Twilight slowly drifted to consciousness. A smooth, sweet awakening that felt like slowly finding herself on a puffy cloud, with no clear point where she stopped being asleep, her body completely relaxed and comfortable despite the awkward position she had assumed during her slumber. Her rest was troubled lately, plagued by nightmares she could not remember, but she was fine with that as long as they remained out of her memory. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the pleasant sensation, and considering whether she should try to drift back to sleep again rather than completely wake up.

Voices made themselves known. They spoke quietly, almost murmuring to each other, a constant low buzzing. She lazily recognized them. Twilight pressed her cheeks deeper against the pillow, too comfortable to care that she fell asleep in the wrong room.

“Surely you could leave the hospital for a few hours,” Luna spoke quietly. “You did once already while carrying me, and during the day at that.”

Twilight was jerked an inch closer to a full awakening. They’d better not be planning something that would have the rest of them running around to save them again.

The familiar sounds of shuffling paper covered the short silence. “I’m not sure if it’s worth the trouble. There’s not much I can do, is there?”

“Some of the names we have might still be viable.”

“Our best chances will have left because this place no longer fits their sensibilities or your presence here unnerves them. I’m not sure how much importance is left on the others with the bay destroyed, and as for some of them… well, check this.”

Twilight opened one of her eyes just a smidgen, a small slit that barely allowed her to see. Luna held a newspaper in front of her, blocking her from view. Raegdan was sitting patiently next to her on the side of her bed.

She closed her eye again. The warm fog was starting to clear out of her head. She tried to cling to it with the same strength she clung to her pillow.

“Arrested,” Luna said, disappointed. “We’re not going to get a hold here, are we?”

“We could, but not while we’re trapped in here or we look half-dead. I don’t think being a mummy carries the same kind of dread, and everyone would know I was gone the moment my armor went missing.”

“The ponies here like me well enough. Couldn’t this be enough?” Luna asked.

“I don’t know. Right now? That’s a very cautious maybe. In a few months, when Celestia will have the place back in some working order? That’s a certain no.”

Luna sighed. “I suppose we could have ended up much worse. Though… what if we were the ones who fixed these troubles for them?”

“That would work if we could do that. We’d turn this back around to our advantage. You have an idea we can use?”

“No. Don’t you?”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just assume that I have the slightest idea where to start with rebuilding a city’s economy.”

Twilight drowsily chuckled in the pillow. Her sessions with Princess Celestia flashed in her mind, amusing her even further. They really had no idea what they wanted to get entangled with.

She groaned lightly in her half sleep. She had to go help again today. She really, really, really, really didn’t want to.

A hoof tapped at the newspaper. “Hmm… The creature’s corpse is the major obstacle for Baltimare to regain its past way of life according to this. Perhaps we could remove it.”

“Any thoughts on how? I’m telling you straight out, I have none.”

“...Hook it and drag it out?”

“Sure. We’d just need, what, a couple hundred dragons to pull? Do you want to stand behind them and crack the whip or should I?”

“There’s no need to be sarcastic.”

“Right. I forgot, that’s a princess privilege only.”

“Stop it. We could brainstorm both cases for a while at least. It beats just sitting here and counting the cracks at the ceiling. Get a piece of paper, and let’s see what we can come up with.”

“This will be loads of fun, I can already tell,” Raegdan said, completely devoid of any feeling.

“Maybe we can play with some dolls later to relieve your boredom. Will the widdle filly be happy then?”

“See? Damned princess privilege.”

“We could… Hmm... This is hard,” Luna complained. “Too bad the Leviathan’s flesh is not edible. We could trade it with the griffins.”

Raegdan snorted. “Prime rib. An endless supply. I’m pretty sure it’s starting to rot already. We’d have to sell it before it looks too bad.”

“Like it would matter. I do not know if they would fall dead from the disease first or the diarrhea. My stars, can you imagine it? Thousands of sick, flying griffins?” Luna said, starting to laugh. “A repeat of Discord’s chocolate rain of sorts.”

Raegdan burst laughing. “Oh heavens, that’s disgusting. I’d pay to see that. I think killing your clients is not good for business though, even if it’s hilarious.”

“Ah, but see, we could export antibiotics in mass quantities at the same time, and lo and behold; The profits have been doubled!” They started laughing together.

“You think they’d be stupid enough to actually try to eat it?” Raegdan asked, catching his breath.

“The griffins? I bet there are some who’re already thinking of trying a couple of bites. They like to boast about mighty beasts they ate. Oh stars, imagine if they started a plague on their own.” Luna cackled. “Celestia would go crazy trying to find those responsible!”

“To be honest, it won’t be that hard to find them,” Raegdan said.

“Oh? How so?”

“All she’d have to do was follow the brown trail.” They howled in laughter together, each other’s hysterical laugh pushing the other to new heights.

Twilight gave up on going back to sleep with all that ruckus. It wasn’t even that funny. She yawned wide enough that for a second she was certain her jaw would pop off. She climbed off the bed, scratching her mane with her hoof, making even a greater mess of it than her sleep did. She spotted a glass of milk and a large chocolate donut on the bedside table. Somepony had removed about half of the chocolate crust on top. The guilty party’s identity was no terrible mystery.

“Good morning littl- Twilight-” Raegdan said, wiping his eyes.

“Good morning Twilight,” Luna said immediately to cover Raegdan’s slip, even though Twilight didn’t mind at all in reality. “Your mother has left you some breakfast by your side.”

“Good morning. Thank you, I saw it. I hope the chocolate topping was up to your standards?”

Luna’s cheeks reddened. “I only desired to make sure you had nothing but the best.”

Twilight grabbed a brush in her magic and blindly threw it to Raegdan, taking a seat in front of him. Normally she wouldn’t do that, especially in front of others, but Luna did the exact same thing and she was completely unabashed about it. Raegdan started working on Twilight’s mane, taming it down while she yawned again, rubbing the sleep off her eyes.

“I have to say,” Luna continued. “While I was a little… reserved against your mother’s, ah, insistent methods, her tactics to gain my favor are working well enough.”

Twilight glanced back to Raegdan.

“Velvet bought her chocolate cereal for her breakfast,” he explained.

“Between Raegdan and her, I’ve never felt so pampered in my life. I think I like it,” Luna said, a small smile gracing her lips. She pulled the covers over her with a content purr.

Twilight waited until Raegdan was done, and then sat down to eat her own first meal of the day. “Do you have anything planned for today?”

“I’m still not allowed to leave my room, so no.” Luna wiggled the broken leg held aloft, and lightly flapped her bandaged wing.

“I’m not sure if there’s anything I can go out to do,” Raegdan admitted. “I already pestered Celestia to tell me what happened with the griffins, but apparently “investigations” are still ongoing. She didn’t take well to my suggestion to let me ask them a few questions myself.”

Twilight swiftly drank out of her glass to chase away the sudden sour taste in her throat. “No, I imagine she wouldn’t.”

“She kicked me out.”

Luna huffed. “You’d think she’d relax her precious rules when somepony tries to kill her sister.”

“You know what I think?” Raegdan asked, tapping at his lips with a finger. He rested one of his legs on Luna’s bed and his back against the head of the bed. Luna scooted over to the side to accommodate him. “I think she’s trying to bait out whoever sent them. Even if she doesn’t get answers out of the assassins, she might get something from the envoys from other nations that will soon show up to pretend they’re all outraged this happened and stuff.”

“Envoys? You think Princess Celestia believes the Griffin leaders sent them?” Twilight asked.

“I doubt it would be them,” Luna said. “Griffins sending griffins for an assassination? They’d have to be stupid to do something like this, which of course might be what they want us to believe and it’s truly them behind this. Celestia’s way might work though, especially if the prisoners have been fed with lies about their true employer.”

“Right,” Raegdan agreed. “It could be the Minotaurs, Zebras, Yaks, Dragons, Diamond Dogs.... uh… did I miss anyone? I think I missed some.”

“Plenty enough. It could be some other pony nation like Saddle Arabia, but they seem to worship the ground my sister steps- “ Luna frowned. “Ah, I forgot. I’m the evil one. How fun.”

“Let’s just say “everyone” and keep the headache to a minimum,” Raegdan proposed.

Twilight blinked. That’s how you keep a headache to a minimum? Oh hey, someponies want to kill me! I’ll just assume it’s everypony so I don’t have to keep count at least. That’s one worry less, now I will be able to pay more attention for venomous snakes in my bed. Oops, turned my eyes away from the teapot for a second, it’s probably poisoned by now, out it goes!

A part of her weeped that she never had any particular interest in psychology. It was like she stood in front of a treasure trove of knowledge, that only evaded her grasp because she left the key to it in her other saddlebags.

“My bits are on the Minotaurs,” Luna said. “They’ve always been quite proactive and it’s not the first time they had a go at my head. Their royal lineage might still keep a grudge.”

“But how will envoys from them help Princess Celestia find out who paid the griffin assassins? I really don’t think they’re gonna betray their own people, no matter how Princess Celestia asks.” Twilight said.

Luna looked at Twilight with wide eyes. “My stars, you are really sheltered, aren’t you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Spies, lit- Twilight. Spies. Even if her spies don’t uncover enough, just how the envoys act and what they say might be enough of a clue for Celestia to really start digging in the right direction,” Raegdan said, chuckling.

“Princess Celestia has spies?”

“You had no idea, did you?” Raegdan asked with a furiously condescending smile.

“Wait, how do you know about them?” Twilight asked. “Why did she tell you about them?”

“She didn’t. I’m not supposed to know anything, but I’m not gullible either. There was this one time where I set a cheese export report on fire. She got so mad that she lit my pants on fire in retaliation.”

Two golden doors bursting open. Raegdan running out, fanning the flames as he tried to douse them by kicking his legs in an impromptu dance. Twilight had tried to help using a wind spell, causing the flames to spread even more. Thankfully Cadance was there, and she knew a water spell. Raegdan was forced to change clothes multiple times that day.

There were bees too.

“I remember that,” Twilight said.

“Right. I hoped you wouldn’t. Well, it seemed weird to me after I thought about it. Sole Princess of the Realm, and she had things like dairy product import and exports on her desk, and various other stupidities like that, insisting on reading them while she had a griffin delegation waiting to meet with her in a day or two.”

“She has a lot of responsibilities,” Twilight reminded him.

“She also has a castle full of ponies to help her. Hell, they already do. She has scores of them that she delegates stuff to. Why was she the one reading these? So, this one time, I did a test to make sure. I went through her paperwork and separated it in piles according to what seemed to me to be more important. I told her I was trying to help, she didn’t buy it, but what was she going to do, throw it all away? She sits down to work, and the first thing she begins work on? A weather report from Vanhoover. She ignored stuff like a riot due to a water shortage in Dodge City for that.”

“What does this has to do with spies?”

Luna rolled her eyes, and huffed impatiently. “These were not “cheese export” or “weather” reports Twilight Sparkle. She was reading reports from her spy network. Reports that had been encoded and hidden in plain sight.”

Twilight went a bit cross eyed as what she knew tried to coalesce with what she just heard, her world once again becoming a little more complicated, and losing a little more of the innocent shine it had.

“Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too when I figured it out,” Raegdan said, misinterpreting Twilight’s feelings on the matter. “Here I thought she was being nice to the point of being taken advantage, and the crazy mare can actually stand there reading up on whoever she’s investigating right in front of their face, and they never know. Hell, I’m pretty sure some of them have delivered their own doom to her thinking they were just passing on a boring document that would end up in a file cabinet. That cheeky mare. No wonder she’s smiling all the time.”

“I’m… that’s quite heavy. Really? Princess Celestia does that?”

“You don’t rule for over a thousand years without having a few aces in your bag of tricks,” Raegdan said, shrugging. “She’s got ways to make sure she knows as much as possible, and everyone assumes she’s too much of a goody shoes for a few of them. Problem is, she has been using most of her tricks for a very long time, and either there are holes forming or some ponies have gotten wise to them. She catches up eventually I bet, but they’re learning tricks of their own too at the same time.”

“Is this what you were talking about before I got up?” Twilight asked.

“In a manner of speaking,” Luna said. “We wish to have a few questions answered. Perhaps we should delegate this to others like my sister does,” Luna said to Raegdan. “Solid Charge and Leaf Stream have been competent far beyond my expectations so far, and Cast Iron, though quiet, seems to pay intense attention to his surroundings. We could send them in our stead.”

“You know, if you want to, my friends and I are always willing to help,” Twilight offered, encouraged by what Luna proposed.

“Something to think about when we confer with our guards.” Luna turned her head sideways and sniffed, frowning in distaste. “If you do not mind Twilight, I believe I would like to try and get some things out of the way so I can take a proper bath later. Sponge baths have been a most miserable revival of the past so far.”

“Of course princess,” Twilight said, recognizing the dismissal for what it was. She headed outside, saying a last farewell. “I’ll see you later today.”

She closed the door, hearing the last exchange between them with a smile.

“Raegdan, has Velvet provided us with an extra bubbly shampoo as I requested?”

“Well, I told her not to bother, so of course she did.”

Twilight shared a smile with the two thestrals guarding Luna’s door. Celestia only knew what the two of them made out of everything they could hear. “Not really what you expected, huh?” she asked, jokingly.

One of the thestrals’ eyes sparkled and his chest puffed with pride. His smile became far more assured. “She has slain a Leviathan. She is everything we expected.”

It suddenly hit Twilight how supportive and how much the thestrals adored Luna, practically hanging from her lips every time she addressed them. Baltimare’s ponies thoroughly appreciated Luna for what she managed to do, but even that was a mere candle next to the frenzied fire the thestrals held in their heart for Luna. She hadn’t made the thought before, but if the thestrals felt like this for Luna then there was something that didn’t really fit with what Luna said about her past.

“Can I ask you a question?” she asked, looking at both guards.

“Of course,” the both answered as one, exchanging a glance of amusement between them. They were young, probably even younger than Twilight, but had a certainty in their stance she couldn’t help but envy.

“How come Princess Luna was so alone before her banishment? Why weren’t the thestrals supporting her before?”

“We always supported our princess of the night,” the one on her left answered sharply.

“We did,” the other one added, speaking far more gently than his colleague. “In fact, the last Lunar Guard had been comprised entirely of thestrals.”

“Really? I’ve never heard this before.”

“You probably wouldn’t,” the thestral answered while his fellow guard harrumphed in displeasure. “There’s not much to know anyway. It was a very old story even before Princess Luna’s banishment. The story goes that Princess Luna came to the thestrals, asking for volunteers to form an elite guard to help her safeguard the night. There wasn’t a single thestral who wouldn’t wish to join her. The clans were in an uproar trying to gain her favor. Princess Luna chose twenty of the best, the most agile, strong, and cunning stallions and mares. She personally trained them for a year, turning them into indomitable warriors before she took them with her into the night to fight by her side.”

“So what happened? Why did she stop using a guard of her own?”

“You’d have to ask the princess herself,” the rude one said, shrugging. “According to the story, Princess Luna returned less than a week afterwards, bringing back a few of her guards’ personal items. She told our ancestors that they all died.”

“Less than a...? How? What happened?” Twilight asked, shocked.

“Nopony knows.” The second thestral waited for a nod from his companion before continuing. “She refused to say. She didn’t take well to being pushed for answers. She swore an oath right then. She said there would never be a Lunar Guard again. That the weight of her duty was hers alone to carry. Then she left. She was barely seen by our people from that point on.”

“Choice,” the first thestral said.

“Sorry?”

“You got it wrong. She said “the weight of her choice,” not “weight of her duty.” That’s how the story goes. Don’t get it wrong you foal, we’re supposed to tell the stories exactly as we heard them or not at all.”

“Right. My bad miss. It’s exactly as my friend said.”

“I for one,” the first thestral said, “am glad our princess has changed her mind. When I am part of her Lunar Guard I will serve her dutifully, and remove the stain of-”

“You? Sorry buddy, too few spots. I’ll tell you some stories if you want though when I come back-”

“If you think you are gonna be picked to serve Princess Luna you must be more delusional that I thought!”

“You wanna know what delusional really is? Go take a look in a mirror you-”

Twilight left the thestrals to their bickering. She went off to pace through the deserted corridors of the reserved floor, thinking over what she learnt. Perhaps Luna really had been tremendously shunned, in part because of her own actions or lack thereof. She had options however. She could have turned to Princess Celestia for aid, and now she learned she also had the thestrals as a source of help.

She accepted their help. More than that, she reached out for them. And then… she never reached out again. What kind of monster killed the entirety of her old guard, and why did it make Luna so opposed against anypony helping her ever again?

She heard Luna’s angry shout as the argument of the two thestrals got louder. “What the Tartarus is going on out there?” She spared a glance behind her, giggling at the two guards standing at attention as rigidly as they could despite the little shivers that ran all over them.

She walked through the corridors, taking turns at random, not really caring where she ended up, or if she was making circles. She wanted to walk, and think. It was better to do it here, where there was almost nopony but the patrolling thestrals rather than be a nuisance downstairs where it was crowded enough already. Losing a portion of their available space had been quite rough for the hospital staff, but after what happened who was going to complain about Princess Luna’s needs?

Twilight’s thoughts were cut short by Leaf Stream’s cry of distress coming from one of the many empty rooms.

“Oh buck me, buck me, it hurts, it hurts, it huuurts!”

Twilight opened the door at once, and rushed inside, spurred by the cries of pain. Leaf Stream was lying on a bed, trying to reach between her amputated wings. Her attempts failed as she kept her back completely straight, her hooves nowhere able to reach their target. She looked up at Twilight’s unexpected entrance.

“Leaf Stream? Are you ok? What happened?”

Leaf Stream was extremely relieved to see her. “Oh thank Celestia, somepony’s here. Quick, come help me! The wing muscles have cramped up and it hurts like a bitch!”

“I- what do you want me to do?” Twilight asked, coming closer.

The pegasus gnashed her teeth as a wave of pain made her shiver violently. “Just grab the stumps and force them to move down. Hurry!”

Twilight used her magic to do as she asked. She took hold of the wings’ remains, feeling nausea as she saw the damage up close once more, and forced them to go back to their resting position. They resisted at first, but the muscles slowly gave in and had completely relaxed by the time she had finished.

Leaf Stream let out a sigh of rested relief. “Oh Celestia… you have no idea how good it feels now that it’s over.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked, laying a blanket over Leaf Stream’s back so she could keep her punished muscles warm.

She looked around, spotting the haphazard nature of the room she was in. Leaf Stream must have claimed it as her own. What drew her attention, and made her feel pity for Leaf Stream, was the improvised hammock in a corner made from hospital sheets. She had obviously gone to great pains to raise it as high as possible.

“Eh, my fault,” Leaf Stream said, grinning in embarrassment. “The butcher that cut them off told me I had to keep the muscles exercised and not let them… what’s the word?”

“Atrophy?”

“Yeah. That. Or else this crap happens apparently.”

“You really should do as the doctors told you,” Twilight cautioned.

Leaf Stream snorted. “Yeah. Sure. Easy to say, isn’t it?”

“It should be. A few sets of repetitive motions per day ought to be enough for-”

Leaf Stream cut her off. “Yeah, exactly.” She put a pillow under her chin and closed her eyes. “That’s awesome. Get up everyday and flap these pathetic little stubs, just like I did when I had real wings. The same thing that got me in the air is now only good enough to make sure my back doesn’t lock up and I end up writhing on the ground like a worm. Oh, what fun that is.”

Twilight bit her lip, feeling awkward. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think of it like that.”

“Not your fault,” Leaf Stream said. “Though I appreciate the sentiment. Celestia knows the one who did that to me ain’t gonna be apologizing any eon soon.”

“You are still angry with Raegdan,” Twilight noted.

“Nooo,” Leaf Stream said, not sparing the sarcasm. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

“You know… You never said you were sorry to him either.”

Leaf Stream’s eyes opened up in a flash. “I’m sorry, but what? Me, say sorry to him? About what?”

“You did try to kill him.”

“Try. I tried. He succeeded in getting my wings cut off. There was also the little matter of excruciating agony, you know, while he shattered the bones and forced them to slice through the muscles and sinew? I was screaming so hard my throat bled? Ring any bells? Are you having memory problems or something? Is it because you’re spending too much time around the bucker? Heck, is it contagious?”

“I don’t have any problems with my memory, but maybe you do. You tried to kill him. You were the one who started this,” Twilight countered.

“Now see here, you’re not seriously telling me-”

“And from what I hear and see,” Twilight continued, raising her voice over Leaf Stream’s, “you are being a total jerk to him. Granted, you are being kind of a jerk to everypony, but especially Raegdan.”

“He totally deserves it,” Leaf Stream spat. “Celestia, how come my cutie mark hasn’t changed to a gramophone already? He. Destroyed. My. Wings. He crippled me!”

“Maybe he deserves it,” Twilight seemingly relented. “But would you like to know something I’ve noticed?”

“Oh please, don’t leave me in suspense, my poor heart can't take it. Do tell.”

Twilight leaned towards Leaf Stream for maximum effect. “He hasn’t retaliated or complained about your behavior despite what you say or do. Not even once. He has outright threatened or attacked ponies for looking at him wrong, but not you.”

Leaf Stream backed off. Twilight waited for her retort. It didn’t come.

“Alright, see, now you make me sound like I’m the jerk.”

“You kind of are.”

“But he-”

“You tried to kill him,” Twilight reminded her once more. “In an exhibition fight. Where he tried to keep it clean.”

“Now, look, I didn’t kill him so, you know, it doesn’t count as much as-”

“If you want an apology,” Twilight said, “then perhaps you should make the first move. Again. Only with less trying to kill him. You can’t let this fester, not while you are supposed to work with him. You heard his story, same as I did. I’ve almost never heard him apologize to others, and I think you can understand why, but maybe he will to you. You have to do so first though. Even if he doesn’t… it will be good for you to leave this behind you.”

Leaf Stream’s eyes opened wide, making them glitter with hope somehow, and with the saccharine voice of a young filly said; “And when we both say sorry to each other will faeries come down from golden clouds and give me back my wings grandma Twilight? WIll everything be hunky-dory then?”

Twilight didn’t rise to the bait. “Saying sorry isn’t meant to fix anything. It’s how you’re supposed to start fixing it.”

“I’m going to lie down and rest,” Leaf Stream said with a sudden brooding expression, turning her back on Twilight. “Don’t you have somewhere else to go and be all preachy and wise?”

As a matter of fact, there was somepony else Twilight wanted to talk with. She had been avoiding it for days. Perhaps it was time for her to also make the first move.

“I do. I’ll leave you alone. Think about what I said, and don’t forget to do your exercises.”

“Ok, mom, I will.” Leaf Stream paused. “Thanks for the help.”

“You’re welcome.”

Twilight left. Whether Leaf Stream listened to her advice or not, it was still a victory for Twilight. She didn’t listen to that hate-spewing voice in her head, and every time she didn’t it was fading a little bit more. It had almost vanished soon after Luna awoke.

She was winning.

Twilight had been waiting for her mother to return to the hospital from her shopping trip for over an hour. She sat near the entrance on the edge of a step, watching as ponies came in and out. Ever since the doctors announced that Luna had woken up and was on the road to recovery there had been a resurgence of ponies wanting to meet her or leave something for her.

Twilight wasn’t sure if any of them would get their wish. It had become obvious by now that the gifts and letters they had been showering Luna with were not something she- no, it wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy them, but rather that they were not fulfilling the cause they were meant for.

Luna had been going very slowly through them in private, only keeping Raegdan at her side during the process. She had been separating them into two piles as she went, and hadn’t explained to anypony why yet. As for meeting the ponies flocking to see her, she refused, using her condition as an excuse not to be seen. Princess Celestia tried to change her mind. Twilight and her friends did the same. So did her three guards. Raegdan stayed silent on the matter, refusing to push her in either direction.

It had been a long couple of days since Luna awoke. Twilight had started to miss Ponyville.

She finally saw her mother- actually what she saw first was Cast Iron, laden with bags. Twilight Velvet became visible when they cleared the crowd, holding a couple of bags with her magic herself, as well as the saddlebags on her back.

Twilight rose up as they approached, greeting them. Her mother gave her a quick hug, and Cast Iron smiled quietly. The two minotaurs and Leaf Stream had taken a shining to Twilight Velvet. The thestrals seemed to fear her though. They considered somepony who could unnerve Luna and Raegdan a terrible force to be reckoned with. It was extremely funny in a way, especially how her mother took that fear in stride.

“How come you’re waiting out here for me honey? Why aren’t you with your friends?” Velvet asked as they entered back into the hospital.

“There’s something I’d like to talk with you mom. In private. Do you have time or-”

“Oh honey, I always have time for my little angel.” Twilight Velvet turned to Cast Iron. “Would you please be a dear and take the shopping bags to the kitchens? Leave it all there, I can manage it myself afterwards.”

“It’s really no trouble to-”

“Nonsense dear. You’ve already done too much. Now shoo, and remember, tell Solid Charge and Leaf Stream to be at dinner tonight. I’m making cream puffs drenched in chocolate sauce for dessert.”

The minotaur departed for the staircase with a childish smile on his broad face.

“You’re going to spoil them, aren’t you?” Twilight asked with a giggle. “He seems to be doing much better.”

Twilight Velvet adjusted her saddlebags, and hung the two bags she was still holding in her magic on a little hook on each. “He just needed a good talking to and we did talk a lot while we were out. We found this delightful little ice cream parlor, I must take Spike there one of these days. Such a silly thing to worry over. He believed that because he didn’t feel immediately guilty about killing that griffin, any remorse he felt later was “an emotion he subconsciously manifested in his mind to feel better about himself”. I swear, some ponies -or minotaurs- will reach for the stars before they even consider the simplest explanation. As if there weren’t other things to worry at the moment with all that ruckus and you foals running about, trying to save a princess. Where do you want to talk honey?”

Twilight led the way, her mother following behind, chattering about her shopping trip all the while. Velvet kept telling her daughter about all the “lovely young couples” she saw, along with all the “lovely little foals”, and what a shame it was that Twilight chose to spend all her day in the hospital while she could go outside for a walk and make “new acquaintances.”

Subtlety had never been Twilight Velvet’s strongest point.

Twilight waited for her mother to come inside the small, currently empty office she had secured for this reason, and locked the door, casting a silence spell as a precaution. There was a small table and three simple chairs kept aside. Twilight sat on one of them rather than the tall, high back chair behind the impressive looking desk.

“Ok dear, we’re alone. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?” Velvet asked before her face suddenly brightened with hope. “Oh, don’t tell me! You’ve found a nice stallion to date, haven’t you? Is it a doctor? Oh, tell me it’s a doctor! Is this his office? Am I meeting him?”

“What? No mom, that’s not what I want to talk about,” Twilight said urgently.

“Oh fiddlesticks,” Velvet carefully didn’t curse in exasperation. “But it’s not entirely off the table, is it?”

“Raegdan told me about his daughter,” Twilight said emphatically and distractedly.

Twilight Velvet blinked. She huffed and opened a package she had in of one of the bags she had brought with her, revealing a white sponge cake. She levitated two plastic plates, forks, and a knife out of her saddlebags.

“I think we might need this,” Velvet said, eyeing the cake. “Do you want a piece from the middle or are you old enough to entertain the notion of having one from the edge?”

“I don’t want any, thank you. Mom, he told me how she died. What he did. He told me everything,” Twilight said, feeling the sorrow and grief returning.

“If you think he gave you anything but the extremely censored version then you’re still a little filly. I’m having a piece, are you sure you don’t want one?”

Twilight’s tongue wanted to sing out its longing for that creamy goodness, but she regretfully held it at bay. “Yes. I mean no. I mean, I’m fine. Look, I wanted to talk with you, ask your opinion.”

“We’re talking honey,” Velvet said as the knife cut a corner piece. “Go ahead and ask your questions.”

“Do you think that… because of what happened to her he might had been taking my protection a bit too… thoroughly?”

The cake piece shook and landed haphazardly on the plate, only a smidgen away from splatting on the floor. “I’m… not sure where you’re going with that honey.”

Twilight did her best to fool her mother by adopting the stance and look of a pony that offered an idea that both parties knew was crazy. “Suppose he decided he had to go back to his old ways, because he didn’t trust anypony else to be able to do what he thought necessary. Do you think he would ever do something like it?”

Velvet took a bite out of her cake and searched her daughter’s eyes with a peculiar look. Twilight shifted under the intense stare, feeling drops of nervous sweat slowly soak into her coat.

Twilight Velvet put down her fork, shaking her head in disbelief. “Oh my sweet stars, he told you about the foalnappers, didn’t he?”

What?

What?

Twilight pulled at her mane, like it was the root of all this madness, and felt determined to rip it all off.

“What the fuck?”

Velvet frowned. “Twilight, watch your language.”

“I’m not gonna watch my language!” Twilight screamed, feeling at the end of her rope, the amounted stress she had piled up finally exploding. “Princess Luna has been facing assassination attempts for a year and it looks like she’s ready to crack under all that pressure and contempt she’s feeling, Raegdan is a fucking genocidal alien with suicidal tendencies who went into a killing spree right under our noses, my own mother knew about it and hasn’t told anypony, a Leviathan exploded all over Horseshoe Bay, Raegdan went insane and tried to foalnap a princess to another fucking dimension, a bunch of griffins almost killed both of them, we all got infected with an alien disease that we easily cured with what I just realized is fucking alien medicine, Princess Celestia got into a fight with her sister and we all know how that turned out last time, Princess Celestia doesn’t know even half of the horseapples that’s going on because you have all dragged me into hiding your secrets from her, I think Raegdan and Princess Celestia might have-” Twilight’s anger fought with her instinct to soften the mental blow of self-admittance as much as possible. “-copulated, and I’m almost certain by now, thanks to my wonderful friends, that he definitely did so with Princess Luna! What the Tartarus am I going to find out next? That dad really uses his telescope to peep at Princess Celestia? What else are you hiding from me? How the fuck did you know about that?”

“Sit back down honey,” Velvet said with a patient smile. “And maybe take a few breaths. That was quite the impressive rant.”

“No! Mom, how can you be so-”

“I said, take a seat Twilight Sparkle,” Velvet repeated, this time with all traces of joviality gone. She wore an expression of solemnity that could easily rival, and conquer, Luna’s. That look. The one that said everypony should do as they were told or terrible things would befall them, often at the end of a household item like a large wooden spoon. Sometimes, she would do worse, much worse. She would look them in the eye, tell them that it was her fault they grew up like that, that she was a terrible mother, and then cry.

Nopony ever stood a chance.

Twilight did as her mother asked. It was an explanation she wanted after all. Sitting quietly and refilling her lungs also sounded nice.

Velvet took her seat across her daughter again, looking her in the eye and standing straight on her chair. “Do you know which was the most horrifying moment of my life?” Velvet asked.

“My foalnapping?” Twilight guessed easily, certain of what was going to be said.

“No,” her mother said. “A very close second though. It was when Raegdan told me that he didn’t believe he was going to be able to keep you safe. That one day they’d manage to take you away from us.”

Twilight inhaled sharply through her teeth. “What was he playing at by lying like that to you?”

“Why do you think he was lying?” Velvet asked as she used her magic to pick up the fork and take another bite out of her cake, putting the simple utensil back down immediately after.

“Isn’t it obvious? Mom, he was right beside me almost every single moment there was nopony else around me like Princess Celestia, you and dad, Shining Armor, or Cadance. Half the time he slept on the corridor right outside my door. How was anypony supposed to be able to get to me?”

“By killing him first of course,” Velvet said, matter of factly.

“Oh, like it’s that easy-”

Twilight’s chair vibrated as a deep thunk sounded from the back of the chair. Twilight swiveled her head backwards and saw a letter opener that had been resting on the office before now embedded deep into the wood, its handle still trembling. She turned back to her mother, her mouth gaping open in astonishment. Velvet’s horn had been glowing with magic, but she would never have guessed…

“A simple levitation spell and there goes the most powerful unicorn of this generation. It is that easy,” Velvet said, smiling pleasantly. “Oh, of course you’d have to make sure you only needed one shot because Celestia help you otherwise, but he could die in a second, just like anypony, and he’s acutely aware of this. Do you think he likes keeping everypony scared of him just because it’s funny? Honey, he had been working out how the straps for an armor should fit for years. He just never had the opportunity or proper excuse to have one made until now.”

Twilight shook her head, trying to come back to the right track. “Ok, fine. It is possible, but why did he just tell you this out of the blue…” Twilight let the sentence hang, her brain finally catching up with her tongue.

It wasn’t possible. He would have spoken up, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t just let it slide… oh for Celestia’s sake, of course he wouldn’t say anything! Celestia forbid he actually helped himself.

“Somepony tried to kill him?”

Velvet nodded.

“When? Where?”

“In our very own home,” Velvet said with pure bitterness. “I had left one of the windows in the living room open because it was such a warm night and Raegdan slept on the couch. I only wanted him to be comfortable. They could see just enough to aim for him. He got lucky. He moved in his sleep, probably having another nightmare, the poor colt, and the knife ended in his arm instead of his throat or anywhere else.”

“What happened to those who attacked him? Why didn’t I ever hear about this?” Twilight asked bewildered.

Velvet chuckled, taking another bite of her cake. “Oh honey, I already told you. He didn’t give them a chance for a second shot, or even to shout. He didn’t want to wake you up, and the fools thought he was dead so they got close to him on their own. All he had to do was reach out.”

“He killed them?”

“Of course,” Velvet said with a self evident tone. “What did you expect?”

“But… Why didn’t Princess Celestia ever tell me about this?”

Velvet took another bite, chewing slowly. “Are you sure you don’t want a piece honey? It’s delicious,” she said through a mouthful.

“Mom!”

Velvet rolled her eyes at her daughter’s insistence. “She didn’t because we didn’t tell her. Why else?”

Twilight couldn’t believe her ears. “You… you didn’t tell Princess Celestia?”

“Nope!” Velvet answered with outstanding cheeriness. “Raegdan threw the bodies somewhere that they would be found, so whoever sent them would know they failed. A message, he called it. That happened later of course. First he told me there was only one way to keep you safe for certain and explained what he had found so far to me. He needed help to go any further.” Velvet scraped the plate with the edge of the fork to catch the remains of cream that had stuck on the plate. “He really didn’t want to screw this up.”

“You helped him?” Twilight blanched. “Mom, do you have any idea what he did to these ponies?”

“I didn’t ask for details,” Velvet answered, waving a hoof as if it was of no importance. “Frankly, I didn’t care. I don’t ask the garbage ponies where they take the trash, do I? Hmm, no, that’s a lie. I did ask him where he buried them. As long as I knew where the bodies were so I can take a good long piss on their graves whenever the mood takes me, I was content enough.”

“How can you say something so horrible?” Twilight couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t believe who was saying these things! “You helped him torture and kill ponies! That’s what he did! Mom, there are laws and you walked all over them.”

Velvet pushed the plate away from her, her cake finished. She laid one hoof next to the other, and pursed her lips as she looked upon her progeny. She clicked her hooves together, thinking. Twilight waited.

She didn’t have to wait long. “Twilight, dear, would you like to hear about one of the times I helped?”

“No,” Twilight answered honestly.

“Too bad. I was only asking out of a semblance of courtesy,” Velvet said, her smile gone once more. “I wasn’t able to do as much as the rest, but I did whatever I could. Mostly that involved being a second pair of eyes, making sure nopony saw Raegdan when he grabbed them and took them to the castle where he could do his part. A lookout. One time however, he came out of this one house only to sneak me inside too. Do you know why he brought me there Twilight? What he found?”

Twilight closed her eyes, feeling an unexpected pang of guilt. “A filly?”

Velvet’s eyes watered but her expression and tone remained hard. “It was the most horrible thing I ever saw. A young filly, completely shattered inside,” she said, her hoof thumping at her chest, over her heart.

“I saw where they kept her, I saw the marks of what they did to her… I keep seeing her in my nightmares, only instead of her it’s-” Velvet’s voice broke despite her efforts. She took a deep breath before continuing. “Do you know what the worst part is? She wasn’t even hidden. She was kept in a room, locked by a simple deadbolt. Anypony in there could have taken her out of that house. Nopony did. They let this happen to her. They knew, and chose a monthly salary over their souls,” Velvet said, distraught.

“Mom, I’m- I’m sorry...”

“I had my doubts until then. Moments when I was almost about to go to the Princess and tell her everything, let her clean that mess the proper way. We didn’t let Raegdan go wild you understand. He wasn’t allowed to hurt anypony besides those who we knew were involved for certain, and even then, there were limits, but still...”

Twilight noticed her mother’s hooves were shaking. “Not anymore. Not after seeing that. I took the filly away from there. I took her home, took care of her, and brought her back to her family. I told them what had happened to her. I wish somepony of the others could do this, but I was the only one who could. We found more. Some of the poor dears had…” She sniffled and wiped her nose before continuing. ”Some of them didn’t have the strength left to go on. They… gave up. We didn’t manage to save all of them, but we helped some. We did.”

Velvet glowered at something Twilight could not see. She spoke through her teeth, burning with a reignited rage. “Before I did all that however, I told Raegdan to make sure nopony left that house alive!”

“Mom… I’m trying to understand, I really am-”

“But you can’t,” Velvet finished for her, nodding. “I pray you never will honey.”

“I’m… going to tell Princess Celestia,” Twilight confessed, feeling horrible for saying it. “Not now, not for some time yet, but she should know. It’s not right mom.”

“You go ahead and do that when you believe it’s time honey,” Velvet answered, smiling motherly once more.

Twilight reached for her mother’s hoof. “Mom, I’m serious.”

Velvet put her other hoof over her daughter’s. “So am I. Honey, always do what you think is right. I did. If I am to be punished for it I’ll do so with a smile on my face. I’m not going to cry over my choice, and you shouldn’t either. Don’t worry about me. That’s my job.”

Twilight cast her eyes down. “Mom, is it really that bad out there? Am I really so sheltered that this goes on in Equestria and I knew nothing? I’m learning things I never imagined in my worst nightmares.”

Velvet smiled, patting Twilight’s hoof. “There are bad spots. There always were, and some of them are really bad. It doesn’t mean it outweighs the good. It doesn’t even come close. You… are a bit sheltered honey. A lot of places are like Ponyville. Elsewhere they are not that great, and a few are pretty bad, I’ll admit that, but they’re not the pits of darkness Raegdan imagines. He focuses on the bad side too much, so remember that if he says anything. There are bad ponies, and sometimes they hurt a lot of good ponies, but they’re always stopped one way or another. This wasn’t that different honey. A small bunch of very evil ponies. There are more of them, I won’t lie, but Princess Celestia and her ponies do their job exceptionally well in almost every case.”

“But why didn’t you let them do their job in that case? Why did you have to… to resort to such horrible actions?”

“I was angry at first. I wanted the same thing Raegdan wanted, I’m not going to pretend I didn’t. Then we found the first filly and I decided I wanted this over as soon as possible. Right or wrong, Raegdan got results, fast. There also were other… complications,” Velvet said, hesitantly. “Some of those responsible were very powerful ponies, and letting this go public and to the courts would hurt someponies who didn’t deserve it.”

“So… Rich ponies? Is that how it goes? The rich and powerful are outside the law?”

Velvet tilted her head with an undecided expression. “Not always, but sometimes, yes, it happens. Of course, get outside the law, and some ponies might just decide to go out of it too to stop you. It’s... not a perfect world honey, but as you might have figured out from what Raegdan saw in his travels, it could be so much worse. He didn’t come from a paradise world either you know. I think they had even bigger problems. We’re trying though. It gets a little better each day.”

Twilight moved to the seat next to her mother’s so she could rest her head against her. Velvet nuzzled her and hugged her close.

“I used to think that the world only had big evils, like Nightmare Moon or Discord. I never saw anything really bad though, did I? Nightmare Moon was so broken she never really tried, and Discord was only playing around. What good am I if I can’t stop the real threats?” Twilight said, dejected.

Velvet caressed her daughter’s mane. “Oh honey, cheer up. You saved the world, you really did. Nightmare Moon was dangerous enough even so to take out Princess Celestia, and Discord wasn’t going to keep fooling around forever.”

“Maybe. All this however, all this plotting, all these threats, lies, and knives in the back, all these ponies that would hurt even foals like that… What am I supposed to do about them? How do you stop them?” Twilight asked, feeling deeply troubled.

Twilight’s mother hugged her even closer and rocked her like she used to do when Twilight was a filly. “I’m no princess Twilight, but it seems to me that you’d do it the same way you stopped everything else. You gather your friends around you, and do your best.”

Twilight nodded and pushed her muzzle against her mother’s coat, feeling not better, but comforted at least. “Thank you mom.”

Velvet let go of her daughter and stood up, striking her hooves on the floor in an attempt to remove the numbness that had grown in, and taking a deep, invigorating breath. “Now, it’s almost time for lunch. How about you come down to the hospital’s kitchen with me and help me organize everything I bought? It will be just like old times. Quit worrying your head over this. When it’s time you will tell Princess Celestia, and you will make sense out of this mess with her help.”

Twilight got up. It was… true. That didn’t make it less painful. It was hard enough when she dreaded the thought of- of betraying only one of her loved ones. Now… was she really going to be cold-hearted enough to- to...

“Mom,” Twilight said, halting her mother before leaving the room. “You said “we didn’t let Raegdan go wild.” There were others involved?”

Velvet sighed. “Twilight, you didn’t think just two ponies could pull this off without Princess Celestia realizing what was going on, did you?”

Twilight hesitated. “Was… was one of them dad? Or Shining Armor?”

Velvet chuckled. “Oh no. Those two? I kept them out of it. Your dad figured out that I was doing something dangerous, but I told him not to ask me anything. I’m sorry Twilight, but I don’t think I should say more on the matter. You’re upset enough as it is. It’s in the past, and you don’t need to worry about the future. Just focus on what you need to do right now, ok honey?”

“I… ok. Let’s go.”

“Though… “copulated?” I don’t like how you seem to be so wary of something as natural as sex. Perhaps you need a long awaited talk, one that is not just about the mechanics,” Velvet said as she opened the door.

“Oh my Celestia, mom no, please!” Twilight said, terrified.

“And I know exactly where you’re getting it from! Princess Luna and Raegdan, eh? Hmm. I might have grandfoals from that colt after all if they decide to adopt. They certainly weren’t fooling me by pretending that Raegdan keeps accidentally falling asleep while on her bed every night. Your friend Rarity is a fashion designer, right? What does she know about wedding dresses?”

“No mom, no. Don’t talk to Rarity about this, I’m serious! Mom, don’t laugh! You stay away from Rarity!”

“Ya know Rarity, ah wouldn’t say no to getting some more sleep in,” Applejack said, yawning. “Just sayin’, we should take advantage of the quiet and all.”

“I quite agree with you Applejack,” Rarity said as she walked next to Applejack, heading for the stairwell that would take them down and out of the hospital. “Which is exactly why we should use this opportunity to go out and relax a bit. See the sights, meet some ponies, remove the scent of disinfectant from our manes.”

“Ah was relaxing pretty fine on mah own bed, but fine. Who else’s coming along?”

“Rainbow went for some flying but she should be getting back any second now. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Spike will join us later, and I saw Twilight sitting outside the entrance some time ago. We can pick her up as we leave.”

“Right,” Applejack said, making a small detour to avoid a pegasus stallion that was mopping the stairs, making his way upwards.

She let out another small yawn and pulled her hat lower, to stop the sun shining through the large windows lighting up the staircase from glaring into her eyes. Truth be told she had started to get bored a bit just lying around, though that didn’t mean she was up to another round of madness so soon.

“Excuse me, sir?” Rarity had stopped to address the janitor they passed. “I wanted to remind you that the guards don’t allow ponies without permission on the top floor. I wouldn’t want to see you dragging your heavy cart all the way up for no reason.”

The pegasus chuckled good naturedly at Rarity. “That’s ok miss, but thank you. Hey, at worst I’ll just bribe them to let me do my job with a cucumber sandwich.”

Applejack almost tripped on her own legs as she froze on spot when she heard him say “cucumber”, enunciating the word. Any drowsiness she still felt was gone when she heard the wrong password. Besides, janitors didn’t carry their carts up the stairs. There were cleaning supplies on every floor. She turned back, looking up at the stallion that wasn’t a janitor. His smile slowly faded as he realized their reactions were off.

“Alright mister, why don’t ya wait here a while and-”

The pegasus didn’t wait for her. He threw his mop and kicked the bucket towards them. The wooden handle hit Applejack in the forehead, and the bucket emptied its dirty contents on them, blinding them.

“My mane!” Rarity screamed, feeling the majority of the muddy water that hit them run down the tendrils of her destroyed coiffure, all the way to her back and chest. “Oh, I’m gonna pluck your eyes out for that,” she promised with a deep menacing growl.

“After him!” Applejack yelled. She cleared her eyes enough to see the stallion trying to pull his cart of janitorial supplies up the steps. Unfortunately for him, Applejack and Rarity’s shouts were enough to attract the attention of the thestrals guarding the corridor above.

The stallion abandoned his cart and ran up the stairs. Two thestrals blocked the top with their bodies while another two swooped above them, heading for the incoming pegasus.

In a flash of magic the stallion was gone. The thestrals looked around them, stunned. Applejack and Rarity were looking in the right direction to see him teleporting behind them, neatly avoiding the thestrals.

Applejack had no idea how a pegasus could do that, and she didn’t care. She squeezed through the thestrals who hadn’t had time to look behind them yet. They got wind of what happened fast enough, and were following right behind her. Their quarry ran down the corridor, unerringly heading towards Luna’s room.

He didn’t have a chance of course. Even if the thestrals in the entrance weren’t able to stop him, he would have to deal with Raegdan, and then Luna herself. He didn’t stand a chance, but Applejack wouldn’t let him even try anything. He was fast but she was much faster. Echoes of hooves striking the tiled floor, and of leather wings flapping, filled the corridors, advancing on their position. The thestrals were quick and spread strategically around the floor. They would catch him in less than a minute, unless he managed to avoid them with his teleporting trick again, and Celestia knows what damage he was planning to do until then.

Applejack’s solution was pragmatic enough. She would catch him now.

When she got close enough she jumped, pushing hard with every ounce of strength of her hind legs, gaining that little needed burst of speed. Her hooves reached for his back and her teeth clamped on his left wing. No matter how determined he was, the pain would stop him dead right then and there. It worked on Rainbow, it would work on-

Applejack landed on the floor, the stallion getting away from her. She closed her eyes as she struck the floor with her jaw. She had no idea how he escaped her. She was sure she had caught him. She opened her eyes. Yep, she totally did. She still had his wing in her teeth.

Her eyes crossed as she tried to make sense of what she saw. A whole pegasus wing was ripped out in front of her, the end of it caught in her mouth.

The thestrals following them caught up and flew for the stallion, screeching in fury. Applejack saw the disguised janitor stop and turn towards his pursuers. He pulled off his janitorial cap, revealing a unicorn’s horn beneath. Applejack finally understood. The sneaky bloke had disguised himself as a pegasus and what she had ripped off was a fake wing.

The thestrals weren’t prepared for this. They were expecting to fight against a pegasus, not a unicorn, They were too close together. A spell fired off the newly revealed unicorn horn. Magic took shape in front of him even as it rushed to meet the thestrals, forming a glob. It crashed on them, splashing them with a strange substance that brought them down, no longer able to move their wings or legs properly.

Applejack had been lying low enough to avoid it. She got up, and charged again, hoping he wouldn’t be able to fire off the spell again so soon.

He didn’t. Instead, he pulled a large dagger out of his uniform, slashing horizontally across him with his magical grip. Applejack barely managed to stop, breaking her run by pressing all four legs down. She leaned back as much as she could. The tip crossed close enough by her throat to feel the air move against her coat.

The unicorn pressed the attack. Applejack retreated, not having any way to fight back. The dagger did not relent. It swung downwards and it slashed across her shoulder and chest. She immediately felt blood running down her body.

She called out for help, desperately. “Somepony, help! He’s got a knife!” She backed again, her eyes locked on the bloodied weapon. The unicorn saw her move back and paused. Applejack knew this was her chance to get out, but if she did he would get away, and another pony might be hurt in her place. Granny Smith didn’t raise no coward pony. She’d stand her ground, to the bitter end if she had to.

The moment of trying to decide whether to kill the mare in front of him or try to reach his main target cost the attacker dearly. He hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings. A cyan pegasus came flying down from the side, speeding down the corridor leading to them, her teeth grinding angrily against each other.

“Hey, jerk! Stay away from my friend!”

The stallion tried to turn, but he couldn’t possibly do so in time. Rainbow Dash was too fast. She kicked the stallion right on the ribs with all the force of her flying charge, launching him to the opposite side.

There were large glass panes in some walls, almost covering them top to bottom, to allow sunlight through and illuminate the hospital. Solid Charge had ordered them painted over, to stop anypony from spying through, and if somepony was thinking of teleporting inside he would have to do so blindly, risking his life.

The stallion crashed on one such glass pane. Sunlight burst through, lighting up the half darkened corridor. Glass fell outwards in large shards, following the stallion as he fell out of sight.

“Applejack, are you ok?” Rainbow Dash asked, caught in the panic of the moment.

“Yeah, ah’m fine,” Applejack answered quickly. “It’s mostly a scratch. Ah’m ok. Rainbow-”

Rainbow Dash breathed out in relief. “I’m glad. Look Applejack, I’m going to go after that pegasus before he flies off too far. Tell the guards to come find me, ok?”

“Rainbow, he wasn’t-”

Rainbow stood at the precipice of the broken window, looking down. Her expression was turning into one of full blown panic and horror. “Applejack… Applejack, why didn’t he fly? Why- why is he so still down there?”

The thestrals arrived at that moment, converging around them from all directions, only seconds too late.

Rainbow was shivering so hard that they had brought her a blanket to cover herself. It didn’t really help, but it did give her some little comfort as did the hot tea. She wasn’t drinking it, but she seemed content enough to hold it. Fluttershy had sat next to her childhood friend, and Rainbow rested her head in her friend’s lap like a scared filly. Rarity and Pinkie were also there, doing everything they could, even if it was nothing at all. The only ones missing were Applejack herself who had taken root next to the door of the surgery room, just a few meters away, and Twilight and Spike who were still up there, inspecting the cart the stallion had been so insistent on trying to pull up at first.

A nurse came running out of the operating room. Applejack tried to take hold of her to ask her what was going on, but she was ignored yet again. The stallion was obviously in bad straits, which made it all the worse for Rainbow.

“I’m a murderer,” Rainbow kept repeating. “I’m a murderer. I killed him. I- I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t, I thought he was a pegasus, I saw the wing, I didn’t notice the horn… I thought he was going to fly,” she choked, crying.

Fluttershy was stroking her friend’s mane like a mother trying to soothe her foal. Rarity kept trying to speak some sense into Rainbow. “Rainbow, sweetie, please. It’s not your fault. You couldn’t know.”

“I didn’t see the horn! He had a horn and I didn’t see it…”

“There was so much going on, and Applejack was in danger. Everything’s going to be fine. The doctors are fixing him up as we speak. The worst you did was hurt him a little bit, and nopony is blaming you for that.”

“I’m a murderer… I’m a murderer…” Rainbow kept saying, refusing to listen to Rarity.

Applejack heard hoofsteps behind her. She was so far on edge, everything had taken a crystal clear clarity. She would almost swear she could hear her own blood rushing through her veins. Twilight was finally coming to join them along with Twilight Velvet.

Velvet immediately headed for Rainbow Dash, gently pushing Fluttershy aside. She hugged Rainbow, and the pegasus in turn held on to the older pony like she was drowning, dropping the cup she was holding. It fell and shattered, splashing Rarity’s legs, who said nothing. Velvet started rocking Rainbow and whispering in her ear.

“Twilight,” Applejack said. “Everything’s ok? Where’s Spike?”

“He’s with Luna. Raegdan doesn’t want him to come down here. Are you ok?”

Applejack gently touched the gauzes the doctors had put over the shallow gash. “Ah’m fine. Barely more than a scratch really. Had worse happen to me on the farm. What happened? Found anything?”

Twilight let out a trembling breath. “It was a bomb.”

“Pardon?”

“The cart. He had hidden a rune matrix inside that was collecting magic in insane rates. He had even hidden nails in there, whole boxes of them, to act as shrapnel. He could blow up most of the floor with that. He almost did. It hadn’t stopped collecting magic. It was a matter of time until it blew up.”

“Oh mah Celestia,” Applejack whispered. She could scarcely believe how close they had come to ponies dying. If Rarity hadn’t stopped there to say anything… “That’s probably why he was running around. He must have wanted to make Luna or Raegdan come out, even get them near the cart if he could. You stopped it, right?”

“Yes,” Twilight said. “Normally we would try to take it away from everypony and let it explode on its own since the runes looked too complicated and we had no idea how much time we had. We’re lucky that Raegdan was able to stop it easily.”

“Really? How?”

“He just bled over the darned thing and then we scratched some of the runes off. It’s just a hunk of metal now. He’s coming down too, along with the others. How’s Rainbow?”

Applejack turned to watch her guilt-ridden friend. She had finally stopped her litany, but she was still trembling in Velvet’s hooves. “Not that good. She probably saved mah life there, but that isn’t what’s on her mind right now, ya know?” She explained Rainbow’s condition to Twilight as clearly as she understood it.

Twilight bit on her lower lip as she watched poor Rainbow. “What are the doctors saying? Is he going to make it?”

“Ah don’t know Twilight, Ah- oh hey, here’s Raegdan.” Raegdan joined them with Solid Charge and Leaf Stream by his side. He was walking barefoot, covered in nothing but his bandages and the short hospital dress, but he still looked intimidating, even next to the large, healthy minotaur. It was the way he stood, and the glare of his eyes. You didn’t have to know him at all to understand that there stood somepony shimmering with barely contained rage.

“Any word from inside yet?” he asked straight away.

“Not yet,” Applejack said. “Truth be told, ah don’t think he’ll make it. Ah saw him when they brought him in.”

“What do the doctors say?”

“They ain’t speaking to me.”

“They’ll speak to me,” Raegdan growled. He turned to Solid Charge. “Get in there, and find out everything. I want to know exactly what to expect. If they refuse to answer for any reason tell them that I am coming for answers next.” Solid Charge nodded and pushed the operating doors open. Ponies rushed to stop him. He was talking to them as the doors behind him swiveled shut on their hinges.

“Raegdan, how come that pony knew that password?” Applejack asked.

“Ponies found one of the thestrals out on the streets. Someone caught her and beat her almost to death, but not nearly enough. She was actually crawling to come warn us when they found her. She gave them the wrong password despite what they tried. Good girl. She’s gonna be fine after a few weeks. Cast Iron is staying with her to see if she can tell us anything more.” Raegdan had noticed the commotion nearby. “What’s wrong with your friend? I thought she wasn’t hurt.”

Applejack explained once more what was happening to Rainbow. Raegdan listened attentively without commenting. Leaf Stream sighed and spared Rainbow a sympathetic glance midway.

“Guilt?” Raegdan asked, dumbfounded. “She’s feeling guilt?”

“Yeah, hard to believe, ah know,” she said, sarcastically. “She probably saved mah life if that pony decided to jump me, but that doesn’t mean she’s taking it easy that a pony might die because of her. Someponies don’t like knowing they killed,” Applejack answered, feeling a little peeved.

“Hmm,” Raegdan grumbled, and crossed his arms. He stood with them waiting silently, but his eyes were on Rainbow Dash, watching Velvet cradle her, not the doors.

Solid Charge came out, looking grim. Rainbow spotted him, and starting quietly sobbing anew at his expression.

“It doesn’t look good,” the minotaur said quietly. “They’re still trying as much as they can, but that might not be enough. He split his head open, and lost a lot of blood. Broken bones, crushed organs, lacerations from the glass… There’s some chance, even considering all that damage, that he might make it alive. Whether that’s for good or just long enough to ask him a few questions, they cannot know. We will have to be fast.”

“There’s that at least,” Leaf Stream said. “She ain’t gonna take it well when he kicks the bucket.” She carefully avoided looking at Rainbow Dash, but her tone said it all.

“I’m going to go talk to Rainbow,” Twilight said. Raegdan just nodded, his eyes still on the pegasus. Twilight joined the others, but unlike what she just said she didn’t talk. She simply stood there, letting her presence say everything.

Raegdan tapped his fingers against his elbow as his arms lay crossed across his chest, thinking. “Come with me,” he told the two Lunar guards after a while, walking a few steps away from Applejack.

He started talking with them, arguing from the looks of it. Solid Charge and Leaf Stream didn’t seem to agree at first, but whatever Raegdan said quickly swayed them, though they didn’t look happy about it. Leaf Stream left the group and trotted away. The two biped beings came back to stand with Applejack once again.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Raegdan said. “Guard stuff. Don’t worry about it.”

It took a while until Leaf Stream returned. She was carrying Raegdan’s hammer with her. Applejack didn’t like that. She didn’t like it much at all. She liked it so little, it was heading speedily towards the opposite direction. In essence, she pretty much hated it.

Leaf Stream gave the weapon to the tall alien.

“She says go for it,” Leaf Stream said, reeling in surprise even as she said it.

Raegdan nodded and turned to Solid Charge. The minotaur nodded back and together they marched through the doors.

Twilight called out for Applejack. “Applejack, what’s going on? What are they doing?”

“Ah don’t know Twilight,” she answered, finally coming to sit with the rest of her friends. Rainbow Dash was watching the doors, as did Velvet. Where Rainbow’s expression was one of surprise, question, and dread, Velvet’s was harder to determine. Her mouth was straight, with just the ends curving up slightly in a tiny smile.

Shouts echoed all the way outside the surgery. Ponies were yelling. Solid Charge was yelling back. Silence. A few outraged cries that were quickly silenced. Raegdan roared for somepony to shut up. It all became quiet again, quiet enough to hear a mare crying inside. The doors slammed open and three nurses left running. They heard a lone voice, extremely loud and clear, that Applejack identified as Luna’s doctor.

“Please, don’t! We just got him stable! He’s going to live!”

A crashing, breaking sound made them jump in their seats.

They sat still, mostly silent apart their pounding hearts and swallowing with dry throats, waiting.

Raegdan casually walked back outside. He held his hammer in his right hand. Blood dripped from it, a thick, almost brown sludge, nothing like the bright red Applejack would have expected. Solid Charge came out next and Raegdan handed over his hammer to Leaf Stream.

“Get somebody to clean that up for me if you can, will you?”

He then walked towards them, stopping in front of Rainbow. Everypony but Velvet was looking at him with wide, scared eyes. He talked sternly to Rainbow with a cruel looking smile.

“Next time, do try to do something more serious than breaking a couple of legs and ribs. If they believe we are soft with them or that we will tolerate these kind of attacks they will only get worse.” He didn’t wait for Rainbow to answer, even if she could. She was looking at his back as he turned away, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

Raegdan spoke, almost growling out each word, to Solid Charge. “They hurt one of our thestrals. They almost killed Applejack. They would have killed Twilight and her friends. Velvet. My little flame. They wanted to kill Luna. I want them found, and I want Celestia kept away from them. They are mine, and I’ll make good use of every second I have them in my hands! We are not letting them get away with it this time. It’s dead bodies they want? They’ll get them.” Solid Charge nodded grimly next to him, looking almost as furious as Raegdan. The two large creatures left with heavy steps, fists shaking with anger at their sides.

“But… but he- he didn’t-” Twilight stammered. Applejack put a hoof over her mouth, before Rainbow noticed her.

“Let it go Twilight. Just let it go,” she whispered.

Rainbow finally found her voice. “He- I didn’t kill him? But he fell from so high and he looked like…”

Rarity quickly grabbed the opportunity. “See? Like I told you. Honestly Rainbow, what did you expect? Ponies have survived worse. You were worrying over fantasies of guilt. I really don’t understand all that drama. There’s no chance you’d ever hurt anypony like that. You simply don’t have it in you.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie agreed. “Besides, I’ve fallen from roofs plenty of times and I didn’t get hurt at all!”

Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, but you’re practically made of candy floss,” she laughed with sudden relief. She immediately covered her mouth with a guilty look. “I- I shouldn’t be laughing, he still died, but I really thought I- I thought that I-”

“You did nothing sweetie,” Velvet said. “You heard them. You barely hurt him. He killed himself by trying to hurt Princess Luna. Now, what do you say we leave, drink something hot, and leave this tragedy behind us? Come, I’ll make hot cocoa for all of us.”

“Applejack,” Twilight whispered to her. “Should I- should I go speak to him? Should I go tell Princess Celestia what happened?”

“Just let it go Twilight,” Applejack answered again. “It’s better this way. It’s how it would have ended anyway, one way or another.”

“Was- was this the right thing to do? He would have died anyway, but- but what if...”

“And then Raegdan would get to ask him his questions. I don’t think he’d let him off anyway. All in all, he got lucky.”

“I…” Twilight looked back at Rainbow smiling tentatively at Pinkie’s antics, Velvet smiling along with her, still holding her. “Maybe you’re right. Don’t… don’t tell the others. Rainbow shouldn’t find out.”

“Ah won’t,” Applejack promised.

It was better this way, Applejack almost really believed that. It’s what annoyed her so greatly too. Things shouldn’t be better because somepony died. They shouldn’t. It didn’t feel right. It wasn’t, but at the same time it was. Would she have felt the same if it didn’t involve one of her friends? Would she rather somepony live a few hours longer in exchange for a lifetime of guilt for another? Did it matter?

Gosh darn it. She really thought she had life figured out by now.