At last, the inevitable came. An official meeting with the nobles. A late brunch with fancy dresses, fancy music and the usual boredom. Buffet-style meal with a variety of snacks, nobles "mingling", the two brothers staying in a separate zone, an elevated table set in an alcove aside from others. Sometimes Zenith would greet one noble or another, sometimes gracing one or a pair with a chat by calling them over.

Zorana showed up, looking a bit... disheveled. Tired. Not something that would arise criticism from the gathered nobles, but definitely not at her best. She brought a big jug of some purple drink and insisted I try it. I tried it, and it was... tasty. Not exquisite, not special, about as good as pretty good lemonade. I used my magic to examine it... no special effects besides slight magical rejuvenation. Definitely good for quenching thirst on a hot day. And it had a very nice aroma.

“Celestia...” she cornered me, with a crazy spark in her eyes. “I feel I can do it. This drink is just the beginning. I look at an ingredient and I just feel how much to add. Commoners' grape juice from one grape, a dash of Heaven Bell nectar, half a cup of molasses, one clove, and it makes a flask of extract that can make a barrel of this drink when diluted. And the ingredients are like... six copper total, so even the poorest can afford it!”

“One clove? Per barrel of water?”

“I thought this ridiculous too! I tried without the clove, and it turned my mouth inside out.”, her eyes sparkled with mirth. “I tried with two, and it was just sweetened water, no tang, no aroma. The clove works some magic on the sourness of the grape juice. Makes it actually drinkable.”

“You might want to withhold the ingredients list from the nobles for now.” I gave her a wink. She paused, then nodded, leaving the jug near other drinks, then trotting up to her husband.

Then it was time for me to... “mingle”. Nadir had said we are not supposed to, but it wasn't exactly what I was seeing - more like the privilege to talk to the royalty was restricted, only chosen families deserving the honor.

I stood by Nadir and let him handle the etiquette - even me approaching him uninvited was arising some frowns. But then he nodded for me to approach, and the whispers calmed down.

There was also this special ritual... most of guests would carry their deep plates with food items with them, holding them by special handles, and placing them on tables whenever stopping to talk. The princes would not. They would not approach the buffet, standing behind their table, with big, empty plates in front of them. It was the nobles, who would leave a morsel from their plates on the prince's plate during the conversation. Nadir placed one such empty plate in front of me.

“It will be hard,” he muttered wearing a big, fake grin not reaching to his eyes. “Many definitely don't accept you, and they will try to unnerve you. I have some support and for what I know, they will aid me in getting rid of you to the best of their ability. Anyway, about the food you're served: If you approve of the outcome of the conversation, eat it. If you don't, leave it. Some of my ancestors were known for ending up with a full, untouched plate, starved after such a banquet, then going to eat alfalfa in the kitchen.”

“Bring it on!” I answered, getting a very genuine smirk on my mouth.

He nodded to one of elder zebras wearing a heavy, intricate talisman on a thick, silver chain.

“Patriarch Varinari, the head of the Temple of the Ancients and simultaneously president of the Office of Religions. Princess Celestia, my Fiancée.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“*mumble* to make your acquaintance.”

He reached for a fork and passed a banana in chocolate to Nadir's plate. Then he placed a few slices of lemon on mine.

“I heard you've gathered quite a following among the commoners, Princess. Simple minds, so easy to captivate with catchy promises. Too bad they don't hold any sway when it comes to important matters.”

“With approach like this, they certainly don't. Given no respect, no chance to make their talents flourish, suppressed, they would always remain gray masses, with most talented would-be professionals mopping floors, and incompetent, spoiled children of nobles abusing their positions of the office.”

“You're quite a sympathizer with the uneducated.”

“Was that their choice, for them to remain uneducated? ...or yours?”

I think this struck home, as he changed the subject of the conversation.

“Now I'm not quite sure about the nature of your morning meetings, but allow me to conjecture they are somewhat religious in their nature... with you appearing as a kind of priest figure? Just a friendly reminder, starting new, unapproved cults within borders of Hippotigria is seriously frowned upon. Zebras are known to be prone to form dangerous sects, so any new cult must pass through a lengthy registration process involving proving it's harmless. And practicing religious rituals without approval of the Temple is a criminal act.”

“Now now, I'm not starting anything new. From what I know, the Solar Cult, along with the Lunar Cult have been long approved as legal religions, as a part of package of rights of ethnic minorities. I definitely belong to the pony ethnic group, and if you ever read description of the Solar Cult in said package, I am merely partaking in my role strictly described in the document.”

“Still, even with approved minority cults, all priests must register with the Temple if they want to practice their rituals.”

“Oh, but I'm no priest! I'm a goddess!” I gave him my best smile, while arching my wings in the iconic Circle of the Sun. “But, as I understand, abusing such a technicality of law might be frowned upon by Prince Zenith so let's assume all priestly laws apply to me. In this case, I can either seek your approval or cease the practice of my rituals for duration of my stay in Entwine, is that correct?”

“By your grace, the latter option would be more welcome, Princess.”

“As you wish, Patriarch. In this case I suggest you distribute news to your believers, to stockpile on candles and invest in warm blankets. If you understand the nature of the ritual we discussed, there's a certain... side effect of it, affecting all races and religions?”

“Wait, wait, can't you... I mean, raise the Sun without performing the ritual?”

“I think you misunderstood. Raising the Sun is the ritual. All other activities are optional and quite insignificant by comparison.”

“I know you were performing healings...”

“Oh please. These weren't ritual or traditional, and neither was spreading transformed magic of the Sunrise. Are you going to have every doctor and mystic to register as a priest?”

“You could perform this in privacy, without gathering crowds...”

“Allow me to ask...” I turned to Zenith and asked him for a moment of attention as he was talking with some noble. “If an unregistered priest is performing religious rituals in privacy, without followers... is that legal?”

“If there is no witness of the ritual or its consequences, I'd say it's legal. If there is a witness, he wasn't alone enough.”

“And if the ritual is so widely reaching that there will be countless witnesses to its effect, even though the priest remains invisible?”

“Oh, no, a temple of marionettes, we had this once. Not legal, not at all.”

I spread my hooves helplessly to Patriarch Varinari.

He frowned. “I'll have you registered as a priest of the Solar Cult later today.”

I thanked, then levitated a slice of lemon off my plate to my mouth and munched on it happily, as Patriarch turned to leave. Mmm, lemons. Some say I have weird taste.

“Sir Quage, lord of the Heartlands, north-eastern Hippotigria. His domain now contains Dire Woods too. He’s my friend from younger times.” Nadir introduced another zebra, a big, bulky and strong one, his brown-white stripe pattern reaching only halfway down his body, the rest brown with exception of white legs. The zebra spoke with some weird accent.

“Princess Celestia! It's an honor to meet you” he bowed, then Nadir and I both got nice, hearty slices of bread crust stuffed with mushrooms on our plates. “I'm well aware that the contract between Prince Nadir and the council of Alpac Mountains bears just signatures of him and the gryphons, but I don't believe in coincidences. Moreover, I believe any two creatures full of good will can eventually learn to like each other, no matter what their differences, so if you still have no plans for honeymoon, let me invite you to the castle of Silvamora; it is guaranteed to temperate even the most disagreeable pairs and let them seek out peace and friendship, and who knows, maybe even love?”

“So you're not opposed to our union?” I asked with some surprise.

“Politically, not at all. I'm well aware Zebras would be able to defend themselves if you tried to abuse your position. I guess you are aware of this too, and you wouldn't start an endeavor you wouldn't be able to see to the end, so all the stupid talks about loss of independence have no impact on me. And personally - the Prince in my friend and I want him to be happy. I believe you'd be a great wife for him, you two just need to... get used to each other. So expect my full support of the marriage and if he gets any ideas about preventing it, expect me to thwart them.” he smirked.

“Thanks for nothing, Quage.” Nadir grimaced, pushing his slice of stuffed bread away to the far end of his plate.

“You're welcome” Sir Quage chuckled, as I cut a bit off my slice and ate it with a smile.

“Told you he’s a real friend?” Nadir whispered, as the big zebra left. “He helps me with what I need, not what I want. Sometimes I’m so mad at him I want to have him banished and then hanged wherever he’s banished to, then I recall my father felt the same way about his father, and his father risked everything he had by hiding Zenith and me after our parents got assassinated.

Next came Lady Axante. fancy dress, fancy coiffure. She was a very stereotypical Noble, she gave us some fancy appetizers, bowing low and acting all excited. She asked me if I plan to bring Canterlot fashion to Entwine. I expressed my concerns about imposing on their culture and contaminating it with foreign influences. “But,” as I assured her, “if there is enough interest and demand, I guess I could encourage some designers to open their shops in Entwine.” I also asked about Zebra fashion, but she was defensive, “We're so backwater, antiquated. I'm afraid we have nothing we could show the fancy Ponies of Canterlot.” I politely choose “I'm not convinced but I'm not going to argue” and picked one of the appetizers. This made Lady Axante almost squee and she went back to the others to tell them of our conversation.

“Want something heavy?” Nadir muttered.

“Thanks to Quage I'm not afraid of leaving hungry.” I grinned, eating another piece of the stuffed bread.

“Name's Lord Xaroth.” he spoke under his breath. “I'd be grateful if you could check my food for poison. His family is older and has more royal traditions than mine. They still call us usurpers in private, though they lost the throne in a bloody revolution against their tyranny good three hundred years ago Still, they hunger for power and he hates Zenith something fierce, me just a little less so. Zenith sentenced his brother, sister and parents to death for murdering our parents and attempting to murder us. Xaroth was lucky to be away on a sea voyage at the time, so he was unable to participate in the assassination, though he certainly would if he could. He plays a loyal subject, but he'd do everything to undermine or preferably kill us, and if the world burns in the process, so be it. He'd gladly kill you to start a war just to spite us.”

I looked at the tall zebra he indicated and it took me a while to understand the difference I was seeing. Most zebras have white bellies, their black stripes not reaching all the way down. Xaroth though was a black zebra with white stripes, his belly, back, legs, all black, with just white stripes where stripes normally go. His mane, combed in little strands kept together by small beads ran down his slender neck. He'd be handsome if not the permanent atmosphere of creepy he'd give out.

“We can still skip him, if you prefer,” Nadir muttered.

“No, I think I should learn about him.”

“Lord Xaroth!” Nadir called out, “Welcome!”

The dark-bellied zebra interrupted his chat with some nobles and approached. He bowed to Nadir and shared a small pile of pickled beans in vinaigrette sauce with him. I got a big baked caramel apple with sweet stuffing. “Prince. Princess. How may be of your service?”

I discreetly checked our food. It was okay. Nadir's was icky and unhealthy, but not poisonous.

“Oh, I just wanted to introduce you to my fiancée. Ask your opinion on recent events. Your insights, if you please.”

“Allow me to be blunt, Prince. Personally, I'm all for Princess Celestia sharing the throne of Hippotigria with you, and I'm disappointed in your attempts to discourage her. Honestly, Topside? What about the Academy? What about the Gardens of the Loom? The Hall of Legends? The Hoofer Dam? Even the Craftzebra Road or the Market Square would be viable places to show.”

“I don't want Princess to choose knowing only the glittery side. Let her make a fully informed decision, not just know the pretty places.”

“Then let her make a fully informed decision, show her everything. Not just Topside. Or... allow me to show her the beauty of this land. Let her understand she's getting a marvelous gem, just a little rough around the edges, not as you depict it, a rotten fruit. Princess,” he turned to me, “This land is ripe and rich, and the right investments will yield immense rewards. I see you resolving long-standing problems, and opening profitable trades, and this is extremely noble, but there are many places of opportunity you don't seem aware of. Resources Zebras simply don't use, and ponies of Equestria would find extremely valuable. Given competent guidance you could triple the profits while ruling this land.”

“That sounds very interesting,” I said, “but who would the person to provide the guidance be...?”

“Oh, I think I can recommend a few smart zebras. And Prince, it would get Princess out of your hair too. All the political advantages, and not getting in each other's way more than it’s necessary, that must certainly seem tempting, no?”

“I am not going to dodge my duties,” Nadir stated hard. “Neither as Prince nor as a husband.”

“Oh, I'm sorry if I overstepped myself. I'm not implying anything like that. But we both know Princess Celestia is a strong, independent mare, and she does as she wills, and she always gets the results she wants. She does what she does for a reason, and we may just as well help her reach her goals quickly, without unnecessary obstructions, and efficiently. All sides will be happy... well, as happy as circumstances allow, without causing each other any more grief than necessary.”

“This is a very tempting offer, Lord Xaroth.” I said, while slicing the sweet apple into very small dice and stacking them in a pyramid, all using just my magic. “But I hope you realize how thin an ice I am treading here. A wrong request, an unfair contract, even being seen in company of a zebra with less than impeccable reputation, anything that damages trust of citizens of Hippotigria could very quickly lead to rebellious protests. I am adamant about retaining positive public image of both me and Prince Nadir. Profits are secondary to maintaining peace, public safety and stability of the government.”

“Oh.” he lost some wind. “I am sure I can find a zebra of unblemished public image for your guidance, and provide access to resources value of which won't be recognized by the public for another few hundreds years.”

“I will...” I send him a cold smile, then took one, smallest piece of the sweet apple from the top of the pyramid on my little golden fork, and lifted it to my mouth, while sweeping the rest to the side. “...consider your offer.

“Princess will consider your offer.” Nadir said, sweeping the icky beans to the far end of his plate.

The noble bowed to us and retreated into the crowd.

“For a moment there my heart jumped, when I thought you'd accept,” he whispered.

“Hold your friends close, your enemies closer.” I muttered, while holding a fake smile. “This may be useful. He'd reveal to me your vulnerabilities you're not even aware of, and it wouldn’t hurt to have the resources he's talking about secured properly.”

“He's dangerous. You may be underestimating how dangerous he is.”

“I'm not making a single move without your and Zenith's approval.”

“Thanks. Now let us try someone more lightweight.” Nadir turned to an old, brown zebra stallion accompanied by equally aged lady. The stallion wore golden glasses and had a short, white beard, and they just finished talking to Zenith and Zorana.

“Professor Querdenstedt!” he smiled. “Would you spare us a few minutes?”

“Oh, young master Nadir! You're always welcome, and I never thought I'd be honored to see Princess Celestia in my life, even less so talk with her. By the way, have you tried the cupcakes? They are delicious! Yori, darling, would you help? My mouth is not as firm as it used to be.”

The elderly lady used a spatula to transfer two big cupcakes with cream and fruit from her own, and two from professor's plate to ours.

“So, as I understand, you're a Zebra of Science?” I smiled.

“Used to be, now too busy with administration and management to have any time for science, unfortunately. But my dear Yori still teaches Griff to young zebras.”

I squawked a greeting in Griff to her, and she replied, saying I have a wonderful accent. I boggled, how anyone can find anything wonderful about Griff, but I covered it with a smile and gentle thanks.

“Your majesty, I must ask you.” Professor's eyes shone with a hope I haven't seen in a while. “Will your sister ever grace Entwine with her presence? Would Princess Luna ever visit the Academy?”

“Oh, we never planned anything like this, but I believe I could convince Luna to give a guest lecture or two.”

“A lecture?” I saw tears in the old professor's eyes. “The Institute of Mathematics has her likeness in its coat of arms, and her treaty on prime numbers in her own hornwriting is the most valuable script in the Academy's library.”

“I think...” I paused, to swallow the piece of cupcake I had in my mouth, “If you give her some time, she might prepare quite a special gift for the Academy. I suggest you write an invitation, and I'll deliver it to her in person.”

“Would that be...” his eyes sparkled “...that computational machine I've been hearing about?”

“You've been hearing about? Yes, that's what I mean, but this project is still under wraps and nearly unheard about in Equestria! Not a secret exactly, but way out of public focus! How in the world have you been hearing about it?!”

...but I've not received my answer. The old professor gripped his chest with a pained expression on his face.

Quick magical scan. Heart attack! I dropped the cupcake and began magically pumping his blood and fixing his failing heart, restoring chemical balance and regulating the temperature of his body. I levitated him to a couch on the side of the room, and Nadir brought him water.

“Too much of a good thing for my old heart.” he gasped, as he recovered enough control over himself. “Thank you. You're truly a goddess, Princess Celestia.”

“Now, now, not in presence of Patriarch Varinari”, I smiled.

“Oh, yes. You'll have your hooves full of him yet, this is sure. Well, as long as my heart is beating, I'm with you and young master Nadir.”

I bid the elderly pair good-bye leaving them to rest and telling not to hesitate to call me if needed.

“Why is he calling you young master”? I asked Nadir when I returned to my place and my unfinished cupcakes.

“Oh, I was the youngest to get the title of Master of Laws in the history of the Academy. Not with stellar degrees, mind you, but it was a prerequisite for taking the throne, and with each year of viceroy rule in absence of adult royalty, our position was eroding, so we had to hurry up. And the old professor always said the scientific title is more important than political one.”

“And his wife?”

“A terror. Nearly got me flunked. Who in the world can demand a Zebra to pronounce squawks made by gryphon beak perfectly? How did you even manage to make that sound?”

“Magic!” I grinned.

“Oh, you.” he chuckled. “Oh well, there's one more I'd like you to meet, and I'd be glad if you could sway her to your side. The head of the military.“

“Military?”

“General Zenobia”, he nodded to a tall, middle-aged zebra mare with her mane trimmed short, wearing iron hoof-overs similar to mine, standing on the side, staying away from others. “Can we talk?”

“Yes, Sir.” She trotted up and stood to attention.

“No, General. I'm not giving orders. I wanted to invite you for conversation.”

“I understand, Sir.” I thought I saw the mare roll her eyes. She left, walked up to the buffet, then returned to us with a plate. There were two plain slices of bread on it, and she placed them on our plates.

“Not much for rituals, are you, miss-” she threw me a glare, and I corrected myself, “General?”

“They have their place. We honor our dead. The roll call bears many ritual elements. But they all have their purpose, binding, instilling sense of order, loyalty and trust.”

“I must say I was quite surprised by this one myself. Personally, I prefer to keep meals and politics apart, but who am I to change old traditions?”

“Only the ruler.”

“Not of this country.”

“And a spiritual leader.”

“I had this conversation with Patriarch already. It's not even that the ritual has the purpose of raising the Sun. It's more like the ritual happens as a side effect. It's a duty foremost, a duty I can't forfeit.”

“This I can respect, still, you gain a following and revered praise for what is essentially your day job.”

“Guilty as charged. The status of a goddess is a potent political weapon. The respect and following spreads peace, good will and kindness. Equestria has no standing army, and never needed it, precisely for the reason of maintaining peace by other means. This is one of them.”

“So the rituals are your way of earning trust?”

“Oh, do you think this trust is baseless or undeserved?”

“I wouldn't dare to say so.” she answered in a politically correct way.

“Me, my sister, we are doing many things the public is not supposed to know about. They prosper and enjoy safety and comfort, without awareness of averted disasters and prevented crises. I'm not taking credit for those, because this would introduce unnecessary worries into their lives, and would be vain too. They have all the reasons to trust me, but they don't get to know them. So I give them a substitute reason.”

“Can you name such an action? Let me in on such a secret?”

“Now that would be bragging...”

“So in essence, I have your word...”

“General,” Nadir interrupted. “Would you care to check something?” he placed his hoof on the table. “I got some... worrisome discolorations.”

She approached him, and I saw the black of the stripes on her face pale.

“Prince. I thought you know the meaning of this.”

“Yes, I got them last fall, when I traveled to Equestria incognito. I got poisoned by one of our own, by accident, one big misunderstanding, good intentions taking a horrible turn.”

“Last fall?” the mare opened her eyes wide. “You were supposedly detained for a month in Equestria, under some phony accusations, and I never learned the real reason. I only got an order not to intervene, and then just at the break of new year you returned.”

“Yes, I had to be placed under influence of a seal of slow time, to buy the princesses time to develop the antidote.”

“But there is no antidote to the Crown Venom! It is proven that none is possible to exist!”

“Yet I am standing here, talking to you, with telltale mark on my hoof, and I know what I was shot with, I brewed it myself.”

“Now,” I interjected, “I can't take much credit for that. It was Luna and her team who performed true miracles of science and magic to find and obtain the antidote outside our universe. I was only taking care of logistics and providing them with whatever they needed for the work.”

“Princess Luna's... assistant,” Nadir continued explaining, “estimated he spent thirty years within the fields of rapid time flow, I guess Luna spent about as much. I saw the scale of the project, the budget must have been comparable with the cost of the Hoofer Dam. And Luna never said what they found on the way, but from what I heard...”

“No need, Prince.” the military mare put her hoof on his. “I now realize my misjudgment.”

She bowed low to me. “I heard enough. You deserve more respect than you receive.”

“And she helped capturing Purse.” Nadir muttered with a grin.

Zenobia stood tall again and shook her head.

“Oh, no, Prince. The brash bravery when you fight a simple enemy and do the simple right thing is easy. It does deserve respect, but nowhere as much respect as Princess is receiving. Now if you face impossible odds, and you can surrender for reasonable cost, but fighting and losing will cost you a lot more, then if you choose to develop a strategy that completely changes the rules of the battle, spend years perfecting this strategy, and apply it in decisive battle despite risk of failure... This is the kind of bravery I can worship.”

“Thank you, General.”

“And you don't have to eat that dry bread. I'm not much for rituals.” she said, turning and walking away.

* * *

And there we were, the small, disused office, door locked, me sitting in the chair, with my hind hooves on Nadir's back, over his shoulders, his mouth buried deep between my thighs. “Yes, yes, like that, By the Sun, don't stop!” I was gripping his head with my thighs, as his tongue was drawing the hood off my clit and twisting around it in small circles.

He paused and looked in my eyes.

“Celestia, my source of nectar of gods. Your little cries are a music to my ears, but these doors aren't soundproof.”

I nodded quickly and bit my lips, as he resumed his activity. Only allowing myself rare, weak whines, I concentrated at the fire between my legs, the wonderful feeling returning, then growing slowly, transforming into something different, less fiery but deeper, then spreading and encompassing my whole lower abdomen. Nadir gave out a small purr, recognizing the signs, then raised his eyes to me.

“May I in?”

“Yes, yes!” I cried out, spreading my legs wide for him. His front legs on my shoulders, his painfully hard maleness on my labia, and there he was, slipping inside me. Yes, give it to me! “All the way in”, I whispered, and he pushed.

Oh, so that was what he meant by “loosen up.” My cervix allowed him with an exhilarating tingling but without a shade of pain, and the cool, relaxed feeling radiated and clutched my insides.

He didn't hesitate, didn't pause, he just kept going within my depth, and I felt the familiar pressure of his tip flaring, of the semen fighting its way through his penis against my pressure, the hit against my bottom wall, and the pulsing, just in rhythm to keep me at the top. Wave after wave, smooth, silky semen filling my womb. My body craved it, fertile and ready.

“I love the look on your face when I'm filling you,” he whispered. “So content... sated. Have you thought about the date of our wedding yet?”

“When would it suit you?”

“Soon. The sooner the better. I see this content smile on your face, and then you cast the contraceptive charm and this smile is gone. I want it to stay. I want you to be happy.”

“I waited so long, I can wait some more. But... not too long.”

“Sometime after Equestrian Summer Sun Celebration, but before our Harvest Festival?”

“Sounds smart. Mid-way between the two.”

“We'll give him a pretty-sounding Zebraic name, Novan, or Xoan. Prince Novan, sounds nice, doesn't it?”

“I like it.”

“And her name will be purely Equestrian. Dawn. Princess Dawn.”

“Her?”

“You wanted a daughter, didn't you?”

I hugged him. Still with his penis deep inside me, soft already, I hugged and kissed him. “Once more. I want it again!”

“Now, now, Celestia, oasis in the desert of life, I'd love to make you happy once more, but our 'little break to discuss it privately' has already taken nearly half an hour, and we're really beginning to tax the Minotaur ambassador's patience.”

* * *

I laughed so hard I thought I'd get stitches. The two street mimes were playing me and Nadir, with the pretend Nadir desperately trying to discourage the pretend me, bribe, beg, hide, and me taking everything in perfectly calm stride and tricking him into giving me a kiss every time his desperate efforts would leave him open for my trick. And the way "Nadir" was emulating getting affected by "Celestia's" magic (pulled by his tail, turned in place) was a true masterpiece of mime act. The comedians didn't appear taken aback by my presence in the least, especially that I wasn't the only one laughing as my presence has drawn quite a crowd surrounding the show. Considering the small pile of Equestrian Bits in the basket was accompanied by increasingly growing number of copper and silver coins from the crowd, the mimes were giving their best, and definitely succeeding at it.

There was only one zebra who was not laughing: My guide, Senior Templar Xaboo. Unusually short, with fewer, thicker stripes than most zebras, rather old and quite grumpy, he was the person Lord Xaroth sent for my company, and my behavior was causing his increasing ire. Templar Xaboo was a noble from a big, influential family from far southwest, but since splitting wealth works only with so many children, and he was one of the youngest of siblings, he was sent to serve at the Temple, as a... this was kind of “operative”, a person for special tasks, not a priest, not a knight, not a servant, not administration... something like a special agent maybe?

We were after a long day of him pointing out various ways I could drain the country's resources for a pittance, replace countless small entrepreneurs with soulless corporate entities, avoid taxes, eliminate competition, and above all, keep the royal brothers in check, threatened by damage to the country infrastructure that would bring ruin and destruction upon the nation. Lord Xaroth lacked resources to execute such plans, and he had too much to lose to try. And not all of them were fail-proof. Many would require unicorns and pegasi to execute. He said he held back some of the most profitable ones, but they are not possible while Prince Zenith is alive...

But it was now late afternoon and as we were returning from the Tannery (an “accident” would poison the water system for months), I was taking long detours to enjoy the city.

“Princess, let us stop wasting time with this... commoner entertainment.”

“Maybe you are wasting time, I certainly am not. Please don't disturb.”

“Prin...” he was interrupted by a hurricane of laughter, as the scenic Celestia managed to get Nadir's hoof glued to her cutie mark (with mime's token nonexistent glue). “Princess... Princess...” he struggled, while I jeered when the Celestia mime tricked Nadir into getting his other hoof glued to her other flank, and demanded a kiss. Of course the implied rude demand was immediately clarified - she wanted to be kissed on her mouth, the mime displaying extreme flexibility, twisting her neck backwards well within reach of the pretend Nadir's mouth.

Upon receiving her kiss, she bowed, and with Nadir still “glued” to her flanks, she took the basket with donations in her teeth, trotting along the crowd, collecting more coins. Then she danced along the crowd, gesturing others to form a conga line after them, and soon a line of fifty or so zebras with front hooves on flanks of the zebra in front of them was moving down the street, with me in the line, quite near the front, and Templar Xaboo trotting by my side, fuming about wrongness of this.

The line stopped by a nearby bar, and the actress at the front thanked for extremely generous donations and announced she's buying a round of Zoranade for all!

Oh, yeah, Zoranade has taken the city by storm, every bar, pub and street vendor selling it for half-copper a cup. And I happily downed my cup of the cool purple drink, licking my lips. Of course, Templar, completely sweaty from trying to keep up with me, refused the drink, “That's made from commoners' grapes!”

“You have some very misguided concept of nobility, Templar,” I rebuked his protests. “First off, the mime theater is an invaluable antique art, with traditions reaching deeper than your religion. The fact such excellent actors act on the street for commoners' coppers only emphasizes corruption of art in your noble spheres, where true talent is secondary to connections and bloodlines. You should be ashamed for not recognizing the value of the art you have witnessed.

And second off, a Noble is primarily a person of exceptional valor, honor, skill and dedication, recognized for outstanding, heroic deeds for their country. Their bloodline is completely irrelevant, but from then on their offspring inherit the title for as long as they adhere to the noble conduct. Mixing with the commoners, eating commoner food, sharing joys and labor does not erode your title of nobility, just the opposite, it tests and reaffirms it with deeds of honor, humility and honesty confirming the value of your title.

But so called “elites”, nobility only in the name, separating themselves from commoners through wealth, wrongly understood culture, and a set of ridiculous social taboos usually lack so much in means of honor and valor, that they need to purchase these fake reaffirmations of their title, and only erode its value further by trading virtue for image, honesty for wealth, and loyalty for power. So do not teach me what is becoming for a princess, and what separates commoners from nobles. I am the one who sets these rules, and the difference between a Noble and a Commoner is what I declare it to be, not thought up rules of far descendants of true Nobles.”

The old zebra listened to my monologue trying to protest, or interrupt, with me not letting him until now.

“But Princess, the right of nobility by blood is undeniable, irrevocable, born noble will always bear noble offspring.”

“Oh, you're deeply mistaken here, Templar. Dishonorable conduct - any dishonorable conduct - is basis for revoking your title of nobility, and this is not just a theory - no longer than three months ago my sister has revoked the title of nobility of a pony who cheated on a test she was performing. One simple misconduct, one dishonorable behavior, and the noble becomes a commoner with one quick decree. Their wealth and connections being moot, they tarnished their honor and lost the title.”

“Princess, that's... that's not how it works really...”

“Ah, yes, the Liberty of the Nobles phase. Elites gain influence at expense of the ruler and the people, oligarchy invariably followed by revolution or downfall if not curbed in time. Old noble houses get cut to extinction, new order forms. I'm dealing with the same phase in Equestria currently, actually, but me and my sister should be able to curb it without bloodshed soon, I have enough experience in dealing with that. I'm afraid though if the Princes don't oppose it on time, Hippotigria won't pass this phase as gracefully.”

“You're speaking about this as if you'd foreseen the events... but I'm aware even you can't peer into the future.”

“You're not very good with history either, are you? History likes to repeat itself. I have witnessed this scenario myself six times and studied other four. I've participated in one of these revolutions myself. The Everfree City, does that name ring a bell?”

“Just notes of dubious truth, mentions within mentions. Rise, magnificence, corruption and downfall.“

“Yes, for a time I believed Res Publica Ponica is the way to go, that democracy will prevail, wisdom and good will dominating less noble goals. But soon the oligarchy appeared. They learned how to game the system, none with enough power to oppose the profits of others, but all with enough power to bring down any that would oppose them. They tore the ripe country to pieces like hungry hyenas tear a pregnant mare, all under guise of freedom of choice for the public, they drained the last of the resources and filled prisons with ponies who were then forced as their slaves to help them attain godhood. I opposed them, let their corruption swallow them, then my sister and I rallied whatever remained under our flag, and rebuilt what you currently know as Equestria.”

“But we are not a democracy.”

“And this is where the hope for averting this fate lies. A strong, unified rule, able to oppose the oligarchy, able to curb their ambitions can prevent the revolt. With the right support and guidance the right ruler can then lead a mighty and flourishing country.”

“A ruler with traditions, will to rule with iron hoof, stomp down the opponents, and enough wealth and influence to be independent? Clever and convincing? Like Lord Xaroth?”

“Independent, without obligations and debts, with strong support of the public and unwavering sense of justice. Incorruptible and wise. Like princes Zenith and Nadir.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“You know... following me... considering the opportunities I've presented... the vulnerabilities and weaknesses... If you're going to aid the princes in ‘curbing’ the Nobles, as you put it, first, and then use what you have learned against the Princes...” he looked into my eyes with visible terror. “Did I just sell out my nation?”

“I'd say you did, no matter what my intentions. Lord Xaroth is a fool. He imagined I would bleed the land dry and discard it, then he could take over and repair it using resources he'd save up by staying in the background. He takes me for a shortsighted raider with my eyes focused on instant gratification, immediate profit at no cost. He thought he could use me as a weapon, as a tool in his personal vendetta. That I would lose interest in Hippotigria within his lifetime, or at worst lifetime of his offspring. His motives were clear, but what were yours?”

“I... I love my land more than my life. I hate to see it stagnate and strive. Zenith's conservatism would get it nowhere. He's a fair ruler, but fair is not good enough. And Nadir...” he shook his head, “He's well-intentioned but foolish. He wanted to open up, to start trade. Instead, he brought you, empowered you, gave us away for the mercy of ponies. Lord Xaroth convinced me that Hippotigria needs a strong ruler like him, and if the downfall of current rulers requires Hippotigria to burn down, so be it, he will make it arise from ashes like a phoenix. Now... I'm not so sure. Tell me, Princess. What is the fate of Hippotigria now?”

“I hope for growth and stability. A country as healthy as Equestria, Ruled wisely and fairly, as a neighbor and friend of Equestria, independent but not xenophobic, wealthy but not greedy, strong but not aggressive. Think from my perspective, perspective of millennia, what more profitable outcome could Equestria ever hope for, than a neighbor country like this?”

“What kind of ruler could bring it there?”

“Honest, loved, unquestioned heir to the throne. Immortal. Accompanied by a mortal on the second throne, for perspective, advice and friendship.”

“Wait... You're... going to replace Zenith on his throne? How would that even work?”

“Me? Replacing Zenith? Don't be silly.”

“But then who? Immortal?!”

“Yes, a zebra alicorn prince. My son. Nadir's son. Sharing the rule with Zenith and his heirs.”

The old zebra's eyes opened wide. He sat for a long while digesting the news. His face ran with various emotions. At last he looked at me with a mix of despair and hope.

“Why are you even telling me this? I'm a traitor!”

I smiled gently. “I believe no pony is beyond redemption, and ones that failed through good, if misguided intentions always deserve another chance.”

“Princess... what would you have me do to redeem myself? I would give my life for a future like this!”

“The remaining secrets. The ones you'd have traded for life of Prince Zenith.”

“Princess... I... I want to believe you, but I risked enough of disaster already. I might be a fool, but at least I learn from my mistakes.”

“That's fine. You don't have to give these secrets to me. I don't need them anyway, I'm just gathering them for the princes. Give them to Prince Nadir. Or even to Prince Zenith, if you dare.”

“Will they be as forgiving as you?”

“Nadir will.”

* * *

“Xaroth, you know you have lost. Why are you still resisting?” Zenith asked.

“Because I have something you don't: honor.”

“False.” I stated calmly.

“Thank you, Celestia, that one was unnecessary.” Zenith's face tensed. “Zombification brew and petroleum in orphanage fire prevention sprinklers? What kind of sick mind thinks up something like that?!”

“That one was brilliant, wasn't it? Charred zombie foals on the streets. Just imagine the mayhem!”

“Truth.” I spat out with hate.

“Murdering foals to cause chaos?!”

“Unwanted commoners? And you care? You're even dumber than I thought.”

“He really believes that,” I said.

“You're unworthy of licking their hooves, worm.” Zenith hissed.

“Me? You're the usurper! True royal blood flows in my veins, you bastard son of a harpy!”

“It's false, and he knows it. He tries to unnerve you, but he understands he's a commoner now.”

“You traitorous pony witch and your lies! You have destroyed the last chance this country had!” Xaroth yelled at me, jerking his chains.

“It's really interesting to sense his faith wavering. He understands Hippotigria has the best chance to flourish now and his own faith in his own lie falters.”

“Celestia, please, allow me...” Nadir approached knocking his hooves together.

“No, there is no need.”

“Yes, cowardly spawn licking up to that horned whore!”

“Now as you speak it, consider this: she has asked me to apply royal mercy in your case...”

“And I'm supposed to thank her for that? Watch your back when I get out of prison...”

“...and considering your valid concern about my independence and objectivity, I have decided to reject her request. Since both me and Zenith were personally affected by your machinations, we shouldn't judge you. If you were a noble, we'd still have to apply the same exception that was used for your family and judge you nevertheless. But since you are a commoner now, you can be judged in a first instance court without right to appeal.”

Zenith unlocked the door of the questioning room, where the three of us have been questioning Xaroth for past three hours, supported by my lie detection spell. “You can take him”, the older prince called to guards waiting outside. “Be cautious, he’s still extremely dangerous.”

Two zebras pulled the cage with the prisoner out of the room, keeping a safe distance. We did not want more accidents after me having to fix damaged spine of the first one who got too close.

“And Celestia, please.” Zenith turned to me as Nadir helped the guards with moving the prisoner. “Don't try to influence the judge. Very few of them would be able to oppose your demand, and the bias this would introduce would make the process essentially worthless.”

“Tell me, Zenith. This is about asserting your power and independence more than about bias and fairness. You want to show that I hold no sway on you.”

“No, Celestia, this is not. The case of Purse might have been. He was just another bandit, and sending him to serve a long sentence of heavy labor instead wouldn't change much. But this is too important. I can't understand how you can still have mercy for Xaroth. Now, that you know how many evils he committed, and what he had in the bag for all of us... how can you even wish for mercy for a zebra like him?”

“You won't understand.” I lowered my head.

“Your sister would take my side. She would disagree with you on that.”

“Yes. She could afford this comfort.”

“Your mercy. Your endless forgiveness... is it your penance for some sins of the past?”

“Yes, it is. I was forgiven for atrocities, by which Xaroth is an innocent foal. I doomed whole nations. And now I am revered as a goddess, while their demigods are reduced to mindless monstrosities.”

“Do you regret your acts?”

“Forever.”

“Did you have a choice?”

“...”

“What was the alternative?”

“They would ascend. Then they would fight. All life would be obliterated, but the victor of the battle would be able to create new.”

“Are you sure?”

“I knew for sure at least a few would fight. Then others would fight back. I knew the power one would possess after ascension. I possess a shade of such power. Each morning and each evening I'm one thought away from burning this world down, and that would be a pathetic, inefficient attack in their standards, one they would easily deflect. But... maybe not all of them needed to be stopped. I didn't know them all well enough. I was merely their servant...”

“Would you survive?”

“No.”

He nodded, and continued asking, his voice completely neutral.

“So what did you do?”

“I corrupted the altars of ascension. Damaged them. They did ascend, but they lost sanity, purpose, sentience. Their magic lashed out in blind fury. Their cities perished. Their nations got obliterated. The few that lived away from the cities survived the attack. And then a terrible winter came...”

“I know nothing of it. Not even the eldest texts I read mention it. Is there even a trace...?”

“The ruins in Dire Woods. You know there are countless ruins there, right?”

“Yes, most far too dangerous to be explored. Is that...”

“Trinicity, the first city of Zebras, Gryphons and Ponies living in harmony... for a time. Tartarus used to be Arf, the capital of Cania. What you know as the Everfree Forest was known as the Everfree City...”

“I thought it was called Penumbra.”

“Penumbra was founded by my sister much later on the ruins of Everfree City, a shadow of its glory. And the buried horrors of perishing Everfree City destroyed it too in the end.”

“What did you do to protect the people?”

“Not much. I didn't hold much sway. I arranged for school trips to be away from the cities. I urged caravans to depart and delayed their returns. But I could not shout out ‘Run’. The ancients would suspect. They would find out the altars were tampered with. I'd be made example of. I don't even want to think about what would happen to me and my sister.”

“And then? What did you do after the cataclysm?”

“I saved as many as I could, seeking in the ruins for survivors, while my sister was busy building a town for refugees, protecting them from deadly frost. We gave home to all we could find, later some leaders emerged and founded cities of their nations. Gryphons, Zebras, Minotaurs. Many ponies left to found their own city-states too. Only the Buffaloes survived entirely without our aid. Later, through politics, through political marriages we united multiple groups of ponies forming and warring at that time. We started rebuilding Equestria.”

“Could you have done more?”

“Yes. There were ones that deserved death. Local tyrants. I parlayed, I paid tributes, sometimes I'd pay with my own body to save lives and to spare lives. And sometimes they would still not live up to their side of the contract and laugh at my weakness. But after destroying the old nations I could not bring myself to killing them. And ponies paid in blood for my weakness.”

Zenith nodded. He stood tall, and spoke in a strong voice.

“I heard enough. Princess Celestia. I didn't hear the other side, but I have a good image of the events. You are guilty, there is no doubt. You indirectly caused death of many. But there are mitigating circumstances. You acted in good faith. You acted in self-defense and defense of many. You did your best to repair the damage you have caused and to minimize it before you caused it. You accepted the responsibility without hesitation or order. And you paid for it dearly and without a word of protest...”

He stopped and looked in my eyes.

“You killed many innocents. This can't go unpunished. But the usual punishment, death for death must be immensely reduced.”

“You are sentenced to a punishment of public service. You will continue to serve the ponykind as a fair and dedicated ruler. I'm aware of how heavy a work this is, so you will serve one day for each death your actions caused. Once this time is passed you will be allowed to remove your burden and cease your duty, pass them to a successor and retire. Your work since the events until now shall be counted towards the sentence served.”

He took a breath.

“The sides may appeal the sentence.”

...Three and a half million lives. That was the estimate. Three and a half million ponies, zebras, gryphons, canines and others...

One day for one life.

Ten thousands years.

A lightness reached my heart. There was an end, a time of freedom for me. And I was a third of the way through my sentence already!

I bowed low, my horn nearly touching his hooves, tears in the corners of my eyes.

“Thank you kindly, Prince Zenith. I will serve my sentence faithfully.”

* * *

“I can't believe the cheek of my brother. To sentence my fiancée for ten thousands years of public service!”

“Don't joke about this, Nadir. That was...”

“I know, I know. I can't even begin to imagine being you. My puny twenty-four years. I still can't believe his balls. I mean, I was pretty sure you'd be pissed at him.”

“He was the first ever to learn the story and judge me fairly, and mercifully. There were these who decided I deserve forgiveness, and these who said I should suffer for all eternity, or die. He... I didn't expect that much mercy. A day for a life!”

“Celestia, he holds no authority over you. This... sentence of his... it's meaningless!”

“Drop it, Nadir. You don't understand.”

He nodded. “Sorry. He clearly impressed you and I'm unreasonably jealous. I know it's stupid and I'm behaving in a stupid way.”

“I wish he'd show Xaroth such mercy.”

“He certainly would, if Xaroth was showing your level of remorse.”

I jerked my head up.

“Take me to him. Take me to Xaroth.”

* * *

Nadir was hugging me while I was weeping.

“I hate this country. I'm here four days and I've already killed two.” I wept, my tears rolling down my cheeks. “Why can't you Zebras go and be fair, be gentle, be caring!? Why!?”

“We can learn. I promise you, we can learn. Teach us, Celestia... Teach us to be as good as you are.” he rocked me gently, holding me to his chest.

“I'm not good. I went and sought out that zebra, and I pushed the dart down his throat. I killed him without a second of consideration. And now Xaroth. I hunted him down, I stole his best kept secrets, I stole the truth out of his head, I took all he had away from him! I killed him!”

“You did not kill him. He killed himself. It was his own choice. From the moment he decided a mass murder is the way to get to power on, he forfeited his life. You just sped things up a bit.”

The image returned to me, the black belly wet with urine, hind hooves spread far apart, livid tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth, eyes bulged, front hooves on the bars of the cage, the chain binding them drawn between the bars and around his neck, cutting deep into his trachea.

“I gave him all the reasons to kill himself. Every single reason.”

“Celestia, think about it! If he ever had his way, thousands of innocents would die. You stopped him! You saved countless lives!”

I shook my head.

“I could have stopped him without killing him!”

“He choose this way himself.”

There was a knocking on the door.

“Go away!” shouted Nadir.

“Prince, this is important.” a breathless voice called out.

“This better really be important,” he muttered and stood up, leaving me sitting and crying quietly on the couch. He opened the door and talked with the guard in a hushed voice.

“Celestia,” he called out, turning to me. “I've got two news, good and bad. Good news, he's alive. Bad news, he's gone.”

* * *

“How did he elude you? I thought you'd be well aware of his life signs! You can bring zebras nearly back from dead, how didn't you notice he was alive?”

“Stop it, Zenith. Don't you see she's falling apart? Drop it.”

“Just tell me, was he alive or did some zebra steal the body?”

“I... I don't know! When I saw him, I was too mortified to even touch him with my magic!”

“Okay. Celestia, try to calm down and don't let it get to you. If you hadn't outed him, he would attack sooner or later. The mayhem would be immeasurable. So no matter what happens... you've already saved thousands of lives. I will need you strong and ready to save more. I can't guarantee we can save all, but with you we can save more than without you.”

I looked up, with my eyes filled with tears.

“Zenith, I will help. But I want you to give them all a chance.”

“You want me to let the worst... The...”

“Brother.” Nadir put his hoof on Zenith's shoulder. “Maybe that's what this nation needs. More kindness, compassion, forgiveness.”

Zenith smirked sourly.

“If this is what Equestria is going to impose on Hippotigria... I can live with it.”

* * *

Templar Xaboo was immensely helpful. Not only did he give us a ton of secrets, and revealed many of Xaroth's helpers, he managed to convince quite a few of them to come to our side. And he continued to be active despite me bringing him back from the threshold of death two times already. I was dealing with zebra assassins for real this time, and they definitely wanted me dead. Rockskin against the darts, life detection and area effect paralysis spells became my daily bread. Every street corner bore wanted posters of Xaroth.

I sent Luna a letter detailing the situation, and she wrote back - “Take care of yourself and don't hold back. The domestic situation is all right. I'll take care of the Sun for you, so don't worry about getting drained. And keep this just in case.” Attached to the letter was a vial of rainbow juice. Supposedly so spicy it makes your eyes bleed and your breath flame, but apparently Luna found out it can recharge alicorn's magical power.

We managed to prevent seven disasters, we averted the worst of four others and we were now holding back the twelfth one.

“How long can you hold it back?” Nadir asked me.

“Until I'm needed more elsewhere or I drop from lack of sleep. Twilight can take over for an hour or so, but not much longer.”

I was inside a water delivery system tunnel, somewhere in a wall of a side canyon, halfway up from the bottom. I was holding the gathering water from the tannery side, water that carried corrosive, poisonous chemicals down to the city water supply network. I was blocking the way with my force field, the tunnel filled with the poisoned water behind it.

This time the attackers didn't need to be present at the site. The location was guarded, but the guards were helpless against some kind of missile launched from the rim of the canyon at the pipeline connecting the secure containers with the tannery.

No matter that the offenders were captured, delivered to us by citizens of Topside in chains. The water supply of this branch was contaminated, and I was just holding it from entering the main grid.

“Make way! Make way for the princess!” sounded below. Ummm... what?

Then I heard a chariot stop outside the water control station and some hooves approaching up the narrow service staircase where I was located.

And then, frazzled, tired, restless, Princess Zorana appeared from the staircase.

“Celestia, can you release some... Just a little of that poison?” she gasped out when she stopped by me.

“Sorry, if I drop the shield, the flood will poison at least a few branches.”

“I just need like a cup or even less.”

“The tanners should have a couple barrels of it concentrated set aside,” Nadir said.

“This way?” she pointed up the stairs leading towards the tanneries.

“Sorry, it's blocked out by the field and flooded by the poison. You must go back outside and circle around through the bottom.”

“Awww, I wish for wings at times like these!” she shouted, running back down the stairs.

Nadir shrugged, and went out to the road to receive reports, leaving me alone with the barrier for now. Soon he returned.

“We caught one more at the dam, setting explosives.”

“What kind of insanity must they live in to follow orders like these?” I sighed.

“Some of them admitted Xaroth holds their families hostage. We will have to save them as soon as the avalanche of sabotages gives us a moment of time.”

We sat together in silence for a while.

“Feeling fine?”

“Yes.”

“The engineering crew is digging the tunnel as fast as they can.”

“I shiver to think the river will be poisoned. I can only imagine how badly it will impact your people.”

“It's sustaining countless families with small gardens running for miles below Entwine. We will give them support until the contamination is cleared. But for now diverting the poison away from the city water supply is of paramount priority, and the river would get contaminated anyway.”

Then we heard hooves on the stairs again. Zorana was back. She was falling from fatigue, running, but she was smiling. And her mouth was painted bright purple.

“Celestia, you can drop the shield.”

“Zorana, what happened? Are you sure?”

“We dumped twenty crates of clove into the water! It will taste funny for the next few days, and stain like crazy, but it's totally harmless now.” she grinned. “I tried. I can drink it.”

“You tried the water with the tanning solution?!”

“It's based on the grape acid. It's harmless now!”

“Nadir, shall we?”

Nadir called out to evacuate the perimeter. The released wave would momentarily flood all of the infrastructure. Then I levitated the two and ran ahead of the wave along the dry channel, out onto open aqueduct, taking them with me as I soared over the heavily industrialized valley, followed by a burst of purple water. Soon the flood stabilized and water flowed down to the city, carrying thousands of cloves on its surface.

“Zorana, you're a hero!” I said setting the two down on the bottom of the valley.

“No, I'm not. You'd have the tunnel ready in another couple hours, I just saved a few businesses at best.”

“Oh, no, Zorana. You saved crops of countless families and bought us time to seek the hostages. If this goes well, you've saved quite a few lives!”

“I did?!” she seemed completely surprised. “Oh! So go, find them! Can I make myself useful somehow?”

“Get out of wherever assassins can get you.” Nadir smiled to her. “I'll let you know if we have any job for you. For now it's essential we don't have more distractions, so just take as many as you can out of our way, fine?”

“Including myself?” she winked. “Got it. I'll be researching what more good I can do with the grapes.” she galloped back to her chariot.

“So, hostages. Where's Storm?”

“Right behind you.” Storm approached from behind some bushes. “Zephyr will join in a minute. Do we gather some more guards?”

“The more Celestia takes with her the weaker she will be at the destination, so just the four of us. But a whole squad is already galloping in that direction, they should arrive in about half an hour so we'll have a backup if we get cornered.”

“Hey!” I heard another zebra, waving at us from a nearby roof. Wide-rimmed hat, long duster coat. “Will a fifth one be much a burden?”

“Agent Vex?”

“Prince Zenith would have me fired from service if anything happens to you, and I can't teleport, so...” he spread his hooves helplessly.

“Always welcome.” I waved to him.

Moments later Zephyr ran up to us from direction of the tannery. “Let me catch my breath” he gasped. “We've picked the remains of the missile for forensics. Definitely not zebra invention. Twilight says it might have been made by ponies, but she's not sure.”

“I'll have a look at it later if you want,” I offered.

“Later.” Nadir nodded.

I cast a mark of group, wards of stoneskin, poison immunities, improved senses and endurance, then I touched Nadir’s head with my horn, and he allowed me to acquire the knowledge about the location of the hostages.

“Ready?” I looked around, receiving confirming nods. “Let's go.”

* * *

“She's here!” I heard somewhere above. I had to stop and gather my bearings before proceeding. A mine or a cave. No, definitely a mine. A very tall, though narrow irregular chamber, with multiple galleries, catwalks and bridges above us, lit with scarce lamps. We were at the bottom littered with damp, black stone - coal.

Others would take more time to adjust their eyes to the darkness coming from the brightness of daylight of Entwine. Still...

“Close your eyes,” I hissed, then launched the blinding flare.

“My eyes! My bucking eyes!” a female voice sounded somewhere above. “Xag, I can't see anything!”

“Feel the lever, Kara! Pull it!” another answered somewhere in the tunnels below.

I soared up, towards the voice, as the rest of the team scattered into various corridors around. There was a small cabin built into the side wall, about four floors above the bottom of the cave. A wide horizontal window revealed the inside containing of a dozen of different levers. A zebra mare was trying to count the levers using just touch. I sent a focused paralyzing spell, the shining blue ball hit, and the mare fell in a heap.

“Lever! Kara! Pull the lever! Stand back! Stand back or they all die!”

I tucked my wings in, turning into a dive and dashing into the side corridor, towards the source of that voice. Two rapid turns and I reached the chamber...

There were Storm and Agent Vex on one side, and a female zebra, tall, skinny and horribly dirty from coal, supposedly called Xag on the other, next to a dozen zebras, mostly foals or youngsters chained to the wall. I could hear hooves of the others approaching.

Xag was old, tall, her eyes filled with malice. She had a blade attached to her leg and she was holding it to the neck of an unconscious filly. “Make another step and she dies.” she hissed with a voice dripping venom.

“Why are you doing this?”

“You hope you can buy time? Bring the usurper and I'll show you what bidding your time is!”

Nadir choose that moment to arrive. The zebra suddenly lifted a blowpipe from behind the hostage's neck and sent a dart at him. The dart got stuck in his fur, but it wouldn't pierce his magically hardened skin.

“You have already lost”, Nadir said. “Release the hostages and you can count on royal mercy.”

“Choke on your mercy, traitor. I will not bow to you. And you're already dead.”

“Am I? I'm feeling rather fine.”

“You have a week to live, and there is no cure! Only true king knows the poison, and even He does not know the cure!”

“The Crown Venom? Fine...” he shrugged. “Then I just want to know what your issue is. Why do you hate me so?”

“Why? WHY?! I was expelled by ponies from my own home at Crow Peak. And now you solidify the theft, make it theirs forever. King Xaroth would take it back!”

“I'm extremely sorry for your home...” I said... “Wait, he'd take it back...how?” I frowned.

“Force, how else?! Your pathetic country has no army! Hippotigria would smash your guard in one quick strike!”

“What an idiot,” Nadir muttered. “And how would he protect Hippotigria from getting consumed by a solar flare?”

This shut the zebra up, she glared at us.

“Wait, Nadir, wasn't Crow Peak one of the territories we've already covered by the treaties?”

“Why, yes, you gave it back. Xag, that's your name? I'm happy to inform you, that Crow Peak is an undisputed part of Hippotigria again.”

“You lie! You want me just to drop my guard!”

“No, I don't. I want you to surrender. You've been misguided, lied to. You made a wrong decision. There's still time to fix it.”

“No, you lie! I killed you!”

Nadir plucked the dart. “It didn't penetrate the skin. Besides, there is a cure for the Crown Venom already.”

“YOU LIE!”

Nadir approached and raised his hoof to the light of the weak oil lamp that was providing the lighting.

“I've been poisoned with it in the past. I've been cured by Celestia. Even if you poison others with it, we can cure them too.”

The zebra was staring at him in shock. “Did you... cure her of something too?”

He looked at me.

“Yes, he healed an ancient wound of my soul,” I said.

The zebra released the hostage and knelt, crying. “I won't beg for mercy, because I don't deserve it. My life and death is in your hooves.”

“Why such a change of heart?” Nadir asked.

“A prophecy, my lord. A healer of immortals, healed of death... I should have seen it earlier!”

I shrugged. Nadir rolled his eyes. I approached the hostages and began releasing them one after another.

“Now could you tell me what that other one's issue with us is?” Nadir asked? “And what does the lever do?”

“The lever!” The zebra's eyes suddenly opened in shock. “We must stop the others!”

* * *

“The grain silos are on fire!”

That was not on any of the lists we were given. Although, we should have foreseen it after the tampering with water supply and fire prevention systems...

All of my Solar Guard were in the air, condensing the little humidity they could find into clouds and sending them over the fire. Zebras busy passing buckets and fixing the damaged aqueduct, were trying to stop the fire from below. But I soon sensed a magical core of the flame in the middle and we recalled the rescue teams, not wanting to risk any accidents. This fire could not be stopped by mundane means, and it was too late to save anything by magical means - I told Nadir to let it burn to the ground, it would be easier to rebuild than cleaning up the mess that would be left if we stop it when only possible. No grain could be saved anyway, all spoiled by the smoke and heat.

We watched the silos burn, thousands of tons of grain consumed by the flames. Nadir's eyes were glistening with tears.

“You know I won't let your people starve. The ponies will gladly share.”

“No, Celestia. My people won’t starve. But this is heavy work of thousands of zebras. All in vain. We had a contract for two thousands tons of rice. I'll have to cancel that and divert it back to Entwine, and the bits would have bought another pump, to finally bring water to The Scorcher.”

“We'll see what we can do. For now, we should definitely find the sources of Xaroth's magical aid.”

* * *

“Bad news, Princess.”

Twilight, in white lab coat, was standing behind a table with several pieces of scrap orderly set on it in semblance of a long tube. She frowned deeply. Several zebras were milling around in the forensics laboratory of the Entwine Guard, and Nadir was gathering reports from them while I questioned Twilight.

“This is unicorn magic,” my student reported. “The propellant is of zebra origin, typical for festival fireworks, the shell was made in one of the workshops in Entwine, the craftszebra has been arrested and interrogated, but the order was anonymous, the explosives were made in Crease, southern Hippotigria, standard rock blasting charges from their quarries. But the guidance talisman...” she tapped a cracked and darkened disc at the top-most side of the remains, “This was made by a pony.”

“And the magical fire?”

“I can't tell much until its charge is exhausted, but it looks very much like Starswirl's Evertorch with its limit ward broken.”

“There weren't many of these left in Equestria left from Starswirl’s times. Too many wards, too few inherent limits, too dangerous.”

“One step ahead of you, Princess. I've contacted Princess Luna. There are exactly seven, and we know six of them are still in place, the seventh is being checked for, located at an outlook post in the far north.”

“But one could have made a new one, right?”

“Yes, and Princess Luna got the same idea and created a list already. It would have to be a skilled unicorn of considerable power. There are fifteen such ponies in Equestria who have access to this knowledge and are powerful enough. The documents necessary for creating the evertorch are still in the Royal Library, they haven't been magically copied, but somepony read them no longer than half a year ago. Copying them by pen would take too long to go unnoticed, so we must assume the one who accessed them either acquired and damaged the seventh ward or is capable of creating a new one.”

Right then a scroll materialized in front of Twilight in a puff of dragon flame. She unrolled it and scanned quickly.

“Princess Luna writes the seventh evertorch is still in its place. That narrows it considerably. She's currently querying all suspects.”

The door burst open behind us. Zenith stormed in.

“Celestia! I want you to rise the Sun tomorrow, at an appointed place! I'll be in attendance!”

I stepped back shocked a little by his sudden appearance. He was visibly shaken.

“Captain!” he shouted. “Captain! Any executive here?! I need an arrest warrant for Patriarch Varinari now!”

A senior zebra officer rushed from an office at the other end of the lab towards us.

“What did he do now, Prince?” I asked.

“He said it's all a punishment of the ancients for Zebras praising a foreign goddess! The cheek! How could he?!”

Oh, no! “Wait. Don't arrest him!”

“Celestia, your mercy has no place here,” he stated sternly.

“It's not my mercy. Think about the consequences! If you arrest him now, he'll make a martyr out of himself.”

He stopped to think. Right then captain of the guard approached, with a notepad with arrest warrant prepared. “What are the charges?”

“Wait.” Zenith pushed the captain aside. “What do you suggest, Celestia?”

“Let's attend his sermon. Let's see if he dares to justify the saboteurs and accuse the rescuers while looking in your face.”

“Right.” he turned to the officer. “Captain, prepare the warrant, the charges of collaboration with fugitives, but don't arrest him just yet. I want to have it with me during the sermon tomorrow.”

* * *

The attacks seemed to cease. There was nothing until late afternoon. Then there was something at the water works near the dam: three zebras with packages walked up to the guards. They placed the packages on the ground and asked to be arrested. The packages contained a substance known to deform and mutate fetuses in wombs of mothers. They asked not to be forced to reveal the others, refused to answer any questions... at first. Nadir woke me after midnight. The newly captured talked with others. Xag, Templar Xaboo. The others managed to change their mind and the saboteurs decided to reveal the location of another prison filled with hostages.

So, another quick action, this time an old, abandoned windmill.

The defenders managed to poison five hostages before we stopped them. I had to open the vial Luna sent me to save two last hostages. The drink felt as if my throat was on fire, and it didn't make me sizzle with power, barely replenishing enough for the essential spells instead, but it gave me enough kick to stop and remove the poison from the last ones. My flanks were heaving like after a long run when I finally brought every zebra back to Entwine and went back to sleep. I felt extremely grateful when Luna raised the Sun for me in the morning.

I dragged my hooves to the temple, following Nadir, Zenith and Zorana. Twilight insisted to join me, and I saw Crystal Clarity following behind too, a throng of zebras ahead and behind us heading for the sermon. The word that we would attend spread quickly yesterday, and this combined with Patriarch’s “controversial sermons” gathered crowds bigger than usually. I wondered if our scribe choose to visit the temple today on her own or got a tip from Twilight.

The Valley of the Temple was a long, narrow, barren crevice branching off the main canyon way up the river. Its walls, devoid of the vines, were dotted with countless sealed holes, each holding a body of one zebra, a vertical graveyard. Deeper up, a span of the valley was wider. There were buildings of the seminary, houses of the priests, and temple gardens. Then the valley was getting narrow again and was closed off by the front wall of the Temple. Tall, with enormous stained glass windows, reaching up a third of the height of the narrow gorge, the temple used the walls of the valley as its natural side walls. The huge double brass doors at the bottom bore countless scenes from the history of the nation. Nadir led me past the doors, and before we'd enter the central nave, we turned to the side and climbed wide stairs three tall floors up, each floor opening onto a level of seats running in a gallery around the center. Finally he led me to a special compartment, big and luxurious, with four seats suitable for royalty, and a number of smaller ones for notables and companions. Zenith and Zorana already occupied two of the seats on the left. Nadir took the center right one next to his brother and invited me to take the rightmost, motioning Twilight to take one of the lesser ones by my. I spotted Zephyr entering our box from the other side and taking a seat behind us. Storm would not be with us, leading a detachment of guards ready to burst in if things get out of control.

Only now could I take in the full view of the inside. The temple was long, tall and narrow. There were seven levels of galleries running along its length, carved into the walls of the valley, with ornate, dark wooden railing and tall, thin wooden pillars connecting the floors, seats stacking towards the back wall so that all would have a good view on the altar at the end of the temple. There were numerous exits in the back of the galleries - to stairs, tombs, various other chambers. The roof was valuted, made of dark, green glass. Behind us there were the windows of stained glass, lit to dazzling levels with the morning sunlight, one window of exceptional brightness just behind our central box, giving us a bright backdrop.

The altar, while separate from the galleries, was elevated almost two floors above the tiled floor, located on top of a pyramid-like structure. The backdrop for the altar was a plain white wall with just two ornate columns covered with ivy pattern on the sides. Plain white didn't mean it looked plain though - the stained glass behind us projected its colorful imagery onto the wall, and the images were shifting slowly as the Sun was rising.

The galleries were filling up, many zebras pointing to our royal box, whispering. All four royal seats were filled for the first time in almost thirty years since death of Nadir's uncle, aunt, and their children got murdered in never fully explained circumstances. I still wasn't Nadir's wife, but both Nadir and Zenith were quite convinced fiancée is quite enough. Plus the brothers weren't very religious, frequenting the temple only during special occasions.

Nadir briefed me on the customary rituals - essentially, I'd have to stand up during the song at the beginning and the end, and I'd have to bow whenever they call upon the names of Saint Vixor, Zorn and Xebarius. Zorn supposedly founded Entwine, and Xebarius united the warring north and south - I didn't know the two personally. I'd easily bow to Vixor though, my dear friend from the times of strife, the one who founded the nation of Zebras once the ices began letting go, and the survivors of the cataclysm moved on to find their own place in the recovering world, founding Hippotigria. There were countless other lesser ancestors honored by sculptures on the railing and paintings on back walls behind the galleries too.

And then, as the last of the zebras arrived, the priestess, a young zebra in ornate, white, gold-rimmed cloak and hood stepped upon the altar.

We all stood up and she began the song - her voice carrying through the temple loud and clear, not amplified magically, but reaching the furthest corners thanks to incredible acoustics of the place. The song praised honesty, patience and faith, giving favor to wisdom over strength and labor over violence. That was a wise, good message and I'd wish more would follow it.

Then the priestess stepped down and Patriarch Varinari took her place. He wore rich, ornate, crimson-and-gold robes, and he spoke of deeds of the ancestors. I noticed a certain twist he gave the story of Saint Vixor - that he was alone, sending the zebras home from a land of suffering, without any help from the outside. He repeated a few other stories and I got the general message: Zebras flourish through own labor, suffer by contacts with the foreigners. That wasn't the message of the song, which not once mentioned trust and openness.

Then Patriarch Varinari changed the topic. He warned about the time of hunger, strife and darkness brought by those who serve false deities. He implied the evil is with them, right there. And finally, he said that the true royalty will prevail, and the guilty of bringing the evil will suffer the right punishment.

Up to that point his speech could be interpreted in two ways. But then he raised his voice, shouting out my name - blaming me for the suffering, the accidents that has been barely averted (without my help of course) and in the end he called out that zebras taken from home, taken prisoners, kept in chains as a threat to their families...

I didn’t listen any more. I noticed a movement with a corner of my eye. Somewhere far ahead, on the middle level a zebra was walking along the third floor gallery, towards its end, near the altar. And then she - a rather young one in a dark cloak - climbed the railing and plunged at Varinari. He turned at the last moment when her hooves met his head. He rolled down from the altar, down the slope of the pyramid.

The zebra was gasping heavily. Temple Guards already ran out from bottom exits, when she shouted out.

“Liar! Liar! I was locked in the windmill, held prisoner! Xaroth took me from my home! Celestia set me free! He gave the poison, to kill me! She cured it! I came to thank the ancients for sending her my way, and this LIAR here...” she was cut off with the guards grabbing her and trying to subdue, carrying her violently away to one of the exits...

“Stop this!” shouted Nadir. “Let her go!”

...but these weren't the royal guard, and Nadir’s voice was lost in the roar of the crowd. These were the temple guards and they were loyal to the temple, not to the Princes. I noticed Zenith though making some gestures with his hooves. A few zebras on various levels vanished in exits behind them. Some acolytes carried Varinari away.

The sermon was disrupted with the altar momentarily empty. The roar died down to a loud murmur, many zebras confused... The young priestess climbed the altar and tried to call upon some silence. At last she called out the names of the three great ancestors, raising three items that lay on the altar: a sickle, a wand and a book.

With a gasp, I recognized that sickle, I recalled the zebra who stuck its edge in the eye of a giant python that was holding me in a deadly grasp... The memories flooded in, with clarity I had not experienced in years.

The zebras bowed and the murmur was silenced, the priestess stepping down from the altar, leaving it empty again.

“Nadir, the account of Vixor was false too. Could I maybe... straighten things out a little?”

“You knew him?”

“He saved my life once. And we were good friends.”

Nadir stood up and approached the railing of our box.

“Before the sermon is resumed,” he spoke in his loud, royal voice, “We have a special guest here. A personal friend of saint Vixor willing to share her personal account of his life.”

I jumped over the railing and soared to the empty altar.

And I spoke. I told them how I found a trail of smoke over snow-covered ruins of Trinicity. How I found him burning nobles' robes huddled with fifty other zebras around the fire, hiding from monsters.

How we traveled together to Hope, the makeshift town of my sister. How he saved my life from the giant serpent that hunted under the snow. How he'd later accompany me in my searches, carrying scavenged food, goods for the houses of Hope.

How later he'd gather a team of zebras to travel far, seeking other goods and survivors. How he became the leader of all the Zebras who arrived to Hope, removing a burden from Luna's shoulders and taming rebellious moods when the food was running short.

How one day he came to me. “Celestia,” he said. “I found a valley where we can live. Enough sunlight, enough unspoiled soil and water for us to grow crops. I know the soil at Hope needs to be allowed to lay fallow at last, or our fields will stop giving crop in next few years. Take all the Earth Ponies with you, and I'll take my zebras, and we'll settle there and farm that land until we can get Hope's fields back to bear full crop. It will suffice for us all until we can find more, it will buy us time until we find a land where there's enough good soil for all to farm.”

“But then we will doom the soil of that fertile place of yours, won't we?”

“But for a year foals won't be starving, for a season scurvy will be averted.”

“Take your zebras there, Vixor”, I said, “farm that land wisely, send us surplus if you have any. I'll keep my Earth Ponies here; the soil here will be able to sustain us with the reduced numbers.”

Minotaurs departed to another place their leader had found the same season. Vixor lived up to his promise. The zebras were sending the ponies and the gryphons surplus crop for as long as we needed it, until at last enough of land thawed that their aid wasn't necessary any longer.

“And before we parted ways, Vixor asked me for a gift...”

I raised the sickle. I untwisted the cap on the end of the hollow handle.

A matted, old tuft of pastel hair fell out.

“In a different world, he said, with less strife and dangers, we could have been a thing. But I'm a mortal, my death would bring you down, and that would be a disaster for our peoples. So let us part our ways as dearest friends.”

With eyes filled with tears I placed the tuft back in the handle, replaced the cap and returned the sickle to its place. Then I floated my tiara to the altar and removed the tiny green gem from it, from the little visible place behind my ear.

“A piece of jade, with image of zebra carved in it. The image is barely visible, worn from centuries of rubbing against my ear, but it's here, he carved it for me with the tip of his sickle. I shall leave it for you here.” I placed the small green rock in the curve of the sickle and turned to step down.

Four temple guards emerged from one of the side exits, and ran to the bottom of the stairs, wielding ornate spears in their teeth, sharp blades aimed at me dripping with poison, but the guards’ look lacked confidence. And there was Patriarch Varinari following them, bruised, frazzled and with an awful scowl but otherwise healthy.

“Blasphemy! Sacrilege! She broke the third seal and revealed its secret to the public! She must die! Guards, kill her now!”

The guards took a very unsure step up the stairs.

Then a watermelon hit Varinari on his head.

This time the patriarch dropped down like blown. A cheer sounded from all around. “Down with the traitor! Disgrace! Liar! Kill him!”

Watermelon? I looked up. I saw some young zebra far up, on the seventh floor, leaning over the railing, holding a coconut just in case the watermelon wasn’t enough.

The guards dropped their spears and picked up their fallen Patriarch, carrying him away quickly. There was a moment of noise and confusion. Then the young priestess approached from a side exit, flanked by two elder priests. They climbed the stairs of the altar slowly. I stood there unsure what to do next...

She bowed to me.

“Princess, please accept our sincerest apology. Patriarch Varinari won't be bothering you again.”

“Don't hurt him!” I almost shouted in sudden fear.

“Oh, we won't” one of the elder priests said. “The temple has many positions where he will be able to make himself useful.” his look wandered up. “The emerald roof could use good scrubbing.”

The other one, quite ancient-looking smiled gently. “Princess, I didn't expect I'd ever meet a friend of saint Vixor in my life. It's been a honor. You are always a most welcome guest at the Temple.”

“And we should definitely open the secrets of the remaining seals to the public,” the other one added. “I can't imagine how keeping them a secret can bring any good. I mean the third seal goes directly against what vicar Varinari was trying to preach!”

“Vicar?” asked the shocked young priestess.

“You can't expect he will remain the Patriarch after this, sister? Now,” he turned to me, “can we wrap the sermon up, Princess?”

I nodded and stepped down between them as the young priestess took place at the altar. She led the chorus, which sounded especially triumphant as I was heading to the exit...

* * *

Back at the palace me and the two brothers gathered in Zenith's private office, discussing the events.

Zenith assured me the mare who assaulted the patriarch got away with only three or four harmless bruises before his agents showed up and “pacified” the temple guards. I asked what about whoever threw the watermelon... “Well, if the patriarch decides to sue, I guess we'll have a case of defense against attempted murder. I assure you no law of Hippotigria grants priests any right to kill for any alleged sacrilege or blasphemy. Actually, you could press charges for attempted murder, but knowing you...”

“Yes.” I nodded. “I won't.”

Nadir was deep in thought. He'd throw me a glance from time to time. Finally, he spoke his mind. “You two seriously weren't a thing? You and saint Vixor?”

I couldn’t keep my grin back. Nadir jealous about my crush from over two thousands years ago? Sweet! I gave him a light, soft kiss on the mouth. “That's as far as we'd ever go. He was really a saint.” I leaned to Nadir's ear. “And even if things went otherwise and we could be a thing, he would never even think to suggest putting it in my pooper.”

I grinned smugly as Nadir's face flushed red. “Zephyr's a bad influence,” he sighed, shrugging.

Zenit coughed a little. We returned our attention to him.

“It seems we have Xaroth. His second-in-command turned himself in after the sermon. We're wrapping it up. It's only a matter of time until we catch him. He has no supporters, no resources and is wanted everywhere. We've even sent the wanted letters to neighbor countries,” Zenith reported. “Nadir, how's the temporary grain storage?”

“Being assessed. some corridors of the old mine are too damp. An enchantress is leading the rats away. A road is being prepared.”

“Can we start preparing the first train with the transport yet?”

“Yes, the first storage areas will be ready tomorrow. By the end of the week we will have enough to fit all of twenty thousand tons of various grain. A hundred and eighty six equestrian bits a ton...” Nadir’s face soured.

“I’ll give a go-ahead to the train loading crew.” Zenith turned to the exit.

“Wait!!”

We all turned to the source of the last exclamation. It was Zorana, restless, tired but hyperactive, her mouth and nose still brightly purple, the stain not coming off. She was gingerly pushing a cart with a tray loaded with several foodstuffs. Most quite purple in color.

“Celestia, I have to thank you... and Twilight too... Every...one, have a cookie.” She gasped, pointing to a plate loaded with small, plain, round cookies.

“Zorana, I can recognize Funny Cookies. What are you planning?” Nadir asked. Noticing my frown, he explained: “Funny cookies are a common prank item. They change the taste of everything you eat. Apples taste like wood, hay is devilishly spicy...”

“Yes, these are the Funny Cookies!” Zorana explained, agitated. “For the past few days I was fruitlessly trying to do something with the Commoners' Grapes. All in vain. Zoranade was a hit, but after that I hit a wall. Nothing could overcome the taste, and you can only go as far with cloves... Then - a breakthrough!”

I took the cookie and munched on it. Sweet, plain, slightly herbal.

“Chew it until it's entirely salty!” Zorana pranced around the tray. Nadir took another cookie. Zenith took the third.

“So, when I saw how you're changing the hearts of zebras, I wished I could change their tongues. And then I recalled the prank cookies!”

The cookie's taste turned to that of a salty cracker. I smiled and tried a spoonful of a purple jelly with beans and corn. It was deliciously sweet, with a little tang, with the corn seeds resembling walnuts, and the beans giving it a vanilla taste. Nadir tried a spoon of what looked like purple peanut butter. “Mushroom cream?” he exclaimed in surprise. Zenith tried a muffin. “It tastes a little like soy, but better.”

“Beef pate,” explained Zorana. “I don't even know how I know it, I've never tasted beef in my life. I just know it!”

Zenith looked slightly queasy.

“Hey, no cow was harmed in making of this muffin.” Nadir chuckled and took a bite from another one. “So that's the taste of beef.” he shrugged. “I think I could get used to it.”

Sure enough there was a bowl of purple soup with a few mushrooms and some wheat in it (tomato soup taste), a pie with grape and plum cream (cheesecake), pickled diced grape (mozzarella) and big slices of the grape crumbed in coconut and fried (steak). All made with the commoners' grapes and various other common, inexpensive ingredients.

“With this,” Zorana explained, “Entwine has enough food for all, now and forever! We'll just have to dedicate a few local fields for the miracle weed for the cookies.”

“And now if I want to eat normal food again?” Zenith asked.

“Here you are,” Zorana poured a small glass of a glowing drink from a jug.

“Oh, firefly extract, that was fairly obvious. Zorana, I'm really proud to have you for a wife.”

“Local grain traders will be furious.” Nadir smirked. “But the aid package for grain deposits they lost should help them switch businesses to the new cuisine. And let's make sure we can secure as much miracle weed as we can. The price will spike as soon as this gets popular, so we should provide a regulated sales point.”

“Way over my head.” Zorana shrugged. “I'll leave the business side of this to you, I'll just write down the recipes.”

I took a piece of the “steak” (despite the realistic taste, it was not easily confused with the real thing - the inside was glassy semi-transparent purple) and took a big bite. I sighed. At last able to eat beef without guilt, shame and regret... times, when the gryphons would bring frozen, dead cows and we'd thaw and fry and eat them, before we got enough soil cleared to provide vegetables for all the herbivores of Hope. It was my guilty secret, and I never acted on my desires afterwards, but I... liked beef. And this really tasted like the real thing.

Zorana observed us with childish glee. I nodded with appreciation, my mouth too full for speaking. Zenith rolled his eyes up with delight at the sweet jelly. Nadir was finishing his third muffin.

“I'll be back in the kitchen!” she shouted and turned to run. “There's so many dishes to be invented!”

Finally Nadir swallowed his muffin. “She's a true hero, isn't she, Celestia?”

I just nodded, my mouth too full to speak.

* * *

“That's it. Exactly fifteen suspects. All either with undeniable alibi or with crystal clean reputation.”

Twilight was truly inconsolable with her failure to locate the maker of the Starswirl's Evertorch.

“You realize that in face of your family member being held hostage reputation doesn't mean that much?”

“Princess Luna used the truth spell. But I also realize a skilled mage, and all the questioned unicorns qualify as these, can fool that spell. So we're stuck.”

I looked at the list once more.

Fifteen suspects.

One with a bad case of horn fracture, certified unable to cast for past sixteen months.

Two away from Canterlot for at least past six months.

Two academic professors. One so entangled in field research, that he was in Canterlot only twice, with the family. Earth pony wife and neighbors confirm. The other - confirmed not to engage in pyromancy within past year, not even lighting a candle - allergy.

Twilight Sparkle. “Here you must trust my word, Princess.” I did.

Prince Blueblood. Away, on the Moon.

Sir Fancypants. Actually, the primary suspect. Frequent visits to the library. He swore it was not him.

Two students. But one flunked her exam of Wards and Seals, the other can't read a word in Old Scripture, the two might have made the talisman together, but they hate the guts out of each other.

Trixie, Great and Powerful, the. She claimed she was out of Canterlot for past year. This is being checked. Still, her claim to be able to create a Starswirl’s Evertorch is considered dubious.

Cadance. Not possible, period.

Shining Armor. Great caster, frequent library visits, but he has no clue about making talismans.

Luna.

Me.

I sighed. I so wished Sir Fancypants not to be guilty.

“Prince Blueblood?” I frowned.

“His graduation work was a Water Talisman, it still supplies the fountain at the School. True it sometimes spews some green goo, and gossip says he bought it...”

At least the local network of Xaroth's connections was dissolved. The second-in-command identified all the remaining cells within Hippotigria.

We had a word with all of the culprits in the morning. They were all misguided or coerced in one way or another. There wasn't a single one we didn't manage to convince that they erred. Some cried. Some begged for another chance. Some... I was worried about them. They seemed like they'd prefer to select a punishment for themselves. The capital punishment.

Later in the afternoon Nadir and Zenith together judged the cases of all the culprits. And they both served the same sentence for all of them: one year of heavy labor; rebuilding the grain silos, repairing the tannery, work at the harvest and sowing to replenish the grain supply. The sentence would be reduced providing the designated work is finished ahead of time.

There were countless cheers and rejoicing. And many solemn promises that Xaroth Will Pay.

* * *

Nadir visited me in my bedroom in the evening. We kissed and he took my horse collar... no obligations, just some comfort.

“What have you done, you evil, treacherous queen, you!” he nuzzled me tenderly. “I'm being unduly pressured.”

“Into what, my poor, unfortunate minion?” I gathered him under my wing, pulling him close and nibbling his ear gently.

“Master Templar made it known to me in no uncertain terms, that I am to stop trying to discourage you, to marry you and to convince you to join the Temple and become the Master Keeper of the Lore. I tried to convince him that you have too much work as the ruler of Equestria, and would not have time for that. I don't think I convinced him. Anyway, he said that if I manage to make you give up on me, he will make my shameful behavior known to all. I also heard some voices of criticism against Zenith at the Temple...”

“What did he do wrong? The sentences?”

“Oh, no. Everyzeb loves the sentences. It's essence of mercy and justice, making the culprits repair what they broke but not harming them really. He was criticized for marrying Zorana.” he brushed my chin with his mane and let me rest my head on his neck. Apparently the added weight wouldn’t bother him any longer.

“What did poor Zorana do?”

“She took his wife slot. Now he can't marry you, and unlike me, he knows what is good for the country, he'd never hesitate.”

“Poor Zorana. I hope they won't find a way for him to divorce her.”

“They might. We'd better announce the date of the wedding. I still don't know how to break it to them.”

I levitated parchment and quill from a lectern on the far side of the room.

“Very official?”

“Very.”

After pondering deeply on the the actual conditions, pertaining to our Nation today, we have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation.

To strive for the common prosperity and happiness of both nations, as well as for the security and well-being of our subjects, is the solemn obligation which has been handed down by our Royal ancestors and which lies close to our heart. Indeed, we proposed for the hoof of Princess Celestia, out of our sincere desire to ensure Hippotigria’s best interest in the face of threat of diplomatic conflict. We had fought gallantly to avert the consequences of this decision.

The Princess has, however, begun to employ a new most generous tactic, the power which to do good for our land is indeed incalculable, captivating hearts of countless citizens. Should we continue to fight, it would only result in the ultimate demise and obliteration of our royal reputation... but would lead also to the harm of our beloved land of Hippotigria. Such being the case, how are we to satisfy wishes of millions of our subjects, to atone before the hallowed spirits of our Royal ancestors? This is the reason we have ordered the acceptance of the date of wedding between Us and Princess Celestia, set by her benevolent Self as the end of the third week after Summer Solstice.

I held the parchment to him to sign.

“That's a declaration of surrender, isn't it?”

“Slightly paraphrased.”

“I love it.” He signed, making a fancy flourish under his name.

I floated the scroll back to the table and nibbled at his cheek, giving him the look.

“Celestia, dawn of my soul...”

“No, no, no.” I pushed him with my hoof, rolling him on his side, “You're not going to talk me out of this.”

“Oh, no, don't get me wrong, I'd love to... but the collar... I really lack the necessary agility.”

“And I always lack the necessary lightness.” I nuzzled him and pushed further to roll him on his back. “All I need you to do is to lie down like this. Can you do this?”

His lips curled into a wide grin. “Now that's kinky. Not your plain bondage. You may proceed, your highness.”

My magic teased his sheath, coaxing his maleness to sneak out, still soft and wrinkled. I lay my nearly weightless chest on his tummy, holding his soft member between my hooves and taking its soft tip in my teeth. I chewed on it lightly, my tongue pulling it towards my throat, circling the tip, my teeth squeezing it gently. I could see blood flowing into it, making it harder with each second, veins pulsating against my tongue. I pondered taking it deeper, trying to swallow its length. No, not yet. Maybe some day, but my body was not ready for this yet.

Instead, I tried a different trick. A trick Luna had suggested to me one night when we'd talk like sister to sister upon her stars. I let my everflowing mane encompass his slowly hardening stallionhood.

I observed his face. Mmm, that expression made me wet. I could feel my mane transfer his throbs to my skin. And the way his mouth tensed in painful concentration, his chest moved in short, rapid, shallow breaths, his loins tensed to push more of his currently steel hard shaft into my flowing hair...

I could hardly believe Luna when she described the effect it had on Light, but now I had no doubt what would be my special treat for Nadir. I could see the length of his cock tense, then throb, its bottom side sunken by the internal muscles rapidly before returning to its full, bloated shape. His tip extending from the other side of my mane expanded into a wide, flat mushroom shape, shaking rapidly and spurting pre-cum. Then a spasm squeezed his abdomen and the tip shot a spurt of his seed, arcing far away beyond the bed.

I didn't let the next spurt to go to waste, quickly engulfing his engorged tip with my mouth and sucking the next blast of semen in, swallowing quickly, and following up with gentle suckle to extract as much of it as I could. Now that's a nice surprise, a sweet-sour tang of quite pleasant fruity taste, so unlike the bland, salty goo! A side effect of the grapes?

I kept suckling the tasty treat. Ponies would finish within seconds, Zebras were somewhat different - Nadir could go on for nearly a minute and the way his body would tense.... mmm....

Finally his throbs ended, and I kept a good mouthful of his semen, while turning to his face. I brushed his chest with my hoof and leaned to his mouth. He met mine with a kiss, and I let a rich gift of his own cum flow down my tongue into his mouth.

A frown of surprise, a thought, and then a very naughty smile followed by a gulp.

“You magicked it to make it tasty?”

“No. I think it's Zorana's magic. How do you know how it tastes normally anyway?”

“Zephyr.” He shrugged.

“Oh. Of course. I wonder if I should ever get jealous about him.” I chuckled awkwardly.

“When he gets a mane like yours, you might start thinking of him as a competition.”

“Was that this good?”

“I almost passed out. Heh!” he laughed. “I still have your collar on! I completely forgot about it!”

I smiled and lay on his chest.

“You're so light.” He kissed me. “I barely feel you. I heard pegasi are like that.”

“Never been with one. You might ask Luna though.”

“Your sis was naughty with a pegasus?”

“Yes, with a pegasus filly. I could write a book on what I went through to keep the rumors under wraps... so to say...”

“It seems oddly fitting for her. Anyway, on the subject of pegasi...”

“Yes?”

“I heard legends about wingjobs...”

I blushed, retreating shyly.

“Why the sudden blush? You suckle on my rod like it was a sugar cane. You play your magic on it like a flute maestro. You ride me like a cowpony. I suckle on your horn like it was a lollipop. So why the sudden blush about wings?”

“I... they... They cast the shadow upon my subjects during the Summer Sun Celebration. They are... more than just...”

He bit his lip. “And let me guess, the very thought makes you wet?”

“Please, don't... don't ask this of me...”

He pulled me into a tight embrace. “I won't. I understand. But forgive me if I tease you about this sometimes. Your blush is so adorable.” He pecked my mouth with a kiss. “Are they very sensitive?”

“When they are extended, yes. And breaking a pinion hurts bad.”

“Surely you can heal them?”

I shook my head. “It's not quite as simple. I told you they are special. Sure I could regrow a pinion for easier flight. But there are things that simple healing won't restore...”

“Don't tell me. I don't want to know. If I ever lose, if my secrets are stolen from my head, I don't want to expose any of your weaknesses. You've already told me too much.”

“Because I don't ever want to think such a thing could happen.”

“But you must accept that I will eventually pass.”

“I know, and I accept it. I want to be with you when the old age extinguishes the last spark in your eyes. I want to take your last breath with a kiss. And don't you ever feel bad about growing old by me. By me, as long as your breath will last. In my heart for all of eternity.”

“And by you for centuries at least, in our children.” He smiled gently.

The thought filled me with warmth.

“Celestia, I want you to promise me something. After my time comes, don't torment yourself with memories forever. Find yourself a gentle stallion, Don't ever be lonely on my account.”

“Don't talk like that, Nadir. I don't even want to think about that...

“Promise.”

“I promise. For you.”

I kissed him, gently. He smiled. We lay like that for a long while.

His grin grew bigger.

“I can smell it.” he said.

“What?”

“Your moist pussy. Wiggle your butt a little and then ride me like a cowpony.”

“Nadir, you rude ruffian... Why do I even...”

“Because you love it, cotton candy head. And I know it.”

Why do I even...

But then I felt the light pressure on my hindquarters, a bulge getting harder under my belly.

Because I love it, and he knows it.

* * *

It was time to go. While arriving, I was greeted by few who happened by my carriage, curious gawkers. reporters, bystanders. While leaving, the carriage was going through a throng. The whole Entwine gathered to bid me good-bye as I rode in an open carriage, accompanied by Nadir, Twilight and Crystal Clarity, who had armed herself with a pencil this time.

“How are your experiences, Clarity?” I asked. “Any memorable accounts?”

“One very special. I visited the Topside. I was jumped by two mean-looking zebras. They said the place is dangerous, then escorted me and showed around, telling about the life up above, taking me for a dinner and generally being so nice I could not believe when they told a week earlier they'd rob me of all my possessions and more. They were truly exceptionally nice!”

She blushed. I could only guess the reason of the blush, but I didn't pry.

“And how was your stay, my faithful student?”

Twilight was fighting a yawn.

“That library!” she sighed dreamily. “It's bigger than Canterlot Library, older and with many works long thought lost by Ponies.”

“Did you even leave that library, Twilight?”

“Oh, of course! I was in the police lab. And at the crime scenes. And I visited the Academy library too. I even attended a lecture on Mysticism! But best of all, I visited the Dam!” her eyes sparkled. “It's magnificent! The Dam of Pony Valley is nothing compared to it! And the pumps! I took a ride up one of them. You board a small boat and let the pump pull you in, and then the screw inside pulls you with a small pond worth of water all the way to the top through the pipe! It's a little scary, but fun! And how was your stay, Princess? I heard that after the Xaroth's case died down a little, you were spending an awful lot of time in the palace. You must have had a lot of work and none of the fun!”

Nadir suddenly got a fit of cough. I nodded. “Yes, Twilight. It's been very... Tiring.”

I couldn't help grinning when we passed by another newly opened bar with a banner displaying characteristic upside-down pyramid of six black circles. Zorana's invention surely took the city by storm again. She was sometimes nicknamed “the purple-nose princess” after the stain she got on her face while neutralizing the tanning chemicals didn't want to come off, but the name was always uttered with kindness, and suddenly from a decorative article at the side of the Prince she changed into a person deeply respected, loved and valued just as much as her husband.

We climbed the sloping road and emerged upon the suburbs of Topside. The crowd was no less dense, but they didn't just greet and cheer us. They would kneel and bow low in revered silence.

I stood up, surprised. Did I ever get this kind of reception? Not in Canterlot. Not in Penumbra. Not in Hope nor in the Everfree City.

Did I deserve it?

And there were banners. “COME BACK SOON.” Four pictograms, marks of Zenith, Nadir, Zorana and me. Other four pictograms, I didn't recognize two, but there was Vixor's cutie mark next to mine. Banners of Equestria and Hippotigria in a circle.

At last we departed from Entwine and I sat down. Nadir would see us to the borders of the province.

“Maybe you'd consider Entwine as the site of the wedding?” Nadir grinned.

“I might.” I smiled. “Especially that until your suggestion I had no clue who could be the priest to perform the ceremony. Still, is Entwine ready for that kind of wedding?”

“Oh, you mean our poor guests! Well, I guess I could ask the new Patriarch to go to Canterlot too,”

“Anyway, we'll make this a day to remember. Any plans for honeymoon?”

“We can take Quage on his offer. You'd love the mountains. I spent a major part of my childhood there. Forests, meadows, lakes, wild and free but not evil. A wonderful place.”

“Sounds like a place where love can really flourish.”

“You bet. We must get a new jar of the ointment from Zecora.”

I blushed.

Twilight and Clarity exchanged rather confused looks.

I shrugged.

And then there was a downer to my elated mood. Among the banners there was something else. A stuffed, black-bellied zebra made of cloth, hanging from a wooden frame imitating gallows.

Nadir's eyes followed my look.

“Don't worry, Celestia. We will catch him.”

“I'm afraid they will catch him before you.” I looked over the crowds. “And there will be no mercy.”

“And if they try to catch him alive, there may be more victims... And if he’s not caught, he might think up something else too.”

I nodded sadly.