The truth was, Cadance and Shining Armor probably suspected there might be a mole involved. They almost certainly doubted that JAG would send her unaltered personnel files, as that would be basically admitting that they’d been tampering with possible evidence. But moles were not the kind of thing that leaders of nations talked about. Everyone knew they existed, but leaders tended to take a don’t ask don’t tell policy towards them. That way, they would have plausible deniability. If the mole were ever discovered, the leaders could claim they had had no idea that one of their agents was working with a mole.

It had been a long time since Ice had talked to Dolphin, though. She hoped he was still at the Department of Defense. She had no idea what his real name was, of course. Neither did he know what her real name was. He was Dolphin, and she was Darkstar. That’s all either one of them knew. In a way, she liked Dolphin. She supposed it was because she had no idea what he looked like, had never heard his voice, and had no idea what his human name was. That made it easy to pretend he wasn’t human.

Dolphin would certainly be able to get her the personnel files if he was still at the DOD. Unfortunately, she doubted he would be able to get her any of the evidence regarding the case itself. That would likely be stored somewhere where he couldn’t get access to it. But it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

She turned left, passing under the Ponies of Justice before entering her office building and quickly making her way to her own office. Aspen wasn’t there. She sat on her haunches behind her desk, turned on her computer, and began to type.

% sptalk Dolphin

Shadow Ponytalk v 5.8, Connecting to Dolphin …….

Digging SSH tunnel ……….. Tunnel established

Encrypted connection established. Shadowbolt Cypher, 2048 bit key

Exchanging certificates ….. Positive ID established: Dolphin

Dolphin: Hello, Darkstar. It’s been a long time.

Darkstar: Hi, Dolphin. Yes it has. But probably better if we don’t contact each other any more than necessary, yes?

Dolphin: That’s true. What can I do for you?

Darkstar: I need personnel files for the Marines we are holding. You know their names?

Dolphin: I do. Transferring now.

*** File transfer initiated: marine_person.tar.gz.shadowbolt (1284 Kb).

*** Transfer complete.

“That was fast,” Ice said to herself, raising an eyebrow and perking her ears.

Darkstar: Talk about instant service.

Dolphin: Figured you’d contact me and ask for them. Had them already prepared. JAG requested files the other day to send to you, but I was ordered to remove information from them. Think you’ll find the complete files to be interesting reading.

So, her suspicions were correct. The files she had gotten from JAG had been altered.

Darkstar: Thank you. Don’t suppose there’s anything else you can tell me about the case.

Dolphin: Have no access to any case data. Someone’s really keeping a lid on this one.

Ice frowned, but she’d expected as much.

Darkstar: Understood. Thank you for sending the records.

Dolphin: You owe me.

Darkstar: I know I do.

Connection closed.

%

Ice quickly moved the transferred file to a hoof drive, then inserted the hoof drive into another computer that wasn’t connected to the network. She trusted Dolphin enough to accept electronic files from him, but she wasn’t about to open them on a computer that was connected to the network, just in case. The archive he sent her was encrypted, and she used the password they had previously agreed upon for exchanging documents to unlock and uncompress it. Then, she ran a virus scan on it just to be safe. Impatience built inside her as she waited for the scan to finish, like when she had been a filly waiting to open a present on Hearth’s Warming. What wonderful gifts were waiting for her inside these files? Now she just had one more decision to make. Whose gift did she want to open first? Boyd’s? Or Stetson’s? She couldn’t decide which one of the humans infuriated her more. She decided to look at Boyd’s file first. He was the one who’d had the nerve to ask about her wings, after all. Now, she’d see what dark secrets were hiding in his past. She opened Boyd’s file with the giddiness of that same foal tearing open the wrapping on the Hearth’s Warming present, eyes wide as she waited for a glimpse of what might be inside. When the file had finished loading, she quickly scanned over the first couple of pages. There was nothing new on them she hadn’t already seen. She turned the page, and her eyes froze, locking onto a section in bold print that had definitely not existed in the original files she’d been sent. Her jaw dropped open as she read:

NAVY CROSS

On November 14, 2013, Sergeant Boyd, at extreme risk to his own life and going well above and beyond the call of duty, threw himself into the line of fire to protect an Afghan elementary school from a sudden attack by insurgent forces. Sergeant Boyd, together with two companions, then proceeded to hold off an attack by 36 insurgents for the next fifteen minutes until reinforcements could arrive. During the entire time, Sergeant Boyd kept himself in front of the elementary school children, with only a plaster wall to shield him from incoming insurgent fire. Sergeant Boyd and his two companions exchanged fire with the insurgents through windows and doors, preventing them from approaching or entering the school building. As a result of the actions of Sergeant Boyd and his two companions, not a single child was killed in the incident. There is no doubt that the heroic actions of Sergeant Boyd and his two companions saved the lives of 84 children, who would most likely have been killed by the insurgents if Sergeant Boyd and his two companions had not seen the situation that was developing and intervened.

For a long time, Ice simply stared at the piece of paper in front of her. She shook her head once, wondering if she had read something wrong, and then read through the commendation again. She put Boyd’s file aside, then read through the files for the other two MARSOC soldiers, finding similar commendations. All three were Navy Cross recipients. All three had been at the school on November 14th, 2013, and saved those school children.

She put the files aside, reeling at the new information. All three of the MARSOC soldiers sitting in the dungeon were Navy Cross recipients? And they had received those medals for throwing themselves into a practically suicidal situation to save the lives of school children? For the first time since learning about this case, Ice begin to wonder if perhaps … just maybe … the humans were telling the truth. What if they really weren’t guilty of killing the allied militia commander? But if they weren’t, then why were they being framed for it? Why would the U.S. Marines want to frame three Navy Cross recipients of all people for murder?

Ice added the new personnel files to the existing files on the case, relieved now that she had rescued the old ones from the trash. Now, she had proof that Reid wasn’t just withholding evidence from her. He was being downright deceptive and trying to mislead her about who the prisoners in her custody actually were.

She stepped out of her office, walking outside and making her way towards the palace. Cadance might be asleep by now, but this was worth waking her up over.

It was well into the night, but the streets of Crystal City were still noisy, the outdoor patios of the restaurants lining the sidewalks still full of ponies enjoying the beginning of the weekend. But Ice paid no attention to them at all this time. She turned the case over and over in her mind, wracking her brain with the details. If the prisoners were innocent, then why had they run? There was no way they could have learned about the murder before the time they left the airfield. At least, that’s what Reid had told her. The times given by the air traffic controllers in their statements seemed to confirm that he was telling the truth about when the prisoners had left the airfield. Could the air traffic controllers have lied about the times? Could someone else have altered their statements before sending them to her? There was one way to find out. She’d contact the Pegasus Guard at CHF tomorrow and have them pull the flight data recorders from the C-130. The data recorders would have a timestamp for when the wheels of the aircraft actually left the ground. The only potential problem with that was that she didn’t know if the Pegasus Guard had the equipment to read the information on the flight data recorder. After all, it wasn’t something they would have to do on a regular basis. She immediately ruled out the idea of sending it to Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the aircraft, and having them read it. Lockheed would probably send the recorder to the Marines and she’d never see it or any of the information on it again. Dolphin seemed like the best bet if the Pegasus Guard couldn’t read it.

But even if the statements from the air traffic controllers were accurate, there was the possibility that the statements from the witnesses who had seen the soldiers and heard the gunshot were not. What if the times on those statements had been altered? Originally, she had thought that the reason Reid had refused to give her the names or contact information of the witnesses was because he was trying to make sure she wouldn’t have enough evidence to try the case in the Crystal Empire, which would force her to extradite. But what if there was a far more sinister reason he didn’t want her to be able to talk to the witnesses?

But none of that explained why they had run, or what they were doing in the area of the murder. Reid had said none of the village residents had been able to account for the whereabouts of the soldiers at the time of the murder, including the ones who were known to engage in prostitution. But she doubted whether any of the prostitutes would have been willing to admit they had been with the soldiers. She didn’t know a great deal about Afghanistan, but she did know that prostitution was a relatively serious crime, and that under the Taliban, it had even been punishable by death. It wasn’t anymore. Not since the fall of the Taliban. But still, if the wrong person were to find out … suffice it to say, there would be good reasons for the prostitutes to keep their mouths shut, even if they had been guaranteed anonymity.

But that still left her no closer to an answer. Why had they run if they were innocent? And why refuse to answer questions if they were innocent? Even if they had been visiting a prostitute, she thought it unlikely they would go to all this trouble because of that, especially given her thoughts that the prostitutes wouldn’t talk. There were only two explanations that seemed possible for why they had run:

Either they were involved in the crime, or they knew they were going to be framed for the crime. And how could they know they were going to be framed for the crime that soon after it had happened?

A far more sinister theory began to brew in her mind. Is it possible that they had been ordered to kill the allied militia commander? That it had been an assassination mission gone bad because witnesses had seen it happen? And after that, the U.S. Government decided to disavow all knowledge of the mission and throw their operatives under the train instead? After all, the three Marines were MARSOC. Just the type who would be called upon to carry out such a black ops mission. The assassination mission theory seemed to explain a lot of her unanswered questions. If the prisoners knew they had botched the mission and been seen by witnesses, then they’d probably surmise that the U.S. Government was going to disavow any knowledge of the mission and they were likely to be framed for murder. After all, it would be a major disaster to the American mission in Afghanistan if it were to be known that the U.S. Government had ordered the assassination of a friendly militia commander. It would also explain why the prisoners were refusing to answer her questions. If they claimed they had been ordered to carry out the murder, it would be their word against the word of the U.S. Government. They’d have no evidence to back up their claim that they were following orders. And in the process, they would have effectively confessed to murder. Yes, this theory definitely explained a lot of things.

Of course, right now, all she had was a theory that explained a lot of seemingly unexplainable behavior from both the prisoners and from Reid. Right now, she couldn’t prove anything. Somehow, she had to figure out what had actually happened, and she had to be able to prove it. She frowned and laid her ears back. There was one thing she knew for sure: If the U.S Government didn’t want her to find the evidence that they had given the order for an assassination, then there was no way in Tartarus she was going to find it. It would be far too devastating to their mission in Afghanistan for them not to have made absolutely certain that every possible loose end was tied up, every possible leak sealed.

She turned and followed the wide road leading up to the palace entrance. At this time of night, the heavy iron gates were closed. Four thestrals from Luna’s own Night Guard were on duty. It was rare to see thestrals guarding the Crystal Palace these days. At one time, it had been common. But that was in the first year or two after the reappearance of the Crystal Empire, before the Crystal Guard had been formed. But as the Crystal Guard began to take shape, the Equestrian military began to pull out of the Crystal Empire. That was as planned. The Equestrian military’s presence in the Crystal Empire had always been a temporary solution until the Crystal Guard was ready to take over all of the military duties of the fledgling empire. But even now, once in awhile, Equestrian soldiers still filled in for gaps in the Crystal Guard military forces. The plan was for Equestria to completely withdraw its military forces from the Crystal Empire by the end of next year.

“The palace is not receiving guests at this time. You will need to come back tomorrow, sometime earlier,” one of the guards spoke in a gruff voice.

“I must speak with Their Majesties, about one of my cases.”

The guard hesitated for a moment, looking at one of his companions. The companion simply shrugged and nodded. The other guard turned his attention back to Ice.

“If it weren’t for the fact that you used to be one of us, I’d say no. But I’ll allow you in.”

Ice bristled at the statement. How could the guard be so insulting? He had come right out and told her she used to be a thestral. Used to be a bat pony. But she wasn’t anymore because she didn’t have wings. But then, just as quickly as she had lost it, her rational mind took over again. Of course, that’s not what the guard meant at all. Her eroding psyche had twisted the ambiguous nature of the guard’s words into an insult. A sick feeling, like a taint of cyanide shuddered through her as she realized she had briefly contemplated attacking the guard for his statement and showing him just how much of one of them she used to be. Not only would that have been irrational, but it would have been foolish. With her Bat Team Alpha training, she could have easily taken one of the guards. But there were four of them there. They would have had her subdued quickly enough. And then she would be joining the humans as a guest in the dungeon. She was poisoning herself with this whole thing she realized with a shiver. How much longer would it be before she completely lost her mind?

“Thank you, sir,” she said with a nod of respect toward the guard, trying to keep her anger focused on those who deserved it instead of on the guard. Although, a very small but noticeable new voice had joined the others in her mind. A voice that asked her if just maybe, the one who deserved her anger was herself.

The thestral turned around and knocked on the large iron doors. “One to enter. Special business.”

There was a loud sound of clanking metal as the guards on the other side of the doors released the huge bars holding them shut. The doors began to swing outwards, and the iron grating on the other side began to rise. She made her way under the grating as soon as it was high enough to clear her head and continued on her way through the courtyard to the palace entrance. After being stopped two more times at two different gates and explaining herself, she was on her way to the living quarters area of the palace. She was stopped once more by the Crystal Guards at the entrance to the royal apartment, but they allowed her to enter after she gave a brief explanation.

“It may be a few minutes, ma’am. Their Majesties are in bed and will need to be woken up.”

“Thank you.” Ice nodded. She was glad Shining Armor would be in on this conversation. For what she had planned, she might need his support … Assuming he’d grown a pair since the beginning of this investigation and was ready to stand up to his wife.

As she waited, she noted the stark contrast between Cadance and Shining Armor’s apartment, and Luna’s apartment back at Canterlot Castle. The apartment here shined with crystal and pink quartz. Red roses decorated the fireplace mantle and also sat at the center of the coffee table in the middle of the room. The crystal in the room reflected the light of the bright lanterns on the wall, amplifying it and giving the room a bright and warm appearance.

Luna’s apartment, on the other hoof, looked more like a gothic vampire hideout. Her fireplace was constructed of black obsidian with dark blue and purple patterns running through it, such that it resembled looking at a nebulous area of deep space through a telescope. Gargoyle-like bats were carved into the mantle above her fireplace, appearing to stare down at visitors, their fangs exposed as if they were about to come to life, fly down from the mantle, and make a bloodmeal out the guests in the room. Luna’s receiving area was sparsely lit with only a few lanterns mounted on the wall. What light the lanterns did emit, did not reflect around the room. Instead, it seemed to be absorbed by the matte gray walls as if it were being sucked into a black hole. Instead of the bright, sparkling crystal tables that adorned Cadance and Shining Armor’s apartment, Luna’s furnishings were carved from deep onyx stone.

Ice looked at the tea set on the table by the wall, and remembered Luna’s tea set. Luna’s was carved from dark stone rather than cast from gold and silver. The handle on the lid of the kettle was shaped like a bat with its wings extended, its mouth open just enough to show fangs. The bat looked like it might fly off the top of the tea kettle at any moment and sink those fangs into some unsuspecting guest. It was no wonder the speculation still persisted in some circles that the thestrals were vampire ponies, given they served a monarch who felt she had a responsibility to be the Queen of Goth in addition to the Princess of the Night. There was even a crazy rumor floating around that thestrals did not sexually reproduce, but rather created more of themselves by biting other ponies and turning them into thestrals. Everything in Luna’s apartment had a dark matte finish, seeming as if were intentionally designed to capture and devour light rather than reflect it. Ice wondered if Luna’s aesthetic tastes were a remnant from her time spent as Nightmare Moon. Some aspect of the Dark Queen that had survived being zapped by the Elements of Harmony.

All that said, Ice much preferred Luna’s dark, gothic apartment to the bright, cheery, pink and red of the apartment she was in now. Well, all except for one thing. The floor in Luna’s apartment was full of night-colored rugs covered in silver star constellations. The stars on the rugs twinkled and glowed with an unnatural light that Ice assumed must be magic in nature. The glowing star rugs gave the illusion of strolling among the stars in the night sky. Ice had come to hate that aspect of Luna’s apartment. It reminded her of a time when she’d been able to fly. Thinking about it now also reminded her of part of the reason she had requested transfer to the Crystal Empire. Everything about Canterlot reminded her too much of a past she was trying to forget. There was also the Crystal Heart. Ice didn’t actually believe in the power of the Crystal Heart. She considered it an ancient relic that was treated as a sacred item by ponies who didn’t know any better. But as a last resort, she had hoped that by moving close to it, perhaps it would help her psyche heal. In the end, she had decided that it had not. Only her will of iron and her own hard work had put back together her fragile mind, which was now threatening to shatter again. Perhaps her repair job had not been as good as she’d thought.

A door at the other side of the room opened, and Cadance and Shining Armor both stepped inside. Cadance, she noticed, was not wearing any of her royal regalia. Both Cadance and Shining Armor had bad cases of bed mane, with tangles knotting both their manes and tails. Ice bowed, but Cadance shook her head.

“No need for that. So what brings you here so late?”

“New evidence, and new questions about the case.”

“Go on,” Cadance prompted.

“As I suspected, the original personnel files I was sent were missing information. A rather big piece of information as it turns out. The three MARSOC marines are Navy Cross recipients. They saved a school of more than eighty children from an attack by insurgents at extreme risk to their own lives.”

She didn’t go into the details, there was no reason to at this point. If the two Royals hadn’t been fully awake before, their wide-eyed expressions made it clear that they were now.

“That’s definitely an interesting development,” Cadance said. “So what are your thoughts at this point?”

Ice shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense. Why would three soldiers, all Navy Cross recipients, murder a friendly militia commander in cold blood? And why didn’t JAG want me to know they were Navy Cross recipients? Why didn’t they want me to know about their heroic actions at the school? Right now, I’m thinking either they are innocent and are being framed, or it was an assassination that they were ordered to carry out, and now their own government is using them as scapegoats. The second possibility is the one that I think is most likely. But either of those scenarios, we clearly cannot extradite. And if I am to do anything with the circumstantial evidence we have, I at least need to find motive. Right now, I have no motive at all. I don’t even have any ideas about possible motive.”

“And how do you intend to find it if JAG won’t cooperate with you?” Cadance asked.

“Well, that’s what I came to you so late in the night for. I uh … need authorization for a trip.”

“A trip? To where?” The suspicious, accusing tone in Cadance’s voice and her lowered eyes made it clear that she already knew the answer to her own question. But Ice answered anyway.

“Afghanistan.”

Cadance frowned, but Shining Armor gave no visible reaction. Then, Cadance shook her head slightly and spoke again.

“No. You know how dangerous Afghanistan is right now. I will not put you in that kind of danger.”

She turned her eyes to Shining Armor. Come on Shiny, grow a pair of balls and stand up to your wife, she thought again, just as she had thought at the first meeting. But once again, all she said was “My Lord?”

Shining Armor turned his attention to Cadance. “Ice is former Bat Team Alpha, Cady. No one who decided to attack her or attempt to … take advantage of her, would fare very well. Ice is more than capable of taking care of herself.”

“I am well aware of the combat prowess of Bat Team Alpha members, dear. It’s not how she’d fare in a close quarters combat situation that concerns me. It’s getting caught in the crossfire of a gunfight, or being the victim of a roadside bomb that worries me.”

“Both situations which she is trained to avoid,” Shining Armor responded.

“If I may speak?” Ice interjected. Both Royals turned their attention to her.

“Please, add your thoughts,” Cadance said.

“Thank you,” Ice said with a nod. “I’m aware that travel to Afghanistan is a risk. But I don’t see where we have any other options if truth and justice are to be upheld. Clearly, given what we know right now, we can’t extradite the humans. Nor can we charge them with any crime and try them under our own laws. But we can’t grant them asylum either, given the circumstantial evidence that they may be guilty of murder. So what do we do with them? Keep them locked in the dungeon indefinitely? Clearly we cannot do that. The Uniform Code of Pony Justice does not allow for indefinite imprisonment without trial and conviction. So what are we to do with them?”

Cadance nodded with a frown. “You’re right, of course. We cannot. But what do you plan to do when you get to Afghanistan?”

“I don’t know yet. But even if I did know, it would be better if I didn’t tell you.”

Cadance narrowed her eyes at that, but Shining Armor gave no reaction. As the former High Commander of Equestrian forces, Shining Armor was well aware that it was better to have a don’t ask, don’t tell attitude when it came to Bat Team Alpha black ops. Plausible deniability at work again. Shining Armor knew better than to ask what a Bat Team Alpha operative planned to do to accomplish their mission objective. Cadance did not. The two Royals looked at each other, the unspoken question passing between them. Finally, Shining Armor spoke up.

“She’ll be fine, Cady. She’s trained for this. Let her go.”

Cadance bowed her head slightly in acquiescence before turning back to Ice. Her ears were lowered, leaving no doubt that she was not happy about this.

“Very well. I will bow to my husband’s far greater knowledge of Bat Team Alpha capabilities and training on this issue. But please remember, Ice, it has been twenty years since you were active in Bat Team Alpha. Please be careful and do not take any unnecessary risks.”

“I promise I will be careful, Your Majesty.” Way to go, Shiny! So you’re not a gelding after all!

“When can you be ready to leave?” Shining Armor asked.

“In two hours, My Lord. I need to go home and pack, and then I need to stop back at my office and leave a note for the Pegasus Guard at CHF to pull the flight data recorder from the aircraft. JAG could be lying to me about the timeline of events, but the flight data recorder won’t lie.”

“Very well. I will arrange for a transport to pick you up at your office in two hours. I suppose you’d better go get ready.”

“Thank you, My Lord,” Ice said, bowing to the two Royals before turning. The door glowed with a golden aura as Cadance opened it with her magic, and Ice stepped outside.

As she made her way back to her home, she broke into a trot, even though she had plenty of time. She smiled to herself, thinking about the mission that lay ahead. Infiltration into a dangerous area, encounters with potential hostiles. It was almost like old times. Like she would be able to relive her days as a Bat Team Alpha member. Granted, she didn’t have any intention of getting into a combat situation on this mission. But not all Bat Team Alpha missions involved combat anyway. Some of the missions she had been on during the Contact War had just been deep penetration recon and intelligence gathering missions. Despite the fact that she didn’t yet know what she was going to do when she got to Afghanistan, she expected this mission would be somewhat similar to those. And if she did end up in a combat situation? Well, Cadance’s concerns were unfounded. Ice had been careful to keep herself in fighting shape for the last twenty years. And she knew she still had what it takes.

She entered her apartment, quickly going to her bedroom and pulling two oversized saddlebags out of her closet and tossing them onto the bed. Then, she scanned the dresses, skirts, and other such clothing hanging in her closet. Yes, the large collection of garments she had collected for covering her wing joints would be useful now. She began to take the clothing out of the closet and carefully pack it into the saddlebags. By the time she had finished, she had packed basically all of the clothes she owned. One could easily be excused for thinking she had gone soft and vastly over-packed, especially for a former soldier who knew how to survive on almost nothing. But given she still didn’t know what she was actually going to do when she got to Afghanistan, she wasn’t sure how she was going to have to dress. One could never have too many clothing choices when working on undercover special operations missions.

When she’d finished packing her clothes, she threw her brush and other personal grooming tools into one of the saddlebags. She also made sure to pack her UV blocking sunglasses. She strongly suspected she’d have to be out at least a little bit during the day, and thestrals couldn’t see well during the day unless they wore dark sunglasses. She tried to close the saddlebags. No way the latches were going to reach. The bags were too overstuffed. She yanked them off onto the floor, then climbed on top of one and sat on it to compress it down. That worked. She did the same to the other one. When she’d secured both of them, she slung them across her back. With as much as she’d packed into the bags, she estimated the two of them combined weighed over two hundred pounds. Thank Luna she’d done all that physical training to get herself into earth pony like shape.

She left her apartment and started towards her office. As the initial shock of seeing that three of the marines were Navy Cross recipients began to wear off, she once again begin to think they were guilty of murder. After all, even if they had been ordered to kill the friendly militia commander, they should have refused to do it. Sure, they might have saved the lives of more than eighty school children. But that was then and this is now. And if it had been an order, well, all the more reason to hate and distrust the humans. All of them. Why trust any species that would kill their own friends as soon as it’s convenient to do so? The friends who were helping them in a war no less? Yes, humans were conniving, murderous savages. Rotten all the way to the core. This case would only prove it.

She climbed the stairs to her office, passing under the Ponies of Justice, and went inside. When she reached her office, she took out a piece of paper and began to leave a note for Aspen.

Aspen,

Please contact the Pegasus Guard at CHF and ask them to pull the flight data recorders on the C-130. If possible, have them analyze the data and send me a report. Specifically, I am interested in what time the wheels left the ground in Afghanistan, and what time they deviated from their flight plan and began flying on their course to the Crystal Empire.

Thanks,

Ice Moon

She folded the letter and dropped it in his inbox. It would be a good task for the intern.

She looked at the clock on her wall, then left her office, stepping outside again, to the sight of an unmarked, covered chariot waiting for her, pulled by two transport pegasi of the Crystal Guard.

“Good evening, sirs. I hope the night finds you well?” she said greeting them.

“Good evening, ma’am,” The higher ranking of the two responded. “I must say our destination has me burning with curiosity, though I know you can’t tell me anything.”

“I have a feeling you’ll know what this is all about soon enough,” she responded. If her theory was correct that this had been an assassination and she could find the evidence to support it? This was going to be all over the international news within the next few days.

She unbuckled her saddlebags, slinging them into the chariot with her mouth, then climbed in and closed the door. After a short takeoff run, she the chariot pitched up and was airborne. Briefly, she looked out the window as the lights of Crystal City dropped away beneath them. In a near panic, she checked herself, shut her eyes as if the Sun had suddenly risen in front of them, and yanked the curtains closed, securing them with the velcro along the edges. She felt the pain go through her again. Seeing the ground recede beneath them had sent the memories of when she used to be able to fly cannonballing into her. She had avoided flying on chariots for the last twenty years, always taking the train instead. This was an all too painful reminder of why. But even more important, she didn’t want to know what Crystal City looked like from the air. That was one of things that had tormented her before she’d moved away from Canterlot. She’d flown over Canterlot so many times that she had a near perfect aerial photograph of the entire city stored in her mind. That meant that pretty much every time she walked the streets of Canterlot, images would enter her mind of what various buildings and monuments looked like from the air. Images that were only memories she’d never be able to see again. At least not under her own power. Here, at least, those images didn’t torment her. She could walk the streets of Crystal City in ignorant bliss, having no knowledge at all of what anything looked like from the air. She wanted to keep it that way.

She comforted herself with the knowledge that the humans in the dungeon would pay soon enough. And when this story broke to the international news after she proved her theory correct, all of America would pay with them. Despite her emotional turmoil, she smiled.

Princess Cadance sat in the receiving room of her royal apartment in the Crystal Palace, taking a sip of chamomile tea and setting the white porcelain teacup down on the silver serving tray on the table in front of her. Gradually, the tea began to calm her and help restore her normal serenity. The human prisoners in the dungeon below the palace had thrown her off balance. She’d been fine with it at first, but these new developments had her rattled. When it had looked like it was going to be a simple case of navigational error, it had been like she was standing in a small puddle, not even deep enough to rise above her shoes and get her fur wet. But now, the case had become an ocean, and she felt she was in way over her head and about to drown. By alicorn standards, and by the standards of royalty, she was still young and, at least in her own estimation, very inexperienced. This was really the first major international incident she’d ever had to deal with, not including the changeling invasion of Canterlot. Sure, she and her husband might have saved the day and ended the invasion, but Canterlot was Celestia and Luna’s domain. She and Shining Armor had really just been soldiers in that incident. This was the first time an international diplomatic incident had ever landed directly on her own doorstep.

“Your Majesty?” one of the two Crystal Guards stationed at the door called to her. “Princess Celestia is here to see you.”

Cadance nodded and sat up a little straighter, trying to look the part of a confident monarch who was in control of the situation. “Thank you. Please send her in.”

The two Crystal Guards turned and drew back the security bar holding the golden doors shut, then opened them. The snow-white alicorn Princess of the Sun entered, stopping when she was through the door, placing one foreleg in front of her and folding the other underneath her as she gave a low bow. Cadance had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

“Please, Celestia, rise. You know you don’t have to bow to me.”

“The Crystal Empire is your kingdom, Your Majesty,” Celestia said in a mentoring voice as she came up from her bow. “It is proper to show respect to a friendly monarch when meeting them in their own kingdom.” A hint of a smile formed on the white alicorn’s muzzle.

“Ever the teacher,” Cadance said with a chuckle and rolled her eyes. Celestia stepped forward and the two of them embraced, wrapping their forelegs around each other.

“There is always more to learn. And I will always be here for you and Twilight, even though the two of you aren’t officially my students anymore.” The two of them released each other and Celestia moved to the other side of the table, sitting down across from Cadance.

“Thank you for answering my summons so quickly,” Cadance said, then used her magic to reheat the pot of tea on the silver tray. It only took a few seconds until steam began to rise from the spout. She levitated the teapot, pouring a second cup of tea for Celestia and setting it down in front of her. Celestia nodded in thanks.

“Of course. It is good to see you again. I assume this is about the human Marines?”

Cadance nodded in response, feeling nervousness start to build in her again like butterflies hatching from cocoons in her stomach. “I’ve never had to deal with an international incident before. Especially not one involving humans … And I’m worried ….” She trailed off, moving her gaze slightly to the floor. She was supposed to be a princess. The sovereign ruler of an empire. But she certainly didn’t feel like one right now.

“You’re worried that your decisions could end up further straining already tense relations between the United States and the Crystal Empire,” Celestia finished for her.

“Yes. Yes, that’s it exactly,” Cadance admitted with a nod. Celestia smiled in response.

“I understand. You are the Element of Love. It’s in your nature to want to make friends with everyone, and to have good relations with everyone. And that is a very admirable quality that will serve you well. It will make you a great a ruler who will be loved by everyone. Pony and non-pony alike.”

Cadance smiled slightly at the elder alicorn’s praise, feeling her spirits lift somewhat. But it did nothing to boost her confidence that she wouldn’t botch the handling of this case.

“Celestia, I … I want you to take over this case. When it was a simple navigation error, that was one thing. But now … I’m in it up to the tip of my horn. We are a vassal of Equestria, and I don’t yet have the experience in foreign policy to deal with an international –” Celestia was already shaking her head and frowning slightly. Cadance felt her stomach start to tighten up.

“I can’t, Cadance. Yes, The Crystal Empire is a vassal of Equestria. But our vassalage agreement exists only to help you and Shining Armor get the Empire on its hooves after the extensive damage done by King Sombra. Primarily, to maintain a military presence in The Crystal Empire until you’ve been able to build and train a proper army. But our agreement does not allow me to have any jurisdiction over domestic affairs or policy in the Crystal Empire. Nor does it give me any authority over judicial matters. You are the ruler of the Crystal Empire, Cadance. And you must do what you think is right and just.”

“But what if I don’t do the right thing? What if I screw this up?” Cadance asked, lowering her ears and casting her gaze on the floor.

“You won’t Cadance. If you remain true to your Element of Love, and you act out of love, then I have complete faith that you will do the right and just thing.”

Cadance looked up and Celestia smiled at her, then lifted a forehoof and rested it gently on her shoulder. The two of them embraced again.

“Thank you for your advice, Celestia.”

“You are very welcome,” Celestia responded before pulling away from the hug.

Cadance felt a little bit more confident thanks to her mentor’s confidence in her. She was still nervous, but at the same time, she knew that if she were going to be ruler of the Crystal Empire, these kind of decisions and situations were something she would need to learn to deal with. She forced herself to put on a smile.

“Thank you again for coming, Celestia.”

“I am glad I could be of service, Your Majesty,” Celestia said, taking a few steps back and bowing low again. Cadance rolled her eyes before responding.

“Now get out of here before I have you thrown in the dungeon for disobeying my request that you not bow to me,” she said lightheartedly and with a grin. Celestia grinned back with a slightly trollish expression before turning and leaving. Next Chapter: VIII Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 41 Minutes