I spotted the blade pointed towards my throat, it's wielder pulling his arms back in a stab. It's aim was true, and impossible to block, as it would glance off any defense and still strike, though in a less vital location. Bringing my left hand forwards, I pressed the dagger held within up against the flat of the blade, directing it away before it could be sent forth. In the same motion, I slid my blade along his, making his eyes widen as he saw the point rushing to meet him, all while keeping his only method of defense at bay.

"You're dead Etch." I stated calmly, with my kris up against his throat.

"Looks like you got me again." We both lowered our wooden tools, and wiped the sweat from our brows. Considering that my human form is based more on stealth than strength, I decided to work with the typical assassin gear, being a dagger, blowdarts, and vials. We never had much of a need for espionage up to this point, so Nadene's stealth skills went mostly unused. As soon as I realized that, I figured our enemies would realize it as well, (the fact that we were using mostly open assault instead of assassination and sabotage) and would be training forces to deal with an army, not a small group of hidden fighters.

"Swords are fast but can be parried, Axes and maces are heavy, but also slow, so they have to be dodged. I can use repello or expelli armus for ranged attacks to send them away, and protego for when I do get hit, if my opponent uses daggers as well, but for the most part, I'm going to want to avoid being seen in the first place. I guess all I can really do now is sneak around the castle and try to avoid getting caught for practice. Thanks Etch, you were a big help."

"I do all I can." He gave a polite nod, then walked back to his family. I ruffled Grog on the head, then exited the room, blinking out of existence when I reached the hall.

Rather than keeping up an invisibility spell, I used umbra to both shade and mute myself, just trying to avoid being seen as I tried to find my way wandered aimlessly on purpose. It worked, until I came across Princess Luna who spotted me and dispelled my magic.

"Did you really think you could hide from the mistress of the night?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, not really. Hmm, I guess the better half of hiding is about avoiding people with heightened senses. I wonder if there's a way to find out how skilled in detection someone is other than knowing them." I put my hand to my chin and started scratching as I thought. "I got nothing, other than that I need a shave. Oh, can you let me into my safety deposit box? I need to get some stuff out of it."

My things were kept under tight security, due to the nature of what they were, and what they could be used for, so the only way someone would be allowed to open it was if one of the princesses were present, hence why I had Luna come with me. We entered the storage locker-bank-vault thing, found my box, and opened it up. In it was my armor, the broken bits of Hades, a number of chem vials, and the scale Ember left me. I lifted my sword out by the handle, running my hands along the flat and grip in a somber mood. Luna seemed to notice this.

"Is something the matter?"

"I just, when I think about this thing, everything I've done with it, was it all worth it? Was it supposed to break, and should it stay broken? I don't know. This blade is a simile for me. It's just as broken as I am, Now that I've gotten better, I'm debating on whether on not I should get it fixed, never mind the four million bits Aoi wants to do it." I wrapped all the broken pieces back in the blanket wrapped around them, so that they wouldn't cut anything, but kept the main piece with the handle. I also took out Ember's scale.

"Hades was made from a smooth, flexible scale, meant so it doesn't hinder movement, like what would be found on the neck, leg, or stomach. This one is rigid and thick, it's edge isn't very sharp, but I could shave it into a proper edge without much effort. Something like this would be put in layers over a vital area that doesn't need to move much. Every time I look at it, I keep thinking it would be on her chest, to protect her heart. She told me in a letter that it would be stronger than my sword. That's what I don't understand, why give me a scale meant to guard her heart, and why give me anything in the first place? It doesn't make any sense, although I'm not expecting much logic out of a schizophrenic." I ran my hand along the edge, pressing so it made an ever so slight cut on my thumb.

"Griffin?" I heard Luna call my name, as if to ask if I was alright. I looked into my reflection in the flat of the scale, and noticed a mystified look on my face. I shook my head to snap out of it, then let out a soft sigh.

"Sorry, yeah, that's everything. Let's go." I closed the box, then left with my belongings and headed to my room.

Once I was in the solitude of my abode, I pulled out what I had taken from my storage box and looked at the items again. I placed Hades on the floor and sat on the handle to hold the blade still, while I ran Ember's scale across it's remaining edge over and over again, wearing the small one down at one end to give it a handle, sized to fit my hand, then shaving it to give it an edge. I spent about a day and a half doing this, sparing time only to eat, sleep, and practice on the course, only being present enough that my absence would go unnoticed. Once I had finished this, I wrapped the handle in some silk I bought from town, with a loop in it so I could attach it to my belt loops.

"Now all that's left is to give you a name..." I said to the dagger, before lighting it with an ignis spell, then snuffing it. "I'll have time to think of one later." I hooked it into my belt loop, then walked out.

Grr, shut UP you pompous, arrogant...

"If I may interrupt Lord Asinine, I will consider your proposal and contact you when I have reached a decision. As this is a serious matter, I require time to be private with my thoughts."

"Of course, Princess. I'll take my leave then."

Thank the stars, I thought he'd never stop talking. He thinks if he just keeps telling me about his inane idea that I'll be brainwashed into thinking it's a good idea. "Court will be taking a twenty minute recess for lunch. Dismissed." All the various nobles who sought my ear left the throne room, while I had Mr Teacup bring out a platter with a slice of vanilla cake on it, then leave me with my treat. I levitated the fork, stuck it into the rich, moist, succulent pastry, brought the cutlery to my mouth, closed my eyes, and bit down.

Much to my surprise, instead of a light and fluffy slice of heaven, I tasted nothing but the cold steel of the fork. I opened my eyes in surprise to find the portion that had been on my fork was floating in front of my eyes, lacking the telltale aura of unicorn magic keeping it in place.

"What?"

My vision followed it as it floated up above my throne, then over to the back rest before vanishing entirely. As it ceased to exist, something else took it's place. There was Griffin, perched like an owl on the backrest of my seat. He wiped his lips with a thumb before licking the icing off of it.

"Hi." He stood there for a moment, crouched, completely still and silent. "Bye." Then, he vanished again. I simply shook my head and went back to my lunch.

"Alright, so remember everyone, the time to beat is a minute fifty-two seconds. We'll want to get about a minute forty five, just so it's not too obvious. I checked the order, we'll be going last, so we get to see what every other squad does, and how their times are. It also means we'll have to wait for every other squad to go, and for the course to be reset between them, so try not to let yourselves get psyched out." Inky instructed. Then she turned to me. "You got everything ready as planned?"

I pulled down the sleeves on my winter coat and buttoned them, to cover the gems set in the wrists of my gloves. I was allowed to wear that, as I didn't have a fur coat and would get hypothermia if I didn't. The other members of my squad wore scarves and such to keep them warm, as they didn't count as special equipment. I quickly jumped into a single handstand, using the levitation spell on the four points to keep my balance, while it was my strength alone that allowed me to start doing repetitions in that position as Shining Armor came out of the castle. I saw him look at me with a hint of confusion on his face.

"Not running it as a griffin?" He tilted his head slightly.

"Nah, that would be easy. I wanted a bit of a challenge, considering we can already crush your personal record."

"Is that so? You seem confident. I look forward to seeing how well you perform without your spells." He replied.

"Oh, I'll have my spells, I just won't be the one casting them. There's nothing against unicorns using magic." And that's where the lie is. We'll get away with it because they can't prove they were using my kind of magic instead of their own, nor can they prove that Inky, Posh and I were using it ourselves.

"I just don't want to see any cheating." He returned.

"Don't worry, you won't see any." I smirked. Ever so slight emphasis on 'see'.

"I'm serious. Don't break the rules." He warned sternly.

"Silly Shining Armor, I can't break the rules, because in war, there are none." I pushed off with my hand and righted myself, gaining about four seconds of air time before landing gently on my feet. He looked at me, then saw Chilly's horn glowing, narrowed his eyes, then walked off.

"Was that wise?" Posh asked me. "Taunting him? Now he'll be certain that we'll break the rules."

"It doesn't matter either way. Shining and Celestia know me. They're sure I'll cheat regardless, and they'd be more suspicious if I didn't have anything up my sleeve. I showed him how we're going to play, so he'll be focused on catching me cheating that he won't even notice that you're doing it, and as long as one of you has your horn glowing at all times, he can't catch me, and you will, since you'll be charging up your own shoes." I explained.

"So then, you're the distraction. They won't expect us to break the rules, just you. Make them look the wrong way. Very well played."

"Hey, it was In.. Tatoo's idea. Quite clever. Anyways, let's go get started."

All the 'active' squads put on their armor and gear, then marched out into the courtyard and split in half to encircle it. They pulled out horns and blew them to announce the recruits who would be partaking in the events. Other than the obstacle course, there was a martial arts competition, jousting, and team CTF, but those would be taking place later in the year when the weather permitted. Right now was just the winter obstacle run, well, that and the snowball fight, but that was just for fun, and was squads versus crowd. I guess it was set up like how they did the summer and winter Olympics, but it was every year. Celestia was on the castle balcony, while a horde of ponies bundled up in winter clothing sat in the bleachers around the arena.

"Squads assemble!" Shining stamped his hoof from on the stage. He introduced a titanic pegasus mare done up with the same colour scheme as Fluttershy as 'Captain Barricade' then a massive earth pony stallion and his squad, a number of other captains, then, his own.

"Shining Armor's squad! I know I have been absent for the past couple months, but I am confident that if you followed my training regime, you will be a 'shining' example to the rest of the units! And finally, *groan* Corporal Carton's Milk Lovers."

Wait, THAT'S what we're called? THAT'S our squad name!?

"Don't look down on us! Milk grows strong bones!" Our commander shouted. The audience laughed. And I just became aware that the whole point of this was to shame us publicly. I tapped my commanding officer on the shoulder, and handed him a piece of paper.

"Corporal, Inkamina, Posh and I took the liberty of writing your All-Squad competition trophy acceptance speech. I think you'll prefer it to the usual 'Shining Armor is a much better commander than I am' dribble that he makes you read every year when he beats you."

"Tell me feathers, can you really do it? All these years, I been training up scumbags that nopony else would, making delinquents into guards. All these years, I worked harder than any ah them, and I been payed back with shame. Because of that, I learned humility, and to carry on, even when nopony believes in you, but just once, just once I wanted to make those stuck up commanders eat the paper their speeches are written on, and I ain't gonna retire till I do."

I looked at my C.O, along with the rest of the squad. I turned to Inky, who got a maniacal smile and a gleam in her eye. That was all the answer I needed.

Celestia began to speak from her position. "Attention everypony! Each year, we hold a series of events, to test the mettle of our newest recruits. Today's event is the winter obstacle course. For our fighting forces, being in the right position is of great importance, so this event is designed to test their mettle, and see how effectively they can get through the battlefield, in even the harshest conditions. Wind, ice, sleet, snow. Our squads will face all of these as they try to navigate. First, there are the hoops, which must be jumped through in order, then the balance poles, followed by the rope swings, frozen pond, wire crawl, and a ten foot high wall that must be scaled, before finally running to the finish line. Failure to pass through one of the rings, falling off a pole or a swing, or touching a wire will result in a five second penalty per instance, up to a maximum of five instances, which will result in disqualification."

"I remember when I started, I couldn't even fit through the rings." Posh recalled, tapping a hoof to his chin.

"I remember falling off every balance pole." Daft said, looking down.

"I remember not being able to make it over the wall." Inky said, looking nostalgic.

"I remember slipping off the rope swing." Chilly pointed out.

"I remember hitting every wire in that trap." I added. "But, we are not who we were."

"Let's begin."

We took our positions on the squad bleachers to watch while the other groups ran. All of the squads ran, their times averaging between 1:55 and 2:10, not bad at all. All that was left was Shining Armor's squad, and our own, and they were up first.

They all crouched down near the starting line, getting ready to run. When the whistle blew and the clock started, they took off like a shot, and moved into a single file line, with a pegasus at the front, followed by three unicorns, and another pegasus. They each grabbed hold of each other's flanks, the pegasi lifting the line, while the unicorn's steered with magic. The whole group jumped through the rings at once, and did not lose one another in the snow as they were all connected. They had cleared the rings in fifteen seconds.

Staying in formation, they released one another. The lead pegasus gently landed on each pole, pointing it out to his squad mates who would jump on them in order, while the rear pegasus kept anyone from losing their balance by hopping along right behind and holding up anyone who looked wobbly. That took them twenty seconds.

After that was the rope swing. You were 'supposed' to go across one at a time so you didn't break the rope, but with the unicorns using a spell to decrease their weight, they all went across at the same time. It took them five seconds.

When they came to the frozen pond, they took up their conga line again and skated around each of the poles on the ice, once again using the pegasi wing power for thrust, and the unicorns to keep the snow away and such. Twenty seconds.

When they reached the wire crawl, all but one unicorn stopped to catch their breath. The one who did not stop, who had been in the middle of the conga line and essentially slacking the whole time, crawled through the wires, and once on the other side, cast a teleport spell on each of his comrades to bring them over. He had saved his energy the entire time so they could skip that challenge. Clever. Twenty five seconds to bring them all over.

When they reached the wall, the unicorns began levitating each other over it, the last one being picked up by the pegasi who lifted him to the other side. When they were all together, they ran to the finish, with a total time of one minute, thirty eight seconds.

"And we have a new course record! Beating the old record, held by Shining Armor himself, by fourteen seconds, is his own trainees!" Looking at them laying in the snowbank, huffing and panting, but with smiles on their faces, Shining beamed. They saluted from their prone positions, then slowly got to their hooves, and went to hit the showers.

"Beat THAT Griffin." The guard captain chided me as he walked back up to the podium.

"Hey Griffin?" Inky asked.

"Yeah?"

"Screw trying not to be obvious. They already know we're gonna cheat, why bother trying to hide it?" She had a very good point.

"Everyone?" I looked to the rest of my team, who had no objections, only evil grins. "Then let's do it." We huddled to discuss what we would do for each section, and once we had made up our minds, we took our positions at the starting line.

The whistle blew, and we ran. We allowed Chilly and Daft to go ahead of us. Instead of moving to pass through the hanging rings, they used their magic to line them all up. We jumped through the whole lot of them at once, then let them go so they'd spring back into position. Seven seconds.

Then came the balance poles. We quickly turned on our volare spells and stood on Posh's extra large back as he ran the poles for us, barely bending them as our combined weight was little more than that of a filly. We landed on the other side and jumped off, running again. Twelve seconds.

Then came the rope swing. Again using our volare spells, we all grabbed the rope at once and swung over, essentially copying what Shining's squad had done. Five seconds.

At the frozen pond, we lost a bit of time skating around the flags as we wiped out once. We were able to recover, but between that and not having wings for propulsion, relying on pushing against slippery ice for movement, we took thirty seconds.

"Chilly! you're up!" Inky called. The unicorn ran in front of us and went into a slide, casting a frost spell under the tripwires, making an ice slide. We all dove and dropped as flat as we could, sliding right under them and to the other side in under fifteen seconds.

Finally, the wall. This was where we would have trouble. I didn't have wings anymore, so I couldn't carry Posh over after he had gotten a boost from the rest of us, luckily, we had a plan for that too. We all grabbed hold of his massive bulk, and dumped the remainder of our magic into protect and speed spells and we ran. We turned him into a battering ram and smashed right through the wall, making it topple behind us as we ran to the finish line.

"I... don't believe this. With a total time of one minute, twenty seconds, the 'Milk Lover squad has the fastest time!" The look on his face when we smashed his record was priceless. "Please come up to the podium to accept your trophy." He sighed dejectedly.

So, we all walked up to that stage, and Carton took out the paper we gave him.

"Greetings Canterlot, on behalf of Griffin, Black Tattoo, 'Daft' Daffodil, Winter's 'Chilly' Chill, and Pish Posh, I would like to say that we are lying, cheating, no good scoundrels?" The audience gasped. He raised his brow at us. I motioned to him to continue. "You will never know, if today, we broke the rules, and if you do know that we did, you will never know how. In war, there are no rules. 'Cheating' is nothing more than using everything at your disposal to win, which, when lives are on the line, should be expected, not scorned. We won today because we break convention, and are willing to do what it takes, while you were not. That is why we are better than you. I'll take my trophy now." Then he folded up the page and looked around awkwardly.

"I can't give you this trophy, you cheated!" Shining shouted into the microphone. Inky simply walked up, took the trophy, plopped it down on Carton's back, then took the mike.

"Prove it." Then she walked off towards the castle.

"We won." Chilly said, then followed.

"You lost." Daft added, then followed.

"We, the outcasts and losers, who entered this competition, everpony expecting us to be shamed, beat you." Posh stated, then followed. Finally, I walked up to Shining, who looked to be fuming, but at the same time, unable to comprehend how this had happened.

"You mad?" I left the stage, looking back to see Carton with a small tear hanging in his eye, take the crumpled up speech, and stick it right in Armor's open mouth, before taking the trophy to his office. We all left, and as we did, I used a last bit of magic to start playing a song.

"Princess Celestia, you're not just going to let them get away with this are you?" Shining called to the balcony.

"Indeed I am. He's right, after all. I had a feeling this is how things would turn out. In this competition, contestants were only allowed to use their natural abilities. Griffin is a natural born cheater."

"You mean, you knew?"

"He appeared out of thin air, on the backrest of my throne, and ate the first bite of the cake I was going to eat for lunch. That was his way of telling me. There is a reason, Shining Armor, why he and his 'pirates' have been able to do so much more in this world than the Equestrian guard, despite being of smaller numbers and no official combat training regiment besides a couple years practice and the tips of a few adventurers and street brawlers. They do what nopony thinks possible, or is willing to do. I may not agree with their methods, but they are effective, and that is why I'm letting THEM fight the war in the north instead of the guard, and is also why they won't be a part of the standard Equestrian military.

Later

I had invited everyone up to my room to celebrate. Better than doing it in the barracks with a bunch of pissed off guard recruits. Ah, they'd get over it eventually.

"Cheers! To a victory well won, and, more importantly, making sure Shining Armor's recruits DIDN'T win." I cracked open a couple barrels of cider, filled everypony's mugs, and passed them around. Then Carton came up and joined us as well.

"Ha! I can't believe it! You all shaped up after all! Hahaha! This is great!" He laughed as he downed a mug of his own.

"So, you made him eat your speech, I guess you can finally retire huh?"

"Heck no! The princess came by and gave me a commendation. I'm gonna be taking on a whole unit of delinquents and turning em into lean, mean, cheating machines. Said we're gonna need ponies who can handle, and I quote, 'crazy griffin warlords', you know, national security and all. It is my great honor to promote Inkamina 'Black' Pie, Pish Posh, Winter's Chill, and Daffodil to the rank of Lieutenant. Also, Griffin, you're getting a dishonorable discharge."

"What? Why?"

"Disobeying the orders of a commanding officer, insulting superiors, going above the chain of command, and grand theft pastry. No pension, no plaque in the hall of honors." At the reading of the charges, we all broke out into laughter. "Now wash up, you all stink. You gotta be fresh and raring to go if you wanna pelt some poor shmuck with snowballs."

After he left, I went into the bathroom, threw off my clothes, and stepped into the shower. I turned on the water, relishing the feeling of the scalding liquid on my skin, driving away the bite of the cold, when the door opened, catching me by surprise.

"Inky! What the hell are you doing!"

"What? We took showers together all the time in the barracks." She said as she stepped in with me. "It's no big deal."

"Yeah, but that was when I was a griffin."

"And? The difference?" She was genuinely confused.

"I don't have anything to cover me up when I'm like this!"

"Well, maybe that's a good thing." I blushed and backed away nervously. She giggled. "It's way too easy to get under your skin. Hurry up and wash my back."

Once that awkward session was done, I got dressed again and let the others each take their turn in the shower, while I sat on the couch next to the grey mare, relaxing for a bit, before Celestia entered with a smirk.

"Griffin Griffin Griffin, I know of none other in this whole world who can break the rules so blatantly, admit it, and still get away with it."

"Which is why I bear the title 'silver tongue'. Did you catch the look on Shining's face when we just out and told everyone?"

"Indeed I did. I thought you were going to make a point of not upsetting ponies who can 'swat you like a fly'." She paused. "So, how'd you do it?"

"What if I didn't do anything?" She looked at me sternly. "Okay, so maybe I did, but I didn't have to. Daft and Chilly could very easily have done that if I wasn't there. The point stands."

"What I'm concerned about Griffin, is that you have dangerous thoughts. You may be better than you were before, well enough to go back out there, but remember that your mind is still fragile. Your wounds were years in the making, and will take much longer than a couple months to heal. Try to remember that while you're fighting, and remember the lessons you've learned."

"Princess, you're talking as if you won't be seeing me again, at least for a very long time." My face became stern. "What do you know that I don't?"

"I'm officially declaring your rehabilitation a success. The process used on you will be applied to others of your kind who seek aid, and I'm discharging you from my care. I'm sending you to Ponyville until your crew can come to pick you up. Pack your things. I don't want you leaving anything behind, because your room will have a new tenant, and I'd hate for him to injure himself with one of your belongings."

"New tenant? Who?"

As soon as I asked that, I saw a very familiar changeling walk into the doorway, carrying something in a pair of blacksmith's tongs.

"Celestia! There you are. One Alicorn Amulet, coming right up. Thankfully no vengeance crazed nutjobs got their grubby paws on this thing, heaven forbid that psycho Griffin, or even worse, Chrysalis!" He laughed gleefully, causing the princess to facehoof.

"Hey!" I heard the indignant shout of the queen from the hall. At that moment, the bug that could only be Knightmare, spotted me.

"Hey, who's the new guy? You're not cheating on me, are you Celestia?" She lowered her hoof, only to bring it to her head again.

"Knightmare... stop being a dork..." I heard a kind of hissing voice come from behind him.

"I'll think about it." Was his reply.

"It's a miracle! He's thinking!" Chrysalis chided him with glee. Celestia face-hoofed a third time, snickering silently to herself.

"Nice seeing you again too." I finally greeted him. He must not have recognized me, what with him never having seen me in human form.

He looked at me with a confused gaze. "Do I know you?"

"Perhaps there is something you'd like to say to Knightmare?" Celestia suggested, looking at me sternly. She's right. It may not be easy, but this is something I have to do. I walked up to the bug, and bowed my head.

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk at the gala. You could have enjoyed the evening, but I was an ass, and because of that, your evening was ruined. Well, before all that other crazy crap. It was wrong of me, and I'm sorry."

"Okay, now I'm even more confused. The only person who did that was Griffin, but there's no way he'd apologize for it." He turned to look at me, and seemed even more puzzled by the sincerity on my face. There was an audible record scratch as his mind put the pieces together. "Griffin, is that you?" I nodded. "Wow, you're a lot younger than I thought. Teenagers, that explains EVERYTHING." He sneered. I looked at him with a raised brow, then took off my shirt to show all my scars. The annoyance and confusion dropped from his voice, replaced by something cold. "Okay, now THAT explains everything."

"Still, it's no excuse for my behavior." I stood and waited to hear what he would say. He sighed, then looked me in the eye.

"Griffin, that was months ago. All bullshit aside, I did enjoy that night, and made quite a few friends." He replied.

"Still, I felt I had to apologize. I... I've realized the mistakes I've made, and I'm trying to make things right."

"Griffin, come here." I slowly walked towards him, half expecting him to forgive me. The other half was expecting a hoof to the face. I was surprised when he pulled me into a hug.

"You're forgiven, by me at least, though I think there's two others you need to talk to."

"Who?" I asked. I've been a dick to a lot of people, I'm not entirely confident I haven't forgotten anyone. He whistled, and in walked both Chrysalis and some evil looking smoke pony who was quite similar to Nightmare Moon, though looking a bit... calmer?

"Good afternoon everyone." The queen said. "Nice job at the tournament Griffin."

"Indeed, good afternoon everyone, sis." The smoke pony turned to Celestia "Griffin." She added.

"Nyxie, you're in a no smoking area." Knightmare chided the smoke pony, who then solidified, rolling her eyes, her mane keeping in contact with the guitar/ax strung across his back.

"Chrysalis, I'm sorry I cut off your hoof... and poisoned you... and killed a bunch of changelings... and your reavers... and tried to hospitalize you with Knightmare..."

"Apology accepted. I did kinda have it coming." She replied.

I turned to the smoke pony. "And I'm not really sure who you are, though I have an idea."

"My Real name is Nyx Everfree. Though I believe you knew me as Nightmare Octave...or Nightmare Moon." Smoky stated.

"Yeah... I'm not apologizing to you."

"After all I've done, I don't deserve an apology, either. If anything, I should apologize to you...and several million others..." She put on the 'nervous awkward face' as she shrugged.

"Just call it even then?" I shrugged in kind.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Nyx said, smiling gently, her fangs glinting in the light. "So, we've finally had an easy mission, care to join us tonight for a night on the town?"

"I gotta pack all my stuff. I'm moving out so Chuck Testa over there can move in." I pointed at the human turned bug. Just because we forgave each other doesn' mean I'm gonna be all buddy buddy with them. They'd drive me off the deep end.

Knightmare facepalmed, "Seriously, Chuck Testa? do you LIVE on memes or something?"

"Do you really want me to answer that? If the other person doesn't get it, it's twice as funny, and if they do, I know they're either a human, or know one. I don't see a downside." I replied.

"Now what's irritating is that there actually IS someone named Chuck Testa here, one of Chrysalis' honor guard. I believe he's one of the ones you punched in the face..." He responded. "He picked the name himself. He's weird for a changeling, even by my standards..."

"Tangents aside, no, I have to pack. I'm apparently moving to Ponyville for a month or so while I wait for my ride."

"I guess that's a no then." Chrysalis said looking like she sincerely would have wanted me there.

"Yeah... Knightmare, why ARE you moving in anyways?" I asked the million dollar question. He shook his head.

"I'd show you exactly why, but you probably don't want to fall asleep within ten feet of me anyway. But long story short? I have memory problems. I just got a lot of them back...and now I know why I repressed my memories for eighty years...." He looked at me with a smile, but one without warmth, looking like someone who had his entire world shattered and is struggling to piece it back together....a very familiar look.

"... I think that look in your eye is explanation enough. Good luck, and don't let Mrs. Merryweather get to you. She's the reason foals cry when you say 'Magic Kindergarten.' She's creepy."

Knightmare chuckled dryly. "I'll keep that in mind." He passed the amulet and tongs to a waiting guard, "Don't let anyone touch it. Bring it straight to the vault." Once the guard left, he cracked his knuckles, apparently deciding he wanted hands instead of hooves at this point. "Whelp, let's get started, shall we?"

So, Knightmare and the rest of my squad helped me pack. I didn't have much, since the furniture stayed with the room, but we loaded it all into a pair of suitcases. I turned to Celestia. "I'll stay the night, and after that, I'll head out. I trust you've gotten me living arrangements?"

"Just go see Twilight. She's got it figured out." With that, everyone left. Now, there's only one question left.

"I wonder if I can peg Shining Armor during the snowball fight?"