Cloudy sat perched on a cloud high over the treaty office, watching as Rosewater stepped into the Merrie treaty office and resigned herself to enduring the jeering of the Merrieguard that saw her only as a traitor. She sighed and closed the scope, settling in to wait for Collar to arrive.

He was still briefing Captain Pink on the situation from last night, and had sent Cloudy ahead to either meet Rosewater, a prospect she wasn’t exactly thrilled with, or at least tell him which treaty office she intended to use.

She, on the other hoof, wasn’t looking forward to having to deal with the Merrieguard that could harass her, but not actually detain her under the treaty flag. It would not be a fun day. It was… strange how much she missed being in the Merrieguard, though. The structure and teasing that went hoof-in-hoof with living in Merrie.

It was miles above the more rigid structure of the Dammeguard that incorporated the stiff history of not dating or even making eyes at her comrades. It had taken her six months to prize loose the first gentle kiss with another mare, Sunrise Primfeather. And they’d kept it secret, so very secret that they were cool to each other in the barracks before Cloudy had moved out, as was the prerogative of an officer.

Movement below, at the Treaty Office door in Merrie, drew Cloudy’s attention again, and she didn’t need a spyglass to know it was Rosewater stepping out again, the pennant of the treaty flapping against her flanks as she made her way past the line of Merrieguard that didn’t bother to harass her.

What’s your game?

“Is it even a game for you?” Cloudy whispered, drawing the spyglass free and drawing a bead on Rosewater’s face, nothing but determination and resignation visible through the unsteady glass. Any finer study would require that Cloudy actually go down there and interact with her.

But also, below her, she saw a trio of Dammeguard emerge from the Dammeguard guardhouse and approach the Treaty office before Rosewater had even made it halfway across the bridge. Word had already spread about the fight, and they must have known why she was there.

Cloudy wasn’t stupid enough to believe that they would thank her for her protection of Collar. She was still the Rose Terror to them, and the end of the fight had demonstrated that to all of them. Rosewater could wield terror as a weapon.

She spent another few moments after the trio below and Rosewater came into close proximity, the latter ignoring the former and taking a seat beside one of the Royal Guards and engaging him in quiet conversation for a few seconds before settling in to wait.

The trio of guards, all of them fairly anonymous from above with their padded armor and helmets, kept their attention focused on the closest danger from a ‘safe’ distance of a few yards.

She needed to let Collar know what to expect.

You chose to use the Damme Treaty Office… why? Rosewater asked herself as she sat at apparent rest outside the office, waiting for Collar to arrive. She had the option to use the Merrie Treaty office as well, but the royal guard wouldn’t stop Roseate from coming in while she was having… a talk, a stars-blessed talk in the daylight with Collar.

Even if it meant she had to do so in front of a representative of the Royal Guard.

They were all very cordial, even to her, as they were supposed to be. Cordial, but not friendly, and her attempt at polite conversation was met with gentle rebuffs and stoic smiles.

So she settled in to wait, breathing in the free air of Damme waking, thankful she could get a sense of the city during the day from the breeze that wafted close, and closed her eyes for a few moments to just take it all in.

The bakeries fixing the pastries and loaves of bread, each one adding its own flavor to the morning that she so rarely had the chance to simply savor. The wind did its part to help her sink into the bliss that helped keep away the darkness. It was a new sensation, and that, for now, was enough.

Before she could settle in for the wait, several Dammeguard came out of the bridgegate post, eying her warily, their hooves curling against the dark stone, itching to arrest her, no doubt.

But while she wore the gold and white sunburst pennant indicating treaty business, she was untouchable so long as she did nothing to violate the terms in which the mark had been granted. Sitting quietly, waiting for the other party to arrive most definitely did not violate those terms.

After a few minutes, she felt the despair creeping back in again. She could fight it off with novel scents only so long, and stamping it down, in her experience, only made it ressurge later, more potently. Even she couldn’t manage keeping the after-effects under wraps for long.

Conversation helped, but her only attempted partner was little more than a puppet until he was off-duty. While he was on-duty, his thoughts and words were locked away behind protocol.

Her only other prospects were eying her like she might grow another head, spit flame out one and ice out the other.

She cleared her throat, making several of them jump. Amusing, but it wouldn’t serve her purpose to scare them out of their wits. “Pardon, but might I ask your names? If we’re going to sit here staring at each other, I would at least like to converse as civilized ponies. I’ve no idea how long it will take for Lord Collar to arrive, and I’ve no wish to sit here bored out of my wits until he does.”

“Don’t tell her, she can use it to control your mind!” One of them said, a petite pegasus with a distinctly un-Primmish mane-cut, shorter than they usually preferred, and a sunset-gold coat and reddish-gold mane.

“Nonsense. I’m neither a vampony nor a betoverend paard,” she said, offering a tidbit of an ancient myth they wouldn’t understand. Perhaps curiosity would lure out their conversational skills. “And I am under treaty-granted truce. Do you trust that I am not strong enough to defy the will of her glorious Highness, Princess Celestia?”

That seemed to give them pause, at least.

“How can we trust you won’t wait until the truce ends?” asked another. “You tried to steal the Lord Collar. Again.”

Is that the story, now? “I did no such thing. I will sign an affidavit signed to the Treaty to that effect, and Lord Collar will confirm it for you when he arrives.” She sniffed and raised her nose. “Truly, you all believe the worst of me.”

“Because you are the worst,” a third added.

Rosewater pursed her lips, wishing Rosemary were there to give her advice on how to step her way out of this hole. Without tripping over a dozen and a half traps that would set her mother to declaring her a traitor and attempting to exile her. She would not succeed, but neither would Rosewater win, either. She was truly stalemated with her mother.

“You’re not denying it,” the first said.

“Would it do me any good?”

She opened her mouth, seemed to consider her words, then ducked her head. “No.”

“Then why waste everypony’s time?” Rosewater blew out a breath and allowed herself to show a moment of consternation. “What about when this war is over? If it ended tomorrow. Would I still be a villain in your eyes?”

The fiery little pegasus chewed her lip, actually thinking it over. A first step. “But the war won’t end tomorrow, will it?”

So much for hope. “No. Most likely not.”

“I’m Sunscatter Firebolt,” she said, rather unexpectedly stepping forward. “I would call you, er, the Rose Terror, but that seems a little rude.”

“Rosewater is the name I’m usually known by on the other side of the river, though some few of my own call me that as well.” She let her distaste for that show as well. “If you ever have occasion to duel your own mother, avoid it being a public one, Sunscatter.”

Sunscatter flinched, ears folding back. “You… fought Roseate?”

“And won. Twice. The second of which I am here to officially recognize.” Rosewater shook her head. “‘Twill be my mother’s second embarrassment by my hooves, and she hates me for it.”

“Stars, I can almost pity you.” Sunscatter coughed, then, and stepped back. “But that doesn’t excuse everything else you’ve done.”

“Nay, it does not. I have done things I am not proud of, in service of my city. I will do more, if I must. ‘Tis my duty, just as it is yours to stop me.” Rosewater held up a hoof, offering a greeting. “It is well met, Sunscatter. Should I meet you on a raid, I promise not to harm you or to take you.” It was an empty promise. She would avoid all of them save Prim Collar, but it cost her nothing to offer it.

“You could just… not raid,” Sunscatter grumbled, not making a move towards Rosewater. “Or, you know, turn yourself in.”

Rosewater shivered, rolling her shoulders. Rosemary would be alone in such a case. “Nay. I cannot do either, I’m afraid. But ask your brethren and sistren. Have I harmed a one of you? Have any of you seen me, when I did not wish it?”

Sunscatter hesitated again, glancing between the hoof still held up, then at Rosewater, her mouth opening, then closing, hesitating as she chewed her lip, then finally ducked back. “You still took them without their permission. We haven’t retaliated.”

Rosewater closed her eyes and held the hoof aloft for a moment longer. That was true. “I know.” It was her turn to hesitate, to look inward at what she’d done, all the things she’d done in the name of protecting Rosemary. She lowered the hoof to the pavement. “I wish things were different.”

She sat in silence for the rest of the wait, and the Dammeguard seemed to be fine with that state of affairs.

Dealing with her inner demons was her price for doing things her own way. Yesterday, she’d given them fuel, and she couldn’t rely on the ponies she’d used as fodder for her mother’s game to alleviate their gnawing.

Fifteen minutes or so later, Prim Collar and Cloudy Rose arrived, escorted by a small contingent of Dammeguard that joined Sunscatter and the rest at a cautious distance.

Cloudy eyed her suspiciously, glancing between her and the guards, then the pair of Royal Guards on station outside the office. “You’re here early.”

“I am here on time, since we never decided on a time. I take it you were watching,” Rosewater said, raising her eyes to the slowly scudding clouds above them. “And fetched him from whatever task kept him busy.”

Too much. Rosewater resisted the urge to bite her tongue out of annoyance at its flapping and, instead, smiled.

“She was. I asked her to let me know when you decided, since I can’t exactly send you a letter, seeing you don’t live in the Rose Palace.” Collar said with a sigh. “The rest of you, why are you here and not at your duty stations?”

“Sir! It’s…” Sunscatter glanced at Rosewater, swallowed, and said, “It’s the Rose Terror, sir. We’re making certain she doesn’t do anything to violate the treaty.”

“That, lieutenant,” Collar said stiffly, “is not for you to patrol. That is for the Royal Guard.” He hesitated, though, and glanced between all of them, then at Rosewater. “But perhaps you can learn something. Captain Pink will have words with you if you are not at your assigned patrol stations in the next five minutes. And I’ll have you use her proper name. You do know it, yes?”

“Sir! Yes. She… told us.”

Rosewater gave him a mirthful smile, smoothing over the forced look of it with a chuckle, when he jerked a look at her. “I was bored. They were nervous. Entertainment was had by all.”

“I’m sure,” he said drily and turned to the guards. “You have your orders. Be good ambassadors of our fine city, if you would like to not be scrubbing culverts, and remember your manners.”

A chorus of acknowledgments met his dismissive wave of a hoof.

Once they had all left, Collar turned his attention back to her. “Given your proclivities, I imagine that entertainment included a livid recital of some of your bedroom exploits?”

And he was a part of the problem with her reputation, as he kept proving. “I have not had bedroom exploits in a year, Collar. Save by my own hoof and horn.”

That seemed to shock Cloudy into an incredulous stare. “Liar.”

“And there’s the other reason why my reputation is so depressingly low. I am a liar, a serial philanderer, by Prim standards, and a soul-sucking betoverend paard on top of being a vampony and probably a foal stealer, because why not believe the worst of me?” She huffed, tossing her mane and stamping a hoof. “Do you truly believe me incapable of not having sex for a whole year, Cloudy Rose?”

“Obviously.” Cloudy looked away, rubbing a foreleg against the other. “But not the rest. Thanks. For last night.”

“It was a thwarting of my mother’s plans. Thanks are not necessary.” But they were welcome. Her estimations of Cloudy Rose ticked up a few notches. “Shall we conclude business so that I may remove my distasteful self from your presences?”

Collar clicked his tongue. “Stop that. You didn’t ask us here—”

“I did not ask the both of you at all. I asked you,” Rosewater snapped. “If you wish to hear me degraded further, please catch up to your guards and listen to their gossip. They would be quite willing to further lower your opinion of me.”

“Stop the theatrics,” Collar growled. “This isn’t like you. You have a reputation, did you not expect it? You could have waited until we came to your side.”

Rosewater stared at him, her eyes burning at the rebuke. It shouldn’t have hurt her. She should have had a bit more self-control than that.

“Have you ever considered, Lord Collar, that my reputation disturbs me? Have you? I have one place that I can be free of it.” She snapped her tail and closed her eyes, pulling the cold mask back over herself, forcing her face to calm serenity, her ears to right, and her tail to still. “Let us be done with our business that I might return to it.”

That the display was borne of truth did nothing to lessen its effectiveness. Collar put a hoof to her hindquarters as she opened the door to the office.

Cloudy swallowed as she stared at her. “Does it hurt you that much, Rosewater?”

She shot the pegasus a glare, then jerked her head in a nod. “I am not a monster, Cloudy. I’m…” I’m still feeling the effect of the spell. The lingering despair gave fuel to the monstrous fears clawing at her heart, the worries, the future she was, right then, almost certain would come true. “I will recover.”

“Will you?” Cloudy’s brow knit as she frowned. “I’ve never heard of magic that affects a pony that way.”

“Not here. And not now,” she said, her voice still in the calm, cool tone of emotionless courtesy. “We have kept the guard waiting for us to conclude our business long enough.”

Cloudy blinked, shaking her head. “Sorry? What?”

Collar touched her shoulder. “She’s right. We have business to conclude.” He pulled his own mask on, wiping away the sincere set of concern on his brow. “We can talk on this more.”

Cloudy shushed a guard as the stallion grumbled behind her. “I thought the tears were a little much.”

Was I crying? She raised an ankle to brush at her cheek, and the cold mask cracked when it came away damp. Perhaps a little too much of the real was in that. She would have to be more careful, or something might slip that she didn’t want to. She resettled the mask and wiped away the dampness on her cheeks.

“Are you feeling okay?” Collar asked her in the same calm tone she had used.

“Yes. Let’s conclude, then you can return to the palace, and I can return to—” She swallowed the words and gritted her teeth. She was too on-edge to risk thinking about Rosemary. “To my home.”

“Is that truly all you wanted out of me?” Collar cocked his head. “It’s important, but both of us are not required at the same time, so long as we seal to the magic our sides of the story.”

“Yes.” I wanted to see you again. “You’re looking rested.”

“And you are not.”

The Royal Clerk at the desk eyed them as they approached and pulled out the sunburst seal and a gold foil sheet. “Business?”

“Duel,” Rosewater said, the procedure coming back to her after six years. “Between Roseate Rosethorn and Rosewater Rosethorn.”

The clerk lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing, only noting the details. “To be held when?”

“Last night. My witness is beside me, and a second outside.”

“One is enough. Sir, if you would complete a description of the duel, the outcome, and the terms…” The guard flipped around the blank Celestial letterhead form.

“One thing,” Collar said. “They were fighting over who had the right to take me as a mate. I agree with neither party.”

The clerk sighed. “Nothing is ever simple around here.” He checked over the page, added a notation, and looked up again almost to the ceiling, rubbing at his muzzle, eyes closed as he said an imprecation to Celestia for patience. “The terms of the duel, as stated, were not for who would take you, were they?”

“They were.”

“They were not, actually,” Rosewater said. “My exact wording was ‘I will claim my right of free association’ and let me pursue him as a mating prospect. It means that she can’t accuse me of being a traitor for attempting to court you.”

“Then the duel would still be valid, but I doubt that Celestia would mark ‘courtship’ as treason in any case,” the clerk said. “But perhaps it’s better to have that solidified.” His words had the bored tone of a functionary, but his ears quivered.

“I can accept that,” Collar said with a sigh, glancing aside at her. “Is this the chance you wanted?”

“No. This is merely the legal right to have the chance.” Rosewater allowed herself a brief spark of hope, but stood still where she was, the distance between them closer than they’d ever been before in the daylight. “Have you given any thought to my offer?”

Collar clucked his tongue and took the white quill and ink the clerk proffered to him, the tip coming free with golden liquid that shimmered and glowed even in the daytime. Magical ink for contracts, enchanted by Celestia herself.

“I have. I can’t, at the moment, see any reason to go through with it, though I would rather not have your mother professing her interest,” he said drily, not looking up.

“I rather wish she hadn’t in such a blatant way,” Rosewater replied with a sigh. “I wish she hadn’t at all.” The banter felt forced, and she forced herself back to seriousness. “Are you alright?”

“I would be better if I knew what game you were playing.” He took the quill and began to jot down the details.

“I’m afraid I’m not playing a game.” Rosewater shrugged a shoulder. “I’ve been sincere. Not that I’d expect you to believe me yet.”

“I’m not quite sure what to believe right now.” He looked up briefly to the guard. “Would it help to provide a Prim Palace official after action report?”

“No. Personal testimony under the seal of truth is acceptable. Princess Celestia will review the results and the magical residues and return the declaration and its results in a few weeks time.” The clerk tried not to yawn as he said it, but it was clear that he had to explain the truth seal over and over again to ponies who tried to lie under it.

Lies with intent left a certain magical residue in the special ink the guards used, and while nopony less skilled than Celestia could detect it, it served to keep both sides at the very least honest in their treaty-bonded dealings.

Rosewater looked over his shoulder, nodding slowly as she saw the details take shape. He had a good memory, even a couple days after the event.

When he was done, she read it carefully, nodded, and called her magic to her hoof, forming her cutie mark across the cup of her hoof, patted it against the ink pad, and pressed and rolled her hoof in the square box at the bottom left for Claimant. Collar did the same for Witness.

“Very well.” The guard raised his left hoof, golden magic swirling around it from the amulet around his neck. “Repeat after me. By my responsibility as a participant of the Treaty of Merrie-Damme of 226 AC, I affirm that every word I have written is true. On pain of exile, I set my hoof to this document, and seal it to the Treaty.”

Rosewater and Collar repeated the words in solemn lockstep, feeling the magic of the words and the seal bleeding into them and the page, making the ink transform to golden light, then burned itself into the paper.

If either of them had spoken the oath with falsity in their hearts, the ink would have set fire to the page rather than set the words indelibly. In that case, an investigation would ensue, and the culprit who’d attempted to lie would be punished in scaling severity relative to the lie.

“Very well.” He set his hoof to the center box, and gold fire flared over the paper, turning it glossy. When he lifted his hoof, the seal of the Sun Princess gleamed in silver and gold. “By my responsibility as a representative of her Highness, Princess Celestia, Sun’s Ray, I affirm that this document has been witnessed and sealed. You may go.”

Cloudy Rose was laughing with the guards when Rosewater stepped out after Collar, and all eyes turned to her immediately. The smiles fell away.

At least they didn’t seem to have been talking about her.

“Our business is concluded,” Rosewater said, glancing at the pennant draped over her flanks. Considering her options, she lifted it off herself and held it out to the Royal Guard, who accepted it and stowed it in his pack without comment.

One of the Dammeguard stepped forward, hoof raised. “So… can we arrest her now?”

“You may not,” Collar snapped. “She is leaving an accorded meeting with the Treaty office. Attempt to arrest her at your hide’s peril, for I’ll strip it from you myself before the Treaty guard gets a hold of you.”

The guard stepped back, blanching, ears folded back. “Aye, sir. Sorry, sir.”

“Was there truly nothing else to discuss?” he asked her, stepping closer and keeping his voice low. “Was this it?”

“I thought there would be, but I find my taste for wordplay soured.” Rosewater closed her eyes. The effects of the duel were still clinging to her. The despair especially.

“I saw your face,” he said even more quietly. “You have to feel those emotions to project them, don’t you?”

“Yes. I thought you would understand.” She forced herself to smile. “And I suspect you know the other part, now that I’ve confirmed it.”

Collar nodded, flicking an ear. “What did you use, to feel those?”

“My own feelings,” Rosewater said with a roll of her eyes. “Were you to ask it more clearly, I still would not answer. Permit me some privacy, even as you unveil my secrets one by one.”

He seemed to reach some decision as he stepped up beside her. “Walk with me.”

Rosewater startled forward a step when he flicked his tail against her side, passing her and onto the Primrose, heading towards the Sun Seal. “Collar?”

“Walk with me, I said.” He glanced back. “Or do you wish, truly, to not talk about what you did? You are hurting, Rosewater. Even I can tell. And you have nopony you can talk to about it. I, at least, have Cloudy Rose.”

Cloudy shot Collar a knowing look, then stepped forward, offering a hoof, “Rosewater, may I apologize?”

“For what? Collar has wronged me more in my earshot this afternoon than you have since we met.” Rosewater shot Collar a look. “Please, save the apology until you do something to actually harm me.”

Cloudy’s ears flattened, her brow drawing down into a scowl. “I’m trying to apologize for what I thought of you.”

Rosewater tightened her lips over a curt reply. She is trying. “Cloudy, your thoughts are private, and yours alone. Do not apologize for them. Your actions are what should require apology. Have you done something to wrong me that I’m not aware of?”

Cloudy stared at her, one eyebrow raising. “I… don’t think so.”

“An apology, to me, is a thing that is sacred. I have never apologized for what I must do. I have only apologized for my mistakes and my wrongdoings.” She raised a hoof and touched Cloudy’s chest. “Let me apologize for giving you Citrus Circus without telling you what it would do to you should you not listen.”

Cloudy continued to stare, only glancing down once at the hoof on her breast. “That was my fault for not listening.”

“Partially. You would have recovered on your own in time had I not helped you recover from your welcome attempts to educate.” She patted the hoof gently, then set it down. “That is what I consider an apology worthy of. Harm, especially unintended. Have you done me any harm?”

Cloudy finally looked away, shaking her head. “No.” She huffed. “Why are you so courteous? I had this image of you as…”

“A monster?”

“Well, yes.” Cloudy waved a hoof. “Collar’s been trying to tell me otherwise. Are you a monster?”

“I would prefer not to be.” But preferences fell aside when need reared its head.

“Can’t you stop, then?”

“Can you stop doing what you do to protect him?” Rosewater asked, tipping her head towards Collar. “Would you stop if I asked you to?”

“No.” Cloudy hunched her shoulders. Her lips formed the name of Rosewater’s daughter. “Will you try anything with him?”

“I will not try anything because…” Rosewater closed her eyes, the despair gnawing at her again, the anguish not far behind. “Fine. I suppose…” She slammed the despair away with a flurry of anger at herself. “I could use your help. I admit.”

“Good. Respect among foes, yes? It makes the war less onerous.” Collar squeezed Cloudy once more. “I promise, I’ll stay in sight the entire time.”

“You’d better.”

As soon as Cloudy was out of range, Rosewater cast a silencing spell around them and fuzzed the air enough so that their lips could not be read, but they could still be seen.

“She dislikes me quite a lot despite her apology,” Rosewater said softly. “Why?”

“Because you’re Roseate Rosethorn’s daughter, and her entire brood of daughters enthrall their mates.” He bobbed his head as he crossed the edge of the massive stone disc. “She wants to mate with me. Whole of mind and sound of spirit.”

“Then do so.” Rosewater shook her head. “Unless there is a reason why you cannot?”

“We came here to talk about you, not me. What… how closely did you have to embrace those feelings?” He asked her gently. “Despair, fear, and anguish.”

“I had to believe them. Despairing that I would never leave my mother’s power. That I would fall to it and grovel before her like a thrall, only hoping for her favor.” She shuddered as the image crawled up from her gut again and threatened to strangle her. “Fear. I cannot tell you. Nor can I tell you anguish. The despair is what hits me hardest.”

“Why can’t you tell me the others?”

“Because it is secret. Nopony knows one but I, and—” She almost said it again. “Let me go. I would return to my sanctum and recover.”

“I want you to promise me something,” he said, putting a hoof over her heart mark. “Promise me you won’t believe them. Whatever they are, they’re not true.”

Rosewater closed her eyes, reaching up to push his hoof away. She hesitated. His hoof was warm against her chest. A hoof that was not hers touching her in a way that made her feel better. For the first time in a year, somepony other than Rosemary had offered her kindness. In payment of another kindness.

“You can’t handle it much longer, can you?” he asked.

“I will handle it as long as I must, Prim Collar.” Rosewater pushed his hoof away. “Because I must handle it. The alternative is too horrific for me to contemplate.”

“Will…” He sighed. “You are… infuriating. Sometimes. Confusing. Give me something.”

Rosewater stared at him, gnawing at her lip. He was asking her to give up her most guarded secret.

“In return for what, Lord Collar? What can you offer me that can match what I have given to you already? And you ask more.” Rosewater shook her head, gathering power for a short range teleport. “Goodbye.”

“Wait!”

Rosewater let the power bleed from her horn. “You have something you think worth all that I’ve given?”

He stared at her for a long moment, his jaw working as he tried to offer something. “I have nothing of equable value to offer. But I will look more favorably on your letters. But… can I ask you something out of curiosity?”

“You may.”

“How do you know my favorite kind of cookie?” He tapped a hoof on the bridge. “It’s been confounding me.”

“My lord, sieves hold water like palaces hold secrets. Why do you think I do not live in one?” Rosewater sniffed and began gathering power in her horn again. “I have contacts in your city, though they don’t know me for true, or they’d run to you and the guard. They all talk quite freely for the chance to obtain treasures from Merrie that are otherwise near banned in Damme.”

“Of course. Goodbye, Rosewater. Until we meet again.”

“Fare well, Lord of Damme.”

Collar stared at the dossiers in front of him, simple portraits reminding him of the ponies the names were attached to, and considered his choice again. He had three possibilities in front of him, all pegasi that would be able to take advantage of Rosemary’s blindness.

Sunrise… thought she’d hidden her dalliance well, but she was too closely connected to Rosemary to be reliable. She might not act if the need as she needed because of that past association. She might let Rosemary go down a darker path simply because she couldn’t bring herself to get Rosemary arrested.

Streak, a distant cousin of hers, was too antagonistic towards all Roses, Rosethorn or otherwise. He did his duty at the bridge when it came up, but his vitriol would see him arresting Rosemary over small offenses and potentially taking away the one support Rosewater still had left.

Regardless of what happened with Rosemary, he wouldn’t let her be taken unless she actually broke the law. If that happened… he would deal with it as he could, and do what he could to repay the large favor he owed her. He couldn’t repay being saved from certain capture, both he and Cloudy, by taking away her sole support.

But neither could he allow the rule of law to be subverted either for or against Rosemary.

Not for the first time, he felt the urge to curse the war that had pitted them against each other. More and more, he was getting the feeling that if the war hadn’t gotten in the way, he and Rosewater might find themselves less at odds and more allies, if not friends outright.

The last portrait watched him over the desk, sitting at attention, his gray-dappled blue coat shifting and twitching as he watched Collar considering the three folders.

“You know why I called you here, Stride?” Collar asked in an even tone.

“A special assignment, sir,” Stride said immediately, the perfect response that Collar himself had trained into the young pegasus. His first training platoon.

“Indeed.” Collar closed the other two folders and pulled out a fourth, this one with a portrait of Rosemary that he’d had made on the fly from one of their profilers. “What do you think of Rosethorns, Stride?”

At the name, Stride’s ears flattened to his mane. “Sir? They’re… our foes.”

“All of them?”

Ears twitched, and that thoughtful look returned to Stride’s eyes. He remembered that expression from so many days lecturing his platoon on philosophy, a part of an officer training program, of whom only Cloudy Rose and Coat had made the cut. The rest of them had still garnered higher commissions from their testing under Captain Pink than they would have otherwise.

But he’d been too timid to speak out, too fumble-tongued to articulate his arguments. Officers couldn’t be either. Sometimes, he still saw the foal he had been, well on his way towards becoming just another Primfeather thug beside his brothers. Some of that timidity certainly came from his youth, as the youngest brother.

“Not all of them,” Stride said at last, looking down at the portrait. “Who is she?”

“Rosemary Rosethorn, daughter of possibly one of the kindest Rosethorns to be born in the last century. According to my mother, at least.” Collar slid the folder across the table. “This is a summation of what we know.”

Stride read it, brow furrowing. “She’s my assignment? Am I supposed to act as an escort?”

“In a way. How are you adjusting to the night shift?”

Understanding sparked in Stride’s eyes. “Well. I’ve switched to waking up a few hours before sunset, and my bedtime has shifted to a few hours after dawn.”

“Good. Rosemary’s doing the same, though she’s still active during the day. I believe she makes her bedtime sometime after midnight.” Collar pulled out another scroll from his desk and set it out in front. “This is a very delicate operation, Stride. For diplomatic reasons, I’m giving Rosemary a lot of rope. Whether she just strings it out or uses it to hang herself is up to her.”

“Sir?”

“She has a mission from Roseate. That much, we know.” Collar crossed his forelegs on the desk and leaned forward. “That is not reason to arrest her, understand? Until she actually uses illegal scents or magics in Merrie, she is not a criminal.”

Stride chewed on his lip for a moment before nodding. “Motivation to commit a crime is not commission of a crime.”

“Exactly. It is still up to her whether she commits a crime.” Collar pushed the scroll closer. “Your next mission is to shadow her, without being seen, and report on her activities. Identify her target, if you can, watch her patterns, and keep track of her. If she commits a crime, do not blow your whistle. Fetch me.”

Further understanding bloomed as Stride’s wings arched off his back. “You couldn’t trust Cloudy to this?”

“She’s as fast as you, but there are personal reasons why I can’t trust her to this… or subject her to it.” Collar’s ears flattened to his mane. The state Cloudy had been in after he’d asked her to do it, believing that he could only trust her, had been painful to see, and his fault. Not even the headache, but the heartache she wore like a collar around her neck. “Can I trust you not to judge her for what she hasn’t done?”

“Sir, justice only works when it’s applied evenly. If she has committed no crime, then it would be unjust to arrest her.”

“Textbook answer,” Collar said softly. “Do you believe it?”

Stride was silent for long moments, looking at the scroll with his potential fate in it. His eyes dipped to the floor for several seconds, then up to Collar’s. “I do. Justice is what Damme was founded on. It’s what the Reformations are about. The other side of the river isn’t evil. The ponies that live there aren’t evil.”

“They aren’t. Not even all of the nobility are evil. Rosemary,” he said, taking the folder back from Stride and closing it, “has given every indication of being a sweet mare, untouched by her relatives’ madness.”

“I understand.”

For a moment, Collar studied him, then nodded. “Then you start tonight.”

Author's Notes:

I had an emergency come up with my sweetheart kitty, Nemo. He's sixteen, and I've been scared for a long time that he'd have more health issues. I'm worried now that he might leave me soon. He's been with me for all of those sixteen years, and sleeps on my shoulder to wake me up, then sleeps on the bed where I lay until I'm ready to start the day.

But he's okay for now. Just had a scare.

Not relevant to the story, but my head isn't quite in the game today.