Starlight and the others sat around the map table with anxious looks on them. Except for the soft ticking of the clock, the room was silent as the six mares waited anxiously. Fluttershy glanced over at the clock and frowned.

“It’s been nearly an hour since we were supposed to arrive,” she said. “I wonder if Twilight and Spike are okay.”

Rainbow made a passive wave. “Ah, don’t worry, Flutters. They got this in the bag. You saw how many law books both of them were reading when Spike showed us where Twilight was. They’ll be fine.”

“Rainbow has a point,” said Starlight. “We’ll give her another hour before we head for Canterlot and check ourselves.”

“That’ll give me enough time to plan the party for when Twilight and Spike save Rarity!” Pinkie said, cheerfully.

“But we still haven’t heard anything from Ember,” said Applejack.

“She said she’d contact Twilight first though,” said Starlight. “Maybe she knows something we don’t.”

“Well, maybe we should consider thinking of what to do if there’s no trial,” suggested Rainbow. “Maybe we can find a way to sneak in and get Rarity out before that Dragon Council does anything to her.”

Starlight shook her head. “Rainbow, that would only make things worse. You saw what happened the last time the dragons came here for Rarity. We were lucky last time. This time, I think they would gladly burn the town down.”

“There’s also Princess Celestia,” said Applejack. “She ain’t going to let Rarity be burnt like my first attempt at making a pie.”

Rainbow crossed her arms and pouted. “Then why don’t we go to Canterlot and see Twilight right now?”

“That won’t be needed.”

The group turned around and saw Spike walking in with a weary look on him. His eyes were a little bloodshot and was having a little trouble keeping them open.

Applejack let out a whistle. “You alright, sugarcube?” she wondered. “You look deader than Granny Smith before her morning coffee.”

The drake let out a yawn and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I may stay up late from time to time, but it’s very rare for me to pull a near all nighter.”

Starlight frowned. “I told you not to do that,” she scolded.

“I pulled a ‘near’ all nighter, not a full one,” said Spike with a weak chuckle.

Starlight rolled her eyes. She looked at the doorway and raised an eyebrow. “Where’s Twilight? Didn’t you two come back together?”

“We did,” replied Spike. “She’s just in Ember and Matches’ rooms right now.”

The group looked at one another with confusion on them.

“Why there?” asked Applejack.

“It’s a long story,” explained Spike. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll. “This’ll explain everything.”

He unfurled the scroll and everypony gathered around to read it.

Dear Princess Twilight,

I’ve settled things with the Dragon Council, and have ordered them to go ahead and do a trial for Rarity. I’ll be presiding over the case judge while the rest of the council serves as the jury and listen to both sides of the argument. Due to how the dragons are restless for answers and justice about Rarity’s “crime”, the trial shall be held tomorrow morning at 10 A.M..

I’ve given you and your friends special permission to come to the Dragon Lands to see the trial. I must warn you though that because of how some dragons feel right now about ponies, that they don’t go wandering around the place. You and your friends will say in the Castle of Flames and be under my personal protection during your time here.

When you and your friends arrive, I would like for you and your lawyer to come and see me in my room to talk privately. The sooner you get here, the more I can fill you in on the details of the case.

In regards,

Dragon Lord Ember

P.S. If you could please go into the rooms Matches and I stayed in and retrieve the books about crystal magic we brought along for the trip. The Dragon Council is requesting them back for the library.

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “The trial is tomorrow!?” she said in shock.

Spike put the scroll down and looked at his friends. “We don’t have much time to waste. Twilight wanted me to bring this message to you all before I get packed up for another trip.”

“That doesn’t leave a lot of time to get prepared for the trial,” said Applejack. “You sure you and Twi are up for this?”

Starlight held up a hand. “Wait a minute, Spike. Did you and Twilight even pass the exam?”

Spike smiled and straightened himself up. “Come on now, girls. Did you really think we would be heading to the Dragon Lands without being prepared?”

The group gasped and smiled at Spike.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” wondered Fluttershy.

Spike reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object. “You tell me,” he answered.

He held out a small metal badge that was no bigger than the button on his shirt. It was shaped like a little golden heater shield with a blazing sun in the middle and a white crescent moon beneath it. In the middle of the sun was a set of scales.

Pinkie squealed in delight. “Ooo! It’s so shiny!”

Applejack smiled and patted Spike on the shoulder. “Congratulations, partner. Never thought I’d see you as a lawyer.”

Spike grinned sheepishly. “Well, it’s really only a one time deal. The Equestrian Bar Association was stubborn in what Princess Luna said to them, but she was managed to convince them it would be for this one time only.”

“Was it that hard?” wondered Fluttershy.

Spike grimaced a little. “I barely managed to make it through without falling asleep, but I was able to pass it.”

“What about Twilight?” asked Pinkie.

“She did much better than me,” answered Spike. “She was nearly able to ace it, but missed the final essay question.”

“I still think that question wasn’t right. They just won’t admit it.”

Everypony turned around and saw Twilight levitating two large suitcases and several books.

“Hello, girls,” she said. “I take it Spike’s already told you all the news?”

“We just finished reading the letter,” said Applejack. “So the trial is tomorrow. Do you think you and Spike are ready for this?”

“It’s not going to be easy, but we got most of the evidence we’ll need to expose Garble’s lies,” replied Twilight.

“Most of it?” inquired Starlight.

“There’s still the matter of the connection between Garble and this red pegasus that’s been seen,” said Twilight. “Speaking of which, it seems our mysterious pegasus struck again not too long ago.”

“He was spotted?” asked Fluttershy.

Twilight nodded and pulled out a newspaper. “I asked Princess Luna if there were any incidents similar to what happened to Feather and McCloud, and she found an interesting news article. It seems something very similar happened the day we went to Haytona Beach.”

Applejack took the paper and opened it. The others gathered around her and saw an image of a grey stallion and what looked to be an alleyway. Below it was a large headline.

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “It’s that pegasus again.”

“Just who the hay is this guy?” asked Rainbow.

“If everything I’ve theorized is true, then it must be Garble,” answered Twilight. “We need to see if he somehow used magic to turn himself into one. All we need to do is ask Ember about it and hope she knows what we’re talking about.”

She levitated a suitcase over to Spike. “In the meantime, we need to get ready to head out for the Dragon Lands. Spike, pack up your best dress suit and take some of these books with you to put in it.”

He grabbed the suitcase and nodded. “You got it, Twilight.”

The alicorn looked at her friends. “Girls, I know Ember’s letter invited you all too, but you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. From what I’ve been told, the dragons there are on edge against ponies and I don’t want to put you all at risk.”

The group looked at each other and then at Twilight with bewildered looks on them.

“Twi, that’s just crazy there,” argued Applejack. “We ain’t gonna back down when Rarity needs us the most. I don’t care if those dragons are angrier than a swarm of wasps. We’re going with you.”

“Same here,” said Starlight.

“Those dragons won’t stand a chance against us!” said Rainbow, confidently.

“Those dragons messed with the wrong ponies!” shouted Pinkie.

“Let’s do this for Rarity,” stated Fluttershy.

The group let out a cheer while Twilight and Spike looked on and smiled at them.

“I guess it’s decided then,” said Spike.

Twilight nodded. “Girls, I want you all to pack up and meet back here in thirty minutes. Princess Celestia is sending a chariot to get us to the Dragon Lands. Her and Princess Luna will meet us there, and we’ll discuss where to go from there. Got it?”

“Right!” the group said in unison.

“Spike, let’s get going.”

A slight snoring sound filled the room. Everypony turned to see Spike’s head drooped and his eyes closed.

Twilight chuckled softly. “Perhaps I’ll do the packing after all.”

An hour later, a gold and silver chariot being pulled by twelve Equestrian royal guards was flying through the air. In the carriage, Twilight and her friends were sitting on the red velvet couches and were chatting to each other. All except for Spike, who was resting in the corner and snoring softly.

Applejack looked over to see Twilight muttering to herself as she looked through a book. “What’re ya doing, Twi?”

“Huh?” She looked up at the farmer. “Oh, I’m just going through some notes I’ve taken and brushing up a little bit on courtroom etiquette. I need to prepare myself as much as possible for tomorrow.”

“So what’s your plan, Twilight?” wondered Rainbow. “How are you going to prove it was Garble behind all this?”

“Let’s go over the facts again, girls,” said the alicorn. She pulled out a briefcase and opened it up. She pulled out two newspapers and the black fabric in the plastic bag.

“There’s been three separate incidents since Ember and Matches came to Ponyville. I’ve been noticing a pattern to all of these attacks; they’re in places we’ve been to in the past week.”

Twilight held up the newspaper to her left. “First, it was what happened with Feather Flight. He was attacked in the Everfree Forest.”

“But we never went there,” said Pinkie.

“I know, but the incident still happened on the outskirts of Ponyville. This means Garble must’ve been hiding there when he stole the camera from Feather. From there, I believe Garble used that very same camera to take those photos of Rarity and Ember.”

Twilight picked up the bag with the fabric in it. “From there, Garble followed us to the Wonderbolts Academy and stole the clothes off Sergeant McCloud. However, it seems McCloud fought back before he was knocked out.”

“But why would he do that?” wondered Rainbow.

“Most likely to spy on us,” answered Twilight. “But what I want to know is why he wanted to get so close to Ember.”

The alicorn picked up the newspaper. “Finally, there’s this article about a pony being attacked and stripped of his clothing. Sound familiar?”

“Just like with Sergeant McCloud,” said Starlight.

“Exactly. We never saw this pony, but I’m willing to bet it’s also Garble. Something tells me that he must’ve gone to see Ember that day. I’ll ask her myself once we get to the Dragon Lands.”

Applejack frowned. “Twi, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

“What is it?”

Applejack gulped a little. “What if things go south and you and Spike end up losing? What will you do then to save Rarity?”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words to respond.

“Well?”

The princess frowned a little. “To be honest, I don’t want to think of something like that. I know Spike and I are more than capable of saving Rarity.”

“I don’t doubt that y’all can do it,” replied Applejack, “but maybe we should consider a backup plan in case things fall apart and you fail to prove Garble was behind this.”

“Don’t worry about that, Applejack,” assured Twilight. “No matter what, Spike and I will get Rarity off and prove Garble’s guilt.”

“I hope so, Twi. This ain’t gonna be easy.”

Twilight looked down. “I know, Applejack. I know.”

As the hour passed, the group remained mostly quiet, save for Twilight who was going through some more books. As time went on, the bright, blue sky turned a bit cloudy, then slowly became a gray haze, and then became a mixture of black and gray. The smell of sulfur filled the air and the visibility drastically decreased.

Twilight looked out the window and took a deep breath. “I think we’re just about there.”

“You think?” asked Pinkie.

Suddenly, a large figure bolted up near the chariot. Twilight and the others gasped.

“That would be a yes,” replied Starlight.

Twilight looked out the window again and saw a second figure fly up next to the first one. They flew closer, allowing Twilight to see two red dragons in gold armor.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle!” one of them bellowed. “We have been ordered to escort you and your group to the castle! Your chariot is to follow us to the landing site. Do not attempt to deviate from your course, or suffer the consequences.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Nice to know we’re getting a warm welcome already,” she said, sarcastically.

Spike groaned a little and rubbed his eyes. “What’s going on?” he muttered.

“Just getting what I think is how most dragons greet ponies when they come to their land,” answered Rainbow.

Spike straightened himself up and looked out the window. He could see a few volcanoes billowing with smoke, or lava pouring out of them. The desolate wasteland around the area was as bleak as he remembered when he was summoned here. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. The carriage descended down until it reached the rocky ground. Twilight and the others waited to see what would happen, but they didn’t hear anybody approaching the carriage.

“No point in waiting any longer,” said Twilight. “Let’s go, everybody.”

Spike reached his hand out to grab the handle, and opened the door. The group was greeted with the smell of sulfur and the sounds of volcanoes erupting. They all stepped out one by one and looked around their surroundings. They were immediately greeted by the sight of several armored dragons staring at them. Even with the helmets on, Spike felt like they were all glaring at him and his friends as they stepped out. Around the guards, there was a large stone wall encircling them, and in front of Spike was a large, pair of metal doors.

“Princess Twilight, follow us to the castle,” said a yellow dragon. “Stay close to us, and don’t try to do anything funny, or else.”

“We understand,” she said.

The doors opened up and creaked loudly as they did. The guard moved forward, and Twilight and her friends followed suit. As they walked, the other dragons marched beside them closely. Fluttershy whimpered a little as she heard one dragon growl softly, and held onto Pinkie’s arm. As they walked through the courtyard, Spike shook a little as he saw more dragon guards glaring at him and the others. Twilight grabbed his hand and gave him a small smile.

“Just stay calm and be strong, Spike,” she urged.

The drake nodded and took a deep breath.

Another set of doors opened up, and they all walked into a large room. The room was brightly lit by chandeliers and torches. A large stairway was in the middle of the room, that split into two parts going into different directions of the castle. At the top of the stairs was a large, marble statue of a dragon holding a sword up into the air. The guards marched forward and positioned themselves on the edge of the red velvet carpet leading up to the stairs.

The yellow dragon stepped forward and bellowed, “Presenting our leader of the glorious Dragon Lands, Dragon Lord Ember!”

The door to the right opened, and Ember, in the armor she wore during the Gauntlet of Fire, stepped out with a stern look on her. Behind her, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped out and followed the dragoness. The three leaders slowly walked down the stairs. Twilight breathed a little heavy as Spike held her arm. The others nervously watched on and huddled close to one another.

Finally, they reached the end of the stairs and walked up to Twilight. Ember’s eyes never glanced over at Spike and she maintained her stern look. The drake couldn’t help but feel a mixture of nervousness and sadness as he looked at her.

Ember bowed her head. “Princess Twilight, it’s good to see you and your friends again,” she said.

Twilight bowed her head. “Likewise, Lord Ember.”

Ember’s eyes drifted over to Spike. Her eyes softened a little as they both gazed at one another. The dragoness didn’t say anything, but gripped her hand tightly.

“Lord Ember?”

She looked back over at Twilight.

“Is something wrong?” she wondered.

Ember glanced back at Spike, and then to the princess. “No,” she said in a hollow voice. “I was just thinking is all.” She cleared her throat. “The princesses told me there’s been a change of plans in regards to your lawyer situation.”

“That’s correct,” said Twilight.

“We’ll talk more about this in my room.” Ember waved a hand.

“What about my friends?”

“The guards will take them to their rooms. I’ve already prepared them for you and your friends.”

“We’ll go with them,” interjected Celestia. “We need to talk to them a bit ourselves.”

“Very well,” said Twilight. “We’ll see you all later.”

The group picked up their suitcases and waved to Twilight as they were escorted by the guards to one of the doors nearby.

“Come on, Spike,” urged Twilight. “We need to move.”

The drake said nothing.

“Spike?” Twilight turned around and saw he was shaking a little and looking down.

“What’s wrong?” she wondered in a concerned tone. She tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but he backed away.

“I...I don’t think I’m ready yet,” he muttered. “I don’t think I can face Ember yet.”

“But I thought you wanted to help both Rarity and Ember,” said Twilight.

“I do,” said Spike. “I just...I just don’t want things to get awkward. I just don’t think I’m ready yet to talk to Ember.”

Twilight frowned slightly. “Alright, Spike. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I’ll let you know if there’s anything new later. Why don’t you go join the others and get some rest?”

Spike smiled a little. “Thanks, Twilight.” He hugged her, and the alicorn returned the hug back.

“Leave the suitcase with the books in it,” ordered Twilight. “I’ll give them to Ember while we talk.”

“Alright.” Spike laid down a yellow suitcase next to the princess.

Ember looked away and had a solemn look on her. Spike.

A door opened up, and Ember and Twilight walked in. The princess looked around the room they were in. Despite the spacious room, it was mostly empty. The only things around it was a large chandelier lighting up the room, a fireplace that wasn’t being used to the side, a large, black marble desk, and three chairs around it. Behind the large, red chair was a giant window allowing a view of the desolate wasteland and the few volcanoes erupting in the distance.

“Sorry if the room feels empty to you,” said Ember. “I haven’t had much time to decorate it. At least it looks a lot better than how my dad made it look. It made even the most stubborn of dragons quake in their boots.”

“Right,” said Twilight in an uneasy voice. She walked over and sat in one of the black chairs in front of the desk.

Ember took her seat and let out a sigh. “Sorry about that rather ‘warm welcome’ you got,” she said. “I’ll deal with the dragons who threatened you while you were landing soon enough. For now, let’s get to talking about this change in defense.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And?”

The dragoness had a troubled look on her. “Twilight, this is a big risk you’re taking. You’re not in Equestria, and the dragons here have grown to really hate ponies after the incident at Haytona. This isn’t going to be easy you know.”

“I understand completely, Ember,” assured Twilight. “Spike and I though are more than ready for the trial tomorrow.”

Ember’s eyes widened. “So it is true then.”

“What’s true?”

Ember pulled out of her desk a folded piece of parchment. “When I got this letter from Princess Celestia about you and Spike taking on Rarity’s defense, I couldn’t believe he would be part of it. I thought after what happened between the three of us, Spike wouldn’t want anything to do with me or Rarity again; much less help us.”

“Spike said he wanted to help out again any way he can,” said Twilight. “I know things have been rough between you, Spike, and Rarity, but he’s doing everything he can to help you and Rarity out.”

Ember blushed a little. “I...I don’t know what to say. I thought he hated me after what Rarity and I did.”

The princess smiled softly. “I don’t think Spike hates you or Rarity. He was just upset at what he saw. If you truly care about Spike, then I’m going to need your help and ask you some questions about some of the days during your visit to Equestria.”

Ember raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that? You already know what we’ve done in Equestria. What more could you want to know?”

“There’s been some things that have been bothering me,” replied the alicorn. “It’s all about a red pegasus.”

Ember’s eyes widened. “The fake Sergeant McCloud?”

Twilight shook her head. “He’s more fake than you would imagine.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ember, you’ve said that Garble was behind this. During my investigation yesterday, I’ve discovered some interesting details. It turns out McCloud isn’t the only one who was attacked.”

The dragoness raised an eyebrow. “Go on,” she urged.

Twilight opened up her purple suitcase and pulled out a manila envelope. “The day before we went to the Wonderbolts’ Academy, there was an article about another pony who was attacked and robbed.” She pulled out a newspaper and laid it on the desk. “The item stolen is something we should be familiar with; a camera.”

Ember’s eyes widened. “The camera.”

“Exactly. Then there was the incident at the Academy where McCloud was attacked, and robbed of his clothing for some reason. It seems the very same thing happened to another pony too a few days later.”

“What?” Ember asked in shock.

Twilight laid down another newspaper. “This is an article in regards to another attack on a pony who was knocked out and stripped of his clothing. The day this incident happened was the day we all went to Haytona Beach.”

Ember looked on in awe. “Twilight, what’s the meaning of this?”

“It means that if I’m right, Garble has somehow been following us this whole time and was sabotaging this visit right from the start.”

“But how?” wondered Ember. “I’ve been trying to think of how Garble’s been able to do this without me seeing him.”

“Ember, I need you to think back to when we went to Haytona Beach. Did anypony strange come up and talk to you?”

The dragoness rubbed her chin in thought. Suddenly, the image of a red pony smiling creepily at her flashed before her eyes. She let out a gasp and flinched.

“Him?” she asked.

Twilight tilted her head. “Him?”

Ember leaned forward. “Twilight, there was somepony who came to talk to me. It was some reporter named Front Page who wanted to do a story about me. I thought it was a bit weird somepony would want to do something like that, but I thought at the time I could tell him what the purpose of this visit was. I didn’t think anything beyond that.”

“There’s only one logical conclusion to all of this, Ember,” said Twilight. “That pony you met was none other than Garble.”

Ember stared at Twilight with a dumbfound look on her. “That’s not possible,” she said.

“It is possible,” argued Twilight. “If Garble had the right magic to do it.”

“Magic?”

“Ember, what I’m going to ask you may be a bit strange, but I want you to be honest with me,” said Twilight. “Is there any Crystal Magic about transformation?”

Ember rubbed her chin and closed her eyes. Twilight gripped her armrests tightly as she waited for an answer from the dragoness.

“I’m not sure,” said Ember.

“Not sure?” asked Twilight.

“My memory is a little hazy right now with everything going on,” explained Ember. “This kind of crystal though does sound like something the Dragon Council would know more about.”

“They would?”

The dragoness nodded. “The Dragon Council keeps track and stores crystals like that in the vault. They aren’t available for all dragons to use like some of the ones I brought along to Equestria. Those crystals are meant for those who practice advanced forms of Crystal Magic.”

“So only the Dragon Council knows about crystals like that? Interesting.”

“That’s not really true,” said Ember. “The Dragon Lord is also let in on what kind of crystals they have.”

“And you know nothing about them?”

“No. The Council was going to show me the crystals, but they’ve been busy with other duties. They promised to show me them once my visit to Equestria was over.”

“You sure you don’t remember hearing about transformation crystal magic?” wondered Twilight. “I need you to try and remember.”

Ember closed her eyes again. “I...I…”

Twilight held her breath and leaned forward.

The dragoness opened her eyes and shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry, Twilight. Dad never told me about any crystals like that while he was Dragon Lord.”

“Great,” said Twilight in a dejected voice. “I was hoping that lead would get me somewhere.”

Ember frowned remorsefully at Twilight. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. “Well, there’s something else I can tell you about Garble.”

Twilight raised her head. “What is it?”

Ember grimaced a little. “He knew about it.”

The alicorn tilted her head in confusion. “Knew about what?”

“Garble knew about the feud between Rarity and me over Spike.”

Twilight looked alarmed. “What!?”

“It’s a long story,” explained Ember. “Yesterday, I went to see Rarity and talk to her about Spike. We admitted we both screwed up and made amends, but Garble was listening in and taunted us about what happened. That’s when he ‘confessed’ so to say.”

“He confessed?”

“More like he mocked me and Rarity. He rubbed in our faces about how he did everything and taunted me. He knew I could just arrest him for what he did without any evidence to back it up.”

Twilight shook her head. “At least we already know it’s been Garble all along.”

“What you’ve told and shown me Twilight is good evidence, but we need something conclusive to prove Garble was tied into all this. The prosecution could easily argue that the pony we’ve seen was working alone.”

“But the fact remains Garble was involved with this. I don’t have any proof, but he must have used some form of magic to turn into a pony. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”

“I’m not familiar with something like that.”

Twilight buried her face into her hand and groaned. “This isn’t good. I need to figure out then if it’s possible Garble could do something like that.”

“There has to be an explanation for this,” said Ember.

Twilight looked at the dragoness. “Ember, would you mind if you gave me your statement about what we talked about?” she wondered. “It’ll be useful for tomorrow’s trial.”

“I don’t see why not,” she responded.

She pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, and began writing it down. After a few minutes, Ember handed the paper over to Twilight.

“I’ll be sure to give a copy to the Prosecution,” she said.

“Do you know who the prosecutor will be for tomorrow?” wondered Twilight.

Ember shook her head. “No. I’ve tried to ask Master Ash, but all he told me was that he had it covered. Nothing more than that.”

“Whoever he gets, I just hope they would accept the possibility of Garble using Crystal Magic to transform himself.”

“Like I said, the vault in the castle holds crystals used only by those who practice advanced forms of Crystal Magic,” said Ember. “Maybe there’s something like that. I’ll have to ask the Dragon Council to see if such a crystal exists.”

A thought crossed Twilight’s mind. “That reminds me.” She lifted up a suitcase. “Here’s those books you requested. I’m sure the Council will be happy to have these back.”

Ember opened the case and pulled one of the books out. “Thanks. That’s one less thing the Council can complain to me about.”

“Have they been that hard on you?” wondered Twilight.

“Ever since I told them I would be the judge for the trial, they’ve been hounding me and have been worried I’ll be biased. I’ve told them constantly that wouldn’t happen, and had to remind them that as leader, I had the final say in this matter.”

“I see.”

Ember let out a sigh. “You do know tomorrow I won’t be helping you at all; no matter how much I want to. The burden of proof lies on you and Spike. Now in the meantime, I’ll...go...to…”

The dragoness’ words trailed off as something caught her eye. She looked over and saw a piece of paper sticking out of the book she held.

“What’s that?” wondered Twilight. “I didn’t see that when I packed it up.”

Ember pulled the paper out, and raised an eyebrow. “Looks like a note that’s been folded up.” She unfolded the paper until it was fully open. “Let me take a look.”

Her eyes raced through the paper, and something caught her attention. She let out a gasp and her eyes shot wide open as she read the line again.

The crystal in question is one that allows the user to transform into any creature they want to be.

Ember looked like someone just sucker punched her. She suddenly heard a conversation echo in her head.

“Ha! Just you try it.” Garble walked over to the door and looked back with a smug smile on him. “You’ll understand soon that there’s nothing you can do now. You can’t win.”

Garble opened the door, but a clinking noise caught everyone’s attention. Ember and Rarity looked over and saw a rounded red crystal with a yellow aura swirling around inside on the floor. Before Ember could open her mouth, Garble jumped on the crystal like a predator pouncing on its prey.

“G–give me that!” he demanded in a panicked voice. He quickly put the crystal back in his pocket and looked nervous.

He cleared his throat and smiled nervously. “I, um, got to get out of here. Good luck, Ember. You’ll need it.” Garble ran out the room and the door shut behind him.

The note fell from Ember’s hands, and her initial shock slowly turned into a boiling rage. Her eyes narrowed sharply. She gritted her teeth to the point where it looked like she was going to crack them. Smoke billowed out of her nostrils, and she was shaking violently.

Twilight leaned back and gulped a little. “Ember?” she whispered.

“He...had...it,” seethed the dragoness.

“W–what?”

Ember stood up and slammed her hands against the desk. “HE HAD IT!” she bellowed.

Twilight nearly fell out of her chair from the sudden outburst and looked alarmed. “Ember, what’s wrong?”

She panted a little and looked at the worried alicorn. “Twilight, you may be more right than you could ever imagine. There’s no time to waste. I need to find Garble right away before it’s too late.”

“But Ember–”

The dragoness ran passed her before Twilight could finish. She reached out to grab the door handle, but suddenly found herself stuck. She grunted and tried to reach the door, but instead of getting closer to the handle, she found herself being taken away from it. She then noticed her whole arm was encased in a purple aura, and snorted in anger.

“Twilight, let me go!” she demanded. “I need to get to Garble now!”

The alicorn turned Ember around and glared at her. “No, Ember, you need to stop!”

“You don’t understand!” argued Ember. “Garble tricked me, and I need to stop him!”

“Look at how you’re acting though!” Twilight shot back. “You’re acting like how you were in Haytona Beach!”

“What!?”

“Blinded by rage, running off without thinking of the consequences, and alienating your friends! You did those same things when you went to confront Rarity about Spike, and look how well that went!”

Ember said nothing and looked away.

“Whatever happened with Garble, you can’t just go running off and confront him like this,” said Twilight in a calmer voice. “You’ll only get into more trouble and probably make things worse. Just calm down, and tell me what’s going on with Garble.”

Ember wanted to open to mouth and say something, but the memories of what happened on the beach flashed before her eyes. The fight with Rarity, the way Spike yelled at them and was crying, and all the angry glares she got from the others. Her heavy breathing slowed down, her eyes eased and closed, and the smoke from her nose slowed down until no more billowed out.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right, Twilight,” she said, regretfully. “It’s probably not a good idea to do something like that again.”

Twilight smiled softly. “Are you ready to tell me what’s going on?”

Ember nodded. Twilight released the hold she had on the dragoness. Ember sat back down and Twilight did the same.

“It happened yesterday after Garble was finished taunting me and Rarity,” explained Ember. “Just as Garble was about to leave, something fell out of his pocket; a crystal.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A crystal?”

“Garble quickly grabbed it and ran off before I could ask him about it. I didn’t think much about it at the time because I didn’t think something like that was important. Now that I’ve seen this letter, it all makes sense.”

Ember let out a sigh, and then pounded her fist against the table. “I should’ve stopped him when I had the chance,” she said with a hint of frustration in her voice. “I had him cornered, and I let him get away again.”

Twilight put a hand on Ember’s shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up,” she reassured. “You said it yourself that the Dragon Council was to show you the crystals they store in the vault.”

“But now what do we do? I need to see if he’s still holding that crystal or not.”

“You’re probably too late,” said Twilight.

Ember raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Garble is probably worried you know what that crystal is,” reasoned Twilight. “Although you didn’t know until now, Garble is probably paranoid about being found out and thinks you already know about the missing crystal. So he’s probably hidden it somewhere to throw you off.”

“Do you really think he did that?”

“It’s our best bet. What have we got to lose at this point?”

Ember folded her arms. “We need to find out where Garble hid that crystal and fast. The trial is tomorrow and time is running out.”

“What do you want to do now, Ember?” wondered Twilight.

The dragoness rubbed her chin. “If we’re going to catch Garble, we need to find out where he hid the crystal. We need to spy on him.”

“I can do that if–”

“No,” Ember sternly said. “If I send you or any of your friends out to spy on Garble, the other dragons may notice and Garble would know I’m onto him.”

“I know you can’t do anything to spy on him either,” said Twilight. “So who do we get then?”

Ember closed her eyes and said nothing for a minute. Then, something clicked in her head and a sense of dread filled her.

“That may be some dragon to help,” she said in a hollow tone. “If he’s willing to help of course.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. “Are you alright, Ember? You sound unsure of yourself. What do you mean if he’s willing to help?”

Ember grimmaced. “It’s...complicated. Let’s just say I messed up more than my friendship with Spike.”

“What do you mean?”

Ember turned away to hide the pained look on her face. “I’ll tell you on the way,” she said.

“But, Ember–”

“Let’s go.”

Ember walked off and Twilight was left feeling both confused and concerned about the dragoness.

Ember stared at the large door in front of her, and gulped a little. She wanted to reach out and knock on the door, but was paralyzed with fear.

“Ember.”

The dragoness looked at Twilight, who was frowning at her.

“You got to do this,” she urged. “This may be the only chance you got to make amends.”

“But you know what I told you,” said Ember. “How he acted and how furious he was. How do I know he even wants to talk to me?”

“You’re never going to know unless you stop running away. You know what you have to do and you have to face up to him again.”

Ember nodded slowly. “You’re right. I might as well get it over with.”

She closed her eyes and raised a shaky fist up. She held her breath and rapped on the door quickly.

I just hope I’m ready for what’s going to happen next.

Ember heard footsteps approaching the door and the sound of a lock being unlatched. The door creaked open slowly, and a male dragon stepped out.

“Yes? What do you–”

The dragon stopped in mid sentence as his eyes fell on a nervous Ember.

“Hello, Matches,” she said.

The drake’s eyes narrowed. “Lord Ember,” he spat. “What are you doing here?”

Ember ignored the venomous way Matches spoke to her. “I’m here to talk to you. There’s something I need to tell you.”

Matches rolled his eyes. “Spare me any of your pleading, Lord Ember. I’ve already made it clear to you.”

“Matches, you don’t understand. I know you’re still upset at me, but I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

“I think you’re a little too late for that.” Matches stepped back. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find a new job because a so-called friend cost me mine.”

“Wait!” pleaded Ember.

Matches grabbed the door.

“Matches, don’t do it!” ordered Twilight.

The drake stopped as he heard the alicorn’s voice. He stepped back out and was shocked to see Twilight standing near Ember.

“P–Princess Twilight?” he asked in awe. “What are you doing here? I thought I’d never see you again.”

She smiled softly. “I’m glad to see you too, Matches. If you must know, I’m here to represent Rarity in the trial tomorrow.”

“Well, that sounds–” Matches stopped himself and did a double take. “Wait, what!? A trial?”

“That’s right,” said Twilight. “Spike and I are going to be Rarity’s defense team for tomorrow’s trial.”

Matches looked dumbfounded. “Trial? Defense team? What in Tartarus is going on here?”

“Ember can tell you more,” answered Twilight. “She’s told me about what’s been going on since Rarity’s arrest.”

He looked at Ember, and his expression darkened again. “Really now? Tell me, Princess Twilight, did Lord Ember tell you why I’m out of prison and what happened to me?”

“Yes she did,” answered Twilight.

Matches looked stunned. “She...she did? How I was interrogated all night? Being discharged from the guard? All of it?”

Twilight nodded. “She told me on the way here. I know you’re still upset at Ember, but let her explain what’s going on.”

Matches stared at Ember with an impatient look on him. “Alright, but this better be good.”

“It started yesterday when I went to go see Rarity,” said Ember. “We talked about how we both messed up and…”

Matches nodded as he listened to Ember. As she told him more about the events of yesterday, he looked more shocked by what he was hearing.

“...So that’s why I came to you, Matches,” finished Ember. “I know this is a lot to take in, but that’s what happened.”

Matches had a mixture of shock and anger on him. He shook his head and leaned against the doorway.

“This is a joke, right?” he asked. “You mean to tell me that Garble was behind this? He did all of this?”

Ember nodded. “He’s been responsible for a lot of what’s happened lately. He made it clear yesterday when he came to mock both Rarity and I.”

Matches crossed his arms and looked deep in thought. “Part of me doesn’t want to believe this, but yet it does make sense with what’s been happening since our arrival in Equestria. The fake McCloud, the newspaper reporter, the claims of Lord Ember seeing something. It’s all starting to make sense now.”

“Matches, have you seen Garble around lately, and see him do anything strange?” asked Twilight.

“Not that I’m aware of,” he replied. “I’ve been home since yesterday and trying to think about what to do next.”

“There is something you can do,” suggested Ember. She pulled out the letter from the Dragon Council. “Remember the day you showed me this letter?”

Matches took the note and read it. He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah I do. You already told me about the crystal though.”

“Don’t you understand, Matches?” inquired Twilight. “That crystal is the key to connecting Garble to all of this and proving he was sabotaging the visit from the start.”

“Even if that was true, this raises a big problem,” said Matches. “How do we know Garble hasn’t already gotten rid of the crystal?”

Ember rubbed her chin and tried to think of an answer.

“See what I mean? It’s probably too late after you saw Garble drop the crystal. He’s probably gotten rid of it already.”

“I don’t think so,” said Ember. “Garble may be still hiding it somewhere. If he ends up being caught for what he did, he could try to get it from wherever he’s hidden it and use it to disguise himself.”

“That’s really stretching it,” said Matches.

“But it’s the only hope we have left,” replied Ember. “Which is why I came to you, Matches.”

The drake’s face darkened. “Oh, here we go,” he scoffed.

“Matches, we need someone to go spy on Garble and see where’s he’s hidden the crystal. You’re the only dragon I can trust for this.”

Matches rolled his eyes. “No way,” he said.

Twilight frowned. “Don’t you care though, Matches?” she wondered. “Ember is trying to do everything she can to help make up for what she did.”

“Why should I care? She says she trusts me, but she didn’t trust me when it came to the feud between her and Rarity. Instead of telling me and letting me help, just look where we are now. I’m out of a job and Rarity was arrested in the end. If she wasn’t going to trust me before, why should I trust her now?”

Ember looked hurt and shrunk back.

“Because friends do make mistakes, but always try to make up for their own failures,” said Twilight.

Matches raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Twilight put a hand on his shoulder. “Matches, I know things have been rough between you and Ember, but that doesn’t mean you should shut her out completely. She’s made a lot of mistakes, but here she is trying to make up for it by helping Rarity and coming to make amends with you.”

“But I–”

“Just hear me out,” pleaded Twilight. “Even though I’m the Princess of Friendship, there are times where even I have failed friendship and have hurt my friends inadvertently. Even though they were upset at me for my mistakes, I made up for what I did and we learned to forgive each other for our mistakes. Don’t you think maybe you should try to at least give Ember the benefit of the doubt?”

Matches said nothing.

Twilight felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Ember with a solemn look on her.

“I’ll take it from here,” she said.

Twilight nodded and backed off.

The dragoness cleared her throat. “Matches, I know I can’t do anything about your arrest and what happened to you in jail. I know you still hold a grudge against me for putting you through so much. You didn’t deserve what happened because of my own actions, but I don’t want to lose you as a friend. I promise that when everything is over, I’ll make sure you’re back in the Guard again, and that those who hurt you will pay for what they put you through.”

Matches looked down and stayed silent.

“I’m not asking you to do this as Dragon Lord or command you to do this for me out of just simply following my orders,” continued Ember. “I’m asking you as the first friend I’ve ever made in the Dragon Lands. I need you now more than ever to stop Garble and make him pay for what he’s done.”

She bowed and asked, “Matches, will you please help us?”

The drake looked at Ember, and then at the worried looking Twilight. He said nothing and just kept looking back and Ember and then Twilight constantly. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists tightly.

“Ember,” he said in a low voice. “These past few days have been some of my worst. From being arrested, to being interrogated all night, and even discharged from the Guard. It’s been nothing but Hell for me, and you’re partially to blame for all this.”

The dragoness looked away in shame.

“However,” he continued, “in the short time I’ve known you as Dragon Lord and as a friend, I know you’ve taken on a lot of challenges and responsibilities in trying to change the way dragons are with this friendship business. I have to admit after what happened, I have reservations about it, but just seeing you try to make up for your part in it had me thinking.”

Ember felt something swell in her. “You mean?”

Matches smiled a little. “If it means I get to catch the bastard who did all of this, then I’ll do it.”

Ember couldn’t help but beam. “Matches, I don’t know what to say, but...thank you,” she said in a relieved voice.

Matches smiled back, but suddenly gasped as he felt something around his chest tighten. He looked down to see Twilight smiling enthusiastically.

“I knew it,” she said, gleefully. “I knew you’d come around. You’ve learned something great about friendship, and I’m proud of you, Matches.”

The drake smiled sheepishly. “Um...that’s great, Princess Twilight,” he said, nervously. “You um, mind letting me go now? I’m not so used to this hug thing still.”

Twilight quickly backed off and blushed a little in embarrassment as she smiled. “Sorry,” she said. “Guess I got a little carried away.”

“Can we get back to Garble now?” wondered Ember. “Let’s save all this mushy stuff for later.”

Matches rubbed the back of his head. “Right. So what do we do now, Ember?”

“I need to go make some preparations for the trial tomorrow,” she said. “Matches, I want you to follow Garble and keep an eye on him. If he’s got that crystal, we need to know where he’s hidden it. Once we do, we can get it and prove Garble was the one behind this.”

“Got it,” he said.

“Just make sure not to get too close to him,” warned Ember. “If he notices you around, I don’t know what he’ll do.”

“Hey, I was a guard, so I’ve been trained to spy on others. This’ll be a piece of cake.”

Ember couldn’t help but smile.

Twilight noticed this. “You look a lot better now, Ember.”

The dragoness nodded. “Yeah. This is the first time in the last couple of days that I’ve felt relaxed. But I know I’ll never be relieved until I see Garble be caught for what he did, and I put him under arrest.”

Twilight put a hand on Ember’s shoulder. “With all of us working together, I don’t think Garble has much of a chance.”

Author's Notes:

Took me long enough to get this chapter out. With the holidays rolling in and work picking up at my job, I haven't had much time to write. I was going to make this one big chapter originally, but I decided to split it into two parts. The next part will focus on Spike's POV and, hopefully, shouldn't be as long.