Twilight Sparkle didn’t look so well, or so Tarnish thought. She had been given a tour, was shown the mine, and was brought around to meet various survivors. It was, no doubt, a harrowing experience. Twilight had started off strong, determined looking, but at some point during the tour, she began to break down. Now, with everything said and done, Twilight appeared as though she might start crying at any moment.

Meanwhile, Princess Luna seemed unmoved, stony faced, there was a certain grimness about her, as if she had seen this all before. Her reactions came out more in her actions, rather than her reactions. Her patience when mobbed by little pups. Her gentleness when meeting a sick patient. Tarnish noticed these things, but then again, he was paying attention. He was all too aware that Princess Luna had a reputation for being cold and distant, but perhaps, just perhaps, ponies just weren’t paying attention.

Shuddering, Twilight brought herself up to her full height and her ears stood up straight. “I don’t understand… I’m trying, but I just don’t understand how this happened. It was bad enough when my friend was taken by diamond dogs… but this… all of this... I…” Twilight’s stammering came to an abrupt end and she let out a wordless whine.

“You are surprised that we would do this to ourselves?” Minori asked.

Twilight, perhaps fearing that she might offend, offered no reply. She stood there, mute, staring at Minori, her eyes glassy with tears. Princess Luna stood beside her, unmoving, and there was no readable expression upon her face. Twilight had not yet developed a well practiced mask of diplomacy, and it was obvious to Tarnish as he stood watching the two princesses.

“You have encountered my kind before.” Minori’s words were not a question.

“Yes.” Twilight gave a faint nod.

“And a friend of yours was taken.”

Again, Twilight’s head made one single almost unnoticeable nod.

“I am sorry.” Minori bowed her head.

“Why are you sorry?” Twilight asked. She shook her head and her ears drooped. “We should be sorry. I want you to believe me when I say, had we known about this, we would have done something about it”—Twilight looked over at Luna—“wouldn’t we?” Before Luna could respond, Twilight continued, “We’re facing a lot of troubles of our own… I know that resources are stretched thin, but had I known, I would have done something about it. I would have come here and done something.”

And that was when he saw it. Tarnish saw a gleam in Princess Luna’s eyes, like a torch flaring in darkness. He didn’t know what it was, he only observed it for but a fraction of a second, but it was there. He could only guess that Twilight had said the right thing and that Princess Luna was impressed, or proud. But there had been a reaction, a strong one. He was so used to staring at ponies faces because of Maud, hoping to see some rare reaction, and because of this, he was quick to pick up on things that nopony else would ever notice.

There had been an ocean of emotion in that gleam found in Princess Luna’s eye.

Twilight, her feathers ruffled, shuffled from her left hooves to her right hooves as she squirmed in place. “We’re going to help you on the trip north. We will help carry the injured, the infirm, and those unable to help themselves. More than that, Princess Luna and I are going to walk with you the entire way, so that we might become better friends.”

Princess Luna’s eyebrow arched and she gave Twilight a peculiar look.

“I would like to be better friends,” Minori replied. Sitting on her stumps, she held out one rough looking and calloused paw to Twilight.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she looked down at the paw. Tarnish saw the lump as Twilight swallowed, and he saw her orange tongue for a moment as she licked her lips, no doubt, a nervous habit. He then watched as Twilight raised one foreleg, and extended her hoof.

Minori took the hoof into her paw, gave it a firm but gentle shake, and then let go.

“We have much to do,” Minori said. “It is good we have friends to help us.”

With everything going on around him, Tarnish could not help but feel excited. Something momentous had happened, he had no way of knowing just how important it was, but he knew that this was a turning point. This was important, a major event, just like the volcano, but better. And he had played his own little part in it.

Hearing a whimper, he looked around and saw Long Ears being pushed by Minori. She was shoving him in Princess Luna’s direction. She planted her paw on his backside with a gentle swat, and sent him forwards. The little pup had been cleaned up and Tarnish could see that his coat was a faded shade of greyish brown. He froze completely when Princess Luna affixed her stern gaze upon him, his paws gripping the handle of his wooden sword.

He let out a soft yelp and then found the courage to continue forwards. He made his way to Princess Luna, drew his sword, kneeled down, and placed it at her hooves while she stood there looking down at him. He tilted his head back to look up for but a single instant, then bowed his head and closed his eyes.

“I have not yet proven myself,” Long Ears said in low voice. “I was going to slay Dig Dag, then travel to the distant land where you live, climb up the mountain that touches the sky, find you, and offer you my sword.”

“And who might you be, tiny one?” Princess Luna asked.

“I am Long Ears and I will be chief one day.” Long Ears pushed his sword closer to the alicorn’s hooves.

“Wait!” Kabuki’s shrill voice caused Tarnish’s ears to perk.

She wiggled free from the diamond dog that had grabbed her and hurried towards her brother and Princess Luna, evading all attempts to capture her. She made it to where Tarnish stood, then looked up at him with pleading, puppy dog eyes.

“I do not have a sword,” she said in a low whine.

Not too far away, Minori had become a statue, as had many of the other diamond dogs. Tarnish became aware that there were many, many eyes upon him, including Maud, Octavia, and Vinyl. Even Twilight was staring at him.

“What say you, noble champion,” Princess Luna asked in a flat voice that held no emotion, “wouldst thou sponsor this brave one?”

The words struck Tarnish like a physical force. He realised what Kabuki was doing. She was violating pretty much every tradition of her tribe. This was, no doubt, a rehearsed and long hoped for moment, her brother’s moment to shine in the sun so to speak, and she was causing a scene.

Tarnished Teapot decided that the diamond dogs needed one with so much courage. He lifted Flamingo, who had been sheathed during the tour of the mine, and for good measure, he gave Kabuki his shield as well. He saw tears in her eyes as he lowered his head. He kissed her on the top of her head, just between her floppy ears, then turned her around, and gave her a gentle shove towards Princess Luna to get her moving.

“The Spider’s Bane hast made a wise choice,” Princess Luna announced in a commanding voice as Kabuki drew near.

Upon reaching Princess Luna, Kabuki kneeled down and laid Flamingo at the alicorn’s hooves. She set the shield down as well and then bowed her head. “I am Kabuki and I wish to be a warrior as well.” Kabuki closed her eyes and reached out with one paw to grab her brother’s arm. She clutched it, her whole body trembling.

“This is a most serious obligation.” Princess Luna looked down at the two pups kneeling before her. “Thou art offering me your lives. Thou art pledging thineselves to me and mine service.”

Neither pup replied and a strange silence hung in the air.

Head high, Princess Luna turned her stare upon Minori. “When the time comes, it is mine desire to have both of these brave souls lead your tribe. It is good for siblings to rule together. It is obvious to me that these two are at their best when they are together, not apart. You will need all of the strength thou canst muster in the times to come.”

After nodding, Minori bowed her head.

“I accept thine service.” Bowing her head, Princess Luna touched Long Ears with her horn, then Kabuki. Lifting her head, she looked over at Tarnish, then over at Minori once more. “It is time for the diamond dogs to improve their fortunes.”

When Princess Luna was done speaking, a cheer rose from the gathered crowd.

Preparations were being made to move north. The biggest problem that Tarnish saw was the lack of roads. It would be rough going until they got to a road. He understood the wisdom behind walking north, it would give everyone involved time to know one another. For friendships to be made. Just flying up there would be detrimental to this process.

In perhaps the largest surprise of the day, the bushwoolies and the badger-kin announced that they would be going north as well. When asked why by Princess Twilight, both had responded in much the same way, Minori was their friend, and they trusted her to look after them. Tarnish himself had a little trouble understanding, the diamond dogs had kept them as slaves, but for the bushwoolies and the badger-kin, there was a distinction between good diamond dogs and bad diamond dogs.

Minori was one of the good ones.

“Before we go our separate ways,” Twilight said to the group of ponies gathered, “I need to speak with you about something important.” She looked at Tarnish, Maud, Octavia, and Vinyl with a worried expression. “I’ve been getting reports about a cutie mark thief. Somepony that has been going around and claiming to cure those who have troublesome cutie marks.”

Hearing these words, Tarnish squirmed.

“These reports have been very strange. The map in my castle keeps lighting up and directing me and my friends to some very strange cutie mark troubles… like stolen cutie marks, or vanished cutie marks.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she looked over at Tarnish. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“Um, maybe?” Tarnish replied.

“Tell me everything,” Twilight demanded.

Sucking in a deep breath, Tarnish wondered where to begin. He glanced over at Maud, but she was no help. She sat there looking very Maud-ish and for a moment, he thought he saw something in her eyes, some expression. For some reason, he was unable to meet her gaze and he stared down at the ground.

“Look, Tarnish, when you talked to me through the mirror, you sounded scared about having the diamond dogs go north. I heard it in your voice.” Twilight’s voice dropped down to a whisper. “A guard patrol found a group of slaughtered diamond dogs near the Sisters. Do you know something about this? I’m smart enough to put two and two together.”

Twilight’s words were like a spear through his barrel. For a moment, he was worried that he would start crying. He felt a shudder along his spine and his eyes burned as tears threatened to come streaming out. He thought of his tormentor and the awful things she had done. He thought of the lesson he had learned and the little pup who had survived.

“Tarnish, what happened?” Twilight asked, now worried. “Talk to me… what happened?”

“It’s a long story.” Maud leaned forward, wrapped her forelegs around Tarnish, and pulled him close. “He’s been traumatised. She offered to cure him, to fix what was wrong. We met her on the road when we were travelling down here and she’s been stalking us ever since.”

“Oh.” Twilight’s mouth became a tight little round ‘o’ and she stared at both Maud and Tarnish with wide, astonished eyes.

“I wanted him to talk to you about it, but he wanted time to get his head together. After that, I didn’t nag him because that’s not how you help somepony.” Maud gave her husband a little squeeze. “Don’t be mad at him.”

Taking a deep breath, Tarnish made ready to spill his guts and tell Twilight everything…

Author's Notes:

That stupid cricket is responsible for the delay.