“Hello.” Reman, in his own mind, was a shining example of an Imperial diplomat, shrewd, cunning. Of course, in reality, he wasn't a diplomat, and those he addressed weren't foreign emissaries. Every pony that was in the library, save Luna and Celestia, was stunned by the man. Whether due to his miraculous recovery, or simply seeing the Imperial for the first time, shock and awe was felt around the room.

The Imperial saw a flash of pink fly towards him, and didn't really want to dodge. Pinkie didn't actually hit Reman, but stopped incredibly close to collision. The party pony bounced up and down excitedly, speaking at a speed that shattered every carriage record in Cyrodiil. Two shades of pink jumped up and latched onto the Imperial's torso, and the pony was still squabbling nonsensically.

“OMIGOSHYOU'REALIVETHISISAMAZINGANDIGETTOTRHOWAPARTYABOUTYOUBEINGALIVEANDOKAYANDTHESTOREBEINGBROKE...” Reman stopped paying attention after a few moments, it wasn't like Pinkie was going to say something important. The party pony continued to babble for a few moments, before she exhausted her surprise. If that was even possible. “... BOOMBANGCRASHANDYOUWEREALLROAR” Pinkie thrust her forelegs into the air, an attempt to mimic Reman's own roar, likely from the Festival. “And now we get to see even more!”

“Well, I see someone is happy that I'm still alive and kicking.” Despite his jovial attitude, Reman had failed to set Shining Armor at ease. The captain was still looking at the lycan with apprehension and well hidden aggression, the Imperial doubt anyone but the two knew about it. Reman set Pinkie down and stepped inside, acting as though he was attempting to escape the cold of the Equestrian winter. After remaining silent for a few seconds, Glade punched the man in the leg, a noiseless hint, which the Imperial immediately understood.. “I believe introductions are in order.”

“I am Princess Cadence, niece of Princess Celestia.” The pink Alicorn curtsey/bowed, it was obvious that she was somewhat nervous about meeting the lycan, and it was certainly understandable. Reman had grown accustomed to seeing royalty cowering in his presence, even Jarl of Winterhold had a tendency to sweat when the Imperial was around. As Cadence stood again, the Unicorn stallion approached.

“Captain Shining Armor of the Equestrian Royal Army.” Shining Armor saluted Reman, who didn't return the gesture. The stallion held his salute stiffly, men like him would keep on until someone saluted them back. Better to end it before it becomes annoying.

“You can stop, I'm not in the Legion, never have been.” The guardspony looked stumped, until he realized the correlation between the word Legion and its military definition. As understanding took hold, Shining Armor returned his hoof to the floor. “Pleasure to meet the both of you, I am Reman of Cyrodiil.”

If Cadence was nervous, her husband was downright aggressive. It was obvious that the guardspony didn't trust the Imperial, not that he could be faulted for it, most had an instinctive fear of Reman, whether they had the right to be afraid, or not. Despite the implications of rank, Shining Armor wasn't a warrior, he was much more of a leader. The Imperial had more combat experience in one finger than the stallion had in his entire body, if the Unicorn's eyes were anything to go by. Rookie eyes, Reman could spot them from a mile away, and whoever owned the pair never failed to live up to their expectations.

“I'm getting tired of these long silences.” Summer Glades sentence destroyed its subject, said silence was counterproductive to the lycans' current objective. If Cadence and Shining Armor were not sold on the idea of helping quickly, the quest may take days more to complete. The pink Alicorn would be the easier of the two, while Glade had no doubt that the stallion would be stubborn to the end. There had to be something that either of the lycans could use to influence Shining Armor's opinion of the matter.

“That makes two of us.” Reman agreed, things were going too slow, even for his tastes. The Imperial was the sort to wait and test the waters before taking action, this approach had won the Empire several wars in the past. However, the Dominion had defeated that strategy, and the Empire, with horrifying efficiency. If there was ever evidence that the Old Way was obsolete, it was the Aldmeri assault. Perhaps, with a little luck, the natural diplomatic skills of the Imperial race would come in handy. “I believe it would be best for us to begin preparations.”

“How are you still walking around?” For once, Rainbow Dash's voice was quiet, but at least she spoke, unlike most of her friends. The blue Pegasus looked at Reman with a strange mix of awe and curiosity, no doubt that she was unable to wrap her head around the Imperial's recovery.

“I'm a tough dog to put down.” The lycan gave a grin, showing his sharp teeth. The display had no adverse effect on any of the Elements, but Cadence and Shining Armor visibly tensed at the sight.

“Dog?” Did the Element of Loyalty not remember Glade's explanation? Reman's transformative ability wasn't exactly a secret, by any means. However, given the incorrect nature of the notes Glade had presented, it was likely that Dash had pushed the possibility aside. If she didn't know that the Imperial was the monster from the Festival, things might go horribly wrong. Or, not so horribly, it really depended on Dash's reaction.

“I'm a lycan, Rainbow, I shapeshift between this form,” Reman used his hand to indicate that he was referring to his body, because Dash didn't seem all that bright at the moment. “To a more... monstrous one.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Dash cocked her head slightly, thoroughly stumped by the Imperial's statement. The alpha briefly hoped the Pegasus was joking, but one look in her eyes declared truth. Summer Glade decided to speak on her forebear's behalf.

“Rainbow, he was the werewolf from the Festival.” There were two types of possible reactions to that statement, and both were present. Dash looked as though she hadn't heard anything more amazing in quite some time, however, Cadence and Shining Armor could have responded better.

The Unicorn stallion looked as though he was about to charge, or maybe that was the standard pony posture of aggression, Reman had no idea which. Armor's reaction could have been attributed to the Imperial's close proximity to both Cadence and Twilight, or Celestia and Luna, either option was likely. The pink Alicorn, however, was only slightly unnerved by the revelation, but neither her nor her husband took it well.

“You don't like that, do you?” Reman gave Shining Armor a snide grin. Even if the stallion wasn't a warrior by Nirn's definition, both males understood a common vernacular: intimidation. While Armor may been a brilliant leader, perhaps even a capable fighter, but theory and book knowledge would do little against a being with a higher kill count than most Equestrian battles. Sensing danger, Cadence rushed into action, well, rushed was kind of a stretch.

“Please stop!” Despite her attempt at a commanding voice being a complete failure, both males complied, but tension remained. Fighting between the two could go either way, at a range, Shining Armor held the advantage; in melee, the victory would surely go to Reman. Regardless, any injury would be catastrophic to either combatant, an uneasy truce was called silently, with both sides compromising on certain subjects.

Reman would keep his hands and genitals far away from Twilight, in return, Shining Armor would erect a barrier around any observer to the ritual, provided they weren't actually fighting Hircine. The room returned to its normal level of activity, most of it was focused on planning the coming battle. With this plotting, Reman couldn't help but be reminded of his grandfather, who had fought during the Great War, old bastard was one of the most respected members of the Legion because of his service.

And here was his grandson, working on a strategy to kill a Daedric Prince. The apple doesn't fall far from the metaphorical tree, it would seem.

“How powerful will this Aspect of Guile be?” Shining Armor tried to sound like he held authority, and maybe he did, but not over the Imperial.

“The only one to ever defeat him was the Nerevarine.” Reman responded as he would if Ulfric Stormcloak had asked him something, with a blatant holier-than-thou attitude. “And none of us are Dunmer locked in one of Azura's prophecies.”

“Azura?” Glade hadn't heard that name before, it certainly didn't sound like it was Imperial, and it bore no resemblance to Zenammu's, so the ruled out any elven origin. The odd title struck a chord with the mare, a certain familiarity.

“The Prince of Dawn and Dusk.” Reman held out his hand as he explained, a strange habit for him to have. “She's one of the nice Daedra, but you can't really label the Daedra as good or evil.” The Imperial trailed off for a moment, thinking about something. “Come to think of it, I don't know why she's called the Mother of Roses, the only rose I know of with Daedric affiliation is Sanguine's Rose.”

Mother of Roses? Dawn and dusk? Reman's world had two moons, and the Daedra can bypass the laws of physics. Glade suddenly had a sinking feeling in her stomach, her mind flashed to Rose's anger. Was the mystery mare Azura in disguise? What happened when one invoked the wrath of a god? The lycan mare pushed the thoughts aside, if the Daedra was going to do something, she would have by now, right? But, just to be sure...

“You said Azura was a nice Prince, right?” Glade asked her alpha, the only one here with any experience on the subject. “Has anypony, em, anybody ever made her mad?” Much to her fear, her fellow lycan started laughing, the sort of laugh one gets when recalling a morbid joke. This did nothing to improve Glade's confidence.

“Like you wouldn't believe. I say she's one of the nice ones, but if you piss her off, her revenge is so fast that you don't even have time to react.” This must have been a lesson that the Imperial had learned at a young age, likely a story from his childhood.

“How does any of this affect our planning?” Shining Armor had no patience for the two lycans, especially Reman. He knew Glade was in the Royal Guard, but she had never served under him. Despite that, the captain was disgusted that Glade was out of uniform, AWOL, and fraternizing with a known threat to Equestria. However, he kept those thoughts to himself.

“The Nerevarine, foretold by Azura, stripped the Tribunal's godhood.” Reman's statement meant nothing to the stallion, but he still feigned shock. “The Daedra waited nearly four thousand years, but she still had her revenge.”

Glade felt ill.

@#@#@#@#@#@#@#

Bonus points to anyone who can figure out what Azura's revenge on Glade is.

Hint- It involves Hircine and the transformation that I didn't write in, keep in mind Hircine's reaction to Azura's plan and anything he said.