"Fifty three years... Aquarius had been the General for fifty three years." said the black alicorn, smiling at Epsilon.

"Was it difficult to let him go?" asked the pegasus.

The alicorn rolled her eyes. "Hah! You'll be a hundred times better now that you're in his position."

Epsilon returned the friendly gesture. "It's an honor, your highness."

The black alicorn let a long giggle escape her, which was very unusual. She had for the longest time kept herself from displaying any emotions, in order to get the respect she demanded. The only pony who she ever opened herself to was Aquarius, who obviously can't listen anymore. There was something about Epsilon though, something special she couldn't put her hoof on.

"Please, skip the pleasantries and titles. They annoy me, would you like it if I stopped calling you Epsilon, and called you Great and Powerful General Epsilon, commander of the Regal Militia whenever we spoke?" asked the alicorn, trying hard to contain her laughter.

"Of course ma'am. Is there anything you need?" he asked.

The alicorn thought for a minute. "Hmm. It's quite cold in here, I know you're far from a servant, but would you mind fetching me a blanket?"

"Not a problem."

The alicorn was left to herself as the white pegasus exited the room. Being alone was normal, but it was slowly beginning to take it's toll on the stressed queen of Equestria. She hasn't had a mate for decades, she couldn't. It would only distract her. Maybe... No. I have way too much respect for-

Her train of thought was interrupted as Epsilon returned with a blanket, and wrapped it over the alicorn. For some reason, having him around made her comfortable. She felt open to him, safe with him. For the first time in thirty years, the alicorn closed her flaming white eyes and ended her concealment spell, revealing her true coat and eye colour.

Epsilon stood there in shock. He had never seen the queen like this for as long as he could remember. He only became more surprised when the alicorn smiled, and motioned for him to sit down next to her.

"Am I evil, Epsilon?" she asked softly.

"No, of course you aren't."

She sighed and turned away from the white pegasus. "I've hurt so many ponies though. I won't anymore, and I can try to fix my mistakes, but look at the group hunting me. They were some of my closest friends, and then there's Celestia..."

Epsilon put a reassuring hoof on the alicorn's back as she spoke of Celestia. "You are not evil. An evil pony would never try to make amends for what they did wrong, they would never even notice it."

The alicorn turned back and lowered her head to the ground in fatigue. "I don't think I say this enough, Epsilon, but you are very wise."

"Maybe." he answered.

"You have work to do, Epsilon. Do not feel obligated to stay with me." she ordered.

Epsilon bowed and left the room a second time, the alicorn somewhat regretting her demands to send the pegasus back to his admirals.

-----------

Epsilon eventually made it to the other wing of the castle, greeted by three of his closest officers. They had a look of concern expressed on each of their faces, which worried the new general.

"Sir, we received the report from Colonel Macintosh a few hours ago." said Admiral Gamma.

Epsilon grinned. "Good, good. What did he have to say?"

"Take a look at it yourself sir." said the Admiral, handing Epsilon a fairly large scroll.

----------

Epsilon,

    Hate to be the bearer of bad news again, but it don't look good down here. Not only is Ms. Belle not in Manehatten, nopony is. They haven't been for years. This place is a ghost town, do you know what happened?

    On a more personal note, I ain't gonna lie. You really look stressed mate, I know how you want nothing more than to protect... Her... But you should schedule some free time. Maybe relax a bit, you know? You're worrying me.

    I'm awaiting orders, the group will pretty much believe me if I say I have a lead. They don't really have anything else to go on, so make up a story and I'll pass it off.

Your Friend,

Mac.

P.S. Send one of the privates to look after my corn.

------------

Epsilon chuckled softly to himself and rolled up the parchment. He and Macintosh had been very good friends since he joined the army, at that time neither of them expected that Epsilon would one day command it. Other than Gamma and the Queen, he was the only pony Epsilon actually talked to regularly.

"Any suggestions on how to respond to that? Macintosh was never briefed on the Manehatten Project." said Epsilon as he sat down at his desk and put on his reading glasses, taking out a smaller scroll and a quill.

Gamma sighed. "Just tell him to move on, and say we'll investigate it."

The white stallion nodded and closed his eyes. He tilted his head down and focused on the quill, instinctively trying to grab hold of it with arcane strings. Before he could realize the mistake, he was hit with a painful shock to the head as the quill refused to budge. Gamma ran to his side as Epsilon let out a piercing shout.

"General!" exclaimed Gamma.

Anger got the best of the usually calm Epsilon as he pounded the desk, knocking over a lamp and some paperwork. He quickly jumped from his seat to escape the grasp of a concerned Gamma. The stallion growled at himself for being so careless, and looked back at his inferior.

Gamma hung his head in shame and pawed at the floor. "You have to stop..."

Epsilon held out his hoof and raised the younger pegasus' chin to look him in the eyes. "I know I do. I'm sorry. It just happens sometimes. I'll be fine."

"No you won't. Not like this."

The white alicorn sighed and rubbed the small lump on his forehead, under his mane. "I've managed without magic since I was a colt. Don't worry about me, Gamma."

"No promises." replied the orange maned pegasus, shaking his head as he left the room.

Reviewing the damages, Epsilon sat back down at his ravaged desk and picked up the quill in his teeth to begin writing.

----------

Mac,

    That's quite a shame. Just wondering, what exactly made Peppers think that Ms. Belle would be located in Manehatten? I don't remember suggesting you look there or having any of my men suggest it.

    As for me, please don't worry. I am fine, and I will always be fine. The Queen isn't exactly in the best mental state at the moment, so do your best to stall out Spike. Though, after hearing what her highness had to say about the hatch ling, I don't think he's in a position to charge blind at the palace gates.

    Move to Fillydelphia, if you cannot locate your target there, then I will have to take matters into my own hooves. I don't want to do that, it would be much smoother if you had Ms. Belle within your group. For now, I'm going to make sure that her highness doesn't crack under the pressure.

Really, I'm okay,

Epsilon.

P.S. On it bud.

----------

The white alicorn closed the scroll and tied it with a small gold ribbon. After looking at his torrential storm of an office a second time, he shook his head and began down the stairs. Eventually he made it to the room of one of his unicorn captains, Dusk Avano.

"Captain Dusk." addressed Epsilon.

He was met with a surprised look and an instantaneous salute. Epsilon laughed quietly as the small gray unicorn ran up to meet his superior. "At your service, General!"

"I just wanted you to send out a letter." said Epsilon.

"Of course! Where to?" asked Dusk.

Epsilon removed the scroll from his mouth and put it on the captain's desk. "To Colonel Macintosh's dragon, please do not send it until midnight."

"Why midnight?"

Epsilon furrowed his brow. "You aren't supposed to question your superiors."

The unicorn attempted to sink down to the size of an ant. "I'm so sorry, sir!"

The alicorn chuckled and put a hoof on his captain's shoulder. "It's quite alright son. It must be sent when the others are asleep, so they are not suspicious of Pepper's sudden burst of flame."

"Makes sense." replied the unicorn.

"Get it done." said Epsilon as he left the room. He turned back to the direction of the throne room to report his progress to the queen, who would surely not be surprised of anything. Epsilon hadn't ever a chance to experience what it was like to read minds, it sounded like a very interesting thing to play around with.

When he made it back to the throne room, however, he was not pleased by what he saw. The queen, who was now back under her concealment spell with a fully black coat, was pacing around angrily in the middle of the room. There were ten guards throughout the room, not including the general.

"Epsilon! I'm so glad you're finally here." said the black alicorn.

"Ma'am, what happened?" he asked.

The alicorn sighed and walked over to look out of the window. She was followed by the ensemble of armoured pegasi, but motioned them back to their positions. Epsilon joined her as she stared out of the window, not really knowing what to look at. The alicorn gulped and turned to her general.

"We have a problem."