Umbra’s hoof roughly collided with the tripped Security Guard’s head, sighing in frustration. Of course the Topaz Jewels family was dead set on being the most social. It was always a party at their manor, every night, all night – and they had plenty of guests to entertain. After all, they were well known for owning several mining and quarry operations across Equestria. What better way to celebrate the near slave-labor conditions than with wine and snobby guests?

She wore a long black dress, covering her bare flank. Her eyes were purple for the evening, and she donned the name ‘Amethyst Amoire’ as an alias. Levitating a glass of wine in her temporarily purple magic, a trick relevant to Umbrum ancestry, she splashed it on the downed Security Guard’s jacket and face, before dragging the concussed Earth Pony to a nearby guest room down the hall.

Of course the guest lounge was mostly empty; the nobles were downstairs chatting and gossiping. She popped the button on the unconscious stallion’s trousers, before roughly tossing him onto an empty bed. His pants falling to the floor without a hint of dignity. Whenever a guest hunted for their room for the night, they’d find a most wonderful sight sleeping in their bed.

Regardless, he’d be out of a job in the morning, and none would believe how a delicate mare did this to him.

The dark unicorn made her way down the upper halls of the mansion, her keen ears on swivel. Ignoring the rough sounds of a bed shaking from the occasional room, she’d have a long night ahead of her gathering evidence against the Topaz Jewel line.

She was keenly aware of any eyes on her – typically drunk, rich stallions eyeing her body, whenever she’d find guests in the open. The pouring rain did little to stifle their moods, either, as some wanted to show her their carriage, or their luxurious manors down the way. She would give mirthless laughs in reply, then insinuate that her husband would buy the land out from underneath them if they so much as touched her.

What better way to stomp on a Noble’s dignity than to imply she was too rich for their blood? And it worked. Each haughty stallion that approached over the next hour or so would stomp off in frustration of being denied, and insulted. She had important business to take care of, after all. Her mock regality had a purpose now, and she used it to wondrous effect.

Finally, after hours of idle chatting with mares and stallions, fake emotions and flaunting with non-existent riches, she turned a lucky handle and found her target. Topaz Jewel’s bedroom.

All she needed was a receipt, a sign, a…

A massive envelope labeled ‘SECRET’ was left on a nearby table, with Alma Sol’s mark right on top; a hoofwritten note for their assistant written as such; ‘To the vault, please.’ It was literally filled with possibly the most damning evidence against them; documentation on their co-operation with Seraphs and the Goldshoes lineage.

Receipts, dates, a picture of Sir Topaz Jewels with a naked, female Seraph on his yacht – is that what their females looked like? Actually, she didn’t want to know any further than what she saw. Though it did disgust her; she was not into mares, especially not Seraph ones.

Either this was bait, or Nobles really were this stupid.

…

Actually, no, Nobles were definitely this stupid. She cloned the documents with her magic, and slid the original under her dress.

Arin awoke to a gentle knock at the door, stirring from his fitful, dreamless sleep. Though the bed was comfy, he still felt a little worn out. After a minute, the handle turned – the cute mare’s eyes peeking into the quiet room.

He rolled over towards the wall, ignoring her for now. He didn’t want to work yet. In fact, he was comfy right here, the storm having passed overnight.

Quietly, Pumpkin made her way inside. His heart stopped the moment he heard the slow tug of the drawer – the little mare retrieving her diary. It slid shut behind him, as she left him to his early morning rest.

The guilt of what he did weighed in, as the small horse was none the wiser. He was so close to being a courteous, understanding Seraph, too. This mistake alone would eat away at him for the rest of his long life, as it was the first choice he made that could directly hurt a pony.

After a few minutes of wallowing in the guilt of invading her privacy, he made it to his feet – heading to the bathroom to prepare for the day. Clothes and shoes dry enough to wear, he was soon ready to face the undoubtedly blistering late-summer sun. The weather was always worse after a rain, especially if you had to work outside in the heat.

Pumpkin stuffed away her diary when he returned to the living room, a homemade breakfast of oatmeal and toast awaiting him on the kitchen counter. Another recliner had magically appeared, seemingly overnight – and the room seemed… bigger, to accommodate it, somehow.

He thought about questioning it, but he had a feeling he’d receive a similar answer to before; ‘trade secret’. Vee was already up and about, staring blankly into the now empty fireplace. The bags under her eyes were all too familiar as she rocked in her chair slowly. A frankly massive coffee mug resting on the table before her. Did… did she ever sleep?

“Morning Pumpkin, morning Vee,” Arin said, just noticing the raven as well. “And good morning to you, Onyx.”

“Good morning, Seraph of the Far Reaches, Sir Arin.” Onyx bowed, worrying the Knight with the knowledge of his homeland. “I will assume you rested poorly last night, if that will aid in your comfort now. You should be alerted to the intrusion of your dreams, thus I prevented them on my own prerogative.”

“You… wait, intrusion?” Arin questioned, taking the bowl of hot oatmeal in his hands. He grew worried over that statement, but Onyx was quick to intercept his thoughts.

“Princess Luna meant to derive your location from your sleep, without your knowledge. I simply counteracted her spell, and prevented her from scrying. Her intentions felt hostile.”

He didn’t like the sound of that. In fact, instead of feeling guilty for looking at Pumpkin’s diary – he felt molested by having his own mind read. Well, now he felt twice as bad for Pumpkin, because she would never know. Call it a lesson learned, and he’ll definitely tell her. One day. When they knew each other beyond a surface level.

“Thank you, Onyx. I didn’t know you could do that.”

“Hrm! Ho! Oh! Tall-fry, awake at last!” Vee broke from her zombie-like gaze, turning her head to face the Seraph. She hovered the gallon worth of coffee to her muzzle, and began to drink. Well, chug. The cup shrinking to match the remaining contents… who knows how much she’s downed since the sun rose. Vee’s world and home was an enigma, after all.

“Good morning, Vee. Thanks for letting me stay the night.” Arin smiled, but Vee only laughed.

“D’ohoho! You’re welcome any time. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have a room for you available. Or not! Depends entirely on if I can get around to it. Oh, yes! Onyx, how’s the weather in Vanhoover?” Vee swirled the contents of her massive cup around with her magic, preening tiredly at her feathers.

“Mildly cool, one might even see their breath – with a lack of wind and moderate cloud cover. The humidity is low-”

“Set our shop in Vanhoover. If there’s two things my snoot can’t stand, it’s heat, and humidity. Bad for the feathers.”

Onyx nodded at the request, the curtains of the house drawing – flashing – before opening all at once with terrifying speed. Arin nearly dropped his bowl, as cool, dimmer light filtered into the living room. It’s like they moved an entire time zone.

“W-What?”

Arin approached the glass panes, clutching the spoon tightly in his fingers. Outside, the usual Canterlot streets had… well, been replaced. The cobble roads now much more worn and withered, the buildings shifting from their usual sparkly white to subtle browns and brick foundations. The street before them was a little more compact; it looked to be lined with townhouse shops, several cart-and-booth constructs sprouting up among a mixture of less than spectacular grocer’s tents.

“How… but… did we just take a Portal, or?…”

“Nonsense Tall-fry! If we did, we’d be stuck here for a month. And a month of Vanhoover coffee is not a month I want to live through! They do have good cheese curds, though. Very squeaky.” Vee spoke through her wing, as if it was the most common thing in the world.

“Then how are we here?”

Onyx tilted his head, and if he could frown, he would. “I would believe Vee would imply this to be classified, but it is not her words to claim. In truth, we’re in four cities at once. Canterlot, Manehatten, Vanhoover, and the physical location of the residence is in White Tail Wood.”

Arin gawked, but had even more questions. “You said four. What’s the final city?”

“It is a realm beyond our own, tied to a world different to your notions of magic. The City’s name is Pawtucket, and the location is in the broom closet of a children’s fantasy company. This portal is used primarily for trade of Equestrian newspapers in return for coffee. The realm is arbitrary with its laws, and as such, beings may not move freely between our plane and theirs. Though items may do so without issue.” Onyx cocked his head at Arin, examining him closely. “Your kind resembles the beings of this mirror realm, excluding wings. Contact with them would be ill advised on your part.”

“Strange… what do they use the newspapers for?”

Pumpkin Spice shrugged, stirring in a small teaspoon of sugar to her oats. “Sometimes t-they doodle Princess Twilight and her friends. But other than that, nopony knows.”

Arin’s eyes settled on the window into the alleyway – popping the latch open with his thumb before sliding the glass up. Sticking his head out, he took a look around, just making sure he was actually in Vanhoover. In truth, he’s never been there – so today would be the first time. Any sight was a new sight, ready to behold.

“Is… is this why you’re always broke? You own three businesses?” Arin said once he closed he slid the pane shut. Vee only slurped at her coffee.

“Well, the idea came to me from a book, Tall-fry. Unfortunately, the book didn’t mention taxes.” Vee fluffed her wings, inspecting her pristine feathers in exhaustion. Soon, more feathers were falling to the floor in a heap. “But a good novel, none-the-less! I believe it’s one of Pumpkin’s favorites. Isn’t that right, Smol?”

The young mare blushed, nodding. “I-It’s a good read, yes. B-But um, you wouldn’t like it, Arin. It’s… er…”

“It’s another romance novel, filled with magic and witches and moving castles, d’ohoho~” Vee teased, waving her wing at her assistant. Pumpkin slid her hat over her face, curling up into a well-taunted bundle. Arin could only chuckle, plopping back down to rock in his absurdly comfortable chair.

“So, how does uh… being in multiple places at once work? I’m not the most adept at magic, by far.”

“Well Tall-fry, that’s only a half truth. Yes, the shop is in four physical locations; but it only exists in one! You see, the interior of the shop is still in White Tail Wood. Think of it like a big bag of holding, with four holes to snoot bits and baubles into. But to be a bag, only one hole can be open! Otherwise it’s a really ugly shirt. My magic alone can’t open these little holes up, but Onyx has the know how and the feathers to do it.”

Onyx puffed his chest in pride, raising a wing to cover his breast. Beak tilted up, he riled himself up for a lecture. “I exist in all fabrics of reality. I am infinite and eternal, an entity that-”

“-Enjoys cookies! D’ohoho~” Vee smirked, somehow emptying the now tea-cup sized mug. Onyx stopped mid speech, cocking his head to the side – before eventually giving a little wing-shrug. Why argue the truth?

Spooning away the last of his oatmeal, Pumpkin took Arin’s dirty bowl in her magic. Placing it on her back, she snatched Vee’s coffee… thing, and all other dishes to bring to the kitchen. It was a little nook to their right of the main entrance; small, but undoubtedly intimate. The whole house radiated a cozy feeling you just couldn’t buy. From the cushy, puffy upholstery of the recliners, to the warm colors of the walls and curtains. It really did feel like a wonderful little cottage in the woods.

“So! I guess we’re running our fundraiser in Vanhoover today, Pumpkin. We’ve got to sway the election with cookies and cupcakes somehow.” Arin made it to his feet, giving himself a stretch. The Pumpkin mare nearly chirped in delight, smiling at their new adventure.

“A-And after today, we can donate our bits to charity! O-Of course, after we um… cover the costs. I don’t have many bits for donations myself.” The witchy pon quickly swiveled out the bowls with a sponge, suds aplenty bubbling away in the sink. With the dishes clean and drying, she hopped up to his side – gosh, she was tiny! She may be ten years his junior just about, but she was still at least half a head shorter than a pony like Vee, who came up just around his lowest rib at eye height.

“Oh, Tall-fry! I need to talk to you alone before you go bubbling and bumbling my pots and pans in the kitchen. Super secret purple things, and all that jazz.” She waved her right hoof, the left leg propped up to her cheek to keep her head from falling to the side and passing out.

“Oh, uh, sure! Pumpkin, go get the oven started without me – I’ll be down in just a bit.” Arin hesitated by the door, holding it for the little mare. Huh… the second set of steps leading upstairs was gone. Curious. In its place was a small lamp and hat rack.

With Pumpkin bounding down the stairs in excitement, and the door closed, he rejoined Vee in the living room. She didn’t acknowledge him at first – instead, her hoof gave a wave at the fireplace. It sparked to life with crackling intensity, purple flames filling the hearth and chilling the room.

“Strange things are nipping at my feathers lately. Mm. Bad omens, bad lunar magic, bad coffee. Not good for preening, not one bit.” She rocked slowly in her chair, her eyes half drawn at this point. Lost in her own little world. Vee blinked and focused her vision onto Arin, the bags under her eyes gone in an instant. In fact, she looked just fine; her vigor restored, her usually less-than-organized mane settling into place.

“Arin, you know magic. You’ve got a brain beneath the mane, the bits and bobs in the right spots – you’ve learned a lot in the three years you were gone. But none of it matters compared to what you could know, and what you should. It’s a mystery! Oho. And not a fun one.” Vee spun her hoof in the air, soon holding a delicate, glass orb formed from the thin slivers of her magic.

“Sit,” she commanded. How quickly her mood shifted from her usual chaotic self to her now strict, more ominous persona was a tad bit worrying. He obliged her order, finding a comfy position nearby on his recliner.

“Er… what’s this about, Vee?” He twiddled his thumbs, the off-putting nature of the now mystical mare sending him off kilter.

“Oho! It’s about many things. The past, the present. But what matters most is the future.” The orb glowed dimly, the light from the sun fading as only the purple flickers of flames kept the darkness at bay.

“I am what the ponyfolk would call an Oracle; but this is, like many things, a half truth. I am a Night Witch first, as Pumpkin has undoubtedly told you before. In your world, that could mean many things – but not in Equestria. I take my power from the moon. Like the all too familiar blue Princess you know, I channel magic from the Lunar Plane. I use it to coax other magic from the fabric of reality around us. And I use it with Onyx’s magics to extend my long life.”

She waved her hoof over her face – and as if waking up from a dream, he saw the reality before him. He nearly fell out of his chair, as the witch’s complexion aged what felt like a thousand years within seconds. Her teeth popped out of her muzzle, her mane fell out in tuffs, her eyes shifted from purple to grey and her skin grew loose and pale. The orb floated to her side, and she clapped her hooves together – returning her visage to the beautiful young mare she appeared to be.

“I am seven hundred and sixty eight years old. A scratch compared to Onyx, but still a scar in time. A mark in history. I will live and drink coffee, I will breathe and preen – and I will see this world turn until I am naught but ash under the hooves of a thousand generations. But I will not see this world at all, if the future can not be changed. And I am one to tempt fate. I have stared down death. I will be there by your grave when you pass, and I will not mourn. For I am not afraid of what lays beyond the material plane. I am only afraid of what it will become.”

Arin gulped.

“I will first speak of the future, for I have seen it. By speaking these words, I blind myself to what is to come.” The orb she summoned cracked, shattering into glittering dust that whipped through the room in an unseen wind.

“Arin, you will have to spill royal blood if you wish to survive. You will know what this means when the moment strikes. You must break the bonds in which you sleep.”

“Now, for the present. You are gifted for all that challenges you. The strength you carry now will bear the burdens of what’s to come. You must only remember this when there is no hope.”

“And finally, of the past.”

Vee closed her eyes, the purple glow of the fire vanishing as the sun once more shone in her halls.

“Did you snoot in Pumpkin’s diary?” The bags beneath her eyes returned, as her magic took said diary from the crease of the mare’s recliner.

“W-What? Hold on, wait, you can’t just go all dark on me then snap back to-OW! Hey!”

“Did! You! Snoot!” She lightly thwacked his head with the book for emphasis, the Seraph covering his skull from her assault.

“O-Okay! Yes! I looked! I peaked! Stop – HEY! Stop hitting me with the book!”

“I knew it! You sniffly snooter!” She glared, the book thwacking him on the knee hard enough to make him wince. “Bad!”

“I get it! Ow! Jeez, stop-”

“I let you into MY home, let you look at MY nice things, sleep on NOT MY bed, and you snooted! Go apologize to Pumpkin, or I’m hoofing you the boot! After you pay rent! Which is a lot! I have a lot of bills! You’re gonna have to pay them because I’m! Still! Broke!”

She made sure to continue her light thwacking assault, thrusting the book into Arin’s hands when she was done. She adjusted her black hat, huffing through her nose. “Much better! Now, back to important matters on the front end. There is a cushion that is in need of more feathers, and wings that desire preening.”

She hopped up with surprising grace – popping into the hallway at the turn of the knob. Funnily enough, that was the first time he’s seen Vee actually move her legs since he met her. “And by the way, Tall-fry. I’m not mad, just disappointed. This is for your own good.”

Thunk. She closed the door behind her without another word.

Holding the book in his hands, a new feeling of dread washed over him. If he apologized to Pumpkin, she would definitely know he read the most recent entry. And that would mean he would have to shoot her down. After all, he was still dating Luna. Technically. Right? Even if she was a little… insane? And kinda stomped on their love like it was nothing?

Was it even dating at this point? When did he sign up for this teenage drama?

Maybe Pumpkin could take a gentle let down. He could tell her he has a marefriend, surely she’d understand. Even if Arin’s current marefriend is turning into a tyrant dictator of a principality, and probably also shifting into Nightmare Moon.

He weighed his options. On one hand, you had a soft, sweet, gentle mare who isn’t currently possessed by evil, and knows how to cook. On the other, you have a mare who is also soft and sweet, but in truth he’s only dated for a couple of weeks – before jumping ship for three years to go fix the problems in his world. Then it came back to his question of did he still want to be a knight after all of this was said and done? Did he want to deal with royalty, nobles, complaints and castles – tout around a boring job all day standing guard for several hours straight?

I guess the real question is, did he even need love right now?

Or did he want to be free of all of that? After all, it was Luna who asked for him to be her Knight. He volunteered and was rejected, yes – but she put his name forward specifically, because she saw good in him. But, she was also probably under some heavy drugs at the time. Y’know, kill Celestia, have the Prince of your nation marry the Princess of another – making King and Queen, then usurp their throne by killing them both and claiming the Kingdom as yours by rightful rule. All under the guise of keeping the peace, when in reality it gave you total power to commit a genocide.

Seraphs loved following Monarchy rules, especially if those rules were backed up by the strongest Seraphs - and there might be a similarity there between ponykind, as well. Throw in a stronger Seraph, and suddenly – those rules didn’t matter. It’s all about who would come out on top. It took a vile king to change that attitude, and three years of Civil War to squash it out of the population. At least, enough to keep the peace for a day.

Not to mention the sheer amount of problems here in Equestria, too – partly from their own Nobles, but also from some straggler Seraphs working to thwart the Government. They’ve been at it for three years here, too. What did they even gain from all their ‘hard work’?

Maybe he needed to do some soul searching.