess in charge…” he drawled while Princess Celestia was putting down her documents, looking scared.

Deep in the recesses of Twilight’s mind, a smaller version of her was jumping up and down holding a red flag. She could make the words on the crimson cloth easily enough. She didn’t really have to. Her inner Twilight’s panicked movements were easy enough to decipher. “Danger! Incoming trauma.”

“Let me paint the picture,” Raegdan said mercilessly, delighting in the disbelieving stares of everypony, including the red faced Princess Celestia. “It’s late in the evening, the kids are asleep, and I’m sharing a couch with a certain princess. Suddenly she leans in, her face burning red, and her lips make contact with mine in desperate need as her hoof reaches down for-”

“That’s not how it happened!” Princess Celestia protested loudly and emphatically, and shifted from lying on the bet to sitting on it, looking panicked.

“Of course, you’re right,” Raegdan said sarcastically. “I was trying to be a bit more respectful and I didn’t want to reveal how you actually forced me down to my side of the couch, climbed over me and proceeded to have your way with-”

“You were drunk! I was drunk! We were both drunk, it was only one kiss, and then I puked on you!” Princess Celestia rushed out the words as fast as she could.

“Pardon?” Rarity asked as her worldview shattered around her with a pop.

Raegdan was laughing, as was Leaf Stream and Rainbow, though the two of them went mostly unnoticed by Princess Celestia as they had been viciously biting on their hooves to control themselves.

“She did, she really did,” Raegdan chuckled with a look of fond remembrance. “Right into my mouth actually. It must be the wings. She fed me like a baby bird.”

Princess Celestia straightened her papers in her magic. “You had your laugh. Let’s leave it at that then-”

“Fast forward a few months,” Raegdan continued with a smile that promised to spill everything, “and I wake up naked next to Celestia with no memory of-”

“We got drunk! Again! Nothing happened!”

“Then why do you make a tomato impression every time I ask you how I ended up naked in your bed with you?”

“Nothing happened,” Princess Celestia repeated. The entirety of her blood must have moved to her cheeks.

“You know what? I’ll let it slide once more,” Raegdan said graciously.

“Thank you,” Princess Celestia said, breathing easier.

“Fast forward a few more months. There is no alcohol in sight. I go into Celestia’s room and long story short we end up tasting each-”

A thin pillow blocked Raegdan’s bandaged head from view, driven by golden horseshoes. “I’ll kill you right here, right now!” she screamed.

Rarity whispered into Twilight’s ear. “Should we… do something?”

The spectacle had managed to make Twilight smile despite what she heard -and viciously buried somewhere it would be forever ignored. “No, they’re just playing around. Trust me, this is how they used to be most of the time.”

Raegdan managed to push the soft instrument of his death far enough to gasp. “Ask Twilight’s parents about the time with the moaning and all the shaking-”

“That doesn’t count and you know it!” Princess Celestia said, managing to overpower Raegdan once again and shut him up. The biped struggled for air. Celestia pushed even harder.

He managed to twist his head enough to spill out one last sentence. “Tell the world that my final act was to make Celestia scream one last time...” Celestia started to punch the pillow, and thus the head hidden behind it.

“Truly sister, you have turned into a rampant tramp in my absence…” a weak voice croaked from the side.

Raegdan and Celestia stopped their struggle at once. Princess Celestia quickly kneeled next to her sister’s bed, while Raegdan moved to the other side. Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash moved to the bottom of the bed, smiling up at the awakened alicorn.

“Luna, you’re awake!” Princess Celestia cried with joy and happy tears gleaming in her eyes. She quickly leaned in to muzzle her sister’s cheek.

“Apparently,” Luna said weakly after briefly returning the affection. “Since you’re here I take it to mean I’m not dead. What happened?” Her voice was incredibly hoarse.

“We got out,” Raegdan said. “I told you you’ll make it out alive, didn’t I?” Raegdan said with pride and immense relief in his eyes.

Luna’s eyes roamed over Raegdan. “What happened to you?”

“It’s nothing. Just scratches. How are you feeling?”

“Thirsty…”

Princess Celestia picked up the pitcher and a glass in her magic, filling it up. She levitated the glass in front of Luna and waited for her to take it. Luna glanced at Raegdan, a short rapid movement that Twilight almost missed. Raegdan put his left arm behind Luna’s head, helping her lean forward. He caught the glass in his hand, the magic field dissipating instantly, and held it in front of Luna’s lips.

“More,” Luna begged after she greedily drank it all. Princess Celestia refilled the glass Raegdan was holding and Luna drank almost half of it. She let out a sigh of content and Raegdan slowly leaned her back to her pillows, while Princess Celestia carefully held Luna’s cast and helped guide her down without jostling her healing wounds.

Luna looked around her with tired, half lidded eyes, taking in the beds and the tubes connected to her. She looked towards the door at Leaf Stream, who saluted her with a brief smile.

“Where are we?”

“A hospital in Baltimare,” Celestia answered. She wiped a drop of moisture from Luna’s chin.

“What happened to the Leviathan? Is it still alive? Did we fail?”

“It’s dead,” Rainbow Dash answered before anypony else had time to. She flew over Luna, gesturing wildly. “There was this huge, titanic explosion, like “krakow!” and ponies are still gathering bits and pieces of it, it even shattered the docks pretty good-”

“Rainbow, dear, you weren’t even there for that part,” Rarity reminded her.

“What was that about the docks?” Luna asked, looking worried. “What docks? Did it relocate and reach Baltimare?”

“A little bit, yeah,” Raegdan answered her. “It managed to trash the place enough. Remember the wooden rubble that was raining on us? They were ships that tried to sail away.”

Luna gawped at him. “Why are we still here?” she almost shrieked. “We must leave before they form a mob and- wh- why are the rest of you here? What did you come here to do?” she asked in the throes of panic, looking at Twilight and Rainbow.

“I think you are sorely underestimating our subjects Luna,” Princess Celestia said in a soothing manner. Her magic opened the curtains that hid the bed across Luna and the sentimental treasures piled upon it. “It’s been almost a week since then. The ponies of Baltimare sing your praises for the rescue of their families and city. Gifts and letters have been flowing in nonstop. They love you Luna.” She held an envelope in front of her sister, a smile of pure joy on her face.

Luna stared thoughtfully at the envelope floating in front of her and then at her older sister’s beaming expression. Her chin jutted out, and her hoof rose up and knocked the envelope away from her with as much strength as she could muster, ignoring the shocked silence around her.

“No.”

Princess Celestia’s eyes followed the envelope as it glided to the floor. “Luna? What do you mean no?”

“I mean,” Luna said with rising vehemence, “that I am not going to fall for the same trick again. Do you really think so little of me? You can take your “gifts” and your “letters” and throw them in a fire for all I care.”

“What are you talking about? What trick?”

Luna adopted a high pitched, mocking voice. “Oh Luna, the ponies adore your night. Look at all these books; poetry, constellations, stories.” She scowled at her sister and continued in her normal, yet angry, voice. “Then I go out and what do I find? A few drunks trying to rush to their home, and everypony else sloshing themselves in establishments where you have no hope of telling the difference between day or night, in the heart of the city. Should I even bother mentioning how I never found anything but the slightest mention in the most obscure texts for everything I’ve done? My greatest claim to fame in modern times is a holiday where I am used as a method to scare foals! So, no. Buck you, and your lies!”

Princess Celestia’s expression of pure shock slowly crumbled to reveal one of anger. She stood up. “Lies? You call me a liar? Fine then. Let’s talk about the lack of ponies honoring your contributions to our nation. Tell me Luna, who was supposed to write down your achievements and preserve your legacy? I’m your own sister and I never knew what exactly you were doing!”

“What I was doing? What do you think I was doing? I was keeping you safe!”

“How Luna? What exactly were you doing? You never gave me an answer, no matter how many times I asked you. I tried to follow your actions by asking ponies that saw you, and all I got were frightful stories of a mare recruiting ponies by force, ponies that were almost never seen again, or somepony arriving in the middle of the night to discard a body in the middle of the village. Most of the time all I got was horror stories. Sometimes I never even got this much. All I found was graves or empty houses!”

“I did what needed to be done, each and every time,” Luna said, sinking back into her bed, looking regretful.

“And what was that?” Princess Celestia asked loudly and impatiently. “You never explained anything to anypony, and you wonder why… What did you expect to happen Luna?”

“I expected my sister to support me,” Luna said sullenly.

“I did! Did you think that villages with no survivors, yet with all the dead buried in a mass grave by somepony, would escape my notice? Do you think the ponies that found their foal’s remains outside their doors didn’t come to me for answers? They did, and I had nothing to give but platitudes and assurances I wasn’t even certain of. I asked you though. I asked you, and every time you lied straight to my face. I believed you...”

“You still let them-”

“I let our ponies do nothing!” Princess Celestia shouted. “You did! You never talked to anypony, not even me, and then you summoned the Nightmare because the ponies you never bothered with did not understand you. It’s a miracle that I managed to turn Nightmare Night into a harmless holiday from the effigy burning and cries of damnation it had started as. I thought things would change, that you would trust ponies a little more now that you had friends,” she said, pointing at Raegdan and the girls, “but apparently, I was wrong. First thing you wanted to do as soon as you woke up was to leave. What would you have done if you hadn’t been injured Luna? Leave everypony in the dark, wondering what happened to them, and vanish once again?”

Tears sparkled at the corners of Luna’s eyes. “How dare you?” she hissed. “Do you have any idea what I have been forced to go through to ensure-”

“No,” Princess Celestia answered immediately, cutting Luna off. “I don’t. I don’t have the foggiest idea. You never told me anything, and I can’t help but ask myself why.”

“I am doing my best,” Luna said, striking her hoof against the mattress like a foal. “I always was.”

“Or were you doing only what you felt willing to do?”

“What did you say?” Luna spat. “Are you really going to judge me like that because I wasn’t explaining my every action to random ponies?” Luna asked, incredulous.

“These “random” ponies are exactly who we are doing everything for Luna. To whom did you expect to answer to if not them? Even so, again, you didn’t talk to me either, and I was no random pony, was I? All you need to do is talk Luna. Just talk every once in awhile. You can’t blame them for assuming things when you run and hide from them.” Princess Celestia levitated the unopened envelope back on Luna’s bed. “These are not lies. Ponies, random ponies you don’t care to explain yourself to, sent you these because they learned what you did and wanted to show their appreciation.”

Princess Celestia turned her back to them and gathered up her papers, her spine straight and her head held high, the very picture of determination if you ignored a small sniff that escaped her. She made her way to the door and stopped.

“It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I should have stopped you, I should have forced you to speak to me, I should have… I should have done a lot of things.” She kept her eyes closed for a second. “Raegdan has a lot to tell you, including his own attempt to run. You also might want to consider what would have happened to Baltimare had you not brought anypony else with you. Now, if you’ll excuse me Luna, I have work to do. Somepony has to stay back after the monster is gone and make sure that the families here can still support and feed themselves a month down the line. I’m glad you’re awake. I love you.”

Leaf Stream ducked her head almost between her shoulders as the door slammed behind the princess almost hard enough to break it. She bit on her lip awkwardly as she looked around to Twilight and the others, trying to figure out if she should say something.

Luna was staring at the ceiling, motionless. After a minute of silence she called for the alien next to her.

“Raegdan.”

“Yes Luna?” Raegdan’s voice was kind but neutral.

Luna nudged the envelope on her bed. “Is this real?”

“It is. I didn’t believe it at first either.”

“Can you open it for me please?”

Raegdan ripped open one edge of the envelope. Two pieces of folded paper slipped out. Raegdan opened them and read them, his eyes quickly skimming over the contents.

“What does it say?” Luna asked, sadness coloring her voice.

“It’s from a colt. Very young from what I can make out. It says;”

“Dear Princess Luna,

Thank you for coming to Baltimare and stopping the big monster. My dad is a sailor on a big ship and and he says he never had been so scared before in his life. My dad is really brave so I know that the monster must have been really scary. Mom says if it wasn’t for you, dad would be hurt. Thank you for not letting my dad get hurt. Dad says you’re in the hospital because you got so tired from fighting the monster. I hope you sleep well and get rested. I asked mom and dad to let me come to the hospital and give you a hug ‘cause mum says my hugs are like magic, and always make her feel better, but he said little colts shouldn’t go bothering princesses in their sleep and I should send a letter instead. So I made you a drawing to make you feel better since I can’t hug you for real.

Love,

Calm Tide

P.S. I snuck half of my butterscotch candies in the envelope. They’re really good. I hope you like them.”

Luna took a deep, trembling breath. “Can I see the drawing?” Raegdan unfolded the second paper and turned it so she could see it. “I look like Celestia, only drawn in my colours… or Nightmare Moon. Not me.”

Rarity spoke up. “To be honest princess, you haven’t made yourself known to the public with any appearances.”

Luna nodded, subdued, looking up at the ceiling once more. “I never got anything of the like before. Celestia did. I read a few of them in secret a very long time ago. I expect she still receives them. She never told me about them. She probably didn’t want to make me feel… The best I ever got was quiet thanks they never truly meant. Even as they said it I could see in their eyes what they thought. “Why couldn’t the real princess be here instead? She would have done it better.” More often than not I got insults and curses behind my back. A few even dared to throw rocks at me. There are really more of them?”

“Piles of them,” Twilight answered.

“Why now?” Luna said with unexpected yearning. A small tear glistened in the artificial light of the room as it rolled down her cheek. “After all this time… Why not even once when I really-” She stopped a sob from escaping her, and waited until she calmed down, taking deep breaths. “I suppose Celestia just spelled it out for me, didn’t she?”

What could Twilight say in response? She just nodded quietly, along with Rarity and Rainbow Dash. She wished she had been somewhere else, anywhere, rather than be a spectator to the two sisters arguing.

“I’d… like to stay alone with Raegdan please,” Luna said quietly. “I want to know what happened while I was unconscious, and perhaps see some of the rest of what has been sent.”

Twilight lead the way to the door, but Luna stopped her before Leaf Stream could open the door for her. “Twilight… If you could, would you mind finding my sister?”

“Of course. Would you like me to tell her something?”

“Just… tell her that I love her too.”

“These gems are delicious. Thanks for the treat you guys,” Spike said, licking his lips after swallowing a small yellow stone. Some might consider the fact that Spike rarely actually chewed his gems bad for him, but Applejack really didn’t mind. The loud crunching always made her coat stand on end. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out how a gem could have taste. She gave one a lick once and it tasted the same as any other rock.

Not that she had any valid reason to know how rocks taste mind you. It’s just that farm accidents are prone to happen every now and then. A few tumbles and falls are not unheard of.

“No problem, Spiker-ino,” Pinkie Pie said, draining the remains of her chocolate milk through a twisty straw.

Applejack looked at the remains of her own, very small, sandwich. It really wasn’t a problem -at least as long as he didn’t ask for seconds. Note to self; Try to avoid buying gems in a city ready to go through financial crisis. Her wallet physically ached.

This wasn’t Ponyville with its wide spaces and open air, but Applejack enjoyed the outing all the same. Four days in a hospital, getting pumped full of antibiotics that made her go through what Rarity once called “natural detoxification” was all she could stand.

Baltimare was a pretty town, and certainly full of life and movement. What disturbed her was that there was a choke full of various establishments down this street, and ponies went up and down on it even now, but almost nopony was going into them. Owners stood at thresholds waiting for customers that wouldn’t come in, and those that did kept their orders small.

She watched the ponies that walked across the street from where they sat on one of the outdoor tables of a small cafe. Most of them looked worried, or lost in thought. Some of them looked uncertain, as if they weren’t sure where they were heading. Every couple of minutes one or more of them would stop to read one of the new posters that were posted everywhere and continue on their way in higher spirits.

Applejack hadn’t read one of them yet, but she saw enough from where she was. A light and dark silhouette of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna dominated the center, and she could barely make the large printed words on the top; “We’re here,” it said, like a promise. More text followed below, but there was no way for Applejack to read it without a set of binoculars from this distance. She could give a good guess to what it said. Princess Celestia wasn’t going to abandon these ponies on their own.

Fluttershy nudged her, softly as a butterfly’s touch. She probably had been doing so for a while. Applejack stopped her pony watching. “Yeah Fluttershy?”

The shy pegasus nervously rubbed her hooves together. “Um, do you want to visit Raegdan and Luna after we’re done here?”

“Ah’m not sure whether that’s the best idea yet,” Applejack said.

“Applejack,” Fluttershy said, putting her own hoof over her earth pony friend’s, “being mad at him and staying away won’t solve anything.”

“Yeah, yeah, ah know. Still, ah’d prefer to keep mah distance ‘till ah’m sure ah won’t try to kick his knees inwards.”

Spike hid his snout behind his claws in the most inconspicuous manner possible, and leaned towards Pinkie Pie. “Hey Pinkie,” he whispered, “why’s Applejack so mad with dad?”

Pinkie Pie stopped licking her glass, but left her tongue hanging out. “Jtheneroal thrinthifleth ah thunk.”

The dragon pushed her tongue back into her mouth and wiped the edge of his claw with a napkin. “Are you mad at him too?”

“Nuh-uh,” Pinkie said. She got hold of the napkin Spike used and started tearing pieces to make ammunition for her straw.

“Then how come you’re here and not with dad?”

Pinkie Pie’s cheeks puffed as she huffed through the bended straw. A small piece of paper, coated in saliva, landed with a wet thump on her own forehead. “Silly Spike. You gotta portion your Pinkie so they don’t get numbed to the supercalifragilisticexpialidociousness. You must make them yearn for more of that pink, fluffy goodness!”

“Oh. You want to make him miss you?” Spike asked.

The pink pony threw herself at the dragon, holding him desperately around his middle, and lamenting at his feet. “Please tell me that he misses me!” she howled, crying an actual river of tears.

“He does, he does,” Spike said in a panic. “Please don’t cry, I’m sure dad misses you loads!”

“Okie dokie lokie then,” Pinkie Pie said with a wide grin. There was no trace of tears on her face. “Hello!” she waved cheerily somewhere behind Spike’s back.

Applejack turned to see to whom Pinkie Pie was talking to now. Two ponies, a mare and a stallion so identical they were probably siblings, had approached them, smiling softly at them. “Can we help ya?” she asked.

“Excuse us,” the stallion said, “is it true that you are often in... Princess Luna’s presence?” he asked, drawing the n before Princess Luna a bit too much.

“Ah, right,” Applejack said, understanding what this was about. More fans. She hoped Luna could get out soon and meet some of them herself. “It’s true. Ah’m Applejack. Anything we can do for ya? Only, she’s still unavailable, you understand, so-”

“Oh no. Please. We only ask that you deliver her the message of our love.”

“Yes,” the mare said enthusiastically. She had a beautiful voice, Applejack noticed. “She is our princess and we really love her. She is the moon. Please, tell her that?”

“We will,” Applejack assured them. “Ah’m Applejack by the way. Who should ah say- hey, y’all didn’t introduce yourselves,” she yelled at their retreating backs. They weren’t even hurrying. They certainly heard her, but instead of turning around they whispered and giggled to each other like little foals. They grouped up with a few more ponies that Applejack hadn’t noticed down the corner, and they all left together, smiling widely.

Applejack rolled her eyes and turned back to her friends. “That’s the one thing ah really don’t like about big cities like this. Some ponies are just plain rude, running around all the time.”

“I’m sure they didn’t mean anything by that, Applejack. Maybe they had somewhere to be,” Fluttershy said.

“Maybe a party,” Pinkie Pie said excited. “There were enough of them for a pretty good extravaganza!”

Applejack pulled their check close to her to read how much they owed. She counted down the bits and made sure to leave a big tip for the mare who served them. There weren’t a lot of ponies eating out, and she seemed extremely relieved to see customers. She turned around, trying to see into the cafe and get the mare’s attention, but there was no sign of her.

“Spike, do ya mind going in and letting them know we want to pay?”

"Sure, no problem.” The little dragon jumped down from his chair. “Do you want me to pay straight away instead of dragging the waitress all the way back here again?”

“Good thinkin’ Spike. Yeah, you do that.” Applejack shoved the check and the bits on a small clean plate and Spike picked it up.

“Ok, just wait for me. I need to use the bathroom anyway.”

Pinkie Pie watched Spike leave, and as the young child distanced itself from them her smile fell more and more. She turned towards Applejack, serious and entirely unlike her usual self.

“You shouldn’t be doing that Applejack. Not while Spike is around.”

Applejack returned the look Pinkie Pie was giving her. “Ah know ah shouldn’t. But it’s kinda hard Pinkie. He plain abandoned his kid and killed so many… Tell you the truth, had ah known he had hurt children, ah’d never had helped him in any way.”

“He doesn’t hurt children now,” Fluttershy reminded her. “I don’t think he would even consider it.”

Applejack took off her hat and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. She put the hat over her head as if to protect it from the sun, though in reality she did it to hide. “Fluttershy, Pinkie… he already killed so many. What ah’m ah supposed to do? Pat him on the shoulder and say it’s fine?”

“Well duh,” Pinkie Pie said, popping her tongue out once more. “Of course it’s not fine. Being cranky doesn’t help either though. I mean, he had his friends, right? And they didn’t like what he did either, right? So what we gotta do, is what his friends didn’t, left?”

“Ya lost me.”

Pinkie Pie frowned. “But I gave you such clear directions! Maybe it was right, left, right?”

Fluttershy leaned forward, letting her face out of the cover of her pink mane. “What Pinkie means is we need to stay his friends, watch him, and not let him be mean again rather than leaving him to his fate. Neither him or Luna.”

“His previous friends didn’t manage that, and these folks knew him far longer than we did ya know,” Applejack reminded them.

“Indeedy do, my dear Applejack.” Pinkie Pie blew through her straw once more, this time scoring a direct hit right into her left nostril. “Gakh! Friends should try harder that that though,” she said as she tried to dig out the small wad of paper with a hoof that could never fit in there.

“Ah think they would have tried quite hard,” Applejack said, showing her doubts.

Fluttershy looked around her, before speaking up, almost ashamed. “Umm… I think that… If they wanted him… Maybe they didn’t dare let him, you know…”

“Spit it out Fluttershy,” Applejack said, knowing Spike would be back any moment now.

The pegasus took a deep breath, and let out what she wanted to say so fast it almost came out as a single word. “What if they didn’t really want him to stop because they wanted to go home too, because if they wanted him to stop all they had to do was stay in place and refuse to go through another rift if he didn’t stop doing bad stuff?” Fluttershy breathed in quickly and continued in a much quieter and slower voice. “I mean, maybe? I’m not saying they were bad people, but it sounds like they were scared too, and wanted to go home, and I’d be so awfully frightened in their place…”

Applejack hadn’t thought of that. It didn’t exonerate him of anything, but…

“Applejack…” Pinkie Pie said with a predatory smile. “Are you ever gonna let him do something really bad?”

It didn’t require any thinking to answer. “Nope.”

“Then everything’s fine and we can go all have fun together-”

“Doesn’t make up for what he did though,” Applejack said, still defiant.

Pinkie Pie patted her chin, poking her tongue out, and threw a long wink at the sky. She pointed accusatory at Applejack’s hat. “You got a stain on your hat!” The little paper flew out her nostril as she furiously breathed out.

“Uh, yeah Pinkie, ah know. It’s always been there.”

"Can’t ya wash it out?”

“Ah tried but- oh no, oh hay no. Ah ain’t falling for that,” Applejack said, shaking her head.

“Fall for what?” Pinkie Pie looked honestly lost.

“That.” Applejack took off her prized hat and waved it around. “Yer gonna use mah hat as an example. Raegdan is the hat, the stain is what he did, and you’re probably gonna make some moral parable about how ah can never completely clean it, but that doesn’t mean ah don’t keep it ‘cause ah still care for it and all that allegorical baloney.”

“Wow Applejack. That’s really smart,” Pinkie Pie said with admiration.

“No, it ain’t!” Applejack forced the hat back over her mane. “It’s a bunch of horseapples it’s what it is. Raegdan ain’t a hat or a piece of clothing.”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “Oh silly Applejack, of course he ain’t. Clothes you can throw away. Besides, trying to wear him sounds messy.” Her smile got wider as small claws clicking against stone approached them. “Hey Spikey, all done?”

“Yeah,” Spike said, nodding. “You guys have been talking about dad, haven’t you?” Twilight’s assistant was dour and melancholic.

Applejack looked at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Their smiles got a little bit wider and pressing. To heck with it, she decided. She’d keep going as she had said she would. She really didn’t like that person Twilight told her about, but that might not be the person she had been around. She’d make sure that the meaner guy would stay away. But…

What really got to her was how easily they were willing to ignore something this big. It’s like unless they deliberately kept it in mind, everything that Raegdan or Luna had done slipped their mind and was forgiven. Heck, Luna had threatened to hurt them to Twilight and they never mentioned it again.

Ah well. It’s not like being forgiving is not a virtue. Just- She forgot something. She drew her attention back to her surroundings and decided to lift Spike’s mood.

“We were,” Applejack admitted. “Ah’m thinkin that we could all play a boardgame together later on if he feels like it. Ah’m pretty good at Monopony and ah haven’t played for some time.”

Spike’s joy was worth any lingering doubts she had.

Twilight dug among the stacks of papers, trying to organize the harried mess while at the same time looking for documents that contained anything that pertained to land trade. She missed Spike, his calm demeanor in the face of rising towers of paperwork, and his helpful hands that could leaf through dossiers without losing his place. She hoped his scaly flank was having a good time right now because as soon as he got back he would get stuck helping her for days.

She got another report that might help her. “Princess, I found a survey detailing the findings of a search for mineral deposits near Baltimare.”

“Excellent work my student. This might be the little nudge we need. What does it say?” Princess Celestia asked from her own side. They were using a bed as a shelf to deposit the mounds of paper, while writing on two small bedside tables they appropriated. The doctors offered them their offices of course, but the princess even now refused to leave the floor where Luna resided if she could avoid it.

Twilight’s eyes rapidly descended down the sloppily written lines, taking in their content. “Uhh… nothing of importance found,” she said with an embarrassed smile.

“Ah,” Princess Celestia said, smacking her lips. “I suppose it was too much to hope for. If there were any they would have already been appropriated ages ago anyway. It might be a step in the right direction though. What natural resources are nearby that we could use to revitalize the local economy?”

Twilight dove into the paper world once more, coming out with a few results surprisingly quick. “Let’s see… This one here says that there is an abundance of natural gas and rock oil in the swamplands south of here.”

Princess Celestia bit her lower lip. “Harsh territory infested with monsters and dangers.”

“Maybe… If Princess Luna and the Lunar Guard could-”

“There are not enough Lunar guards yet,” Princess Celestia said. “Luna will need more ponies to help her if she is to keep the area safe enough, and time. We don’t have either of them, and this would be too a great risk for too small a reward. We could use the Royal Guard and the Solar Guard, but I don’t see what the use would be.”

“I suppose it isn’t worth it if all we can do with it is fill up some canisters for stoves,” Twilight agreed. “It’s not so precious or sought after anyway. How about… no, maybe… is there really nothing of value around here?”

“There is the bay,” Princess Celestia said slyly.

“There must be a way to move the Leviathan,” Twilight said in contemplation. “We can’t wait for it to decompose on its own or ruin the area more than it has.”

Princess Celestia’s smile was lost and her head sunk. “We don’t have a choice Twilight. We’re talking about thousands of tons. The best we can do is slowly cut it apart and bring it ashore piece by piece to be destroyed.”

“But this will take years!”

“It will. It will take even more for the bay to restore itself, but this is what we have to deal with. In the meantime, we will do the best we can with what we have.”

Twilight’s attempt to say more on the subject, even if self-admittedly it would be nothing more than whining, was stopped in its tracks by a polite, yet heavy knock on the door. She walked up to it and opened it, surprised to see who it was.

“Hello Solid Charge,” Twilight greeted the large minotaur.

“Hello miss Twilight,” Solid Charge greeted back. He leaned a little in an attempt to see further into the room. “I’m looking for Princess Celestia. Is she here?”

“She is here. Please, come in.”

“Thank you.” He walked into the room, stood in front of Princess Celestia, and bowed his head respectfully.

“Solid Charge, I did not expect to see you. Is there anything you need my help with?” Princess Celestia’s welcoming smile lost its lustre. “Is there something wrong with my sister?”

“There might be,” Solid Charge said, making the two ponies weary. “I visited Princess Luna when I heard she had awakened. She was with Raegdan and- I’m sorry, but I have to ask; Is there a reason she was whacking him with an IV stand while shouting “I’ll give you a few scratches, you lying piece of-” uh, I didn’t quite get the end of the sentence there,” the minotaur said, bravely attempting to hide the fact that Luna could have quite the potty mouth if she wanted to.

Princess Celestia crossed one of her front legs over the other as she lied on her belly on the bed. “I believe she might have had a good reason,” she said, chuckling. “Is that all?”

“No. What I actually wanted to tell you princess was… I didn’t get the chance to speak to either of them a lot. They were in the middle of something-” Princess Celestia chuckled again and the minotaur followed suit. “Ok, not just that. I believe Raegdan was in the middle of telling Princess Luna everything that occurred. What they did ask me however was… troubling.”

“What was it?”

“They wanted to know the train schedules for Manehattan, where their possessions are, and they wanted me to find out which thestrals will join after all.”

“They want to leave,” Twilight said, needlessly. “Already? But they are both-”

“Stupid,” Princess Celestia completed her sentence, though not in the way Twilight meant to. “Thank you for letting me know of this Solid Charge. You’re dismissed.”

The minotaur bowed his head once more and left with a newfound relief in his stride. Twilight let herself imagine Luna and Raegdan’s reaction if they learned of this. She imagined Solid Charge’s response. He probably wouldn’t care as long as he did what he believed was right. Good for him. Princess Celestia may have made a better choice than she knew, even if it was too brief.

Princess Celestia had a self satisfied smile on her.

“Princess?” Twilight asked. “What are you going to do?”

The princess didn’t answer immediately. She started separating their work first, and Twilight joined her, helping her finish much faster. “I don’t have to do anything,” Princess Celestia said among her humming. “I already did. I called upon a “specialist” to make sure they do get the treatment they need days ago. I’d really like to blame Raegdan for this, but Luna was always like that.”

“I doubt there’s any medical specialist they will listen to if they want to leave,” Twilight confessed. What she had were not doubts. More like certainties. Raegdan might currently be as apologetic or sorry as he could ever be, but the moment a pony he didn’t know tried to tell him what to do… She frowned as she just had a peculiar thought. Could it be that one reason Raegdan never revealed to anypony, or even made use of, that he had a large amount of bits to his name was that if ponies knew that -and he kept acting the way he did- he would be sued out of them in less than a week?

“She doesn’t have any medical degrees, but they will obey her. She’s arriving today. It might also teach him a lesson about opening his big mouth. Now, let’s see if it’s viable to arrange trade lines with Dodge City, Appleloosa, and other emerging communities to the southwest. Perhaps it is time to lay a railroad connecting Baltimare with Dodge City. Help me calculate the logistics Twilight.”

Twilight stumbled her way to Luna’s room. Figures, maps, and numbers danced in her head, making her dizzy. She had trouble thinking. This certainly wasn’t science or magic research. They kept jumping from one possible solution to another, only to return to a previous one with different numbers or a slight change. It was confusing, but also infuriating. No wonder Princess Celestia appeared so tired if that’s what she did every day on top of worrying about her sister. They had dozens of scenarios that could work, but no assurances that they would. Way too much relied on how ponies would react, and there was no way to calculate a pony’s reaction as a nice, reliant number.

Maybe she could if she used a larger sample, she contemplated. Perhaps if she used populations instead? If she could find enough examples of how ponies react as a species to various events and trends throughout history, she could quantify the results and-

She lost her train of thought when out of Luna’s room came her friends with Applejack leading the way. She had a Monopony board game box on her back and a surly expression on her face.

“Hello girls. What were you doing?” she asked.

“Gettin’ mugged in Monopony,” Applejack said gruffly.

“Ok…” Twilight said, looking to her other friends for better defined answers. Pinkie Pie was smiling widely, and Rainbow Dash seemed to be torn between being cross or amused. Rarity and Fluttershy were smiling pleasantly while Spike was barely holding his laughter from erupting from in between his hands in front of his snout. Even so, a few giggles escaped him every now and then.

Twilight asked the wrong question. “So… who won?”

“That depends,” Applejack answered. “Do ya mean who would have won if we all played fairly or who won because they cheated like they were playing against the death pony for their souls?”

She understood exactly what she meant. There was a reason Twilight disliked card games. “Ah. Yeah, you have to be explicit in what ways he isn’t allowed to cheat.”

Applejack sucked on her teeth and her eyes went a little cross as she stopped herself from expressing herself in the way she really wanted to. “He rolled nothing but doubles all game long and he didn’t land on the dungeons tile even once.”

“Oh. No wonder he won then,” Twilight said.

“He didn’t,” Spike said, giggling like a maniac. “He lost too.”

“Then who won?”

“Luna,” Rainbow Dash said, laughing too, making Applejack growl next to her. Rainbow opened the game’s case and threw one of the fake bits to Twilight. “Here, check this out.”

Twilight did so. It was a gold painted, wooden chip with the number five hundred embossed on it. Twilight never really liked Monopony this much, the game taking ages to finish, so she rarely played it, but something was off about this bit token.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Ah’ll tell ya what’s wrong with it,” Applejack said. “There are no five hundred bits tokens in the game. It goes up to two hundred tops. Surprisingly enough, we seem to be missing some of the one bit tokens now.”

That made sense. Luna may have lost most of her power but she certainly didn’t lose any of her skill. The change she had to do was so small she could manage it even drained as she still was, but to keep it hidden from everypony else…

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Ah did! She said, and I quote; Dear Applejack, you are obviously not as proficient in the game as you claim to be if you forget the game’s currency so easily. The token is here, thus it does exist. Now, if you don’t mind, you have to pay rent. You landed on my five star inn.”

“On the upside, the game lifted her mood tremendously, though at the expense of another,” Rarity noted, pointing at the snarling Applejack with a movement of her eyes. “Strange, I thought she would be glad for all these presents, but she seemed to barely be able to move to the next one and she didn’t smile once. I don’t think she went over more than a dozen of them.”

Leaf Stream walked up to them laughing, having heard the last part of Applejack’s loud grumbling but not Rarity. “Oh boy, Monopony. Nothing better to get a good rage going, huh? Let me guess. She also ended up having more inns than you remember her buying.”

Applejack grumbled and put the token back in the box.

Luna’s voice echoed from inside. “Applejack, is that Leaf Stream I heard out there?”

Applejack sighed. “Yes princess. It is.”

They heard Luna speak again, though not to the outside. “Go.”

“Come on Luna. I feel like I’m covered in flames and I have more holes than a cheese grater. Please don’t do this to me,” Raegdan begged.

“Go now. You deserve it and you know it.”

“But...”

“That’s an order. Leaf Stream deserves a reward for what she did, and though I am highly pleased you didn’t leave me behind, you deserve a punishment nonetheless for acting so vastly prematurely. Go.”

Raegdan came out, leaving the door half closed behind him and gesturing for the thestral guards to move further away. He let out a deep sigh that shook him from top to bottom and stood in front of Leaf Stream. He positioned himself with his legs wide open and put his arms behind him, looking straight ahead, higher than the top of their heads.

“Uh, what’s this about then?” Leaf Stream asked.

“Just… be gentle if you can,” Raegdan said through clenched teeth.

“Gentle with what?”

Luna shouted from inside, her voice loud, clear, and full of mirth. “Leaf Stream, as a reward for your actions during the arrival of the Leviathan in Baltimare, and considering Raegdan’s rushed actions during my period of healing, I recognize your claim to “dibs”. Enjoy thyself.”

“Oh heavens, please be ge- eeeeaanggh!”

Applejack smiled vindictively. “Well, look at that. There’s some justice after all.”

Raegdan had fallen on his flank, the wall being the only thing stopping him from falling all the way down, his hands clutching himself as he went from dry to sweating profusely in a second, staining his bandages in moments. He convulsed and Twilight barely managed to teleport a waste bin from across the corridor in front of him in time.

“This made everything worth it!” Leaf Stream said in a state of ecstasy, smiling brighter than Twilight had ever seen her. “Can I have another go? I want to try it with horseshoes on.”

The fallen alien retched in the waste bin once again. Rainbow Dash took to the air to avoid being splashed. “Heavens help me,” he said achingly. “I swear, if this becomes a trend I’m going to kill myself. Others may die also.” He pushed the bin away from him and settled on the floor, breathing heavily through his mouth. “The things I do for a smile… This can’t get any worse at least.”

“Oh, you poor little colt! Who hurt my baby?” The voice behind Twilight was intimately familiar and truly unexpected, though it shouldn’t have been. Princess Celestia said that she called for a “specialist”. One that could control Luna and Raegdan. She didn’t know about Luna, but there was only one pony that Raegdan always bowed to in fear of getting on her bad side. The only pony that he didn’t dare cross. The only pony that had come on top in their every confrontation.

Twilight’s mother hugged Raegdan and rubbed his back as if he was a little foal.

“Twilight Velvet?” Raegdan’s eyes were wide in disbelief. “What- what are you doing here?”

“Oh, you silly foal. Did you really think that I wouldn’t come immediately as soon as I found out one of my babies was hurt? Don’t you worry none, momma is here to make sure you get better.” She kissed the bandage over his cheek and checked him top to toe, making a tsk sound as she noticed how none of his skin showed through the bandages he was covered with. “What are you doing lying on the floor? It’s late. You should be in bed. Where is Princess Luna? Princess Celestia asked me to look after both of you foals.”

“Oh Celestia, you little bitch…” Raegdan whispered. Twilight Velvet ignored him.

Twilight moved up to hug her mother, with Spike following suit. Twilight Velvet gushed over Spike, telling him how much he had grown, and what a ferocious dragon he was becoming. Spike lapped it all up like usual.

“So, Princess Luna?” Twilight Velvet asked.

“In there mom,” Twilight said, pointing. “I’d like to introduce you to my friends-”

“In a minute my angel.” Twilight Velvet bowed her head apologetically to the ponies around her. “Excuse me, but the princess takes priority. I’ll be right back. This place needs a mother’s touch. I can’t believe these hacks allow their patients to stay awake at this hour. They need sleep in order to heal. Raegdan, come in and lie down as soon as you can please, ok honey?”

“Uh, sure, sure.”

“Perfect. I know you’re not silly enough to make me come get you,” Twilight Velvet said and marched into Luna’s room. The door didn’t close entirely behind her. Luna’s strong voice was easily heard, but Twilight Velvet’s soft tones were lost.

“Hello. Can I help you ma’am?”

“I… believe I have heard your name before but… Why did Raegdan let you in here?”

“Ma’am, I do not know what a “booboo” is, and I assure you that even if I knew, I wouldn’t want you to kiss it.”

“Please do not pucker your lips like that. Keep your distance. Ma’am, I have no desire to engage in coitus with you, stop petting me and stop trying to kiss me! Raegdan, help! I’m being fondled against my will!”

“This is highly inappropriate! Remove your- No, I do not need my pillows fluffed, who let you in here- I told you to remove your hooves from- I am not a foal to be- ma’am please stop, I assure you that I am comfortable enough alread- Stop snuggling me, I am the night!”

Raegdan climbed to his feet unsteadily, holding on the wall for support. “I gotta go in there and stop her,” he said.

“Which one?” Spike asked with a chortle.

“Either,” he answered, and lurched inside, bent double over his stomach, still reeling from the effects of Leaf Stream’s reward.

“Velvet, please, how about you stop and let us rest or-”

“You know this mare?”

“I do- Velvet, I don’t need to lie down. I’m fin-”

“Do not give orders to my Raegdan. Raegdan, show this mare out now. After you stop her from trying to rock me to sleep.”

“Come on Velvet, let’s just- No, I’m telling you, you have to leave. I’m fine, I don’t need rest. What are you talking about, I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong with my legs- aaargh!”

“Guards! Guards! We’re under attack! Leaf Stream, we need aid! Curse this cast and these infernal contraptions. How do these pulleys work- Why does my bed recline backwards, what’s even the use of this?”

“My knee! My freaking knee! You gimped me you crazy-”

“I’m going to make you pay for- uumph!”

“I can’t get on the bed you psychopath, you almost broke my-”

“Did she just feed me chocolate? Maybe this mare isn’t so bad… Raegdan, when you break that chokehold search her and see if she has more on her.”

“I don’t need help, I’m fine. I’m fine- no, Velvet no, it doesn’t twist like- aaargh! Ok, ok, I’m lying down. There, are you happy now?”

“No ma’am, this isn’t my “teddy”. I don’t have any “teddies” of any kind and- Yes, I know it looks like Raegdan, and yes, this does look like me- No, we don’t have matching “teddies” and this isn’t cute! Neither of us is cute or adorable, and will you please stop snuggling us already? Raegdan, just who is this- why did she turn off the light?”

“Oh no…”

“Raegdan, why is she singing a lullaby? What is going on- Ow. No, I will not stop talking, I am a princess and I am entitled to answers.”

“Just… roll with it Luna.”

“Who in Tartarus is she and why are you not- Wait. Twilight Velvet? That’s Twilight’s mother? The one you told me about? How did she even- ow! My ear! Raegdan, tell her to stop!”

“Ok Velvet, stop- What? You can’t make me sit in the corner... Can you? Oh heavens, you’re serious!”

“On second thought Raegdan, I believe I will lie down and sleep, and we can talk about this tomorrow with my sister. I can sense her hoof in this- I don’t need a lullaby to sleep, I am- mmph!”

“Velvet, can you just- mmpph!”

“Ma’am, if you give me the rest of Raegdan’s share I will allow you to finish that lullaby.”

Outside, Twilight was entertaining herself mostly by watching her friends’ jaws go lower with every exchange.

“That’s your mother?” Leaf Stream asked in amazement.

Twilight nodded.

“Why the tartarus did we even come here? We should have sent her against the Leviathan!”