I thrust out a finger, pinning down a sentence like a small animal I was capturing. "Better than expected."

Soft and Easy perked up from their own books. "Did you find something?" they asked in eerie sync.

I hesitated a moment, caught off-guard by their moment of solidarity. "Huh, yeah. They have a record for spear throwing." I tapped at the passage. "And they've been tracking what it is and when it was broken. To make the fabled 'first throw' would have been in that range of distance. That's the first hint, but not the last."

Soft reared up beside me, looking down at the paper. His jovial expression darkened quickly at the name listed as the current record holder. "Quite the distinguished guard, wasn't he?"

Easy popped up on the other side, sharply whistling. "Now there's a rising pillar of smoke. So our buddy-pal was a champion thrower, making him one of the few people that could have made that kind of throw."

A deep male voice spoke behind us, from the direction of the door, "That's quite enough." We wheeled around as several ponies in armor took up posts barring the door off entirely. The one that spoke was approaching at a slow walk, a spear in his mouth. Fitting... "They may have exonerated you, but they won't hold us liable if you attack us."

Damn it. If I didn't attack them, they'd rough themselves up just enough afterwards to make it look like I had. If I did, well, that worked too. The war leader wasn't without supporters, it seemed. I reached for the sword I no longer had, cursing internally.

Easy stepped forward with a loud snort, sparks and flames dancing around her horn. "Want to try me? Let's dance!" She had become a lot more confident in her ability to weave destructive magic. I wasn't sure if I should be happy or worried about that.

More surprising was that Soft was at her side, dark-blue-white rings undulating along his horn. "I'm afraid I must insist as well. We are not helpless and will not accept this on our haunches."

Apparently I was the only one that didn't have a weapon. Great. The leader span his spear around in a terrific display of tongue and mouth coordination. "Looks like they're resisting arrest. Take them down, no need to be gentle." The ponies at the door charged forward in a fan of angry pony flesh.

Easy exploded in a shower of fire and sparks, little fireworks dancing away from her horn as she warded one guard from approaching her. She laughed like a mare having far too much fun as she advanced on him, pressing him back faster and faster.

A sudden jab of a spear had Soft leaping over it, the strobe of magic bursting free in a sudden sphere from his center, colliding with the guard and throwing the pony away, the spear left behind to clatter on the floor.

That left the leader for me. He was charging right at me, his spear poised to stab into my alarmingly fragile skin. Delaying tactic. I dove under the table behind me and came up before I got past it, throwing it up behind me to serve as a basic barricade. I heard him snort with annoyance, but that changed just as quickly.

The laughing of Easy was returning and he yelped as the mad mare's magic found his exposed bottom, scorching him. Why hadn't those stupid plants given me a horn? That would have been handy right about then. Then again... I edged around the table as the leader jabbed wildly at Easy, forcing her to withdraw for a change.

With a sudden lunge, I grabbed the spear the other guard had dropped and rolled up to my feet. I hadn't even pulled off that move before and for just a moment I was just happy I had managed it.

That's when I was stabbed. Pain lanced out from a leg and I swung my spear wildly in that direction, crashing it against a spear held in one of the guard's mouth. He snarled, biting down on the haft of his spear as he backed up a step.

"Did you forget me?" asked Soft as he held up a hoof, a book floating over it. "A library is for reading." As he said the last word, the book propelled itself, glowing with his magic as it struck the guard across the side of his face with a dull thump.

For being a soft noble, Soft certainly didn't seem shy about fighting. I gave him a thumbs up, even if he likely had no idea what that gesture meant, and rushed away from the dizzy guard towards the captain that was attacking Easy. She was falling over herself, scrambling away from his wild jabs. I could see bits of flame escaping her, but she couldn't back up very quickly and keep her horn pointed in the right direction.

"Enough!" boomed a loud female voice just as I reached the captain. Everyone in the room went still a moment before we looked to see who had shouted at us.

Celestia stood, her wings unfurled and a frown on her face. "Everyone, put down your weapons this instant."

I heard other spears falling and let mine join them on the floor.

She took a step forward into the room and the other councilmembers filed in after her, flanking her. "It would seem your assumption was correct."

The smaller female councilmare smiled confidently. "Now that we know who we're dealing with, he's predictable enough."

The male nodded softly. "Attacking a citizen, in the castle, in the library... He should be ashamed."

Celestia shook her head slightly. "Using fire?"

Easy began to go red quickly. "Oh, um, that's... my fault... I didn't set any books on fire!"

Celestia gestured a wing and a small raincloud appeared, vanishing almost as quickly as it turned into a faint shower that put out the one book that had caught fire. "Please abstain from damaging royal property." She pointed at me with a gold-clad hoof. "As it turns, he is one of those, and he appears to be damaged in a way a quick spell will not address."

I was property? That was also a reminder that I had been stabbed. Christ, that hurt. The adrenaline of the moment had passed, leaving me to 'enjoy' the throbbing pain of where the spear had punctured my innocent little pony leg.

The guards had formed up, two behind the captain. The captain stiffly nodded at Celestia. "They were causing trouble, Your Highness, and we were attempting to subdue them."

Celestia gestured at the source of my pain with a wing. "With the sharpened end of spears? Hardly a fitting tool for subduing any particular creature. Did you try asking?" Her eyes flicked to my face. "Mister Langerman, sit."

What was I, a dog? Still... I did slowly sink down, trying to avoid any new signals of pain from my hurt leg.

Easy was suddenly in front of me, looking like she was ready to protect me from Celestia of all people.

Celestia just smiled gently. "You are a loyal and good pony. Thank you for protecting my property."

Easy's nose wriggled. "He's his own property, and my boss. My boss can't belong to someone else, how does that even work?!"

Soft cleared his throat softly. "I am willing to act as witness."

"Very good." Celestia nodded. "I'm glad this is settled then. You three, report to prison."

All three faces fell as one. One of them started walking away slowly, ears sunk.

The captain was not that one. "We've done nothing wrong," he barked with a low growl.

The male councilpony stepped forward. "And you will have a chance to argue your side, on your day of court. Do not make your case more difficult. Your subordinate is showing more sense than you."

That was enough to make the second guard slink off after the first, both soon fleeing the room, presumably towards wherever the jail was.

With a sudden shout, he ducked his head low and grabbed a spear. Rather than charging with it, he gave it a toss with a flick of his head. My life flashed before my eyes as it came at me, the deadly tip spinning slowly as my perception of the world seemed to carry it slowly.

I was sitting with no way to move out of the way fast enough to do a damn thing about it. My hands were lifting, but were just as slow. What did I plan to do, order it to stop with a palm? Maybe take the shot through my palm instead of my chest, as if that would be far better.

The spear suddenly stopped, encased in a bright golden sphere. Celestia's horn glowed the same color. "We've all had enough thrown spears for one century, I think we can all agree on that."

"Attempted murder," hissed the female councilpony. "You don't know when to quit, do you?" She gestured at me. "That is an asset of Equestria, one you seem quite set on damaging. You are relieved of your station!"

"Seconded," somberly agreed the male.

"Thirded, motion carried," finished Celestia. The spear dropped limply to the floor and the captain was instead grabbed in the golden sphere. "I motion for immediate imprisonment."

"Seconded." "Thirded."

"Wait! I--" He was gone, winked out of existence by Celestia's powerful magic.

Celestia gestured at me. "See to his medical needs. Mister Langerman, today has been a busy one for you. We are in your debt for unearthing the troubles around us. For now, rest and recover." She turned away, the others turning with her. As one they left as they had come, with proper pomp.

I felt a poke right near where I had been stabbed. Even as I hissed, Easy was grinning at me, being the one that poked me. "You're not that hurt, Boss. You're a tougher pony than that."

That still hurt! Still, it was true that I didn't feel flowing blood, which was good. I stood up, shaking a little. That had been... a lot. "I don't like being called 'property'."

Soft shrugged as he approached, the table I had knocked over glowing with his magic as he set it right. "A legal convenience to make it clear that damaging you carried even more weight, I imagine. Your being an unknown species makes it an easier bluff to carry."

Easy wriggled her nose. "For being a nice, if still snooty, noble, you sure are involved in this."

"You work for her," I thought outloud. "You are her eyes."

He bowed gently, lowering his front and sweeping a hoof. "Sharp as ever, Mister Langerman. It fell on me to record how they reacted to your little proposal, and to see how you presented it. I would thank you both to keep that quiet, mmm? We are still friends, I hope."

Easy tilted her head. "You mean we could have just asked you instead of hiking all the way out there to talk to her?!"

In part, perhaps, but... "We wouldn't have gotten the scroll that way." I was looking at Soft directly. "Well, how did it go? Will she be happy or not?"

"I am not her, so I couldn't say exactly, but I think today has been a few steps in a much desired direction. The spell is no longer to be hidden away where none can find it. One will be here, in Canterlot, and another to be secured in Baltimare, with others to be added over time." He tilted his head. "This is to say nothing of potentially incriminating the one who caused this conflict to begin with. Busy, you are nothing if not busy, Mister Langerman."

Easy snorted softly. "And I'm his manager, so, yeah, busy." She waved at me wildly. "I can't even stop him from getting hurt!"

Author's Notes:

Resolutions! Incarcerations! Lacerations! Punctuations? Declarations!

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