The captain of the honor guard was dumbfounded. He'd heard rumors about the magic show the Princess had attended, and how it had ended in disaster, but to hear from Luna herself that she'd caused that disaster… And she was going to work for the showmare for the next few days? Throwing protocol to the wind - after all, those two new recruits were getting away with being casual – he decided to voice his objections. "Princess Luna, you simply can't do this," he said.

The dark purple alicorn gave him a measured, unamused look. "Why ever not?" she asked icily, "The poor mare is recovering from a magical blow to the head that has temporarily crippled her ability, and I am responsible."

"But," the captain stammered, "Couldn't you just… give her some money to cover for the nights she'll have to miss? We should have been in Fillydelphia by now."

"There will be other opportunities to visit Fillydelphia," Luna said, "I am obligated to relieve any suffering I may have caused to the best of my ability. Besides, the idea of running a magic show sounds like fun, and this is my vacation, right?"

"Y-yes you highness," the captain said, shrinking slightly under Luna's gaze.

"Good, I'm glad you understand" Luna said sweetly. She turned to leave, but the captain built up his courage for one last question.

"And just what do you expect me to do with myself?" he asked.

"I hear that many of the productions in the theater district are quite good," Luna said, "And you may attend my performance tonight, if you wish. Of course, that's assuming I'll be prepared for it. Good-bye." After the Princess left the suite, the captain threw his helmet to the ground and flopped down next to it, rubbing his eyes with a groan. He was never going to volunteer for the night shift after this; Celestia had never given him a head-ache.

"Have you considered just sending the rest of the guards home?" Gold Heart asked as she and Soul Mage walked with Luna.

"Briefly," Luna said, "But then I realized at least one of them would tell Celestia what I'm up to and I'd miss out on seeing her reaction." She smiled mischeviously.

"You don't think she'd approve?" Soul asked.

"Oh, she'd probably enjoy hearing about it," Luna said, "but she'll be quite surprised at first. I haven't been this spontaneous since I was released."

"By the way," Heart asked, "How are you going to help Trixie out without revealing your presence?"

"Good question," Luna said with a thoughtful look, "She'll most likely have an idea. This is her area of expertise after all." Heart nodded and the three ponies continued their walk in relative silence. They arrived at the theater district and walked into the alley behind the Silver Halter. Luna reached out and rapped on the back door three times. The door opened a moment later and Trixie stuck her head out.

"Well timed," she said, "Trixie is pleased with your punctuality. Come in, we have a lot of ground to cover. She moved aside as Luna walked in, and then moved to block Heart and Soul from following. "You two are not part of the show," she said, "Be off with you."

"We're her guards," Soul said, annoyed, "Where she goes, we go."

"You will only get in the way," Trixie said, staring down her nose at the upset unicorn, "But Trixie is not a petty pony. She will make sure you have free tickets to each show that includes the Princess." She slammed the door before Soul could respond.

"I don't like her anymore," Soul muttered. He extended his magic to try and force the door open, but stopped when Heart nudged him in the side.

"If Luna wants us to go in with her," she said, "she'll make Trixie let us in. Be patient." Soul snorted and pulled his magic tendril back into his horn. The two ponies waited for several minutes, but the door remained closed. "I guess not," Heart said, "Looks like we're on our own for the day."

"Pardon the Ash-ism," Soul said, "but, skvetch."

It took all of Ashen Blaze's willpower not to let any expletives escape his mouth. Princess Celestia was in a bad enough mood as it was, and venting his frustration in any manner would only make things worse. He and Gale had arranged a private audience with the Princess in her study to argue their case for scanning her with PC. Ash had given up early on and let Gale handle the discussion, but even now Celestia refused to budge. "It does not matter how long it served you without releasing the Z'nai," she said, "The fact that it did so once, and that those creatures proved capable of taking over my will, makes it far too risky to trust it not to do so again. This audience is over." She turned away and walked out of the room before Gale could form a protest.

"Sorry Ash," the earth pony said, "At least we tried."

"She's making a judgment based on fear," Ash muttered darkly, "What's worse is that there's a bit of rationality to that fear. I'd just need twenty seconds…"

"Just forget about it Ash," Gale said, "We'll find the answer some other way. It'll take a lot longer, but I'm sure it's there." Ash looked at her for a second, and then sighed.

"Fine," he said, "Let's get back to work then."

The ponies and Spike had been through nearly all of the books and were starting to get into the ancient scrolls stored in a back room of the library and only loaned out for brief periods under close scrutiny. Ash spent a few minutes reading, but then seemed to grow bored and went to stand by a bookshelf, idly scratching at the ground as he thought. Rarity, who was having a difficult time staying focused herself, went over to keep him company. "Is everything all right?" she asked.

"Things could be better," the grey unicorn muttered distractedly. He looked up as a thought occurred to him. "Twilight," he said, "This library doesn't have every book ever written, does it?"

"No," Twilight said, "But if the answer isn't in any of the astronomy or history books here, I doubt any other, less comprehensive books will."

"I was thinking more of fiction," Ash said, "Gale made a good point yesterday; it's ridiculous to think that there hasn't been a single pony who felt the urge to put pen to paper who thought about what would happen if the stars wouldn't line up right. I think I'll go peruse one of the other libraries around here; maybe they'll have the right story."

"Good idea," Gale said, "But you're not going alone. I can still see that defiant glint in your eye Ashen Blaze. You're up to something and you shouldn't be left alone to pull whatever stunt you're planning." Ash gave Gale a hard look but didn't deny her accusation.

"I'll go with you Ash," Rarity said, "I'd much rather spend my time reading a good story than these dusty old scrolls. No offense Twilight."

"No, I'll go with him," Spike said, "I know this city inside and out, so I can get us there in no time."

"Thank you Spike," Ash said with a knowing smile. The baby dragon gave Ash a measured look in return as he walked over and jumped onto his back.

"Plus," he said as Ash adjusted to the added weight, "from up here I can make sure you don't run off." Ash cast an unreadable glance over his shoulder and then walked out of the library.

Soul's mood remained bad as he and Heart wandered the streets of Manehatten. Their first stop had been to buy a map of the city to prevent them from getting lost as they sought out famous landmarks and places of recreation. Heart had tried to talk her brother into visiting the history museum, but Soul rejected the idea, saying that getting to work in close proximity to the God-princesses was enough historical exposure for him. At the moment they were wandering around downtown, munching on roasted carrots slathered in mustard and wrapped in sesame seed buns as they window-shopped. "How'd they come up with this?" Soul wondered, looking at his food, "It can't possibly be a substitute for hot dogs, but it might as well be. It's uncanny." He blinked and looked up when Heart didn't respond and spotted her standing behind him at a newsstand. "What'cha find?" he asked.

"Hold on a sec," she said, picking up a newspaper and dropping some bits on the counter. "Keep the change," she said to the pony minding the stand. She tucked the paper under a wing and walked over to Soul. "Hold this up for me please," she said, passing the paper to her brother. Soul wrapped his magic around it and unfolded it so he and Heart could see the front page.

"What am I looking… oh," Soul said as his eyes fell upon a small headline in a column to the left of the main article. "Misplaced Stars- Royal Prank or Terrible Omen," he read, "That's not a good title." He fell silent as he and Heart read the article, which continued on the fourth page.

"Wow," Soul said, deadpan, "The Z'nai have become an urban legend. Guess we can add 'created the next Bigfoot' to our list of accomplishments."

"Goof," Heart said, smirking as she gave Soul a cuff with her wing, "This could be serious. If the stars don't get fixed soon, there's going to be a panic."

"What can we do about it?" Soul asked, "Luna's made it pretty clear she's not going to do a thing about the night until her vacation's over, and she's got three days after today. Plus, if Trixie's not ready to go on by herself again by then, she might put off fixing things until she gets back to Canterlot."

"We'll show her this,' Heart said, grabbing the paper and folding it up, "Maybe if she realizes what the average pony's thinking, she'll act."

"It's a long shot," Soul said, "But, I guess it's worth a try. We'll tell her after tonight's show."

"Hey Spike, could you do me favor and grab that book down there? The one with the blue dust jacket."

Spike looked at the book in question, and then down at Ash with a distrustful look. The grey unicorn was focusing on properly replacing the books he'd just finished looking over. "Not without getting off your back," Spike said.

"Oh come on," Ash said, "I promise I'll stay put."

"I don't think I can trust you," Spike said.

"This isn't about Rarity is it?" Ash replied, "I already told you, I don't have any intentions of getting involved with her."

"No," the dragon said, "This is because Gale thinks you're up to something, and if your own friend can't trust you, why should I?"

"Because I always keep my word," Ash said, settling the last book into place. His horn didn't stop glowing though, and Spike suddenly felt himself being lifted off the unicorn's back. "The thing is," Ash said nonchalantly, "I never promised anypony, or any dragon, that I'd go right back to the royal library when I was done here. Thank you so much for volunteering to come with me Spike; this would be harder for me if I'd had to do it to Rarity." Spike tried to open his mouth to call for help, but the force of Ash's magic forced it closed and then spread out until the baby dragon was completely immobilized. Ash levitated him up and placed him on top of the bookcase, just barely out of sight. "Don't worry," he said, "That spell will wear off in about twelve to fourteen hours. I should have completed my mission by that time. Ta-ta, Spike!" He trotted out of the library with a smug look on his face, headed for his next destination: Gale's apartment.