One month ago…

Luna found herself impatiently tapping a hoof on her cushion. It had become a regular occurance to sit around Celestia’s meeting table. The usual ponies were gathered and they idly drank their coffees and talked about upcoming summer plans. Nothing of particular was said as they were waiting for their final and newest member to finally bother to show up. Eventually an exasperated raspberry was blown by Starlight Glimmer.

“While I do enjoy just waiting around for late ponies, I would like to get this meeting started.” She huffed. “And if the Great and ever-so-punctual Starswirl the Bearded would show up I would actually like to do the calculation for Subject G this time.”

A curious crackling sound similar to a flickering candle caught everypony’s attention. Near the cushion that remained empty a small white bob of smoke fizzled into existence. It began to spark with short burst of bright white lightning bolts as it expanded to about the size of a buckball. The ball of smoke and light then condensed to pinprick of snow white before a loud crack! echoed around the room accompanied by a bright flash. Luna blinked away the stunning noise and light to have her senses focus on the familiar face of her old teacher.

“Speak of the devil and he doth appear.” she giggled at Starswirl’s excellent timing.

“Sorry for being late.” Starswirl said to nopony in particular as he dusted himself off. “It's not everyday that I have to teleport halfway across the world on such short notice.” He finished.

“Starswirl!” Twilight and Sunburst yelled. They instantly became rattling off questions about what he had been doing and how big or difficult the spell that brought him here was. Luna noticed that Starlight did not show the same enthusiasm but rather fondly smiled at her friends’ behavior. Luna could hardly blame Starlight, Starswirl had the tendency be very strict and brazen with his judgements. His doubting personality did little to help that bit either. Given the achievements Starlight had garnered through her reformation and redemption it was no surprise she had a dislike for Starswirl’s harsh attitude.

Joining in with the other ponies Luna greeted her old teacher in an effort to not over-empathize with Starlight and calm her nerves. Starswirl was probably going to behave just as he always did, and if she was being honest that usually led to trouble. It was not long before the greetings and formalities died away, the lump in her throat growing as the old stallion cleared his own.

“Now Celestia, while it is indeed always a treat to visit,” he began, “Do you mind telling me why you have summoned me here?”

“Well..um. Yes about that.” Celestia responded folding her ears sheepishly. “I actually called you here because somepony else asked me to.” Starswirl furrowed his brow and adjusted his pointy blue hat in his usual inquisitive way.

“Then who asked you to do that? If it was not you behind this gathering of minds…” he looked around the room failing to notice who was standing behind him. Luna waited as the only remaining silent member of the gathering stepped away from the room’s windows.

“That was me.” Stormwalker said as he slipped up into the empty space between the wall and the table, silently, regardless of the armor he wore. Starswirl jumped from the other stallion’s sudden emergence from the shadows cast by the curtains.

“And who might you be, oh-determiner-of-Celestia’s-will?” The old mage said as he recovered turning to face Stormwalker.

“Jee. Ey. Stormwalker, at your service.” the pegasus bowed. Luna felt herself shiver as he briefly caught her eyes as he rose back up before directing his gaze fully to Starswirl. Sometimes she wished he would pick better times to give her those eyes, but no matter the timing she was always glad he did. An indistinguishable grumbling came from Starswirl making her also look at him.

“Hmm...where have I heard that name before…” the older stallion mused.

“They’re...initials…” Stormwalker responded rather tepidly.

“No, no. Your last name. It is a family name, correct?” Starswirl amended.

“That was fast. Should I direct you to think of your younger years too while I’m at it?” came the snarked answer. Starswirl’s only retort was to stare back up at Stormwalker his eyes squinted and his muzzle pinched in concentration. The tightness in Luna’s throat started to increase as she slowly watched Starswirl come to the conclusion her stallion had predicted he would.

“You are...you are one of those..Stormwalkers..aren’t you? The Cirran Lord sort of Stormwalker.” Starswirl’s voice was soft and measured. He lowered his eyes to the floor shrouding his face with the brim and bells of his hat.

“Kinda figured you would recognize m-” started the grand stallion before he was cut off by an instant hissing similar to a swarm of angry bees. Even while scrutinizing the situation Luna was certain she missed most of what happened. Without so much as lifting his head Starswirl had summoned and used some plethora of blades, each impacting and creating a disturbingly wet thwump! In the same instant the wizened mage had fired at least four spells into Stormwalker’s face each sparkling and dazzling with their own unique color and hiss.

“That should take care of him.” Starswirl said matter-of-factly. He flipped his bowed head up before turning around to look around the group. Luna was pleased to see it was not only herself that was frowning in dismay at Starswirl. Starlight was full on glaring at him while Twilight gaped in shock. Celestia was even looking rather peeved which frankly was not a good sign. Now it all hinged on how her stallion would react.

“Ouch.” Stormwalker said with annoyed tinge to his voice. All eyes instantly switched to focus on him. The ponies gathered beheld a strange sight. A pair of blades stuck out of the big stallion’s head, several more protruded from his neck. Between the plating of his armor near his chest and heart he resembled a red and grey pincushion. Standing there with a frustrated look on his face Stormwalker’s wing reached up to pull out the horizontally stabbed blade from his temple almost as if by reflex.

“What was I going to say?” he asked the air as he turned his head about, causing the wounds on his neck to start flowing with blood. Meanwhile the blade he had grabbed was discarded to the floor staining the carpet with his icor as it thumped down.

“HOW ARE YOU EVEN TALKING!?” Starlight boomed.

“Wha? Sorry I really need to uh...uh-get this sword out..of my head, it's hard to think like...this. Believe…….me.” Stormwalker responded blandly through several vacant pauses. Starlight fainted which was certainly the most normal of reactions in Luna’s opinion. She herself had vomited then fainted when she had first witnessed Stormwalker absorb otherwise lethal damage. Demon with god-like regenerative powers or not, there was something inherently unsettling about watching him take blows like these today. Another thump indicated the blade had been removed and Luna looked back up at her stallion.

“Oh! It’s all coming back to me now!” he said cheerily. “Very impressive Starswirl!” he smiled reaching up to his neck with a hoof this time. “Eighteen strikes and six spells, each a unique dispel or a curse, in under half-a-second!”

The next sword he had been working on slipped out of his neck and landed near a now totally white Sunburst. The young scholar flinched instinctively at the weapon falling down near him but otherwise remained stock still.

“If it was anyone else I’m sure they would be deader than a doornail! Very well done.” Stormwalker continued to congratulate his attacker. The remaining blades in the stallion’s jugular were pulled free and tossed to the floor in a clamor of thumps and clangs. He then became tugging on the remaining number stuck in his torso, grunting as he tried to slipping them past his overlapping plates like his attacker had.

“Sorry about the floor ‘Tia. Can’t be helped though. Having swords stuck through your heart really hurts.” He said looking up to Luna’s sister. He was totally unaffected by the scene leaving everypony else to wait in the stunned silence. Luna cleared her throat in an effort to get his attention but he waved a wing dismissively at her. Thankfully, other ponies were less subtle with their attempts to cut the building tension of the quiet.

“I g-guess the n-new readings are more accurate than I gave them credit for, huh, S-s-sir Stormwalker?” Twilight Sparkle stammered out. The stallion grunted in response as he pulled one of the blades free from his chest with a disturbing slopping sound. Luna felt chills coming over her spine when he tossed the rapier like weapon to the ground.

“Twilight, I told you: You don’t need to call me ‘Sir anything.’ You are more than welcome to call me by my first name. Most everypony here is. Save Starswirl. I think he needs to remain off the list until he can say hello without stabbing me repeatedly.” He answered calmly before directing a glare at the still slack-jawed mage.

The room again fell silent as Stormwalker picked the remainder of the blades out of himself. Celestia had otherwise chosen a spot on the wall to stare at to which Luna herself was also drawn, only occasionally shifting her gaze to look at the other ponies. Twilight had began shuffling with a folder and a meter-like device, intently focusing on them. Color was slowly returning to Sunburst, but the stallion retained his one-thousand yard gaze. Starlight looked to be coming around but was grumbling incoherently. Finally, Starswirl swapped from a awestruck gape to a pinched look of unbridled anger.

The old mage took a step towards Stormwalker just as the great pegasus was removing the last blade. With a grace and speed almost too quick to see he rubbed the two sides of the sword along the length of Starswirl’s horn. The blood from the blade coated the wizard’s focus thickly, like heavy oil on an over-painted canvas. Starswirl released a growl like snort as he drew his face into a sneer, his eyes cold.

“What was that supposed to accomplish? It is clear you are just toying with me.” he scowled with even his words.

“Just need you to pay attention to the task at hand, and not me.” Stormwalker replied. “As everypony else here has probably noticed you know exactly what I am just by the mention of my last name. Which hopefully will help shed some light on a curious teal mare that I know Celestia has been writing you about.”

Starswirl just snarled, shaking his head with a bob as if he was trying to cast a spell. Somehow, it was rather comical, Luna bit her lip to hold in her laugh. The mage tried again, his blood-coated horn not even sparking in the slightest. He released a frustrated sigh, broadening his stance and lowering his head. It was a fruitless and ridiculous effort and even biting her lips did little to stop Luna from full on cackling at Starswirl’s strained face.

“Why. Can’t. I.” he grunted and bobbed his head with each word. “Cast. Any. Magic! ARGH!” he growled through clenched teeth. Celestia joined in on the laughing finally, her usually restrained demeanor breaking entirely. Poor Twilight and Sunburst fidgeted uncomfortably averting their eyes. Both were slowly turning red doing their best to not let their idol see their small smiles.

“Ahhrg! Sorry everypony seeing blood makes me faint.” Starlight Glimmer yawned finally recovering. “Starswirl-what is wrong with your face!” she proclaimed. Luna held her own laughter at bay long enough to see Starlight start to smile with a bit of a mad gleam in her eye.

“Why are you puffing your cheeks out like that!” She cackled. “Don’t you realize that thing on your head is a Horn Limiter! Who even put that thing on you?! H-how” She paused to breath and laugh more. “How long was I out?!”

“Horn Limiter? What?!” The old mage balthered. “It’s blood. He only put blood on my horn! You mean to tell me his blood can literally stop magic?!”

“Well...It certainly doesn’t look like blood. Seems kinda black and hard looking. I would have fainted again if it was red.” She answered. Everypony except Celestia, who was still snickering to herself, had calmed down by this point and their gazes had shifted to Starswirl’s horn. Luna marveled at the speed that the demonic blood had hardened into a glassy looking shell over her old mentor’s swirled cone. Whatever magic Starswirl had been attempting to cast it must have been exceedingly powerful to burn Stormwalker’s blood black with such speed. Even outside of his body the deep crimson substance typically took at least an hour to congeal to such a degree.

“And to answer the second question: yes. When Twilight and I ran the original tests, Mr. Stormwalker here produced a serum capable of defeating even the most powerful of spells. And that was before his most recent...how do I put it...power spike?” Starlight finished with a strong lift in her voice. Upon receiving the new information Starswirl went slack-jawed. He performed several glances around the room before settling on Stormwalker again. Luna felt the lump in her throat return as her stallion quizzically peered back at the mage.

“What makes you think I’ll believe any of this nonsense?” Starswirl asked directly to Stormwalker as if no other pony was present. Luna tensed her haunches ready to defend her stallion should Starswirl start something supremely stupid.

“You understand and rely upon empirical data.” Stormwalker calmly replied. He reached a wing over to the table and snagged the dingiest-looking folder, his face remaining locked with Starswirl’s. He practically shoved the folder and its many leaflets into the elder stallion’s face as he slipped it open and raised it up for Starswirl. The mage snatched it angrily with a hoof and finished stuffing his snout into the documents, reading.

“What..what is this?” Starswirl grumbled, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the material.

“All magical information pertaining to...S-sir-excuse me” Twilight paused to clear her throat. “Jee Ey’s unique condition.” she finished.. Her sudden interjection caused Luna to jump in surprise. Of all ponies it would make sense that Twilight would want to impress her idol, but Luna was still taken aback she was willing to debate semantics with him. Then again, it was Twilight Sparkle.

“These calculations...the formulas and projections. They are related to that book you recently wrote isn’t it?” Starswirl asked turning to Twilight.

“You actually read it!?” the lavender mare exhaled softly.

“Yes. But it would seem I need to re-read it, again. Most of these-”

“You re-read it!?” Twilight cut off Starswirl with a squee. Luna found herself smiling at the young princess’s enthusiasm. She bounced out of her seat with a childlike joy that was pure and innocent in a way that Luna envied. Once next to Starswirl she began reciting information and asking him an enormous volume of questions to the point where he put a hoof over her mouth to settle her down.

“How accurate are these readings on his Thaumatic Magic Levels?” he asked with a hushed tone. Starswirl nervously kept shifting his eyes between Stormalker and the document. Luna breathed a sigh of relief, glad the old stallion was beginning to see the grievousness of his recent actions. Her released exasperation caused Stormwalker to look over at her and give her a playful smile. He would never admit it but her stallion enjoyed scaring certain ponies with his power and prowess, Starswirl had just unwittingly made that list.

“They are...well...one-hundred-percent accurate…I took the measurements and did the calculations myself.” Twilight answered quietly. The room followed suit as everypony was reminded of the level of monster that stood in the room with them Starlight and Sunburst took to staring at one another, and Luna found herself trying to seek her elder sister’s attention as well. Celestia did not notice her and instead was gradually having the edge of her smile turn to a frown as she carefully watched their old mentor. Luna was unsure what was upsetting her sister, but assumed that whatever it was gravely important to Celestia and left her alone. Meanwhile, Starswirl had slowly been turning an even paler shade of white than normal as he stood gritting his teeth nervously. He gave a small cough as if he knew the whole room was waiting for his reaction. However, he missed his chance.

“So, as you can tell Starswirl we are dealing with some unimaginably strong forces.” Stormwalker shattered the silence like a rock would scatter glass. Starswirl nodded in response with a slow methodical beat of his neck.

“However it is not me we are dealing with. The pony in question that is an otherwise imminent threat to the world’s continued existence is Gusty Twilight: you know, that new mare Celestia is friends with these days?” the pegasus continued. Stormwalker shifted his posture as he backed up some from Starswirl and Twilight.

“Pray tell dear demon how do you know what Celestia writes to me? Debate of the world’s well-being aside: I find it rather convenient that you hold all the cards.” Starswirl stated. Luna released an exasperated breath, the old mage just would not let the circumstances go. She was about to object but was abruptly cut off by Celestia.

“Starswirl the Bearded! I sent you those letters because he asked me to! Do you think I would not include the details he wanted?” Celestia scolded just short of yelling. Luna swore that Starswirl’s hat did a full flip from the reflexive jerk he executed after being shamed.

“Well, said. After all you crazy old colt; Celestia is my friend, one of my only friends really.” Stormwalker said, joining in too. Luna bit her lip in a pout, maybe she was wanting too much, she was already his chosen mare, she was well above the title of friend entirely, but she was somewhat jealous anyway.

“Oh sure. She’s best friends with the exact same type of monster that murdered her parents. Right in front of her.” Starswirl sarcastically monotoned. “What type of idiot do you take me for?! I was there when it happened! And If I was not certain the culprit was dead I would say he was you! You look exactly like him!” He shouted his pallor turning a furious red as he spoke.

“Starswirl…” Celestia’s voice cut icily above him even though it was just a murmur. “Come with me for a moment.”

Luna watched in relative horror as Celestia levitated up an otherwise helpless Starswirl. She stomped towards the stairs that led up into her bedroom leaving the rest of the gathering to gawk.

“‘Tia...I appreciate what you are doing,” Stormwalker cut her off at the foot of the stairs. “But you were quite reasonably distressed when you found out the truth.” He said giving her a kind smile. “After what you had gone through-”

“Guardian Angel. Let me do this.” she interrupted him. Luna swallowed audibly, all too aware of how hard it was for Celestia to make such a statement. She had not dared to utter the stallion’s first name since she had had her memories restored. Over the last few years Celestia often confided in her, telling Luna how immensely ashamed she was of what she had done. However, her boldness was rewarded by Stormwalker promptly stepping out of the way. Celestia trotted past him quickly ascending the stairs with her prisoner and slamming the door to her room behind her.

“Now that...was scary.” Starlight said breaking the ice. Luna was grateful for that to be certain.

“Yeah. I didn’t know Princess Celestia could be so intimidating.” Sunburst chimed in as well, pushing up his glasses stare conquered.

“I just wonder what she is so upset about.” Twilight mumbled with a confused grimace.

“Oh...I don’t know…” Stormwalker scowled. “She is probably upset that her father-figure shows up for the first time in about seven years and then openly criticizes her life choices, in front of her friends and peers.” The ponies shifted uncomfortably at his words as they realized what Luna already had known, but in detail. Frankly, she also wanted to know exactly what Celestia was saying to Starswirl, and every moment caused her curiosity to grow.

“I think you have a point, my dearest stallion.” She said pulling herself up out of her cushion. “And I believe it is my duty as the younger sibling to eavesdrop accordingly.” Before anypony could object, Luna teleported herself into Celestia’s personal bath. She carefully slid up to the ajar door, past the sink of the cozy little room, and peered into the rest of Celestia’s private chambers.

“Well are you going to say anything or just stand there fuming?” Starswirl questioned in a surprisingly dull tone. Luna smiled glad she had not missed a thing.

“How dare you! How dare you! How dare you! How. Dare. You!” Celestia growled repeatedly. Luna bit her lips shut just in time to keep herself from gasping. She pressed herself closer to the wall of the bathroom peeking out the cracked door. All she could see were the shadows of her sister and her mentor cast jaggedly on the far wall.

“I ask you to come here, under the pretense, that I need your help; and I do, in fact, need your help. And the first thing you do is proceed to insult and belittle the only decent adult relationship I have ever had!” Celestia’s shadow bobbed angrily as she spoke.

“Wait.” Starswirl raised a hoof. “You...you and he? Impossible.”

“Why is it impossible for me to take interest in a stallion? Especially one as attractive and devoted as he is?” Celestia fired back immediately. Luna had to agree, even if she was rather biased, her sister made a strong point.

“I find it hard to believe that you of all ponies would fancy a demon. A demon, Celestia.” Starswirl continued to admonish. His shadow stepped up closer to Celestia’s making Luna’s heart race as she carefully inched closer to the door’s threshold to hear better.

“You know nothing about him.” Her sister hissed.

“I know enough to know that upon realizing what he was you cursed yourself with a memory charm to forget him.” the old mage snapped right back. This time Luna was not quick enough to bite her lips and she gasped. Starswirl had went too far, and Celestia’s silent rage was palpable as Luna stared on in terror as her sister’s silhouette began to move. But it did not move towards the bathroom as she expected instead she strode past Starswirl coming into view of Luna’s small vantage point. Celestia faced the wall her eyes closed and her face strained with a mixture of anger and pain.

“What I did was entirely unacceptable. And the mere fact that he even still talks to me, much less considers me a friend, is a testament to the quality of the stallion he is!” Celestia breathed barely a whisper on Luna’s ears. “I will not…” she paused to breath haggardly gaining strength as she opened her eyes. Luna sunk her teeth into her lips again trying her best to not cheer Celestia on. “I will not allow anypony, short of the mentally deranged Gusty Twilight, to insult him like this. Not. Anypony. “ Celestia snarled through clenched teeth her eyes never leaving the wall.

Starswirl’s shadow moved closer to Celestia, his hooves clopping loudly. “Why? Why do you care so much about him?” he asked, his voice strained. Luna hoped he realized how deep his words cut Celestia. As her sister had said, only Gusty was allowed to be so vile, and that was mostly because Stormwalker himself had expressively insisted to Celestia that she simply had no control over her disposition. Starswirl, however, did; and that was one of his unfortunate short-comings. Celestia made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a sigh as Luna watched her posture slump.

“Because he..”she trailed off for a moment. When she drew a breath again, her voice was hushed and gentle, “He was the only pony to ever make we want to chose him over the world. Over saving Luna...over Harmony. Over anything I ever planned or wanted to do.” she said her tone empty and longing.

“I couldn’t hurt him then, I couldn’t hurt him now.. Even if he is a monster-I-I can’t. I was never scared of what I saw that day. I was scared of how he made me feel. What he made me feel. A thousand years of turning away suitors...a thousand years of trying to figure out how to fix the world...I was ready to throw it all away. But, somewhere in that moment of terror, I found a way out of the situation altogether. I couldn’t go through with my plan to save Luna, to release Discord, to fix every mistake I had made before, with him affecting my judgement. And I couldn’t lose him either...so..so I-I cheated. I used magic to forget our relationship but not him. To never again form new memories, and only relive the first day he flirted with me…” Celestia fell silent.

Luna waited patiently for Starswirl as he slowly entered into her sliver of vision. He stood next to Celestia for a long time. Eventually the old mage reached placed a hoof and Celestia’s tall haunches.

“I..I was rather unaware of that information.” he said with a bit of a grunt. “I know you know what you did was wrong...and I-I-I...I really don’t know what to say.” He idly cleared his throat and waited a few more moments.

“Otherwise...judging by your reaction, and I’m sure Luna could confirm it later. He really is as well-intentioned as you claim. I can’t imagine what he went through…” Starswirl said.

“I do not need a reminder.” Celestia mumbled, her voice more broken than angry.

“Have you apologized? Now that you remember...I mean..” the old stallion fell silent casting his head back towards where Luna hid. He pursed his lips and gazed into the darkness where she snooped, pleading. Luna refused to come to his rescue, letting him be forced to fix the mess he made “How did you get the memories back?” he asked vacantly diverting from the previous subject.

“Him. He did it.” Celestia answered quietly.

“I was already presuming that...I just want to know how he did it, my morning sun. For...for my peace of mind. The information your pupil described to me...was unsettling to say the least.” Starswirl mulled carefully over his words, his demeanor reserved.

“On accident.. It was on the first day after he had recovered from fighting Nyx, after he became...different than I remember.. I guess he just thought about me too hard. His mere presence was capable of annihilating the magic I had placed on myself.” Luna hazarded a breath as her sister paused. “Since then he completely restrains even the barest hint of his strength, unwilling to touch the magic he wields unless it is the most dire of circumstances.” came Celestia’s solemn reply.

“Nyx...the Guardian of the Abyss?” the old mage asked, his voice unsure. “The same one that Luna had trouble with?”

“Yes.”

Luna had heard enough. The rest of the information was redundant, things already known to her. Backing away from the cracked door with a slide not step, she stood up straight and closed her eyes casting another teleportation spell. It did not matter if they heard her exit via magic now, Luna was pleased to have heard what she did regardless of the consequences.

Back in her previous cushion, Luna blinked in surprise to only see Twilight Sparkle and Guardian Angel left in the room. The papers for this meeting and found their way to the floor and Starlight and Sunburst had disappeared. She wordlessly peered at her remaining compatriots silently asking what had happened with her face.

“Starlight saw the blades on the ground...and you know how she is with blood.” Twilight said with a bit of a grin.

“Then I told Sunburst just to call it a day, before Twilight brought up that time I killed that dragon. Said Spike was scared of me. Catapulting us into a heated debate of justice...” Guardian Angel finished trailing off. Luna gave them a pensive glare

“You two were eavesdropping too weren’t you?” She questioned. Both of the two cohorts rolled their eyes up and looked at the ceiling trying to play innocent. Luna pinched her brow down at them, Guardian Angel the first to break without even looking back at her.

“It’s not eavesdropping per se...Worse probably.” He chose his words suspiciously.

“Really?” Luna asked, “And how does Twilight factor into this?”

“I listened as he recited what was going on. I was curious too.” she rubbed on of her forehooves with the other, a blush brightening her cheeks. Luna glared disapprovingly at Guardian Angel, she stepped up closer to him looking up at him and his crescent scar. He shifted his weight in his usual fidget way when he was caught in various clandestine activities. He never could lie, not very well anyway.

“You try controlling this much power.” he grumbled. “I was really interested in what she had to say and Starlight passed out pretty much as soon as you teleported. I just couldn’t help but observe what she was saying and feeling, Celestia is very loud mentally when she is upset. I couldn’t tone it out so I started talking to Twilight about it.”

Luna shook her head at him. Guardian Angel’s strength far exceeded anything she understood. If fully repressing his power still allowed him to read the thoughts and feelings of ponies around him, she shivered at the thought of his full capabilities. Sometimes Luna wished he would just show her everything, take control like she knew he could, unleash his potential and change the world as he saw fit. He never would do such: that just was not him. It was that importance of others over himself that had made Luna fall in love with him originally, and it still was the same now.

“All that aside…” she sighed trying to not swoon over him in front of Twilight, “I suppose we are otherwise finished?” Luna asked. Guardian Angel looked distant for a moment before nodding confidently. Not a moment later the sound of Celestia’s door clicking open could be heard echoing down the stairs. Hooves of two relaxed ponies began clopping down the staircase their voices quickly becoming intelligible.

“Well I suppose I will have to be more reserved in the future then.” Starswirl said with his usual gruff banter.

“Indeed. Luna and I are not foals anymore my dearest teacher.” Celestia answered her voice back to its full, relaxed candor. Whatever Luna had missed must have put her elder at ease with the situation. To say that Celestia never had a moment of weakness was a lie, but what Luna had seen upstairs was something she had yet to process. She waited for her sister and Starswirl to reach to bottom of the stairs and look about the study in confusion.

“Where are the other two?” Celestia asked. She walked forward a bit and bumped the now neat pile of blood-stained blades with a soft clink! She looked down with surprise, “Oh, I seem to have answered my own question. Starlight passed out again, didn't she?”

“Good call, Princess.” chirped Twilight. She and Celestia chuckled a bit before Guardian Angel loudly cleared his throat.

“We shall have another meeting like this a month from now, and I want you to be in attendance.” he said looking over at Starswirl specifically.

“Sure, I would love to, have an actual meeting that is. However, I would like you to get this demonic annoyance off of my horn.” the old mage retorted.

“I can help with that!” Twilight jumped up and rushed to Starswirl starting to escorting him out. “It will take at least two weeks of regular soaking before the first layer is off and then we will have to scrub it nearly constantly, I have some spells I have been wanting to try that should work great!”

“Two weeks?! Constant what? Twilight where are you taking me?” Starswirl blathered on as Twilight continued to squee as she levitated him up into the air. The other three looked on in shock as Twilight loosed a gleeful, yet maniacal bit of laughter and darted out of the study Starswirl screaming several scared obscenities as he came dreadfully close to the walls.

“I guess it's true what they say about Twilight, you can’t tell her no.” Guardian Angel said as Starswirl’s screams died away. Luna just gaped at him incredulously. He was right of course, but that did not mean should could not play along.

After a brief bit of travel...

Gusty grinned down from the cliffed coast with garish pleasure. She had guessed her mark right and below her sat the wayward galleon. She sat idly alone her sails fully furled and tight against her masts. At the distance the trade vessel sat it was not much more than a model kept it a bottle. Gusty could have easily recreated the illusion if she only had a clear jug to hold up to her eyes.

The galleon was a welcome sight. Having carried both Bunker and Zeccaran in her magic to this remote bit of land, she felt the rush of vindication relieving her achy head. She pointed sharply down to the ship spitting unintentionally as she started talking.

“See! I told you we could find it! No problem.” Gusty leaned closer to Zeccaran with every word. The Zebra pursed his lips giving her a narrow-eyed glare as if she was trying to sell him fake fruit.

“No problem huh?” he mulled over not breaking eye contact. “Then what do you call that airship floating above it?” Zeccaran concluded smuggly. Gusty snapped her eyes back to the still-fog-shrouded galleon certain her friend was lying to her.

Unfortunately, Zeccaran was telling the truth. Partially obscuring the sun as it broke the midday clouds, an airship floated above the seafaring vessel. Even at their distance Gusty could see four long chains reaching from the airship down to the galleon. She was unsure of their purpose but Gusty supposed that they were used to drag the galleon to where she sat now.

“By the moon, I wish I had a spyglass or something.” Zeccaran grumbled to her left.

“Why?” she asked him turning to see him squint futilely towards the vessels.

Zeccaran gave her a roll of his eyes as if he expected her to understand exactly what he was thinking. “Because...that way we could see what kind of airship that is, and what sort of opposition we would be going up against before flying out over the open ocean like maniacs...which I get the feeling we will be doing regardless.” he answered with a twinge of anger in his voice. He was right of course, Gusty did not care who or what was guarding the vessels. She would reclaim the crew and the goods at all costs. She was not about to let the ship that was to return with food and supplies for its cargo of gold be taken without a fight.

“Aren’t you just Mr. Thinkpants!?” Gusty mocked Zeccaran as she spread her wings. “Let’s get going.” she ordered. Without wasting any time Gusty levitated Bunker up in her magic leaving her striped friend to his devices. She was about to make a bit of a running leap off the cliff and out over the ocean when Zeccaran scoffed extra loud.

“Bunker, come on, guy. Help me protest this farce.” the zebra complained to her husband. Gusty cast a mischievous glances between Bunker and Zeccaran waiting dramatically for their conversation. From her levitation Bunker merely grunted, seemlingly not taking a side in the endeavor at all.

“No...No I don’t argue. She is carrying me over giant fall to death. Is not winning situation.” he replied thoughtfully. This left Zeccaran to sulk with a bitter look on his face. It did not last long, a characteristic flash of light occurred and a great grey eagle replaced the zebra. Gusty could consciously feel her smile growing wider, no matter the outcome she was having fun.

She absconded from the cliff just as soon as Zeccaran met her eyes with his unnaturally large eagle ones. Floating husband at her side, Gusty pushed her wings to build up speed to give the brigands on the airship as little time as possible to respond to their approach. It was fortunate that the previous few days of poor weather had finally broken clear. The ocean was an even pane of glass brutally reflecting the yellow midday sun. Shooting towards the airship, Gusty could barely keep her eyes open as she built up speed and the light began to streak from her speed. Without bothering to see if Zeccaran was following her, Gusty banked her course out in a wide arch to the right of the floating vessel. It slowed her down and alleviated her sore eyes. It did little to make the sunspots in her vision go away, only time could do that.

Their approach had led them quite close now and the deck was unobstructed by the sun. Gusty spied a single creature on the airship. It was a large beast next to what appeared to be an equally large wench. Perhaps it was simple boredom that led Gusty to dive from her advantageous position in an attack. Nopony would ever be certain of the correct answer, but in the case of the wench operator that answer did not particularly matter. Such was because of a simple reason: Gusty had remembered her equipment this time.

In a fluid motion Gusty carefully set tag-along-Bunker on the deck and drew her sword. She was moving quick enough that she had no intention of hitting the operator with the blade until she had kicked him to the ground with her momentum. She completed this action with an unmistakable crunch of snapping ribs and a hoarse squawk from the wench-boy. Gusty had not even realized the huge creature was a griffon until she had heard his bird voice. With great haste she used her blade’s pommel to begin pummelling him before he could make a fuller alarm call to his no doubt nearby compatriots.

Reviewing her unfortunate quarry internally, Gusty noted that the griffon was at least twice her size. He was mostly composed of muscles and was stocky compared to the graceful builds of the typical lion-raptor beast. He looked like the quintessential dumb muscle that pirates or bank robbers used to scare civilians. Intimidating on the surface but no smarter than a box of rocks and with the right persuasion totally harmless. However, Gusty’s persuasion was simply being faster, nastier, and much more determined than the now bloodied and bruised heap of a sky-cat that lay on the deck, unconscious. He was lucky, Gusty could feel no evil on him, so a thrashing was all he got.

"Damn. You beat him good." Bunker said trotting up looking down at her handiwork. Gusty nodded smugly with a bit of an affirmative humming added in.

Oh. Very nice. But you could do better.

“Hey did you hear that?” Gusty asked confused by the voice she had just heard. Bunker shook his head with a broad smile on his face. His merriment was short-lived, however, as eagle-Zeccaran landed on the deck and shifted back to his normal equine shape. Gusty was about to ask her friend the same question but he cut her of quite effectively

“What the fuck is your problem!?” he shouted. Gusty tried to shush him to no avail. She did not mind, alerted deckhands meant more heads to smack. “You should have just gone ahead and killed him at this point! You beat the absolute piss out of him! I don’t even know where his beak is supposed to be anymore!” Zeccaran continued. She looked eagerly around at the various hatches waiting for something to pop out and become equally as bludgeoned as her previous victim.

Pesky, but well-meaning I suppose.

Gusty folded her ears trying to determine who it was talking to her through time and space

“Are you even listening to me?!” her zebra friend shrieked bring her back to him. “Like what the shit is the matter with you, you damned hell-mare!” Since, Zeccaran’s screaming was not drawing any attention, Gusty decided to play his game for now at least.

“Well, I didn’t kill him, potty-mouth.” she said. Bunker chuckled softly before restraining himself. Gusty was rather certain that in her husband’s eyes she could do no wrong. She flashed him a devilish smile to which he merely tried to shrug off, he did so poorly the edges of his mouth perking in a grin again.

“Don’t encourage her you idiot!” Zeccaran piped up angrily. “I mean look at this!” the zebra bent down to examine the swollen griffon. He prodded a portion of the fellow’s lower neck gingerly. A bit of strange green-grey ooze bubbled up out of the griffon’s feathers. It stank with a wretched odor of a dirty body.

“That’s gastric acid, and probably a bit of spinal fluid too. I saw how many times you hit him in the head and neck. Not to mention when you kicked him in the chest” her friend looked up at her from where she was positioned with a scowl. “If he doesn’t receive help right now he will die, Gusty. You just beat a griffon to death out of spite. Proud of yourself?” Zeccaran scolded sternly. On many accounts Gusty was, in fact, quite proud of herself. She did feel somewhat guilty, it was not like the bird was inherently evil...but he did perpetuate it.

“He was helping starve innocent Ovis, Zeccaran. My past family. He kinda deserves it.” she answered, more sure of herself.

“We aren’t at war with these pirates! We are here to try and fix the problem! Not make it worse by butchering some of their low ranking members!” he retorted.

“How do you know he is low ranking, huh?” she questioned back snidely

“Because he was hand-cranking that wench!” Zeccaran pointed a hoof to the device Gusty had all but forgotten about. “You gotta be the bottom of the totem pole to be ordered to crank a wench like that, with your bare claws. Now fix him up some at least. I mean sheesh!” he ordered. Gusty huffed defeated. Zeccaran was probably right, thus she reached down to touch the griffon’s wounds with her hooves. Focusing her magic, Gusty closed her eyes using not just her horn but her whole body to properly channel the healing charms where she wanted. Knowing full well that she could repair all of the damage by the grace of her divine-granted power by accident she took extra care not to fully restore the griffon.

When she opened her eyes the griffon’s beak was back to where it belonged on his face, and the collapsed portion of his chest and neck looked natural and unaffected. His eyes were still blacked and both cheeks swollen but he clearly was in better shape. “There are you happy now?” she growled at Zeccaran. The zebra held up a hoof and bent down to check the bird’s vitals. Gusty could not help but roll her eyes indignantly as her friend stood back up with a nod and a smile on his face.

“What is this flying ship anyway?” Bunker interjected stopping Gusty from slapping Zeccaran. She ran her eyes over the deck of the plain-looking vessel. Near the stern she could see a small raised area where the ship’s wheel sat exposed to the open sky, away from the balloon above them. Otherwise there was not much on the deck besides them.. There certainly no weapons to speak of save perhaps the four total wenches that were attached to the chains. Zeccaran cleared his throat bring her back to look at him.

“This is a Condor-class heavy lifter. Looks like it’s tow chains have been heavily modified. But this isn’t a combat vessel by any means...but where is the crew? This thing should take about six creatures to fly.” he said thoughtfully. It was no sooner that he spoke that flapping of nearby wings could be heard.

“Hans!” shouted a surprisingly thick Canterlot accent. “Hans what are you doing, why did you stop cranking?” Gusty practically spun in a full circle before she saw the source of the voice. A griffon equally large as the unconscious Hans pulled himself over the deck rail. Unlike his fellow pirate, however, this griffon was lean and sleek and had the look of a real predator. Deep in her core fear tightened Gusty’s chest and reflex and instinct took hold in the next instant.

Kill him.

Gusty listened to that little voice this time, she did not care if it was the voice of fear or some other thing, it did not matter. Sword still in her levitation Gusty flipped the blade around and sent it flying like a needle to cloth. It hit the new griffon square in the chest as he landed on the deck piercing clean through his leather cuirass with a disturbing schlick. She pushed the blade fully through his chest until the hilt caught on his bones. The bird’s eyes had gone wide the moment the blade had flown towards him and his gaping beak began to run with blood as he stared down in vague horror at the blade through his heart. But Gusty did not stop there, she pushed the blade with her magic even harder lifting the griffon from his paws and slamming him into the deck rail pinning him down with a heavy thump. He groaned in pain but otherwise made no noise as he locked eyes with her.

More, you still need more.

It came again, words in her mind, that were hers but not hers. “Where’s the crew of the galleon?!” She screamed at him as she closed the distance. Gusty shoved her face nearly against his beak making their locked gaze even more intense.

“They are...in..the brig.. of this ship.” he sputtered as fresh blood welled-up into his mouth. His previously sharp grey eyes went unfocused and Gusty gave him a slap coating both her hoof and snout in his blood-spatter.

“What about the rest of your crew?” she demanded as his eyes focused up for the last time.

“Piss off. Bitch.” he croaked as more blood rolled down his beak and stained his tawny feathers a deep crimson. Gusty turned off her levitation and went for the more visceral feel of pulling the blade out of the griffon with her mouth. He squawked as she involuntarily twisted her sword with her mouth as she drew it from its gorey resting place. When she turned her vision back to him he lay motionless. The blood from the wound slowing as his heart gave a final throw. Beside her Bunker and her friend remained silent leaving only a bit of empty flopping of the balloon rigging rustling.

Good...very good. You still have it.

Gusty turned about this time, certain there was another version of her somewhere talking to her. She had not used her copy spell since Celestia had first taught it to her over a year ago. It was mostly for mischief and confusing nobles so she doubted that was the answer. Whatever the case the sensation the voice had be causing ceased leaving her to stand there silently waiting on something to happen.

A solid minute passed before Zeccaran spoke, “I forgot how brutal you can be sometimes.” he said. His tone was empty and bland feeling similar to the whistling wind in its indifference of passing life. Gusty pushed that idea of empty repose away, it felt too cold and too familiar to contemplate in the moment.

“Now what?” Bunker asked breaking the silence finally and snapping Gusty fully back into the moment. They did have more to do if they were going to return the stolen payment to Gertrude. Gusty would accept nothing less than the safe return of the whole crew and the goods and quickly hatched a plan.

“Bunker, you go down into this ship and free the prisoners. Zeccaran and I will apprehend the rest of the pirates down below.” she told him quickly.

“Da. Will do. Stay safe down there, da?” her husband gave her a quick nuzzle before turn and darting to the nearest hatch. He had it opened before Gusty even turned to look over the edge of the airship. The sound of the heavy metal hatch closing rang out before she turned to motion Zeccaran to go first. Bunker would be fine, besides, he deserved to be the hero for once on one of these little adventures. Otherwise Zeccaran nodded in agreement, surprisingly not nearly so vocal about the upcoming engagement.

Gusty caught his eyes as he vaulted the deck rail. His purple orbs showed a simple disappointment in them. The sight made her realize that Zeccaran expected better of her. Somehow that made Gusty feel incredibly upset with herself, as if a bit of her had gotten lost in the moment and the need to help Gertrude. She decided that she would have to listen to what Zeccaran said; she was here to solve a problem. For the pirates down on the galleon that was a fortunate change of heart, she would capture them instead of giving them a warrior’s death.

The moment passed and Zeccaran began falling towards the galleon. Gusty hopped over the rail herself and began falling. Below her Zeccaran flashed green and was again an eagle. He tipped his body downward in a perfect dive speeding away from her as she let her wings glide her down. It took a few minutes for her to safely slip down without straining her wings. Zeccaran beat her to the deck by quite some time where he alighted on the center mast’s lowest sail rigging. Gusty could see five beings down below staring at the giant imposter-eagle in awe. Two pegasi, two griffons and a third pure bird-like creature. The bird-thing resembled a giant parrot, but instead of wings he sported an additional set of claws and scales, he was rather menacing truly.

The parrot creature was yelling up at Zeccaran: “Cousin! Why do ya bother us!? Ya are so far from the Elkanten Mountains!” He missed Gusty as she swung herself around the stern of the galleon still at a decent height. Thankfully, the rest of the crew did not notice her either as Zeccaran loosed a grand sckreeeee! like only a great eagle could. She landed cautiously on the deck near the vessel’s helm as the pirate’s “ooo’ed” and “awh’ed” at the strange sight.

Bending down to nearly her belly Gusty crawled toward the railing that overlooked the main deck where Zeccaran held everyone else’s attention. She peered through the wooden pillars choosing two targets to stun before they even got a chance to react. Gusty figured she could not reliably hit more than two before they tried to dodge. Her horned hummed loudly as the stunner spells waited to be cast. Standing up she lined her marks, the two griffons, one grey, one black, and fired before even Zeccaran looked up at her.

The red beam’s of the trademark spell hissed from her horn and stuck both targets in quick succession. One of the pegasi immediately took notice of his fallen comrades. “Oi, mate! You alright?” he knelt down next to the grey-colored griffon, not even realizing what had happened. Gusty took the opportunity to duck back down below the railing, her quarries none-the-wiser.

“What the hell happen?” the parrot-creature boomed over the confused voices of the pegasi. “Wilkins! Berg! Get up ya, lazy good-for-nothin’s!” he continued. Gusty quickly chose to slide her way over to the side rail of the helm and jump overboard. She did not look back and refused to overthink what she was doing, if she did it would not work. Spreading her wings she caught herself just above the placid ocean water and sailed along the edge of the galleon until she reached the main mast. Pumping her wings Gusty climbed through the air the twenty feet up to the deck.

Charging her horn as she went Gusty landed on the deck at the same time as she was ready to cast more stunners. Her adversaries were facing away from her again, luck still on her side Gusty took aim and quickly fired. One spell hit the intended target true, sending the gabby pegasus from before off his hooves. The other only nicked the hooves of the remaining pegasus causing her to let out a shrill shriek.

“Arh! What the fuck was tha’?!” she screamed.

“Magic! We’re under attack!” the parrot fellow squawked.

Not a moment after another skree! from the Zeccaran-eagle sounded in a broad echo. Gusty along with the remaining two pirates reflexively looked up at him. The grand bird dug his beak into the furled canvas ripping out a section in strange display.

Cloth in mouth he dove down from the rigging swinging around the parrot and the pegasus. The parrot managed to react drawing his sword and slashing at the ribbon of sail snaking around him and his companion. Gusty came to an epiphany as he swung down at the canvas. She reached out her levitation out towards the sabre catching it before it cut fully through the section.

Yanking the blade and the still clinging parrot up away from the cloth the pirate shrieked in surprise. Gusty twisted the sword as she pulled wrenching it from the bird’s grip and dropping him down into the trap Zeccaran was making. Evidently the pegasus had at least taken some of the stunbolt from earlier as she made no attempt to fly and was quickly enveloped in the canvas. A tremendous volume of cursing was coming from the parrot as he clawed vainly in an attempt to escape. Green flashed and Gusty snapped her eyes over to an actual Zeccaran who was running around the unfortunate pair with the canvas in his mouth.

Snagging a loose portion of the sail in her magic Gusty began wrapping theri makeshift binding tighter behind Zeccaran as he ran. “Faster before they wiggle out!” she yelled at him.

“Rats! Come out from behind the sail and fight like real ponies!” came the defiant voice of the parrot. “Fuckin’ cowards, if i had my sword I’d-mhmmh!” he was cut off as the sail was pulled over his face and flailing limbs. Gusty pulled the remaining slack from Zeccaran’s mouth and slipped in through the section she had just tightened pulling it into a loop-knot. She tugged on the tie until she could feel the strain of the captured ribs.

Letting go of her control the wad of sail and creature fell over awkwardly. Muffled yelps of pain grumbled from the mass when they landed. Meanwhile Zeccaran trotted over to her, giving the scene an approving glace.

“Well done. Honestly I can’t believe they fell for the bird routine.” he said thoughtfully.

“Same to you, good sir.” she raised her nose a bit along with her tone.

“Although I’m surprised you changed up your...methods, I’m glad you did. With these guys captured we might actually get some insight He mosied over to the slender black griffon who was vaguely moaning still stunned. “Got any rope?” he asked a devilish grin on his face. Gusty did bring rope…

It took some time but soon enough the five pirates were tied together on the deck. It had been especially difficult to free the parrot and pegasus that they had trapped in the ruined sail. Gusty had restored to just stunning them in order to tie them up without a fight. They sat before her each snarling in their own way as if they could not believe they had gotten outsmarted by a Zebra and a girl, as they kept putting it. Evidently, they did not care for the skirt which Gusty took exception to.

“Where’s your boss?” she asked in a kind tone that not even she was ready for. Collectively the pirates all turned their eyes away from her unwilling to even look towards her. Gusty instinctively cast her trusty “truth” spell and walked a full circle around the group.

“You can tell me, now; and avoid being brought before Dame Gertrude or…” she was met with more silence. “How about a different question? What were you stealing?” she prodded more. The parrot loosed a chirp and jerked his head towards her.
“We will only tell ya the truth ya…” he trailed off. His facial feather flustered and his eyes spun scared as he realized what was happening to his speech.

“That’s right you will.” Gusty smiled. The rest of the small crew exchanged looks as Gusty drew her sword with her magic for effect. She did not say anything else and simply began pacing back and forth in front of the group. They all began to shift uncomfortably as she watched them waiting for one of them to attempt to answer. She did not have to wait long.

“The money and the trading goods. That’s what we were stealing.” the grey griffon replied hoarsely. Gusty nodded sagely waiting to see if he would slip up, the griffon opened his mouth to say more but caught himself snapping his beak shut defiantly.

“Where are the stolen things, then?” she asked.

“All but tha’ chest over ‘ere is already topside.” The male pegasus answered this time. Again, the pirate went on to say more but caught the words before they slipped out. Gusty was quickly deciding this was a dangerous waste of time; she was fighting the urge to torture these creatures and the part where they were being uncooperative was not helping. She came to a conclusion hence.

“Zeccaran. Help me tie them to one of the chains. They don’t deserve a seat on the deck of the airship we have...acquired.” she said not breaking eye-contact with the parrot. His eyes twitched angrily and chirped a series of angry like sounds before he turned away. Zeccaran obliged her as Gusty hefted the mass of bodies into her telekinesis and hovered them in the air above the galleon’s deck.

Once they were secure she exchanged her levitation for the chest of goods. “Don’t forget what chain they are tied to Zeccaran. Otherwise they will starve to death when we cut the lines up top.” she cautioned. Her friend shrugged, suggesting indifference but that was more his way of showing he understood.

“Up we go then.” Gusty purred taking flight. Zeccaran followed suit shifting into the eagle form again. As they past the pirates they gasped in shock and surprise at the zebra’s ability to shapeshift. Gusty cast a look down at them their collective faces turning white as they gazed at what they clearly considered a marvel. She shook her head at the thought. It was no use caring about their fate, piracy in pretty much all parts of the world was punishable by death. Simply, she would just not be the one to carry out the sentence.

Gusty sighed as she climbed. She was unable to shake the feeling that they had gotten incredibly lucky with this engagement. If there had been even the smallest change in circumstances the endeavor would have backfired. For now all that she had to worry about was figuring out how get the airship back to Gertrude, hopefully Zeccaran or one of the captured Ovis knew how. Still, regardless of her success Gusty just could not shake the sense of foreboding and it was not receding like usual no matter how hard she tried to repress it. Not Bunker’s smiling face, not the happy and hearty, liberated crew, not even Gertrude’s overjoyed shouting when they returned calmed that feeling. It was going to be a sleepless night.

Next Chapter: Act 2: Chapter 7 - Situation Estimated time remaining: 17 Hours, 37 Minutes