The train, carrying the light load of only a few carriages, was crossing miles with insurmountable speed. Nearby trees were a furious blur, distant hills and mountains were slowly but steadily presenting a moving profile, and a certain city clinging on the side of a mountain was becoming larger by the minute.

Those carried by this contraption of metal and wood were currently seated on thick, cushioned seats that strived to absorb the unending vibrations and shocks offered by their ride. Everypony, except a small foal that had recently lost half of its remaining family. It was temporarily forgotten now, as tragedy tends to do in the minds of the young, by a much more immediate concern.

“Higher! Higher!”

Raegdan half groaned, but his leg, with the knee draped over the arm of a red seat, kicked harder. Stormdrain was clutching a small, dark doll under his chin and was riding the plated shin. With every kick of the leg his little body flew in the air, laughing in childish delight, his front hooves barely able to hold on the ankle of the armored giant, landing back on the soft blanket placed over the steel armor to protect his soft parts from any errant sharp edges.

Twilight turned around so she could look over the back of her seat. Stormdrain’s laughter filled the carriage, joined by Pinkie Pie’s who took position in front of him and hopped along in sync. Luna had laid down on her seat and placed another blanket over Raegdan’s other leg, using it as a cushion for her head. Celestia only knew how she found that comfortable. It must have been like lying on a mossy rock full of sharp corners.

“Higher!” Stormdrain giggled. “I want to reach the stars.”

“So, a backflip over me and have you land right on Princess Luna then?” Raegdan teased.

“Noooo!” Stormdrain laughed. “A little higher, no backflips.”

She spent a few moments watching Stormdrain play. Spike used to do the same, she remembered. Raegdan would sit on a chair or a couch, often paying attention to something else entirely, and Spike would climb on his leg where Raegdan would start bouncing him without even noticing at first.

She was certain, absolutely and utterly convinced, that Raegdan liked playing with foals, giving them attention or being around them. She had a new insight on why now, and perhaps it had indeed only started as a desire to act better for his girl’s sake, but somewhere on the way he found true enjoyment in that. She liked to think that Spike and she deserved most of the praise for that real change in him. On the same way however, she was almost certain that he liked hurting ponies, people, anypony, as much as he liked spending time with foals. Maybe… maybe even more in some ways.

She wondered if violence could be an addiction as much as any drug could be. No, she refuted that idea, she couldn’t believe that’s what it was. It was too simple an explanation. It was a formless idea, but Twilight had asked herself a couple of times if perhaps Raegdan, for all his talk of how cruel and unfair life was, liked…

If he liked that it was so, or wanted it to be this way. If there was something reaffirming for him in the belief that nothing ended well, despite how he seemed to fight and struggle against it, despite how he clearly enjoyed some of the things his beliefs mocked.

It was a strange dichotomy. One she wasn’t sure if she was even reading right.

What Twilight was interested in right now though was what kept stealing Raegdan’s attention. Her adopted father kept staring at the wall, away from everypony or everything else that he could possibly be looking at, his head slowly swiveling as if keeping something in sight. Rarity had whispered to her that he had been doing the same thing when they were leaving Canterlot.

“Is it a rift?” Twilight asked.

Raegdan’s helmet whirled to her direction, sounding distracted. “What?”

“What you are staring at,” Twilight defined. “Is there a rift nearby?”

Raegdan nodded. His leg had almost stopped moving. Stormdrain shook the armored foot he was holding onto in frustration and Raegdan started kicking again, eliciting another round of laughs from the young colt.

“We should take some protective measures until we can properly research them. What if somepony accidentally steps into it?” Twilight asked, feeling concerned.

“It’s fine,” Raegdan assured her. “This one’s in a cave. It’s a whole network of tunnels down there, and I’ve hidden the entrance anyway. Placed some traps too, in case something pops in. It’s safe enough.”

“What if somepony innocent accidentally comes through?”

Raegdan shrugged.

Rainbow Dash climbed over her own seat from the other side of the carriage. “Wouldn’t it be easier to simply block it? Collapse the entrance or… hey, idea! What if you placed a giant rock right on top of it? Then nothing could go through.”

“If that works. And how am I supposed to move a rock huge enough to cover it? Besides, you get too close you go through, remember?” Raegdan pointed out, absent minded.

“I could do it with my magic,” Twilight offered.

“No,” Raegdan said quietly. “Getting your magic close might be enough for it to grab you. Best plan is to stay away from them. Nothing else. I doubt it would work. I’ve never happened to see one in the ground or blocked by… huh. That’s weird. Doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it?”

“Ah well,” Rainbow conceded, sitting back on her seat. “At least you could bring the cave entrance down, right? That would work.”

Raegdan gave a non-committal grunt. Twilight frowned at him.

“Raegdan…” she warned.

“We’re almost back in Canterlot,” he tried to topic-change. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

Twilight’s plan to break into a small tirade was supplanted by Mint’s shy appearance. “Um, excuse me, Princess Luna? Am I disturbing you?”

“No,” Luna answered as she laid on her side with her eyes kept closed. “Is there something you require?”

“No, I, uh, simply… wanted to thank you again. For the job and- and for helping me pay for the funeral,” Mint said, speaking softly. “Thank you for extending your stay. It would have been awful if it was just Stormdrain and I there.”

“It was no trouble,” Luna dismissed, sounding tired. “We had to stay longer for Night Lilly’s funeral too, as well as other complications that arose.” Luna huffed in dismay. “I haven’t been able to get a smidgen on sleep in this noisy contraption.”

“Still, thank you, Princess. For everything.”

“Alright, that is enough. You are welcome, Mint.” Luna waved the earth pony away with her hoof, but Twilight could easily see her blush. “Please, let me get a few minutes of rest now.”

Raegdan lowered his leg, allowing Stormdrain to dismount. “Off with you, kid. One minute longer of this and my leg will fall off. Go sit with your sister, we will be arriving soon.”

“Ok, mister,” Stormdrain said obediently. As he passed next to Twilight and Rarity’s seats he stopped to address the white unicorn. “Miss Rarity?”

“Yes, my little darling?”

“Thank you for the doll,” Stormdrain said, presenting the large, felt likeness of his brother that Rarity made for him. He pulled it back to him, and unexpectedly rushed up, climbing the seat, to pop a quick kiss on Rarity’s cheek.

“Oh, you are just precious!” Rarity squealed, hugging the little colt. “But you should thank Pinkie Pie too. It was her idea.”

Pinkie Pie quickly hopped right in, giggling. “Ooh, I want a kissy too! Kiss, kiss!” she shouted and presented her own cheek for its own merits award. “Eeeeeee!” she chirped, holding a hoof on her damp cheek, almost reaching the ceiling with her jumps.

Twilight spotted Solid Charge leaning towards Cast Iron. “Not even ten and he’s got them melting on his hooves.” The minotaurs laughed together.

“Princess Luna?” Mint asked once more, hesitating.

“Yes?”

“Stormdrain has been telling me how he plays with Tar in his dreams, and I’ve also been—”

“Go and let me rest, Mint. Just go,” Luna groaned.

Mint did as asked, mouthing a heartfelt thank you at the unaware princess first, taking her brother away from the two mares that had been taking turns on nuzzling sessions, and sat in the front of the carriage.

“Princess Luna?” Twilight gently called out. The Alicorn grunted affirmatively that she was listening. “Pinkie Pie is also doing a lot better than we would have expected. Have you been interjecting in her dreams?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Thank—”

“As well as Applejack’s, Rarity’s, Fluttershy’s, Rainbow’s, and yours.”

“Wha—Mine? But I haven’t had any dreams at all!”

“You simply don’t remember them,” Luna casually said. “Can I get a few minutes of rest, please? It takes a toll on me now. The body rests but the mind does not. I would appreciate some peace.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m really sorry.” She almost turned away before remembering herself. “Thank you.” She sat back down, going back into her thoughts.

Luna was a different riddle of her own, Twilight thought as she took one more glance at the Alicorn dozing off with a slight smile on her lips. She didn’t dare ask her questions outright, mostly because she wasn’t sure what the right questions were yet. Luna was nothing like Princess Celestia, not when you looked a little deeper than the surface she presented most of the time.

Princess Celestia always had a grace, a way of standing that defined what royal poise was. Luna was like that, though a more severe, austere version, at least at first glance. But when she thawed enough, felt comfortable enough with her surroundings, the grandstanding was mostly abandoned with no second thought, and then…

She acted like this, Twilight told herself in wonder, looking back at the princess sprawled on a row of seats in a way that reminded her of Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t much the way she spoke, but her body language. Especially when Raegdan was around.

Not with other ponies though, which was another issue that puzzled Twilight altogether. Luna… she was very definite of her notion to protect ponies in the abstract, but at the same time she was too cold about their wellbeing, changing her outlook once more at the opposite direction for those really close to her. It was confusing, to say the least.

Duty, that’s what she always called it. A strange word to make a point of using. Was there a specific meaning behind it? Twilight would describe her own role as the bearer of the Element of Magic or her own talent as an honor, a calling, her charge, her role in life, and yes, her duty as well. Luna though, always and only called it her duty—

No, that was… that was wrong, wasn’t it? The story those Thestrals had told her, back at the hospital. When Luna returned to them back before her banishment, bringing the remains of her last attempt at a Lunar Guard, she had called it her choice not her duty. She couldn’t remember an occasion where Luna had done this in her presence, but the Thestrals guarding Luna’s door had been adamant about that. The weight of her choice. Huh.

Twilight got deeper into her thoughts, circling around words and their meaning. She completely forgot to ask more about the rift as she had been planning to.

“Last stop: Canterlot. Please exit the train in a calm and orderly fashion.”

Twilight fastened her saddlebags on her back and got up on her legs, covertly shaking her rear to shake off the metaphorical pins n’ needles. “I can scarcely believe we’re back. It feels like we’ve been gone forever.”

“It has been a stressful few weeks, darling,” Rarity pointed out. “It’s only natural it feels so. I, for one, can’t wait until we get back to Ponyville. I’ve missed my boutique.” She paused for a beat. “And the spa.”

Cast Iron walked up to Rarity, his steps a little unbalanced after such a long trip on the train. “Miss Rarity, where would you like us to unload your bags?”

“Oh, just have the baggage carriers take them to the station’s warehouse. I’ll be loading them up again very soon, hopefully.” It was a good thing that there was somepony else to load Rarity’s baggage this time and they didn’t have to rely on Raegdan’s help or for him to carry them through the countryside. Otherwise Rarity would have been wailing nonstop on the way back, mourning for her lost purchases.

Twilight went up to open the train doors, but somepony else got to them first. A pink blur charged through and Twilight fell on the floor with a startled “eep”. Light pink hooves settled next to Twilight head, soft wings unfurled, and she found herself looking at a reflection of herself in purple eyes.

“Welcome back, Twilight! I’ve missed you so much!”

“Cadance!” Twilight joyfully shouted and hugged her former foalsitter with enough strength to break Cadance’s neck if it wasn’t for her Alicorn strength. Cadance for her part seemed to revel in the strong hug. “Oh, I’ve missed you too!”

They both let go, allowing Cadance to stand up and help Twilight to her hooves. “Aunt Celestia told me you were back and that you were fixing everything back to normal,” Cadance said, glowing with joy.

Twilight’s smile faded a little. “I wouldn’t exactly say that…”

“Oh come on,” Cadance urged her, nuzzling her for good measure. “You have no idea how bad things had gotten by the time—”

Raegdan had half laid on his seat during the last minutes of their trip. He rose, swaying a little. Luna, looking drowsy enough, got up at his side. “What’s all that shouting for—”

“You’re back!” Cadance screamed in sheer joy, her voice shrill enough to make glass rattle. The Alicorn slammed with impressive speed onto Raegdan’s upper body, latching on him, and almost forcing him to the floor.

“Hey, Twilight, who’s that?” Applejack asked, curious.

“Oh, right. That’s Princess Cadance, she used to foalsit me.” Twilight went on to explain her relationship with the high-spirited Alicorn, all the time keeping an eye on what was happening.

“Oh sweet heavens,” Raegdan exasperatedly said though his helmet. One of his hands coiled around Cadance to hold her steady and to keep her from falling. “You’re the one who keeps going away on ‘lessons’ and stuff, how am I the one who’s back? Where have you been anyway?”

“Here and there. Aunt Celestia has been sending me to discourse and mingle with various dignitaries, and preside in her place on some aggressive negotiations.” Cadance fluttered her wings with pride, puffing her chest. “I had to use my skills as a mediator, show poise and dignity—”

Raegdan’s fingertips danced on her ribs and she fell on the floor, screaming in sudden laughter and twisting to protect herself. Raegdan crouched over her, his hands finding every undefended angle and tickling mercilessly.

“S- Stop! For—hahaha—Celestia’s sake, st—hahaha—stop!”

“Come on,” Raegdan dared her. “Where is that rumored poise and dignity?”

“Nooo! Twilight, help!”

Twilight made a step forward. Then she took two back. Raegdan had two hands. Tickle attacks were, as Spike had ordained them, serious business, and the rules had been established in ancient times, over mattress battlefields and carpeted graveyards of the fallen: Everypony for themselves.

His assault was cut short a minute afterwards as Cadance, breathless and helpless, in one of her twitching moves managed to accidentally kick Raegdan’s armored head with her back hoof.

“Ow,” he said in a monotone, pulling back.

“Are you hurt?” Twilight worried.

Raegdan re-adjusted his helmet. “Making this bucket was one of my best ideas. I’m fine. Cadance, still with us?”

Cadance huffed as she stood up breathing heavily, though the smile never left her. “So, no more hating aunt Celestia?”

“I never hated—”

“Tut, tut!” Cadance interrupted with a hoof, bonking his helm. “You can’t lie about love and hate to me, not even you, remember?”

“You know, it might not hurt, but it rings in my ears. Wearing this doesn’t mean it grants you permission to turn me deaf.”

“Speaking of which, that is one gloomy helmet you made. Take it off, come on, let me see you,” Cadance grinned.

Raegdan’s carefully removed the helmet, revealing the tight cloth hood he wore underneath. “The helmet gets off but not this. I have a few new scars, I’d prefer not to show my face until they heal enough,” he said in answer to Cadance’s questioning look.

“I don’t mind the scars. None of us ever did.”

“You will mind these ones. They ooze. The hood stays on, you little minx.”

“I’ve really missed you,” Cadance laughed.

Raegdan shuffled on his feet, looking down at Cadance. “Thanks,” he coughed. After a beat—and an intense, expecting stare from the pink Alicorn—he continued in a much lower voice. “I’ve missed you too.”

“Now that we’re done with that…” Cadance smiled slyly as she turned her head to her next target. “Hello, aunt Luna.” Luna took a step back and turned her head sideways, suddenly interested to look out one of the windows.

“Welcome back,” the pink Alicorn said to the darker one, stalking towards her.

“Greetings, niece,” Luna greeted coldly, taking a step back for each step forward of Cadance’s.

Cadance smirked. “Distance is futile, aunt Luna. I will hug you,” she proclaimed, and pounced.

Raegdan managed to yank her back by the tail before she crashed muzzle-first into Luna’s hastily erected shield. “I quite think that is enough,” Luna declared, still looking away. “Your concern has been noted and is appreciated.” Luna moved around Cadance, taking care to keep some distance, and headed for the exit.

“OK, what was that about?” Twilight asked as she approached Raegdan and Cadance, having observed the whole exchange.

“I don’t think aunt Luna likes me much,” Cadance noted sadly.

“She likes you just fine,” Raegdan defended quickly. “It’s just that… She doesn’t have anything against you at all. It’s complicated.”

“Oh, care to explain it in simple terms then? Five words or less,” Cadance challenged. “Why does she act so cold towards me?”

Raegdan hesitated for a moment. He lifted his right hand and started counting on his fingers. “She… does… not… like… you?” He shook his hand at Cadance and Twilight’s deadpan look. He turned, and picked up a small satchel he had been keeping close to him the last couple of days. “She likes you, but she doesn’t like that you are you while she is—don’t look at me like that, I told you that it’s complicated. Give her some time, okay, Cadance? Please?”

Cadance breathed out in surrender. “I suppose there’s not much else that I can do.” She regained her smile and turned to Twilight and her friends. “In the meantime, there are some ponies waiting for you. Let’s go.”

They followed her. It was a short trip. Cadance took them out of the train and inside the station’s waiting room. Twilight noticed how empty all of the station was, not surprising though since their train had been unscheduled, ordered by Luna herself, now bolstered by her recent victories enough to feel comfortable making such an order without fear of being disobeyed.

They pushed open the door, and Twilight was among the first to step in. The waiting room was not empty. There were ponies there. Some of them looked very familiar, and at the forefront—

“Oh, my little angel…” her mother said, her eyes full of sorrow.

Twilight broke. The horrible things she had seen and felt; Night Lilly’s gruesome death, her terror when Rarity got trapped, the heat of the flames. The anger, the fear, the sheer pain she had witnessed, Stormdrain’s loss, the understanding of what kind of life some ponies like Mint were forced to live. It all came back in a torrent, hitting her hard, and leaving her unable to contain her feelings.

Her mother, Twilight Velvet, who had once ordered Raegdan to kill. The very same mare that birthed her had told her this mere hours before Twilight felt for herself how powerful and vindictive rage can be. She had never realized, never cared to connect the dots, that her mother had gone through the exact same thing. But unlike Twilight she had accepted it and made no excuses to hide behind, even if she chose to give in. Her mother, who had a far better idea than Twilight ever did of how hard life can be, was here, waiting for her.

How cruel.

Strange. Twilight didn’t feel like this a moment ago. She was certain she had been able to rise above everything she had witnessed, that she wasn’t… hurt. She was wrong apparently. She was hurt, and she didn’t care how much it made her look like a little filly again, this was exactly what she needed. She needed her mother to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright. That it was all over, even if it was a lie.

Her father was there too. Night Light put a hoof over her back and joined in the family hug. Twilight cried, but with each tear shed she felt better, like a load she didn’t know she was carrying was being taken off her back. For a few minutes all she knew was the warmth of her parents and their reassuring words.

“I didn’t know you were going to be here,” Twilight slowly said when she felt ready to speak again.

“Oh, honey… Where else would we be? Are you feeling better? Want to take a seat?” her mother asked, already guiding her towards a wooden bench set against the wall.

“Thank you,” Twilight said as she sat. “Did you hear about Night Lilly?”

“We did. Princess Luna and Raegdan sent me a letter. They wrote what you and your friends went through. I managed to get ahold of some of your friend’s relatives too.”

“Huh?” Twilight looked around, finally noticing who the other ponies in the room were. Applejack was sitting next to Granny Smith, the ancient mare quietly listening to Applejack’s murmurs. Rarity was among her own parents, seemingly talking about fashion and her purchases from Manehattan, but Twilight noticed how Rarity’s hoof never left her mother’s. Pinkie Pie, impossibly quiet, was clinging onto a bored looking, grey colored mare that showed no sign of being discomforted by the tight hold. A stallion sporting the same multicolored mane as Rainbow Dash was doing his best to get a proper hold of his suddenly shy daughter, and a kind looking pegasus presented Fluttershy with her favorite pet, Angel Bunny.

Luna and Raegdan watched them all for a few minutes before leaving them alone.

“That is one big crowd,” Rainbow Dash said, peeking carefully through the windows.

“Eeyup,” Applejack agreed.

“Is it like that all the way to the castle?” Twilight asked.

“Eeyup,” Cadance parroted with a smile. Applejack glanced uncertainly at her.

Twilight looked out the window again. Beyond the station, out on the streets, she could see a huge crowd had massed up. Pegasi were flying above, a lot of them using small white clouds as seats, while some unicorns and earth ponies had even climbed on any high places they could reach. Banners were hovering above them, many of them with something written on them, the rest of them depicting either Princess Celestia’s cutie mark or Luna’s. A few of them, especially those nearest, seemed to have them both, side by side. She could hear the crowd muttering, but apart from that they were all relatively silent, as if waiting for something.

Right by the station’s exit there were chariots, waiting to bring them to the castle through roads lined with welcoming ponies. It was a validation of sorts. A few weeks ago nopony would come near Luna even with written invitations. Literally. Now they were all massing outside of their own volition.

It was a shame that Luna didn’t see it like that.

“They can all go to Tartarus for all I care!” Luna almost shouted. She had a frown of disgust as if forced to bite on something nasty.

“Come on, Luna. No one asked you to talk to them. All you have to do is wave every now and then,” Raegdan reasoned.

“Did you forget how we were treated here only weeks ago?” Luna asked, showing a more offended outlook on past events. “I will not perform like a monkey for their amusement on their demand!”

Raegdan loosely moved his arms and legs in a short jig. “You’ve had me dance a couple of tunes before. Should I be offended by that or…?”

Luna’s lips trembled as she wrestled to stop her mouth from smiling. “Stop that. You know exactly what I mean.”

“I do, and I think you should still climb on that chariot, and ape the good little princess for—”

“No.”

Raegdan made an incredibly good imitation of angry monkey sounds at her.

Luna put her hoof under her chin. “Fascinating. I cannot believe I never noted the resemblance,” she snarked.

Raegdan laid an open palm over his chest. “Oh heavens. Did you just call me a monkey? A massive blow to my delicate soul. How ever will I cope? Look, Twinklystars, you were the one who was all for doing it this way now.”

“I was and I still am, but we have no need of them! Do you think our latest attempt had been the first time they shunned me? They have acted thus ever since I touched my hoof on this accursed city.”

“I was there,” Raegdan said wearily. “I saw. We seem to be kind of low on unicorns if you have noticed though. We need a few of them, and what better place to get some?”

Luna spat on the floor, Rarity grimacing at the inappropriate act. “Then we simply recruit them elsewhere. Equestria is full of towns and villages. We don’t need to constrain ourselves here.”

“Yeah, great idea. We can go on a grand village tour, begging for unicorns that are capable of casting more than a couple of spells instead of looking for them in the city that has the best school for them. Hey, maybe we can pack some boxes of laundry detergent and make a few bits on the side since we’ll be going from door to door anyway,” Raegdan said sarcastically. “Would you like to join the Lunar Guard? No? Then how about Lunar Tide, a new exciting product to help you remove these stubborn stains—Ow!” He gently threw Luna’s metal shoe back to her, rubbing his forehead over the black fabric.

“Princess Luna, I believe you should rethink your position,” Rarity negotiated, putting every little trick of accommodating her most “difficult” clients she had ever learned in her speech and movements. “Isn’t this kind of behavior, the exact opposite of what you have faced so far in Canterlot, what you have been wishing for?” Rarity’s hoof moved as if to encircle all of the ponies waiting outside.

Luna blew a raspberry.

Raegdan laughed, then tried again. “Ok, Luna. Jokes aside, it would be—”

“No.”

“All I’m saying is that—”

“No.”

Raegdan’s expression matched Luna’s in sullenness. “You don’t even let me finish—”

“No.”

He chortled, lifting his arms in surrender. “Well, if you don’t want to, you don’t want to,” He nodded towards Cadance. “No point in wasting this chance though. Cadance could hopefully pass as you with some spells and a cloak. We can send her off in your place, and we can wait here until nightfall. Then we will sneak to the castle on our own without anyone noticing us.”

“An excellent plan,” Luna agreed, looking satisfied. “We shall proceed as thus. I doubt these nincompoops will be able to tell the difference anyway.” She turned around, but stopped in place when Raegdan continued speaking.

“Of course,” he said with a note of disappointment that was obviously faked, “that means we will get back late. Really late. By the time we get back, check the tower, get everything in order… Heavens, this is going to take so very, very long.”

He rotated his right shoulder, a “crack” sounding faintly from deep inside his bones. “Too bad you don’t want to do it the easy way. If we went with the parade instead, and finished up with all our other work quickly enough, we could have some time to relax before we go to sleep. Maybe... take a bath, you know?”

Luna gazed up at Raegdan with a heavy pout. “Thou art the foul, beating heart of darkness, and the duplicitous begetter of blackmail.”

“Thanks.”

“Let us get this over with. Solid Charge, you are riding in front with me and Raegdan. Thestrals in the air, Leaf Stream and Cast Iron will keep an eye in the back. The girls and Princess Cadance will ride the chariots in the middle, keep an eye on them,” Luna ordered quickly as she stormed outside. Her magic opened the door with such force that the windows rattled when it hit the wall.

Solid Charge hurried behind Princess Luna. “Princess, wouldn’t it be better if you took a place in the middle where you would be safer—”

“Chariot. Now. I wish to end this farce as soon as possible!”

Twilight hurried back to Twilight Velvet for one last—temporary—goodbye. “I’ll see you later, mom. I’ll try to visit tomorrow when I have the time.”

“Aren’t you going to go back to Ponyville with your friends tomorrow?”

“I wish,” Twilight grinned. “But I don’t think I should leave just yet. The girls have their jobs to get back to, but the library can afford to stay closed for another week or more.”

Twilight shared the same chariot with Cadance, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was busy waving at anypony who even glanced at her direction. Fluttershy was acting weird though.

She still had Angel Bunny with her, and despite the animal’s attempts to stay out of sight of Raegdan, even from this distance, Fluttershy made no conscious move to calm her beloved pet. She seemed to have eyes only for the chariot up front, and the road ahead. Twilight would have expected her to duck and hide behind the chariot’s screen, but Fluttershy was standing out in the open, staring straight ahead with a strange intensity that only grew as they drew closer to the castle.

No matter how Twilight tried to make Fluttershy tell her what was wrong, the pegasus refused to answer, mostly by changing the subject with no subtlety at all until Twilight had no other option than to give up. The positive side of that was that it meant that she could talk with Cadance freely and without interruptions.

“Twilight, I’m not sure if that’s a good topic to talk about after all you’ve been through.” Cadance worried.

“Cadance, I really need to know, trust me. I do not mean that just for my own curiosity, though I won’t deny it is a factor, but… The point is that I can’t help when I don’t know half of what is going on or why they do what they do.”

“I’m not saying this doesn’t make sense—”

“And what did you mean by saying Raegdan can’t lie about love or hate to you?”

“Oh, right.” Cadance put a hoof over her mouth. “I forgot you don’t know about that.”

“A little less mystery if you please? I have had my fill of them lately,” Twilight griped.

“Ok, you know how Raegdan is immune to every kind of pure magic?”

“I have been privy to the notion, yes.”

Cadance dropped the bomb on her. “That’s not true.”

Twilight didn’t speak or gasp because she simply couldn’t. Her mind had screeched to a halt. Brain output was reduced to absolute zero. Thankfully, heart and lungs were independent contractors.

The belief that Raegdan was immune to magic had been a staple of how she thought of him since… forever. It was an inherent part of describing him. Tall, two arms, two legs, immune to magic, black hair, lots of scars. There simply wasn’t any magic that ever affected him, from the most paltry of spells to the most powerful magic that Princess Celestia could conjure.

There had been a cursed, mind scrambling book that would drive mad everypony that glanced its contents. Raegdan read it to see what it was about before destroying it. The worst it did was throw some sparks at him while he burned it. Later on he told her it did hurt his brain. Whoever authored it tried to use poetic meters, and failed spectacularly.

Magic of any kind did not affect him, that was it! Nothing that could affect his body or mind worked. He literally shut down magic when in contact with it. There was… there was… hold on...

“Don’t tell me…” she whispered, her eyes still viewing the landscape of her mind. This made as much sense as it didn’t.

“You seem to have figured it out, so I won’t,” Cadance said, amused.

“So… So what can you do exactly?” Twilight stammered, still feeling out of it.

Cadance shook her head sideways with an expression of uncertainty. “I’m not sure. Probably anything, I suspect my magic is more potent on him than even on ponies, but the most I’ve done is take a peek a few times. He really hates it when I’m doing it so I try not to. I think he feels it, unlike everypony else.”

“What did you see?”

“Oh. The usual stuff. It’s like a web you know. There are strands that connect you, in the middle, with everypony else, and I can see by the strands how you feel for them,” Cadance explained.

“Keep going!” Twilight pleaded in excitement.

“There’s not much to say. I see who he loves mostly. That’s it.”

“So… He hates Princess Celestia then? Is that it?” The idea troubled her. Raegdan and Princess Celestia used to be so close. He couldn’t—

Was this Twilight’s fault? Did she start all this?

“Not exactly. You see, there’s—” Somepony in the crowd was throwing small bouquets of flowers. One of them almost landed on Cadance, but she managed to grab it with her magic before it could bounce off on her head. She held it up, smiling sweetly, and blew a kiss at the pony who threw her the gift. There was an increase in noise from that section.

“I hope aunt Luna is doing as well up front,” Cadance said. They both looked forward. Indeed, Luna had managed to grab a couple of flower bouquets as well. She was using one of them as a snack to the merriment of her companions by her side. She offered the other one to the alien and the minotaur, both of them lifting their arms up in a synchronized negative gesture.

“At least it’s going well so far,” Twilight smiled, feeling glad that nothing bad was happening.

A young stallion was positioned right on the edge of the cordon. A small drum was around his neck, and he was using his magic to wildly beat on it with a couple of drumsticks. He paused for a moment, plainly tired.

A much younger filly was by his side. In the sudden—relatively—quieter atmosphere without the acoustic bombardement, the filly’s words in her nasal, sharp voice were perfectly audible from that distance.

“Don’t stop playing! If she thinks we don’t like her this time either she might try to gobble us up again.”

I had to jinx it, didn’t I?

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy gasped from Twilight’s side.

“They didn’t hear that, did they?” Rainbow Dash winced.

Luna had let the bouquets fall off her grip and on the road, where they were trampled by the Royal Guards pulling the chariots behind her own. Raegdan’s hands were clenching the railing, and Twilight was certain that if it was a little thinner he would have broken it or warped it. Solid Charge’s stance was radiating a foul mood and concern.

“They did,” Twilight answered.

“It’s only one filly,” Cadance said quickly. “They won’t let this one occurrence sour the welcome they have received so far.”

Twilight sighed. Sweet naivety, how I miss you. She looked around, doing her best to see beyond the majority of cheers and friendly waves. There were small clusters and wells of ponies looking at the procession with sour expressions, muttering in between them, or gazing up at the banners with distaste. It was a minority that she saw, but she feared it wouldn’t seem that way to Luna.

There was nothing she could do at the moment. “What did you mean by saying not exactly?”

“Huh? Oh. Oh, right. See, there are some cases, extremely rare ones, where I have happened to see somepony hating somepony while loving them at the same time. It…” Cadance rubbed her forehead. “It looks awful. Like an infected vein. It’s pretty painful to sense too. I have no idea how some ponies can possibly do that.”

“Then you mean that Raegdan… hates Princess Celestia but still loves her? At the same time?” Don’t look, don’t look, please don’t look…

Cadance shrugged. “It’s not that weird coming from him.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Cadance hesitated, biting her lip. “I’m not sure if I should tell you this, but since I don’t know who they are… It’s almost the norm with him. There are too many ‘connections’ that he has that are exactly like that. I really don’t like to see that because it makes my head hurt horribly. The way it works on Raegdan, I see even more, a lot more, but I have no idea what they are.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Cadance agreed, staring ahead at the armored figure. “Oh. It didn’t use to be like that, and it hasn’t gone back to normal yet. I took a little peek while he was arguing with aunt Luna. Hopefully he was too busy to notice.”

“What about Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, curious.

“Oh, I’ve done my best not to look.”

“Why?”

“Aside from the fact that I don’t think she’d appreciate it? What do I do if she’s feeling angry or doesn’t love aunt Celestia as much as she does? It was bad enough telling aunt Celestia about Raegdan.”

Twilight wavered as she pondered how to breach the subject. She decided to plow straight through it, like pulling a band-aid. “I know what he did. How he attacked Princess Celestia, trying to make her kill him. This is why, isn’t it?”

Cadance let out a breath, shaking her head. “They told you, huh? If it was just that then he would have forgiven aunt Celestia eventually. No, it was because of Nightmare Moon.”

Cadance loitered in front of the window, staring at the night sky, her breakfast grown cold on the table behind her. Her eyes flashed momentarily to the ticking clock on the wall. It had been less than a minute since she last checked it.

The sun was supposed to be up half an hour ago.

There were delays sometimes. Like it or not, aunt Celestia was overworking herself, and the sunrise’s timing tended to slant every now and then as she happened to oversleep for a minute or two. Only for a minute or two though. Never this long, not in living memory.

She had started to fear something was wrong fifteen minutes ago. She was certain of it now, and she had no idea of what to do. Looking up at the night sky, praying that the next second would reveal a hint of light at the horizon, was the best she could think of at the moment.

The door slammed shut behind her, bringing her out of her trance. She turned around with her heart stuttering in fear, calming slightly when she realized it was just Raegdan.

Cadance took an unintended step back as he approached her. There was something off in the way he moved and the meticulousness with which his eyes swept his surroundings. Her eyes flickered to his right hand, spotting the long dagger before he hid it behind his back and beneath his shaggy shirt. His eyes met hers and she felt scared once more by the coldness in them.

He was at her side faster than she would have expected, his hand pushing her toward the door by the back of her neck. “We’re leaving. Now. Hurry up.”

Cadance didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to leave a place she thought of as safe, not at a moment like this, not without knowing what happened to her aunt, but her body subconsciously obeyed the instructions given by somepony knowing what to do and giving instructions.

“Raegdan, what is going on? Where are we going, did something happen to—” His palm covered her muzzle, swiftly silencing her. He glanced up and down the corridor, lingering on two guards a little further away.

“Don’t talk,” he ordered. “Act like everything’s normal and you know exactly what is going on. If anyone talks to you tell them everything will be back to normal in a little while and that we have to go. We mustn’t raise a panic. It will only slow us down.”

They kept traversing the castle’s corridors and halls, his hand not far from her back as it guided her and urged her on in a swift pace, but not fast enough to attract anypony’s attention. They came out of the castle, and walked toward the exit. A few ponies had indeed stopped them and asked her if she knew why the sun was not up yet, but she did as Raegdan told her to. She lied.

They were entirely out of the castle and into Canterlot while the stars shone on them well after morning. Raegdan reached behind a bush and pulled out a threadbare cloak that he threw on Cadance.

“Wear this. Cover your wings at least.”

The shock was starting to wane by now. “Raegdan, are you… foalnapping me? What is this, what are we doing? What is happening?”

Raegdan pulled her at the side of the road. Nopony was in sight, everypony still in their houses, wary of this unnatural morning. Raegdan pointed with one of his fingers. He pointed upwards, towards the moon. She didn’t notice it at first. It was just the moon, she never put any effort in identifying any changes on it. It was the moon and it was always up there, eternal and unchanging. Until now.

The Mare on the Moon was gone.

She knew what that meant. Cadance had read the stories, even those that were not meant for her age when she did so. To see it happen though, to know that something you never expected to see in your lifetime was actually happening right now…

“She- She’s… She’s back…”

Raegdan was scowling angrily. “Yeah. Earlier than she was meant to. We were supposed to have another year, and I can’t find Celestia anywhere. The fucking guards either don’t know or won’t talk to me—”

“She’s at Ponyville,” Cadance said, unthinkingly. “It’s where they have the Summer Sun Celebration this year.”

Raegdan’s head whipped towards her. “Why? Celestia always has it here, why… Wait.” With unerring accuracy he swiveled exactly south, towards Ponyville. Cadance knew that if they were standing somewhere high enough they could see the lights from the little town.

“That’s where the little one and little flame went. She sent…”

Cadance didn’t need her magic to spot the sheer hate in Raegdan’s voice. “She- She lied to me. She- She sent my little ones… I’ve got to go!”

“Raegdan, where are you going?” Cadance shouted.

Raegdan halted. He had dashed forward, ready to run, but stopped at the sound of her voice. His shoulders shivered, and he started moving away from her again.

“What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go? Raegdan, I’m scared...”

He stopped once more and frantically looked back and forth, horribly torn. His nails dug at his scalp as he stared south towards where he knew Twilight and Spike were. He turned back with a growl, his teeth grinding hard against each other. He pushed her, forcing her to trot to keep up with him.

“We have to hurry up.”

“Where are you taking me?” Cadance asked, still puzzled as to his intentions.

“What do you think will happen if Celestia loses? You will be the next target. I’m taking you somewhere you can hide.”

She looked back. She could see the towers of the castle over the rooftops of the buildings, the golden rooftops painted blue under the moonlight. “What about the guards? Wouldn’t I be safer with them?”

“Fuck the guards,” Raegdan spat. “Safest place is being away from where she will come to find you.” He pulled at her roughly, taking a left turn and speeding up. “This way.”

“Where are we going?”

“Save your breath and run. I don’t have time! I won’t be late again, I’m not losing another one!” He glanced at her through narrowed eyes, his lips twisting in distaste. “I should never have cared for you,” he mumbled.

That hurt.

Nothing else she said got another peep out of him. He put all his energy into running, and Cadance was doing her best to keep up as he jumped over obstacles or quickly slipped through them, turning his body sideways to fit through spaces she would deem too tight even for her. He kept glancing south, an angry word in his language making it out of his lips every time, pushing both of them to move even faster. Cadance was soon lost in the twisting path he took through the darkness.

He stopped in front of the door of a modest house, and loudly knocked on the door with urgency. After a few seconds of waiting the door unlocked, but before the occupant could open it by himself Raegdan pushed Cadance inside, following suit immediately after.

Cadance saw who the pony was and realized immediately where Raegdan had brought her. “Twilight Velvet?”

“Raegdan, honey, what is going on? Has something happened to the Princess?”

“Velvet, shut up and listen to me,” Raegdan urged, uncharacteristically harsh to the mare. “It’s Nightmare Moon—don’t fucking gasp, just listen! Celestia is at Ponyville and that’s where—”

“My little angel! Spike!” Velvet shouted, distraught.

“Exactly. Velvet, we don’t have time. I have to get there as fast as I can. I’m getting them back if I can, but there’s a chance I might be too late.” Velvet blocked a whimper with a hoof, and nodded for him to continue.

“Raegdan, what- what if Nightmare Moon won?” Cadance asked before he had time to continue, becoming more scared by the second.

He froze for a moment. His face changed in a grimace of pure hate. “If she hurt Celestia or the kids… she’s dead.”

“You can’t!” Cadance yelled. “Raegdan, if aunt Celestia is gone, even if you had a shot against Nightmare Moon, you can’t do that! She’s the only one who can move the sun and moon. If aunt Celestia is gone—”

Raegdan’s palm struck the wall. A portrait depicting the family fell down and the glass broke, spreading little shards over the floor. “If that thing hurt them then it’s dead! I’ll drive a knife up its brain even if it’s the last thing I do.” He headed for the door.

“Raegdan, if you managed to kill her and aunt Celestia is gone then the rest of us will freeze or burn to death!” Cadance screamed out in panic.

His hand fell off the doorknob. “Velvet. Wait two days. If the sun comes up don’t trust it. Wait for Celestia, Twilight and Spike, or me. If none of us show up or you know for certain what happened, then go. It’s still there. Do you remember all the traps I warned you about?”

“I can’t leave my children!” Velvet wailed.

“You will if they’re dead!” Raegdan shouted back. “Get Night Light, Shining Armor, Cadance, as many others as you safely can, and take them through! She’s going to come for Cadance, and possibly the rest of you. You will run. Do you understand me, Velvet? You will run for your lives.”

“We don’t even know where we will end up!”

“Someplace you are not hunted. That will have to be enough.”

Velvet wiped her eyes and stood straight before the giant. “No. You go there and get my babies back to me. Do you understand me, Raegdan? You will get them back.”

“I’ll try my—”

“No. No trying. You failed once, you won’t do it again, do you hear me? You will do it! Now go!” Raegdan hesitated. Velvet struck the floor with her hoof, shouting as loud as she could. “Go! Run as fast as you can, and bring my children back to me! Don’t be late this time. Please, don’t be late.”

Raegdan opened the door and vanished in the darkness. Velvet quietly closed it, and stood there for a moment before she sat on the living room’s couch. Cadance sat next to her and they held each other.

“They’re going to be fine,” Cadance assured her. “Aunt Celestia and Raegdan won’t let them get hurt.”

Velvet nodded, but didn’t answer otherwise. She got hold of an old picture frame off the small table in front of her, the golden metal lightly warped at its sides. The picture in it was relatively new, unlike the dented frame. It was a picture of a lot of ponies, two Alicorns, and a non-pony trying to fit in a single photograph. Cadance remembered this photo. She was in it as well.

Night Light and Shining Armor came by a few minutes later.

Cadance watched the sunset with newfound appreciation, admiring the last playful rays sweep across her view and change colors rapidly before vanishing. It had ended well, better than anypony could have wished for. Aunt Celestia was unhurt, saved by Twilight and her new friends. Even better, the Nightmare was no more, and aunt Celestia’s sister had returned.

Her aunt stepped in, finally ready to talk to her.

“How is your sister, aunt Celestia?” Cadance asked, fairly concerned.

Celestia smiled, though with a note of sourness on her lips. “Better than could be expected. If I knew that some ponies would shout such horrible things at her I would have made the two of us stay in Ponyville instead of returning to Canterlot immediately. She is resting now.”

“I’m happy for you. It must be so good to have her back again.”

The sweetest smile graced Celestia’s face. Her eyes were twinkling with true happiness. She lead the way to her own room. “It is. She’s been away for so long. Much longer than you’d guess. We never really—”

A blurred shadow fell on Celestia, jumping on her from one of the darkened corners. Cadence’s aunt was pushed into the darkness, and the shadow followed suit. Cadance heard them land on the floor, and then came the sounds of flesh striking flesh along with Celestia’s grunts.

Cadance’s magic went for the lights, almost without her guidance. The blackness was routed off Celestia’s chambers, revealing the white and gold room as it was meant to be.

Celestia was down on her back. Raegdan was straddling her chest and was cocking his arm back for another blow. Celestia’s left hoof struck the arm holding her horn and Raegdan lost his grip for a couple of seconds, more than enough time for Celestia to telekinetically shoot a heavy chair at him.

The white Alicorn was not as fast on getting herself back on her hooves as Raegdan was, but unlike him that didn’t make her helpless. The chair slammed into him once more. Celestia’s telekinetic grip on the chair evaporated the moment it made contact with his body, but there was more than enough momentum to slam him against the wall. He fell down again, smashing the chair beneath his body weight.

He slowly lifted himself to his hands and knees.

“Raegdan, what are you doing?” Cadance shouted. No response.

His hand darted for a large piece of splintered wood resembling a large spike. He threw it at Celestia, who swatted it aside with her magic. Raegdan was already running for her, a glint of something under his fist.

Celestia help us, he’s holding a knife!

Cadance made to jump in the way to block him off and stop him, but her aunt’s golden magic formed around her entire being, freezing her midstep. All she could do now was watch as the scarred biped, with a roar, tackled the Princess of the Sun. He scrambled to a kneeling position and clenched her horn with his free hand. The golden aura around Cadance fizzled out, yet the pink alicorn took not a step closer, now frozen with terror.

Raegdan pressed her horn—and her face by extension—to the floor. His other hand was raised to drive the weapon through her exposed neck. The Princess of Love saw not a piece of metal, but a shark’s wicked tooth, starved of blood.

Celestia didn’t even glance at the knife. Her eyes never left Raegdan’s snarling face. She even went as far as to crane her neck out, as if goading him. The clopping of multiple hooves approached from outside.

“The guards will be here in moments.” Celestia alerted him.

“Not before I slit your throat.” Raegdan growled with contempt.

“Cadance,” she spoke calmly. “Would you please go and ask the guards to leave?” The dagger-hand lowered in surprise.

“But aunt—”

“Please, do as I say,” Celestia frowned with disappointment at Raegdan.

Cadance slowly backed up, trying to keep the scene in her view as much as possible, afraid in some part that the moment she stopped watching… she had to look away however. She opened the door to aunt Celestia’s rooms, and assured the massed Solar Guards outside that everything was fine. They almost didn’t believe her, but she managed it somehow.

She ran back with her heart hammering in her chest. They hadn’t moved in the least. “They’re gone. Raegdan, please, drop the—”

“That is enough, Cadance,” Celestia reprimanded her. “Do you want to kill me, Raegdan?”

“I should.” His voice said, but his face said, “Should I?”

Cadance finally registered how he looked. His clothes were musky, drenched in old and fresh sweat. Little holes had been torn all over them, and a wild gash revealed a wound covered with dried blood on his stomach. A few small thorns were still attached on him. Most of all he looked tired. His arms weren’t as steady as she had thought them to be as the muscles were trembling in little spasms.

Celestia examined him as well. “You ran all the way to Ponyville and back, didn’t you?” Her eyes brushed over the brown flakes. Some of them had cracked and drops of blood were dripping through. “No, you went through the Everfree Forest as well.”

“I did,” he admitted. “Reached the castle just as you got free. Late! If Twilight hadn’t won, she would be dead! Because of you!”

Celestia’s expression hardened. “Twilight found the Elements and saved my sister, just like I expected her to if I failed.”

“She could have died!”

“What would you have me do, Raegdan? Lock her in a tower in order to keep her safe forever? Alone and devoid of any contact, just the way you’d like it? Would that satisfy you? Twilight is destined for great things, no matter if you like it or not. I didn’t ask her to fight Nightmare Moon. She decided that on her own, because that is who she is, and she managed something I never could. I simply made sure she was where she would have the greatest chance of succeeding if it came to that.”

“You have no idea what’s it like to lose—”

“How dare you?” Celestia’s booming Royal Canterlot Voice and reaction stunned him enough to enable her to kick him off her. She stood, huffed, then resumed in her normal voice, “One thousand years! Did you forget that?”

“You didn’t lose her! She didn’t die!” Raegdan retorted viciously while picking himself up.

“Do you know how many ponies I’ve lost throughout my life? How many friends died while I live on? Do you think you’re the only one who’s lost those he loves?”

Raegdan’s fist struck his chest. “They were never your fault!” He let go of the knife. It clinked loudly on the marble like it was emphasizing what he said. “You never were the one to kill them,” his voice cracked and his eyes started to glisten.

“My sister was my fault.” Raegdan’s head jerked weirdly, a strange spasm overtaking him at her words.

Celestia had approached him, closing the distance slowly. Raegdan’s face filled with disgust and he shoved her, pushing her away. “Twilight and Spike would have been your fault!” he accused her.

The Alicorn went rigid once more. “I trust Twilight. She is capable, intelligent, and wise beyond her years, and she has proven it. You should trust her a little more. She is not a little filly anymore and neither does she need your constant protection. She’s perfectly able to look after herself.”

Raegdan looked down. Cadance shivered when she saw it was the dagger he was looking at. After a few tension-filled seconds he turned his back on Celestia and headed out of the room, passing Cadance without glancing at her.

“We’re not done, Celestia. You will pay for this. You shouldn’t have risked my little one.”

“Go to the infirmary, Raegdan,” Celestia requested, exhausted. “And then get some rest.”

“Fuck you!” Raegdan shouted back with pure vehemence, and slammed the door behind him.

Celestia headed for a seat, and let herself fall into it with the complete absence of her usual grace. Cadance stayed where she was, unsure what to do or say. Then, after a few uncomfortable seconds, Celestia brought her front leg over her eyes, covering them, and a sob escaped her. Cadance knew what to do then. Her much-loved aunt needed her.

Cadance’s hoof ran over her aunt’s ethereal mane. She had to stand up to reach her easier, and she took advantage of the position to hug her, using her wings to cover as much of the larger Alicorn as she could.

“It’s okay, aunt Celestia. It’s okay. Nothing bad happened. It will all be okay.”

“I just—” Celestia whimpered. Her breath hitched and she started over. Tears were making her way down her face, escaping the hold of her hoof. “I just wanted all of us to be okay. I did my best. I- I really tried my best.”

“It’s okay, auntie. I know. I believe you.”

“I want us to be a family, all of us, to- together. I want the- the best for all of us.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

The procession had reached the entrance to the castle. The grounds were large, and the physical entry into the guarded territory of Canterlot’s castle was far from the large gates into the castle itself. It was even further from where he stood, staring out through one of the many windows.

The distance was great, and his eyes still burned, even days after the incident. He could see well enough even so. The Night Bringer was unmistakeable, her dark colors betraying her in the midday sun where the shadows could not hide her.

It was the two figures at her sides that warranted his attention now. He could not make them out, but his two bodyguards could, and they described what they saw. One of them was a minotaur, one of his own people, his horns visible enough. But the other one…

Stood on two legs. Taller than the minotaur at the other side of the Night Bringer. No horns. They described his armor as much as they could. There wasn’t much they could say from this distance yet. Only that he was completely encased in it. He mentally shrugged. There was no need for more detail. He had heard enough. He knew who that was, and he would see him up close soon enough.

He hefted his own axe. Sharpened and treated with oils, immaculate despite the times it had been used. His bodyguards had their own axes, two handed monstrosities that dwarfed his. Greater sized weapons attempting to make up for lesser skill.

He wondered how his hammer would fare against his axe.

He turned away from the window. He would not gain what he wanted watching from up here like an old hag. He needed to go down there.

“Bring me my armor,” King Crucible ordered his bodyguards. He smiled, anticipating the next act in this play. He slid his thumb across the edge and a little blood smeared the steel.

It’s not what he came to Canterlot for, but it would have to do.