Pinkie Pie got out on the streets just before sunrise.

She wore no disguise except for her gray cloak, which contrasted with the vibrant pink of her coat underneath. There weren’t a lot of ponies on the street this early, but the few that Pinkie did see looked like unpleasant fellows. She didn’t think they would give her trouble, but she was ready for it nonetheless. Unlike Birminghoof, Canterlot didn’t know her and her reputation. Not yet.

Soon Pinkie left the shady neighborhood behind, heading towards the Academy. As she got closer, she recognized some streets from her earlier visits. After that, it was easy to find her way to the hotel where she and Heavy Steps had been staying the night before.

Pinkie Pie worried about the unicorn. They weren’t the best of friends, but she would feel bad if he had gotten in serious trouble because of her. After all, she did kind of abandon him back at the Academy. She’d had a good reason, but it still lay heavily on her consciousness.

Checking the hotel from the outside, Pinkie located the window she needed and, after making sure no prying eyes were upon her, climbed the wall as easily as if she was a monkey rather than a pony. Pinkie had told her companion to rent their old room, so she peered into it while holding her breath, hoping for the best.

She sighed with relief at finding the massive body of the unicorn that was sprawled on the bed as he slept. It was Heavy Steps all right; that pony was hard to confuse with anypony else. Save for Shining Armor, he was the largest unicorn Pinkie had ever seen. He looked as strong as any earth pony. If he actually was one, Pinkie may have considered asking him out.

After fiddling with the window for a few moments, Pinkie got it open and slipped inside, landing softly like a cat. Heavy Steps didn’t even twitch. A mischievous grin sprouted on Pinkie’s face as an idea struck her. Crawling, Pinkie approached the bed and climbed on it. It squeaked, causing her to freeze, but Heavy Steps just let out an annoyed snore, still being asleep. Widening her grin, Pinkie stood above him.

She lowered her face closer to his, taking in a deep breath.

“Heavy, wake up!”

The stallion’s eyes flared wide open and he bucked with his hindlegs, but Pinkie had already jumped away, landing on the floor with a soft thud, giggling. Heavy Steps stared at her with wild eyes, his horn aglow, as he tried to make sense of the situation.

“Damn you, Pinkie!” he breathed out, lowering the knife he was levitating in front of him. “That wasn’t funny.”

Pinkie burst into laughter so hard that her mane broke free of her ponytail, burgeoning up in a heap on her head. Heavy Steps glared at her for a full minute until she had finally calmed down.

“Sorry, I just couldn’t stop myself,” she said, not looking sorry in the least, as she tried to put her mane back in order. "You should have seen your face!"

Heavy Steps grumbled something under his muzzle and fell back on his pillow.

“Where in Tartarus have you been?” he asked. “I barely managed to get away safely. Have you caught up with Twilight at least?”

“Yes, indeedily,” Pinkie nodded happily, shutting the window behind her. She sat on her haunches and quickly brought Heavy Steps up to speed, retelling him her adventures from the moment she had left him. “So then I offered to find the missing sisters!”

“I never took Everlight for an honorable pony, but this is low even for him,” Heavy Steps said, scrunching his muzzle as if he was smelling something vile. “Kidnapping fillies to blackmail his political opponents? That is disgraceful.”

“Indeed it is,” Pinkie nodded solemnly, her cheerful mood evaporating. “Although there is no direct evidence that he is the one behind it. Lady Rarity believes so, but nobles always squabble with each other. It could have been any of their other rivals.”

“House Belle is one of the most powerful houses in the kingdom,” Heavy Steps said, “Only a fool would do something like that to them. A fool or somepony sure enough of their power to be willing to face the consequences.”

“We’ll know for sure once we find them.”

“I share your desire to help, but that’s not why I came to Canterlot,” Heavy Steps said firmly. “I want to speak with Twilight Sparkle first to make sure she’s innocent.”

Pinkie sighed in exasperation. “I thought we’d been over this already.”

“And I told you I can’t be sure until I speak with her myself,” Heavy Steps repeated. “Granted, she never seemed like the type of pony to do something like that… If I hadn’t caught her holding a bottle of poison over the king, I wouldn’t have doubted her innocence for a second. But I did. There was nopony else in the room except for her. Even with all your arguments, it’s hard for me to ignore such proof.”

“There was another pony in the room,” Pinkie said, looking away. “Twilight told me. Sh— The pony, I mean, escaped through the window. It was open when you got in, wasn’t it?”

Heavy Steps thought for a few moments before nodding slowly. “That’s true. I remember that. I found it strange at the time but didn’t think much of it. I mean, even a pegasus couldn’t have gone through it — the defensive enchantments had been put over the whole chamber by the best mages of the Unicorn Union. Only high-ranking members of the Royal Guard would have the keys to disable them.”

“Everlight is the Grandmaster of the Unicorn Union, isn’t he?”

“Yes...”

“He was meeting with the king just before Twilight, wasn’t he? He had the opportunity to remove the enchantments to allow the assassin to sneak inside while Twilight was there. Maybe he wanted to set her up all along.”

While most of what Pinkie had said was from her personal experience, the last part was just an educated guess. It made sense. Twilight’s evening meetings with the king were a constant, and Pinkie’s only window of opportunity to do the job was set up specifically at that time. That was no mere coincidence.

“That… does make sense, actually,” Heavy Steps nodded thoughtfully. “I want to believe in Twilight’s innocence, really. She always seemed like a good young mare with a bright future ahead of her. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“I’m glad you’re starting to see this!” Pinkie grinned.

“Yeah.” The stallion climbed off the bed. “But if Twilight wasn’t the one who poisoned the king, then who did Everlight hire?”

Pinkie shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “We’ll ask him. But first, we must find the kidnapped ponies.”

“Of course. Securing the help of House Belle is going to be useful.”

“That’s not why I’m doing it,” Pinkie frowned.

“I know. But it’s true.”

“I guess...” Pinkie agreed reluctantly. She stood up, walking towards the door. “Let’s go. I’m going to introduce you to the others if you promise to be nice to Twilight.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Heavy Steps assured her. “But we’re still going to have a talk.”

Lucky’s house had changed drastically over the last few days. Everypony had lent their hoof to make it happen. All it had taken was a fair bit of cleaning up, but the result had definitely been worth it. The place no longer resembled some drunken lair. It was a far cry from Twilight’s home, but at least they had a place to recover after everything that had happened.

The owner of the house didn’t cause any trouble for the group. Lucky preferred to spend most of his time cooped up in his room with a bottle of booze – of which he seemed to have in abundance – venturing outside only to use the bathroom or to grab something to eat. Twilight tried to avoid him, and the stallion seemed to do the same.

All of that was far from Twilight’s thoughts now as she poured over the book she had taken from Lucky – Real Modern History by Elegant Lore. Of course, Twilight would have rather studied the Alicorn Amulet, but with her horn not fully recovered, she had to entrust Midnight with that job, under the condition that he wouldn’t put it on.

The book had proven to be a good distraction. Twilight had picked up where she had stopped the last time and had been reading for hours on end. She was so engrossed in reading that she had even missed her mom calling her out for breakfast. That was why it was a total shock for Twilight when the familiar aura of her mother’s magic surrounded her, easily lifting her into the air.

“Mom!” Twilight exclaimed indignantly, flaying her legs helplessly as she tried to grasp her book. “Stop it! I’m not a filly!”

“It is the only way, Twilight,” Velvet told her, carrying her to the dining room. “You can read your book later.”

“You don’t understand, mom!” Twilight argued with her, tempted to use her own magic to break free, even though she knew she shouldn’t. “I’ve found some new information on the Elements of Harmony!”

Her mom gave her a confused look. “Elements of what now?”

Twilight sighed in exasperation. “It’s a set of powerful artifacts I was searching information on. I was hardly able to find anything about them in Starswirl’s Library, so this book is just a treasure trove of knowledge! At least compared to the rest of them.”

“But you’ve found the Alicorn Amulet already, dear,” Velvet said, finally setting Twilight on the floor as they approached the dining room. “Why do you care about those Elements now? They’re practically useless.”

Twilight opened her mouth in outrage as she tried to find the words to express her bubbling emotions, when she noticed a smirk on her mother’s face. Her anger deflated and she even forced a thin smile.

“Very funny, mother.”

They entered the dining room together. Most of their little band was present, save for Pinkie Pie, Shining Armor and the newest addition – Heavy Steps, who were all busy with their search for the kidnapped sisters. Twilight was glad — even though the pink mare was on their side, she still felt uneasy in her presence. Even little Spike didn’t have that effect on Twilight, despite being a dragon. If anything, he fascinated her.

Breakfast flew by as Twilight shared what she had learned about the Elements and Equestrian history from the book with the rest. While Midnight, Spike and even Rarity listened with eager interest, her parents were far less enthusiastic about her discoveries.

"The Elements were first mentioned at the beginning of the book, stating that they had been used by Princesses Celestia and Luna to defeat the powerful Discord, who had taken over Equestria, thus ending the Age of Chaos," Twilight said. "The artifacts are mentioned multiple times throughout the book, but the author never elaborated on them until closer to the end.

“So, at some point after banishing her sister to the moon, Princess Celestia gave up her throne and left,” Twilight continued in excitement. “But we already knew some of it. Before leaving though, she gave each of the Elements to a pony she considered worthy. The book explains that a pony must possess a specific virtue to be able to wield one of the Elements — Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty, and Magic. Unfortunately, the book didn’t say who those ponies were, and that happened centuries ago. The Elements could be anywhere in the world by now.”

“I’m sure you’d be able to wield the Element of Magic, Twilight,” Midnight said. “I’ve never seen anypony as good with it as you are.”

“Thanks,” Twilight said, her cheeks reddening slightly. “But I don’t think we’ll ever be able to test it. Our chances of finding the Elements are next to impossible.”

“Yeah,” Midnight nodded, disappointed. “At least we’ve found the Alicorn Amulet. Anyway, I would like to read that book. I can’t believe the Church of the Sun would hide so much from our history.”

Night Light shifted on his chair, narrowing his eyes. “Perhaps we shouldn’t trust some random book Twilight found in a basement.”

Twilight winced. In her excitement to share her findings, she had forgotten that unlike her, her parents were devoted followers of the Church of the Sun. Of course, they wouldn’t like that the book described the Sun Goddess, Princess Celestia, as just a pony with her own successes and failures, rather than the infallible goddess the Church claimed her to be.

“I believe the book is authentic, dad,” Twilight said, picking her words carefully. “It expands on what we already knew about that age, adding an additional layer of context.”

“Twilight, dear,” Velvet caught her attention, “If that book is so good, why wasn’t it re-printed or at least added to the Library?”

“The author’s note in the beginning explains that the Church was opposed it,” Twilight explained.

“I wonder why,” Night Light chuckled humorlessly. “Maybe because it’s full of lies about our Goddess?”

Twilight sighed. Arguments like that had never ended well. Her skepticism had always conflicted with her parents’ views on the Sun Goddess, and now that she had found the book, it had only confirmed her own doubts about the Church’s version of Equestrian history.

“Let’s not argue about this today, dad,” she said.

Night Light grumbled something under his breath, but nodded in agreement, under a pointed stare from his wife. The conversation at the table pretty much died after that. Rarity tried to revive it with some small talk, but her efforts were in vain. Luckily, the meal was almost finished by now.

Having finished her meal, Twilight went back to reading.

Rarity was restless.

She was struggling with the same problem she’d had back at her own cottage – there was nothing to do. They’d been working on bringing this place into a livable condition in the first few days, but as they had settled into a new routine, Rarity’s anxiety had returned with full force.

With nothing to distract herself, her thoughts kept wandering to Sweetie Belle. Was her sister okay? Were those vile brutes treating her well? Rarity hoped for it with all of her heart – Everlight needed them both alive to use them against their father. She wondered if he had already started with it, using Sweetie Belle alone.

Hopefully, Pinkie was as good as she had claimed.

The mare had spent most of her time out of the house for the past few days, conducting her investigation. Her visits were sporadic and she had little to say besides sharing a few leads and properly introducing her companion. Rarity had asked if she needed any help, but Pinkie assured her that she had it under control.

Meanwhile, Rarity had to do something to occupy herself with. Perhaps she should go out? But it was dangerous outside. Even though there was no chance anypony was going to recognize her in her disguise, it was a bad neighborhood for somepony like her. Although Rarity supposed she didn’t have to go alone...

Getting off the sofa she was lounging on, Rarity walked to the kitchen. Midnight and Lotus were busy there like she had expected, doing the dishes. Rarity stopped at the door, admiring the two from behind – both ponies had excellent hindquarters.

“Need something, Lady Rarity?” Midnight turned his head, distracting Rarity from her rather inappropriate thoughts.

“I do, actually,” Rarity smiled. “I was wondering if you would be so kind as to accompany me outside.”

“What for?”

“I’m in dire need of some fresh air. I’m sure you’re also tired of sitting here.”

Midnight frowned as he finished the last dish and passed it to Lotus, who wiped it dry with a towel.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea right now?” he asked.

Rarity flicked her mane, giving Midnight a half-lidded gaze. “Oh, posh! I’m sure everything is going to be just fine. We’re going to be disguised, aren’t we?”

“Eh, I guess,” Midnight said, blinking uncertainly.

“I have the utmost confidence in your magic, darling.”

“T-thank you,” Midnight stammered. He sighed then. “Fine, I guess it’s alright if we go outside for a bit. We need to tell Twilight, though.”

Rarity didn’t see the need — it wasn’t like she answered to the mare — but she didn’t argue as the two went looking for the unicorn. It didn’t take long to find Twilight at her usual spot in the living room, hanging over her ancient book. Once in a while, Twilight tore her attention off it to scribe something into one of the numerous scrolls that were spread out on the floor around her.

Twilight didn’t notice Rarity approaching and ignored her attempts to get her attention until the third time Rarity had cleared her throat. Lifting her gaze over the book, Twilight regarded them with an impatient glare.

“What?”

Midnight flinched at the anger in her voice, but Rarity stepped in to explain their plans. Twilight barely seemed to listen, and once Rarity had finished, she just muttered her agreement and waved them off, returning to her book. Rarity frowned at such a rude display and even opened her mouth to berate the mare, but Midnight stopped her by putting a hoof on her withers and leading her away.

“She’s always like that when she’s focused on a book,” he explained with a sigh when they had finally gotten outside.

“I see,” Rarity nodded with a neutral expression. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Well, shall we?”

Midnight nodded, and the two trotted down the street, with Rarity leading the way. They were going nowhere in particular — she just let her hooves carry her wherever they wanted. It was nice to finally be outside of those four walls, enjoying the wind caressing her coat and mane, breathing the fresh air… Rarity scrunched her muzzle as she took a lungful of air. The atmosphere in the slums was hardly fresh.

“Where are we going, Lady Rarity?” Midnight asked five minutes after they had left the house.

“We’re just exploring the neighborhood, darling,” Rarity answered, glancing at him. “Why?”

“I figured that since we’re out, I should visit my parents,” Midnight said with a shrug. “Let them know I’m alright, you know? I haven’t been home for almost a week; they must be sick with worry.”

Rarity nodded in approval. “Of course, darling,” she said warmly. “Family is important.”

She let Midnight take the lead and followed him to his parent’s place. It was pretty far, but Rarity didn’t mind the walk in the slightest — after all, it was exactly why she had wanted to go outside. It was pleasant so far. She couldn’t call the weather warm, but her coat provided her with sufficient protection, and with the midday sun glowing overhead, it was easy to forget what time of year it was.

“So, Midnight, are you from a minor noble house?”

Midnight nodded curtly, drooping his ears.

“Don’t fret, darling. I’m not going to judge you for it,” Rarity assured, giving him an encouraging smile. He gave her a nervous look, his ears perking up slightly. “Even House Belle started out small. Silver Belle was granted nobility by the Sun Goddess herself right before she left, but we used to be a relatively minor house for centuries after.”

“Well, we won’t be so lucky,” Midnight sighed with resignation. “I think we’re the poorest noble house in Canterlot.”

“I’m pretty sure House Moonlight is a few steps below yours.”

Midnight chuckled. “I guess you’re right. But you get my point.”

“I do,” Rarity agreed. “But you shouldn’t think so lowly of yourself. As I said before, you’re quite gifted. How many noble-born unicorns went through the advanced course at the Academy besides you and Twilight?”

Midnight mulled over the question for a couple of moments. “Nine.”

“Nine unicorns out of all of Equestria,” Rarity pointed out. “I’m sure you’ll go far in life.”

“I doubt that. I don’t have any connections. I tried to apply for some jobs, but no one wanted me except for the Library,” Midnight slumped. “And now I don’t even have that.”

“Have you thought about going to Birminghoof? There are plenty more opportunities in the capital for a unicorn such as yourself.”

“Oh, I went there firsthoof after my graduation,” Midnight said and sighed heavily. “Didn’t go so well, either.”

“How so?”

“I’ll tell you later, okay? I don’t feel like talking about it right now.”

“Okay,” Rarity nodded, though a frown of concern was evident on her face.

Sensing the stallion’s mood, Rarity shifted the conversation to more pleasant topics. She told Midnight more about her own House’s exploits and shared a couple of her most entertaining stories from her social life in Birminghoof.

“So, those two nobles almost had a duel because each of them thought that his opponent was trying to steal you from him?” Midnight asked in confusion.

“Yes, quite so,” Rarity giggled. “I was more than a bit tipsy at the time, and they both had the same coat color. It’s not my fault I was confusing them with each other that whole ball!”

Midnight flickered a smile, “I was never at a ball myself, you know,” he said. “They don’t happen that often in Canterlot and if they do, my family is never invited.”

“Oh, I’d be happy to invite you to one of ours once this whole business with Everlight is over,” Rarity said. “Can you dance?”

“No,” Midnight admitted.

“Not to worry, darling,” Rarity said firmly, checking the stallion out. “You look able enough. I can teach you some moves when we get back to the house, if you want.”

“Okay,” Midnight nodded, twitching his tail nervously.

The two continued their idle chat as they crossed the town. While Rarity appeared relaxed, her eyes were picking up all the minor details around her — she wasn’t going to be caught off-guard.

Twilight had really poked a beehive with her blunder at the Academy.

The two ponies were throwing nervous looks at the numerous city guard patrols. Rarity hadn’t seen this many the last time she’d been out in the city. Sometimes, ponies who looked similar to Twilight were stopped right on the street and thoroughly examined, before they were led somewhere else.

Rarity and Midnight were lucky not to pique anypony’s interest as they made their way to their destination. For once, Rarity was glad her pristine white coat was hidden by Midnight’s dyeing spell — otherwise, she was sure to catch some unwanted attention. Combined with her unique mane style, it was quite eye-catching.

Once they were near his parents’ house, Midnight announced to Rarity that he was going to tell his folks the truth.

“Are you sure it’s wise to bring your parents into the loop, so to speak?”

Midnight frowned. “I don’t like lying to my parents. I’m not going to tell them everything, of course, but they have the right to know what’s happening.”

“I see,” Rarity said, not entirely convinced. “Well, it is your decision. As long as you don’t give away our plans or our safe house, I’ll support it.”

“I won’t,” Midnight assured her.

“You’ve had any luck?” Shining Armor asked as soon as Pinkie Pie had joined his table at the café.

“Nope,” Pinkie shook her head and grabbed a bunch of fries off his plate. She gladly chewed on them, blissfully ignoring his annoyed look. “Maybe Heavy Steps has found something.”

“Maybe,” Shining Armor shrugged. He hadn’t really been expecting any results on the second day of their search, so he wasn’t too disappointed.

Pinkie believed that the kidnappers were using a rented house to hold their victims while they searched for Rarity. Sweetie Belle, as important as she was to her sister, wasn’t the heir of the House. While Everlight could still use her life as a bargaining chip, his true goal was Rarity herself.

Following that lead, Shining, Pinkie and her companion Heavy Steps had checked a couple of dozen houses all over the city. There were only so many houses fitting the description in Canterlot, and it would take a few more days to check the rest.

Pinkie had ordered a snack of her own and was munching on it when her friend finally arrived. Shining and Heavy exchanged polite nods as he joined them by the table.

Shining still wasn’t sure what to think of the ex-Royal Guard. Though he had claimed to have overcome his earlier suspicions about Twilight, Shining could feel the underlying tension when the two had first met. Still, Heavy Steps had pledged his support to her cause, and Shining intended to give him a chance to prove it, even though he was going to watch him and Pinkie Pie closely for a good while.

“I think I might have something,” Heavy Steps announced. Shining and Pinkie leaned closer to him, eagerly waiting for him to elaborate. “One of the places I checked had a whole bunch of protective magic around it. High-level spells, similar to the ones protecting the palace.”

“That’s great, Heavy!” Pinkie grinned, gobbling up another pancake in the meantime. “We’re going there right away!”

“What’s our plan, exactly?” Shining asked. Heavy Steps nodded in support.

“We’ll make sure this is indeed the place our kidnappers are using, and if it is, I’m going to deal with them.”

Both Shining and Heavy frowned. Shining was the first to voice his concerns. “Alone?” he asked dubiously. “From what Twilight told us, we’re dealing with a group of skilled mages. And you’re not even a unicorn.”

Pinkie’s cheerful expression melted in a heartbeat, revealing a cold stony face. She gave Shining a withering glare that made even the experienced ex-guardspony nervous.

“No, I’m not,” Pinkie confirmed flatly. “What’s your point?”

Shining glanced at Heavy Steps, but the stallion just shrugged helplessly. “Eh, I mean no offense, but how are you going to take them out without magic?”

A menacing grin formed on Pinkie’s muzzle. “I have my ways.”

Heavy Steps chuckled. “She does. She took out me and my squad with some weird device when we invaded her house”

“But you were the Royal Guard!” Shining Armor shot up his eyebrows.

“Not my best moment,” Heavy admitted, looking away in shame.

“I see,” Shining Armor said, not sure what to think. Either the Royal Guard was not what it was made out to be or Pinkie Pie was more formidable than he had assumed. The way she had dealt with the ones observing his parents’ house pointed towards the latter.

“Anyway, I wasn’t planning on dealing with those guys completely on my own, silly,” Pinkie said, returning to her cheerful attitude as if nothing had happened. “We’ll do it together.”

Rarity would never have thought that Midnight’s family house was owned by nobles, although her experience with Lucky had taught her that not every noble was as rich and powerful as the ones she had associated herself with in Birminghoof. It was still jarring to see a noble family living in a simple commoner-like house that made up the majority of Canterlot.

A middle-aged shadowy-blue mare with an orange mane showing streaks of gray opened the door soon after Midnight had knocked. Rarity assumed that it was his mother — Dawn Star. The mare eyed Rarity intensely before returning her attention to her son.

“Midnight,” she nodded to him briskly. “So nice of you to pay a visit.”

Midnight chuckled nervously. “Sorry for disappearing on you like that,” he said. “I’ve been busy these last few days.”

“I can only guess,” Dawn answered flatly, shooting another glance at Rarity.

She took it as a cue.

“Allow me to introduce myself — my name is Lady Rose,” Rarity said with a small curtsey, using her fake alias. “I’m a friend of your son’s.”

“Nice to meet you, Lady Rose,” the mare answered politely, bowing her head. “I’m Dawn Star. Please, come in.”

The ponies trotted inside as Rarity’s experienced eyes took stock of the interior. It was certainly better than Lucky’s lair, but it had seen better days. While the furniture would have been expensive in its prime, it was worn out by time and long usage.

Dawn Star led them to the sofa by the coffee table and offered Rarity a seat, taking one herself. Rarity couldn’t help but notice the grace with which she moved – she was probably a great dancer, unlike her son. Midnight sat on a chair opposite to them.

“Where’s dad?” he asked.

“He’s still at work.”

“Right,” Midnight said, shuffling in his seat. “There’s something important I wanted to tell you. Both of you.”

Dawn’s eyes widened as her eyes flicked between Rarity and her son. “Oh my. Are you two… together?”

“Of course not!” Midnight winced at the suggestion. Rarity narrowed her eyes. “She’s just a friend, but that’s not important. I wanted to tell you that I’m not going to be back home for a while.”

“What? Why?”

Midnight sighed. “I’m helping Twilight Sparkle.”

Dawn Star gasped. “The wanted criminal?! Why would you do that? The whole city guard is looking for her!” she turned her gaze to Rarity. “Are you a criminal too?”

Rarity snorted angrily. “I can assure you – I am no criminal. Neither is Twilight Sparkle, for that matter. She has been wrongly accused and your son, as well as me, is helping to restore justice.”

“There is no such thing as justice in this country,” Dawn Star snapped, turning her attention back to Midnight. “I don’t care if she’s guilty or not, you should stop with this nonsense at once. It’s far too dangerous. You will both be executed as her accomplices when they catch you!”

Midnight shook his head, determination in his eyes. “I’m sorry, mom, but I can’t just leave Twilight on her own. She’s my friend.”

“Since when?!”

“Since the Academy! She was in my class for years.”

“I see. Are you the only one who’s helping her?”

“No…”

“Then you’re staying home,” Dawn stated with an air of finality, hitting the sofa’s surface for emphasis. “Your father is coming home soon, and he’ll be having a good talk with you, boy.”

“I’m not a boy anymore!” Midnight exclaimed, jumping off his chair. “I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I came here to warn you, not to ask for permission.”

The argument went back and forth for a few minutes while Rarity sat back and watched without interfering. She was no stranger to arguments within a family, but she was an outsider in this one. And while she took no joy in watching the drama develop, it beat sitting in Lucky’s cottage with nothing better to do.

“That’s it, I’m leaving!” Midnight said, sending the coffee table flying in anger. “Come on, Rarity!”

Rarity winced slightly at him revealing her real name, but Dawn Star didn’t seem to notice. The mare advanced at Midnight with her horn glowing, glaring at her son. Perhaps the situation needed Rarity’s involvement after all.

“May I have your attention, everypony?” Rarity asked in a loud and clear voice. Both ponies turned to her slowly. “This is getting out of hoof. Are you really going to fight each other now?”

Dawn Star’s horn stopped glowing and her expression softened. She took a deep breath. “You’re right, Lady Rose.” She looked at her son. “If I can’t convince you to stay out of this, at least wait for your father. Maybe he can.”

“No,” Midnight shook his head, using his magic to put the table back in its proper place. He had a look of shame on his face. “I’m sorry for getting mad, but I won’t stay. I’ll be back soon, I promise. We’re not going to hide forever.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I can’t tell you that, mom,” Midnight said apologetically. “But what we’re going to do is important. I promise I’ll be careful.”

Dawn Star did not look happy at his words, but she knew there was no way she was going to stop Midnight now, so she swallowed whatever arguments she had in mind and simply gave her son a firm hug. “Are you sure you won’t wait for your father?”

Midnight winced. “I’m sure. I don’t want to argue with him too. Just tell him I love him.”

“I will,” Dawn said, releasing him from the hug to look into his eyes. “I hope you’re not making a mistake, Midnight.”

“I know I’m not.” Midnight said firmly. “I love you, mom. Goodbye.”

As Midnight and Rarity walked through the city once again, Rarity couldn’t help but notice that her companion was feeling down after what had happened. She attempted to start a conversation a couple of times to distract him, but the stallion’s answers were brief and simple. That didn’t stop her from trying though.

“Can you please stop talking for now?” Midnight finally asked her, not bothering to keep the irritation out of his voice. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Well, I’m sorry for trying to make you feel better,” Rarity snorted indignantly.

“I’m sorry,” Midnight said, drooping his ears. “As I said, I’m just not in the mood. My whole life is falling apart. I don’t have a job, I don’t have a marefriend, and I’ve now become an outlaw… Maybe my mother was right.”

“I understand how you feel,” Rarity said. “I, too, am struggling to remain positive. But I truly believe that everything will turn out for the best. If it makes you feel any better, I can ask my father to offer you a job once everything has settled down. A unicorn of your abilities would be useful for our House.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“As for a marefriend, I’m sure such a handsome stallion as yourself would have no trouble finding one,” Rarity said, winking.

Midnight stumbled on the road, but quickly straightened himself. “Ha-ha. Right. No one would ever be interested in me.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Rarity asked, making a show of checking him out. A slight blush appeared on Midnight’s face. “You’re pretty good-looking for a stallion, darling. What you need is a tad more confidence.”

“Stop it,” Midnight asked, wincing. “I know you’re just trying to cheer me up.”

“I am.” Rarity moved closer to Midnight so their sides brushed at each other. “But I don’t have to lie to do that.”

Midnight recoiled, almost crashing into another pony. Rarity stifled a giggle but pretended to look offended. “Am I so hideous that you’re afraid to even stay near me?”

“Of course not,” Midnight said after apologizing to the poor pony. “You’re beautiful, Lady Rarity. You just took me by surprise.”

Rarity beamed at the compliment. “Oh, do you think I’m beautiful?”

Midnight avoided Rarity’s gaze as they resumed walking. “Well, yeah. Obviously.”

They continued to chat as they made their way back to Lucky’s cottage. Rarity kept close to the stallion, making sure to brush at him at every opportunity — it was entertaining to watch his reaction. Rarity briefly considered upping her teasing to the next level but quickly decided against it.

At least not while in public.

Perhaps later when she was giving him the dancing lessons she had promised. Perhaps she was going to go even further than teasing. Rarity smiled at the thought, feeling a pleasant warmth spreading from her loins, but then suppressed the feeling. It was harder to control herself while in heat.

“Was that really necessary?” Shining Armor asked, his tail twitching anxiously.

Pinkie Pie nodded curtly. She knew it wasn’t nice to break into and enter somepony else’s house, but it had indeed been necessary. The trio had settled in a place on the opposite side of the street from the house they suspected the kidnappers were staying in, observing it from the attic.

“We can’t let them see us,” Pinkie added.

Shining Armor frowned but didn’t argue.

The owners weren’t home at the moment, but if they were to suddenly return, Pinkie had some sleeping powder stored in her saddlebags. Or her companions could use their magic to stun them. It would save her a couple of bits for the powder.

While Pinkie didn’t like unicorns and their freaky magic, she couldn’t deny that their abilities were pretty useful in a lot of situations. Right now, for example, Heavy Steps was examining the layer of protective spells around their target house. Despite Pinkie’s boasting earlier, she knew she had no way of overcoming it without a unicorn’s help.

“That’s some damn fine work,” Heavy Steps said, having finished his scanning. “They have a sound-dampening spell around the house, as well as a physical barrier along the walls. Even teleporting through it is impossible. Not that I could pull it off anyway.”

“Huh,” Shining Armor looked at the other stallion in surprise. “It would take a pretty strong unicorn to keep this up at all times. Unless they brought along a power crystal, of course.”

“Those things are expensive,” Pinkie commented thoughtfully. “They could have bought that whole house for the price of one.” A grin appeared on her face. “I’m pretty sure they are indeed our kidnappers. Can you get through their defenses quietly, Heavy?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps, but it would take time.”

“You had no trouble with stuff like that when we sneaked into the palace,” Pinkie reminded him.

“As a captain, I knew the right key to disable them,” the unicorn explained. “I don’t have that advantage here.”

Pinkie frowned, disappointed. “Go ahead then.”

“Okay,” Heavy Steps nodded, focusing on the house across the road.

While they waited, Shining and Pinkie discussed their plan, trying not to disrupt the unicorn’s concentration. His eyes were closed, and he mumbled something from time to time as he sat there with his horn glowing. Sweat rolled down his face.

It went on for half an hour with no visible results, but nopony dared to interrupt him. Usually, when Pinkie needed to get through the arcane defense of some noble’s house, she masqueraded as one of the servants. It would take days or even weeks of preparation. But for obvious reasons, that strategy was useless here, so Heavy Steps was their only hope. Though if they had the luxury of time, Pinkie would have waited for Twilight to get better.

“Can’t you help him?” Pinkie asked Shining after a while.

The stallion shook his head. “I know the basic spells they taught me in guard training, but I’m not as good at magic as Twilight.”

“I see.”

After another half an hour, Heavy Steps finally opened his eyes, gasping for air. After gulping down a whole flask of water, he spoke, “I think I did it,” he said in a hoarse voice. “It was a lot harder than I thought, but I think I managed to alter their spell so it will let us through.”

Pinkie’s left hoof twitched unexpectedly, followed by a couple of more physical sensations. Strange feelings like those usually helped Pinkie to predict what was about to happen. She felt her stomach drop as she realized what this particular combo had meant — somepony with unfriendly intentions was waiting for them.

“We’re busted,” Pinkie announced with frustration. Both unicorns looked at her in alarm as she elaborated. “They probably noticed you mingling with their spell. Good job.”

“Well, shit,” Heavy Steps frowned. “How do you know?”

“I just do. But don’t worry, guys. We’re still going to do this; it’s just going to be a bit harder.”

As she stood up, Shining blocked her way. “Have you gone crazy? If they know something is up, there’s no way we can pull this off quietly. With the state the city is in, if something goes wrong, the guard is going to be upon us within minutes!”

“We can’t give them any time to prepare now that they know somepony is looking for them,” Pinkie said with conviction. She walked around Shining Armor and looked back. “Are you with me or not?”

By the time Midnight and Rarity had made it to Lucky’s cottage, the mare was doing her best to pull Midnight’s attention towards her. It was certainly better than letting him dwell on his depressive thoughts. While Midnight didn’t exactly look comfortable with her bold advances, he never asked her to stop, which Rarity took as permission to continue. It was for his benefit too, after all.

“Would you like to start our dancing lesson right away?” Rarity asked as they walked through the front door. "It’d be a good way for us to unwind."

Night Light, Twilight’s father, emerged from behind the corner and, after seeing the familiar faces, left again. Rarity had barely paid him any attention as she awaited Midnight’s answer.

“Maybe later,” he said, looking away. “I’d rather read a book right now. Sorry, Lady Rarity.”

Rarity nodded, forcing a smile onto her muzzle.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. See you later!"

Having said that, Midnight trotted away as she stood there watching. Rarity sighed. She had been so looking forward to giving those dance lessons and what might have followed, but now she would have to endure her frustration on top of her boredom. At least nothing could stop Rarity from enjoying a pleasant view of Midnight’s rump as he walked away.

The rest of the day dragged on as slowly as Rarity had feared.

She even went so far as to help Lotus in the kitchen, though the mare didn’t trust her with anything more than cutting up some simple ingredients. After that was done, Rarity just strolled around the house, making small corrections to the furniture placement and cleaning up whatever they had missed the first time.

“Bored?”

Rarity started, flattening her ears, and turned towards the voice. The green baby dragon they had found in the caves was standing at the end of the corridor, leaning against the wall. The strange creature was creeping her out, but he had shown no signs of aggression so far, so Rarity chose to be polite.

“Indeed,” she nodded tensely. “I’m not used to staying indoors for such a long time.”

“I was pretty bored too back in the caves,” Spike said, walking closer. His quick two-legged gait was a strange sight to behold. “I spent most of my free time napping and exploring.”

“I see.”

An uncomfortable silence followed.

“I’m sorry that you fell into one of my traps, by the way,” the little dragon finally said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rarity waved her hoof dismissively. “You didn’t know I was going to fall into it, did you?”

“Of course not!” Spike said, shaking his head vigorously. “I never thought a pony would go so deep into the caves. Especially a pony like you.”

“A pony like me?” Rarity raised her eyebrow.

Spike fidgeted in place.

“Eh, I mean, if I was expecting someone, it would have been some mighty hero covered with scars, not a pretty mare like you.”

A genuine smile grew on Rarity’s face. Perhaps this dragon was closer to a pony in spirit than she had assumed if he could appreciate her beauty. “Why, thank you, darling. It’s nice of you to say so.”

Spike grinned in return.

The two walked together into the living room, chatting. Twilight and Midnight were occupying it, each reading their own book in their separate corners on the floor, but the couch was free. They sat near each other as Spike shared the numerous difficulties of living in that cave with Rarity.

The little dragon turned out to be surprisingly pleasant company. He seemed to be genuinely interested in what Rarity had to say, whether it was about the dressing styles of Birminghoof’s nobility or stories about her family.

“Professor Butterfly was the closest thing I’ve ever had to a family,” Spike mentioned at some point, sighing heavily. “I still miss her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Spike,” Rarity said, reaching out a hoof to gently pat Spike’s head near his green spikes. He was so unlike any dragon she had ever heard of. If he didn’t have the scales, it would have been easy to imagine him as a young colt.

“But at least I’m with you guys now,” Spike said. “I know you have a difficult mission, but I’ll help you however I can, as long as you let me stay with you.”

“Oh, darling, why would we ever make such a wonderful dragon leave?”

Pinkie Pie and her companions were standing under the window of the kidnappers’ house. She had taken some of her expensive potions to increase her strength and speed for the upcoming task, and she was ready to go in.

“Tell us where they are,” Pinkie whispered to Heavy Steps.

The stallion’s eyes glowed in an arcane light as he gazed at the wall. As he had explained earlier, the spell he was using allowed him to see the magic density and thus determine where everypony was.

“I can see nine magic imprints in the basement,” he said. “One of it is the power crystal though — nopony has that much magic. That would make it eight ponies down there.”

“Good job, Heavy.”

Standing on her hindlegs, Pinkie peeked through the window. As far as she could tell, the room was empty. Her senses hadn’t picked up on anything, either. The window was closed, but Pinkie had been expecting that, so she simply carved a hole into the glass with her tool and then jumped inside, landing in a roll. She had done it all soundlessly.

Her companions were less stealthy once she had opened the window for them, but Pinkie’s senses were quiet, so she wasn’t overly worried about being noticed. Crossing the barren room in a few strides, Pinkie put her ear on the door.

“We need to set up an ambush near the basement and lure them out,” she said. “Let’s go.”

Both stallions nodded curtly and followed her into the corridor. Their hoofsteps were barely audible, thanks to the soft hoofpads Pinkie had provided for them just for the occasion.

As they walked, Pinkie couldn’t help but grow worried. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to sneak into an enemy’s lair, but never before had her opponents been a group of high-level unicorns. Except for the time when she had poisoned the king, but she’d had weeks of preparations for that and hadn’t needed to take them all out. Although she didn’t have two ex-guards on her side back then, either.

“Wait a second,” Pinkie said as a sudden realization hit her. “If you can see them with your spell, they can probably see us too.”

“Shit, you’re right,” Heavy Steps muttered as Shining Armor winced. “We won’t take them by surprise.”

“I hate unicorns…” Pinkie sighed. “Well, it’s too late to turn ba— Look out!”

Pinkie dropped to the floor, barely avoiding a magical projectile overhead. While they were chit-chatting, the kidnappers had taken them by surprise! Shining Armor reacted fast as another projectile splashed on his shield of purple energy.

Pinkie could see the three unicorns down the corridor as they bombarded Shining’s shield with one missile after another. The walls shook around them, but to Pinkie’s surprise, the shield still held somehow.

But where was the fourth one?

“Hold them off!” Pinkie ordered to her companions as she sprinted in the opposite direction, holding a dagger in her mouth.

If her guess was correct, one of the kidnappers was going to attack them from behind. It was a smart move on their part, but Pinkie was going to make sure it would fail. Her senses tingled, so she stopped just before turning around the corner.

She knew the enemy unicorn would be there.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Pinkie leaped forward, throwing her dagger blindly. Despite being surprised, the unicorn managed to deflect her attack with a burst of magic.

“Hello there!” Pinkie exclaimed, rolling out of the way of his counterattack spell, which blew a hole in the wall behind her. “Surrender or die!”

The unicorn didn’t answer, attempting to grab her in his telekinetic grip. That proved to be a big mistake. Moving as if through water, Pinkie jumped out of his hold and tackled him to the floor. Another spell harmlessly passed over her head, but Pinkie gave the unicorn no opportunity to improve his aim, burrowing a second dagger deep into his eye.

He died instantly.

“Bad choice,” Pinkie told him calmly, wiping her knife on his coat. He didn’t complain.

Then she trotted in the direction he had come from. She didn’t bother staying quiet anymore — the sounds of the battle nearby provided a good cover for her steps. Soon Pinkie found three of the enemy unicorns still trying to overpower Shining’s shield, which was now reinforced by Heavy.

Pinkie approached them with a grin and leaped at the back of the one closest to her, striking his horn with enough force to prevent him from using magic. The unicorn tried to struggle, but without magic, he was no match for Pinkie’s earth pony strength as she strangled him unconscious.

Her attack had created a good distraction just as Pinkie had hoped, allowing Shining and Heavy to launch a counterattack. Spells flew back and forth above Pinkie’s head in a frenzy, destroying everything on their path. Pinkie crawled away – she was good at melee, but magic duels were beyond even her abilities.

Or maybe not, Pinkie thought, throwing another dagger at one of her adversaries.

The unicorn was too focused on deflecting Shining’s attacks to notice the dagger, until it had buried itself in his neck. With his concentration broken in such a rude way, he was thrown back by Shining’s spell with such a force that he broke through the wall, disappearing into the rubble.

Pinkie winced — even if he had survived the knife, he wouldn’t have survived that. Not that she cared much about somepony like him.

The remaining unicorn refused to give up. He was fighting both Shining and Heavy, avoiding and deflecting their spells, and even managing to launch some of his own. At some point, the corridor caught fire.

Pinkie knew they had to finish this quickly — the guards were bound to be here soon to investigate the ruckus that had undoubtedly been reported by their neighbors.

She threw her last dagger at the enemy, but it flew right back at her. Pinkie widened her eyes and dashed to the side, but she wasn’t fast enough as the dagger sliced along her foreleg. She hissed in pain, cursing the unicorn. Before she could attempt anything else, however, he suddenly disappeared with a flash.

“Damn, where did he go?” Shining exclaimed, spinning his head around.

The trio exchanged glances. “The hostages!”

They rushed to the basement, though being the professionals that they were, it wasn’t a blind charge, but rather an organized advance with Shining Armor in the lead, ready to cast his shield again at a moment’s notice.

It proved to be a good idea.

As soon as he had reached the basement, a small explosion crashed against the shield that he had erected just in time. Pinkie and Heavy felt a hot wave wash around them, but Shining’s magic had protected them from the worst.

“Not a step further or I’ll kill them,” a cold voice called out.

Pinkie winced as she looked over Shining’s shoulder.

The prisoners were here. A filly, an earth pony mare, and a unicorn stallion were chained up to a wall like some dogs, while the fourth one, another unicorn, was strapped to a chair in the middle of the room. They couldn’t be anypony other than Sweetie Belle, Aloe and Rarity’s guards, whose names Pinkie didn’t care enough to remember. All of them were bruised with their coats covered in blood, save for the little filly, who seemed to be unharmed.

Rarity’s guards were glancing between her group and the kidnapper with apprehension, while Aloe and Sweetie Belle wore frightened expressions. Pinkie grinned at them with what she hoped was a cheerful smile, but for some reason, it seemed to scare those ponies even more.

“You let them go unharmed,” Pinkie said, producing another dagger from under her cloak. “It’s three against one.”

“Please, you’re no match for me,” the unicorn sneered. Pinkie narrowed her eyes, holding back her rage. “But let’s make a deal: I’m taking the filly with me, and you can have everyone else.”

His offer was unacceptable, but Pinkie still pretended to consider it in order to buy herself some time to think. She knew she had to do something drastic to save the situation, but what? The unicorn had proved immune to her ranged attacks. But what if she attacked him from up close?

“I accept your deal,” Pinkie said, stepping around Shining Armor. “Let’s shake our hooves on it.”

“Stay where you are!” the unicorn warned her and Pinkie froze, having crossed only half the distance to him.

It was good enough.

Pinkie closed her eyes and focused, feeling the potion she had drunk before the attack burning up in her veins. Its effects wouldn’t last for more than a few seconds at that rate and the aftermath would be unpleasant, but it was the only way. Pinkie opened her eyes again, watching in slow motion as the unicorn’s eyes were widening and a faint glow was growing around his horn. He knew that something was up.

Then Pinkie charged.

The unicorn was unable to react in time as Pinkie slammed into him with her whole body. Her muscles strained and she felt some of her bones cracking from the impact, but she knew the less sturdy unicorn had it much worse as he got smashed into the wall behind him.

Pinkie stood in the middle of the room shaking, looking at the broken body of the unicorn on the floor. He wasn’t moving. Satisfied, Pinkie bent over and threw up.

“What in Tartarus did you do?” Shining Armor asked, approaching slowly.

“I did say I had some tricks up my sleeve,” Pinkie explained, panting and wincing from the pain in her foreleg. There was no time for first aid. “Let’s hurry, the guards will be here soon.”

Shining nodded tensely as he and Heavy went to release the prisoners. It didn’t take them long as they simply blasted the locks instead of looking for a key. Soon everypony was freed.

Feeling somewhat better, Pinkie approached Aloe, who was gripping the filly in her embrace. They both raised their eyes, fear easily readable in them, but despite that, Pinkie put on her best friendly smile.

“Your sisters asked me to find you,” she said. “Don’t worry, you’re going to see them soon!”

The filly stopped sobbing, looking at Pinkie with her big, wet eyes. “Are you taking us to Rarity?”

“Yep! Let’s go!”

Rarity wandered around the house aimlessly, going from room to room and sometimes moving furniture from one place to another if she felt it was in the wrong position. Spike was following her steps, sometimes complimenting her work, but Rarity knew he was just flattering her.

She had tried to lend a hoof in the kitchen, but Lotus and Velvet were doing just fine, and they had made it clear that her help was not required. Twilight and Midnight were both too busy with their books to pay any attention to her, either. Even Twilight’s father, Night Light, had nothing Rarity could help him with.

Rarity felt useless.

If every day was going to be like that, she wasn’t sure she was going to keep her sanity...

“We’ve already been here, Rarity,” Spike said as Rarity opened another door.

“Oh, I’m aware, darling,” she answered with a nervous chuckle. “I’m just checking if I missed something the first time.” After a moment of staring into a small guest room, Rarity closed the door. “Nope.”

She paused, wondering what to do next. Perhaps she could persuade Midnight to postpone his reading session in favor of the dance lesson she had promised him. However, when she went downstairs, Rarity suddenly heard voices from the entrance.

Was Pinkie Pie finally back?

Rarity hurried to meet her, hoping to get some news about her sister, stopping at the sight of a small crowd. Pinkie Pie was in front of it with a big smile on her face, which widened when she saw Rarity. Rarity’s heart leaped in sudden hope. Could it be—

“Rarity!”

Sweetie Belle sprinted between Pinkie’s legs like a little rocket. Rarity only managed to sit on her haunches and spread her forelegs as the filly jumped into her hug. She gripped Sweetie back tightly, looking at her with misty eyes and whispering words of comfort into her ear.

After a while, Rarity had finally recovered enough to meet Pinkie’s eyes. She and her whole family were in Pinkie’s debt, she realized. Rarity would make sure to reward the mare properly once she had the means, but for now, a simple nod of gratitude was all she was able to give.

Lotus and Aloe had a similar reunion nearby. At this point, everypony including Lucky was here to see what the commotion was about. The room was getting a bit crowded. Rarity exchanged a nod with her guards, happy to see them alive, and then she noticed an unfamiliar pony with an inhibitor ring on his horn. Her eyes narrowed.

“I captured one of the kidnappers for interrogation,” Pinkie said, pointing at that pony. Then she addressed Shining Armor, “Lock him up somewhere — we’ll be having a chat with him soon.”

The captive remained silent as Shining led him away. Rarity followed them with her eyes, picturing all the pain she wanted to put him through for kidnapping her little sister. As they disappeared behind a door, she returned her gaze to Sweetie Belle, examining the filly more closely.

“Are you hurt, darling?” Rarity asked, nuzzling Sweetie’s neck.

The filly retracted, seemingly conscious of such a display of affection in front of everypony. “Nah. They didn’t hurt me… Only Aloe and the guards.”

“They will never hurt anypony ever again,” Pinkie assured them. Rarity suppressed a shudder at the sudden coldness in her voice. Sweetie Belle drooped her ears, looking at the pink mare warily.

“Good,” Rarity spoke neutrally and turned to Twilight, who was talking with Midnight. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but now that my sister is back, I must know how soon we are going back to Birminghoof.”

“It depends on how soon I’ll be able to use my magic again,” Twilight answered, her ears wilting. “It might be another week or two, I think.”

Rarity shook her head. “That’s unacceptable. My family will be sick with worry if I’m not heard from for such a long time. My father is being careful, but there’s no telling what he might do if he thinks that Everlight had me and my sister killed.”

Sweetie Belle shivered beside her, and Rarity comforted her by gently stroking her mane.

“I don’t think we can leave any sooner,” Midnight said. “You’ve seen how things are here in Canterlot — the guard is still on full alert. They’ll be checking everypony leaving the city for illusion magic and such.”

“That won’t be a problem when I recover. I can teleport us all past the gate,” Twilight added confidently.

Rarity kept her composure, even though she wanted to stomp her hoof in frustration. Not only would her family worry more with every day of her being missing, but she would also go insane with boredom if they stayed in this house for another few weeks!

But there was no arguing with Twilight and Midnight’s arguments. Although there was something she could do. “I’ll send him a letter then. I have just enough bits for a pegasus mail service.”

Twilight nodded. “Fine by me.”

A few hours later, after a good meal and some rest, a group of ponies with grim faces had gathered in the basement where their captive was being held. He raised his head to look at them as they walked in, but if he was afraid, he didn’t show it. Instead, the unicorn sighed as if disappointed.

Rarity twitched her ear in annoyance — she was hoping to see him cowering in fear, but he looked almost bored instead.

“You’re going to tell us who you’re working for,” Shining Armor said, his voice flat.

The prisoner shrugged. “Sure. I work for Grandmaster Everlight of the Unicorn Union.”

Shining Armor’s face lost its composure, displaying confusion. Rarity herself was taken aback at the prisoner’s unexpected cooperation. She had assumed he would be silent, imagining with a little bit of sick pleasure how they were going to force him to talk, but the unicorn had defied her expectations.

“What? I don’t want you to torture me or anything," the unicorn explained. “Just make my death quick when you’re finished with me.”

Shining Armor nodded, regaining his composure quickly. He wasted no time asking all the questions he had, and the prisoner told them everything they wanted to know without any hesitation or a second thought. There was no way to know if he was lying, of course, but what he had told them so far matched with what they had already figured out on their own.

Everlight had entrusted this group with the task of capturing Rarity and her sister alive. When Rarity had escaped, they had interrogated her servants to find out where she might have been hiding. They would have killed them otherwise, if not for Blazing Shield feeding them some elaborate lies to send them on a wild goose chase in an attempt to buy them some time.

If not for Pinkie’s timely rescue though, it would have been all for nothing.

“I had no idea the Unicorn Union trained assassins…” Midnight muttered.

“I’m not an assassin,” the captive answered, looking offended. “I’m a battlemage of the Order. Kidnapping is not my usual job, but when the Grandmaster gives you an order, you will follow it.”

“Why would he send you, rather than hire some professionals?” Shining Armor asked.

“To kidnap the daughter of a powerful lord? There are not enough madponies in Equestria willing to do it, even for the bits he would pay,” he answered. “I guess I can see why now…”

Soon the interrogation was over.

Shining Armor and Pinkie exchanged glances and the latter stepped forward, a knife appearing in her hoof. Rarity, who had been looking forward to seeing the prisoner die, suddenly felt squeamish at the prospect. Perhaps killing him was too much. After all, they hadn’t harmed Sweetie Belle, had they?

But they had tortured Aloe and the others in order to find her. They would have killed all three of them without hesitation if they hadn’t needed them. Not to mention that, according to the prisoner, Everlight had had them hunting down his enemies all over Equestria and beyond. There was no telling how many ponies had died because of them. No, there was no doubt in Rarity’s mind that this pony deserved to be sentenced to death for his numerous crimes.

But even so, Rarity could barely bring herself to watch.

“Wait, are we going to kill him?” Twilight Sparkle asked, realizing what was going on.

Everypony’s eyes turned towards her. “Of course,” Shining Armor confirmed, shifting nervously. “You don’t have to watch if you don’t want to.”

Twilight frowned, drooping her ears. “Do we really have to? I mean, I know he’s evil, but—”

“Any fair court would sentence him to death for his crimes,” Heavy Steps said. “Aren’t you planning to do the same to Everlight yourself?”

Twilight slumped. “I guess so… I don’t know. I’m not really into killing ponies… I mean, I had to kill one of them when we escaped, but I try not to think about it…”

“It’s okay, Twilight,” Midnight comforted her, laying a hoof over her withers. “Let’s go upstairs, okay?”

The mare nodded and both ponies promptly left the basement. Rarity chose to stay behind.

“You promised to be quick,” the prisoner said impatiently. “If I am to die, don’t drag it out.”

Pinkie nodded grimly. Without preamble, she drove a knife right into his heart. He twitched slightly and his eyes rolled up. It was over so quickly that Rarity hadn’t realized what had happened. Once she had, she felt sick in the stomach, and only her experience with drinking too much at parties helped her to hold it inside.

Rarity shut her eyes, taking a deep breath, and when she opened them, she tried to avoid looking at the dead body sprawled on the floor with a pool of blood underneath. Now that she thought about it…

“What are we going to do with the body?” she voiced a question on her mind, her voice trembling only a tiny bit.

“Don’t worry,” Pinkie said, carefully wiping her bloody knife on the body’s coat. Her lifeless gaze sent chills down Rarity’s spine. “Pinkie knows how to take care of it.”

Rarity didn’t want to think about where Pinkie had acquired that knowledge.

The sun had long since set over Equestria, and yet the welcome embrace of slumber continued to evade Rarity’s mind. She’d had trouble sleeping after witnessing the death of another pony up close, even though that pony had been an enemy who had kidnapped her sister and had been ready to kill her loyal servants.

It did make it easier to handle, but not by much.

Even more troubling was how Pinkie had gotten rid of the body. Luckily, Rarity hadn’t been there when they had split it into pieces and dispersed them around the city. It was effective but highly disturbing.

At least Sweetie Belle seemed to be having none of the issues her sister was having. The filly had fallen asleep the moment her head had hit the pillow. The poor dear probably hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep in captivity. The four of them, including the two maids, were sharing one room, since there weren’t enough bedrooms in Lucky’s house for everypony. While Rarity and Sweetie had taken the only bed, Lotus and Aloe had had to settle on some pillows on the floor.

Sliding off the bed, Rarity landed on the floor with a loud clank. Damn those hooves! Luckily, nopony was woken up by her clumsiness. Slowly moving one leg in front of another, Rarity approached the door and slipped outside. She walked towards the kitchen.

She might as well get some midnight snack while she was awake.

As it turned out, Rarity wasn’t the only one with that idea. Entering the kitchen, she found Midnight making some toast at the counter, humming some tune. His back was turned to Rarity and he hadn’t heard her yet.

“Can’t sleep?”

Midnight twitched, almost losing control of the knife in his magic, and he turned around sharply.

“You startled me…” he grumbled. “No, I guess I can’t. I keep thinking about that pony we killed today.”

“Me too,” Rarity said, walking to stand beside him as he returned to his task. “Would you mind making one for me?”

“Sure.”

As Midnight worked on another toast, Rarity made two cups of tea for both of them. After it was done, they moved to the dining room and sat at the table, facing each other. Lifting her cup, Rarity took a small sip and winced slightly. The tea was not of the quality she would have liked, but at least the toast was great.

“Your toast is delicious,” Rarity said, chewing slowly.

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Midnight shrugged. “Anypony can make a toast.”

“Not as good as yours, probably,” Rarity said with a smile, lifting her back hoof under the table and resting it on Midnight’s chair. Unlike her, he was sitting on his haunches. “You have my thanks, darling.”

Having said that, she moved her hoof forward, pushing into a bulge between the stallion’s legs. Midnight’s ears shot up with his mouth open in shock as he stared at Rarity. She smiled coyly without removing her hoof. Instead, she moved it up and down, feeling the bulge growing with the soft frog of her hoof.

“S-stop it, Lady Rarity,” Midnight ordered in an elevated voice, though he remained rooted to his seat.

“Do you really want me to?” Rarity asked, lifting one eyebrow quizzically. “I will if you ask me one more time.”

Conflicting emotions were fighting on Midnight’s reddening face as Rarity kept rubbing. By now the bulge had grown into a fully-fledged erection that she continued to stroke back and forth with the side of her hoof. Holding herself steady, Rarity extended another leg, gripping Midnight’s member between them.

“So, should I stop, darling?” Rarity asked, certain of what the answer was going to be. She was not disappointed when the stallion shook his head.

“Why… Why are you doing this?” he asked though.

“Because I think we both need to relax and just have some fun,” Rarity answered as both of her hindlegs moved back and forth at an increased pace, enjoying the cute look on the stallion’s face. “And because you’re really cute. It won’t lead to anything, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Oh,” Midnight said, drooping his ears slightly. Rarity comforted him by fondling his balls with her magic. A typical unicorn could barely feel the objects held in their magical grip, but Rarity’s control had always been so precise that she was able to feel them even better than with her own hooves. “I… No offense, but I kind of like somepony else.”

“None taken, darling,” Rarity smiled. “Twilight is a lovely mare.”

Midnight’s face grew so red that Rarity briefly worried that he was going to explode. She slowed her pace for a bit.

“How do you know?”

“Only a blind pony wouldn’t notice that,” Rarity said with a smirk. “I know a crush when I see one. Although usually it’s directed at me...”

“I don’t want to ruin my chances with her,” Midnight said, suddenly jumping off the chair and looking away. “Sorry.”

Rarity stood up as well, trying to hide her frustration from showing on her face. She had worked herself up too much already to simply stop now. She glanced at her chair briefly and sure enough, there was a damp spot where she had been sitting. Rarity made a mental note to clean it up after they were done.

If they were going to do anything at all.

“There’s nothing to worry about, darling,” Rarity said, going around the table as the stallion backed away into the wall. She stopped in front of him, her face so close to his that she could feel his breath. “It’s okay for ponies to have sex before they commit to a relationship.”

“But what if Twilight gets mad at me?”

Rarity sighed. “There is no reason why she would,” she said. “I don’t think she even knows about your crush with the way she’s so focused on her quest.”

“I know, but I’m too afraid to tell her outright—”

Rarity’s tongue shot forward, licking the tip of Midnight’s muzzle. “You just need more confidence,” she said. “Mares like that. I can teach you what else they like.”

“I guess—” Midnight was interrupted midsentence with a kiss. Rarity’s tongue slipped into his mouth and she felt his own pushing against hers. They continued their struggle until Rarity broke away in need of air. Midnight panted as he stared at her with wide eyes, unsure of what to do. His eyes widened even more when Rarity turned around, flicking her tail aside and practically shoving her marehood against his muzzle.

“You know what to do,” she said coyly.

Midnight did, indeed.

With an animalistic growl, he grasped the mare’s flanks with both hooves and dove his face between her haunches. Rarity gasped, feeling his tongue running along her sensitive lips. Her pussy clenched of its own accord at his inexperienced but enthusiastic licks. Midnight went on her like a thirsty pony on water. It wasn’t something Rarity had expected, but the surprise was a welcome one.

Rarity nickered slightly and bit her lip as he ate her out. They were in a house full of ponies — she shouldn’t be too loud. Now that she thought of it, they should probably move to a more private place—

Her thoughts lost any coherence when Midnight had finally found her tiny clit, running his tongue around it in circles. Rarity’s knees bent, but she kept her hindquarters upward, moaning through clenched teeth. She gasped as he began sucking on it.

It didn’t take Rarity long to reach her climax under Midnight’s continuous assault. She felt her pussy spasming as the waves of pleasure shook her body. She couldn’t suppress a loud moan of lust. Hopefully, nopony had heard it.

But Midnight wasn’t done just yet. Rarity felt a thrill of anticipation as he mounted her, pushing her front half into the floor with his weight.

“Sorry,” he whispered, using his magic to lift her on her hooves.

Rarity opened her mouth to answer but gasped as his firm member entered her at the same time. She shuddered, still sensitive after her last orgasm. Her aroused pussy allowed for an easy way in as Midnight thrust back and forth, slowly building up speed.

She could hear his heavy breathing as he pounded her eagerly, making a wet splash every time his member filled her. Rarity clenched her inner walls for a tighter grip, and Midnight responded with pushing his muzzle into her mane, suppressing a groan.

“I’m close,” Midnight warned her.

“Don’t pull out,” was Rarity’s answer.

After a few frantic thrusts, Rarity felt his member spasming, filling her with his seed. She rubbed her clit with her magic, sending herself over the edge as well. Midnight stopped thrusting as both of them shuddered in a simultaneous climax.

When it was over, Midnight gently pulled out, helping Rarity to remain on her hooves. She could feel his seed slowly dripping out of her pussy, staining the floor. Rarity sighed in satisfaction.

“Thank you, darling,” she said in a frail voice. Midnight grunted something in response.

“I hope nopony has heard us,” he said, looking towards the door nervously.

Rarity smiled. “Let them envy us if they have.” Her smile widened at Midnight’s worried look. “Oh, relax. These walls are pretty thick.”

“If you say so…”

Rarity looked around the kitchen and winced — their body fluids were staining the floor. Now that her arousal had passed, she didn’t fancy the idea of making a mess in a place where they usually made food. Although Midnight certainly had had fun eating her…

But first things first. Rarity’s horn glowed as she cast a spell she knew very well. A blue light flickered around her nether regions, eliminating the unwanted possibility of her getting pregnant with Midnight’s seed, which was a real danger given her estrus.

“What was that?” Midnight asked curiously.

He paled when Rarity explained. “Damn, I hadn’t thought about that…”

Rarity chuckled at that.

The two took some time cleaning up the kitchen and, after Rarity had promised to discuss what had happened here tomorrow, they went back to their rooms. Rarity didn’t have problems falling asleep anymore.

Enjoy the new chapter, my dear readers.
I hope you liked it.
I'm sorry for how long it took. I'll promise to do better next time.