Twilight’s slow walk was interrupted by the sight of a lone rose, bent and broken. All the other blooms of the rose bush were lovely raised, a few drops of rare, sparkling moisture still clinging to the soft petals of some. All of them stood proud and beautiful, except this one.

It must have been an accident, she thought. Somepony tried to smell one of them and brushed against it too harshly or a careless gardener did not do his job properly. Simple happenstance at best. A harsh wind, a stem that had grown weak, disease even?

She approached closer, and it was none of these things. The stem was thick, and filled with thorns. The rose had almost withered away, and it had lost a great number of its precious petals. Somepony had deliberately broken it, bending it in half. It was still clinging on by the barest thread. A soft gust of wind would complete what maliciousness had started.

Twilight examined it carefully. There was nothing she could do. She tugged at the rose softly using her magic, and pulled it off, away from the rest. She brought it close to her nose, and sniffed with care. It may have been broken, and it looked ruined beyond repair compared to the others, but if you cared to give it a chance it smelled as beautiful as any of them.

She carried it with her as she sat on a bench, opposite from the rose bush. There wasn’t much of a view from here. It was simply a place where many paths branched together, and a few benches had been placed not for the beauty of this area but for rest.

Did she do the right thing?

He didn’t fight it. Not the way she expected him to. She expected resistance, more than what he had shown. She was ready to make arguments, to defend her position. He offered no offense to her position, and now that her arguments were uncontested, they felt… more like laws.

She knew they were lax ones. Spike would ask and need more than what Raegdan could provide. She wanted to believe that if it came to a choice he would make the one that ensured Spike’s well being. But she wasn’t sure. She simply wasn’t sure.

There was a stillness back in his voice during his last words. Was it resentment? Anger? Disappointment? She couldn’t tell. She didn’t mean to hurt him.

Did she?

She thought deeply, inhaling the aroma of the rose as she did so. She loved him, she knew that. For better or for worse he had stood like a third parent to her, but she had never known him, not entirely. Only a part of him, a single side. That was no longer the case. She knew him better. The coin had revealed its other side, even if that side was still blurry. She knew more now, and the knowledge made her realize something.

She loved him, but she didn’t like him.

It wasn’t a nice realization. Twilight thought about what Cadance had said, of ponies who somehow could love and hate somepony at the same time. Cadance claimed she couldn’t understand them, but Twilight felt that she could. There were moments when that dislike became hate.

She brought her hoof to her forehead. It became even more confusing when you took into account that there were so many times she enjoyed his company immensely. Did that mean she liked him then? Were her emotions truly so unstable? She wasn’t sure. She just knew that she didn’t like what he did, how he did it, nor the dark enjoyments he took. It was one thing for him to chuckle when he purposefully annoyed or got into a physical fight with a guard, it was another to do the same when he stood over its corpse.

She felt similarly enough for Luna. At times it felt that the only reason she didn’t decide to drop everything and go back to her library when they were being awful was the sheer amount of pity she felt for them. Celestia, she pitied them both so much. Not only for what they had gone through, horrid as it was, but everything they could not see.

They were surrounded by friends and ponies striving to help them, yet to their eyes they stood alone on a barren island, ravaged by the elements. They were blind, and she wasn’t sure how she could make them see. Perhaps she never would, and she would be stuck to be their seeing dog forever, tugging fruitlessly on a leash.

She twirled the rose in her magic, looking at it from all views. She concentrated, and with her magic she changed its hue, running through a gamut of colors. Yellow, black, white, green, blue… She let the magic dissipate, and went back to how it really was. A fading red that was slowly blackening.

She carried it back to the rose bush. There was no magic that could heal the rose, not now, but there were other ways. She dug a deep, thin hole a small distance from the rest of the flowers, and placed the rose’s stem in it, gently patting the dirt back. She searched the trash bins until she found a thrown soda can and used it to carry water to the flower from a nearby fountain.

Twilight had done all that she could. It was up to the flower now. It was a tiny chance, but it was the best it had. It shed another petal as she watched.

The sun was rapidly approaching its noon position. Her stomach started to rumble. She had been so lost in thought she hadn’t even realized how long she had spent walking around the grounds. She hadn’t even felt how tired her legs had gotten.

She was on her way back to the castle’s entrance when a familiar voice called her.

“Twilight, honey, wait up!”

Twilight turned back, pleasantly surprised. “Mom, hello! I didn’t know you were coming here.” An unknown stallion pegasus stood next to her mother, nervously jumping in place. He kept turning his head around, biting his lips, inspecting everypony in sight rapidly. Dark blue mane with a dark purple coat, almost black, and a cutie mark of a waterfall, she was certain that she had never seen him before.

Twilight wanted to ask who her mom’s very young friend was, but wasn’t given time to.

“Honey, we’re looking for Raegdan. Can you tell us where he is?” her mother asked.

“Sure,” Twilight answered immediately. “He’s at Luna’s tower. I can take you there if you don’t know the way.”

Twilight lead the way, trying to make inquiries all the while, but every attempt was waylaid and left in a ditch by her mother. All that Twilight Velvet cared for at the moment was reaching Raegdan as fast as possible. Twilight wondered if something was going on that they were going to try to keep her in the dark about. If that’s what it was, they were going to be sorely disappointed. She was going to cling on them like a barnacle on a ship!

They climbed up the stairwell, nearing the top level by level, their hooves echoing softly in the empty tower. When they reached the night emblazoned doors that lead into Luna’s row of chambers Twilight bid her mother and her friend to wait as she knocked on the door and then opened it just a fraction, enough to allow her voice to be heard inside.

“Raegdan? It’s me. May I come in?”

She heard him shout back right away, sounding surprised. “Yes, come in. It’s clear!”

“See that, Twilight?” her mother pointed out as she passed her, a hint of smugness in her voice. “Proper hosts make sure they keep their place clean at all times to accept visitors.”

Twilight tried to ignore the barb. “I don’t think he meant clear of stains and dirt…” she muttered under her breath, stomping with her legs a bit harder than she should. They sat on a couch to wait, the stallion looking around and brimming with nervousness at the low light of the room.

A very short number of minutes later Raegdan made his way out of a room holding a large, steaming, wooden spoon. Twilight had to hold her breath to keep the laughter from exploding out of her. He had kept on the armor, helmet and all, but above it all he was wearing a white apron too small for him, already stained. He had also tied a white cloth around the top of his helmet in imitation of many cooks she had seen. He had used ink to write amateurishly on the apron the phrase ‘I can’t believe they let me play with fire’.

He stopped dead on his tracks when he stepped in, with the sudden embarrassment he felt plain to see on his body language for all the two seconds it took him to shrug it off. “You are not alone, huh? You know, you could have said…” He pulled the useless bandana off his helmet and threw it down.

The unknown stallion pushed his way forward, hastily jumping off the couch. Raegdan’s eyes narrowed in the darkness of his visor as the pegasus shoved and made Twilight Velvet stumble momentarily.

“Are you Raegdan?” the stallion asked anxiously. He sounded like he was on the verge of crying.

“No, totally different person. You want the other tall guy in armor,” Raegdan snarked with hostility. Velvet walked closer and slapped him on the thigh in admonishment, scowling heavily. So Raegdan did try again, “Yes. Can I help you?”

The honey in his voice was as thick as it was fake.

“I’m Springfall, Silver Tallow’s fiancé!” the newly named pegasus said with urgency.

The helmet swiveled instantaneously towards Twilight Velvet. The mare nodded, as if he had asked a question, and returned his gaze to Springfall, now paying real attention.

Raegdan’s shoulders squared, with his hands helds to his side but away from his belt, and relaxed. “Why are you here?”

Springfall did his best to explain quickly, and it was a feat to understand him in his agitated state. The pegasus kept jumping back and forth, saying one sentence and then backing up his story to add some detail that he forgot to mention previously, all without warning. He stuttered and kept going over the same parts, restarting them again when his tongue betrayed him.

From what Twilight understood, even though he and his marefriend, Silver Tallow, were only engaged they lived together, quite happily and with no problems other than what couples normally faced. Until today that is.

Six ponies broke down their door and forced their way into their house. In all the panic, fear, and surprise, it took a while for Springfall to realize that the ponies who had assaulted them in their own home were Solar Guards. The couple was forced to wait, kept under guard by two of them, while the rest ransacked their house. Whatever was going on, it soon became obvious that their target was solely Silver Tallow.

It didn’t take long for the other four to find what they were looking for. One of them carried out a metal sphere, about as big as a large orange, covered with symbols. They claimed they had what they needed, and right there and then accused Silver Tallow of conspiring against the Crown.

Silver Tallow denied it of course. Tears were running down her face, she was pleading frantically that she had never seen that metal sphere, that she didn’t know what was going on, that she was innocent! The Solar Guards did not heed her pleads, even if they believed her, which they did not. Springfall had no idea what was going on. He was confused, and was left back as the Solar dragged Silver Tallow away, the mare screaming nonstop at them to stop touching her.

He tried to get to her when he recovered his frozen state. Of course he did. He tried so hard, but he was a simple weatherpony. What could he do against highly trained guards? He didn’t know, but still… he tried. He did manage to get close enough to Silver Tallow for a few seconds. Enough for her to tell him to find Raegdan. She told him an address, and begged him to go there.

The address led him to Twilight’s parents. Night Light, summoned by the frantic banging, opened the door and Springfall made a whole mess of things, sounding like a crazy pony to Twilight’s father. He kept saying he needed to see Raegdan, and Night Light kept trying to send him away. Until Springfall said that it was important to find Raegdan, whoever that pony was.

Her father realized that the pony in front of him didn’t actually know who Raegdan was or what he was. Springfall felt stupid for not having realized sooner, but he never paid much attention to newspapers, and he was always bad with names. Whatever the reason was, Night Light had decided to call for his wife.

All it took was saying Silver Tallow’s name for Twilight Velvet to listen to the pony carefully. She didn’t wait to hear the entire story. As soon as she realized how dire the situation was she dragged Springfall behind her, and came to the castle, leaving her husband behind to wait.

And now Raegdan was in front of them.

“Raegdan, honey, if Princess Luna could lend her help we might clear this up right away,” Velvet said.

The helmet turned towards the core of the castle, as if its owner could penetrate the walls and see all the way in. “She’s with Celestia. We can’t, not now.”

“Both of them then,” Velvet said, unmoved.

Raegdan’s head didn’t move, but the eyes swivelled towards her. “Oh? And what do we say if Celestia asks how the two of us know Silver Tallow?”

“We tell her the truth. I’m not letting the poor mare end up in a dungeon for my sake, and you shouldn’t either.” Twilight Velvet tilted her chin up.

Raegdan scoffed with a derisive, rude exhale of air. “No need for that.” He went back to the kitchen, and Twilight heard kitchenware clang against each other. He came back out without the apron and holding his shield instead, trying to tie the broken strap on his arm.

“Damned, stupid strap, fine, can do without,” he mumbled angrily, giving up.

Twilight didn’t comment. She chose to stare instead. His left vambrace was still gone of course, but so had the thick clothing he wore beneath, seemingly torn away. He had covered his forearm with bandages, but a small portion, a sliver of skin was left to the air. She managed to get a glance.

It barely looked like his skin anymore. It was mottled and cragged, parts of it a pinkish red, and others a dark brown that looked almost healed, if that was what you called healed. Something popped or split, and thick white pus dribbled out like molten wax as the metal hook of the shield brushed roughly against the tortured flesh.

She swallowed, her suddenly dry throat convulsing painfully. Half her mind was trying to calculate how often she saw him wearing anything else but his armor, the heavy, constricting, rough metal armor. The other half already had a general gist of how often that was and tried desperately to suppress any questions about how the rest of his body looked or how it possibly felt.

“What are you planning?” Twilight asked, doing her best to avert her eyes.

Raegdan craned his head, the neck cracking loudly. “Find someone in charge, have a civil discussion with them, and then humbly request they turn the suspect over to us.”

“Oh, that could actually work. Commander Steadfast Ray would be our best chance. I can talk with him.”

“No. I will. You just sit here and wait.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, undecided if she should be honoring his “request” with an answer. She quickly hurried to catch up as Raegdan headed out the large door and down the stairwell, setting off for the castle grounds with large, hurried strides.

“I really don’t think that this would help! You two are not on the best of terms, have you forgotten?” she hissed loudly as she tried to walk alongside him without resorting to half-jogging. Springfall and Velvet had no such compunctions, and neither did they try to walk next to him, but rather followed from an increasing distance. Twilight wasn’t surprised that they too had ignored Raegdan’s order.

“So?”

“So it would be better if I went to talk to him rather than you, and end up threatening to- to hang him by the tail or something equally ludicrous!”

“That’s a little unfair.”

“This is the exact opposite of unfair! This is an exact synopsis of your problem solving skills!” Twilight looked around her. They were in the gardens.

Why were they in the gardens?

“Why are we in the gardens? The Solar Guard offices are in the castle.” she asked.

Raegdan directed their attention up. “It’s near noon, the sky is clear, and it’s a weekday. Steadfast will be out here, it’s the closest open space near his office.”

Twilight’s eyebrows scrunched in suspicion. “Wait, how do you know?”

“I paid some attention all these years. A little mental checklist. It never hurts to know the schedule or habits of some people.” He leaned sideways, lowering his torso as much as possible without tipping over. “Do you want to know how often Paisley Leaf goes to the bathroom?”

As bad mental images go, this one would never make it to her new and improved top ten, but it didn’t bear lingering on either. She shook her head.

She looked around her as they approached the part of the palace gardens that had been unofficially named West Rose View. Short rose bushes surrounded the area, their fragrance permeating the air. It was a popular spot for many ponies that worked in the castle to spend their break or have a quick snack. There were benches placed around, as well as a few, highly coveted, tables and chairs. With such great weather, sunny yet not too hot, it had as many ponies crowding it as ever.

She spotted Commander Steadfast’s platinum, polished armor easily enough. There was a terrace that allowed a great view even over the walls in the distance. He was talking to a white coated pony, but all she could see was that pony’s back, the rest of its features, even the mane hidden by the sun’s glare as she looked up.

Commander Steadfast’s horn lit up in a short magic burst, making Twilight frown. She was too far to get a proper sense, but she believed had seen that spell before. If she was right that was a message spell. She guessed that for some ponies work never really ended.

The Commander of the Solar Guard raised his head and looked straight at them. He momentarily turned away to speak at the unicorn he was conferring with, and then took his time walking down the ramp, donning his cape with his magic.

“Missus Velvet and miss Sparkle, such a pleasant surprise,” he greeted them warmly, ignoring the two males. “Would you care to join me? I have some time before I need to return to my duty, and my companion has brought the most exquisite chilled wine. Diluted with crystal water, of course. It’s too early for pure wine, agreed?”

“Where is the girl?” Raegdan asked immediately, his voice almost completely emotionless.

Steadfast Ray raised an eyebrow. “The girl? I’m afraid I do not follow.”

“The girl,” Raegdan repeated. Velvet was holding a hoof over Springfall’s back, urging him to remain silent. “The one you had arrested today, the one that supposedly had one of the bombs.”

“Oh. Is that who you meant? I am actually waiting for her first questioning to end, upon where I shall escort her to the dungeons myself. It really is cut and dry, there is no questioning her involvement.”

Springfall whimpered, and Twilight overheard a blur of her mother’s hushed whispers to his ears.

“She’s going to have to come with me, right now,” Raegdan insisted.

The pleasant, comforting smile faded slowly from Commander Steadfast’s face. “What makes you think you have any authority to make that request?” he demanded in a clipped tone.

“If you haven’t noticed, I—”

“What I have noticed is that you are now a guard, same as I, in the employ of the Crown, and that you haven’t even saluted me, a superior officer. What I have noticed is that you say “I” which means you haven’t been given leave or orders to make such requests of me, neither by your own superior officer or one of the princesses.”

Raegdan took a threatening step. “Did you notice that this mess is the Lunar Guard’s problem or did that escape you?”

“No,” Steadfast answered immediately. “Because it is not. This could evolve to threaten both princesses, and even if it didn’t I know my duty. I was made to serve the princesses, not make demands or harass them like you do. I will personally look into the matter, ascertain how deep that mare’s betrayal go, report my findings to her Grace, and then lock that mare in a cell for the rest of her pathetic life. You are not involved at all. You are unneeded.”

Raegdan’s body was making small spasms, and a grinding noise came from within his helmet. His right hand kept grasping the hammer’s handle and leaving it.

Steadfast turned his head sideways, smiling bitterly. “Ladies, if you will excuse me… Duty calls.” He walked away from them, towards a pair of Solar guards who held a chained unicorn mare between them.

“I’m getting Luna, and let’s see if he tries that shit with her…” Raegdan growled angrily.

It must have been Silver Tallow. Her mane was silver, just like her name, and her coat a light blue so pale it was almost white. Her mane was a mess, more akin to a ravaged bird nest. She lifted her face, and it was in an equally bad shape, stained with tears and snot, and a blackened eye so swollen it almost forced it entirely closed.

Springfall gasped when he saw his fiancé in such a state. Twilight gasped as well, though for a different reason. She had suspected, but to see it and know she was right was another matter altogether. She had seen that mare before, though she was younger then. Much younger. In a photo pinned on a dusty crate across from where an alien used to sleep.

The Solar guards pulled at her to keep walking. One of them, the pegasus, pushed her back with his wing. The young mare completely freaked out. She started screaming her head off, loud inarticulate cries filled with terror and anguish.

“Don’t touch me,” she managed to yell, finding her ability to form proper words again. “Stop it! Stop it!”

“She doesn’t like being touched by strangers! She panics!” Springfall told them, almost in tears himself as he saw his fiance struggle. His body was spasming as he barely held himself from lunging to her defence.

Twilight Velvet’s face twisted with anger. There was a coldness in her eyes and her voice, a hate that Twilight had witnessed briefly when her mother told her about the first filly they found. “Take your hooves off her right—”

She had marched in front of Raegdan, but only for a second. The alien grabbed her and shoved her behind him, uncharacteristically rough. He violently ripped the hammer off his belt, the little hook pinging on the ground, and pursued Steadfast Ray. The hammer’s end shook as his hand flexed the handle as hard as it could.

“Do not get involved!” Raegdan stressed at them with a guttural growl.

The pegasus Solar Guard saw him approach. He gave a warning cry, his left wing pointing toward the advancing Lunar Guard. The unicorn next to him was smirking coldly, and Steadfast Ray turned around, his stance rock steady to intercept Raegdan.

“I am warning you, Raegdan. I will not allow your unlawful attempt to free this prisoner. You are forcing my hoof! Please, stay back!” the Solar Commander declared loudly. Everypony’s eyes were switching from one actor of the play taking place in front of them to the other. They all heard him.

Twilight wasn’t sure what to do. Should she stop him? Would he let her? Now that Silver Tallow was suffering right in front of him, would he listen to reason? She didn’t know. He rarely ever did when he was like this, and she had seen him as angry as he currently was only a rare few times. She feared that he wouldn’t stop, especially if Twilight herself got involved. Kicking off his protective instincts was the worst possible thing she could do. He would lose all sense of reason.

Her mother. He would listen to Velvet or at the very least stop if both of them got in his way.

Steadfast Ray’s horn glowed lime-green. Twilight wasn’t sure what he was doing, but it didn’t bode well for him if he would try direct spells against Raegdan. Even those few that Steadfast Ray might be able to conjure to hurt him, Raegdan could potentially power through despite the pain or injuries.

She caught movement from the edge of her eyes. Up from the terrace she saw two metal spheres wrapped in a lime-green glow rise and head for Steadfast Ray and Raegdan, picking up speed as they flew. They were as large as melons, and stubby spikes were pointing outwards like the rays of a star. The perfect tool to crack open a suit of armor.

She whipped her head back around to tell her mother to come with her. The words were on the tip of her tongue, and died there in a flood of ashes. She saw a white pony stand on the edge of the terrace, looking down at the coming fight, holding a glass of wine in her magic and the most pleased, content smile she had ever seen.

Honest Serenade.

The mare saw Twilight looking up at her. There was a sparkle of mirth in her eyes as she took in Twilight’s surprise, and she raised her glass in a greeting. Velvet followed Twilight’s wide eyed stare, and saw the wicked mare as well.

“Serenade?” Velvet whispered breathlessly.

It… It couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? Honest Serenade would claim it was, it was extremely easy for a pony like her to have an alibi for being in the castle, but would it be true? It all had been set up so perfectly, a chain of events that was certain to infuriate Raegdan, that would make him go on the attack. Just like every other time somepony he cared for was even in the risk of being hurt.

All the while being in public view and seen by ponies who would truthfully give their account of how Steadfast Ray was completely dutiful and lawful in the exchange. How he gave warning to the beast that tried to free a pony that conspired against the Crown.

The spheres, wrapped in Steadfast Ray’s magic, kept rushing for Raegdan, aiming for his chest.

Raegdan had stopped, alarmed by the use of magic by his opponent but no apparent effect. He turned to look around him and saw them coming. He only had enough time to quickly glance back at the Solar Commander as if either congratulating him or sneering at him.

He bowed down, bending at the waist, and the spheres flew over and past him.

Raegdan rose up slowly and menacingly, turning back to his target. Steadfast spread his legs, attaining a better balance as he focused all his magic once more. The walking iron pillar ignored his attempts. Raegdan kept walking in a sedate space, not hurrying in the least.

The spheres returned. They aimed for him again, this time from the back left and heading lower. Closer. Closer. Raegdan never turned around.

He hopped aside and dodged them at the very last moment.

The thorned weapons kept coming. Steadfast tried other avenues of attack, even splitting them or attacking from different sides at once. Raegdan somehow always knew however. One of them came from his left and the shield rose up at an angle to deflect it instead of a straight block. The moment that one of the spikes grazed against the shield it lost the magic glow around it and glided on the metal surface by its momentum before falling to the ground and staying there, at least until Steadfast Ray got hold of it again. The other came from his right, and the hammer viciously beat it back, the loud clang of steel on steel sounding discordant in the normally peaceful gardens. One of the spikes broke off and Raegdan kicked it away from him in a show of contempt before continuing on his way.

Again and again came Steadfast’s attacks. All of them seemingly headed unerringly for their mark without fail.

All of them failing to hit their target.

Twilight was stunned. How was he doing it? She remembered the fight at the arena, how Luna told them that he followed Leaf Stream’s flight by her shadow on the ground, but that tactic couldn’t possibly work now as it was high noon. Any possible warning from the shadows he could get would be too late, and he wasn’t even looking down to spot them!

She tried to follow Steadfast Ray’s movements instead, and watch his eyes. Raegdan was approaching him slowly but steadily, yet the stallion didn’t so much as twitch. His eyes would occasionally flick, this way or that, but after a few attempts to connect them with the attacks Twilight came to the conclusion that Steadfast Ray was trying to trick Raegdan. He was too experienced to telegraph his attacks anyway.

Had Raegdan been hiding more facts about himself from her? Was he able to sense magic somehow? How else could he possibly follow the path of the spheres that Steadfast employed if not like this? He could already do something similar with the way he knew where the gates were located, he had told them so.

Twilight quickly looked aside to ask her mother if she knew of this ability Raegdan had that she herself had never even suspected. Both Velvet and Springfall were watching openmouthed the spheres arc in the sky and return for another attempt.

It all clicked into place.

She looked around. Really looked, and listened. No wonder Raegdan kept walking slowly and doing as little as possible to attract the eye. Steadfast Ray was giving no hint of where his next attack was going to come from, but Raegdan didn’t need him to. There were ponies all around doing it for him, many of them behind where Steadfast Ray stood. Raegdan didn’t even have to move his head.

The crowd’s eyes followed the levitated spheres as they came down, their voices rising in volume as they neared their target.

Raegdan dodged aside, and when the action was over he kept walking apathetically, the eyes turned back to the only other moving objects, tracking them faithfully.

It was risky, and Twilight was struggling to figure out why he would endanger himself like that. She noticed the two Solar guards in the background, staring as openmouthed as everypony else, a glint of rising fear in their eyes. Raegdan’s theatrics suddenly made more sense.

It felt like an eternity, but it couldn’t have taken more than a few seconds, not even a minute for Raegdan to cross the distance despite Steadfast Ray’s best attempts to fend him off.

You had to admire Commander Steadfast’s discipline. He didn’t even flinch as Raegdan raised his hammer high and slightly behind him, ready for an attack that would end with the attacker in trouble, no matter what. No wonder Honest Serenade seemed so content. Whether Raegdan or Steadfast won, she would get what she wanted.

The hammer reached the pinnacle of its arc. It stood there for a moment. Then a moment longer. It trembled, and lowered down a fraction.

Raegdan didn’t strike.

Then one of the spheres scored a glancing hit at the handle, barely missing his fingers, and the hammer cluttered to the ground. The other sphere followed suit, hitting Raegdan on the outside of his knee. The biped barely held itself up as it took a sudden step aside to regain his balance, grunting loudly with pain. The spheres had lost their connection to Steadfast’s magic the moment they touched Raegdan, but the white unicorn picked them up once again, and resumed the attack.

Raegdan tried to lift his shield to defend himself. A sphere came unseen from the opposite direction and struck the inside of the shield, the unexpected momentum taking it off his grip. She saw the bandages tear and blood gush out as the half hook on his unprotected forearm cut into his flesh. The shield was gone, and Raegdan was left with nothing to defend himself.

Then the second sphere returned, crashing on his still raised left arm. She didn’t hear the sound of the bone as it broke, even if she could have sworn she did, but she saw the arm bend where it was not supposed to bend. She saw the blood erupt, and she saw the white of his bone as it pierced through the battered flesh. Everypony did. Some of the ponies watching screamed at the sight. The sphere fell on the ground covered in blood, and didn’t rise again.

Twilight was sick and horrified. This was nothing like the fight with King Crucible. No matter how outclassed Raegdan was he fought on, he persisted and pushed back. There was no defiance now and this was no longer a fight. She watched, a cry in her throat, as he tried to hobble away and the remaining sphere crushed on his lower back. He fell on one knee with a shout, the right hand instinctively trying to massage his lower spine, and agonizingly made his way up again.

He kept trying to distance himself, but Steadfast Ray wouldn’t let him. The crowd had gone silent with shock. The only sounds were a few ponies starting to sob as the cruelty of violence unfolded before them, the sound of metal against metal, Raegdan’s weakening cries of pain, and a faint giggling that accompanied hooves clapping against each other.

She wanted to jump in, try to shield him with her magic. She should have done so already, but… she didn’t! Why didn’t she? Why did she let it escalate to this, why was she still holding back? Because he told her to? Because of a lifetime’s experience of staying out of his fights? She had to do something! Raegdan was practically crawling away from—

He wasn’t trying to get away from Steadfast Ray. He wasn’t even looking at the direction of the grinning unicorn! No, he was looking at the growing crowd, ponies who heard the commotion and came to see. It swelled even as she watched with ponies trying to push their way in front and see what was happening.

Twilight caught a glimpse of pale green and golden yellow. A small filly was standing in the second row, peering through the gap larger ponies left in front of her. A Royal Guard was standing next to her, and she was pressing her tiny body against his leg as she watched with an expression of heartache. The guard, which Twilight was certain now was her uncle, was simply watching without paying attention to his niece, his only reaction to close his eyes and avert his head before every hit Raegdan suffered.

Morning Dew. Her father fought Raegdan in the arena along with Leaf Stream. He wasn’t as lucky as Leaf Stream had been.

“You killed my daddy! Why? He was the best daddy in the world! Why did you do that? Why did you kill my dad?”

“Twilight… Twilight, do something…” Raegdan whispered pleadingly.

“He didn’t want her to see her father’s death again…” Twilight whispered to nopony. It was like a bubble burst, and she realized that her mother had been shaking her all the while, speaking urgently to her.

“Twilight, you have to stop them! He isn’t even fighting back. Raegdan will die if this keeps on!”

“I… I know. I know why!” She didn’t waste time to explain herself to her mother, no matter how her statement confused Velvet. Her magic coalesced around her horn and her focus shaped it into a familiar spell. She mentally jumped, and the magic brought her body along.

A few ponies jumped in surprise. She ignored them. They weren’t important right now. The guard was, Strong Hoof’s brother and Morning Dew’s uncle. The one the fatherless filly had clung onto after the loss of her dad.

“What are you doing?” Twilight almost yelled, her heart battering in her chest. She didn’t have to fake the outrage she felt. He was supposed to care for Morning Dew and he hadn’t even noticed how the filly suffered at the sight of the one-sided fight. Twilight pointed her hoof at her, her magic forcing the earth pony guard to turn his head and look.

“Get her out of here! Are you trying to make her relive ‘that’?” The stallion stared back at her, confused for a second, trying to stammer. A pony next to him was faster on the uptake and gently pushed the filly to turn away.

The unknown stallion’s kind act opened the floodgates. Everypony that heard the exchange either placed themselves a little forward to block the filly’s view or urged the Royal guard to move along, to care for his niece. The guard’s eyes cleared of their bewilderment, and the anguish on Morning Dew’s face chased away the remained shreds of confusion, replacing them with determination. He pushed Morning Dew away, talking comfortingly at her, murmuring his thanks and apologies to everypony around him.

The two ponies left. She exhaled a sigh of relief. It all took a few seconds. She simply had to point out the filly’s absence to Raegdan and he would find a way to dig himself out of the hole he put himself into.

“Raegdan! Raegdan, I…” The words faded. She didn’t know what she meant to say.

Whatever it had been it was meant for Raegdan. Not… not what stood there in an aura of sadness as it returned her gaze. The left arm was a mess. Even the pauldron barely clung in place, and the shoulder it was supposed to protect was hanging lifelessly, no longer having even the strength to hold his shattered arm against him. One of the horns on his helmet had broken off, and the side of it was dented inwards. She saw trails of blood thread their way under his helmet, unbelievingly red against the sudden darkness of the day. One of his knees bent inward in a manner that it shouldn’t. His chest, his torso…

It had been only a few seconds. How… how many times did he get hit? How was he still standing?

“Little one…” She wasn’t sure if he whispered or if she misinterpreted his ragged breath.

The sphere fell down from a great height. It crashed on his shoulder, and beneath the din of metal there was a series of breaking snaps. Raegdan’s shoulder fell lower, far lower than Raegdan was supposedly able to bring it. He didn’t make a sound.

The sphere fell to the ground, its spikes lightly cracking the stone beneath.

Raegdan’s knees followed suit. They both bent together and he fell on them, his body shaking like a ragdoll, his right arm on the floor the only thing preventing him from falling on the ground. He swayed there, defeated, staring straight at her, and the only thing that Twilight could do was think how the cruel, bright sun didn’t let her see his eyes.

Nopony was talking or making a sound. The sweet illusion that it was only him and her in the world cracked with the clopping of hooves as the victorious Solar Guard Commander walked to the front of the fallen Lunar Guardsman. The latter’s helmet turned slowly to face the former. There was no sign of joy on the white stallion’s face or eyes, only the tired satisfaction of a long chore finally ending.

All Solar Guards were armed with more than a spear, evident by the narrow bladed dagger floating from its sheath on the commander’s belt. It hovered tip-first in front of Reagdan’s eyes.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, to yell, but her voice didn’t come. This isn’t happening. It was as simple as that. This isn’t happening.

Poor, poor Morning Dew…

“I should have done this years ago,” Steadfast Ray said with a strange tinge of sadness and relief.

The dagger shot through the helmet’s slit.

Raegdan’s head was pushed back from the force and his torso less so. The world held its breath as the armored giant knelt there, his face facing the sky, blood dripping down his neck. Then he started falling sideways, slowly, like the tallest, crumbling tower that ever existed. It was as if time had become a swamp, and every second had to trudge through it. He crashed on his arm first, then his helm impacted the stone ground. The last of his strength was used to barely tilt towards Twilight, and for a spellbound moment she believed he was going to get back up and laugh, “I’m fine!”

He twitched, then stilled.

Green. Burning my eyes. It’s all I can see. Green!

Green, green, green, green…

I see it. I’m fast, but I see it clearly. It’s green. Hands grab me from behind, hard enough to feel the nails through the leather. I can hear a muffled shout. It’s the wind. The wind doesn’t let me hear, doesn’t let me see clear enough.

I blink.

It’s red.

This isn’t fair.

She’s screaming. The ghouls, zombies, monsters, whatever they are called, they are almost on her. I got her. I almost got her. She screams.

She’s gone. Hands grab me hard enough to feel their nails through my clothes and pull me back, away from the wet crunching sounds and fading pleas for help. I try to fight them off, to rush in, to get her out, but I’m too weak, weak and afraid. I left her there. I left her to die.

I did that.

The wind is back. Cold. So cold and tired. I look at the broken body and back at him. I can’t do it. I’m too afraid. I won’t be strong enough. I say no. I leave them no choice. They won’t let him die alone in the cold. A swift end. I go away, I don’t want to see, I don’t want to hear. I stay alone in the cold and feel the wind. It takes the sounds away. I don’t hear the crying. I don’t want to hear it.

I can’t be weak. I can’t be afraid. I have to do something or… or…

It will be my fault.

The soldier was almost a kid. I didn’t want to, but I had no choice. Not him, not the rest. Not anyone else. No choice. They left me no choice.

I needed answers. I had to know what was waiting for us here. It’s hard to get a good grip on the teeth with the pliers, but I have to, there’s no other choice.

Too little food, too little water, and they trust us as much as I trust them. The rest are fools. If they have kids it only means that they will value them above us. It’s an old rope bridge. So easy to cut. It had to be done. The stragglers are easy to kill. Most of them are young. Too young…

I had to...

She won’t walk again, and she’s in so much pain. Something inside me wants to stop looking at her. She won’t stop screaming. They’ll find us, and they’ll do worse to both of us. I don’t want to do this. Dear heavens, please don’t make me do this!

I close her eyes when she’s gone, and I weep silently. I had to. I had to.

I find her on the way. We talk. I tell her everything. I trade her a story. I have nothing else to give, but it buys me what I need. I… I don’t know what. I don’t remember.

I have to push.

I have to lie.

I have to force them.

I have to kill.

I have to hurt.

I have to starve, to get hurt, to maim, to burn, to get burned. I have to, I have to. There’s no other choice. If there was I wouldn’t have to do those things, but I need to. Otherwise someone would stop me or convince me otherwise.

Right?

They left. They took the reins for once. Did what they had to. I hope they made it home. They should have been like this ages ago. I miss him. I hope he’s ok, that they are all ok. I hope I’ll see them again. I hope we all make it home somehow.

It’s not real. I did what I had to. I did what I had to. I did what I had to. I did what I had to. It’s not real. I did what I had to. I did what I had to. I did what I had to.

I wish I hadn’t killed the boy.

I wish he hadn’t died alone in the cold, in that deafening wind. I wish I hadn’t done that. He’s gone. Dead, and covered under a sheet of snow.

A white sheet. A white sheet. A white sheet on the floor.

It’s not real.

The wind returned. I hear nothing over it. Not for a very long time. It’s peaceful. I simply enjoy the ride, take in the sights and smells. You barely have to think when you ride. You just do what you have to do, and get lost in the wind. There’s nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I blink.

A white sheet. A blinding light. No escape. It’s not real.

They scream, afraid. Proof. Hurt them in the worst way possible. I don’t want to. I have to. Not this, anything but this, no one deserves this. I don’t want to do this to them. Please.

I do it. It buys me what I need. It leaves.

It’s not real.

She shatters me. Almost kills me. I open my stupid mouth to thank her. I didn’t need to do that. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have died.

Do what you have to do. Die a hero. Save the girl. Make it right, make it fair. End it.

Failed. Again.

I give promises. I try to keep them.

I try. I try. I promise. I try. I fail. I lie. Hate. I’m used to hate. I choose to be hated, it’s the better option.

She leaves. He goes with her. I lose my little ones.

I try. I move as fast as I can, but I’m not fast enough. I never was fast enough. If I was she wouldn’t be eaten alive. I fail, yet she lives. They all live.

I meet her. She understands. She’s like me. Almost. I promise. I try. I try. I try. I lie.

I try. I keep trying. I try to do what I have to do. They are the same. Insist I don’t have to, but they don’t stop me. I fail.

I try, and I don’t lie, not this time. I try to save the brother. I fail again. I keep trying. She dies, she was kind and she died. I wasn’t fast enough.

My fault.

It’s my fault.

She cries for him to stop. I try, but I fail once more, and I witness the pain in her eyes as the blade approaches. I can’t even do this much without hurting them. I just wanted them to be ok. That’s all I ever wanted. That’s all.

I’m sorry.

I shouldn’t have killed that little girl’s father.

I’m tired, so tired. I’m tired of losing, of failing. Have I ever won? Even once? Ever?

I wish I hadn’t failed them. I wish I was home. I wish I had died in the crash.

I blink.

Red. A perfect circle, like a ring. A senseless circle of fire that serves no purpose other than burn. A flash of pain.

Then nothing.

Only the wind.

I deserve this.

Twilight couldn’t move. This didn’t happen. Raegdan would get up. He wasn’t hurt. He was never hurt.

A pained scream of loss and rage tore the silence apart. Twilight Velvet was galloping towards Steadfast Ray, tears flying behind her, the glow of her horn reflecting brightly against them. A missile of pure magic, comprised of nothing else but the intent to harm, flew in front of her, and she followed behind it.

Steadfast Ray easily dodged the obvious attack, but he missed the fact that Velvet’s horn kept glowing. Her magic forced Raegdan’s hammer to spin in the air and attempt to smash Steadfast Ray’s head. The Solar Commander barely managed to wrestle Velvet’s magic for control with his own in time. The hammer came to a stop only inches from his skull.

Velvet could never overpower Steadfast Ray’s magic. She didn’t have the training or the magical strength. She did have a mean right hoof though. She let her magic go, and in that second of surprise managed to bloody the stallion’s jaw.

The Solar Commander’s magic countered, pushing her away. Twilight’s mother fell on the ground and pushed aside like a toy. She tried to stand again, shouting obscenities all the while, but the pegasus Solar guard landed behind her and held her back. Velvet turned and started hitting him instead, but the armored pegasus endured every single hit, trying to get through to Velvet all the while and shouting at his comrade to stay back and don’t try to hurt the mare.

Twilight’s crystal focus, the one that she had felt so recently, returned. A mental step, and she was behind Steadfast Ray.

The Solar Commander heard the pop of her teleportation. Twilight was certain he would spin to face her, and that’s why she missed when Steadfast instantly jumped aside instead. She tried again, but the opposing unicorn deflected her.

The counter was perfect in every way. Twilight could recognize the result of long, hard practice when she saw it. She had enough power to keep trying for longer than he could keep deflecting though. She cast her spells again. A fire spell. A stun. A magic bolt. A rope spell. They all got deflected, and in an ironic echo of events Steadfast kept approaching her all the while.

Twilight mentally focused on the other side of the area. She was ready to make the step when Steadfast’s hoof hit her hard right below the left eye. She fell down, her teleportation spell fizzling to nothingness.

There’s a sheet on the floor. One part of it is drenched in blood.

Dark purple hair crawls from beneath the sheet.

…

No.

No more.

“Miss Sparkle, I’m sorry for your loss,” Steadfast Ray said with genuine sounding grief. “But it was forced upon me. He was nothing but a rabid beast that would one day bite the hoof that fed him. It’s for the best, trust me.”

Twilight didn’t try to get up. There was no reason to. She kept her head down.

“You shouldn’t have done that. It’s against the rule.” She tentatively touched her cheek. It stinged. There would be a bruise.

Steadfast Ray offered her his hoof to help her up, an act that Twilight pointedly refused. His expression portrayed the purest regret. “I gave a warning, miss Sparkle. I tried to stop it, I did, but as his record shows he would not. I merely defended myself and didn’t allow him to endanger the life of the princesses by setting a dangerous suspect free. I broke no law.”

“I didn’t say law. I said rule. A very important one,” Twilight cleared up, still staring down on the ground.

Steadfast Ray frowned. “What rule is that, miss Sparkle?”

Twilight looked up. He brought this on himself. This had been all a trap, she was convinced. Raegdan didn’t start this. He didn’t deserve this.

She hissed her answer between her clenched teeth. “You never, ever hurt me in front of Raegdan!”

A tower of steel stood behind Steadfast Ray like a menacing shadow.

It delayed only long enough to force the protruding bone back into its flesh with a sickening crunch. It was Steadfast’s only other warning. He tried to jump aside, magic gathering around his horn.

A hand stained in its own blood grabbed his horn and forced his head to the ground. The bone threatened to tear through the flesh in a spurt of blood once more, but the arm held strong nevertheless, forced by muscle, sinew, and pure will. The other arm descended like a claw over Steadfast’s eye.

The dagger’s hilt was still there, buried in Raegdan’s helmet. The bones were still broken, the wounds still bleeding, the organs still struggling to work, the lungs forcing themselves to keep drawing in breath. None of that mattered to the one that wasn’t entirely the Raegdan that Twilight knew. Only one thing did.

“My turn,”

It took your eye. Hurt it. This piece of meat will suffer, though not as much as he will for what he tried. He tried to take her from you. They all try to take everything from you. Don’t let them. You can’t let them. Take everything from them first.

Take his eye. Hear him scream. Laugh. Fingers, so much more useful that their silly hooves. Show them what else they can do. Claw at his face, his snout, find something to grab. He fights back. He is strong, and you are damaged, but it minds pain. You don’t. Not now. You’re more interested in his.

His nostrils. That will do. One finger in one, the other in the next. Give him a second, let him understand. See the waking terror in his eye. Savor it.

Now pull. Rip. Tear.

The meat around wails and cries. They puke. Two other pieces of meat try to save this one. You don’t even have to stand. Simply look at them. Let them see you, let them understand the promise. You take the eye, and crush it in your fist as they watch. They hesitate, and you no longer concern yourselves with them. Their fear and your contempt will hold them back. It always does. They are weak and afraid. Useless. They let you do what you want on it so you won’t do it to them.

It tries to fight back again. You don’t have the energy for this. You might not last long. Kill it and leave, find shelter, heal, then keep hurting everything else. It’s in shock, and flailing. So easy to grab hold of the legs and bend the other way the right moment. They snap like dry twigs. Set it on fire next? No flames here. Shame. Would love to see it burn. There’s no pain like fire. Almost.

It screams. You no longer want to hear it scream. It makes the throb where your eye was grow. Silence it. Force its mouth open and grab its tongue. It tries to bite. Let it. It’s only pain.

You don’t make it. Something strong pulls you away. The fighter, the one you fought before. The one that beat you. It speaks like you care what it says. Tells you to stop. Stupid. You cannot stop. You won’t stop. You stumble and flail, pretend to be weak. It tries to hold you up. You grab its shoulder.

It wears armor. You can’t use your knife, this meat is fast, but you don’t have to. There are gaps, and it keeps its legs still to keep both of you stable. It’s so easy to aim. It’s only a leg, but the spikes on your knee hurt it enough. It doesn’t kill it, but it distracts it. Your hand is close enough to its face. You go for the eyes, and if you can reach it the brain behind.

It’s fast, and you are damaged. It grabs your wrist and stops you. You push back. It’s strong, but not strong enough. It’s weak. It could end it with a strike on the dagger in your eye, but it’s weak and uncertain. It won’t do what it has to do. Your broken arm is not worth it’s attention. You reach for the flashbang. This will end quickly. Kill. Them. All.

A flash of light from your right. The meat drops your arm and hastens back.

The white one. The one who thinks wrong. The one who succeeded everywhere you didn’t. She speaks, says words you don’t recognize. She looks at the piece of meat on the ground with horror and shock. You turn and look as well, you want to see if it died and missed the moment you craved.

The little one isn’t there. You don’t see her.

Where is she? Where is she?

No. No, no, nononononononono, no!

Bring her back, bring her back! You can’t lose her, I won’t lose her, not again, not again, I can’t lose another one. No more, please heavens, no more!

Celestia, you…

You were supposed to keep—

He was terrifying. He was covered with blood, a lot of it his own, but guessing by the red stains she spotted on the fallen stallion—careful not to look too closely—a lot of it was Steadfast’s, because Twilight took too long to warn Princess Celestia. The dagger was still embedded in his eye or… wherever it had managed to stab him, and blood was trickling along the visible part of the blade. His left arm dangled lifeless, the bloody bone visible once more, and the right hand was covered in gore and viscous juices. His breathing… dear Celestia, his breathing! It sounded like a death rattle.

By all accounts he should have fallen on the ground half-dead, but he stood, his working hand shifting from fist to claw. She would never have guessed that this was Raegdan if she didn’t know. The way he stood, the mechanical way his head tilted, the clipped movements. This wasn’t him. It couldn’t be. This was a stranger, one that she was terribly afraid of.

The princess tried to soothe Raegdan’s rage with words, as she always did, as if she spoke to a frightened foal. Sometimes she was forced to employ violence, usually just enough to forcefully bring him down to the ground and hold him there.

Her head had turned to see what he had done to Steadfast Ray, and Raegdan’s gaze followed hers. She saw him stand straight, his right arm shaking with sudden rage. King Crucible saw it too. The fearless minotaur tried to stop him, but he was one step too far.

“Raegdan, no!” Twilight ran to him. She had teleported too far away from where she should be, wary of where the crowd could be. Princess Celestia had no such qualms, able to teleport in the air and softly land afterwards.

Raegdan’s fist struck Celestia straight on the mouth. The crowed gasped in horror.

The sun princess staggered from the unexpected blow. She stepped back, speechless and wounded, her lips bleeding. His hand was reaching for her throat and Twilight shouted at him to stop, just as King Crucible was harshly grabbing him by the shoulders from behind. The king’s bodyguards were approaching as well, ready to aid their liege despite his commands to stay back.

“Lih- Little one?” he said in disbelief when he heard her cry out.

Twilight stopped, her mind working overtime, trying to understand what he was seeing. “Raegdan, it’s me, Twilight. I’m okay. I’m unhurt. Do you know where you are?” she said calmly. King Crucible relaxed his grip on Raegdan, and Twilight ordered—yes, ordered—the king to move back with a wave of her head.

“I’m… You—The window…” He was confused, but at least he sounded as if he realized it himself. He saw Celestia, and his body froze.

“Celestia, I didn’t—” He turned away, and hobbled away, his left leg threatening to bend sideways at every step. Everypony rushed to get away from him, almost climbing over each other.

“Raegdan? Raegdan, you need medical attention! Raegdan!” Princess Celestia shouted, but her pleas empowered the biped to move even faster. “Raegdan, your eye, the knife! Please, wait, let me help you! Raegdan, you might...” The words died.

Princess Celestia gave up, and shook her head at King Crucible’s silent question. Raegdan wouldn’t listen. He would go off to lick his wounds alone, and be miserable. The more they insisted the more he’d refuse and thus delay to seek help.

“What happened here?” Princess Celestia asked, sounding furious. She didn’t wait for a reply, but headed for Steadfast Ray, a few ponies rushing to get medics for him, if they weren’t already on their way.

The Solar Commander was a mess. Twilight barely glanced at him before she looked away. It was as if he had been mauled by an animal. There was a gaping hole where an eye used to be, and his face looked as if it had been split in two, his muzzle literally torn apart, blood, mucus, and other fluids running freely. The legs were bent in different directions, in places that had no joints. The sight would haunt her dreams.

“Go- Grace… Blee- bleeding…” he managed to say, gasping to speak through the blood pooling in his mouth.

“You are. The medics are on their way. They will take care of you, I promise.” The princess cast a few complex spells and the bleeding slowed considerably. She beckoned at a random pony to approach. “Please, tell me what happened here.”

The pony did as his princess asked. He told her everything, as he saw and understood what happened. Exactly as Twilight feared. It painted a horrible, wrong, yet completely in character, at least superficially, image of Raegdan being entirely the one in the wrong.

The Princess stood over one of the spheres Steadfast Ray had used as weapons. “So this is what the commander of my Guard used?”

“Not the worst choice for a weapon,” King Crucible observed, standing next to her. “Reliable against armored opponents, at his complete control, reusable, and able to strike from every possible angle against an opponent who wears a vision limiting helmet. It could stand to be more effective. As it is, it looks like it would take a lot of hits to kill your target unless you aimed for the head. I don’t believe I have seen something like this before though. It must be custom made.”

“Yes,” Princess Celestia agreed thoughtfully. “And he happened to have it around while on break. How... lucky for him.”

“I’m not sure what is more insulting,” King Crucible grumbled. “That he tried to pull this off or that he thought you were blind enough for it to work.”

Springfall made his way in front of Princess Celestia, one dark wing laid protectively over Silver Tallow who kept her head bowed and was crying. “Your Majesty, please, Silver never did anything of these horrible things they accuse her! She’s innocent, I swear.”

Princess Celestia rubbed her forehead, trying to prevent a coming headache. “Fear not, my little pony, I shall get to the bottom of this. Could you tell me how Raegdan got involved?”

Springfall bowed his head next to Silver Tallow’s ear and spoke gently. “Silver? Silver, could you please tell us why? Why did you send me to him?”

Silver Tallow raised her head, only to quickly glance at Twilight’s direction and lower it again, tears running nonstop. She shook her head, a few tears spraying in the sun the sun like dew. “I don’t know,” she whimpered. “I… was mugged once and he chased them away. I read his name recently and I— I thought he would know better than the guards that I didn’t know anything. I didn’t do anything, why is it always me? I didn’t do anything…”

“It’s ok, my little pony,” Princess Celestia said quickly, as softly and gently as she could to the sobbing young mare. “My guards will take you to the hospital wing to be checked over and we will talk further when you are better.” She turned to one of the guards gathering around her. “Bring Shining Armor here.”

“Bleeding… Bleeding!” Steadfast Ray was screaming as the medics tried to pick him up and get him to the medical wing. One of the medics finally used a spell to sedate him, and they took him away, still mumbling about his wounds.

“Ah well,” King Crucible laughed. “It’s a good day for whoever gets that promotion though, right? Lucky him. What are you going to do?”

“Luna is giving all her attention to her own guard. Perhaps it is time I paid some attention to my own.”

“Wise. You might need them. You don’t want to have none while your sister does.” King Crucible ignored the pointed look and took a napkin left on a table and passed it to Celestia, finger pointing at his own lips. “You are bleeding.”

“Thank you,” Celestia dabbed her cut lip. She eyed his wounded leg, “So are you,”

“A mere flesh wound. I’ll have it checked in a moment. What worries me more is how he managed to get me in his condition or the way he hit you.”

“It wasn’t his fault. Not entirely. He lost control.”

King Crucible snorted. “Did he? He knew exactly what he was doing. Who and where he struck to how he breathed and what he looked at. You should keep an eye on him or someday he might do more than bleed your lip.”

“That wasn’t him,” was the clipped response.

The minotaur king scratched his jaw thoughtfully. “I’m inclined to believe that.”

“Twilight, honey?” Velvet called from behind Twilight, giving her a scare. Velvet had a few scratches on her cheek, but apart from that she seemed fine. She guessed that the pegasus Solar Guard chose to take the hits rather than strike back in any form.

“I’m going to look after Raegdan. He was terribly hurt. Are you going to be okay? Do you need to visit the hospital foot?” Velvet continued, full of worry, her eyes darting at Twilight’s cheek where Steadfast, most probably former Commander of the Solar Guard if she could help it, had slapped her.

“No, Mom. I’m fine, really. I’m coming with you, I want to make sure he’s alright as well.” She could see Rainbow Dash flying toward the quelling chaos and using her as a marker she spotted her friends running besides Luna’s guards.

She didn’t want to relive this experience so soon. She ran after her mother, heading for Luna’s tower.

They climbed up the steps, following the thin trail of blood drops. Why did they let him go? He had a knife in his head! He could be bleeding internally in his brain for all they knew, he… he might have lost his eye! He should be laid on a hospital bed with doctors over him, not trying to climb up stairs with his broken body.

He had been doing his theatrics of being impossible to keep down for so long that they actually believed them.

Twilight could hear a voice as they climbed. It was distorted, the echoes of the tower not letting her understand what Raegdan said. At least until they climbed up higher, almost reaching the last level. The voice sounded clearer up here, though nowhere as loud as the acoustics made it below. It wasn’t Raegdan’s voice talking to himself as she had thought. This was a mare’s voice. She knew who it was.

“That’s Honest Serenade,” her mother said, still uttering the name with disbelief. Twilight nodded. Who else could it be? She could hear the mocking tone if not the words themselves.

Velvet was bewildered. “But it can’t be. Why would she do that? They’re friends!”

Twilight could scarcely believe what she heard. “What? Mom, where did you get that idea from? She hates him!”

They climbed the last few steps, and there they were. A dozen or more meters away from them, near the end of the corridor that would take them to Luna’s doors. Raegdan supported himself on the wall, his legs bent almost double and shaking. They could hear the wheezing of his breath even from this distance, short intakes through his mouth, exhaling quickly with a harsh, wet rasp.

Honest Serenade stood next to him, awfully close, almost dancing with glee. “Oh, please fall and crawl,” she begged, giddily. “This was almost everything I wished for, give me a happy ending!”

“Fuck… you…”

Twilight jerked forward, only to be held back by her mother’s magic. She felt a silence spell covering them. Her mother’s face was grim. “Wait. I want to see this for myself.”

“He’s hurt!” Twilight retorted.

“I know. But I think there’s something worse here. Let me see, my angel. This isn’t how it should be.”

Honest Serenade laughed like a schoolfilly being naughty and delighting in it. She reached out with her leg and slid her hoof down Raegdan’s leg almost provocatively. “I love it when you talk dirty to me. Especially when I can hear you spitting blood to do so. Tell me, have any of your ribs pierced through your lungs yet? I wonder, will I hear them pop like a balloon? Pop, pop!”

Raegdan forced himself to take another step without answering her. It was painful to watch. He didn’t walk as much as lunge forward, supporting himself with his left leg, and then dragging the right one behind him. If it wasn’t for the wall he would have surely fallen. He barely managed to stay upright even so.

“You know what my favorite part was?” Honest Serenade asked, as if sharing her thoughts on a play she just watched. “The part where you realized you really hit Princess Celestia. If only you didn’t wear your helmet, I would have loved to see your face.” She sighed in disappointment. “The only way it could have been better would be if that was Magic instead.”

“Never… hurt… Twilight…”

“D'aww,” Honest Serenade cooed. “It believes that! How cute. I know you’ve said the same about the princess as well. Of course, I never believe that. You are a liar after all. Forgot that?”

“No…”

“No? No, you didn’t forget that or do you deny it? You know what, don’t bother. You might spit your lungs out if you try. I can’t wait for the next one! I’m almost sad I got Steadfast in trouble if that’s the kind of show he was able to give me. Who are you going to reveal your colors to next? Magic? The dragon? Your bitch? So many optio—”

Raegdan’s right hand left the wall and lunged for Honest Serenade’s horn. He violently pulled her in front of him, throwing her on her back even as he fell on his knee over her. “Maybe you…” he growled.

She laughed again, but harder than ever. “Like- Like you could do that! What could you possibly do to me, hmm? Slap me around a few times? Go ahead. Give me something hard to remember this day.”

His hand dived between her legs, and Honest Serenade gasped in pain and surprise. “As you wish,” he breathed.

“Stop! Let me go!” Honest Serenade cried out, a hint of fear creeping into her for the first time.

The dark, horned helmet came closer to her face, allowing the sole remaining eye to look straight into hers. “What’s wrong?” Raegdan whispered. “Must have grown used to having this done to you. Wakes up memories, doesn’t it?” Honest Serenade choked a scream from erupting out of her when a bloodstained finger dug painfully into her. “Squirming under someone while he has his fun. Nothing like it, is there? Everything comes into focus so clearly.”

“Let me go! Let me go, you monster. Don’t touch me, stop it, let me go!” Honest Serenade half-shrieked while desperately holding on to her former attitude.

The black, steel face in front of her tilted to the side as if considering her request. “No. I’m not finished yet. I’m not even close to done.” He leaned even closer, their foreheads now touching.

Honest Serenade spat at him. Her saliva run down the metal surface, mixing with the blood on it. “Do your worst. Come on, think you can pile something more on me? You’ve got nothing to hurt me with!”

Cruel chuckles echoed in the hallway. Raegdan’s voice became stronger but harsher on the ears. More difficult to understand. “You think you know, that’s all. In truth, you know nothing, because you haven’t thought about what you really know, what you keep saying.” He pulled her even closer to his body. “Here’s a little something you never, ever, really thought about…”

The metal plate above his mouth moved to her ear. His hand left her horn, and almost sensually slid down her cheek and to her throat, his fingers petting the bottom of her chin in their cusp.

“I… always… lie.”

He let her go.

The mare stayed down while the iron pillar stood above her on unsteady legs, bent and broken, watching her. She finally rose up on trembling legs as well, and raised her head up to look at him. Her eyes were shining with wetness.

“Wh- what?” she stuttered.

“Isn’t what you preach to anyone who will hear you out? That I am a liar? You never really understood what this word meant, did you? Tell me, Honest Serenade.” He towered over her. “How is this for hurt? How’s the taste of uncertain hope that’s beyond your reach forever?”

He turned around and walked down the end of the corridor, laughing with whatever breath he had left all the way. Nopony moved, not Serenade, not Velvet, not Twilight, until they heard the heavy black doors close behind him, the cruel laughter finally fading into silence.

Tears flowed down Honest Serenade’s face. She shivered. A keen wail finally broke out of her chest with eardrum bursting force and she ran to follow, Velvet and Twilight close behind her and watching as she threw herself on the night engraved doors, crying and screaming. Her hooves pummeled the metal doors strong enough to crack the strong keratin of one of them. Grief, rage, and need warred for supremacy in her cries, and the screams subsequently gave way to words no less terrible than her inarticulate despair.

“Where is my foal? Give me my foal. Give me my child, you near-dead abomination!” she raged. “I want my foal… please…please. I need to see my foal, even once, please...”

She slid down the doors, weakly hitting them with her hoof. “Where? Where? Give me back my baby,” Serenade sobbed, drained and exhausted. “They didn’t even let me hold my baby… I want to hold my baby…”

Velvet approached the weeping mare. “Serenade? Serenade, what did you do? It’s over. Why do you—”

Honest Serenade’s teeth snapped near the hoof reaching for her like a rabid dog’s. “It’s not over! He lied to me! It’s not over until I say it is!” she barked, hateful foam spreading from her mouth. The sobbing had stopped and she had her old self back, but tears still flowed nonstop.

“Serenade, please. He tried. He doesn’t know.”

“It’s not over,” Serenade declared decisively. “Not while I breathe. I’ll make him pay! All of them!” She turned away and left, casting one last hateful glance at Twilight herself, snarling and grinding her teeth all the while.

“Twilight, make sure Raegdan is treated, please. I have to talk to Serenade,” Velvet ran after the pink maned mare, yelling for her to wait, voice full of genuine worry.

Twilight was lost. She had lost all understanding of what was going on, her perceptions switching around themselves once more. She was drowning in the now familiar feeling of the world shedding a false layer for no other reason than to mock her preconceptions.

She knocked on the dark doors, her voice pitched higher in panic as she called out. “Raegdan, it’s me! Let me in, now!”

The doors glowed blue, then opened.

She rushed in, and saw Raegdan on his back. Luna was dragging him further in the room and near the fireplace with her mouth, her wings flapping to strengthen her tugs. A streak of blood on the floor showed her progress thus far.

Luna’s head shot up, “Twilight Sparkle, you must go bring help. I need my guards, I need Cast Iron here immediately. We need to get him out of the armor and remove the dagger! I fear he’s bleeding into his brain.” Twilight watched Luna’s magic grab the fire poker and shape it into a rounded off, thinner end before throwing it in the fire. “Hurry!”

Twilight teleported in search of the aid Luna called for. She did love him after all.

Yet she hated him all the same.

The Element Bearers waited in a room as Luna ordered them to while she, Cast Iron, and Solid Charge were struggling to do what they could for the wounded alien. They had heard Solid Charge yell and beg for Luna to allow a proper doctor to see him, but the princess refused vehemently, distrusting everypony to come near him, deeming him too vulnerable to lay at an unknown’s mercy.

Solid Charge tried his best to make her see reason. He made every argument possible, he told her that Raegdan might die because of her… and it availed him nothing. Luna would not budge.

Twilight and her friends could do nothing but listen in when they could, whether it was the crunch of metal as Cast Iron used his talents to remove the broken armor or the dispute between commander and princess, and talk between themselves when they could not, comparing notes and trying to find a semblance of sanity. The only one who remained stoically apart and silent was Fluttershy. She was staring vacantly at the corner while clutching a golden covered book to her chest. Even Bunny Angel was distressed as he worried both over his owner and his newest friend.

Princess Luna walked in, looking like exhaustion incarnate. She sat heavily on a chair, ignoring the frantic questions around her. Her eyes bore into Twilight’s, anger simmering beneath them.

“Twilight Sparkle. Tell me what happened. All of it,” she ordered grimly.

Twilight told her everything, her suspicions about the trap, and how it ended. She told her about what she heard, and what Raegdan did. She told her about Honest Serenade demanding her foal back from Raegdan.

And then she asked the Alicorn to tell her what the tartarus was up with that.

Luna shook her head, looking more tired by the second. “I am not sure what you expect, Twilight Sparkle.”

“I expect the truth! You have to know what is going on, what Serenade was about. Raegdan tells you everything. You are the only one he really speaks to,” she said bitterly.

“Am I?” Luna quietly questioned. She stayed silent, staring into Twilight’s eyes, and Twilight stared back, clenching her jaw. Luna averted her eyes, sighing heavily. She pointed at a cabinet behind Twilight.

“In there. All of you, look,” She looked away from them.

Twilight moved and stood before the closed cabinet at the other end of the room. She examined it for a moment. It was plain, and the wooden hinged doors had no lock. It was completely unassuming and unnoticeable. She took a deep breath, feeling her friends all gather behind her, waiting to see what was inside. Twilight wasn’t sure if she wanted to. She wasn’t sure how much more horribleness she could stomach today.

She opened the cabinet. All she saw were a few glasses, most of them dusty. “There’s nothing here,” she exclaimed.

“No, there is not,” Luna confessed sorrowfully, her magic fading from her horn. She slowly stood and walked around them to stand next to Twilight Sparkle, and examine the blank expression on her face. All six of them stood like her, their mouths slacking open and their eyes wide and staring at nothing. “I simply needed you to look and focus away from me. You are well taught, but only in matters of magic.”

Luna’s hoof carefully caressed the bruise on Twilight’s face. Her magic flared and a jar of ointment was levitated into the room. The Alicorn applied some of it to the bruise with tender care.

“You… I believe in you. I trust you. If we told you everything, I believe you might possibly understand. And as long as it is up to me, you won’t. I’ll spare you all of you from as much as I can. I won’t allow you to be forced to make a choice, even if the answer is predetermined.”

“I’m sorry. About all this,” Luna whispered as she set the jar aside. “You will stay here for a little longer. You will have forgotten some details you would be better off without, you will stop worrying about more, and then you will all decide you want to get back to your homes at the break of dawn.”

She smiled wistfully. “A place where you can rest, and be safe, and welcomed. You are so fortunate, all of you. It will help you forget.” Luna’s hoof pushed a stray hair back into Applejack’s mane.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Luna whispered, gazing at Pinkie Pie’s face. “It is hurting you, and it hurts me too. At least you don’t know what I’m doing to you, but the knowledge will always remain with me. I wish I didn’t have to. You must go away or it will tear my heart in pieces if I have to keep doing this any more. I need to stop, at least for a little while. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, but it will be worth it, I promise. I will not let you throw your lives away.”

Luna wiped her eyes, and breathed deeply a few times to regain control. “I’m sorry,” she said one final time, and left. “Go home. Be happy. Don’t go into the dark and cold. You deserve better.”

Solid Charge looked up as Luna entered. The princess stared at the straps that had appeared over Raegdan’s body during her absence, and the minotaur rushed to explain. “He has broken many of his ribs, Princess. They’re there to simply make sure he doesn’t try to move too much. He’s lucky he didn’t perforate his lungs completely.”

Luna silently accepted the excuse, even as she knew it was only half the truth. She didn’t need to force the rest out of her Commander. Solid Charge wanted to be certain that Raegdan wouldn’t attempt anything when he regained consciousness, still leery of past transgressions. Luna let him be, not bothering to explain once more she was perfectly safe despite their concerns.

“How is his eye?” Luna asked, sitting next to her guardsman and watching his sleeping, heavily scarred face. She didn’t mind it. She never cared for his looks. They always were alien and strange to her. They simply had changed after Charybdis, it didn’t become worse or better for her. They were his, and that was all that mattered.

“Cast Iron’s hands are steady as a rock, but we should get a doctor, Princess. He’s used to working with tools and metal, not veins and blood. It might be better to have it removed entirely for all we know. It’s not like he will be able to see with it again. Or there might still be bleeding in his skull if we missed something. We don’t know what damage the blade did in there.”

“He’s fine,” Luna assured him fervently. “He made it this far. He’s fine. He’s fine.”

Solid Charge fumbled for something else to say. “I think I set his bones properly, but I can’t be certain. We will have to wait for him to tell us if we did it right, and he will need a cast. More than one. The collarbones need to be binded somehow as well, but I don’t know how.”

“I will take a look myself. I know his physiology well enough. You may go.”

“... Princess, perhaps the doctor from Baltimare? What if we sent for him? He’s proven to be trustworthy.”

“Leave, Solid Charge. Leave us alone. I will watch over him. You go and do what you have to do. Make sure that Silver Tallow is set free no matter what you need to do or say, and make arrangements for the girls to return to their homes in the morning as they asked me to,” Luna said in a clipped tone.

Solid Charge stood up. “As you command, princess. I will make arrangements for the doctor as well if possible.”

Luna was left alone, watching Raegdan breathe after she checked Solid Charge’s work and setted splints on Raegdan’s limbs. The candles burned and reached their end one by one, the wicks hissing as the flames died and slowly left her in the black. She didn’t mind her lack of sight. The day passed, and night came. The moon asked to be raised, and Luna ignored its call once more as well as her sister’s question whether she would raise it, letting her do it instead. She waited, thinking as little as possible.

Raegdan’s breathing changed. It was almost imperceptible, but she was waiting and watching for it.

“You lied to me,”

“... Didn’t…” he croaked dryly.

Luna sighed. She used her magic, which lightly lit the room blue, to pour water in a cup, and held it to his lips with her hooves. He only drank a few sips.

“You did,” Luna said, leaving the half-empty cup aside. Blackness swallowed the room again. “You didn’t tell me about Serenade. I can guess what you did, and why. You didn’t tell me.”

“Not… not lying.” He kept his eye closed. The left one remained open under the gauze, she knew, because there was no eyelid to close. “I just didn’t say everything.”

“Did you lie to me about anything else as well?” Luna asked with hurt in her voice.

“Luna, I’m… I’m trying. Nothing else, I swear. Nothing else.”

Luna sniffed, and wiped her nose. “Will you tell her where her foal is?”

“No.”

Luna nodded, even if he couldn’t see her, feeling relieved for more reasons than one. “Good. Go to sleep. You need to heal, please. I need you.” She laid next to him, wary of his broken body.

“Are they… Twilight… Velvet… Celestia, is… is she hurt?”

“Everypony’s okay, Raegdan. Nopony’s hurt.”

“Morning Dew, Silver Tallow, what about them?”

“They’re fine. It’s all fine. Rest.” She carefully ran her hoof over his head and the remains of his hair.

“The others… Vivian, is she here? She gets scared and cries easily, is she alright? I… I had a dream she got hurt. Alex… Alex was cold, we stopped, and Mary hurt her legs. Scipio, get Scipio to help, he knows... he always knows what to do...” Raegdan mumbled feverishly, reaching to someone who wasn’t there.

Luna shut her eyes as hard as possible in an effort to keep her grief out of her face and voice. In her mind she saw flames, and betrayed voices calling for her. They never stopped, she thought. The dead are never gone.

“Rest. They’re no longer hurt. I promise.”

“I didn’t mean to. I tried. I tried to go back. I ran, but it was too far. She tried to run too. Almost made it to the window.”

“I know. Don’t die, Raegdan. Please, don’t.”

“I couldn’t stop… I tried, but I couldn’t...” he mumbled, sinking back into a healing sleep or unconsciousness. “... I was… It was too fast…”

“I know. It’s okay, I know.”

The alien rested, still as the dead. The Alicorn did not, could not. She had to stay awake and make sure he wouldn’t aggravate his wounds while she waited for the nightmares to come and claim him. He would need her soon. He had gotten lost again, and the dead girls would come find him once more. It was her turn to return the favor and chase the shadows of his sins away.

The Princess of the Night ignored the lullabies her body sang, forcing the windows to her soul to stay open until the morn.

The train sped its way down the plain the next morning, carrying the bearers of the Elements of Harmony back to their homes. In a satchel, buried underneath everything else lay a book with a golden cover, forgotten and undelivered to the Princess of the Night.

Fluttershy would not remember what the book was, what she did to get it, and she won’t care to find out. It was a worry she no longer had.