As he flew to the train station, Phalanx really, really wished he’d tried better to remember Whatshername’s name. He’d realized too late last night that he didn’t have a physical description of her -- probably a unicorn, but you never knew -- and without a name, he had pretty much nothing to go on with her.

The flight itself wasn’t helping, which was particularly troubling, because flying often helped Phalanx think. Something about getting blood flowing to the brain better. But as the air streaked past him, Phalanx raked his mind again and again, only to come up with nada again and again.

Phalanx banked over the station, looking down for unicorns on the platform. Maybe he’d get lucky and there wouldn’t be a lot of- Ha ha, no, this was Canterlot. There were plenty of unicorns down there, and thanks to steam billowing from the train, he was probably missing a few.

As he folded his wings and dropped to the ground, panic began rising in Phalanx’s mind. He could only repeat the obvious to himself, over and over: he had nothing. None of the unicorns at the station looked particularly interested in him, which ruled out Whatshername finding him instead. He glanced at a clock. 9:23. The train wouldn’t be leaving for a while yet, but that wasn’t much good if he couldn’t find the pony he was supposed t-

“Excuse me?”

Phalanx jumped a little and turned around. He was confronted with the tip of a unicorn horn. Just the tip: the unicorn was rather short, so the top of her horn was the only thing that came up to eye level.

Phalanx looked down to get a better look at the unicorn. If he had to describe her look in as few words as possible, those words would be “high society”. Her white coat wasn’t quite gleaming, but it wouldn’t take much to get it there. Her mane and tail were silky-smooth and slate gray. Around her neck, she wore a necklace made of some sort of vibrant blue stone; it offset her green eyes well. He didn’t recognize her cutie mark; it looked like a dot inside a circle inside a crescent moon. Her saddlebags had some semi-fancy designs in the weave; a bit expensive, probably. He’d seen her a few times around the palace, but never talked to her.

“Can I help you?” asked Phalanx. His mind was racing. She can see I’m a Royal Guard, but I’m not wearing my armor, so she ought to know I’m off-duty. Right? Unless she’s one of those ponies, and she thinks I need to help her, no matter what, because she’s Very Important or something. I’m never going to find Chandrasomething at this rate.

“You’re Sergeant Iron Phalanx, right?” asked the unicorn. “I’m Chandrasekhar Lina.”

Well, that was easy.

“But you can call me Chandra, since…” She grinned a little and shrugged.

Even better. “Yeah,” said Phalanx, “I…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s long, okay?”

“My parents came here from Indeccania,” said Chandra. “This kind of name’s normal there.”

I knew it. “So, you have our tickets, right?” asked Phalanx.

Chandra wordlessly reached around into a saddlebag’s side pocket and pulled out two tickets. When she put them back, she added, “And because we’re traveling as representatives of the Royal Court, we’ll have a private car down there.” She nodded towards the back of the train.

“Cool,” said Phalanx. “Do you have anything else you need to get done? Because, if not, we might as well get settled in. I’m ready.”

“Well…” Chandra cocked her head back and forth. “You know, I’m a bit thirsty. You go on ahead, I’ll get myself something to drink.” She turned to the main station building.

“Hang on a sec.” Phalanx reached over, bit down on the saddlebags’ center strap, and lifted them off of Chandra’s back. “Uh’ll fvake feefe foor yoo,” he garbled around the strap. I’ll take these for you.

Chandra nodded her thanks and departed into the crowd. Phalanx turned towards -- She said the back, didn’t she? -- towards the back of the train. The rear car did look a bit more decorated than the others, at least on the outside; at the very least, it had a small Royal Seal painted on the walls and tinted-out windows.

A conductor was waiting near the car. When she noticed Phalanx, she walked up to him and asked, “Iron Phalanx, correct?”

“Vathf vhe.” That’s me.

“Sorry, but I’ll need to see your ticket. And Chandra’s, if you’ve got it.” The conductor sighed and rolled her eyes. “Policy, you know. I need a record of everything, even thou-”

Phalanx spat out Chandra’s bag. “Nah, I understand,” he said, fishing in the pocket. “If something’s not catalogued, some bureaucrat’s gonna have an apoplectic attack, and we can’t have that, can we?” He pulled out the tickets.

“I wish,” muttered the conductor. She punched the tickets and waved Phalanx on through. Picking up Chandra’s bags again, Phalanx nodded to her and pushed open the door to the car.

It wasn’t exactly extravagant, but it was far from a normal train carriage. Whoever had designed the car had taken full advantage of its privacy, as well as its location in the rear; the back wall had windows designed to maximize the visibility of the passing landscape, as well as a small platform if the occupants wished to go outside. Towards the front were what Phalanx assumed were private sleeping compartments. There was a bar along one wall, although it didn’t look like it was stocked at the moment; Phalanx wouldn’t have been surprised if it doubled as a kitchen in some way. The chairs scattered around the room were large and looked rather poofy, the kind you could fall into. There was even a sofa in there, in the same design as the chairs. The furniture was covered in plush from top to bottom. The Royal Seal was plastered not quite everywhere; evidently, the designer had decided to shove it down your throat that you were in the Princesses’ private car, dangit.

Staring around, Phalanx walked up to one of the chairs and poked it with a hoof. True to its appearance, it was very smooshy. Soft, too. Phalanx ran his hoof over the fabric, enjoying the texture, then paused. He glanced out the window. He couldn’t see Chandra outside. Probably still getting her drink; it might be a while till she got back.

And, with that, he leaned forward and buried his face in the cushion. The fabric was incredibly soft on his body, and he felt like he could keep himself in that position for as long as he wanted to. “Pluuuuuuuuuuuuuush,” he murmured happily to himself.

“It is, isn’t it?”

Phalanx yelped -- although it was muffled by the cushions -- and, in one swift motion, sat up and turned around. Chandra was standing in the doorway, a soda bottle balanced on her back. She was fighting to keep a smile off of her face.

“W-well,” stammered Phalanx, “I-I was…” …There’s no way I’m getting out of this, is there? He coughed. “…enjoying the texture of the fabric.” Oh, that’s the way you put it? That sounds dirty.

Chandra managed to hold back for a few more seconds before breaking out into giggles. “Said the military pony,” she said. She set the bottle on the bar to keep it from falling off her back. “I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t, but…” She coughed, cleared her throat, and stopped laughing. “Okay, stopping now.”

Phalanx collapsed back into the chair and rubbed the plush fabric. “Well, it does feel nice,” he said lamely. “So I… yeah, I couldn’t resist.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to do it,” said Chandra. She headed behind the bar and ducked below it. Phalanx heard the sounds of drawers opening and closing as she continued, “When I first felt it, I couldn’t believe it either. It was like… here we go.” She stood up from behind the table, a straw in her mouth. She was on her hind legs to compensate for her small size, her front hooves on the bar top for balance. The cap popped off the bottle, and Chandra stuck the straw inside. After a quick sip, she said, “It was like I was sitting on clouds.”

“Clouds are fluffier,” said Phalanx. He poked the chair again. “But not much,” he admitted. “You’ve been in here before?”

“A few times,” said Chandra. She took her own seat, the bottle floating to a small table beside her. “I was traveling to this or that location in Equestria, at Luna’s request, so she gave me access to the train car.”

“Luna’s? Not Celestia’s? And she let you alone have the car?”

“Well, not just me.” Sip. “With a group of about a dozen others. And I’m an astronomer, so my work usually takes place at night. Hence: Luna.” Chandra shrugged.

Phalanx cocked his head. “Why does the Royal Court need astronomers?” he asked, frowning. “Yes, I know what they do, but why the Court, specifically?”

Chandra waved a hoof towards the window. “Look outside at the sky,” she said, “and tell me what you see.”

Although a little confused, Phalanx got off his chair and walked over to the window. He squinted through the glass at the sky, trying to see something different than usual. But, no, nothing special. Blue, the sun, a few clouds, more blue. Lots and lots of blue. “Just a normal sky,” he said. He didn’t turn from the window, just in case he’d missed something.

“And the stars?”

Phalanx blinked and turned to Chandra. “What about them?” he asked.

Chandra cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. “Where are they?” Sip.

Phalanx frowned and turned back to the window, trying to remember what he had learned in school all those years ago. “They’re still out there, aren’t they?” he said. “Just too dim to be seen against the light of the sun.”

“Not exactly.”

“Really?” Phalanx tried to keep his voice sounding interested as he went back to his chair, but his heart sank a little. This is going to turn into one of those dense lectures full of complex jargon. I can feel it.

“Long story short,” said Chandra, “the magical reactions in the sun make the stars fade during the day. When dusk comes, we occasionally help Luna make the stars come out.”

My instincts are not having a good day. “Really?” Phalanx asked again, now genuinely interested. “I thought that she didn’t need help with that, but…”

“Actually, the system was first established to help Celestia.” Sip. “See, after she banished Nightmare Moon, she quickly realized that she wasn’t as good as handling the night as she was the day, so she set up a bureau or department or something to take care of some of the finer details. Stars, auroras, that sort of thing. Because of them, she never really bothered learning the niceties.”

“That’s… one way to put it.” Phalanx didn’t want to say that the last sentence in particular felt downright derogatory.

Chandra shrugged. “It’s Celestia’s way of putting it. She’s very upfront about her inability to handle the night as well as Luna. Her cutie mark is the sun, after all.” Sip. “Anyway, the position lasted until the Reunion, but Luna kept it around even though she didn’t fully need it. Instead, she just reassigned them to investigate stars more thoroughly. Basically, the same as normal astronomers, but with more specific tasks and government funding.”

“And the stars?”

“Sometimes Luna requests us to help pull the stars out. She’s usually busy with something else, then, so this saves her a bit more time.”

“Huh.”

At that moment, the train whistle blew; they’d be leaving shortly. Phalanx peered out the window at the last-minute goodbyes on the platform, then back to Chandra. “So since you work with magic a lot, you’re good at it.”

“Eh…” Chandra wiggled a hoof noncommittally. “Less magic itself, and more theory. I don’t mean to brag, but…” She puffed herself up a bit. “…when it comes to magic, I’m one of the top five most knowledgeable ponies in all of Equestria.”

Phalanx whistled and rustled his wings. “Impressive. So that’s why they picked you.”

“Yeah. Sometimes me or somepony else gets loaned out to someplace else to help with things that require magical theory. A few years ago, I worked with this security company to design better magic nullifiers after they got a grant.”

“I think I heard about that. Sports events and the like, right? Keep unicorns from cheating?”

Chandra nodded. “Basically, they’d developed a way to let the nullification decay quickly if you forgot to have it taken off once you left without having it end during the event. Before that, the nullification would either last a few weeks or wear off way too quickly, since magic can get a bit fuzzy on the timescales they wanted. The basics were there; I just ironed out the kinks.” She cringed a little. “But then, there were a lot of kinks in there. Let’s just say I earned my pay. By the way, it was the Arcandustries MN53 if you’re interested, ha ha yeah right.”

Phalanx shrugged. “Well, hey, you never know. That sort of thing can still be used by the Royal Guard, one way or another.”

Chandra took another sip of her soda, then glanced at the fridge behind the bar. She grinned. “You know, I’ve never had a chance to raid a royal fridge before…” She pulled the door open and stuck her muzzle inside. “…Ooo, are those mangos? I think they are!”

Phalanx rolled his eyes and turned to the window, watching the land roll by.

Eventually, the train pulled into the Ponyville station. As soon as Phalanx stepped off, he began surveying the area; he’d been to the town a few times before, since he knew a few of the ponies here, but it couldn’t hurt to check. It was every bit the typical small town he remembered, a few Nightmare Night decorations still hanging up; someone’d need to take them down soon.

Phalanx didn’t know who they were meeting, but he figured they wouldn’t be too hard to find. After all, he had found Chandra with little difficulty ev-

“Hey! Mr. Guard Guy, sir!”

Eeeeeeeyup. He turned in the direction of the voice, trying to look through the crowd of arrivals and departures. Way in the back, he could see a zebra jumping up and down, waving a hoof to get his attention. He waved back, letting her settle down. “I can see the pony meeting us,” he said to Chandra. “She’s near the ticket office.” He began working his way into the crowd.

“Okay,” said Chandra. She was about to follow him when she clapped a hoof to her face. “Oh, I left some books in the train. You go on ahead, I’ll catch up.” She turned and headed back into the train car.

With Chandra out of the picture, Phalanx didn’t try pushing through the crowd; instead, he just flew over them and landed next to the zebra. “Part of the investigation?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “It’s pretty well advanced. Technically speaking. They didn’t leave a whole lot of evidence, but we’re making do.”

Phalanx examined her as she spoke. She looked a little young, but there was was always the chance she was a prodigy or something. A lot of her mane was swept forward, and the bits that weren’t were tied back in a rather long-but-thin ponytail. It was black and white to match her stripes; Phalanx vaguely wondered what made her stripes look like that, but it didn’t really matter. Her eyes were a deep -- deep -- shade of brown.

“It’s not like we can do a whole lot else,” continued the zebra. “There weren’t even any witnesses. Well, one, apparently, but she skipped town yesterday. We’re still not sure whether she was involved somehow and is trying to evade arrest or is paranoid. Personally, I’m thinking she’s scared.” She blinked, as if she was remembering something. “Oh, and my name is-”

“Kal?!”

Phalanx and the zebra jumped at almost the same time. Phalanx turned around to see Chandra looking at the zebra, her mouth slightly open. Behind him, the zebra said, “Chandra?”

Phalanx took a step back, so they could see each other more clearly. He looked at the zebra -- Kal? “You two-” He turned to Chandra. “-know each other?”

It certainly looked like they did. After a second’s staring at each other, they both broke out in huge grins. “What’re you doing here?” asked Kal. “I thought you were going to be an astronomer!”

“That’s actually why I’m here. You know how I minored in magical theory?”

“Hi,” said Phalanx, raising a hoof, “I’m clueless.”

“Yeah,” said Kal, not glancing at him.

“Well, I kept my studies up after I left school,” said Chandra, “and I actually got pretty good at it. Tested into the Royal Court with top marks a few years ago.”

“Really? That’s great!” said Kal.

“Hi,” scowled Phalanx, raising a hoof again. “I’m still clueless.”

“But that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here,” Kal continued. She still didn’t look at Phalanx.

“You two’re not listening to me, are you?”

“Since the Elements were protected by lots of enchantments,” said Chandra, “the Princesses figured that-”

“Nope. Definitely not.”

“-someone should go to specifically examine what’s left, and, well…” Chandra shrugged.

“Hey!” said Phalanx, sticking his head between them and glaring at one, then the other. “I hate to interrupt your reunion, but I don’t really know what you’re going on about. So…” He pulled his head back out. “Could you please take a moment to explain things to me?” Dang. That was probably a bit harsh.

Chandra coughed. “Heh. Sorry. Kal, meet Iron Phalanx. Phalanx, this…” She draped a foreleg over Kal’s withers. “…is Kalahari. She’s an old college friend of mine. We went to Dartmare together.”

“She was a year ahead of me,” said Kalahari, “but we met at a book club.” She giggled a little and waved a hoof. “I know, I know, old mares’ stuff, but-”

“Oh, come on,” snorted Phalanx, “that’s not that bad. If that’s what floats your boat, go for it.”

“What’d you choose for your major, anyway?” asked Chandra. “I never got around to asking you.”

“Hippology,” said Kalahari, “with a minor in psychology. They seemed interesting and versatile.”

“And look at you now.”

“Well, technically, I’m still new blood,” said Kalahari, kicking lightly at the ground. “I’m only really out here because they handed me the short straw. I’m the rookie, y’know?”

Phalanx nodded. He definitely knew.

After a moment’s silence, Chandra coughed and said, “So… we might as well get there.”

“All right,” said Kalahari. “This way.” She headed off to town, Chandra and Phalanx following her.

“So,” said Phalanx, “how’s the investigation proceeding?”

“Well, like I said,” said Kalahari, “they didn’t leave a lot of evidence, although we haven’t covered everything yet.”

“But you said there was a witness? I heard she left town, but-”

“She went to the Crystal Empire, and we’ve got a picture, but no one’s got a name. It’d be a wild goose chase without anything more.”

“Hmm.”

“And what kinds of magic examination?” asked Chandra.

“No idea, to be honest,” said Kalahari, shaking her head. “I don’t think so, though. I haven’t heard anything about it, and I haven’t seen any unicorns doing any…” She waved a hoof in a mysticalish sort of way. “…magic-y type things.”

“Fair enough,” said Chandra, partially to herself. “They might’ve been waiting for me.”

“Maybe,” said Kalahari. “So what’s new with you? I haven’t heard anything since-”

Not wanting to eavesdrop on what was probably a personal conversation, Phalanx broke off listening to the two. Instead, he began examining Ponyville, committing the layout to memory as best he could, just in case. It felt like one of a bazillion small towns across Equestria. It had that close-knit, rustic sort of vibe. However, here and there it was broken up by uniformed ponies along the trail they were walking, all bent towards the ground. Probably examining some sort of evidence. He noticed that Kalahari gave them a medium berth, which might be because they weren’t treating her well, or because she didn’t want to disturb anything they were examining.

Phalanx also made sure to get a good look at the residents, also just in case. But nopony really stood out. They were the usual kinds of locals you got in a town like this. For their part, they didn’t seem too perturbed by the forensics ponies. Although said ponies weren’t exactly obtrusive.

“…which was fine, since Marizona wasn’t really my place to live, anyway,” said Chandra. “Pretty and all, but too dry.” She looked up the road. “And that’s the library, I assume?”

“Yeah,” said Kalahari. “Big, ain’t it?”

Phalanx had seen pictures of the Royal Library, but they had captured the weight of it. The building simply felt solid, like a castle or fortress. It just felt like it belonged there, like a big tree (particularly fitting, given its design). However, at the same time, it didn’t feel overly intimidating. Just… big. Really big.

Two more forensics ponies were sitting outside the door, chatting. One of them was chowing down on a donut. Either on break or trying to make it look like they were on break when they were really totally alert. Phalanx had known some ponies who could look totally carefree, and yet were more aware of their surroundings than most paranoiacs.

When they saw Kalahari and the group, they waved. “Hey, Kal,” said one, somehow sounding clear through her mouthful of donut. She swallowed. “These the ponies already?”

“Yep,” said Kalahari. “Got to the station just as they were arriving.”

“Cool,” said Donut Pony. “Head on in. Dupinto’s still a bit mopey, though.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.” Kalahari pushed open the door and took Phalanx and Chandra inside. “Here. It’s in the back.”

Chandra, however, dawdled a little inside the door, glancing back outside. “They didn’t even want to know our names…” she muttered sullenly.

“They don’t think they need to,” said Kalahari. “You’re just a temporary specialist in extreme circumstances, and you’re-” She pointed to Phalanx. “-not much more or less than her bodyguard, in their eyes. They’re not going to see you again, so why bother? Also…” She turned back to Chandra. “…you didn’t ask for their names.”

Chandra opened her mouth to protest, but the protest never came out as her brain caught up. She closed her mouth sheepishly.

“I rest my case,” said Kalahari.

A small section near the rear of the library, outside the exhibit room, was police-taped off. Within the boundary lines were several ponies either discussing something amongst themselves or looking over notes. One of them, an Earth pony, was standing off on his own, seemingly lost in thought.

Kalahari ducked under the tape near him. “Hey. Dupinto.”

Dupinto twitched, blinked, and turned to Kalahari. “Hmm?”

“The specialist is here,” said Kalahari, jerking her head at Chandra. Chandra waved awkwardly.

“Thank the Sisters,” muttered Dupinto. He crossed the tape to meet with them personally.

Phalanx sized him up. Average height, somewhat stocky. A darkish sort of purple for the body, with a slicked-back, pale blue mane. He looked a bit tired; they probably hadn’t been working at the case that long, so maybe that was because they were getting nowhere. A small magnifying glass cutie mark decorated his flank. He had a semi-authoritative air about him, dulled a bit by his visible exhaustion.

“Officer Dupinto,” he said with a nod.

“I’m Chandra,” said Chandra.

“Iron Phalanx,” said Phalanx, returning the nod. “Rough day?”

Dupinto snorted. “Let’s put it this way. If anything comes of this, it’ll be the only significant evidence we have. As far as we can tell, they left behind nothing. It’s just…” He sighed. “You know.”

“Wow,” said Chandra quietly. “So is there anything I need to know before getting started?”

“Not really, no,” said Dupinto. He waved her towards the door to the exhibit room. “Go ahead.”

“Right,” said Chandra. She rolled her head, producing an impressive-sounding series of cracks. “Let’s do this thing.”