Wheat Plow's trial was fast approaching.

Which meant of course it weighed heavily upon Gloom's mind. They only had today and tomorrow to finish all the reports and prosecution documentation, but unlike usual, it wasn't only Prey who was privy to the Sargent's thoughts. Reason being, Gloom had shared his concerns.

"We're running out of time." Gloom had fretted aloud.

Most of Wheat Plow's operation had been exposed by now, with the ISND more or less successfully compiling it all down. The problem was, the deadline was rushing up to meet them on the way. Plus, Nighthawk would obviously want to pre-read the reports before the trial actually began.

Gloom had removed his helmet as he worked, Crimson following suit. Working in armour, even if it wasn't physical labour, couldn't have been comfortable. That did mean Gloom was having to flick his mane from his eye's every few minutes, as it was no longer contained by his helmet. He should've followed Crimson's example and gotten one of those rings to tie it back with.

'Or he could get a mane cut.' Prey thought. The Royal Guards had the right idea in that regard, having a standard close cropped mane. It was one of the few thestral examples of pride trumping practicality Prey'd actually come across.

Also, still no desk had materialised from the mysterious and zealously guarded depths of the requisitions department, so they were still working off the floorboards.

Hours slipped by unnoticed, but eventually they had to take a break, even if just for five minutes to let their brains cool off.

Gloom spent it with his head almost straight back, futilely attempting to work the kink out of his neck. '-if we have to work in here without a table for another week, my neck's going get stuck in this position-'

"Prey," Crimson asked in the quiet moment, "Do you not sleep at night? I mean, did you not sleep well last night?"

Prey didn't give any visible sign of being caught off guard. Instead, he looked quizzically at Crimson, "Pardon?"

"You got up. In the night, I mean. Do you have trouble sleeping?"

'Ish'Kugnar 'und DuPlessi!' Prey thought in panic, 'Did he somehow wake up despite Lemon's spell?'

Prey didn't try and deny it though, that would only be suspicious. "How did you know that?" He challenged instead.

"I have...I just do." Crimson answered evasively. His eye's seemed to slide over to Gloom for a moment.

Not answering or stalling would just make it look like Prey was hiding something. How much did Crimson suspect? It just had to be Crimson too, because the pegasus's mental walls gave nothing away.

Prey put on a slightly annoyed expression, but not at anything in particular, "Sometimes I just can't sleep, no matter how tired I am. It's annoying, since we're all getting so little sleep on top of that."

"You do not leave the room." Crimson stated. It wasn't a question.

Prey raised one foreleg, gold tracer clearly on display, "That's a stupid question."

"No that's not- I didn't mean that I thought you were trying to escape, I mean, that's not..." Crimson stopped talking. He could obviously see Prey was just waiting with a big sarcastic comment all prepared.

"Never mind." Crimson gave up, mental walls tightening in frustration.

Prey gave him a bemused smile, "If you say so." He shrugged, making his ears and ribbon flop.

Inside, Prey was letting out a long sigh, momentary panic over. Whatever Crimson knew, he didn't know about Lemon Pink's visit. He only knew that Prey had arisen during the night, and instead of being suspicious like Prey would've been in his place, Crimson was just mildly concerned he wasn't sleeping alright.

'He really is remarkably perceptive and yet blind at times.' Prey thought, moving his hoof off a blank spot on the floorboards. Looks like there was no need to trigger the stun runes.

Nevertheless, from now on, he would not be meeting Lemon Pink in the bunk room at night. Coded messages only until he found some other way to covertly meet and share reports safely.

The day ground on as all the unpleasantly necessary reports slowly neared completion. Midday turned into afternoon, afternoon turned into evening, evening became dusk, dusk became nighttime, and still the three of them worked on in the office.

Gloom had estimated how much they had left to do, and with a bit of mental calculation help from Prey, figured out how long it would take. And the depressing answer was; there was only one way they'd finish before the trial tomorrow night. And that was by buckling down and doing a minimum of fourteen hours straight today. It couldn't be said Gloom was very pleased about the answer Prey had reached, and even less when his own calculations agreed.

So they ignored the grumblings of stomachs and the complaining of tired eyes, and kept going.

By the time they finally stopped, Prey's hoof ached from gripping the quill in it's cleft and he was famished. Which was different from starving. Prey had starved before, and this was not that.

He hated how ponies always said they were starving at meal times. They didn't know the meaning of the word. But that was neither here nor there. The point was, they'd worked up a healthy appetite.

Gloom was left very unsatisfied as he led them towards the mess hall to scavenge for some dinner. There was almost no one else around in the darkened Palace, but that was not the reason for Gloom's dissatisfaction.

Gloom was unsatisfied because he was feeling guilty. As a Sargent, Gloom saw himself as responsible for the condition of those under his command. They'd gotten one night's full rest in the last five, and, not to put too fine a point on it, the last five days had been fairly miserable working non-stop from sun up to sun down. That was no cause for complaint, life in the Guard wasn't meant to be easy, but Gloom felt bad because Prey and Crimson felt bad. At least, in his head they felt bad.

'-Crimson's never had to do this much paper manure in his life. Luna's mane, neither have I! And Prey-', Gloom looked back over his shoulder, '-even if it's Prey, it still seems wrong to make a child do all this-'

Prey privately scorned Gloom's weak thinking, but it would definitely make his plan tomorrow easier to execute.

They ended up raiding the kitchens again for dinner. This was probably becoming quite a common occurrence, because Cookie had now taken to locking the Palace kitchen's cupboards.

Gloom was suspiciously good at unlocking them, inserting the tip of his wing claw and jiggling it about until the lock unclicked.

Only one sentence was spoken of their late night dinner by Gloom.

"The week's almost over. Just got to get through the trial tomorrow, and then this'll be over." He tiredly reassured them. Or maybe himself.

Finished eating, they trudged upstairs to the bunk room and almost collapsed into bed. Even Crimson only did a half kata tonight before also giving in.

'-wow. First time for everything-', Gloom thought, eyelids already drifting shut. "Blow out...lamp." Was all he managed to say before he was gone.

Under his pillow, Prey grasped the small twist of paper Lemon Pink had left for him. He was going to need it.

The alarm clock went off, gaining a mental curse from Gloom as he struggled into wakefulness, '-I demand a recount-'.

Prey didn't arise, instead pulling the blanket up over his head and huddling down. Gloom decided to leave him for a couple extra minutes as he and Crimson got ready for the day.

From under the blanket, Prey heard Gloom stop moving as he remembered, '-the trial is tonight. That's tonight! Today is the last day and then we're finally done-'

"Let's go you two. Today's the day." Gloom called briskly, suddenly sounding much more awake.

"Yes sir." Came Crimson's voice from over by the window. 'Probably checking his blood Fern.' Prey thought. With visible effort, Prey kicked back the covers and stumbled out of bed. He stood, eyes drooping and sniffed a couple of times.

"Prey, you ready to go? We've got a deadline to meet before the trial." Gloom reminded him, hastily buckling on his last shin guard.

"Hmmrrph." Prey mumbled, not his usual self as he sluggishly tied the ribbon around his ear. Couldn't start the day without his secret mockery to the whole world attached.

Gloom decided to take his grunt as an affirmative, "Good. Come on, there's just enough time for a lightning fast breakfast tonight. Er, today."

Sniffing, Prey followed Gloom and Crimson down to the mess hall and tried to keep up. Tucked away under his wool, the twist of paper with the little green berry it contained sat safely hidden.

Prey made sure to slow down his usual eating pace at breakfast, only just finishing before Gloom did. Practically record slowness. He would have definitely lost his meal if he'd still been in the Resistance for eating at that speed. Prey didn't pay any visible attention to his surroundings and acted half asleep, sniffing occasionally.

Gloom in comparison seemed to be filled with nervous energy.

To Gloom, the ISND just had to finish the last of the data compiling today, present it at the trial before Princess Luna, and then this case would finally be over. The guilty would be punished, the victims reimbursed, and maybe he could even get a full night's sleep. Crimson seemed to catch some of his Sargent's anticipation, because he too seemed more invigorated than his usual unresponsive self.

Or it might've just been that he was glad the finish line was finally in sight. Paperwork was not Crimson's strong point.

They left the mess hall before almost anyone else had even arrived, hurrying to the office and getting straight down to it. The work they had left before them today consisted of tying everything else together, and making sure all of Wheat Plow's crimes had been accounted for.

On trial tonight in the Night Court would be Copper Pot, Pebble Mill, and of course the guest of honour, Wheat Plow. In addition, there would also be one of Wheat Plow's accountants, for a lesser charge of fraud. Also present would be their lawyers of course, but honestly, there wasn't much point in them even turning up.

It would be a brave lawyer who tried to defend someone, guilty or not, against the only recently reformed Nightmare Moon.

As the morning progressed, Prey continued to sniff frequently, rubbing his eyes and acting lethargic. It wasn't anything big, but as midday approached and the final documents and supporting evidence were assembled, Prey's symptoms became more pronounced. Eventually, Gloom had to ask.

"Prey, are you alright?" He asked, pausing in paper clipping the pages he was holding. Laid out in neat piles were the compiled reports they were going to be giving to Nighthawk, Princess Luna, and the rest of the court present at the trial.

Prey made an irritable noise and waved at him to go away, "M' fine." He muttered, not even looking up.

Gloom hesitated, '-does that mean Prey's really fine or is he getting sick? I sure hope not, we don't have time for him to get sick-'.

Gloom decided to not press and simply hope it wasn't serious. If Prey said he was fine, then (hopefully), he was fine, or could at least keep going. It wasn't ideal, but they had a deadline and only a few more hours before it arrived.

'-I'll just keep an eye on him. He'll probably feel better soon-', Gloom decided.

The symptoms Prey was exhibiting didn't get better. As the trial continued to approach, they steadily worsened instead, and Prey started to make simple mistakes. Putting pages in the wrong order, realising it and trying to remember which pile should have which, almost forgetting to add in the proof of all of Wheat Plow's spying, and such. Small things like that.

Gloom belatedly realised he'd been taking it for granted how Prey never seemed to make any mistakes. However, Gloom had other, more urgent things to focus on and soon got distracted.

But within another two hours, Crimson sidled over to speak with Gloom. Prey could still overhear them clearly of course.

"Sir, I have a concern about Prey. Something is not right today."

Gloom considered, '-if even Crimson is noticing...-'

"Yes, I think Prey's caught a cold or something."

"Oh. Yes, that makes sense." Crimson acknowledged blankly, and returned to his work.

Gloom started to do the same, but not before glancing over to where Prey sat, still working away. '-nah, it's nothing-', He told himself.

But a few minutes later he still asked, "You feeling any better Prey?"

"I never said I wasn't feeling fine in the first place." Prey muttered, rubbing at his ear.

"So you're-"

"I'm fine."

Prey pretended not to notice Gloom's suppressed annoyance at his shortness. 'Good. He's reacting like he's supposed to.' Prey thought.

The next stage of Prey's act would come at dinner. That's what the green berry hidden under his wool was for.

Prey would not be attending the trial. No way. Luna was going to be there. He was going nowhere near the alicorn. To avoid having to attend, he was going to use the simplest trick in the book children had been pulling for decades: "But I'm siiiiiick."

Compared to what Prey was prepared to do to avoid another meeting with the terrifying Night Princess, this was almost insultingly mundane. 'But the best plans are often the simplest.'

Making himself sick by eating the poisoned berry Lemon Pink had provided him with was a small price to pay. She'd had a day to find a berry which met the requirements, and she hadn't disappointed. The one she'd found was from a Coif's Ear plant, getting it's name for how it's cone shaped leaves looked slightly like donkey ear's.

The berry had a fast acting poison that caused rather violent rejection, but was ultimately harmless and the effects would pass in an hour. All the build up with acting sick previously was in preparation for when Prey really would be sick at dinner.

It wasn't going to be pleasant, but once again, it was a small price to pay.

Prey could have just faked being sick, and very convincingly too, but he didn't know if that would be enough to fool Gloom.

Gloom was sure to have Prey checked to see how unwell he really was. Plus, there was the thestral's strange cutie mark that somehow occasionally told Gloom if there was something not quite right. For that reason, Prey wasn't going to just try and fake it.

He could've played up being ill more over the course of the day, but that wouldn't have fitted with his image. Prey was not unawares how he appeared to others. In fact, he was unique in being able to tell exactly what others thought of him.

Once you put aside all the nonsense about him being repressed and secretly touch starved of course.

Gloom and Crimson expected Prey to say he was fine and wave it off earlier, and then get annoyed when they asked him if he was feeling alright. In their view, Prey hated to show weakness, and that was because he had trouble trusting anyone's intentions. Well they weren't wrong there, but they were wrong about the why. Ridiculously, they thought it was because Prey was a runt and felt like he constantly had a point to prove about not being underestimated.

Which was exactly why Gloom wouldn't suspect him of faking. Prey had no pride. There was nothing he would not do if he had to.

Any shame and humiliation he felt was secondary to success.

Finally, '-finally-', they were finished and all the reports prepared. The trial wasn't over just yet, but Gloom still let out a long sigh of relief, sounding like he was letting out a weekss worth of troubles all in that one breath.

"Well done everypony." Gloom congratulated them, looking over their work.

"Should we take these now sir? And deliver them, I mean." Crimson questioned. No one really wanted to leave their work all unattended right before the trial. After all that effort, Gloom and Crimson were understandably apprehensive to just leave it laid out like this. While no one was going to steal it, someone might come in and mess it up by accident.

"No one ever comes in here. Just lock the door or something if you're so worried." Prey said in exasperation. His eyes were red and watery from all the blinking he'd been doing.

"We, er, don't actually have the key yet. It got misplaced by the supply depo somewhere. Probably the same place they 'misplaced' our desks too." Gloom added with a snort.

"Oh my goodness," Prey hissed, massaging his head, "Are we going to get dinner or just stand here while you lamenting over missing tables?" He demanded. If he was really had been feeling unwell, then after a long day this kind of irritability would be expected of him.

Gloom paused, "You're right, we'll come back after dinner."

"Good." Prey said darkly, sniffing.

Gloom and Crimson were both watching Prey. Pretending that they weren't every time he looked up from his tray, but definitely keeping an eye on him as they ate.

While they did so, Gloom was sharing what he knew about how the trial would work. Having never actually attended one himself, let alone been one of the key witnesses, he only knew what Nighthawk and Lieutenant Screech had explained.

"Princess Luna is the judge, and decides when to move onto the next stage of the trial. We, the ISND, are more or less going to be the prosecution, because we wrote all the documents and can answer any questions. But it's still going to be Captain Nighthawk who does the real prosecution." Gloom explained, speaking quickly between bites.

Crimson nodded his understanding. "Sir, about Copper Pot. Will he get forty years and chance for parole like we offered?" He asked.

Gloom shrugged, "It's not up to us, it's up to Princess Luna. But personally, I doubt it, even if he keeps his word and testifies against Wheat Plow tonight. And I don't feel guilty about that in the least. Not after all the suffering he's caused."

"Good." Crimson said bluntly. "It is only what he deserves. I don't think lying to somepony like him can even be a sin."

With the trial happening tonight, Gloom and Crimson weren't the only ones anxious to see it finally over and done with. The rest of the Night Guard obviously felt the same, even if they didn't get up and prance around and sing about it like 'normal' ponies would've done. This was a big step out of the dark and into the limelight for the Night Guard. After tonight, there would be a lot of exposure for them, and their Princess. Three main newspapers had been given permission to sit in on the trial, Luna having given her approval.

The Night Guards weren't naive enough to think there wouldn't also be repercussions for tonight, but that would not stop them. Those whose thoughts Prey overheard went something like this:

'-normal ponies don't like us-', '-they're scared of thestrals-'. '-that's not going to change overnight-', '-but now they'll have no choice but to admit-', '-we know what we're doing-', '-perhaps we'll even finally gain some new recruits-', '-and the Royal Guard will have to start giving us some real respect now-'

Yes, Wheat Plow's downfall was a boon for the Night Guards' renown, and by extension, Princess Luna.

"The trial's in just two hours," Gloom said, finishing up the last of his hay and beans, "Let's get our files and get them delivered. Come, the night is waiting." He said, rather upbeat.

"Yes sir."

"Oh yes, Crimson, do you think you're up to presenting the file on Copper Pot in court or do you want me to do it?" Gloom asked, getting off the bench. '-he needs to do some public speaking. Builds outgoingness-'

Crimson hesitated for a second, but still nodded in the end, "Alright sir."

"You'll do fine." Gloom assured him, "Prey, how about you? Think you can do the Hay Steam file-?"

That was when Prey threw up all over his dinner tray.

Now Gloom was panicking, just ever so slightly.

Night Court officially opened in fifteen minutes, and Wheat Plow's trial began in just fifty after that. They were supposed to have been there to hoof over all the reports ten minutes ago.

"Prey sit still would you?! The nurse just wants to take your temperature." Gloom snapped.

"Don't touch me." Prey squirmed further into the corner of the examination bed, away from the concerned nurse's hoof. He then turned an accusing look on Gloom, "You promised you would help me if anyone tried."

That was right.

'-I did promise, but...-', But this was slightly different. They were going to be late and Princess Luna was expecting them.

"C'mon Prey, she's just taking your temperature."

Mentally Gloom was begging; '-you'd better not bite her Prey-', And trying to convey the same warning with his eyes.

Crimson was wisely standing outside the small examination room's door, and not getting involved in any way, shape, or form.

"I can take my own temperature thank you very much. Give that here." Prey said hoarsely. He'd never seen a 'thermometer' before, but he could read the nurses thoughts and see he was supposed to hold it under his tongue.

The nurse, a light red pegasus who so far had been very patient and understanding, tried again. "It's nothing scary, it's just to take your temperature. We need to see how sick you are so we can help." She said, speaking calmly and simply for talking to a foal.

'-sheep have the same core temperatures as ponies, right? Medical school said-'

"I'll do it if you just give it here." Prey repeated, holding out a hoof for the thermometer.

Gloom was running high on worry about being late and worry for Prey, "Would you just give it to him, please?"

Happy Healing, (that was the nurse), decided in the interest of helping the sick filly in front of her, to forgo usual procedures, "Okay, be careful. Just hold it under your tongue, yes that's it, until I say take it out." She said in a soothing tone, letting Prey snatch it from her hoof.

Happy Healing's shift was technically over for the night, but the ISND had caught her just as she was getting ready to go home, so of course she chose to stay and help. There was a sick filly, what kind of mare would she be if she didn't stay to help? She was also feeling quite brave for standing this close to a thestral, Prey saw.

While Prey's temperature was being taken, the nurse took the opportunity to ask Gloom a few more questions to try and figure out what was wrong with her newest patient.

"Has she been like this all day?"

"She? What-you mean Prey? He's not a filly, he's a colt. Er, ram." Gloom answered, mind trying to figure out what he should do in this situation.

'-leave Prey and go to the trial? Bring him along anyway? Stay or go?-'

Happy blinked, adjusting her nurses cap as she processed that, "Are you sure?" She asked dubiously, not quite believing Gloom over her own first professional impressions.

"Yes I'm sure, just ask him if you don't believe me. Look, how long is this going to take? We have to get to the trial." Gloom said.

"It'll take as long as it takes," Happy Healing said calmly, not letting herself back away. '-just don't look in the yellow eyes. Marmalade said they can hypnotise you-', She told herself.

"And I'm afraid I don't think your foal-"

"-He's not mine!"

"-But you are looking after him sir. I don't think it's a good idea to take somepony as young as him who's sick to any trial. Not until we're sure what's wrong with him. Now, how long has he been like this?" She repeated.

"Since this morning, but he said he was fine. Look miss Healing, if I leave him here with you and-what was her name? Miss Current Bush? Can you keep an eye on Prey until after the trial and we come and pick him up?" Gloom asked hurriedly, making his decision.

Current Bush was the other nurse on duty, who was currently waiting in the other room so her and Happy Healing could walk home. "You need to answer my questions first about Prey first, it's him who's sick here." Happy Healing insisted patiently.

Gloom's wings were twitching like he wanted to take flight, thinking loudly about how Princess Luna was being kept waiting, "Okay okay, but quickly, we don't have time."

"I'll try to hurry. So he's been like this all day?"

"Yes."

"Did that not make you think it might be something serious?"

"No, Prey said he was fine and we were too busy anyway."

"Busy? What activities has he taken part in recently?"

"Same as always, we've all been in the office." Gloom said, glancing towards the door and shifting from hoof to hoof.

"Doing what?" Happy asked, not letting herself be rushed in the slightest.

Gloom gave her a look like it should be obvious, "Paperwork." He answered with distaste.

"Just paperwork? Why was a foal doing paperwork with you?" Happy Healing asked, nonplussed.

"Because that's our job right now, to do the paperwork for the trial, which we really need to get to."

"No, sorry, I don't think I'm following you. Prey is doing the Guards' paperwork?"

"Yes."

"Um, why?"

Gloom looked like he wanted to throw up his hooves or kick something in frustration, "Because we're in the Night Guard, and that's our job! We've been stuck in our office all week, all day every day, doing Moon damned paperwork."

Happy Healing gaped at him like a fish out of water, "You're recruiting foals?"

Gloom couldn't find anything to say for a second, and Prey silently laughed at him. "No of course we're not. Prey's just a special case, he's not doing any fighting, only thinking." Was the excuse Gloom managed to come out with.

"To do your paperwork?" Happy asked incredulously.

'-enough is enough-', Gloom decided. "I'm not at liberty to tell you. It's Night Guard business. Now please just tell me, what is wrong with Prey?"

"Well what have you been doing with him? A foal this young shouldn't be stuck in an office all day." Happy returned, not willing to let this go.

"Miss Healing," Gloom said with strained politeness, "I've already said. We have been in an office, all day, for the last week. The only times we've left have been to eat, or sleep."

"What?! You can't just do that. What about his schooling? That's not healthy for a foal. Is he at least getting eight hours of sleep?" Happy exclaimed.

"I wish. We're lucky if we get six at the moment, the Night Guard is much too busy." Gloom retorted.

Happy Healing now looked shocked that there were ponies out there who would subject a growing foal to an inadequate sleep schedule.

'Oh the outrage.' Prey thought, rolling his eyes. The nurse and Gloom seemed to have forgotten he was actually present in the room for this conversation.

"That's-You...Do you at least make sure he eats enough?" Happy demanded.

"Prey has a very healthy appetite I assure you. Like a starving Timber Wolf."

"Starving?" Happy demanded sharply, all previous apprehension of the thestral forgotten in her rising indignation.

"Of course he's not starving, we all eat together in the mess hall twice a day." Gloom retorted.

"Only two meals a day?!" Happy whinnied loudly.

"That's what I just said, same as us..." Gloom slowed down as he became aware he might've said something wrong if he wanted to get out of the nurses office any time soon.

'-oops. We've been skipping midday meal all the time. That probably doesn't help stay healthy-', Gloom sent a guilty look Prey's way, '-I've had us too focused, there's never any time to do things properly. It's a wonder none of us have gotten ill before now, especially a foal like Prey-'

"What's wrong Happy?" Current Bush, the second nurse stuck her head in, drawn by her colleagues raised voice.

"I'll tell you what's wrong," Happy Healing said crossly, "This Sargent here's been half starving this lamb and skimping on a sleep schedule, and then doesn't understand why he got sick." With her friend now here to back her up, Happy was perfectly willing to confront any thestral ever born.

And back her up Current Bush did.

"Oh he did, did he?" Current exclaimed, quickly jumping to angry indignation on behalf of her friend, as ponies are want to do. "Don't you have any idea what that can do to a growing foal, mister?"

Gloom was caught between defending himself and trying to leave so they could get to the trial. He didn't have time for this. Unfortunately for Gloom, the two mares weren't letting up their joint assault.

"You're lucky nothing has happened to your squad before if this is how you treat them."

"This is not an acceptable work schedule. You're going to have to change it."

"And change it now."

"No excuses, you hear?"

"Um, excuse me please," Prey spoke up from behind them, voice muffled by the forgotten thermometer in his mouth, "I 'dink I'm going to be 'ick again."

Both nurses immediately broke off harassing Gloom in favour of doing their jobs. Current Bush rushed to grab a basin while Happy Healing quickly snagged the thermometer and began trying to calm the lamb down. "There there, I know it's unpleasant, but you'll be okay. You'll feel a lot better soon, better out than in." She soothed.

Over her head, Prey rolled his eyes at Gloom and subtlety nodded at the door, 'Go on, get out of here.' Prey didn't want the Sargent here. The whole point of acting sick was so he didn't have to attend the trial with the other two.

Gloom realised what Prey was doing and took the hint. He gave a thankful nod and a 'stay here' gesture before slipping quickly out the door. Neither nurse noticed his departure, something they'd no doubt be livid about later.

It was good that Gloom left when he did. Prey estimated Gloom and Crimson had just enough time to pick up the papers from the office and make it to Night Court. It wouldn't do for them to get there late. That might annoy Luna, and she would demand an explanation.

Prey definitely didn't want his name mentioned in any excuse given to the alicorn, hence why he was helping Gloom and Crimson escape.

As an added bonus, he'd also earned himself some good will with Gloom by acting like he was 'taking-one-for-the-team' here.

At first, he'd found it mild satisfying how upset Happy Healing was getting on his behalf. It was some minor revenge against Gloom, watching him get berated like that. But then the nurse kept going and Prey's amusement turned sour as she continued to ignorantly defend him. Firstly, Prey didn't need help, and secondly, definitely not from someone like her. A pony who had no idea what she was talking about, only seeing perceived 'hardships' without any clue about what people suffered out there in real life.

"Your temperature is normal, that's very good. That means you don't have a fever and hopefully will feel better soon. Won't that be nice?" Happy assured Prey as she checked the thermometer, continuing to make soothing platitudes.

Hunched over the basin Current Bush had pushed into his hooves, Prey groaned in disgust at the two hovering mares. 'They're so soft and pathetic.'

The nurses mistook his groan to be one of pain and increased their words of sympathy.

Their sympathy towards Gloom's position however, when they finally realised he'd skipped out the door thus forcing them to remain here late into the night until the ISND's return, was another matter entirely.

Current Bush and Happy Healing continued to hover around Prey for the next hour, as he slowly 'got better'. They kept up a constant stream of chatter, sometimes aimed at Prey in what was supposed to be an attempt to make him feel better, like complimenting him on his "nice gold bracelets". But mainly in was just gossip between themselves.

Ponies don't like silences, always feeling the need to fill them with pointless ramblings. Neither nurse was an exception, and chatted away quite happily, complaining about Gloom and the Night Guard, sharing their plans for the weekend, discussing friends and family, and all the other inane detritus that sprang to their minds.

Prey wished they would just shut up, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon, nor was he going to tell them to. He was a 'good little lamb'.

So instead, he put his time to good use. There was a limit to how many questions he could ask the nurses without them cottoning onto the fact that he wasn't mentally a lamb, but he asked what he could innocently get away with.

"What's in that bottle Mrs. Healing? Pills? What kind of pills? Oh? What do those do? That's cool, what about that one over there? It helps reduce inflammation? What's inflammation? Ooo, that sounds nasty. Is that medicine dangerous? Only if you use it wrong? Like what? Ah, I get it. Mixing pain pills together is bad. How about that one?"

Prey listened carefully to their answers. Not the answers they gave out loud, those were mostly useless, geared towards what the nurses thought a lamb could understand. What they thought in their heads, the real answers, were much more useful, and he filed them away in case he ever had need of them later.

Prey's droopy ear twitched towards the door, but he didn't look. He turned to Current Bush and put on a weak smile, "Could I have some water, please?"

"Of course, I'll go get you a glass right away." She assured him, breaking off her chatter with Happy Healing and hurrying out of the room.

She'd barely been gone a few seconds when Prey's face went white and he made a grab for the basin.

"Oh it's okay, don't worry." Happy comforted him, quickly leaning forwards in concern.

Prey made another sound of distress, face buried in the basin. "You'll feel all better soon, don't worry............"

*Silence*

Prey pushed the unneeded basin aside and sat up. Happy Healing sat slouched in her chair, head bowed forwards on her slack neck. Her eyes were open and unseeing, but her chest gently rose and fell, indicating life. Behind her, the illusionary veil flickered like a ponds surface and fell away. Behind it, stood a pink unicorn in the Palace maids uniform.

"The other nurse will be back in about twenty seconds." Prey informed Lemon Pink softly, voice only carrying far enough to reach her ears. He didn't ask why she was here, explanations could wait until they were unobserved.

Lemon nodded and stepped silently up next to the door into the other room, hidden from Current Bush's return.

"Here we go, I've got you some water." Current Bush called, coming back into the room. She didn't even have time to notice the slumped form of Happy before Lemon's horn flashed silver and Current too slumped. Lemon caught the nurse, not the glass of water, and the glass hit the floor with a clatter, but didn't break, just spilled water all across the tiles.

Prey cocked an eyebrow, "What spell?" He simply questioned.

"The mind blank one." Lemon supplied, ignoring the two nurses now that they were taken care of and trotting over to Prey. Prey nodded in understanding. The 'Mind Blank' spell she was talking about was a theoretical stunning spell Prey himself had thought up while in Dreverton.

It more or less kept wiping someone's memories in a loop for a period of time, meaning they were essentially 'stunned' for the duration of the spell. The down side was that the effect could be fought off by the mentally disciplined, and it was easy enough to snap someone out of. Just give them a good shake or shout loudly.

A simple stunning spell would've been far more reliable, and it definitely took less spell crafting skill to pull off. The upside to the Memory Blank spell was it took quite a bit less magic to use, theoretically had no side effects, and should be almost impossible to detect afterwards.

Creating Lemon Pink from what was left of Night Watcher had come at a cost. Her magical strength and reserves had been severely reduced.

"What is the problem?" Prey asked, getting straight to the point. This wasn't a safe meeting place. The area had not been secured, nor had Prey ordered Lemon to come find him. Therefore, something must have gone wrong for her to seek him out like this.

"I made a mistake." Lemon stated. No excuses or attempt to down play the issue. There was no need. Whatever actions Lemon took were always made in Prey's best interests, so any mistakes were unintentional.

"I found the drug dealer stallion. Street name of Smokey. Real name, Quartz Geode. As expected, he is only at the bottom of the salt dealer chain. I read his mind and traced back his contacts to a more private selling venue, for more valued clientele, such as nobles. I disguised myself and went in pretending to be a potential buyer, but I unintentionally came in at the wrong time. At the moment, it seems they are having issues with someone inside their organization who keeps making mistakes."

Prey could figure out what happened next easily enough, but he waited for Lemon Pink to confirm his prediction.

"Four individuals were present. My arrival made them all suspicious. I memorised their faces and voice tone." Lemon Pink raised her hoof, offering it to Prey so he could see her memories of the four ponies.

"Later. Continue." Prey ordered, waving her hoof down.

Lemon continued; "They don't trust one another, and each secretly feared someone else was talking to the Guard. Due to the delicacy of their meeting, suspicions were raised that I might have been an undercover Guard, or a competitor. They made efforts to avoid saying anything incriminating or to confirm anything." Lemon recalled, laying out the bones of what had happened.

'So because of some internal conflict, Lemon poked the hornets nest.' Prey summed up.

"What is the issue?" Prey asked. If it were just that, Lemon wouldn't have needed to contact him in this manner. She would merely have left, changed disguises, and continued her investigations in another manner.

"They are afraid." Lemon explained tonelessly.

"Ahhh." Prey understood. Fear changed things. It made people dangerous.

Right now was either the perfect time or the worst time to try and steal from the salt dealers. Unfortunately, Lemon had come in at the wrong moment and shaken up things even more.

"Your impression is that there is something larger going on with more at stake?" Prey double checked with Lemon.

"Yes, Prey." She confirmed.

Prey considered what Lemon had told him for a couple of seconds, then held out his hoof, wordlessly ordering her to go ahead and show him the memories now.

Lemon complied, and their mind spaces met. Prey could have done this from the start, it certainly would've prevented anyone overhearing anything incriminating. The issue was, while they were mind linked, they were vulnerable. This area wasn't secure. There were two stunned mares who might wake up while they were unawares. Thus, he wanted to spend as little time mind linked as possible.

The memory of Lemon Pink's meeting quickly came into focus, shown from Lemon's perspective. A shady room with a low ceiling, flat pack crates stacked in the background. Four ponies paused around a table in the middle of the room. Two were obviously unicorns, the other two might've been Pegasi or Earth ponies. It was hard to tell if the cloaks and long jackets they wore hid wings.

Prey automatically noted their faces, builds, heights, colouring, visible mane lengths, and any other identifiable features for possible future use.

After a few moments of reviewing the memory and observing the body language and how secretive the four ponies were acting, Prey came to a conclusion.

'They're scared of something they know is coming. Whomever is next up in the chain of command is applying pressure and threatening repercussions if the issue isn't fixed by the time he or she arrives.'

It was an easy deduction. The four ponies looked like people trapped in a cave by a chimera, each secretly eyeing up the others to see who they could push out of the cave first. The only thing that stayed their hoof was fear that the others were planning the same thing as themselves. They were afraid.

And scared people did stupid things.

'Orders on how I should proceed?' Lemon asked across the mind link, deferring to whatever Prey decided.

'For now, do not make contact again. Only continue observation from a distance. Do nothing that will incite the salt dealers further. When this storm blows over, we can resume tracking down and stealing their funds from scratch.' Prey decided. It was not worth risking his best asset, Lemon Pink, over.

'Yes, Prey.' Lemon acknowledged, then broke hoof contact and let their mind scapes separate back to normal.

Prey opened his eyes back in the nurses office and checked his surroundings.

No one had barged into the room while they were telepathically chatting. Good.

Prey flicked a hoof at the two nurses, "Veil yourself, then wake them both up at the same time." He said, picking the sick basin back up and leaning back over it in the exact same position he'd been in before Happy Healing had been stunned.

"Yes, Prey." Lemon said, already using her silver aura to prop Happy back up in her chair.

Next came carefully lifting up Current bush. But only just far enough so that when she returned to consciousness and Lemon let go, Current would experience the brief feeling of falling before she landed on the tiles. The mare would think she'd slipped and dropped the glass of water, which was still spilled everywhere.

A bead of sweat appeared on Lemon's brow as she concentrated, and the veil slowly swam into existence around her and she conversely faded. Holding her illusion spell matrix active plus suspending Current Bush's form off the ground was obviously very difficult. Using magic on a fellow unicorn was supposed to be a sure fire way of emptying ones reserves, Prey knew.

Probably the only reason Lemon Pink managed it was that Current Bush wasn't magically saturated or conscious to fight back.

"On three," Prey muttered. "One, two, three."

"Whaa-? Ooops!" *splash*

"Wh-? Oh Current Bush, are you alright?"

"Fine fine, I just tripped. Silly me."

Prey let out a groan.

"Prey, can you hold on for a moment? I'll just quickly lend Current a hoof then I'll come back, okay? Everything's fine."

"Wow, clumsy me. He he, ehem, excuse me, I'll get some paper towels."

Amidst the embarrassed confusion, neither unobservant nurse noticed the door silently closing behind them as an invisible Lemon Pink slipped out.

"You should have been there Prey. You missed the honour of seeing Princess Luna work." Gloom enthused, looking happier than Prey had seen him all week.

"It is unfortunate. You could have seen these criminals finally brought to justice. Her majesty does not waste time on mincing words." Crimson also said, joining in on praising the duo's moon goddess.

He then added, "Wheat Plow has had all his ill gotten gains and position stripped. His properties will be sold, and the bits will be split between supporting his parents in their old age, and the Canterlot orphanage." The Pegasus sounded very pleased to see retribution rendered.

Why they weren't using the money to help repair damage caused by the riots instead wasn't answered.

"Copper Pot?" Prey asked, still sounding rough but looking a lot better. He was sitting on the edge of the examination bed, and they were just waiting for the two nurses to finish closing up before they could leave.

It had taken five minutes of the nurses chewing out Gloom for running away and leaving Prey in their care before they'd even let Gloom back in the room, but he was in such a good mood it hadn't even affect the thestral. Prey had also been so "polite and well mannered", as Current put it, that they weren't too angry about being forced to stay and help look after Prey.

"Copper Pot was sentenced at the same time as Wheat Plow. Copper got the full fifty years, his property seized by the crown, and deported. You should've seen Wheat Plow's face when Copper stood up in the docks to testify against him. His lawyer stopped providing even a token effort after that point." Gloom recounted.

"Copper Pot wept with self pity in the end. When they fastened the chains on his hooves to took him away, I mean." Crimson emotionlessly added. There was no pity from either of the Night Guards, and there certainly wouldn't have been any from Luna. Actually, this probably was her being merciful.

"And Wheat Plow himself?" Prey prompted.

Gloom smiled grimly, "Princess Luna told him exactly what she thought of him. He abused his position, his power, the rights of others, their trust, and betrayed everypony's hopes. His crimes have caused the misery and suffering of thousands who've been caught up in his riots. He's responsible for crippling ponies." Gloom's lip curled up in contempt, "The coward even abandoned all honour and got down on his knees and begged. Of course, Her Majesty couldn't be fooled."

"For everything he's done, for everything he might've done, and for everything it was in his power to do, Princess Luna sentenced him to life in prison with no parole." Crimson recited.

"For how long does that really mean?" Prey asked.

"She didn't specify." Gloom said darkly. Prey bet that a sentence for 'life' from Luna, really meant the full 'for life'.

It was also clear how thestral clans societal culture lent towards the ideals of justice over mercy. They took after their Mistress of the Night in that respect. Actually, normal ponies could be exactly the same when pushed to the edge, or worse, if they thought they were doing it for a righteous cause. Just like the Border Guard and Captain Fire Strike had done. He quickly tossed those thoughts back into the recesses of his mind.

"Where is Wheat Plow going to be sent? Deported as well?" Prey asked. He had a feeling what the answer was going to be.

Gloom checked Happy and Current were out of hear shot before he answered. "This is restricted information that wasn't announced at the trial, okay? But as members of the ISND, we get to know some of it, but you are forbidden from telling anypony else."

Gloom then lowed his voice further, "There is a high security Equestrian prison, called Dreverton. The prison's location is restricted, and I don't know any details about it, but that's where Wheat Plow's being sent. It's where the Crown sends the worst of the absolute worst. It's safe to say we'll never hear from Wheat Plow again." He finished solemnly.

Prey's hunch had been right, Luna really had sentenced Wheat Plow to Dreverton. But why he'd been sent there instead of some lesser prison, Prey didn't know. Surely Wheat Plow's crimes didn't warrant banishment to that extinct volcano? That was where they sent murderers, dark magic users, cannibals, and the like. Despite all the riots, fights, and civil unrest, still not even one person was dead. Many injured yes, but somehow not even one killed. Yet he was still sent to Dreverton.

'He'll only be an inmate on the upper level then.' Prey decided. Perhaps alicorns judged the severity of a crime based off the monetary damage it inflicted and the setbacks it caused?

To an immortal, life must be cheap. Impeding the progress of their empire with widespread, (if superficial), damages however? Apparently unforgivable.

Gloom completely misinterpreted Prey's silence, "This isn't some secret execution station, because there's no such thing." Gloom hastily told Prey. "You didn't actually think that, did you?"

Prey blinked in surprise at him, "What? No, of course not. Ponies don't do that." Neither Gloom or Crimson seemed to pick up on his use of the definition 'ponies' instead of 'people'.

"Oh good, just checking." Gloom said, snapping the mood back to happy, relieved his momentary fear had been groundless.

Prey thought it strange that thestrals, who from his understanding still practised ritual combat, would think the death penalty was so outrageous. Sure, it was strictly forbidden for them to try and kill their opponent in the arena, but that didn't mean accidents didn't happen. Crimson's father had died in one of these duels Prey knew. That seemed to be one of the unspoken reason's for clan Myrrdon's pseudo-exile, but none of the other thestrals ever talked about it.

"We may also now rest during the day." Crimson spoke up. When Prey looked at him quizzically he realised he needed to further explain.

"I mean, Captain Nighthawk wants us to return to what our normal schedule should've been in the ISND. We can carry out our duties in the evening and night like the rest of the Night Guard, and rest during the day instead. Which is good."

"I certainly won't mind the change back to normal." Gloom agreed.

"Great." Prey echoed unenthusiastically. Normal for thestrals was the exact opposite for anyone without night vision.

"Captain Nighthawk told us the good news after the trial." Crimson added, like there could've been any other meeting with the Captain where Prey wasn't present in the last few hours.

'Oh well, it's not like I was fond of the sun anyway.' Prey thought.

"Better yet, since we're gonna' be starting that tomorrow, that mean's we actually get a full eight hours sleep tonight. Even more actually, we get to sleep in tomorrow." Gloom grinned. He rolled his eyes towards the nurses in the other room, "Your guardian angels will be pleased, Prey." He added sarcastically.

"I do not think they will be as forgiving if they knew we will now be working all night instead of all day sir." Crimson commented.

Gloom paused in surprise, "You're right."

He shot a look at Prey, "Don't you dare." He said with mock seriousness.

Gloom really was in an exceptionally good mood after the trial if he could joke, all stress from the week forgotten.

Prey didn't get the chance to offer a reply back, because Happy Healing and Current Bush returned just then, having finally finished, and kicked them out.

"And don't you dare ever do this again." Happy snapped at Gloom, as she and Current herded them out the door.

It was a quiet feeling of contemplation that prevailed in the bunk room, the kind that came after long anticipated success.

The trial was finally over! The deadline was dead, the cut-off date was axed, and the sentence of doom had been passed.

Passed on Wheat Plow, that is.

They'd only been preparing for it non-stop for a week, but it had been an intense week that'd felt longer. Prey hadn't been there to witness the ISND's accomplishment (thank Unholy Gods for that), but he could still appreciate the feeling.

'Wait, no I don't.' Prey caught himself.

For a moment there he'd been slipping into the teamwork mentality trap. This were merely false positive feelings generated when someone felt like they were fulfilling a responsibility. In reality, their work was unnecessary and their position of responsibility was pointless.

Prey wasn't part of any team, he was a prisoner. Feelings of job satisfaction and self worth were merely tools whereby others could be manipulated into working hard. Prey had seen their mother pull the exact same trick when he was small.

There used to be a certain type of thorny weed used to grew around their well, and always caught their wool when they went to haul water. One day, their mother had given Fleece and Gossamer the job of making sure those weeds were cleared. "It's an important job, and I need both of you to do it. You think you're both up to it?" From then on, Fleece and Gossamer had been proud every time they pulled up one of those weeds.

This situation was no different to back then, just on a bigger scale. He wasn't going to be fooled by any happy clappy achievement trappy.

'Gloom and Crimson can feel satisfied if they wanted. I'll be satisfied when I'm free.' Prey thought to himself, silently judging the other two for falling for this 'teamwork bonding'.

Gloom and Crimson were just sitting, thinking on what they'd accomplished and contemplating sweet success.

It was late. Midnight would take place above the Palace soon actually, but none of the three of them made any move to blow out the lamp just yet. There was no rush, they had a whole day of sleep and rest ahead of them, now that the ISND's work days had changed to work nights. They were taking a minute to savour the moment. Prey thought they both looked like they'd just been knocked for a loop.

"Well..." Gloom commented into the restful quiet.

"It is nice. That things have worked out finally." Crimson said, summing up all that their Sargent hadn't needed to say.

"Don't jinx it. Karma'll take notice if you go and say that." Prey told him.

"Now who's the one jinxing it?" Gloom returned. '-must really be feeling much better-'

"Who is karma and why does it matter if they hear about the trial?" Crimson asked blankly, looking up from watering his spindly Blood Fern.

"Karma? You know, the figurative representation for balance, fairness, and equality?" Gloom asked.

"The superstition that if you do good works good things will happen to you. Conversely, if you have good luck it's got to balance out later with bad luck. So now that we've tasted success, something's certain to go wrong later." Prey also answered.

"What did I just say about not jinxing it Prey?" Gloom asked.

"You're just superstitious." Prey told him.

"You're the one who believes in karma." Crimson told him.

"No I don't. When did I say that?"

"But you said karma would take notice. That's superstitious."

Prey pretended he was also partaking in the good mood and mock pretended to flounce his ears in outrage, "And now you've truly gone and jinxed it. All my efforts, for what?"

Crimson thought seriously about that for a minute. "It's fine. I don't believe in a karma to jinx." He decided.

Prey had just been untying his ribbon when Crimson said that. He dropped his head into his hooves, "Well, no hope left for us now. May as well end it all and save karma the trouble." He announced morosely, and mimed making a noose with the blue ribbon to hang himself with.

Gloom smiled, content with the world, before finally getting up and getting undressed from his armour.

'-today was a good day. We did good in front of our Princess. The ISND can only get better from here-', He thought. A thought occurred to the Sargent. Something, '-Captain Nighthawk told me-'.

Gloom cleared his thought, "Crimson, Prey, I think it should be said, you both did well. This case wasn't easy. Actually, this whole week has been a massive drag. The reports and the paperwork and the compiling and the-ehem* Getting sidetracked. Prey, thank you for your work. Crimson, thank you for your work." Gloom thanked each of them formally.

'-ponies need to know when they do well. Especially these two, who're not used to thanks-', Gloom thought, reflecting on what Nighthawk had reminded him of.

Crimson shuffled his wings, "That is fine sir. It's just my duty now."

"It was Wheat Plow's duty to serve his party. It doesn't mean he did it. Actually, that's an awful example," Gloom admitted, "Anyway, look, we all will do our duty, and even if nopony else aside from us knows it, it doesn't have to be thankless."

Crimson didn't protest further, he just sort of half nodded, half bowed and started slowly checking through his feathers.

Gloom looked to Prey expectantly. Prey looked back innocently, "Mhmm?"

There didn't seem to be much Gloom could say to that angelic smile, even though he was certain Prey was teasing him. "Right, never mind then. But thank you too Prey, and I'm glad that you're better now."

Prey made some noncommittal noises and got into his bunk. Gloom wasn't the only one looking forward to an extended sleep tonight.

That night, swimming through his lower mindscape, Prey dreamed of fields of wheat growing on an extinct volcano's surface.

Sadly, the long anticipated rest was not be. Someone came knocking on their door early in the morning.

Wooh, nearly at 300,000 words. That's good maybe? Definitely if you like long stories.
This chapter was once again kindly edited by: Sweetolebob18 🍉