I turned to face the infirmary's front desk. The same mare as last time was behind it, she grinned when she noticed me. Her smile shifted into a softer one, "Back so soon?"

I chuckled as I made my way across the room, setting one of my elbows down on the desk as I leaned over it slightly. "I'm here to visit someone again, no stabbings this time. Or at least, not that I know of." She gave me a slightly worried look. "I'm here to visit all of the guards."

She blinked. "You mean all of the guards in the infirmary?" I nodded. "Oh, okay. I can get that sorted out, do they know you are visiting them? They have their own wing of the facility by the way, so the rooms will be quite close."

I removed my elbow from the table and rolled my shoulders, my whole body was aching slightly. "Nah, they don't know. Celestia told me to do this, so I kinda have to."

She nodded to me. "I'll go get you a list of room numbers." She waved a hoof at me accusingly. "Don't you go anywhere." She said, before turning and leaving though the door a couple feet behind the desk.

There seemed to be a storage room of some sort in there. From the little I could see through the small window, there were large file cabinets and small cardboard boxes full of small paper bags, presumably holding prescription drugs and other things of that sort. I heard a couple metal draws being moved, then the rustling of paper. She soon returned with a mouthful of files.

She placed them on the desk in front of me. Each one had a room number stamped on it, along with a name and a small picture of the guard in question. Or at least, I assumed it was a picture of each guard; they all had guard-like figures, but their colors were all off. Their usual white and blonde was replaced with a multitude of color combinations which I had come to call 'the usual' mix of over-saturated designs.

"Hey, you sure these are the guards?" I asked her as I picked up the files. "They look different."

She giggled slightly. "It's not often one sees them outside their enchantments, hm? Every morning, when they first report in, they receive a spell from a higher officer. This makes them all look the same, something to do about 'justice' and 'equality' or something. Only a very lucky few actually look the way they do while on duty. A prime example of that was a guard named 'Towers', though I haven't seen him in a while. All the better, really. Means he isn't getting himself hurt."

I smirked. "Towers, huh?" She nodded. "Stopped coming in about... a couple months ago?"

She blinked. "How'd you know?"

"Heh, I'm surprised you didn't recognize him, he came in with a busted face a while ago. I realize that table I hit him into was pretty solidly-built, but I didn't think it would mess him up beyond recognition!" I said jokingly.

She looked at me, confused as I pocketed the files. She looked down at the table and brought up a couple sheets of paper from a nearby pile. "But the only patient with a face injury in the last two months, aside from today, was a... Oh my..."

I shrugged, chuckling. "Have fun with your little realization, you should go give him a visit some time. Excuse me, I have like... 20 possibly angry guards to apologize to."

"Apologize to?" She asked as I walked through the double doors leading to the long infirmary halls. I didn't respond to her question and turned the corner, entering the 'Guard Recovery' sector of the building.

The mood seemed to shift as I entered the hallway, the more joyous and hopeful tones from the rest of the facility were replaced with a quiet, mutually reclusive tone. I knew that these halls had probably seen many honorable, good people come to an untimely end. Those who had put themselves in harms way for the good of others. Black and white pictures, of what I assumed were war-heroes or 'regular' heroes lined the walls, some were very clearly in guard uniform. One in particular was not in uniform, and was instead wearing a wide smile, with an arm over his wife's shoulder while their daughter frolicked in the puddles before them. Despite the image being colorless, I could tell it was taken during the Fall, as leaves littered the ground in the park they were standing in.

Despite nearly being reduced to tears by the plagues under each picture, that described their heroics and how, and why, they died, I pressed on further into the hall, approaching my first stop, the room of one 'Custard Rush'.

I knocked on his door, the sound echoed down the empty hallway.

"Come in!" A male called from inside. He sounded bored out of his mind.

I slowly opened the door, peaking around the frame. Inside the room was a single bed, it was very similar to Feather's room now that I think about it. He stared at me with pleading eyes as I closed the door behind me. The yellow pegasus had bandages wrapped around his head, barely concealing the teal-blue mane that protruded waywardly out of the sides of it's binds.

"No hard feelings, right?" He said in a rushed tone as he scrambled backwards on his bed, sitting up with his back to the wall. "I- I was just doing my job!"

I groaned, approaching him slowly. "Dude, I came here to apologize. I was wasted last night, don't even remember challenging you guys."

He paused. "Challenging?" At my confused expression he continued, "We were called in due to a disturbance in a residential area."

I blinked. "I have... basically no recollection of last night..." I said in a genuinely clueless tone.

He thought for a second. "We were called out to a 'situation' unfolding in the streets...

"From the little information we had, we figured it was an average fight. We didn't expect to see you there, tussling hoof-to-hoof with a pony twice my size. I was among the first to get there, and the two that got there before me laid unconscious on the ground beside you and your opponent as you grappled each other. It looked like they had been caught in a crossfire of sorts. I ran to you and attempted to put myself between you and the other pony... that's... all I remember..." He said, rubbing a sore patch on his skull. "From what I have heard, you beat the pony to tartarus and back before fleeing through the guards who were now on high alert, apparently you... injured quite a lot of them on your way out."

I let out a heavy sigh. Cradling my head in my hands. "Shit, Celestia's going to kill me..." I murmured. I looked back up to the pony. "Okay, well apologies can wait. I need more information."

I ignored his response as I walked back out into the hallway. I headed for the next guard on the list, I didn't bother reading his name or knocking on his door. He jumped as I somewhat-slammed the door open, his shock quickly turned to anger and he tried to advance towards me, only to be stopped by the large casts that covered two of his legs. He fell flat onto the bed, glaring at me. But stayed silent.

"Look," I said, raising a hand, "I was drunk and I don't remember anything, please enlighten me." I said, really not in the mood for a casual conversation.

By the look on his face, I could tell he wanted a lot more that a casual conversation. More like a boxing match. "If I could move right now..." He said, narrowing his eyes at me. "You're going away for a long time for this. You know that?"

I managed to control myself. "Yes, I know. Just tell me. What happened?"

He laughed darkly. "You only nearly murdered somepony, then proceeded to assault every and any officer that attempted to follow you with those blasted blades! Just when we thought we had you cornered... you simply vanished! Lucky bastard, if I got my hooves on you I'd..." He grumbled and shook in anger.

I quickly made my exit before he decided he could use his broken limbs, because he looked like he was considering it. I practically ran back to the front desk. The mare behind the counter looked up at me in surprise.

"Back already?" She asked as I dropped the files on the desk.

"No time. Pony. Came in last night. Beaten pretty badly. Civilian. Big frame. You got anything like that?" I said sternly, thudding the desk every couple words in impatience.

I could tell she could see I meant business. She quickly sifted through a couple files before looking up. "Yes, why?"

"Room."

"23" She said. I nodded and burst back into the halls, the mare quickly followed me for a couple feet. "What are you doing?" She called from the double doors. I didn't answer and quickly found the room. I walked in unannounced.

The sight was... unholy.

The pony lay on his back, completely limp. All but one of his limbs were encased in casts, his whole body seemed to be supported by a wire framework, which, if he were awake, would allow for very little movement. Many of his features were swollen and only one of his eyes remained un-bruised. A large machine sat on either side of his bed, hooked up to many parts of his body. A multitude of drips were also placed alongside his bed.

I was about to simply leave, when his one good eye flickered open, he didn't move his neck and only moved his eye to look at me.

"Ah, the bug-lover returns-" He coughed some wheezing laughs, "Come to finish what you started, hm?" His voice was the low, gravelly sort many incorporate with movie actors. Except this guy seemed to have had an extra portion of saw-dust shoved down his gullet this morning.

Instantly, I knew exactly what happened that night. This guy must have given me lip about Ebony. Sober me would have freaked out, drunk me... well... I think it had the same result... just times ten. I knew, if I stayed in that room, I would likely do it again. So I left. I left the room. I left the infirmary. Found the first janitor's closet I could find in the palace and shut myself in it.

I thought for a long time.

Okay... so I will be charged with assault... attacking guards... resisting arrest... drunk and disorderly... probably something else to do with the knives... oh god... Okay, okay... Look, Dan; the guards this morning clearly did not know about what happened last night, or at least the ones on duty didn't. Neither did Celestia so... I could run to the cave... Ebony would eventually come looking for me... and we could live there!

No... I couldn't do that to Ebony, he has friends here, I don't want him to abandon his life here... for me. Maybe Celestia can pull some strings and it will all just go away! ...No, lets be real here: I am screwed no matter what I do. I doubt Celestia wants to stage another assassination... So I can't run... for Ebony's sake... I can't hide, Celestia has probably ran out of curtains to shove me behind, that fake assassination was her last resort, what else is there for me to do...?

Wait... Viss said she saw 'what I did' and said I 'did well'. I thought she meant she saw me take on the guards, not... I still thought I had challenged the guards... but she... she knew I'd... she... I'm sure she... she probably just saw the chase that happened afterwards, yeah, that's it... she... must have... only seen the chase...

I pushed open the door, allowing the harsh light of day back into my vision. I slowly made my walk of defeat, up to Celestia's quarters. I was lucky enough to find Steve guarding the door. He greeted me with a warmness that threatened to break me down into tears. I simply pushed past him and walked into Celestia's bedroom. It was empty. Steve seemed to take the hint and didn't bother checking on me as I sat on the corner of the bed. Waiting.

I must have been there for hours. Eventually, the sun began to set and the door opened, then shut. I looked over and sure enough, there was Celestia. She didn't look very happy. At all.

"Dan, why are you in here?" She asked, I could tell by her tone by her tone that she already knew.

I sighed. "I screwed up." I flung my arms limply in defeat. "There is nothing I can do."

She rubbed her face with a hoof in frustration. "Dan... It's not your fault."

"Of course it is!" I yelled as I stood from the bed. She looked at me slightly strangely. "I mean, yeah, I was drunk, but that's hardly an excuse!"

She blinked. "Dan." She said, in a very level voice. "The pony who you attacked died of their injuries a couple hours ago."

I put a hand to my face as I hunched over and legitimately just gave up on everything. I slowly laid on the floor, curled up slightly, trying to pretend the whole day never happened.

Celestia knelt beside me. Placing a hoof on my shoulder. "Dan, I promise; I will do whatever I can to keep this from affecting you."

I shook my head and spoke into my hands. "Celestia, it already has. I not only have the blood of one pony on my hands, I have the blood of two. And it does not help that the most recent addition was a fucking civilian... He was just a regular guy... probably drunk, same as me... And I fucking killed him... for something he said. At least the last one was wielding a knife to my throat."

Celestia sighed. "Dan... in the end, you'll have to make a simple choice." I looked up at her. "Prison. Or the military."

I shook my head again. "Prison. Try to get me into solitary confinement if you can, I'll be safer that way. I doubt I would survive in a traditional prison. Celestia?"

She nodded along to what I said. "I will attempt to do that. Yes?"

"Can't you just... hide me? From... everything?" I asked. She looked down at me with a look that genuinely saddened me to the core. It was like she was looking down at a bird with a broken wing, a combination of helplessness and hopeful thoughts.

She shook her head.

Updated: 12/11/15 (still bus wifi, loving this stuff)
-Fixed... Stuff, can't remember.
-Typing is kinda hard on a bus, luck there's not much for me to fix in these newer chapters.

Man, did most of this one while at college, so forgive my lack of the word 'pony' in some parts. I was sure that guy on the bus was looking over my shoulder as I typed.

But yeah, this was a thing that happened. I like how this turned out. It's about time something interesting happened. It's been far to peaceful in the last couple chapters. I need to layer up this cake before it'll work properly.

Probably one of the most improvised chapters yet, in a way. I had planned for this to happen completely differently, but this works too. Adds a little bit of morbidity to Viss's character too, she was missing that so far. Glad things lined up so I could do that.

Sorry 'bout the short chapter. Kinda running low on free time right now. I'll see to it that this fic keeps going though, it sure keeps my hand busy.