There are many ponies who claim that the citizens of Canterlot are obnoxious bastards. Always looking down on every other city, town and village around Equestria. They are the sort that walk on the clean, most prestigious and classy streets of Manehattan wearing the same expression on their face that they would if they were standing on a landfill instead. They are offensive, loud-mouthed, irritable and nasty. Not all of them of course, but enough to paint the condescending stereotype over all ponies who make their home in the Capital.

But when the critics of these ponies make the trip to Canterlot and walk its perfectly paved streets they stop to admire the arching architecture. They feast at the expensive but absolutely outstanding restaurants and cafes that serve the best that all of Equestria has to offer, weep and laugh at the multitude of extraordinary plays and art exhibitions, revel in the impeccable weather that surrounds the mighty city and gaze outwards into the majestic green view of the whole country that is offered by their standing place, high atop mount Canterlot. And at the end of the day, well, there is only one conclusion those ponies can reach.

Those obnoxious bastards might be on to something here.

You could spend your whole life living here with an unlimited budget and a completely responsibility-free schedule, something which many residents with zero self-insight would deny having, and never taste as much as half the rich bounty Canterlot has to offer in its golden lunch trolley. There is a paradise and it costs a thousand bits per day. Minus residential expenses.

Let's just ignore those little things. There's no need to distress ourselves so soon.

Undoubtedly, even in this mecca of style, class, finesse and lots of not-so-hidden secret pleasure dens, there is one temple that is the absolute pinnacle of perfection. To visit it is to know awe and astonishment. It is the deep-ingrained belief that will settle in your bones that you stood on the threshold of heaven. It is the realization that everything that's claimed about Canterlot would be a load of musky horseapples that overstayed their welcome in the sun, without this particular ode to the caretakers of the heavens.

"Girls, welcome to Canterlot Castle."

"Uh, thanks Twilight, but we kinda have been here before, you know?" Rainbow Dash countered Twilight's warm welcome to her former abode with the level of grace usually only possessed by rocks. Big, hard ones.

"I, I know, I just meant..." Twilight stammered.

"Like, more times than one."

Rarity decided to take mercy on both of her friends and nip this at the bud. "Rainbow dear, Twilight was just trying to be courteous." Truly, for a mare so dedicated to distancing herself from any semblance of literacy, among other things, Rainbow would grip occasionaly herself on technicalities in casual conversation with a pathos usually reserved for the most fastidious grammar professors.

She accepted Twilight's thankful grin with a smiling nod and endured Rainbow's groan with silence.

They were moving down the main entrance hall. Large, lavish staircases, barred by rigid Royal Guards, led to the upper floors. High above them, Rarity noticed, that the design depicting Princess Celestia's Cutie Mark, bordered by the dawn and sunset, had been replaced with a fresh mural of a stylized Celestia and Luna rotating each other, both of them bathed by the light of their respective charge. Light, both natural and that of the extravagant chandeliers, was blocked by a rim around the mural so it could shine with the magic that was imbued in it. Rarity's inner designer felt a burning desire to confirm her suspicion that come moonrise the art would glow with a completely different radiance.

"Day and Night together again," she thought. Appropriate, she considered, as Princess Luna should someday soon be put back at the forefront of ruling Equestria next to her sister, that Canterlot Castle slowly changed to accommodate both their graces in equal measure. She wondered how much more would change with the Lunar Diarch's rule apart from the decor.

A question left for a lesser day! Today, they had a meeting with the Princess Celestia to attend. No matter how many times she would meet her ruler, Rarity always felt a thrill. The impeccable manners, the savoir faire, the luminous presence. True Royalty was defined by her words and actions alone. Oh, she could just start giggling with anticipation like a schoolfilly.

"Remember yourself, Rarity," she warned herself. She casually straightened her shoulders, in case somepony was watching, and discreetly inspected her friends.

She was in the head of their little procession, intermittently side by side with Pinkie Pie as the pink earth pony hopped to admire her reflection on every polished surface and ask everypony they passed for their names, randomly returning at her place to share her experiences with the group, some of them involving ponies and places they clearly never met or had been. Rarity paid enough attention to nod at the proper places and keep only the last sentence said in her memory. Her usual stratagem in dealing with Pinkie when she was like this was to simply nod and smile. In fact, most of her interactions with Pinkie Pie involved nodding along and smiling -something she suspected the candy crazed mare had figured out, considering the large number of occasions she found herself agreeing too late into assisting with party decorating and alligator gum brushing.

Behind them followed Applejack and Rainbow Dash. It had been a long struggle, with many eardrums threatening to commit honorable suicide to escape the nagging and complaining that followed each other in an unending cycle, but she finally managed to get them both to at least brush their manes and tails. Applejack was pretty compliant after only a bit of grumbling, mostly to keep up appearances as Rarity believed, and after a thorough brushing, along with some underhoofed spraying of conditioner, her mane was sparkling like a golden field of mature wheat in the sun.

Then came Rainbow Dash's turn and, by all that is left holy in this world, Rarity was ready to kill herself after thirty seconds, come back to life as a zombie, plunge Equestria into an Age of Darkness and drag the instrument of her torture back to Tartarus where she belonged. She knew about screeching, raised fur and clawing, she had a cat and a little sister after all, but this was supposed to be a grown pony, not an amalgamation of high-pitched screams and thrashing. Every movement of the comb was torture, both to her magic field that toiled to undo the myriad of wind-made hair knots, and her poor, desolate sanity. Rainbow claimed she was horribly hurt by "the psycho-mare" but what did she know about pain? Try making your living working with hundreds of small, pointy needles, in a shop where real "psycho-mares" rush in a daily basis spreading the tiny harbingers of pain across every seemingly innocent surface and then you can talk about pain.

At the very least, all she had to do later on to stop Rainbow from tousling her mane, taking flight or appraising any open window was to pull out the hairbrush and show it to her, followed with a hiss from Rarity's clenched teeth.

Right between the two mares she had smartened up, huddled poor Twilight. Ever since they laid their hooves in Canterlot, Twilight's disposition swapped constantly between that of a young filly eager to show her friends the bedroom her parents had allowed her to paint wholly pink -current anecdote not taken by her personal life, please disregard anything Sweetie Bell says she has heard- and that of an even younger filly that was marching into the living room to let her parents know she burned down everything they ever loved -again, disregard anything you might hear.

Her precious, widdle-little Spikey was the exact opposite. He was riding on top of Twilight's back, his head spinning from one side to another only to swiftly pivot towards any sudden motion he caught in the edge of his eyes. Spike was obviously as anxious as Twilight was but where she seemed to drag her body forward, he was almost trembling in agitation, urging Twilight to walk faster. Rarity prayed with all her heart that the Princess' trust in her friends' surrogate father was not misplaced. She would not be able to bear watching Spike's heart shatter, otherwise.

Fluttershy was the last to follow in their group, as she always was. Where Applejack and Rainbow formed a barrier for Twilight to hide behind for a feeling of safety, Fluttershy resolutely followed Twilight step by step, quietly encouraging her when needed or keeping her mind occupied with various questions she made up on the spot.

Well, everypony seemed to be in as much of an order as they could manage at this point. They approached the massive, gold plated doors that led to the fabled Sun Court that were situated at the end of the hall. She counted six of the renowned Solar Guards keeping watch in front, their platinum colored armor, detailed with golden, stylized sun rays, announcing to all their hallowed position in the hierarchy. Rarity couldn't help but spot the various blades they kept at their sides. Unlike the Royal Guard, the Solars were always equipped with -and had license to use- more weapons than a single, classic spear.

As they came near enough, a Solar unicorn's horn briefly lit in the casting of a short spell. Two of the guards moved to the sides of their group, the other four retaining their position. Rarity tried to catch Twilight's eye for a hint in what they were supposed to do now but the worried mare was keeping her head down, eyes occasionally flicking to her left and right.

The seconds were ticking so Rarity decided to take the initiative. She delicately cleared her throat and with eyes calculatingly half-lidded to entice every stalion or mare in sight she addressed the unicorn stallion standing close to her. "Good morning to you, fine gentlecolts. I am Rarity, owner of Carousel Boutique and bearer of the Element of Generosity. I and my fellow bearers of the Elements of Harmony have been cordially invi-"

"Please wait in your place, Ma'am. My superior has been notified of your presence and will be here shortly."

Ma'am?

It was crystal clear that she was a Miss! Oh, that old buck decided to cross horns with the wrong unicorn. She was just about to let loose a formal statement of her indignation, right in the earhole that stallion idiotically presented to her in his stillness, when one of the great doors opened enough to let another Solar stallion out.

Rarity felt her eyes swim in stars and wished she had decided to wear one of her new ensembles after all. The unicorn that came out to meet them was large, easily the equal of Applejack's handsome brother, and solid muscle quivered under his white coat with every move. His long horn -oh, my- rose majestically out of his coppery mane. His armor was the same as that of his fellow Solars but unlike them, a bronze replica of Celestia's Mark was sculpted in front of his chest and a long, white, gold-trimmed cape covered his back, tied on his neck with golden braids. His austere, gold eyes passed over them and Rarity felt them connect with hers for a heart-shuddering moment.

"I welcome you to Canterlot Castle. I am Princess Celestia's Commander of the Solar Guard, Steadfast Ray," he said and smiled widely, his eyes beaming.

Oh, was this destiny? Was it finally happening?

"Our divine Princess let me know you would arrive today. It is good to see you again, Miss Sparkle," Steadfast said, absently knocking Rarity aside as he made his way in front of Twilight.

As Rarity was climbing up on her legs again, not aided by the unhelpful guards around her, she saw Twilight lock back into a serene look and return the Commander's smile. "It is good to see you too, Commander Steadfast. Princess Celestia invited us to your Tournament," she told him.

"Ah, yes, her Grace has mentioned this," he chuckled, "we were actually just conferring about the candidates. You wouldn't believe the amount of work that is needed in the background of such an occasion. Martial prowess is only an aspect of what is needed in the Solar Guard and we need to make sure that only those truly worth it take on the mantle of this most holy of services to the Crown." He turned around and led them through a smaller side door, down a procession of twisting corridors, slowly making their way upwards. Patrolling Royal Guards saluted the Solar Commander as he passed and maids and other personnel bowed their head before him.

Steadfast Ray coaxed Twilight to follow next to him. At the very least, him talking was keeping Twilight calm. "It is disappointing to see that your brother has once again failed to apply for a position in our prestigious order. Soldiers of his caliber and talents are exactly what we are looking for in our members."

The girls all looked at each other, the same question burning on their lips. What brother? It seemed to Rarity that Twilight kept her family members a close secret - on second thought, she corrected herself, she probably hadn't figured out yet that this was the kind of thing friends shared among them. Her inner gossip tried to voice her questions but was expediently beaten and left tied in a corner by an alliance of her inner propriety, sense of timing, sensitivity and eavesdropper.

"Uh," Twilight threw a short apologetic look to her friends behind her, "Shining always seemed to be happy enough with his current rank. He isn't doing bad for himself, considering."

The eye-dropping stallion nodded. "Canterlot's Captain of the Royal Guard is nothing to sneer at, I give him that. But Raegdan has done Shining Armor a great disservice by stopping him from reaching his full potential." Steadfast smirked at Twilight's panicked 'eep'. "I am the Solar Commander, Miss Twilight. If I want to know something then I will find out easy enough. This is far from Raegdan's greatest sin but I am nothing if not persevering. Shining Armor will see the light one day and we will be waiting for him." Twilight nodded absently, seeming awkward at the direction the conversation had taken. Spike also looked unhappy, frowning at the Commander that had yet to acknowledge his presence.

Canterlot Captain of the Royal Guard is certainly nothing to sneer at, Rarity knew this much at least. Equestria was split into six "districts" as far as guard forces went, each of them under the shared jurisdiction of three captains per territory. Twilight's brother's position as Canterlot Captain was the most illustrious a pony of his rank could get. The only ones to outrank him would be the various district Commanders.

Steadfast Ray seemed to honestly believe that Twilight's brother should give that up for a spot in the Solar Guard as their newest recruit.

Having left a small distance between them and the Solar Commander, Applejack started whispering to Rainbow Dash. "Is every Solar Guard like that?"

"What do you mean?" Rainbow asked.

"What ah mean is," Applejack specified, "is that this guy hasn't even bothered with saying a simple "hey" or glance towards us. And the way he mentions Princess Celestia gives me the creeps."

"Their job is to be badflanks, not nice. And trust me, he keeps his eyes on us. I've heard of this guy, he is the reason the Solar Guard had to double their recruiting Tournaments in recent years. The moment one of them shows the slightest hint of inattention or not being completely devoted, "Rainbow made a sweeping gesture at her throat, "he knocks them off their ranks, just like that." They followed the Commander in silence after that, absently listening to him singing praises for either his Guard or Celestia with every other sentence.

Rarity had to ask. "Why the creeps, Applejack? He has been less than courteous with the rest of us," she gnashed her teeth just an itty bit, "but apart from that..."

"Listen to him," Applejack said nodding towards Steadfast, "hear how he talks about the Princess and stuff?" Applejack lowered her voice even more, forcing Rarity and Rainbow to bend their heads closer together. "Granny told me some stories once or twice, 'bout some ponies who claimed the Princess was a bona fide Goddess. Now, there are a lot of ponies who believe that in some part at least, kind of hard not to with the whole moving the sun and whatnot, but some of those ponies she told me about were all mad about it."

"There were a few in th' old days, she said to me, that would gather up and pray together before sunrise for Celestia to bless'em. Many of 'em were just plain weird about it, doing those little rituals and stuff, maybe that's how they learned it from their folk, but ah few of 'em, oh, a few of them, alright!"

"Some would take any casual mention of Celestia's name as a sin and turn violent to y'all sometimes. Other's forced their kids to crazy stuff trying to make them get a Cutie Mark that had to do with the day or sun so they'd be "holy". Others... others would take the ritual stuff too far. They'd include ponies that weren't there so they'd pray with 'em if you get mah drift," she finished darkly.

Rarity had known about ponies holding those beliefs. She even knew a few of them. But, to go to such lengths... she felt a chill run up her spine. What was the world coming to?

Fluttershy offered her own two bits in the conversation. "I, I once heard about a mare that looked straight at the sun until she got blind. She said she wanted to burn out her sins."

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, well, that's the reason those characters never sat well with me. Too easy to get stringed along to bad choices, granny says, if y'all go believing a pony that claims to hear Celestia's voice coming from the sun."

They stopped in front of what would be an unassuming door if it wasn't for the two Solar Guards standing in front. Commander Steadfast accepted the sharp salute with an imperceptible nod. "I will leave you here. I need to inspect the arena for tomorrow's fights. Her Radiance waits for you inside," he said and retreated in a dignified trot. Rarity noticed Applejack watching him go with relief.

They walked through the door the guards opened for them and saw a spartan but elegant parlor, a large balcony with doors open at one side letting a refreshing breeze in. From her place, sitting on a large, soft-looking cushion, showered in rays of sunshine -Rarity thought that the sun would be too high up by now to let its light straight in this room- Princess Celestia floated down her cup on the small table in front of her and smiled. "Twilight, Spike, girls! Would you like to have some tea with me?" she said as if they were all old friends who joined together daily.

Rarity was a mare of dignity so she only squealed internally.

Rarity did not like what she was hearing so far. She expected Princess Celestia of all ponies to have more sense than that. Admittedly, she didn't know anything about Raegdan's character, his nuances and quirks, but the savage picture that Twilight and Spike had painted made her think that this day had a good chance of ending in disaster.

Twilight also hadn't taken the news that Celestia had not so much as hinted to Twilight's former bodyguard about their arrival. She was trying to control her shivers and ease her nerves with massive consumption of Celestia's excellent tea, having drained a teapot on her own so far -Rarity admired her bladder control at least.

Princess Celestia had glued herself to her student's side, one of her large, pristine wings caressing Twilight's back. Rarity held Spike close to her, the baby dragon also doubting the outcome of the incoming meeting, his little claws clicking against each other, producing a small spark on random intervals.

Celestia spoke softly, taking care to keep Twilight calm with her tone, at least. "I have very valid reasons to withhold notifying him, Twilight."

"If you don't mind telling us, Princess," said Applejack, eyes locked on Twilight's shaking cup, "what would those reasons be? Seems a foolish thing to do, considerin' who we talk about." Rarity noticed that Applejack wisely didn't specify if she referred to Raegdan or Twilight.

The white Alicorn took Applejack's admonition in stride. "It is a little complicated. For one, if I did let him know you are coming, he would have ran off to hide."

Twilight head bobbed up with a gasp. "But... but your letter! You wrote that he wants us back!" Twilight looked betrayed by this revelation.

The white wing tightened around Twilight. "I did. But there is a big difference between what he wants and what he thinks you two need."

Celestia had completely lost her usual serene look and had an expression of complete exasperation. "I wrote to you what he really wants, the two of you back in his life. What he thinks however, is that you are better off without him upsetting your personal lives, especially since he learnt how well you were adjusting to life in Ponyville, and yes, Twilight, he has been reading the reports you have sent me," she smiled, "he is very sneaky but he got too certain of himself one night and I caught him in the act of creeping in my chambers at night to read them. The Solar Guard is pretty much after his head for that, especially since they still have no idea how he does it."

"This alone should tell you how much he is starving for even the slightest way to reconnect with you, my dear student. That bonehead is too much of a," Celestia uttered a sharp, harsh word that Rarity failed to understand," to admit it."

Spike snorted with mirth at Rarity's side. "That's one of his words. The bad ones."

"I know," Celestia grinned, "he explained what it means to me once, and it fits him to a t."

Twilight choked a laugh, put her cup down and turned her head upwards to Celestia's face. "This, I can see him doing this." She hesitated for a bit before continuing. "What other reasons are there?"

Celestia sighed. "Raegdan's been... unhappy with some of my choices lately. His trust in me has waned a bit, and I didn't want to give him more reasons to distance himself."

Rarity liked the direction this day was heading towards to less and less.

The Princess rose up on her long legs. "I think we should delay this no more," she said, giving Twilight an appraising look, "and settle it right now. I believe we should treat this like a band-aid, Twilight. Better to rip it off at once than let it pull out our hairs one by one."

"Ok, I can... I can do this," Twilight said, shakes making a comeback on her voice and legs. "Where is he?"

"Mmmm, I gotta say Princess, this ain't my turf so ah might be wrong, but this doesn't seem to be leading to what i'd think is Raegdan's pad. This looks more like..." Applejack trailed off, hoof waving towards the doors in front of them.

They had been led towards one of the Castle's towers and made their way up, almost to the very top. The last staircase left them standing in front of this pair of intimidating doors. Rarity was surprised by the lack of guards and ponies. The closer they got to their destination, the less ponies seemed to wander around with almost complete absence of life in and around the tower.

The doors were made of an ebony material, thick and so dark it seemed to suck the light around it. A full moon, split in half by the seam of the doors, was placed high up, made of cloudy silver. Piercing, silver stars were placed around the door, in a seeming random pattern, holed in deep grooves. Streaks of deep dark purple and dark blue seemed to wave in and out of the portrayed night sky. Unless this was the extravagant entrance to Equestria's most sinister observatory, there was only one pony that could be making her home in the chambers beyond.

Considering that this was the first impression they had of Princess Luna after her short stay at Ponyville, they really couldn't be blamed if the title "Nightmare Moon" was expressing itself in their heads with loud screams, could they? Poor Fluttershy was staring at the moon high above, her jaw wide open. Rarity noticed Rainbow Dash circumspectly put a hoof under it and close her mouth.

"Raegdan has been spending the majority of his time with Luna," Celestia informed them. "He has been paying back Twilight's kind help in learning Equestrian by aiding Luna in updating her vocabulary. He has also been assisting her in her studies to familiarize herself with modern culture," she pouted a bit, "and although I am uncertain of the wisdom of that particular choice they have both been very scholastic in studying a variety of surprising subjects."

She stepped forwards, her long horn lit as it opened the massive doors. "He also seems to have recruited my sister for some of his projects," she smiled knowingly at Twilight, "speaking of which, the first magic Deep Microscope is being constructed at Canterlot University, right now. We expect to have the first detailed image of a cell by next month."

Whatever a cell was, it was the most proper thing to say to Twilight at that moment. It allowed her to make it through the door, lost in a trance, daydreaming about Celestia's words, eyes filled with wonder and lips locked in an adorable "o" position.

The foyer they came in was a surprise. Rarity would have expected dark color, casting the room in simulated darkness. What she saw instead was pleasant, earthly colors, punctuated by a streak of dark blue or, rarely, purple. The furniture was robust, thick and rich, unlike the dainty creations that she had seen in the rest of the Castle, making the setting appear strangely homely. The light was dim, thick dark curtains drawn over the windows, but this only intensified the warm closeness. A thick, dark blue carpet dominated the floor. At the end of the room, a double staircase made of dark wood led to the floor above. Among the twin stairwells was a wide balcony, its doors left wide open.

Celestia approached one door at the end of the room, eyeing it critically before pressing her ear against it and chuckling at what she heard. "If past experiences are any guide, I believe we will find our quarry in here. Twilight, are you coming?"

Twilight had stopped in the middle of the foyer, one hoof rubbing the other, as she answered. "Actually, Princess, I was thinking I should wait here till you let him know why we came. I... I need some more time to prepare myself," she said, convulsively swallowing.

Spike was fidgeting next to her, Twilight's tail wound around one of his little claws. "I'm gonna wait here too, Princess. Giving dad a warning first might be for the best."

Celestia's mouth was set in a straight line. "If you believe you need some more time, then I won't rush you, Twilight." Celestia looked at the rest of the group around her. "You girls better come along. He will be more patient with you next to me, though one of you might want to stay back with Twilight?" she hinted.

Fluttershy offered at once, eager to both refrain from a social activity but mostly because that's who the sweet dear was. She trotted daintily to Twilight's side and put one of her soft wings around her, making her smile in gratitude. Applejack opted to stay behind too, dedicated to being the pillar of strength that Twilight relied on.

"Right," Celestia said, forcing back the serene smile, "in we go!" She opened the door and they all walked into the dark room.

Rarity, Rainbow Dash and a skipping Pinkie Pie followed right on her tail. When Rarity got in she saw that the room was not completely unlit. A small, covered lamp was providing a weak source of light, casting the room in a deep semi-darkness. Rarity's eyes adjusted quick enough and recognized the room as a study. Bookshelves covered the wall on the left of the door. Examining the opposite side explained why there was no light allowed inside. The wall and windows had been covered with large panels made of cork, very much like the smaller ones Rarity herself liked to use in her design room. A multitude of papers had been tacked on, brimming with words and hurried sketches of uncomprehending design. There were two desks in the room. One of them, the largest by far, was located near the end of the room, in front of a very large mirror with a glinting gold frame. She saw the shape of another, smaller one, in the corner, where the light did not reach.

There was no biped being waiting for them here. Rarity re-examined the room. Twilight's general description made her certain that he would be impossible to pass unnoticed. Someone as tall as Celestia would certainly-

Rarity saw Princess Celestia staring at the dark corner where the small desk was. Rarity scrutinized it further and as her night vision sharpened she saw a strange silhouette had been slumping over it. She realized that she had been hearing a constant noise ever since they entered, which she could now identify as a drowned snoring.

Princess Celestia's magic encompassed the small lantern, removing its cover and increasing its light much further than a light-source of that size could offer.

Rarity felt her chest seizing at the sight. The sharp intakes of breath next to her let her know that her friends had the same reaction. Only Princess Celestia was unaffected by what she saw.

The notorious Raegdan was across them, sitting on a stool and fallen across the desk, sleeping on top of his arms. He was wearing only a pair of dark blue trousers, leaving his upper body naked, exposing them to the horrifying view on his back.

An countless amount of criss-crossed lines were making their way over each other. The skin was coarse, raising angrily in places only to look painfully dug in at others. There was no part of his back uncovered of the blackened ridges, apart from near his sides, and they flowed all the way down with no stop to them until they were covered by the fabric of his clothing.

Rarity forced herself to breathe. Next to her, Rainbow Dash spoke up, her exclamation deafening in the silence that reigned in Rarity's ears.

"Oh... my... gosh!"

The snoring stopped. The mangled spine straightened up and a head covered with a short black mane rose up. There was a delay of a couple of seconds as the figure in them recognized the changes in its environment and in a sudden movement it was on its feet, turned towards them.

There was a Nightmare Night when Rarity was a little filly that stuck in her memory, haunting her childhood dreams. She had begged and begged her parents to let her walk through a haunted house attraction with her classmates. Her mother denied her but her father gave in to her filly tears and convinced her mother to give her permission too.

By the time she reached the exit, Rarity fervently wished he hadn't. In the haunted house she faced the expected jump scares that she loved to scree-loudly yell at. Spiders, snakes, red colored water running from the walls, ghosts jumping from the corner.

But near the exit they saw the Nightmare attraction. Instead of the customary Nightmare Moon actor jumping and snarling at the guests, the owners had fielded a view of one of Nightmare Moon's prisoners. A stallion was thrashing on a table, covered with bloody lines, hooks and chains positioned around him. The sight of somepony in such pain with promises of worse to come had marked her young self. She had nightmares of what happened to that stallion as they left him behind for weeks, that what they saw wasn't an actor but a pony who really was put there for Nightmare Moon's amusement.

When she saw Raegdan in full light, his mane unkempt and wild from his sleep, Rarity thought for the first time in her life that her imagination had probably been too small. His back had been a horror. She couldn't think of something worse to happen to somepony. But Twilight's former guard offered an answer to that.

His torso and arms were a canvas where torment and pain had been given free reign with their tools of art. Straight and jagged scar lines of various sizes were spread all over, physical memories of deep, brutal lacerations. Pock marks of various sizes clouded any free space among them. Rarity was no doctor, but with her eyes sharpened by a life of attention to details, she saw the small white marks that trailed along a number of the scars, stitching marks, some expertly made with equal distance between each, most crude, repeating themselves next to each other in awkward lines. Others she thought must have originated by claws and teeth, their symmetry and positioning betraying them. With bile coming up her throat, she figured that at some point he had been bitten almost in half by something extremely large.

His left forearm shined in the light, discolored against the rest of him. Other random areas also glistened alike, proof of burns that had covered him at various points in his life.

At his chest she noticed two circular scars, one larger than the other, that were more recent, covering the older ones below them. From Twilight's story she recognized one of them as the place where that foalnapper managed to stab him. The thought of somepony gored like that made her sick.

Not even his face was left unmarred. Something had clawed him at the jaw, reaching down to his throat. Another stab scar was on his left cheek. Tiny, white scars where spread around, but went virtually unnoticed to the casual look by the multitude of much worse.

His kind must be bastions of fortitude. Rarity doubted any pony could withstand half of those wounds in its lifetime and survive.

Apart from the walking horror he presented, he was like Twilight described. Raegdan's body resembled a minotaur but his structure was far more aesthetically pleasing to Rarity. Under his naked skin, the shape of his muscles were easy enough to see. He seemed built for strength far more than speed, his muscles thicker than ropes, in the rough shape of a result gained from hardship and not the definition of carefully built result of following an exercise regime. He was way less top heavy, his arms and legs proportioned much better. His balance was obviously much better, exemplified from the easy way he stood straight, unlike the minotaurs who had to carefully measure every hoofstep unless they wanted to end up flat on their noses because of the small contact surface allowed to them by their hooves.

She broke her gaze away from the ghastly scars. Raegdan had only flickered his eyes at Rarity and her friends in the room for an instant before glaring at Celestia.

His lips opened and through his gritted teeth -Rarity noticed how perfectly capable for cutting they were- he addressed the Princess with contempt dripping on every syllable.

"What the fucking hell are you doing here, Celestia?"

Rarity wondered to herself if she mentioned to anyone yet how much she didn't like the day's direction.

She wasn't so hot on how she kept being ignored either.

The Princess started to say, "Raegdan, I would like to introduce to you-"

"I don't fucking care who they are, get them out of here before I do!" he interrupted.

The Princess continued as if he didn't interrupt her, "-Rarity, bearer of the element of Generosity, Rainbow Dash, bearer of the element of Loyalty and Pinkie Pie, bearer of the element of Laughter." Pinkie Pie waved wildly with a toothy smile.

Raegdan frowned and took his time scrutinizing them. When he turned his attention to her, something in Rarity, some old buried instinct whispered urgently, "predator, do not move, do not breathe, get ready to run, predator, don't move, predator, don't breathe, predator, predator, predator..."

He turned back to Celestia and the moment of hide or flight passed.

"I see."

Princess Celestia sighed. "Raegdan, this is not what you think. We are here to-"

Raegdan interrupted her again, hissing. "These are her friends. These are the mares you send with her. You expect to change my mind by having them speak for you?"

"Raegdan, if you calm down and listen-"

"NO!" he roared. "This time you fucking listen to me. Discord was the final straw, this will not happen again, I will not let it happen again. You sent them against a dragon and then a damned god! Your first response was to throw my girl right at their jaws! Is this what you brought them to Canterlot for? To get them equipped again and send them off? Well, this isn't happening this time, if it means shattering your precious elements with my own hands then I will do -GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THERE!"

Rarity watched in terror as Raegdan charged forward. Pinkie Pie, in her usual manner, had been prodding and examining every part of the room. When she got near the extremely large mirror, Raegdan exploded in action, pulling Pinkie up by her mane and then holding her by the throat against the wall.

Celestia was yelling to put her down but Rainbow Dash, in her usual manner, took action instead. She launched to the air and with a single beat of her cyan wings she reached Raegdan and kicked at his head. Raegdan's head launched back, blood spurting in a wave from his nose but before Rainbow Dash could taunt him -again, her usual manner, Rarity was familiar enough with her MO- Raegdan's other hand launched forward, his fingers snaked around Rainbow's throat and before she could react he thrust her against the wall, next to Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow tried to force him to let her go by hitting as much of his arm as she could reach with her front hooves. Raegdan ignored her attempts to hurt him, glaring and growling her to submission.

Rarity saw Celestia's muscles flexing, ready to charge forward herself, when Pinkie Pie's innocent laughter echoed in the room.

"You are so much faster than you look, mr. Twilight's dad. I was just standing there when suddenly, whoosh! It felt like my little stomach had to rush after me." She lost a bit of her wide smile and got an apologetic, but smiling look. "I'm sorry for touching your stuff. I was just looking at the pretty mirror, I wouldn't break it, honest!"

Raegdan looked at her slack-jawed. Well, Rarity thought, par for the course. Pinkie Pie gets nailed on a wall by one of the most terrifying figures they ever saw -one they knew has killed ponies before, mind you- and what does she do? Smile at it, apologize and breaks its brain.

"Do you understand that I can really hurt you?" he asked like directing the question at a very young filly.

"Nah," Pinkie said, dismissing the idea with her hoof as if it was impossible, "you wouldn't do that to Twilight's friends. I mean, Dashie kicked you really hard, you are bleeding by the way, I think I got a band-aid, it has giraffes on it, and you are holding her carefully up so she doesn't choke."

Rainbow stopped struggling and looked downwards at her throat. She spread her hooves and stopped moving her wings, testing Pinkie's claim. Rarity had to admit, she seemed to be breathing just fine and be in no pain at all. Huh!

"Can you let us go now, pretty please? Or hold me upside down, its fun when the blood rushes to my head and then I see the colors all weird and everything starts moving too fast, its like if you have been to sea, have you ridden on a ship before, I haven't but I rowed a boat once gently down a stream and I started singing, I don't remember the song but I saw a little lamb, it was soooo adorable..."

Raegdan set them both down gently. Rainbow briefly checked herself and pulled the still bumbling Pinkie with her, back to Celestia's side. Raegdan was immobile, staring at the wall.

Celestia nudged Rarity with her wing and when she got her attention she nodded her towards the motionless figure. Rarity understood her meaning. If Princess Celestia spoke to him she might set him off again. But there was a good chance he might listen to Rarity.

With courage she didn't know she had -and wondered who was responsible for it, she really didn't want to do this- she walked to Raegdan's side. The huge person that had once killed a pony with his teeth and had her friends pinned just seconds ago. What- what a great idea!

"Mr. Raegdan," she bid his attention, "my name is Rarity. I am one of Twilight's friends."

"I know who you are." He seemed to be dazed or lost in thought. Rarity wondered if this was his way of regretting his actions. "I have read her letters to Celestia. You are... you are a good friend to her and Spike."

She blushed. "Thank you. Sir, we are not here-"

He interrupted her with a motion of his hand. "Not sir or mr. Just, just Raegdan, please. Always Raegdan..."

"Raegdan then." Rarity was feeling a bit sorry for him. She saw what Twilight and Spike meant when they said he was cruel but kind too. His whole demeanor had changed. His voice had softened and his movements were slower and calm. "We are not here for Elements business of any kind. We are just escorting Twilight and Spike, as good friends are want to do."

He straightened up, visibly nervous. "Escorting Twilight and Spike? They came here with you?" Rarity nodded. "Where, where are they? Why are they here?"

Twilight spoke up from the door. "We are right here. I wanted to say I'm sorry, dad. Forgive me, please?"

It was as if all of them, but Raegdan, had turned to statues, able to watch but not intervene. He looked straight at Twilight and Spike, the little dragon standing timidly next to the unicorn. Rarity saw, as in slow motion with every movement enunciated, Raegdan's throat convulsing violently. At his sides, his hands were turned to fists, shaking. His eyes were wide and his face had blanched.

Twilight... Twilight was at least as bad. Her mane had lost its lovely cohesion as it always did in moments when she was greatly stressed. She had sat on the floor, judging from the tremors spreading through her she didn't trust her ability to stand. Her stance was pleading, begging for an answer to her request.

Seconds passed with no word uttered. Rarity felt cracks spreading across her heart and tears welling in her eyes. This was going to end horribly. She knew, knew, that Raegdan would keep his silence. Twilight and Spike would feel completely rejected and run off. They would run after them, finding them hours later, holed in a deserted room, crying their eyes out. And for the rest of their lives, a small part of them would remain shattered, never able to be fixed again, no matter how much Rarity and the rest of the girls tried.

"I'm... this was a mistake, I don't know what I was thinking... I'll, I'll leave, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." she sobbed and turned to leave with Spike, Raegdan still motionless at Rarity's side.

"Oh darling, don't go, keep trying, don't give up, he obviously still cares, just try again," Rarity begged in her mind, too absorbed in the tragedy of the moment to speak, to attempt to make a difference to the cruel destiny that was shaping in front of her.

Pinkie Pie, may all the stars shine on her for the rest of her life, did not believe in inaction when one of her friends was sad. Without anyone's notice she had moved behind Raegdan, rose up on her hindlegs and with all her earth pony strength she pushed him forward, yelling.

"Go and give them a hug now, you silly billy!"

Pinkie's laughing voice broke the inertia that had claimed them. More importantly, it broke Raegdan from his passivity. With huge strides he ran by Celestia that was standing between him and his target. Twilight and Spike had spun back at Pinkie's shout and were in perfect position for Raegdan to pull them in his embrace as he fell down on his knees.

"My little ones," he whispered fervently, cradling them in his arms, "I missed you, I missed you so much..."

Well, there it goes. Rarity's heart finally gave up and she ceased wrestling control of her tearducts. Twilight and Spike, side by side, hugged him back with all their strength, Spike's little, sharp claws leaving small scratches and thin lines of blood as they pierced Raegdan's unprotected skin. They were crying too, but unlike what she feared before, those were caused by happiness. Both sides were whispering to each other, as if afraid a louder voice would burst and ruin the reunion, trading declarations of love and assurances with each other.

Everypony had wet trails running down their faces. Celestia, Pinkie, even Rainbow Dash. Rarity gave a fledging thought to her mascara's state before dismissing it outright. She could replace it in seconds, afterwards. This was a moment of joy for her friend that she was going to treasure forever and she wasn't going to taint it with shallow notions.

"Eeh, what are you doing, Small Pink?" Raegdan butchered Pinkie's name as he stared incredulously at the earth pony that had fastened herself to their side, spreading her hooves as much as she could to hold onto all of them.

"I want to hug too, I love group hugs!" Pinkie answered him, nuzzling at his shoulder.

Raegdan's barking laughter filled the room and he pulled Pinkie into the space of his wide arms.

A new voice, touched with anger, broke in. "My chambers seem to be popular today. May I ask what is going on here?"

Luna was apprehensive at best when they first explained the reason for their presence in her rooms. It was only when it was made clear to her that her two-legged companion was thrilled with the outcome that she stopped looming threateningly over them. Seeing Raegdan's face covered with blood, from Rainbow's unfortunate rush to violence, would have ended with them receiving similar treatment of the same caliber at least, if it wasn't for Celestia beseeching her sister to calm down.

The night princess was radically different from the pony they saw last. Her coat was darker and her mane and tail were flowing in gentle waves, stars swimming among the strands. Rarity had to concede that Luna's mane was magnitudes of order more divine even that Celestia's. She had grown much taller too, standing over Rarity's height by more than a head but still not as tall as Celestia or Raegdan. Rarity wondered if she would one day come to be more like her Nightmare Moon form again. She desperately hoped not.

Luna was currently sharing a couch with Raegdan and his "playmates", though she was sitting apart a bit, displaying some wariness in approaching somepony too close.

Raegdan sat on the other end of the couch, his head rotated upwards with Spike attending his bleeding, using his small hands to pinch the nose on one point and wiping off the blood from his father's face with a wet cloth, Fluttershy directing him as she hovered above. Band-aids, decorated with giraffes, had been layered on his nose and the small scratches Spike accidentally gave him, courtesy of Pinkie Pie. At his side Twilight was snuggling against him, one of his hands gently scratching her, moving from her ears to her back. Years of experience had apparently taught him all the right spots to treat because Twilight hadn't stopped purring since he started, to Rainbow Dash's chagrin.

His other hand was busy holding Pinkie Pie upside down from her leg. Pinkie coo'ed with wonder, her head getting redder by the minute, as he gently swung her back and forth.

After the confrontation with an angry Luna that had been raised from her bed by the yelling, interactions went surprisingly smooth with one large exception.

When spirits calmed down, Celestia decided to repeat introductions, forcing a new start. Raegdan was very courteous with Rarity, asking about her line of work and mentioning how he would like to have something made by her, since apparently he normally completely covered most of his body with clothes, current showing non withstanding. Rarity's muse went ablaze and she made a mental note to take his measurements before leaving. He also, inconspicuously, bent near her and, unheard from the others, thanked her for her gentleness and generosity with Spike. Applejack asked what the blush was about but Rarity brushed her off with a "later."

Rainbow Dash was next in line. She tried to sheepishly apologize for hurting him but she was cutoff by Raegdan's exclamation of admiration for a solid hit. "Next time though, you want to follow up. Either keep going or back off," he advised her in good nature. Rainbow puffed with pride at the intimidating stallion's words. Rainbow assured him that this was the least she could do for her friends and Twilight, gaining a wide grin for Raegdan. It was Twilight's turn to blush next to him.

On her turn, Pinkie Pie launched herself with a jump at him, yelling loudly, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" He caught her mid-air and proceeded to throw her up, almost all the way to the ceiling, again and again, Pinkie cheering loudly as he laughed.

When he put her down, to Pinkie's expressed disappointment, he knelt in front of Fluttershy. Fluttershy, unlike what Rarity expected, did not appeared to be frightened of him. Instead, she looked at him with an expression of concern and pity. When Raegdan got low enough she surprised all of them by hugging him. Rarity was close enough to make out her whisper, "thank you for saving my friend when she was little." Raegdan patted her back and they stood apart, saying nothing more to each other, just smiling in shared understanding.

And then Applejack stepped forward, crying out "Howdy!" to him, in her patented greeting. And Tartarus broke loose.

As soon as Applejack stepped clearly into his view, Raegdan -there is no other word to describe it, really- screamed. He tried to step away from the perplexed Applejack, only to trip and fall on his back. He didn't stop trying to move away from her, frantically kicking at the floor and dragging himself in a panic. He twisted around and rushed for the door when Celestia fell on him.

Raegdan tried to force her off but Celestia was stepping on the middle of his back and couldn't get a decent grip. He kept kicking at her legs blindly but the Princess easily avoided the aimless strikes. She bent her neck and spoke to him, in a calm, even tone.

"Raegdan, this is Applejack, from Ponyville. She runs Sweet Apples Acres near the Everfree Forest. She is just a little older than Twilight and one of her friends. Raegdan, calm down and think!"

For some reason, this seemed to work. He stopped moving and Celestia moved away from him, letting him regain his breath before standing up.

Now that was curious. What would he find so terrifying on Applejack of all ponies to make him act like that? She looked at Applejack. She looked like she always did. Her old hat covered her head, her mane was in her usual ponytail and her coat was unblemished. She had a pair of small saddlebags on her but Rarity doubted that was what set Raegdan off. She had a similar set on her, though one stitched by yours truly.

With feigned calmness he walked back to Applejack and traded pleasantries with her. He systematically refused to answer why he reacted like that, both to Applejack and Twilight. When Twilight silently directed her question to the Sun Princess, Celestia shook her head in the negative, her mouth forming a stern straight line.

The introductions to Princess Luna were uneventful, at least. The Princess of the night accepted their bowing with good grace, thanked for cleansing her from her corruption and asked them, really asked them, to call her Luna in private.

The only detail that spoiled it for Rarity was the way Raegdan was looking at Luna when she referred to her time as Nightmare Moon. She wondered if he was harboring some disgruntlement for attacking Twilight at the time, but he seemed to be leaning towards worry rather than anger.

"Are you going to stay for a while, little ones?" Raegdan asked as he was now rubbing and scratching a content dragon and a half-asleep Twilight. Behind the couch, a dazed Pinkie Pie was stumbling back and forth, looking all around her with wonder.

"Yeah, "Twilight mumbled. "Princess Celestia invited us to watch the Royal Guard Tournament. Are you going to come with us?"

He chuckled. "Luna and I have made plans to be there. This might turn out more fun than I expected."

"What do you mean, dad?" asked Spike.

"Never mind that, little flame. You will see tomorrow. It's gonna be a surprise."

Twilight's mouth was pouting. "I don't like surprises. Can't you tell us now?"

He gently patted her cheek with his fingers. "No. Be patient."

"I don't want to be patient, I'm gonna be up all night wond-" Twilight opened her eyes and froze mid-sentence. "Raegdan! Your-your hand! Your finger!"

Rarity shifted her attention to Raegdan's fingers. She had missed it somehow, but where his right hand had five fingers, the left one was missing the smaller one. It seemed to have been chopped off, unevenly and badly cut.

"Oh, this old thing?" he said nonchalantly. "It's not really that important. I got spares. Don't worry about it, little one."

"Don't worry about it?" Twilight was furious at the casualness he exhibited. "It's your finger! What happened to it?"

"I traded it."

"Traded it?" she cried out. "Traded it for what?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eyes, hands still working on his charges. Twilight turned to Celestia, "Princess? What happened?"

Celestia sighed. It seemed to have become a common trend for her where Raegdan was involved. "I do not know Twilight. One day it was just gone. He refuses to say how."

Pinkie Pie took his hand in her hooves and carefully examined it. "Did a nasty mosquito bite you and you scratched it so hard it fell off?"

"A perfectly good explanation," he encouraged Pinkie, "I'll go with that one."

Twilight evidently gave up on him giving an honest answer and settled back to being scratched again.

Rarity decided to try and draw their current hostess in a conversation. "So, Princess Luna- excuse me, I meant Luna, your sister let slip that you and Raegdan are working together on some kind of project?"

"More than one actually," Luna answered excited, "I do not wish to spoil the surprise either, but we are working on wonderful ideas that will change our world forever."

"Does this have to do with the knowledge Raegdan has, like Twilight informed us?" she inquired.

"Almost exclusively," Luna nodded, "we have been taking detailed notes of everything he can remember of his kind's technology and scientific progress and slowly figuring out their magical equivalents. It is a slow progress as we are working with bits and pieces, some terms we simply have no translation for and have no idea what Raegdan remembers correctly or is just wrong about but-"

"Wait," Twilight interrupted, standing ramrod straight. "You have been taking notes of everything? All that Raegdan knows?"

"Well, yes," Luna answered her, "we are trying to be organized about it-"

"That room dad was sleeping in... All those papers on the wall and the desks- were those them?"

Rarity had a vision of the future. It involved a unicorn leaving the room in a mad dash for knowledge.

"Twilight, darling-" she started.

She didn't manage to finish before Luna answered Twilight. "Yes, most of them-"

Raegdan saw what was coming too late but still attempted to make a grab for Twilight. Twilight however seemed to be more worked up than they thought. Instead of running off to the study she was simply gone in the magic explosion of a teleportation.

Raegdan lost no time and ran out, shouting, "Twilight, come back here!"

The next few minutes proved to be very entertaining to those who decided to stay behind, which meant everypony else. Raegdan's and Twilight's voices were easily carried to them as they shouted to each other.

"Twilight, you are not allowed to mess with these-"

"These are all written in gibberish, I can't read these!" she yelled in anguish.

"I am not an idiot to write it down in Equestrian. These are all written in my language, now drop them."

"No, If i have to translate them to read them then I will! I am the smartest unicorn around, this won't stop me!"

"Twilight, I know three different languages of my kind, you won't make a dent in these no matter how you try."

"Wait, your people are a multilingual race? How does that work? Is it a geographical reason or did you segregate your language based on social standards or-"

"Put those papers down and Ι will tell you all about it, how about that?"

"NO! Those are mine now. I deserve them, you never told me anything, I need to know!"

"Don't make me be violent, Twilight. Either drop it all or I will punish you."

"Ha," Twilight scoffed loudly, "you never laid a finger on me on your life, you are not gonna start now."

"I swear, I will torch every single one of them-"

"NOOOOOOOooooooo!" Twilight screamed in pure terror, "don't hurt my babies!"

"Just let them go before they rip, I have reasons I don't want you to-"

"Buck you, you old," Twilight said the same harsh alien word that Celestia had used before.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Oi, Twilight, you never, ever, call your parents that. You are bucked now."

Twilight obviously agreed if her loud "eep" was any indication.

Raegdan's voice rose to new heights, sounding as if he was standing right next to their ear. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, YOUNG LADY?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"CELESTIA! GET THE SINK FULL AND FIND ME A BAR OF SOAP, NOW!"

"Nooooooooooooo, I'll be good, I'll be good, stop, stop, stop!"

"Get down from my back and face your punishment like a grown mare, Twilight, before I-"

There was silence after he stopped. Everypony held their breath. Rarity wondered if he finally killed Twilight by accident. He sounded angry enough for that.

"Little one," they heard him say, his voice strangely passive.

"Did you just pee on me?"

Everypony started snickering.

"I, I had a lot of tea and you squeezed too hard..."

Never before had Rarity thought she would see two Princesses rolling on the floor, trying to stop their laughter long enough to gulp down some precious air. She would have appreciated the sight more if she wasn't in the same state, along with everypony else.

Luna was the first to manage to regain enough self-control to get up. "I'll go fill the bathtub," she said, causing everypony to suffer through more laughing seizures.

Outside the room, Twilight and Raegdan were dripping and waiting for them to calm down so they could go and wash up.