“So Master Ash took Rarity back to the Dragon Lands to stand trial,” explained Twilight. “Now the alliance between dragons and ponies is at risk of being destroyed because of this and I don’t know what to do. That’s why I need your help now.”

Twilight looked across the map table at Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, both of whom looked at each other with concern on their faces. Silence fell upon the room as all three princesses sat in silence and thought to themselves. Twilight got up and paced around the room frantically and bit her lip.

Finally, Luna said, “This is a dire situation indeed, Twilight. I’m not even sure where to begin with this.”

“I agree,” said Celestia. “You said this was all because of a love triangle between Ember, Rarity, and Spike?”

Twilight nodded. “It escalated and resulted in both of them fighting each other. We were trying to patch things up between them yesterday, but just when they were looking like they were going to finally make up…” The alicorn grimaced and looked away.

Princess Luna glared. “Master Ash has a lot of nerve to show up in Ponyville with an army just to arrest Rarity for this. How is the town?”

“We did a look around, princess,” said Rainbow. “It looks like they were true to their orders. The army didn’t wreck the town.”

“Which is for the best,” said Applejack. “Those dragons were angrier than a wasp after its nest was hit with a rock.”

“They probably would have torn up Ponyville until Rarity came out and surrendered,” said Starlight.

“Princess Celestia, do you know Master Ash?” wondered Fluttershy.

The solar princess nodded. “It’s been a couple of years since we’ve talked. The last time I spoke to him was in regards to a truce between ponies and dragons.”

“Was it something like an alliance?” asked Twilight.

Celestia shook her head. “No. It was more of a ceasefire. You see, ponies had been going into the Dragon Lands to take eggs and sell them on the black market, and some dragons went in and destroyed some towns near the Dragon Lands.”

“That sounds worse than what Rarity and Ember did,” said Applejack. “So what happened?”

“I was able to negotiate with Master Ash,” said Celestia. “It took some time and convincing, but he and I did agree that war was something we didn’t want to take part in. So it was decided that we increase patrols around our kingdom’s borders to prevent rogue ponies or dragons causing trouble. Since then, the poaching and attacks have dropped massively.”

“Speaking of Ash,” said Luna. “Twilight, you said the dragon who reported this to him was his own grandson?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, it was Garble, but I don’t believe he did this because he was concerned about Ember.”

“I see,” said the night princess. “If it’s true he tried to destroy a phoenix nest and attack you and Rarity in the Gauntlet of Fire, then this does raise a lot of suspicion. What proof do you have?”

Twilight lowered her head. “Nothing to be honest. Ember did say there was something she did find weird about Garble. She said that he was carrying a camera, but never expressed interest in being a photographer.”

“That’s hardly enough proof though,” said Luna. “Even if this was true, you got nothing to back it up.”

“You know, Twilight, something has been bothering me about this camera business,” said Starlight.

“What is it?”

“I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard something about this before. I can’t remember where though.”

Twilight frowned. “I appreciate your help, Starlight, but Princess Luna has a point. Without any connections or proof about Garble’s so called hobby, we can’t do anything.”

“Pardon me, Princess Celestia,” said Applejack. “Since you know Master Ash, can’t you go talk to him and try to reason with him?”

The solar alicorn rubbed her chin. “It won’t be easy,” she admitted. “Master Ash is angry about this, but he isn’t without reason. However, this will be very tricky. The Dragon Lord being attacked by a pony is something far worse than the border disputes.”

“But can you do it, sister?” asked Luna. “If Twilight wants to make sure Rarity will have a fair trial and lawyer, you may be her only hope.”

Celestia closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. “Like I said, it won’t be easy. I will go to the Dragon Lands myself and talk to Ash. I’m the closest thing to a friend he ever had, and he may listen to me.”

“Then it is settled,” said Princess Luna. “I’m sure if this goes well and Master Ash is convinced, Rarity will be happy to hear the news.”

A thought clicked inside Starlight’s head. “News...news...Wait! That’s it!”

The group looked at Starlight with raised eyebrows.

“What’s ‘it’?” asked Rainbow.

The unicorn ran over to the doors and opened them. She looked back and said, “I think I figured it out! I’ll be right back!” She ran out the door before anypony else could stop her.

“I think it’s best we let Starlight do what she must,” said Celestia. “There is one other thing I must know, Twilight.”

“What is it?”

“How has Spike taken this news?” wondered Celestia.

Twilight frowned. “I...I told him the truth. He was so shocked about what had happened, that he just ran off before any of us can stop him.”

“Oh, dear,” said Celestia with a frown.

“He seems more reclusive now than ever. I think what happened to both Rarity and Ember has really shaken him.”

“We’ve tried to convince him to come out and talk to us,” said Starlight. “But he won’t listen to us, and he’s been ignoring us.”

“He won’t come out of his room now; even for food or water,” continued Twilight. “I think these last two days have shaken him to his core.”

“Perhaps he needs some time alone to think things through and to settle down,” said Celestia. “Give him the space he needs to calm down.”

The solar princess reached into her white regalia robe and pulled out a piece of parchment paper. “In the meantime, Luna, I want you to see to it that you find a lawyer suitable to this case.”

Luna took the paper and read it. “Do you think they’ll be up to it, sister? These may be some of Canterlot’s best lawyers, but they’ve never faced a case like this.”

“We have little choice in this matter, Luna,” said Celestia. “The quicker we find a lawyer, the more time we’ll have to put together a defense for Rarity.”

She looked at Twilight. “I want you and your friends to see if you can find any proof to back up Ember’s claims about Garble.”

Twilight rubbed the back of her head. “I don’t know where to begin though. All we have right now is Ember said Garble doesn’t do photography.”

The doors to the council chamber swung open. “Twilight!”

Everypony looked over to see Starlight smiling and holding a newspaper in her hand.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” asked Twilight.

Starlight nodded and brought the paper over. “Take a look at this!” She opened the paper and pointed at it.

The two of them looked at the article Starlight was pointing at. Twilight skimmed through it quickly and then let out a gasp and smiled.

“Starlight, I think you’re onto something!” she said. “This may be what we’re looking for!”

“What is it?” wondered Rainbow.

“A few days ago, a pony was attacked and robbed in the Everfree Forest,” said Twilight.

“I fail to see how this helps us,” said Applejack.

“I read through the article and it says the pony in question was a bird watcher who took photos of wild and exoctic birds,” explained Twilight. “He says all that he could recall was a figure; a red figure.”

Applejack’s eyes went wide. “A photographer? Red figure? Are you thinking what I’m thinking then?”

The princess of friendship nodded in agreement. “This may be the camera Garble stole. According to the paper, the pony, Feather Flight, was admitted into the Ponyville Hospital. The investigation into the attack has just begun and are looking around at the spot where he was attacked for clues. If we can ask him about this incident, then we may have a chance.”

“That sounds great!” exclaimed Pinkie. “We’ll have this solved in no time!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now,” said Twilight. “I think we should all split up.”

“Split up?” asked Fluttershy.

Twilight nodded. “There’s a few places that’s caught my attention that need to be looked at. Pinkie, you and Applejack go to the Everfree Forest and look the crime scene.” She took a piece of parchment and wrote something on it. “Take this with you. This is permission from me to look around and see if anything can be found to connect Garble to it.”

Applejack took the parchment and put it in her pocket. “Got it, Twi.”

“See if you can ask Zecora too. She may have seen something the police may have missed.”

“Okie doki!” said Pinkie.

“Starlight, you and I will go to the hospital and ask Feather about the attack. Maybe he can give us a few clues.”

“Understood,” said the unicorn.

“Rainbow, you and Fluttershy need to go back to the Wonderbolts’ Academy and talk to Sergeant McCloud.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at each other with raised eyebrows, and then at Twilight.

“Why him?” asked Rainbow. “We already know he was attacked by a pegasus, but we don’t know much more than that.”

“Ask him for more details about his attack,” said Twilight. “Something about those footprint photos you showed me the other day has me wondering if we’ve been missing something. There’s something not adding up to this, and we need more information.”

Rainbow nodded. “Alright, I’ll see what I can dig up.”

“We have little time to spare, girls. Let’s move out!”

“Right!” the group shouted in unison.

Celestia and Luna both got up. “We will attend to our duties then,” said Luna. “Hopefully by the time I have to raise the moon, we’ll have a lawyer for you, Twilight.”

“Just as long as Master Ash sees things my way,” said Celestia.

Twilight nodded. “I just hope Rarity is holding up well in the Dragon Lands right now.”

Outside of the Friendship Council, Spike leaned against the wall and had a hand over his chest. He looked down and had a solemn look on him.

“Rarity...Ember…” he whispered softly.

Rarity shook nervously as she was lead by two guards down the stone hallway. The chains shackled and clanked together as she was forced to walk and be lead to a pair of doors. The doors creaked open and Rarity was pushed inside the room. She walked down the stairs and looked around to see it was a large circular chamber that had audience stands, but no dragon was there. Her attention shifted to the center floor that was lit by several torches and a stone podium in the middle. Rarity was escorted to the podium and the guards halted.

One of them looked up and saluted. “Master, the prisoner is here.”

Rarity looked up and gasped to see Master Ash sitting in a large throne with a stone table in front of him and seven brown hooded figures sitting in some smaller red chairs. The unicorn gulped a little and shook a little more nervously.

“Thanks you, corporal,” said Ash. “Both of you leave us now. The council will deal with this pony.”

“Yes, Master,” the guard obeyed.

The two turned around and walked out. The doors slammed shut and the room fell silent, save for the flickering of flames, as Rarity and the Dragon Council looked at one another. The unicorn took several deep breaths to try to calm herself down, but the glare Ash gave her only made her more nervous.

“Read the charges!” boomed Ash.

One of the council members took out a scroll from his robe and unfurled it. “Miss Rarity, you are charged with assaulting Dragon Lord Ember and causing an international incident. How do you plead?”

Rarity looked down and muttered something.

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Speak up, pony,” he ordered.

Rarity looked up and, with a deep breath, said, “Guilty.”

The council muttered to themselves and Ash looked on stoically. After a minute, Ash raised his claw up and the council fell silent. He leaned over and looked down at Rarity with a perplexed look.

“Interesting,” he stated. “Already admitting your guilt before us? Not even going to deny it?”

“I–it’s hard to do so with those pictures,” said Rarity.

“At least you’re willing to admit your guilt,” said Ash. “But there is still something that bothers me about your actions.”

“What is it?” wondered Rarity.

“Why do this?” asked Ash.

Rarity lowered her head and her breathing increased.

“It’s a simple question, Miss Rarity,” said the elder dragon. “Was it out of pure hatred towards dragons?”

“Of course not!” objected Rarity. “There is one dragon I do care a lot!” She yelped a little and stepped back in fear she overstepped her response.

Ash rubbed his chin and frowned. “A dragon you care a lot huh?” he wondered. “Tell us more about this, Miss Rarity.”

“Well, that’s the funny thing,” said Rarity with a forced laugh. “It’s a pretty long story and I’m not sure this would help or hurt me.”

“We will decide that, pony,” said Ash. “Now talk.”

Rarity gulped and looked away.

“Miss Rarity, the longer you remain silent about your actions, the more difficult you make this for yourself. I’m giving you a chance to explain yourself. It would be in your best interests to take advantage of my generosity.”

Rarity nodded slowly. “I understand.”

“Now explain yourself,” ordered Ash.

“If you are so curious about this one dragon, he is a very close friend of mine,” said Rarity. “He may be a dragon, but he’s certainly not like any dragon I’ve seen before.”

“And who is he?” wondered Ash.

Rarity felt her cheeks burn a little. “Spike.”

Ash rubbed his chin. “Hmmm...I believe I’ve heard this name before.”

“If I recall, Lord Ember was the one who mentioned another dragon by that name,” said one council member. “She brought him up during her meeting with us about going to Equestria.”

“Ah, that’s it now,” said Ash. “I believe he also took part in the Gauntlet of Fire.”

“Yes he did,” said Rarity.

“So how does this tie into what happened? Were you upset that Ember was made Dragon Lord and wanted Spike to be it instead?”

Rarity gasped. “What? No! Spikey Wikey had no interest in being Dragon Lord. He was the one who gave the Bloodstone Scepter to Ember and made her Dragon Lord.”

The Dragon Council muttered to themselves.

“Is this true?”

“Why would a dragon do that?”

“Giving up such a prestigious role in the Dragon Lands? That’s preposterous!”

Ash held up a claw and the council immediately fell silent. He leaned forward and looked at Rarity. “So Ember was made Dragon Lord on account of Spike giving up the title to her? How does this tie into your fight with her?”

Rarity gulped, but pushed on. “As I said before, Spike is some dragon I care very deeply about. He cared a lot about me too since he first came to Ponyville all those years ago. It didn’t take me until after the Gauntlet of Fire to make me realize how much I cared for him. But then she had to come.”

“Ember?” asked Ash.

Rarity nodded. “Indeed. Shortly after we left the Dragon Lands, Spike always talked about Ember and wanting to see her. He would wonder how she was doing, and wanted to see her again. The more I heard him talk about Ember, the more upset I got. It was like he forgot about me, and that he cared more about Ember than me.”

The council once again muttered to themselves.

“A possible love triangle?”

“This is absurd! Attacking the Dragon Lord because of being jealous?”

Ash raised his hand once more and the room went silent. “So let me get this straight? You attacked Lord Ember over jealousy that Spike may have had feelings for her?”

Rarity rubbed the back of her head. “Well...when you put it that way, yes.”

Ash narrowed his eyes. “You mean to tell me that all of this was in regards to some affliction you have with Spike? You attacked Lord Ember all because of this? A crush on a friend of yours? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

The unicorn shrunk back a little and shook nervously.

“Look at where you are now; arrested for attacking Lord Ember over a love dispute? What exactly were you thinking?”

Rarity frowned and looked away. “I...I just wanted Spikey back so much.”

“Well I’m afraid that may not be possible after what you’ve done.”

“What will you do to me?”

“We’ll discuss your fate in private,” answered Ash. “I think we’ve heard enough from you.”

He looked at the doors to the chamber. “Guard!”

The doors opened and two soldiers entered.

“Yes, Master?” one asked.

“Take the prisoner back to the detention center,” he ordered. “We need to talk privately about what to do.”

The guards saluted and each one took Rarity’s arm.

“Come with us,” the guard said.

Rarity looked down and nodded in compliance. She turned around with the soldiers and was escorted out of the audience chamber. As she was being lead out, Ash let out a sigh and shook his head.

A love triangle? A possible crush on Ember? Lord Ember, have you been hiding something from us?

Twilight and Starlight both walked down the hospital hallway with Nurse Redheart walking between them. They moved out of the way of several doctors and nurses rushing to other patients.

“Thank you for letting us see Feather, nurse,” said Twilight.

“It’s no problem, princess,” said Redheart. “Normally we don’t allow this, but I’m willing to make an exception to help catch who did this and help Rarity.”

“I just hope this isn’t some false lead,” said Starlight.

“You’re about to find out,” said Redheart. She stopped and looked at the door in front of her. “Here we are. Room 404 is where Feather Flight is.”

“Thanks again, nurse,” said Twilight.

“Just try not to be too long with him,” warned the nurse. “He’s still suffering some trauma from the attack and he’s due for another treatment soon.”

“We promise to make this quick,” said Twilight.

Redheart smiled and knocked on the door. She opened it and poked her head in. “Mr. Flight, the guests are here.”

“Send them in,” he said in a weary voice. “Would you kindly get me some more ice too if you could?”

“Of course I can.” Nurse Redheart looked back at Twilight and stepped out of the way. “He’s all yours.”

Twilight nodded and walked into the room with Starlight. Nurse Redheart closed the door, leaving the three ponies by themselves. Feather was lying down in a large white bed and had several wires and tubes connected to his body. His head had several bandages around it and an eyepatch.

“Now who could be visiting me so late in the day?”

The unicorn opened his eyes and gasped as he looked to see who was standing before him. A smile formed on his face and his cheeks turned a little red in embarrassment.

“P–princess Twilight?” he asked. “My goodness. I didn’t think my attack warranted the attention of royalty. You must really care about your subjects here if you make the time to visit them in the hospital.”

“I do try to make the time if I can,” said Twilight with a soft smile on her. “I wish I could say that I was here for a formal visit, but there’s another reason I’m here.”

“Oh? What is it then?”

“It’s about your attack, Feather,” said Starlight. “We want to talk about what happened.”

Feather’s smile drooped a little and he looked down. “Oh,” he said in a low voice. “That again.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I take it the police has been asking you about it?”

The unicorn nodded. “Almost non-stop. They’ve wanted to know what happened. Where the attack was. How long I was out. The questions just went on and on and on.” He looked at Twilight. “Princess, please tell me the guards didn’t send you here just to get more information from me.”

She shook her head. “No. This is something completely different. We believe the attack on you may be connected to another incident.”

“Another incident?” wondered Feather. “Does it involve that shaking I felt yesterday? It felt like an earthquake was happening.”

“In a way yes,” said the alicorn. “It’s a bit of a long story. A week ago, we received a message from…”

Twilight went on to explain how Ember was sent to Equestria and the events leading up to what happened. As she told the story, Feather’s face changed constantly from surprise, to excitement, and then sadness. By the time Twilight finished explaining what happened, Feather had a solemn look on him.

“My word,” he said. “I don’t know what to even say about this.”

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” said Twilight.

“Which brings us back to you, Feather,” said Starlight. She held up the newspaper. “This paper said you were attacked by some red figure.”

“I’m sure you’ve been asked this a lot, but please tell us anything you can about who attacked you,” said Twilight.

Feather grimaced. “I already told the investigators what they wanted,” he said. “All I remember is a large red figure, but not much else.”

“Try to think back to that day,” said Twilight. “Try to describe what it looked like, if the figure had scales, or if it was flying.”

Feather’s head shot up and he looked bewildered. “Wait a minute,” he said. “What was that last one?”

“Flying?” Twilight asked. She unfurled her wings and extended them . “Did this figure fly at you?”

The unicorn stared at Twilight for nearly a minute, but then let out a gasp. “I...I remember!” he said.

“So this creature did fly at you?” wondered Starlight.

Feather nodded. “Yes. I heard something flapping and thought it was bird. When I turned around, I did remember seeing some red fist hit me in the face and knock me down. But something about that thing was off now that I think about it.”

“What was it?”

“It was the wings,” he replied. “They didn’t look like pegasus wings.”

Twilight and Starlight looked at each other, and then at Feather with raised eyebrows.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Twilight. “Were they misshapen or something?”

Feather shook his head. “No, they just looked huge and kind of jagged.”

Starlight leaned over and whispered, “You think this sounds good?”

Twilight nodded and her horn glowed. A pad of paper and a pen appeared in front of her and she levitated them over to Starlight. “Take these and write down this information,” she ordered.

“Right,” said Starlight as she snatched the pen and pad.

The princess looked at Feather with a small smile. “Can you tell us anything else? Any other features you can tell us?”

Feather closed his eyes to concentrate. He flinched a little and put a hand to his head.

“Are you alright?” wondered Starlight in a concerned voice.

The elderly unicorn slowly nodded. “Sorry, but whoever hit me must have really loved to make my head target practice.”

“We better hurry this up, Twilight,” urged Starlight. “If he’s starting to feel unwell, Nurse Redheart may make us leave.”

“You’re right,” said the alicorn. She looked at Feather. “I know this is a lot to ask and all, but just please tell us anything you remember. What happened before you were hit or anything about the attacker.”

Feather shook his head. “I’m sorry, princess, but I just can’t think of anything else beyond what I told you.”

Twilight frowned and let out a sigh. “Well, thank you for your help, Feather Flight. I hope you do feel better soon.”

“Thank you for coming to visit me,” he said. “Even if it was just for some questions like that, I appreciate you making the time to come see me.”

“Come on, Starlight. I think we’re done here.”

The two mares turned to walk towards the door. Feather let out a sigh and rested his head against the pillow. A light suddenly flashed from the window near his bed, followed by some rumbling thunder. Something suddenly clicked in Feather’s head and his eyes widened. He bolted up and looked at the two mares leaving.

“Princess Twilight, wait!” he shouted. “I...I remember!”

Twilight and Starlight turned around and hurried over to him.

“You remember who hit you?” Twilight asked with excitement in her voice.

Feather shook his head. “No, but I do remember one last thing before I fell unconscious.”

“What was it?” wondered Starlight.

“It was a flash of light.”

The two mares looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

“A flash of light?” repeated Twilight.

“I don’t get it,” said Starlight. “Was it like that lightning flash a moment ago?”

“No! Not like that,” said Feather. “I mean I remember lying on the ground after being hit and some large creature standing over me. I couldn’t get a good look, but I remember that thing held his arms up and something flashed. I think that what I saw was my attacker stealing my camera and accidentally taking a photo of themselves.”

Twilight gasped. “Are you sure that’s what you saw?”

Feather nodded. “Positive. My camera had its flash on the day I was attacked, so that’s what it must have been.”

Starlight wrote on the pad and smiled. “This is great, Twilight. If what he says is true, this may support Ember’s claims about Garble and the camera.”

“Thank you for telling us this, Feather,” said Twilight.

“I’m glad I could be of help to you two,” said Feather. “I sadly don’t remember much beyond that.” He groaned and rubbed his head. “I wish I could be of more help to you.”

“That’s okay, Feather,” said Starlight. “I think we got what we needed. Wouldn’t you agree, Twilight?”

The alicorn nodded. “I think some more of the pieces are coming together. A large, red creature. The huge, jagged wings. Then the flash from the camera. This does sound like things are connecting to Garble, but this is all mere speculation. We need more proof.”

“I hope Applejack and Pinkie are having some luck with where they are,” said Starlight. “Otherwise, this may be all for nothing.”

“Me too, Starlight,” agreed the princess.

The door was knocked on and Nurse Redheart peaked in. “Excuse me, your highness, but it’s time for Feather’s treatment.”

“It’s alright,” she said. “We were just finishing up here.” Twilight looked at Feather again. “Thank you for everything again. I’m sure what you told us will be useful in our investigation.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Just do me this favor please.”

“What is it?”

Feather narrowed his eyes. “Make sure you find the creature who did this and make them pay for taking my camera.”

Twilight nodded. “Gladly. If our suspicions are correct, he’ll have a lot more to worry about than theft.”

The two mares waved and walked out of the room.

“We better go see Applejack and Pinkie,” said Twilight. “Maybe they found something at the crime scene.”

“If the rain hasn’t washed any evidence away,” said Starlight.

“Let’s hope for the best,” said Twilight.

Ember walked down the hall of the castle, aimlessly wandering about with no destination. Her mind was racing with multiple thoughts ranging from the fight she and Rarity had not too long ago, to what happened yesterday. The images flashed in her mind of Master Ash arriving to take her, Matches, and Rarity away back to the Dragon Lands. She paused and leaned against a nearby wall as she felt overwhelmed with everything that had happened and how bad things have gotten.

“Hey, Stone,” a male voice said.

Ember stood back up and saw the silhouettes of two dragons around the corner looking at each other. She snuck up to the corner and kept her body against the wall.

“What’s up, Jade?” another male asked in a gravely voice.

“You hear about what happened to Lord Ember?” he asked.

“I’ve heard some rumors, but nothing else,” said Stone. “But is it true what they’re saying?”

Jade said nothing, which only made Ember nervous.

“Come on, man, tell me it isn’t true.”

Jade let out a sigh. “I’m afraid it is. From what I’ve heard, Lord Ember was attacked by a pony during her trip to Equestria.”

Stone let out a gasp. “But I thought Ember said the ponies were peaceful, and wanted to make friends with them. What made one of them want to hurt our Lord?”

“I have no idea. All I know is that the one who did it is being interrogated right now by the Dragon Council.”

“This doesn’t make sense though,” said Stone. “Ember said she wanted to give peace between dragons and ponies a chance, and be friends with them. Was she wrong?”

“I can’t answer that,” said Jade. “But I got to admit that maybe being friends with ponies and what Ember is trying to do may be a bad idea.”

Ember let out a gasp, but quickly covered her mouth.

Jade and Stone looked at the corner and held the spears out.

“What was that?” wondered Stone.

Jade slowly walked up to the corner and turned to face it. He saw nothing but the long, stone corridor and several lit torches lighting the hallway. He backed away and went back to his post.

“Must have been the wind,” he said.

Stone kicked the ground and frowned. “I still can’t believe it. What’s going to happen now?”

“That’s up to the Dragon Council to decide. Frankly, I think with what that pony did, we shouldn’t bother trying to be friends with them.”

“I don’t know about that. I mean, I hate what that pony did, but I don’t think it’s enough to make us break off ties with Equestria.”

“But what happens if there are more ponies like the one that attacked Ember? First it was the Dragon Lord. Next time, it could be your wife, your child, or maybe even Master Ash himself.”

Stone said nothing.

“You see my point now?” asked Jade.

Stone sighed and shook his head. “We should discuss this later. We better get to our next post before the commander chews our heads off.”

“Right.”

The two guards turned the corner and walked down the hallway with some rather loud clanking from their armor. On the ceiling, Ember looked down at the hallway and waited until the two guards were gone before moving back down. She flapped her wings and brought herself down to the floor gently.

The dragoness leaned against the wall and shook nervously. Her mind was buzzing even faster now and her heart was pounding. She wanted to go chase those guards for what they said, but couldn’t find the courage to do so.

“I don’t believe it,” she whispered. “This just can’t be happening”

Ember sat down and buried her head in her arms. Spike, if I ever needed a friend like you, now would be a perfect time.

Twilight and Starlight walked out of the hospital and into the town. Several pegasi were pushing and kicking the clouds away to clear up the sky and allow the sun to shine on the town again.

“Alright, we know the attack was in the Everfree Forest,” said Twilight. “We just gotta find where the attack happened and see what Applejack and Pinkie found.”

“Twilight!”

The alicorn turned around to see Applejack and Pinkie running up to her. She noticed that Applejack had something that looked like a manilla envelope in her hands.

“Well that was easy,” said Starlight. “What are you two doing here?”

“We just finished up looking around the forest,” said Applejack. “Took some time to convince the guards that Twilight sent us, but we were able to get in and look around.”

“It was so much fun!” exclaimed Pinkie. “It was just like that time we investigated together on the train, Twilight! Except Applejack didn’t seem to think it was as fun.”

“There ain’t anything fun about trying to help clear Rarity’s name,” said the farmer pony. “But that ain’t the point, sugarcube. The police did find something of interest near where Feather Flight was attacked.”

“What was it?”

Applejack held out the envelope to the princess. “Take a look for yourself.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, but took the envelope from Applejack. She opened it up and pulled out a few small pieces of paper. Her eyes darted around the papers as she looked at them all. The longer she looked at them, the wider her eyes got.

She lowered the papers and she had an excited look on her. “Good job, Applejack. Everything is starting to come together now.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Coming together? What do you mean by that?”

“I mean by these photos,” said Twilight. She held them out to her.

Starlight leaned in and saw they were photos. The pictures showed the dirt and bits of grass from the Everfree Forest, and some police tape around a small area. The photos showed a large dirt impression left in the ground that resembled what looked to be footprints. One of them looked to be washed out from the rain storm.

A thought clicked in Starlight’s head. “Twilight, these footprints look familiar.”

“They should be,” said the alicorn. “If I’m correct, then these footprints are something we’ve seen before.” She looked at Applejack. “Did the guards give a size of the footprint?”

The farmer pony nodded. “They gave a description of what they believe is the size of the footprint. They were kind enough to write it down and give it to us.”

“And we did check on Zecora,” said Pinkie. “She said she did hear something.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Hear something?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain, Twilight,” said Applejack. “When we got into the crime scene, the guards were talking to Zecora. She told the guards and us about something weird she never heard in the forest; laughter.”

Starlight tilted her head. “Laughter?”

“Not the ‘ha, ha’ kind after pulling a clever prank either,” said Pinkie. “She said it was the kind of laughter that was evil and wanted to do bad things.”

Applejack sighed and shook her head. “She didn’t say it like that, but she did say it sounded ominous.”

“Was there anything else?” asked Twilight.

“There was one last thing,” said Pinkie. “She said she saw some sort of shadow flying while she was walking around. When she looked up, she saw a red blur flying through the sky.”

Starlight looked at Twilight with a curious expression on her. “There’s our mysterious red figure again.”

“Everything is now coming together,” said Twilight. “I think we’ve done enough looking around and questioning for the day.”

“What about Rainbow and Fluttershy?” inquired Applejack. “They haven’t come back.”

“I’ll head to the Wonderbolts’ Academy and meet them there,” said Twilight. “I want to compare some things between what the Wonderbolts found and what we’ve discovered. If the footprints we found do match, we can connect the two of them together then.”

“What should we do?” asked Starlight.

“Go back to the castle and wait for me in the Friendship Council chamber,” she answered. “I’ll be back as soon as possible, and then we’ll make our next move.”

“Right!” the group said.

“And girls?” asked Twilight. “One last thing.”

Starlight frowned. “Spike?”

Twilight nodded solemnly. “Please just make sure he’s fine.”

“We will, Twilight,” assured Applejack.

The alicorn smiled softly. “Thanks, girls.” She turned back and took off and away from Ponyville.

Ember scowled as she walked around the castle. The conversation she eavesdropped on earlier still rang in her head. She tried to take several deep breaths to calm herself, but the more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got. She stopped for a moment and clenched her fist in anger. She raised her fist and was ready to hit it against the nearby stone wall.

“Hey, Garble!”

Ember stopped herself as she heard some dragon from nearby. “Garble? He’s here?”

Ember walked towards where the voice came from, but heard a few more voices as she got closer. She came up to an open doorway, and peeked around the corner. She recognized it immediately as the mess hall where the guards would normally eat. Her eyes quickly fell upon one of the long tables nearby, and she felt a new surge of anger course through her.

Sitting on in a chair with a smug smile on his face was Garble, and around him were several guards smiling and gawking at him. She ducked and moved towards a nearby pillar to listen to the conversation better.

“Garble, is it true what we’ve been hearing?” a green dragon asked. “A pony attacked Lord Ember?”

Garble gave an exasperated sigh and said, “Yeah, it was such a shame.”

“We’ve heard rumors you caught the action and showed it to the Council,” said a yellow dragon in a deep voice. “How did you do it?”

“I just followed my instincts,” he answered. “Ember may have trusted those ponies without a second thought, but I knew they weren’t interested in being friends like they claimed to be. With how ponies treated us for years, I knew they were lying.”

“It’s a good thing you were around,” said a blue dragon. “Otherwise, that barbaric pony may have gotten away with what she did.”

Garble shrugged. “Like I said, I went with my instincts and they were right. It’s just a shame Ember was too trustworthy to those ponies.”

The group muttered in agreement and nodded.

“With your heroic actions and your insight, maybe you should have been Dragon Lord,” said the yellow dragon. “It’s a real shame you didn’t win the Gauntlet of Fire.”

Ember narrowed her eyes and snorted.

“Ridge has a point,” said the blue dragon. “Maybe you were better off being Dragon Lord. Ember was far too trusting to those ponies.”

“You got that right.”

“Garble for Dragon Lord!”

Garble laughed and shook his head. “I appreciate it, guys. There’s nothing we can do though. The Dragon Lord herself has to decide when it’s time to retire and start a new Gauntlet of Fire.”

“Maybe this should be an exception,” said Ridge. “With everything going on, perhaps it’s time already for a new Dragon Lord. Maybe we should all go see the Dragon Council and convince them to remove Ember from her position. She’s clearly not strong enough and not smart enough to rule.”

Ember’s eyes went wide and she heard enough. She stepped out from behind the column. “Ahem!”

The guards gasped and immediately stood at attention. Ember walked up to them and glared at the four dragons.

“L–Lord Ember,” said Ridge, nervously. “What are you doing here?”

“Save the formalities,” she spat. “I couldn’t help but overhear your little conversation with Garble.”

The guards looked at each other and shrank back a little.

“Not strong enough? Not smart enough? Wanting a new Dragon Lord behind my back?” she asked. “Did I hear that right?”

The blue dragon gulped, “Well when you say it like that um…”

“I think I’ve heard enough,” said Ember. “I want the four of you to go back to your barracks and stay there. I’ll talk to the commander later to deal with you all.”

The guards shook nervously.

“NOW!” barked Ember.

The dragons saluted and ran off as fast as possible from the furious Dragon Lord. Once they rounded the corner and were out of sight, Ember turned to Garble, who was sitting back and had a smug smile on him.”

“What do you think you’re doing!?” she demanded.

“What?” asked Garble, nonchalantly. “I’ve just been telling the dragons about what happened in Equestria. No harm in them knowing that, right?”

“So you’re the reason the guards have been talking about this incident nonstop? Tell me, how many other guards have fallen for your so called ‘heroic’ actions?”

Garble shrugged. “It’s not my fault. I tell it like it is to them. They wanted to know what happened, and I told them the truth.”

Ember crossed her arms. “Somehow I doubt your version of the truth.”

“Don’t get upset at me, Ember,” said Garble. “Maybe those guards do have a point though. Dragon Lord Garble does have a bit of a nice ring to it.”

Ember snorted and got up in Garble’s face. “I don’t know how, but I know for a fact that you set this all up. You can talk all you want about being Dragon Lord, but the only way you’ll ever hold the Bloodstone Scepter and be the new one is over my dead body!”

Garble laughed again. “Whoa there, Ember! No need to be so dramatic about a position! If the guards and other dragons want to see a new Dragon Lord, that’s up to them. You don’t need to get worked up about this.”

Ember opened her mouth to respond, but an idea clicked in her head. She turned around and walked away.

Garble smirked. “At least you know when to give up, Ember. Try not to worry too much about what the other dragons are saying.”

Ember turned around and glared. “I haven’t given up, and this is far from over, Garble. I know not all dragons out there think the same way you or those guards do. I can think of a few right now, and I’m going to see him.”

Garble scoffed. “Big deal. You can say all you want I was responsible, but you don’t have any proof at all.”

Ember narrowed her eyes. “We’ll see about that.”

She turned and walked out of the mess hall. As she did, one thought crossed her mind. I just hope he’s okay.

Master Ash looked around at the hooded Dragon Council members and cleared his throat. “I believe what Miss Rarity has told us has cleared up a lot of things.”

The council members muttered in agreement.

“Is there any point to a trial now?” one member asked in a low voice. “We got the motive now and the reason for this.”

“I say we go ahead and declare her guilty,” said a female council member. “Her reasons were petty, selfish, and she must pay for what she did.”

“But there’s still a lot left to be answered,” said another member. “Perhaps a trial would be good to get all the answers. We’ve yet to ask Lord Ember about what lead to this confrontation.”

“I agree. Maybe we should pull in Lord Ember and ask her about happened before we render judgement upon the pony.”

“Any thoughts, Master Ash?”

The elderly dragon leaned forward and closed his eyes in concentration. “It’s true what all of you are saying. On one hand, we do have what Miss Rarity has told us, but on the other hand, we have yet to question Lord Ember.”

“What shall we do then?”

“I believe we should summon Lord Ember here as soon as we can and ask her some more about what happened. Then, we can make our final decision on what to do. Any objections?”

The council members were silent.

Ash raised his gavel and banged it against the table. “Very well.” He looked up. “Guard!”

The doors opened up and one of Ash’s soldiers ran in. “Master, we have a visitor here.”

Ash had a bewildered look on him as the Dragon Council muttered to themselves.

“A visitor?” he wondered. “Who exactly is it?”

The guard flew up to Ash and leaned into his ear. He whispered some words into the elderly dragon’s ear. Ash’s eyes got wide as he heard the guard talk to him. The rest of the council noticed it and were all looking at each other with concerned looks on them.

Finally, the guard stepped away and Ash was left with a baffled look. “I don’t believe it,” he whispered. “She is here? I figured she’d get involved sooner or later, but not this fast.”

“What’s going on, Master?” asked one council member.

Ash rose up from his chair and looked around. “An old ‘acquaintance’ has decided to get involve with the current case.”

The Dragon Council muttered to themselves. Ash held up a claw, and the room fell silent.

“All of you remain calm,” he ordered. “She personally wanted to talk to me alone. I’ll grant her this request. In the meantime, all of you return to your chambers. I will summon you all once I’m done with my private talk.” He banged his gavel again. “Meeting adjourned!”

As the Council members muttered to themselves as they got up and left, Ash stayed at his table and leaned over. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

“What do you hope to accomplish with this, Princess?” he whispered.

Starlight paced around the map table while the others sat on their chairs. The unicorn looked up at the clock hanging above the large doors and frowned.

“It’s nearly sunset,” she said. “What’s taking them so long?”

“Give them some more time,” said Applejack. “Maybe Twilight found out something and is investigating it more.”

“I know, but time is running out. Princess Luna said before she raised the moon, she would come back and tell us she found a lawyer.”

“I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

The doors opened up. “Somepony call for us?”

The group looked over to see Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Twilight standing in the doorway. The latter of which was carrying a large vanilla envelope.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” said Rainbow. “But Twilight has this thing in the bag now!”

“Rainbow, I don’t exactly–”

“She does?” asked Applejack. “What did you find out, Twi?”

Twilight rubbed the back of her head. “Well, I did find out some more interesting things about McCloud’s attack.”

“What is it?” asked Pinkie.

“Like with what happened with Feather, it seems he and McCloud were ambushed. Both were attacked from behind, knocked out, and then robbed. So the M.O. is similar.”

“Sounds good so far,” said Applejack.

“McCloud told us more about who knocked him out,” said Rainbow. “He said something about a big red figure before being knocked out.”

“Just like with Feather,” said Starlight. “This is fantastic!”

Rainbow nodded. “Captain Spitfire was nice enough to not only give us a copy of the footprint photos, but also give us something else.”

Twilight opened the envelope in her hands and reached into it. “This.”

In her hand was a plastic bag with a piece of leather cloth in there.

Applejack rubbed her chin. “I think I’ve seen that before.”

“It is,” said Twilight. “This is the only other piece of evidence they got from the attack. It’s from some sort of leather jacket. Spitfire and I agreed that with all the coincidences coming together, it is possible the cases are connected, and wanted me to have this for Rarity’s case.”

“What about the footprints?” wondered Starlight. “Are they the same?”

Twilight nodded. “The footprint comparisons are the same. They are roughly the same size and length.”

The group gasped and smiled.

“So this means you’ve solved it again, Twilight?” wondered Pinkie.

Twilight let out a sigh. “Not really.”

The smiles fell from each pony’s face and they all looked at the alicorn with confused expressions.

“What are you talking about, Twilight?” wondered Rainbow. “We got the footprints, the descriptions from three ponies, and the same guy robbed them blind. I think we got this all connected to Garble.”

“There’s just one thing that makes no sense,” said Twilight.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “What else do you want to know?”

“The red pegasus.”

The group fell silent for a minute.

“The pegasus?” wondered Applejack.

“Remember that the fake McCloud was a pegasus,” said Twilight. “If it’s true that Garble is the one behind everything that’s been happening, where did this pegasus come from then?”

The room fell silent again. Twilight and her friend looked at each other, and hoped one of them would speak.

Rainbow snapped her fingers. “I got it! It’s a pony who joined Garble’s plan! They must have met up and came up with this plan together.”

“Impossible,” said Twilight. “Garble hates ponies a lot, and I doubt he would allow one to join him.”

“Maybe it wasn’t connected?” asked Fluttershy. “Maybe it was just another pony trying to do something at the Wonderbolts’ Academy and was caught in the act.”

“I have no idea,” said Twilight.

“So now what?” asked Rainbow. “It’s not like Garble magically turned himself into a pony or anything.”

Twilight gasped and she raised her head up. “Magically turned himself into a pony?”

Rainbow waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it, Twi. I’m just throwing guesses out now.”

The alicorn looked over. “Starlight, go to Ember and Matches’ rooms and see if you can find any of those magical crystals.”

“Um...okay.” Starlight’s horn glowed and she teleported away.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “Hey, Twilight, I know we need an answer, but even I think my guess is out there.”

“Your ‘guess’ may actually be correct,” assured Twilight. “I think you may actually be onto something, Rainbow.”

The pegasus’ eyes widened. “I...am?”

Starlight teleported back in with two crystals in her hands. “I found these on Matches’ table.”

Twilight took a purple crystal and smiled. “Perfect.”

“Will you tell us what’s going on, Twi?” inquired Applejack. “How are those things going to help?”

“Just watch.” Twilight clenched the crystal and closed her eyes. “If I remember correctly, I just need to focus on the energy and let it flow through me.”

She felt a rush of energy course through her body. Twilight felt some pain, but ignored it and concentrated on the crystal. Suddenly, a bright flash went out and the group gasped.

Applejack lowered her hands. “Twilight?”

The alicorn opened her eyes and saw a purple dome surrounded her and made everything outside it looks purple too. She smiled and released her hold on the crystal, breaking the dome shield around her.

“I think I may have the connection.”

“What do you mean?” asked Fluttershy.

“When Matches showed us about crystal magic, he told us that there were various magical crystals that can do various things. This one forms a protective shield.” Twilight pointed to the white crystal in Starlight’s hand. “That one can make you fast. Another can grant you resistance from the elements, and even one can shoot out ice bolts.”

Starlight gasped. “Twilight, are you thinking that maybe, just maybe,...”

Twilight nodded. “Each crystal gives you a different ability. If I’m correct, then that means that there must be a crystal that can transform others.”

The group looked at Twilight with expressions ranging from shocked to confusion.

“Are you serious?” asked Rainbow. “I was kidding about what I said about the whole magical transformation thing.”

“But it’s probably the only possible explanation,” argued Twilight. “The clues seem to fit and are pointing to Garble, but the mysterious pegasus didn’t make sense until your guess, Rainbow. If Garble has something like a crystal to transform him, this is the only explanation then.”

“Come to think of it actually,” said Pinkie. “I do remember seeing some weird pegasus on the night of Ember’s welcome party. As soon as the party was in full swing, I think he left shortly after.”

“Did you get a good look at him?” wondered Starlight.

“He had a yellow mane, but I was having so much fun that I didn’t get a good look at him.”

Twilight frowned. “I don’t think that’s going to be much help, Pinkie.”

“What do we do now?” asked Starlight.

The doors to the chamber opened up, and everypony turned around.

“Pinkie, I think I know who you’re talking about.”

Spike stood in the doorway with a solemn look on him.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Spike, are you okay?”

The drake nodded slowly. “I’ve been better, but I’ll be fine,” he said.

The alicorn walked over and leaned in to embrace Spike. “I know things have been hard, Spike. I know you’re still upset about what happened, but I promise you that things will be okay.”

Spike returned the hug and nodded. “I hope so, Twilight, and I’m sorry for how I’ve been. There’s just so much that has happened that I just feel overwhelmed.”

“That’s why you got us, Spike,” she said with a soft smile on her. “I know that you’ve gone through a lot these past few days, but we’ll be here to help you out, okay?”

Spike looked away for a moment, and then nodded. “Thanks, Twilight.”

“Hate to break this touching moment, but didn’t Spike say something about knowing this pegasus?” asked Rainbow.

The group looked at the drake curiously.

Spike took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ve been listening,” he said. “I think I’ve heard enough though when Pinkie mentioned that weird pegasus.”

“You’ve seen him before?” asked Twilight.

Spike nodded. “The night of Ember’s welcome party, we both ran into this drifter named Hot Streak. He didn’t seem too happy about how ponies and dragons were becoming friends.”

“That does sound suspicious,” said Starlight.

“But what he said next made no sense,” said Spike. “I remember him saying ‘see you later’ in a rather creepy way.”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute...” She turned around. “Pinkie, you ever hear of this Hot Streak guy?”

“Hmmm…” Pinkie thought and rubbed her head. “Nope!” She said. “Never heard of the guy before.”

Twilight smiled at Spike. “Thanks for telling us this. Although we don’t have any proof about this magical crystal, it may be our best chance to connect all of this to Garble. All we have to do now is wait for Princess Luna to come back with one of those lawyers and tell them what we now.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Twilight.”

Twilight and the others turned around to see Princess Luna with a somber look on her.

“Not possible?” asked Twilight. “What do you mean by that?”

Luna lowered her head. “Forgive me, Twilight, I have failed.”

A cold feeling ran down Spike’s spine. “You don’t mean…”

Luna nodded. “The lawyers turned down your request. Rarity has no lawyer to defend her.”

Author's Notes:

This one thankfully didn't take as long as I feared it would. With how I've been busy with a new job and having recently left my old one, I was surprised it didn't take me this long to get it out.

The next chapter may take some time as I turn some of my focus not just on my job, but on another possible project coming up. Hope you all enjoyed this!