Danielle stumbled and briefly feared that she would fall, but at the last moment she managed to support herself at a nearby wall of someone’s house. Irritated, she looked back, but there was nothing to be seen on the illuminated streets of the Empire. She squinted a few times before she finally looked down at her feet. The shoelace of her right sneaker was loose. If she could believe her eyes, which she did not, the shoelace had also developed a life of its own. That, or the ground had become water, which was also a possibility. It was glowing a soft blue, after all. But no, none of them were the case. She had only had a few drinks too many with her brother. She blinked, however, and looked for that rat, but he seemed to have pulled a runner. At least she could not see him anywhere, not even close to her.

A few other ponies were on the streets at such a late hour, and those who were there paid scant attention to her. The minds of the citizenry had calmed as most had realized that the humans who were still in the Empire were for good reason. In this way, Danielle did not disturb anyone as she continued on her way. She was sure Twilight’s apartment was somewhere here, but most of the buildings appeared as though the architects had had no other construction material on hand but crystal. Unimaginative idiots, the young woman thought to herself, groping along the houses.

That was until her hand suddenly grasped nothingness. Without the sudden support, she staggered, this time with her own weight added, and so what was inevitable finally happened. She fell to the ground and landed between some bushes. It took some seconds before she became mindful of her situation, but then she began to giggle. Danielle had no idea when was the last time she'd been so drunk. It must have been before her brother had disappeared from Earth.

"Thiemo!" she cried suddenly, straightening up in the bushes, her sitting position just enough for her head to protrude from them. Once again, she looked around for her brother.

The houses had disappeared, and as far as she could see in the shallow moonlight, there were nothing but fields. She must have left the edge of the city and was now somewhere in the middle of nowhere, in the foothills of the Empire. It brought her thoughts to home, to her grandparents who no doubt wondered where their grandchildren were.

Danielle, using some of the bushes, lurched back to her feet and took a step cautiously. The city had to be somewhere. As she looked at the stars, she thought of her family. Her mother had to be sick with concern. First Thiemo and now herself. Perhaps there had been a special broadcast about them. Their actions had certainly warranted it. They had turned a hotel in New York into a ruin, and didn’t Amaryllis tell her that Thiemo had entered a military base with someone? Yes, she could imagine what the media had had to say.

The world lurched abruptly as Danielle stumbled against something. It was large and in the way in the middle of the field. "Hey, you stupid rock! Watch where you’re going," she muttered, leaning against it.

"Excuse me," replied the rock, stirring a little. His voice was deep and rough, which she thought perfectly suited a rock. A little farther down the rock, two large eyes moved and focused on her. That was also the moment when her eyes slowly got used to the darkness without the streetlights, and slowly Danielle began to believe that this was not a rock. Her hand slid over the spot again on the mass where she supported herself. It was a smooth and hard, but only on the way downwards. As her hand went up again, she felt the bumps. Scales.

"While you’re at it," the deep voice rumbled again, "a little higher and further to the left, please." She nodded and, as the rock had asked so nicely, did as requested. There was something wedged between two of the scales. A large gem, she discovered. She pulled it out and examined the gem, which was almost as large as her head. Danielle flinched as two gargantuan claws closed in around the gem. A large mouth opened and a chuckle was heard. "I was wondering where that went."

"You didn’t know it was there?" Danielle asked, puzzled. "Why did you ask me to check there, then?"

"It was itching," replied the rock. "Plus my claws are too big to get between my scales." The clouds released their hold of the moon, and finally the young woman realized what she had been conversing with: a dragon, a huge violet dragon. He lay in the middle of the field of bushes, his long neck stretched back towards his haunches where she supported herself. "Good evening," he greeted with a broad grin that displayed a mouthful of sharp teeth when he noticed her expression.

For a moment, both looked at each other and no one spoke. The young woman's thoughts whirled frantically under the haze of alcohol. Of course there were dragons here, she remembered. However, she had imagined them differently, rather like scaly teenagers stuck in an emo phase, or so Mothma had portrayed them. This was more of a classic dragon, however: large, four legs, broad wings, and flashing white teeth. The violet scales, the green belly, and scales reminded her of something.

"Spike?" she asked cautiously.

The dragon's massive head slowly moved up and down. "Did Rarity tell you about me?”

"No... Um... But... Kind of?" Having a dragon in front of you had an incredible effect on her mind. It was as if she had only had three cups of mead too many, instead of ten or eleven. "You know who I am?"

Spike grinned. It was eerie when a creature with so many sharp teeth grinned. "Naturally. Even if Rarity may not have told you about me, she told me about you. Even if that wasn’t true, your smell would have betrayed you. "

"My smell?" Danielle did not want to smell herself. She had spent the last few hours sitting in a pub, which was also a brothel, steadily getting drunk with her brother and later celebrating with the other visitors. She did so anyway. She had treated filthy dogs that smelled better.

"You and your brother, you both have a similar smell. And I'm not talking about the mead that you spilled on your clothes. I'm talking about sweat. All beings have an odour. I heard and smelled you long before I saw you. I smell at least three stallions with whom you danced, along with five mares. I know that you used lilac soap in the bathroom and I know what you had for lunch. I smell Lyra.”

Danielle did not know what to answer. "And... huh. What are you doing out here?"

"I’m keeping watch." She couldn’t stand any longer and Danielle sank down to Spike's calf. The ground was different, she immediately noticed, as her hands brushed against it. It was hard. Spike had been lying here quite a while, it seemed.

"Why?" escaped from Danielle’s mouth, so quietly that she initially believed the dragon had not heard her.

"Because I promised." Spike turned away and his eyes wandered out into the night. "Because I broke a promise."

"The attack," she muttered. Spike nodded.

"I wasn’t here. I should've been here. I let Twilight down. I left Cadance in the lurch. A stallion I called brother paid the price. I should have been here."

"Where were you?"

"In my cave, with Ruby." Danielle had no idea who that was, but she didn’t want to interrupt Spike. "She laid an egg. Our egg. I had promised to watch over the Empire. But I could not... " Tears as large as fists fell to the ground.

"You know..." Danielle began. It was a fleeting thought, a sneaky thought. "Maybe they just waited for that; maybe one of them was watching your cave. It can’t be a coincidence." They both knew it was a lie.

"I would have smelled them," Spike said, staring further into the darkness. Danielle, in the meantime, looked up into the sky. The moon was bright and she followed its slow movement with her eyes as the minutes elapsed. However, the moon did not seem to be the only thing to move. At least the distance of the moon to the stars around it did not seem to change. Somewhere she had read about the phenomenon once, but she did not know where.

Thiemo reclined on the large white sofa. His head leaned against the armrest while his feet rested on his sister's lap. Held in her hands was a book, investigations for their plan. The book in her hands bore the great title: "A Diamond Among Many." It was about a diamond thief who had fallen in love with a mare of the guard, the two having gotten to know each other as he peeked out the building. The mare ended up discovering who he was and also his plan to steal the diamonds from the museum that she guarded. He implemented his plan, broke into the museum in an adventurous way, only to take the mare with him instead of the diamond.

There were hundreds of books of a similar nature from Rarity's bookcase in her bedroom. Thiemo knew that thanks to boredom during his recovery. He had thus given the book to his sister. He, on the other hand, held "Daring Do and the Jade Dragon" in his hands. A mafia boss had stolen an ancient relic from a Kirin emperor and the latter asked the heroic mare to bring it back. She broke into a corrupt Mafia bank, which happened to be built over an ancient temple of the diamond dogs.

He had read better and worse. The main point was that he had chosen these books for another reason. Both were concerned with theft or burglaries. Thiemo did not expect them to learn about mastering the art of breaking and entering, but rather how ponies behaved as hostages. Or at least as pony authors thought ponies would behave. They had started right after breakfast, which had become lunch after the previous evening, and they were now about halfway through. Not that he was really reading, more skimming through the pages.

The sound of the opening door made Thiemo look away from the book, and he saw Rarity as she came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her mane. "Ah, that's what I needed," she said into the room, "especially after last night when a dragon at my window tore me away from my beauty sleep." That last remark was clearly aimed at Danielle. Spike had delivered the peacefully sleeping Danielle directly to Rarity after she had fallen asleep at his side yesterday. Thiemo had naturally asked for details, but his sister was silent on the subject. "Really, darling, was this necessary?"

"Sorry, Rarity!" Danielle called to her and set the book aside. Without another word, she pushed Thiemo's feet from her lap and went to the kitchen. "Shall I make you some tea?"

"Would you be so kind?" the mare responded as she came down the stairs. "Two spoons of sugar, no milk or honey." Danielle nodded and put a kettle of water on the stove.

Thiemo took the opportunity and turned to the unicorn. "Rarity? I wanted to thank you again... for everything, I mean. You didn’t have to take care of me or Danielle." Rarity squinted for a moment, then she smiled.

"Nonsense, darling. I might not have needed to do it, but I wanted to. I knew what I was getting into.” No, she didn’t. Her reactions, such as when she first bathed him with a sponge in his bed while he was awake, was clearly burnt in his memory. Or that time when he had vomited during dinnertime because of the sudden pain. Directly on her hooves. No, he was certain she had never been prepared for that to ever happen in her entire life.

He, too, laid his book aside and slung his arms around Rarity's neck. "Thank you, Rarity." The mare reciprocated the gesture. “I know we didn’t get along very well when we first met. Still, you've done a lot for me and if I can repay you somehow...”

"You two have already given me something." She broke from the hug and carefully touched Thiemo's cheek. "I always thought foals were nothing but work. They’re messy, they keep you from work, and they ruin your figure as well!” She paused briefly, clearing her throat after her voice broke. "Well, after Sweetie Belle and now you two, only my figure remains. You showed me that, despite my concerns, I have the strength to become a mother one day, and I have you to thank for that. "

"Hey, if you want me to puke on you again, you just have to say the word." Rarity's eyes widened and she gave Thiemo a light thump against the shoulder.

"Don’t you dare! Do you know how long I had to wash my hooves to get rid of the smell?" Danielle chuckled in the kitchen. "Really..."

Another door opened. "Dad!" Auralia shouted as she entered the apartment and practically flew into Thiemo's arms.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted the filly, cuddling her. "How was the day in the city?" He saw Applejack close the door to the apartment over Aura's head. "I hope you didn’t spend all your pocket money on sweets."

"Not everything," Applejack answered. "But almost." The foal grinned only when Thiemo rolled her eyes and patted her mane.

"I bought gummy worms, and frogs, and cherries, and apple rings. Blegh." Aura twisted her face as she remembered the taste. "They were so sour, but delicious." Thiemo asked himself if an Apple could even not like any apple dish.

"Well, that's nice to hear, dear, but you should brush your teeth immediately," Rarity explained, giving her a little push. "Otherwise your teeth will be covered with so much sugar."

The foal hopped from Thiemo's arms. "Okay!" She disappeared up the stairs to the bathroom. "I had to go anyway," the others heard her say before the door clicked close.

Applejack, visibly tired, dropped into the chair opposite Thiemo and took a deep breath. "I thought her wild energetic time was over?" Thiemo asked, visibly amused.

"Yeah, well, seems not." The earth pony took her hat and placed it on the table. "Maybe the sugar is to blame."

"Sugar," Danielle echoed as she spooned it into the cup in front of her, "doesn’t really have anything to do with it. It’s the circumstances. Most of the time sugar is involved, there’s an event. That’s what gets kids excited. All it really does is eat away at your teeth and add to your figure.”

"Huh, never thought of that." Applejack scratched her head. "Sounds logical." Danielle took the tray with the cups and placed it on the living room table next to the stetson. "Thanks, I needed that."

Rarity sat next to Thiemo, while Danielle sat next to Applejack. "Before I forget, when is your train leaving?" Thiemo had been in contact with Applejack for a while. The school term had already begun a few weeks ago, and it was time for Auralia to return to Ponyville.

"Tonight. We should be in Ponyville tomorrow morning." Thiemo was relieved. Auralia would not be there to see her father once again thrown in jail. And if the news reached Ponyville, he would long be out of her reach. This would not end like the first trip to the Empire.

The foal had been easy to put off. A promise that she could visit him again in winter was all it took. He did not like to lie, but it was just too dangerous. No matter how strong Auralia was, at the end of the day, she was a foal. He could not take her to Ti, and the Empire wasn’t safe either right now. Even if he did not like Celestia, Thiemo knew Cadance had been right at one thing. She paid attention to her family and nowhere was a pony safer than near her. And maybe, when everything went smoothly, he even might be back here in the winter. Wishful thinking was such a wonderful thing.

"I'll take you to the station tonight," he assured Applejack, searching for his own cup. But there was none. "Hey..."

"Anyone whose feet smells like that can make their own." Danielle grinned and stuck out her tongue. "We’ll be able to take a breath while you're in the kitchen." Thiemo grumbled but finally got up and put a fresh kettle on the stove. He let the gas hiss and lit it with the knob next to the regulator.

As he looked up from the stove, he glanced over to the living area where Danielle was talking to Rarity and Applejack. They talked, chuckled, and drank tea. He needed a more masculine environment, Thiemo decided at that moment. His gaze wandered to the clock in the kitchen, seeing it was not too late yet. Without saying a word, he grabbed his cloak and headed for the teleporter in the hallway.

Thiemo first knocked at the front door, then tried the one at the smithy, but no one opened it. What surprised him was that the door wasn’t even locked. He pulled it open and poked his head inside. "Hello? Leo? Anvil? Grape?"

The smithy itself was almost completely dark. Only the fire in the oven gave some light. It still smelled of metal, and steam was in the air. Anvil or Leonidas had worked on something this morning, it seemed. Thiemo came in and closed the door behind him before he went to the house. He called for the inhabitants, but again received no answer.

He went down the hall with a few quick steps and looked into the living room. Even here seemed empty, but then he saw something in the garden. Outside in a deck chair, Leonidas lay in the sun. His eyes were closed and a talon was draped comfortably over his stomach. For a moment, Thiemo thought again, but finally he opened the terrace door and went into the garden.

Leonidas looked up as he heard the door. "Thiemo?" he asked in astonishment. "What are you doing, my boy?"

"I needed someone to talk to who has eggs between their legs." Leonidas grinned and shook his head.

"If you want to talk, go to the fridge. Grape left some fresh lemonade." He just nodded and returned a minute later with two glasses in his hands. Leonidas took one from him as he sat down beside the deck chair in the grass. "Thank you. So, what can I do for you, boy?" Thiemo might never have had a real father, but Leonidas was damn close.

Author's Notes:

Thiemo, never having a male role model, is liking the old Leonidas a lot. At this point I have to say I named this character after my own father, who died a year ago. When I created him, he was only ill and we thought he would get better.

Special thanks to JBL for translating & editing.