“No way,” Broken Gust confidently stated with an ugly, angry grimace. “Not Princess Luna. She would never do that.”

Cradle Song listened with a bored look, and seemingly unperturbed. “Why not?” he asked.

“Why not?” Broken Gust repeated, shocked and seething with offense. “Because it’s Princess Luna! That’s why!”

Cradle Song wiped some of the spittle that had left Broken Gust’s mouth and landed on his fire colored beard. “It’s a tremendous argument, I’ll admit. Allow me to counter. Why not?”

Broken Gust dragged him close with a violent pull, her hoof trembling with barely contained rage near his eye, and her teeth grinding as if restraining herself from biting him. “One more word out of you against her, you traitor, and I’m going to pluck that stupid red mane off of you, hair by bucking hair!”

Eventide’s hoof landed gently on Broken Gust’s leg and firmly eased it down, her unwavering stare cowering the younger Thestral. “Enough. Cradle Song has a point. Princess Luna could and would tamper with somepony’s mind if, and that’s if, she found it necessary. You know this as well as everypony, Broken Gust. Princess Luna does not shy away from doing what she believes needs to be done.”

“However,” the old Thestral continued, shifting her gaze from Broken Gust to Solid Charge, “that means exactly that. Princess Luna might have done something atrocious under a wrong belief or might know something we don’t. We are her guards, Solid Charge. I’m not going to betray her or accuse her without knowing more, but considering what you’ve uncovered and who it involves, I don’t wish to let this continue without hearing this exceptional reason now that I know of it.”

Solid Charge nodded grimly, Eventide’s line of thinking aligned perfectly with his own. What worried him was Leaf Stream. The brown maned mare simply sat, listening with a dead expression, and waited to be told what would be done.

A sense that had been growing sharper and more prominent as the hours passed told him that there was going to be trouble with her. There was outrage before. Did it simply wither away?

Or did it simmer beneath the surface and out of sight?

Raegdan was sitting down on the dirt, legs crossed in that weird way of his. He didn’t wear his armor, but that was to be expected. The casts that held his body together had been replaced with a multitude of splints and bandages, but there was no way he would be able to handle donning the metal weight until he was much further healed. His left arm was still unable to move, and it rested on a sling across his chest.

His head and face was covered by the black, tight cloth hood, leaving only his eyes and mouth visible. A pad of white gauze covered his left eye, held in place by thin strips of bandage tied around his head.

In a fantastic display of arrogance—accordning to Solid Charge—, he had marched with them when anyone else would still be resting their broken bodies. Hewn Laurel, the doctor, had given them his professional opinion on the matter. If he was forced or dared to undo Hewn Laurel’s efforts and commit himself to strenuous activities he’d be lucky to only have a couple of months added to his recovery. The good doctor assured them that there would be a catheter involved in his extended healing period, and no, it wouldn’t be required at all. Nevertheless, he would install one with a smile on his face.

Raegdan had rested on an overly long halberd -but just right for his size- next to his legs, that he had been using as a walking aid, along with a plate filled with cold, untouched food.

“You are not eating,” Luna noted as she licked clean her own spoon.

Raegdan was taking a number of large marbles out of a bag, each big enough to fit in the palm of his hand, and placed them in front of him. “Not much of an appetite at the moment. Maybe later.”

Luna examined her empty plate of potato stew, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “I see. Right. We finished the memorial by the way. You haven’t visited it yet.”

“I don’t plan to.” Raegdan pressed the ball he was currently holding on the ground with some force. “When we have free time, I’m going back to Manehattan,” he breathed quietly through half closed lips. “I’ll find him. Then that will be it.”

Luna allowed a minute to pass in silence. “The chances of finding him are nil. It’s done and over with, Raegdan. Twilight Sparkle may be right, nevertheless. It was an accident. Even if you found him, killing him would be nothing but short of murder.”

“Then he should have pissed off someone who cares about the distinction,” Raegdan snarled. His working right hand covered his face, the fingers spread claw-like as if trying to hurt himself. “I should have fucking stayed there instead of getting back to Canterlot with all of you. Fat lot of good I did anyway.”

Luna moved her empty plate to the side. “Twilight Sparkle and Spike care—”

“Yes, yes, I get the fucking point,” Raegdan almost yelled, throwing the empty bag on the ground. “Murder bad.” He pouted for a few seconds, looking on the ground, and lifted a finger in question. “What if—”

“I’ve come to the conclusion that a good rule is asking yourself first if Celestia or Twilight Sparkle would approve. It helped me wonders when isolating which ponies should be considered as candidates out of our selection pool.” Luna placed her hoof on his thigh. “Let it go. There’s nothing to be done. Just let it go. Go to her memorial and leave it at that.”

Raegdan picked up his plate with his remaining hand and carefully balanced it on his lap. “Fine. One more out in the cold, what’s the difference? Who gives a crap anyway?” He took a deep breath and his grimness seemed to drain along with his exhaling lungs, leaving him drained.

He dexterously twirled the spoon in his fingers, stopping at times to tap the metal belly of the spoon against the metallic rim of the simple plate before he spun it again. “Did you put that lock of hair there?” he asked after a while.

Luna simply nodded once, keeping quiet.

The spoon kept spinning, catching small flickers of moonlight on its polished, untarnished surface. Round and round it went, speeding up and slowing down, sometimes with the help of the thumb to make it over a knuckle, most often without. It was short, and a wrong grasp would often end with it barely clinging by one end among two fingers. Raegdan would then reverse the direction and the dance started anew.

“Haven’t visited a grave before,” he finally said after a few minutes.

Luna did not break her silence, nor did she turn to look at him or ask any questions. She simply listened, and waited as he subconsciously kept his fingers busy. The simple utensil crossed over his digits once, twice, and then ten times.

“Dug a few. Covered them. Left. That was it.”

What was there to say? All she would do was repeat his words. She never visited one either, not until they passed by the remains of that sad, tragic village of so long ago.

“This will be… new.” His breath shook, a shy rattle like that of a frightened child testing a locked door. “I’ll think about it.”

Luna patiently stayed quiet, watching the night sky and her companion in turns, giving him time to allow his disturbed mood to diminish. After a while she let out a hiccup and hid a rambunctious burp behind her hoof. Raegdan’s chest shook with a silent bark of laughter and he pretended to clear the air in front of his nose. Luna smiled along.

Mind control. Mental manipulation. Deep perception magic.

It all got down to diddling with somepony’s brain, and that crap wasn’t tolerated. Not by Princess Celestia, not by the law, not by ponies at large, and certainly not by Leaf Stream for the most part. The potential evil and abuse somepony could pull with that was just too large.

It didn’t stop a few smartasses from trying though.

A pony who wanted to make sure his kid liked what it should and got a proper cutie mark. A bussinesspony who ensured a transaction went just as he wanted it to. A spouse who was desperate to find a way to make his or her other half stay with him or her. A pony, either disgustingly desperate or simply plain disgusting in general terms that got a free slave.

And then you got to the really sick ones.

It didn’t happen often. It was very, very rare, but it did, and when it was found out the wrath of Princess Celestia herself would land on somepony’s head. Oh, it was used for a very few and exceptional reasons by specialists, but even they had to get permission on a case by case basis from Princess Celestia and it only happened if the patient requested it. Use it on your own however, and your flank was hers, and she really didn’t take it lightly.

Of course, it made some ponies wonder, and Leaf Stream was among them, if it didn’t happen much more often than they thought.

It was extremely hard to detect. Keep it up long enough, and you don’t even need it after a while. Ponies would believe by then that this is how they’re supposed to think, that this is who they’re supposed to be.

Princess Luna was a princess, same as Princess Celestia. She was, or supposed to be, a diarch. She technically was, even if not that many ponies would agree even now. Too many would hear an order from her and then seek out Princess Celestia to verify. There had been a lot of that even while preparing proper quarters, armory, and everything else needed for the Lunar Guard. Oh, they would listen to her, but waited for Princess Celestia’s Majordomo to nod before they went at it. They would take instructions from Stampede more readily than they ever did from Princess Luna.

You could argue that she had given herself the permission to use these spells. You could also argue that she didn’t have the authority to do so, that she simply wasn’t the same as Princess Celestia.

What Leaf Stream knew was that she doubted that the girls had given permission or asked for it.

And Leaf Stream certainly never gave the ok to anypony to screw around in her mind.

She was one hundred percent sure they mucked about in her brain, and she was positively sure she knew whose idea it was.

Well, that one wasn’t going to fly with her.

Pun unintended.

“Cast Iron is well on his way of making wonders with the metal provided, thus we don’t have to slave away over a forge ourselves. He even started making some structural changes in your good set of armor, and I’ve allowed him to use the broken one for scrap—”

“Uh huh.” Raegdan’s downcast head failed to hide his pout, but Luna ignored it for the moment.

“—And between myself, Eventide, and Stampede, we have a good training schedule going and our expectations are high. I know it’s going to be less gruelling than what we had planned, but all we need with our new direction is a few helping hooves, not soldiers. The time I spent with them has been enlightening as well. Did you know that one of Eventide’s ancestors was one of my ill-fated Lunar Guard’s brother? She was even able to quote, word for word, a remark I made to him. I could scarcely believe they kept oral records of this!”

“Hmm.”

“Perhaps we should be spending more time with them. They are certainly good company at the very least, though I worry about one or two of them. Broken Gust seems to have a habit of collecting certain types of… magazines. I don’t know if you have seen any of them…”

“I have.”

One of Luna’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Really? You’ve been holding out on me. I know for certain that Broken Gust had none when we returned to Canterlot. She’s going to need a bookcase soon because the underside of her bed is rapidly running out of space. She asked to take a photo of both of us together.”

“Huh.”

“I said no, of course. Who knows what she would do with—” Raegdan was barely paying attention. He was staring at the ground with the expression of a puppy that wet the carpet and was hoping his owner wouldn’t notice.

Luna stopped herself. “Alright, that does it.” She lost her smile and good mood, and moved in front of him. She pushed his chin up, forcing him to face her. “What the Tartarus is wrong with you now?”

Raegdan stayed silent. Luna kept her hoof under his chin and moved her head erratically from side to side, trying to force Raegdan to look at her, but he kept avoiding her eyes. “Speak,” Luna ordered.

“Look, I understand,” Raegdan started to explain. “I know I’ve been fucking up a lot. You’ve been very vocal about it—”

“About the fact that you held still and waited for Steadfast to kill you, you mean?” Luna asked angrily. “Yes, and I intend to keep repeating myself for the foreseeable future. If you didn’t want to kill him because of that filly you didn’t have to. But to let him— I swear, if that was an attempt to kill yourself then you owe me—”

“It wasn’t. I told you a thousand times, I froze.”

Luna gave him a dirty look. “For that long? I find myself reluctant to believe that, and, after all, you’ve proven yourself capable of lying to me.”

“That was…” Raegdan’s fingers pinched the bridge of his nose, and he took a deep breath. “See, that’s exactly what I mean. It makes sense what you’re doing, spending more time with—”

“What, working alone, without you, so you can rest and heal? Having to go through endless sessions with my sister and Solid Charge, poring over maps and planning our hunts on my own, training our new ponies, spending every available waking minute and then some on our work? Is that what you meant? Because you are acting like a pettish puppy that yearns for—”

Luna paused. Her breath hissed as she inhaled sharply through her nose, and she covered her muzzle with her front hooves, blushing furiously. Her voice was like a lone water drop landing in the middle of the night. Lonely and quiet, yet powerful in the black silence.

“You are jealous?” she asked in a breathless whisper.

Raegdan scowled at once and lifted a finger in protest. “I’m not jealous!”

The Alicorn’s jaw opened in a dumbfounded expression. “Thou art jealous!” Her hoof pointed at his face and she looked unable to believe what she just said.

“I’m not jealous!”

“Yes, you are!” Luna was laughing in disbelief and exhilaration. “You think that because I was spending time with everypony else while you were in recovery that I’ll no longer have need of you. You think I’ll throw you aside. I cannot believe this. I can’t even decide if this is insulting or- or… you are jealous! You miss me!”

Raegdan savagely stabbed the potato stew with his spoon. “I’m not jealous,” he repeated sullenly.

Luna’s hooves climbed over his shoulders and her wings unfurled, engulfing him. “I’m… Thank you!” she said, hugging him tightly.

“Arm.”

“I don’t intend to ever forget who has been spending sleepless nights by my side. Who put himself through ordeals to remind me what laughter was. I won’t forget your sacrifices. Your presence has been a boon unlike any other.”

“Arm. Luna, arm!”

“You’re my best friend and you will remain thus forever. I don’t intend to let you escape me so easily. You will never be replaced.” She kissed his hooded head and tightened her embrace.

“Arm! Broken arm! Shoulder! All pain!”

Luna finally pulled back and Raegdan tenderly squeezed and prodded said arm as it hung from the sling around his neck. Luna’s wingtips pressed against the bandaged wounds and she examined them for any traces of bleeding.

“Yes, I think you’ll survive tonight as well,” Luna said, grinning in bliss. She was barely able to restrain herself from hopping in place. “Perhaps, if you were willing to drop your self-punishment and be serious for once, you might survive the coming months as well.” She giggled at her own joke, and pointed at the plate still on his lap.

“You should eat. We won’t spend all night out here.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he bellyached though with no real gripe. The hint of a smile had returned, only to quickly vanish as his cloth covered face was overtaken by surprise when he took the very first bite. He brought the plate closer and examined it while his tongue moved inside his mouth, tasting with obvious dislike.

Raegdan leaned even closer to the plate. “Did that taste weird to you?”

“No. Is there something wrong with yours?” Luna used her own spoon and tried some out of his plate. She tasted it carefully. “It doesn’t seem like it.”

“It tastes like… there’s something rubbery in it? Who gave this plate to you?”

“Stampede. Now that I think about it, he said he was saving this very plate for you. He said it had been seasoned voluntarily, just the way you like it.”

Raegdan took another spoonful, deeply suspicious. “It tastes fine now. What the hell did he do, emptied his throat? And what does seasoned voluntarily supposed to mean? I think he’s still sore that I helped Celestia trick him into retirement.”

Luna bit her lower lip. “Oh. So that is why he said he couldn’t wait to work with you again. Silly me, to think you were in good terms with somepony. I believe he might think he has a score to settle. I’ll have a word with him. What is it with you and aged ponies?”

“If I knew maybe I could figure out how to stop bending over so they can wipe their feet on my back,” Raegdan said as he started to eat, unmindful of what had been done to his dinner. “Ah, let Stampede be. He just wants to give me the equivalent of a punch in the face. He doesn’t have any real problems with me. What’s the worst he could do?”

Luna’s dark wings shook in mirth. “Raegdan—”

“Yes, I realized it as soon as I said it. Can we change the subject?”

“Fine.” She smiled widely again. “You are jealous…” she hissed in a mocking whisper.

“Luna…”

“Let me have this.” She looked back, tracing the camp’s periphery with her superior night vision. “Now finish up your meal. We need to do your exercises.” She took another spoonful.

Raegdan watched her, amused. “Are you going to leave something for me or...”

Luna blushed, and let the spoon drop. “Forgive me.” She waited for a little while, watching Raegdan eat. “Don’t you find it strange?”

“What exactly?”

“Eating cooked food out here,” Luna specified, looking with wonder at Raegdan’s plate before taking in the darkened scenery around them. “The concept of forays into such dangerous areas while keeping ourselves supplied so well, the capability to retreat as to heal and rest… I did not expect this, to be almost like when I was young. I expected something more akin to my old nonstop, constant travelling.”

Raegdan shrugged one-shouldered. “A thousand years ago, sure, I guess. It’s quieted down a lot now, at least near villages and towns. Plus, Celestia’s really pushing the Royal Guard with her new measures and has had her Solar Guard get more active. We’re not going to need to be there for every little village that heard something roar in the dark, so it’s not that weird. It will still take years until travel by foot becomes mostly safe, and even then we will have to be on watch. We can take our time. You don’t want to push yourself as hard as you did last time, do you?”

Luna shook her head. “No. You’re right, but still… I’m having difficulty coming to terms with these changes.”

The sitting biped laughed. “Heh. It worries me actually if you want to know. I feel I’ve been getting soft all these years. Ah well.” He took a huge spoonful. “This beats eating worms any time.”

The alien ate as fast as he could and stood up slowly, twisting to his side and using his right arm before managing to push himself off the ground. He massaged his pained knee and gently rechecked his left shoulder and arm before taking a step back.

The spheres were surrounded by Luna’s magic and slowly levitated in the air, orbiting each other, twenty large marbles dancing in a field of blue in the dark.

“This might be a little hard at this time of day—or night, so I’m going to illuminate them for your benefit,” Luna said, gathering the marbles in front of her and standing about twenty paces away from Raegdan.

“Just make sure you actually throw them at me. I’m not in the mood to jump around to catch them,” Raegdan teased, loosening his body.

He stood ready, half crouching in place. The marbles formed a wheel, spinning around an invisible axis, leaving blue contrails of magic behind them. One spin, two, three, four, and one of them jumped in a gentle arc, flying for Raegdan.

The biped’s head followed the movement. The marble reached the pinnacle of its arc and started falling on the rest of its way to him. Raegdan reached out his hand, the palm looking up and waiting. The marble fell, and the fingers closed.

The marble rolled a few centimeters before it got stuck on some vegetation. Raegdan’s hand had been a few centimeters short.

The rest of the marbles followed suit, and as he failed to grab them his misses became wilder, overextending or pulling his hand too far back. The marbles fell down on the soft, grassed earth, one by one.

By the end, he had managed to catch six out of twenty. One of them he had barely managed to hold by the tips of his fingers.

A metal clap sounded in the night as Luna repeatedly struck her shoed hooves together. “Congratulations. You did worse than last time. Are you even trying?”

Raegdan stared at the pathetic number of marbles he had caught. “It’s harder than it looks!”

“Yes, ‘catch’ is a notoriously difficult sport. You should keep practicing while I’m gone.” Luna gathered all the marbles together and placed them back into the bag using her magic. “Your greatest problem lies when objects get too close to you. I’ve noticed that your aim is still good enough, though you take more time, but with more practice you could—Is there something wrong?”

Raegdan was standing tense in front of her. “What do you mean ‘while I’m gone’?”

“While I’m in the Everfree with our recruits later on. What else?” A slight frown of worry passed over Luna’s features. “You didn’t overexert yourself, did you?”

Raegdan’s expression changed to a puzzled one. “But I’m going to be there with… Hold on a minute. You’re leaving me behind?”

Luna gathered up the plates and spoons, effortlessly holding them in front of her inside a magic telekinetic field. “Of course. You need to get some rest after all that walking today, and I don’t think it would be a good idea to leave the camp unattended.”

Raegdan picked up the halberd from the ground and supported his weight on it. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m coming with you.”

“In your condition? No.”

“Still coming.”

The plates fell on the ground. Luna started pacing back and forth across from Raegdan, glaring. “You are in no condition to go in there.”

Raegdan was picking at the axe head. “Please,” he scoffed. “Half the things in there can’t hurt me.”

The Alicorn’s horn lit the area around her in a pale blue glow. A small rock hovered up in the air, zipped to the left of Raegdan and was thrown towards him in a gentle arc. The alien had to turn his head more than he used to and he noticed it coming his way too late. His arm rose to catch it. The rock hit him at his forearm, the hand he had reached out with wildly misjudging the curved orbit.

“And the other half would kill you in seconds in your state,” Luna spat. She kicked at his knee and he hissed in pain, slouching to hold his hand over it.

The alien gritted his teeth. “Not all of them. Timber wolves won’t come near me even if I were half-dead.”

“Oh, good,” Luna ridiculed. “One down, three hundred and fifty nine to go. You are staying in the camp. I’ll have somepony stay here with you. Perhaps a couple of the initiates as well.”

Raegdan scowled. “I don’t need babysitters! I came here to help you, Luna, not sit on my ass while you—”

Luna’s hoof struck the ground, demanding silence. “You whine like a baby, you get treated like a baby! This is an order. You’re staying back, and if you make any ‘smart’ attempts to come along I’ll have Leaf Stream play the percussion version of Equestria’s anthem with your groin!”

Eventide’s puffy ears had been stretched to their maximum, doing their best to absorb the slightest of sounds as she waited for the best moment in her Princess’ conversation to break in.

“I believe that’s our cue,” Eventide said, turning back to her two companions. Solid Charge nodded stiffly, and Leaf Stream barely acknowledged her. “From what I get you might have a chance to play whack-a-mole,” she joked in deadpan.

Leaf Stream barely hummed a response, her eyes glued toward their target. She started walking ahead, and Eventide let her gain the lead for a moment. Eventide used that little time to exchange a quick glance with the Lunar Commander, relaying all they wanted to say in an instant.

Trouble?

Maybe.

Minotaur and Thestral moved together, overtaking the crippled pegasus until they were a pace in front of her. Three sets of hooves, quadruped and bipedal, would not pass unnoticed by Princess Luna or her companion, Eventide knew that. Just as she knew that by all probability both knew that they were there long before. She chalked up being allowed to ‘spy’ with impunity on the guess that neither of them thought of Eventide, Solid Charge, and Leaf Stream further or at all really after the few first moments of realizing they were there.

It seemed weird to think so, didn’t it? But it made sense, so much sense as long as you kept in mind Princess Luna’s history. If you were told who the Princess’ companion was and what he had done. Alone for so long, both of them. Keeping themselves alive, day in, day out. Every day, for years and years, a passage of time so long and full of danger than even Eventide, having taken part in so many monster cullings, could scarcely begin to comprehend the magnitude.

For what possible reason would they think of them for any longer after realizing what was out there? Their instincts cared only if whoever was out there was a danger or not. Apart from that, nothing mattered. They didn’t register, perhaps not even consciously. Why should they care? They had been steeped in solitude, and hadn’t yet learned to use these instincts to preserve their secrets or personal moments. As long as Eventide and the other two stayed out of sight and non-threatening they might as well be a piece of the landscape.

The Night Princess and her consort abandoned their argument as the trio walked up to them. Princess Luna hurriedly checked the moon’s position.

“Solid Charge, Eventide, Leaf Stream. You’re too early. Has there been some kind of problem?”

Solid Charge hesitated for a moment, opening his mouth before closing it decisively. He was going to say yes, the soldier in him barely holding back from giving back the honest answer to his superior. “No, Princess. But we need to talk.”

“Talk is fine. We can do talk,” Princess Luna said, sitting down and waiting. “Speak.”

“It would be best if it was just you, Princess Luna.”

Princess Luna’s face was marred by the tiniest of scowls. “Solid Charge, I know that you don’t see eye to eye with Raegdan, but this has to stop.”

Eventide intervened, the rarity of her speaking up against Princess Luna’s wishes or orders serving their intentions well. “Princess, that’s not why we wish a private audience with you. Would you please allow Leaf Stream to escort Raegdan back to the camp while we talk? Please?”

Thankfully, the Princess’ companion and his resentment played straight into their plan. “I’m going to do as you want, Luna, but this is not over. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go stay in my corner until you whistle for me again.” He turned, heading for the camp.

“Leaf Stream, please go with him and make sure he doesn’t try anything,” Princess Luna tiredly said, watching him with a peeved expression stumble in the dark and holding himself up using the halberd.

“Yeah. I’ll make sure he stays still,” Leaf Stream said, following the alien immediately.

“Good,” Princess Luna absently said. “Now, what is it you wanted to talk about then?”

Solid Charge took a step closer, standing near the Alicorn. “We know, Princess. We know what you did to the Element Bearers.”

“Hold up,” Leaf Stream called out without much zest.

Raegdan halted, and waited for Leaf Stream to catch up. He didn’t have to, if Leaf Stream was being honest. He was going so slow, putting as much weight as possible on the spear, that she could walk circles around him without even trying. What she didn’t want was to hurry after him like a pet. Especially not now.

They slipped through the spaces in the palisade. She had heard bits and pieces, and was going to give him credit for saying it wouldn’t be of much use, but it was never meant to be. It was done mostly to give them a reason to be busy.

The tall son of a bitch turned to her. “So, are you planning to follow me all night?” he asked.

“Nope,” she answered. Not all night. “Hey, if you want to be useful though, I got something I could use your help with.” He waited for her to continue, but she wouldn’t be having that.

“It’s easier to show you than explain. This way.” She gestured with her head toward the other side of the camp, where some ponies had dug up rudimentary latrines for them. Freshly dug, and already stinking. Perfect for what she had in mind.

The hated biped didn’t even question it. He just started heading there while she followed behind, ignoring everypony’s looks the same way he did. Leaf Stream walked right behind, observing and taking notes in her mind. His knee had bulked up quite a bit since this morning. It had swollen, and the way he barely bent it meant it hurt him. Good. She hadn’t seen him use his left hand at all, not even twitch it, but she knew a thing or two about broken limbs, and the way the muscles had barely shrunk told her that the cunning flankhole was exercising it regularly, as much as he could. It might have to do with why he healed so slow, but then again he had taken a lot of damage. His left side had almost shattered to the point her wings had.

Too bad not shattered enough that they had to amputate. It would have been so fair it almost physically hurt.

They reached the latrine area. A small fence of sorts, comprised of a few sheets, had been erected as a visual obstacle to preserve privacy. Privacy that she was going to need now.

“In there.” She pointed at the hanging sheets that formed the fence.

Raegdan sighed and ducked under a long wooden branch where one of the sheets was hanging from, brushing it aside so he could pass. “I swear, if you got me here because you’re so proud of your latest number two…”

“Yeah, yeah, just go.” She followed immediately after, and stayed behind him as he stumbled in the dark, careful not to put his feet into any of the trenches. Leaf Stream took the chance to undo the dagger she had on her from its sheath.

“You know,” she said, conversationally. “It struck me pretty often how absurd it is that I work with you. How easy it feels nowadays and similar stuff.”

“You are an artist with words. There’s nothing you can’t get used to, take it from me. What did you bring me all the way here for?” He looked around, searching for anything out of order.

“Maybe. Maybe you’re right.” She took the dagger’s hilt in her mouth, and spoke through it. “Or maybe it’s because taking my wings wasn’t enough for you and you had to rape my mind as well.”

She jumped for his back, intent on burying the blade anywhere she could, as many times as she could, and watch his body cool among feces and urine, just like that monster deserved.

“...I see,” Princess Luna said after a few moments of stunned silence. At least, that’s what Eventide thought. The Princess’ expression had stayed meticulously even. She didn’t even bat an eyelid. She was either indifferent or extremely controlled.

Eventide hedged her bets towards the latter. She didn’t fail to notice how the Princess’ hind legs slowly moved, inching toward a position of better balance, a fraction of a movement, but one that worried her immensely.

“And what exactly do you plan to do with that knowledge?” Princess Luna coldly asked.

This was the part that they had been worried about. The worst outcome was that the Princess would try and fight them, perhaps put them down long enough to shape their minds as well if she felt threatened. The best they were be able to hope for in that case was that Princess Luna decided to leave instead, run away from them, an option that neither Eventide or Solid Charge expected her to choose.

Even so, none of these options were acceptable. So they planned, thinking over what they had to do in intimate detail, choosing their course. It all came down to this moment. There was a reason why only Eventide and Solid Charge were here, why they left everypony else behind and away.

Why they did their best to make it obvious they were not ganging up on her.

Solid Charge and Eventide exchanged a glance, and an imperceptible nod.

Eventide sat down, and so did Solid Charge, the minotaur carefully putting himself down on the ground while Princess Luna watched in surprise.

“We don’t know,” Solid Charge confessed. “It’s hard to say when we know almost nothing. That’s why we’re here, Princess, just like we said. To talk.”

“You want me to explain myself to you.”

“No, Princess.” Eventide was now the one who had her Princess’ attention. “We want you to explain the situation. Why this is happening.”

Princess Luna turned around, taking a few steps away from them. She kept her back turned to them, her star-filled mane blending with the horizon perfectly. It looked as if the whole night sky was a part of her.

“And if you don’t agree with the reasons? What then?”

Solid Charge slowly scratched the underside of his chin. “In that case… I suppose we will have to talk some more and figure out what to do. If something is wrong then we will want to fix it. If it’s not we will want to help.”

It was the only thing that they could do. Eventide and the younglings refused to betray their Princess in any way on such frail grounds. They knew nothing, and as much as Solid Charge had raged—in that contained way of his—that Princess Luna had crossed a line, he admitted that it would be unfair not to hear her out first.

The soldier still tried to cling to the safety of following a superior’s will as much as he claimed to change his tune.

“You… would listen me out?” Princess Luna asked with awe in her voice. She kept her back on them and her head was tilted up, eyes searching the stars. “Why? Why not assume you know? Why not do what has always been done before? Judge me by only seeing the side you wish to?”

Eventide didn’t answer, and judging by the look on Solid Charge’s face the minotaur wasn’t going to attempt either. They had already said all they could say. They said the truth and left it at that.

They waited, patiently. Princess Luna stood like a statue, her mane the only sign of movement, almost unnoticed against the backdrop of the night. Eventide didn’t know what Solid Charge was thinking, but she was all too aware of her own unconscious thoughts, and hoped that none of them bubbled up to the surface to be revealed.

Please don’t start casting. Please be a force of good. Please don’t make all our past struggles in your name be false. Please let Night Lilly have died in service of a good mare. Please be what we thought you to be, even a little. Please don’t become the Nightmare again. Please, please, please.

Princess Luna made her decision.

“In hindsight, warning you with a one-liner wasn’t the best of decisions. I’m a big enough mare though to admit that I made a mistake.”

Raegdan’s leg tightened around Leaf Stream’s lower torso, and her own stolen dagger pinched deeper into her flesh as he held it in his right arm and under her throat. The left arm had escaped its loop that tied around his neck and was securing her against his stomach. Despite how injured that arm was, its grip was iron.

In a second bout of hindsight, Leaf Stream realized she should have heeded her own observations a tiny bit more when planning her attack.

“I really didn’t expect this. What exactly were you thinking?” Raegdan asked, pressing the sharp tip deeper into her throat. The skin felt ready to pop.

“I thought I could take you. Errors have been made.” She gave a half-hearted wiggle in an attempt to loosen his grip, and immediately gave up in instant cold sweat when she realized what was happening in the back, her eyes opening wide with revulsion.

The pressure of the dagger’s tip left only to be replaced by the razor edge as Raegdan adjusted his hand in a better position. “You’re awfully casual about this. Do you think I’ll think twice about killing you if you crack a joke or two? The only reason I haven’t so far is because I’m curious, and I don’t want to have to change clothes when I have all this crap on.”

“Look, as scary as you think you are, I have more pressing matters on my mind right now!” Leaf Stream hissed, trying to turn her head back towards him as much as possible, not giving a buck about the warning pressure.

“Like what?” Raegdan growled back.

Leaf Stream’s free hoof stabbed downwards where her lower body was trapped between his legs. “Like the fact that your Mr. Little Alien is pressing against my flank!” The pressure on her neck eased a little but the one below remained solidly rigid.

“Why are you at full mast?” she wailed. “Why?”

“Wh- That’s my dagger, you idiot!”

“Because you ‘stab’ with it? Fine. Mr. Dagger or whatever you call him. Seriously, too much info. Is this supposed to be the part where you torture me before killing me by telling me everything about your geni-”

“Dagger! Actual dagger. On belt. You fucking, stupid moron!”

Leaf Stream let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding in and sagged with relief. “Oh, thank Celestia!” She motioned with her hoof for him to continue. “Ok, you can go ahead with the cutting now. I can die… well, not happy, but I’ll take it.”

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?”

“Hey! I know I have tried to kill you a couple of times, mostly while you had your back turned, but name calling is taking it too far. You impotent, retarded, sadistic, pink monkey.”

The fingers rotated the handle so it pointed away from her throat. Now, instead of threatening to cut her, they barely held back from choking her. “I swear, I’m going to strangle you.”

“I’ve heard worse!”

“By pressing your face down in shit.”

“Not that worse. Ok, I’m taking the pink part back. Total backsies.”

Raegdan stayed silent for a few seconds. “What exactly was that part about your mind before?”

“What, that?” Leaf Stream spat out the thickest, most disgusting, vile glob of throaty phlegm she could manage, aiming for any part of Raegdan she could reach. She missed, and the runny mucous ran down her coat. “Son of a… It was nothing really. Just a small, unimportant case of feeling incredibly violated to the depths of my soul because you two buckers dipped your ‘dagger’ in my brain and diddled it!”

“What?”

“Is anypony in there?” A sudden voice asked from the other side of the sheets.

Leaf Stream recognized it. That was that Smoke Ring guy, a friend of the cyan braggart or boyfriend or beard or something. He was a Royal guard! Well, used to. He rushed to join as soon as he had the opportunity, and she had to admit, he had quite a useful talent. Nopony was able to find him so that he could do his share of chores, and others had to pick up the slack. The important thing however was that he was sensible, and he was somepony that could help her!

“Yes!” Leaf Stream yelled back. “He’s got me pinned down and- mmph!”

“We’re busy at the moment,” Raegdan said through clenched teeth, seemingly not minding how Leaf Stream bit the hand he was gagging her with.

“Oh. Oh! Sorry! I’ll make sure nopony else comes and… ahem, interrupts your personal time.” If that hand wasn’t in the way Leaf Stream would have screamed hard enough to be heard in Canterlot. “Just, make it quick. You don’t want the others to see you. Hear you, know you’re here. I’ll… be going now. Have fun.”

Leaf Stream could hear him mumble to himself as he left despite the ringing in her ears. “...Huh. And here I thought that they hated each other’s guts. Must be that whole hate, slash, love kind of stuff I keep hearing about…”

He thought that she… He bucking insinuated that she and Raegdan were… She said pinned down and he actually, actually, thought that she was having… The one guy who spread more rumors than castle maids was going to go around now and...

Murder! Death! Kill! Exterminate! Exterminate!

Raegdan waited for a minute, his head tilted to the side as he listened carefully. “Ok, he’s gone. Now explain.”

Leaf Stream spat and scratched her tongue against her teeth, trying to remove the taste of bile and physical hate in her mouth. “What’s there to explain? We know you screwed with the Bearer’s heads, you idiot. Nice job on letting your so called daughter get mindraped by the way. You’re one swell papa. If you did that to them it makes total sense why I accepted to work with you or not trying to kill you at first chance or getting friendly with you or actually feeling sorry for—”

“Wait, hold on. Shut up!” Raegdan covered her mouth again. “You all know? About the girls?”

Leaf Stream nodded.

“Shit! That’s what Eventide and Solid Charge wanted to talk to Luna about, wasn’t it?”

Leaf Stream nodded a second time.

“Shit! Is it just the three of you or the rest as well?”

Leaf Stream nodded twice.

“Shit! Shit, shit, shit!”

Leaf Stream managed to get her muzzle free while Raegdan was busy with his chant. “If somepony hears you right now they’re going to think you’re psyching yourself up in here. Sorry, buddy, but it’s a total loss. The cat’s out of the bag and there’s nothing you can do about it,” she cackled.

Raegdan pivoted to the direction Luna was, and his expression shattered.

It should have been a moment of joy.

It was almost like watching an illusion fade away. Like somepony had been casting a spell this whole time and then suddenly the magic stopped funneling into the enchantment. The castle proved to be a hovel. The gold became lead. The clear, sparkling water turned back into muck.

The giant simply crumbled. It wasn’t anything spectacular, his spine hunched a pinch and his stance relaxed. No, not relaxed, it slackened. That was it. That, and the sudden moment when his remaining eye lost its piercing glare. The arrogant waft of audacity was gone, and then, right before Leaf Stream’s eyes, the silhouette that haunted her nightmares became small, small and fragile.

Raegdan brought his right hand at the top of his head, his fingers clawing at it. It trembled, and he whispered something so quietly that Leaf Stream would scarcely had realized he had talked if she hadn’t seen his lips move.

“What?” she asked, not expecting an answer.

Raegdan deigned to look at her, and it seemed as even his pupil was shaking. “What should I do?” he whispered, barely louder.

Leaf Stream took an involuntary step back. “You’re asking me?” She wanted to make really sure of this part.

“I- I don’t know what to do.” He towered over her, and he was as small as a twelve year old colt at the same time, stuttering through every sentence. “What if I screw it up again? Should I go and stop them? What if I make it worse for Luna or- or… It’s going to be like Twilight again, isn’t it?

The hand moved and covered his face instead, almost as if wanting to rip it off. “She told me I can’t take care of… I can’t be close to little flame because I can’t be trusted to focus on him, and I proved her right. He hit her, and I didn’t even think to check on her. I fell right into the trap, got her hurt, and then I didn’t care to check on her. I forgot about her so I could- I could… I can’t do this right. I can’t do anything right! What should I do?” He paused for a second, and then he made Leaf Stream question the reality she occupied.

“Help me.”

Leaf Stream stood still for a few seconds, her mind reeling in shock. “You never did anything to my head. That was my decision, wasn’t it?” Ponyfeathers, that had been her decision.

And now that he stood in front of her, vulnerable and lost, she had another one to make.

A little over five years ago...

Raegdan opened the door to Blueblood’s room without even bothering to knock and immediately threw himself on a large chair, resting on it like a ragdoll that got discarded. The one-day-to-be prince watched Raegdan make himself at home in his room at Aunt Celestia’s castle from his own seat in front of a simple desk where he had been busy writing a letter.

Blueblood finished the sentence he was writing, and turned to give his guest the attention he was due. “I suppose Twilight and Spike are busy with Auntie Celestia?” he asked. Rose colored magic moved a full glass of water in reach of the biped.

“Where else?” Raegdan responded. He caught the glass and emptied it at once, wiping the scattered droplets from the hair around his mouth with the back of his hand. “Celestia’s finally teaching her that teleport spell, and little flame has gone along to keep notes for Twilight.” A small, honest smile made his lips curve. “He’s really taking this assistant role very seriously.” Raegdan leaned into the chair, resting his body with his eyes closed.

The pure white unicorn let him be for a few moments before breaking the peace. “Shaded Markets has been missing for two days now.”

“You don’t say.” Raegdan didn’t move from his position.

“Most believe that he took off, running either from some awry dealings or that he finally made a mistake and got out of Canterlot before the Royal Guard knocked on his door. It’s the only explanation that makes sense. He was paying a lot to have his mansion guarded, especially lately, and the amount of protection and alarm spells he had covered it with was obscene,” Blueblood noted. “Except for a few, like those that lead to his own bedroom. Those had been removed.”

“If he ran like you said, then he probably took them down himself.”

Blueblood nodded, as this was the prevalent idea among those who discussed the recent disappearance of the prominent, rich merchant, and even among the Guard itself. “A few ponies ask why he was so paranoid though.”

Raegdan yawned. “Well,” he said, stretching a little. “If they find him I suppose they’ll ask him.”

A few seconds trickled by. “Raegdan, where is Shaded Markets?” he asked, his voice shaking a little at the end.

The biped’s hand scratched his stomach. “Somewhere around, I’d say. I thought you didn’t want to know too much.”

“I- I don’t, but…”

Raegdan cut him off, his eyelids opening and his eyes already on Blueblood. “How are the girls in the hospital doing?”

Blueblood turned his head away, his blonde mane whipping around. “No… no changes since last I heard. Raegdan, listen… this is why I think it might be better off to go talk to Auntie Celestia.”

“We’ve been doing fine so far.” Raegdan supported his head on his hand and his elbow on the arm of the chair.

“Have we?” Blueblood questioned. “Raegdan, what if there are more girls like that out there, and what if… It’s taking too long. What happens to them while we are fumbling in the dark? What if we don’t find all of them or not get to them in time? What if there are others and decide… decide to cut their losses and get rid of the evidence? What if they already have?”

Raegdan slowly stood straight.

“You failed to take this into consideration, didn’t you?” Blueblood somewhat accused.

The biped scowled, and ran his fingers through his hair. “Then we speed up. Shaded Markets gave me nothing I didn’t already know, and there’s no way he was the leader. There’s someone higher up on the food chain, but I don’t think he covers for them so much as lets them get in the game so he can use them as screening smoke or scapegoats. That’s who we need to find. I need more names, Blueblood. Someone will know something more.”

Blueblood struck his hoof on his desk. “Well, I can’t give you any!” He took a deep breath and straightened his mane again, slowly calming himself down from his sudden explosion. “Raegdan, I’ve got nothing more. All I have in my employ are the mere crumbs my father leaves me, and there’s only so much I can do with them. If I dig any harder I’ll get his attention, he’ll want to find out what I’m doing, and he’ll be only too happy to get you in trouble.”

“Just a hint, Blueblood. Anything you can get,” Raegdan insisted. “Point me at a direction, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Blueblood spread his hooves apart. “I have nothing left. How about the mystery pony that is working with you? Can’t he or she help?”

“No. They can’t.” Raegdan stood up. “If you have nothing why did you tell me to come here? You know I won’t get Celestia involved. I started this, I can finish this.”

“I still believe it is wrong, but I had already taken this into consideration.” Blueblood folded the half-forgotten letter and placed it in a drawer to work on later, and stood up as well. “I summoned you here because while I can’t do anything, you can. My aunt desires to talk with you.”

“I told you, Celestia is off—”

Blueblood snorted. “Not aunt Celestia. My father’s sister. She is far better connected than me, and she wants something from you. Maybe you can exchange favors, but you will have to be very, very careful. She isn’t anything like my father, but she’s still devious.”

“Favors, huh?” Raegdan asked contemplatively. “I can see what she wants at least, but if she can’t help with this then no deal. I don’t have time for other’s crap, not now.”

“If you wish to be acquainted and talk I can escort her here right now. Should I take this as a yes then?” Blueblood asked for confirmation.

A few minutes later the door opened and closed again. The mare walked in alone. Her coat was bright white and her long mane flowed in pink curls. Her horn was longer than normal, much like her nephew’s. The mare all in all looked more like a thinly disguised Celestia, the illusion mostly broken because of the lack of Celestia’s constant smile. The unicorn mare had a straight expression instead, one that came through a complete absence of emotion.

Her cutie mark was the brightest thing on her: a golden cup with a red colored drop next to it.

Blueblood had left them to use his room, tending his own errands while they talked. Raegdan sat on the chair still, not bothering to stand or greet the mare in any civil way. “So, you’re the aunt, huh?”

“Yes,” the mare answered, undisturbed by the biped’s manners. “And you’re the one that my brother calls ‘the guard dog’.” She examined him carefully, a hint of interest briefly coloring her face. “Sanguine never had much imagination even for insults.”

“Your nephew mentioned you wanted something,” Raegdan said, getting them straight to business.

“I have a proposition,” the white coated mare said. “You help me, I help you. I don’t suppose my nephew has any wine in here?”

“Never bothered to check. I don’t really drink. What do you want help with?”

The mare sat on a vacant chair across from him. It was a few moments before she answered, and did so hesitantly. “I… I need you to find something for me. If the rumors about you are correct then you’re exactly what I need. It’s very important. You have to help me. Please.”

Raegdan’s expression softened imperceptibly at the sound of the mare’s broken voice. “I might have helped some other time, but I’m having problems of my own as it—”

“I can give you something in return!” the mare anxiously said. “I- I already know who has what is my own, so your task will be easier, and- and I can tell you things you don’t know. Things you must know! Princess Celestia’s pupil, Twilight Sparkle, she is still in danger. You care about her, right? I can help you keep her safe!”

In the span of a second Raegdan was off his chair and standing in front of the mare. “Tell me.”

“No. Pr-Promise first. Promise you will help me!”

“If my little one is in danger then you will-”

“Promise!” the mare shouted, almost in agony.

A second passed. Then two.

“I promise,” Raegdan conceded. “Anything you want. Just tell me.”

Magic opened a saddlebag on the mare’s back, and a book floated out, surrounded by a crimson magic field. It dissipated as soon as Raegdan caught it. He read the title.

“Have you ever heard the term ‘eugenics’ before?” the mare asked.

Raegdan opened the book. He flipped from random page to another, staying on each only for a few seconds at a time, the scowl on his face deepening with each passage he read. He closed the book, visibly struggling with his desire to tear it in half.

“What’s your name again?” he asked, barely taming the growl in his throat.

The mare sagged in relief. “Honest Serenade,” she answered quietly.

Blueblood returned an hour later to find Raegdan still sitting on the chair and his aunt nowhere in sight. “How did it go?”

Raegdan’s immediate response was a little freaky. He looked Blueblood up and down in a way that chilled his veins, as if he was meeting him for the first time. Then he scratched his chin before answering with a smile back on his face. “A bust,” he said, getting up. “I can’t help her, and she can’t help me.”

“Oh. That’s a shame. I had my hopes up that there was something she could do for you.”

“Don’t think of it too much.” Raegdan headed for the door. “Gotta go. I might find something on my own. I still have an idea or two I can use. If I get stuck again I’ll ask for your help. If not...”

Blueblood insisted. “Are you sure my aunt won’t be able to provide help?”

Raegdan stopped himself from opening the door. “Positive. She didn’t even want anything, Blueblood. She was just curious to see me up close, like I’m a freak or something, and she doesn’t want to trouble herself with me. Good try, but no dice. See you.”

Raegdan left, and never mentioned Honest Serenade again.

Leaf Stream pointed at the equine figure ahead of them. “There’s your princess. I guess the others decided to do the same thing I did.”

Raegdan’s hand tightened around the halberd’s handle. “Leaf Stream… Thank y—”

“Save it,” Leaf Stream quickly cut him off, scowling with disgust. “I still think that you two really bucked it up, but at this point there’s not much we can do, is there? Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. You can go to Tartarus for all I care, and she might do well with a reminder that she could try talking it out first before busting out the mind control spells, but that’s not going to happen now, is it?”

“It’s not her fault.”

“Horseapples.” Leaf Stream turned around. “Remember; Think of doing something like this again and I go straight to Princess Celestia. Keep that crap on the girls a minute longer than needed and I go straight to Princess Celestia. Be massive idiots in general and I go straight to Princess Celestia. This is not a joke. You crossed a line, and I swear, give me the slightest reason...” She shook her head in disbelief. “Seriously. And you claimed to think of Twilight as a daughter.”

“I… I do.”

“Yeah, you’re a swell papa, no question. You ass.” Leaf Stream sighed and the edge of her hostility melted off. “It took some balls to speak up, and I didn’t expect you to do that. That’s reason one I ain’t selling you out. Reason two is that it’s already done, and I’m not exactly waiting with baited breath to see Twilight’s face when she understands what you did to her and her friends. I wonder what Pinkie Pie will think of you now. That will be a hoot.”

Raegdan lowered his head in shame.

“Reason number three is that the others don’t deserve to get dragged with you. I don’t want to have these poor girls dragged in the spotlight. They’ve gone through enough, and Twilight Velvet and Blueblood simply trusted the wrong guy. Blueblood might be better off never finding out what really happened.”

Leaf Stream walked a few steps before stopping abruptly again. “Can’t believe you’re protecting Honest Serenade of all ponies. Seriously, how much can you buck up to tangle it all up like that? Why didn’t you just go with the truth? The Tartarus is wrong with you?”

Raegdan kept his head lowered. “I didn’t want to. She was a friend. Hope is… hope is the only thing that keeps you up at the end. That, or hate.”

Leaf Stream didn’t merit that with a response. She left, going off to find the others and make sure they were all on the same page, as well as let the rest of the Thestrals and Cast Iron know everything she did. She wasn’t going to play the secret keeper game on her own, and she wasn’t going to force the others to do what she thought was right either. That crap never ended well.

That was obvious, of course. All she had to do was look behind her.

Raegdan slowly approached Luna and sat next to her, both of them watching the moon hover over the horizon. Luna gazed at it with an intensity that bordered on disturbing, and every now and then one of her hooves would briefly shake before she reigned it under her control again.

Luna spoke after a few minutes. “I heard what Leaf Stream said. Solid Charge and Eventide’s reaction were about the same in general terms, though I think Eventide saw your actions with a more accepting eye than Solid Charge.”

Raegdan’s functioning arm rested on Luna’s back, lazily scratching her coat between her shoulderblades. “It’s better than we would have expected, right?”

“It is,” Luna agreed. “It is far more than we deserve…” Her eyes shone with unshed wetness in the moonlight.

“Luna…”

“We’re really something, are we not?” Her voice trembled, and she forced it back to normal with iron will. “As if we didn’t thread a thin line already, now our own guards are ready to be set against us all because of our own actions. If the spells on the girls break or Honest Serenade decides to push, if Celestia digs a little deeper, if that charade of a conspiracy realizes what is going on, if…” Luna suddenly let out a sharp bark of laughter, and hid her eyes behind her hoof, trying to stifle her laugh.

“We—Can you believe that we thought we could actually—We’d trip over our very own hooves and onto our enemies spears! We- We are so useless, such failures, it’s- it’s so funny! We’re a joke! We’re… we’re a bucking joke…”

Raegdan stayed silent for a few moments while Luna’s laughter died off, his expression blank. “That’s not true,” he finally said.

Another bark of laughter, full of bitterness.

“The ponies in Manehattan don’t think so.”

“I was only looking after ourselves, that’s the only reason we-”

“No. I think you would have wanted us to try either way. And… And you didn’t have anything to earn by giving Mint and Stormdrain someplace to live, did you? Or saving little pink and Rarity.” He let another moment pass. “And you saved me. I thought I threw everything away again, but then you came. I’d die if it wasn’t for you, or worse.”

Luna flinched and then threw herself on Raegdan’s body. His arm reflexively wrapped around her, and Luna quietly sobbed, the painful sounds drowning against his chest. Raegdan positioned himself a little better, mindful of the horn, and settled Luna against him.

“I didn’t tell them…” Luna whimpered among her quiet cries.

“It’s alright.”

“I couldn’t tell them…” Her chest heaved as she labored to breathe among her gasping sobs. “I didn’t tell them what I did to Twilight. I- I didn’t tell them what I made her see, what I made her feel, or- or that I took it all away when I understood that… I didn’t tell them. I was scared. I was so scared!”

Raegdan didn’t answer. He simply held her and let her hold on to his pained body as tight as she needed to.

“I… I raped Twilight’s mind. Because she said something that- She said that because of what I did to her! How- how am I supposed to m-make up for that? And then- then I did it again!” she wailed.

“That was because of me, Luna. I screwed up with Steadfast. You did the best you could,” Raegdan whispered in her ear.

“I want to make it right. I want to make it right,” Luna chanted with a trembling voice, crying all the while. “She isn’t what I thought. None of them are what I thought…”

“I know.” He ran his hand down her mane, and all the way down to her neck. “We’ll make it up to them, Luna. We will figure something out. We will.”

They sat there, the princess’ cries dying down and the alien letting her stain his clothes with her tears until she calmed down. Raegdan used the end of the shirt to wipe off any remaining traces off Luna’s face.

“You need to get ready for the forest,” Raegdan reminded her after a while.

“I know. Stars, I wish I had your certainty… Just… just let me stay like this for a while longer.”

“Take all you need. The night is yours.”

Leaf Stream suddenly popped from behind Rainbow Dash’s back, scaring the cyan pegasus enough that she flew in the air like a frightened pigeon. “Are we being peeping toms here?”

Rainbow Dash breathed heavily and her pupils had turned to pinpricks. “You scared m- You startled me!”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what this was. What are you doing here?” Leaf Stream asked.

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash turned back towards the distant silhouettes. “I have a letter for Raegdan from Spike, but, uh… he seems busy at the moment,” she said, the red on her cheeks visible even in the dark.

“Yeah, tender, sweet moments and all that,” Leaf Stream said, half smiling. “I like them myself. There’s no diet quite like watching that and then throwing up.”

“Jerk…” Rainbow Dash murmured.

Leaf Stream pretended not to hear her. “Go get ready. We’re heading into the Everfree Forest as soon the Princess is up and ready. Stampede has been looking for you. Where had you been, gone off flying?”

Rainbow Dash glanced at Leaf Stream’s stubs and had the smarts to look a little embarrassed at least. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. I rarely fly at night so...”

“Well, there’s no need to be sorry. You’re an idiot.” Rainbow Dash scowled at her, and Leaf Stream expanded further. “A real, grade A idiot. This isn’t like Ponyville where most things have learned to stick on the forest side. Out here if something sees you flying it won’t hesitate to come out for a quick snack, and I don’t think you can see in the dark to notice a wyvern or something going after your flank at night, can you?”

“That’s… That wouldn’t happen, would it?”

Leaf Stream’s face did all the communicating it had to.

“Oh. Okay, lesson learned.”

“I doubt it,” Leaf Stream deadpanned. “Get out of here, and give me your stupid letter. I’ll give it to him. Now shoo.” Last thing Leaf Stream wanted to do was run damage control because somepony overheard something he or she shouldn’t have.

Rainbow Dash passed the letter with some hesitation. “Alright. I’m gonna go get yelled at.”

“Yeah, you do that.”

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and crouched. She stopped and sniffed. “Phew. You weren’t kidding about the throwing up part, were you? It stinks.” She flew off before Leaf Stream had enough time to kick her.

Leaf Stream watched her go, and made sure she was alone. Then, and only then, did she sniff the air. She lifted her hind legs one by one, and checked her hooves. Then her front right one. Then her front left.

She gagged in disgust. “Son of a… What did I ste—oh right.” She put her hoof down and tried to wipe it against the grass.

“Note to self: don’t start fights in the bathroom.”