“Do either of you actually know why the gems grow in the quarry?” Asked Twilight.

Most of the foals shook their heads no while Noblesse strategically kept himself in the back of the heard so his companions wouldn't notice his lack of a response

“I have to admit that I don't even know why these gems grow here,” Said Cheerilee.

Twilight nodded her head in acknowledgment, “You know how Earth Ponies exert magic by interacting with the environment whether it be walking, tending to crops, rolling in the grass, etcetera etcetera?” Twilight rolled her hoof after she said 'etcetera, “Plants are partially grown by the ambient magic left behind in the soil. However, barren places like this how no plant life to soak up that ambient magic.”

“But Ponies rarely go out here,” Pointed out Dinky Doo, “I think the only Pony who comes out here is Rarity.”

Twilight's face gained an amused smile, “Magic works sort of like water in the leylines. So the magic put into the soil by creatures that are spiritually aligned with nature, flows throughout the whole planet. And since there are no plants to drain the land of the ambient magic that exudes from the leylines, the stones themselves can use the magic to purify themselves.”

Twilight's explanation made Cheerilee realize something, “Then why are gems so valuable? If you can just dig in the desert for gems, why pay so much for them?”

“Because they aren't the same as the gemstones we use as jewelry or money,” Explained Twilight, “They may look like gemstones, but they're still just stones. Stones with magic trapped in them anyway. Their appearance makes them perfect decorations for Rarity's dresses or any number of home items. The magic inside them is actually why Dragons and some other creatures use them for nourishment, it's also why those creatures have such long natural lifespans.”

“Wait, if these stones are basically worthless, then why do the Diamond Dogs value them so much?” Asked Pipsqueak.

“They're either con artists or idiots who thought they stumbled on veins of actual gemstones,” Replied Twilight.

“Wait! Diamond Dogs!” Exclaimed Ruby, “I completely forgot about those guys, we need to leave before they get us like they did Rarity.”

“Come down Ruby,” Said Cheerilee in an effort to calm the young mare down, “The town guard evicted those Hounds after they tried to enslave Miss Rarity.”

Twilight flinched when she heard Cheerilee's words. Captain Thunderlane told the public that the Diamond Dogs were removed from the caverns they dug underneath Ponyville, but they didn't go without a fight. Only Ponies who were with guard or were ranked as knights or higher on the Noble Ladder in Everfree Province knew for a fact they the Ponyville Peacekeeper Corps had to call the Royal Guard as reinforcements, and they were forced to kill every last Diamond Dog inhabiting the caverns.

“May I ask where you are guiding us Twilight?” Asked Noblesse. Noblesse had figured that Twilight would use a spell to detect gems directly underneath the surface so the group could dig them up and examine them with Twilight's instruction. They have been walking in the old quarry for half an hour and Twilight was clearly leading them somewhere.

“I came here with Rarity one time while she was collecting gems for her dresses so that I could gather some gems myself to study,” Explained Twilight, “We would've used those gems, but I got them a long time ago and my experiments spent all of the magic within the stones, so we have to get new ones. Fortunately, Rarity found entrances to the caverns left behind by the Diamond Dogs. This means we don't actually have to dig for gems.”

Princess Celestia stood at the balcony outside of her bedroom, looking over her and Luna's kingdom. Though she hadn't indirectly caused suffering for her little Ponies, Celestia noticed that her gaze often returned to the Everfree Forest where her nephew was staying.

Celestia wasn't upset about anything in particular this time like she was when her sister came to check up on her the last time she was up here. No, Celestia was expecting a visitor this time.

“You called for me auntie?” Asked a familiar voice from behind Celestia.

The Sun Princess looked behind her to see a Unicorn stallion who shared her coat color and had his mother's blond mane and tail. Celestia didn't need to look at her nephew's flanks to remember the compass rose that made up his Cutie Mark.

“Hello Blueblood,” Celestia said sweetly, “I didn't expect you come so quickly.”

“I ran into your messenger while tending to the Palace Gardens,” Replied Blueblood.

Were Rarity present, she would have noted that his voice sounded far less obnoxious and annoying than when she meet him at the Grand Galloping Gala. It was a trick Blueblood's third cousin twice removed taught him when dealing with people – Pony or otherwise – that were particularly bothersome.

“Do you know why I asked to meet with here?” Asked Celestia.

“Something to do with good old 'Golem' I imagine,” Guessed Blueblood, referring to Noblesse Oblige with the nickname palace staff and nobility gave him.

Celestia nodded her head solemnly, “Has Check Mate made any progress with the investigation?”

“ROoK uncovered three separate agents in Ponyville, two of which killed themselves upon discovery, and the third used magic on herself to erase her memories,” Replied Celestia as she turned her head back towards the Everfree Forest.

“I know it's a long shot, but what about outside of Ponyville?” Suggested the bachelor.

“Any spies outside of Ponyville had too much time to go to ground before ROoK began their investigation,” Said Celestia plainly.

Celestia turned towards Blueblood once again, “Do you have any idea why Noblesse was so desperate to use Ponyville as his capital?”

The question caught Blueblood off guard, “Uh, not particularly. If I had to guess it was just the closest settlement to your old castle. Why do you ask?”

A translucent yellow light covered the Alicorn's horn and beamed down into balcony floor next to them. Blueblood turned his head to see that Celestia had generated a map of Everfree Province.

“Noblesse has arranged for trade routes to go through the Everfree Forest itself and has used magic to keep the creatures at bay,” Explained Celestia, “He's done in such a way that the creatures couldn't enter or leave specific parts of the forest.”

“Is that a problem?” Asked Blueblood, not really sure what would have his aunt worried.

“The population of the creatures inside the sections of the Everfree Forest Noblesse has created should be increasing, seeing as the predators have been isolated in sections with quickly reproducing creatures,” Said Celestia, “Check Mate brought this to my attention when her agents noticed this anomaly while scanning the Everfree Forest for spies.”

“Could he have done something else to the land or water?” Asked Blueblood.

“The rivers that run through the forest feed into the settlements in Everfree Province, if that were the case we'd see it affecting the populace of the settlements,” Pointed out Celestia, “There is also a distinct lack of evidence suggesting hunting.”

Blueblood's blood chilled as he realized his aunt's fears, “Do you think he's doing taking the creatures themselves?”

Celestia nodded her head “The ambient magic produced by the Elements of Harmony have a pacifying effect on lesser creatures, Luna and I also enchanted the castle grounds with similar enchants when the two of us lived there.”

Blueblood brought his hoof to his mouth and bit down on his pastern, it was both a nervous habit and something he did while he was in deep thought.

“Can you think of anything that Noblesse himself would want with the creatures inside the Everfree?” Asked Celestia, almost desperately.

Blueblood sighed nervously, “During the short time he was enrolled in your school, the teachers came to me with a common concern regarding his free studying sessions and the way he dealt with bullies.”

Celestia waited patiently while waiting for her nephew to collect his thoughts. The headmaster of her school had actually brought some of these concerns to Celestia's attention. She discredited him then because he was a known fundamentalist with strict views on how magic was supposed to work. Celestia mostly ignored him on this matter because of his comments on the magic that came to Noblesse instinctively as opposed to anything he was learning.

“His studying sessions always revolved around the body and mind,” Said Blueblood after a few moments, “He would offer himself as an assistant to the anatomy and physiology teachers and he would interview Royal Guardponies and members of the staff while they were off duty.”

“Why was this concerning?” Asked Celestia. It wasn't uncommon for students at her school to do work for their teachers during their off time as it was a more interesting way to study than by reading books.

“Because of the papers that were born from this,” Replied Blueblood with a tremor in his voice. “It started as compare and contrast essays on the bodies of different animals. Then it, escalated.”

“How so?” Celestia's voice didn't betray how much she did not like where this was going.

“He started comparing lesser creatures to intelligent creatures,” Blueblood flinched at a particular memory that came to mind, “He once wrote a very detailed papes on the body of an Equine, specifically how the nervous system and brain worked.”

This news sent a chill down Celestia's spine. Books detailing the physiology of sentient creatures were not prohibited, but hard to get a hold off. All books of that kind were kept under lock and key and Ponies needed approval from Royal Guard Hierarchy to so much as look at the covers of such books.

To make matters worse, one could easily get a hold of cadavers without any one noticing. Half of Canterlot was a glorified tourist trap, it would be pathetically easy to nab someone without the Royal Guard catching wind of their disappearance.

Celestia remembered something Blueblood said earlier, “You mentioned something about how Noblesse would deal with bullies.”

Blueblood nodded, “He would use very private information about any one who antagonized him against them, information that isn't on record. There was also a few instances where bullies were... scarred.”

“Come again?”

“Noblesse managed to figure out advanced illusion spells without access to spell books,” Said Blueblood, “And one special circumstance where Noblesse seemed to have used telekinesis in an unconventional way.”

“Unconventional?” Celestia could no longer keep up her calm appearance.

“A medical examination revealed that something manipulated the bully's brain,” Blueblood paused again, “Physically.”

“He used telekinesis to mess with somepony's brain?” Celestia needed conscious effort to not use the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“We're not sure,” Replied Blueblood, “We know Noblesse did something with his magic, but we're not sure what. If he didn't manipulate the brain directly, he did something to cause it to react.”

“No charges were pressed?”

“Short of cracking open the bully's skull, we can't be certain about what he did. The only other witnesses were the bully's cohorts, and they were hysterical with fear. There simply wasn't enough evidence to get a conviction, then there's Noblesse's past to consider...”

“So we can't rule out the possibility that he's performing experiments on living creatures,” Said Celestia. After centuries spent dealing with catastrophes, she only needed a few moments to calm herself down.

“What's worst is that even if he is: he wouldn't be doing anything illegal. I had to research the laws surrounding the Everfree Forest to get my doctorate, and all Noblesse has to do is declare that he is doing whatever in order to keep the creatures contained, and no one could challenge him.”

“What do you think he's capable of?” Asked Celestia.

“It would depend on the circumstance,” Said Blueblood plainly, “He probably won't go around abducting Ponies from their homes or the streets. If he is mentally capable of experimenting on people, he will use Ponies that were convicted of crimes as guinea pigs.”

“Is there anypony that Noblesse trusted more than you?”

Blueblood didn't even need to think to answer Celestia's question, “The person he trusts the most is Legal Procedure.”

“Who?” Celestia had literally thousands of relatives over the course of her life, it would be nearly impossible to remember them all.

“Polished Gong's daughter,” Answered Blueblood, “If there is anyone with insight into Noblesse's ambitions, it's her.

“Are you certain you want to do this?” Asked the Unicorn stallion in the room.

“Yeah,” The young Unicorn mare share her father's teal coat and deep green eyes, “Besides, do you think anyone else will do this willingly?”

Polished Gong sighed, “No, I suppose not. I don't like it, but I can't keep you here.”

Legalese turned to face her father, “Come on dad, it's not like you're not ever going to see me again. Ponyville is only a short train ride away, and the Princess gives you, what? Ten minutes worth of desk work a week?”

Polished Gong smiled softly and chuckled some, “I just can't help but worry about my little filly.”

Legalese rolled her eyes as she walked closer to her father and hugged him, “Everything will be fine dad. I'm just going to be Noblesse's herald, nothing dangerous. And from what I've heard, he has guards crawling all over the place.”

Polished Gong flinched at the mention of Noblesse. He hated to think so poorly of his daughter's best friend, but by his ancestors did he give off more than a few bad vibes.

Legalese felt her father flinch and she let go of him, “You know he wouldn't try to hurt me. Besides, I'm curious as to what friends he's made, if any.

Author's Notes:

Hello readers, I hope you've enjoyed my story so far. I'm sorry if these last few chapter seem lack luster, but I'm mostly using them as set up for future events in the story. Would any care if I stopped giving names to my chapters? Instead of 'Chapter 16: Questioning' it would just be 'Chapter 16.' I ask because it's hard to think of names for some of these chapters and I spend way too much time on it.

P.S. Feel free to give any criticism, advice, or comments you people feel appropriate. I would love to get more input from anyone reading and I would only be too happy to answer questions you may have.