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Dawning Transcendence

by Repentance

Chapters

Preface

Tomorrow is the tears of today.

You are created so that we may be understood. You are the one who has the potential and the one who has been bestowed with the ability. We have awaited your arrival for we are incomplete. We need you; however, you do not need us. We have thrived for centuries, toiling to do so little, while you have done so much in a time which is of no value. Together we are complete, yet only divided will you succeed with what you otherwise would seek, for what you are is what we cannot proclaim. You are to be neither manifested nor slain, as the same had once applied to us. We have no vitality or mortality, for what we are is not one that we ourselves can understand. Something greater than us is what we crave and it is this addiction that shall serve as our remorse. Nothing is certain, Nothing is true, Nothing is Void, Nothing can be acquired for Nothing is innate, and it is Nothing that has led to you.

Awake! Your destiny waits!

And do not burden, they will never forget who you have yet to become.

You are inspiration.

Chapter One (Origin of a colt)

Sapphire Convection, located roughly in the center of the Obiltà District, has been in the Angelo family since the fabrication of the city of Canterdash, six and a quarter centuries ago, and is currently under the command of Ardore and Geleta Angelo. Over the Years the establishment had become one of the most renowned locations in the entire empire through Sapphire Convection's vast plethora of absolutely pulchritudinous manifestations in art, fashion, and musical composition; however, because of the delicacy of the creations Sapphire Convection was never a franchise of mass product. The creations that Ardore and Geleta were able to Conjure with their magic was always marvelous in design and citizens across all of the Serenitan Empire commonly valued the works as invaluable jewels of art fit for those of royalty, aristocracy, and essentially figures of legends.

Every year, for the last thirteen years, Sapphire Convection has been responsible for supplying the majestic displays of the annual Gala of Three Spheres celebrating the rise of the empire after the three tribes that had once roamed this land in open conflict embraced the power of understanding and friendship in order to nullify their differences; thus encouraging and sparking the prosperous alliance of Serenita. In an effort to succeed Ardore and Geleta operate industriously for the week preceding the Gala, calling upon the assistance of the entire Angelo Family. I would always marvel how the family was able to accomplish such a task because even after I was old enough to assist there was only six of us. I remember having to give my all that first year too as a young colt when I initially partook in preparing for the festivities. My father allowed me to assist alongside him as we evaluated tablecloths, curtains, and even Tuxedos to ensure they were up to Angelo quality standards. All the creations always were; my father's abilities in design alongside my mother's craft of the needle was legendary and that first year I spent more time awing than actually assisting. My father, however, never fretted over my partial fixations and that year was the first time I ever remember of my father smiling preceding the year’s Gala as aqueous pride transcended his cheeks.

Born the second descendant of Ardore I was not the one of glorification that my sister, Cristalla, had relished just shy of a decade beforehand. My sister had been bestowed with a natural gift in cloth that pleased my mother alongside a voice that my father cherished; however, I was not one to be undertaken in jealousy towards Cristalla because in my studies as an early colt I honesty could not recall a young mare that was as reformed, welcoming, authentic, and stimulating as my sister. Cristalla was not always the best source for support, yet I never doubted her comfort because she always found a way to be there for me, even when it was to her own disadvantage. Geleta, my mother, was always available to communicate as well if I ever felt troubled; however, discussing things with Cristalla was different than ranting to my mother, she was someone that I found early trust in and she was my very first true friend.

Besides for my sister though, my early life revolved primarily around a quest for knowledge that appeared to be inconclusive and featured such rigorous determination that my father most faithfully adored. When I was born my mother refused to allow herself or Ardore to name me proclaiming that neither of them had a suitable name for me at the time and as a family of elegance my parents did not want to be impulsive. My father thus acting in the manners of grace that are signature of his personality determined that I would find my own name and until then I would be referred to by my relation.  Learning to read at the marvelous age of one I had completely emptied our family library of its contents by the age of four and had become a self-appointed tutor to my sister on every manner that she could have inquired about in the arts of creativity, dance, attire, melody, and pose. I liked to believe that I gave a major contribution to Cristalla’s abilities in fashioning attire as she rivaled our father in her creations; however, Cristalla’s aptitudes were simply natural talents and save for a few lessons in how to embroider specific jewels so that they would optimally reflect lights in the most breath-taking fashions, I was essentially useless. At the age of six, however, as the Gala approached my life after that point was anything but what one could coin useless.

On the third day preceding the Gala, a royal ambassador from the Citadel was sent to Sapphire Convection to ensure the preparations for the one-thousandth celebration of the Gala proceeding the Great Ancasian War where the acrimonious Ancasian King, King Sypherous, seeking to repave all of Serentia in his name invaded the empire and using dark magic ordained in devastation and despair transformed our country side into a subjugated army directed towards releasing chaos throughout the empire in order to undermine the core of our defenses into a structure of vulnerability. Serentia condensed to only the royal Citadel laid in jeopardy within two weeks and our great state was on the verge of collapse when Lord Armonia stood steadfast as the incriminating Sypherous and his militia primed to take the last verge of our realm. Armonia manifesting the final collective strength of the kingdom deployed the only thing he knew that would prevail to repeal Sypherous and return Serentia back to its former state of Harmony. Legend states that six orbs were created from the act; however, no one has even seen or heard of these obs in reality.

While my father labored to demonstrate the family's extra special efforts that year that we all toiled to complete providing more than notable attention to detail, I attempted to provide Cristalla and my mother with company which quickly escalated into me attempting to flee for my life as I was transformed into a living mannequin because my mother failed to find one the correct size for the order she was fulfilling. After the first year aiding the family in the preparations I had the magical ability to somehow end up at the wrong end of the needle consistently and that year, probably better than any other year, had qualified that statement in too many ways than was rational or desirable. After two hours of being forced into being a crystallized figurine my father arrived finally to my salvation to inquire for my "assistance" in readying a transport to the Citadel, which at the moment I found questionable; however, based on the recent occurrences I did not question my father motives.

My father requested that I check the contents that were being prepared to be escorted to the Citadel, while he and the ambassador were transporting paintings that my father had completed commemorating the War, along with some special napkins, towels, tablecloths, banners, and the decorative ribbons and streamers that we had been working so hard on the last five days, into the loading dock. The Citadel because of the importance of the event had requested that the basic background decorations be placed early so that more focus could be dedicated to the preparations of the Gala itself and make the day before the Gala less chaotic as the millions of "final preparations" conduct underway. I still have that quill that my father handed me in order to mark off the list; it was gold tipped and resembled royal-quality craftsmanship. My father, however, failed to inform me, probably because he was not aware, that the pen was of runic design and required the use of magic to function. Even though I belong to a family of Unicorns, I am the only one in the family who has not figured out the limitation or purpose of their magic yet and while I could have easily fretted on my lack of purpose at the time, I failed to find any reason to complain. I had the ability to conduct in pretty much any spell I researched in my books through recital and after a few moments toying with the quill I found a simple levitation spell effective in activating its potential. Upon finishing the inventory my father was amazed to discover my method to scribing. My father was able to complete a simple levitation spell; however, it took him until the age of fifteen to perfect and I never really ever found a reason to ever use magic so this was the first time I recall him ever seeing me use magic besides for reading.

While my father was still stuck in a state of a mixture of pride and amazement, I attempted to retire inside the workshop; however, that motive was short-lived as my father requested that I accompany him and the ambassador back to the Citadel. The inquiry of my father was as well short-lived as I almost pushed my father to the ground jumping gleefully into the front of chariot after grabbing a small backpack. The ambassador was amused by my performance and grimaced at my father's delayed sense of surprise. I slide the quill inside my left-side pocket, which the ambassador took note inquiring if I found the quill insisting with the same grimace. Turns out the quill was originally his; however, when I attempted to return the quill he refused to accept it declaring that the quill was not designed for his use and that I will find more use in it. Upon my father acceding the chariot, the ambassador motioned to the Pegasi and aiming skyward we approached towards the Citadel.

Pegasi were responsible for the weather and there were more than enough in Canterdash; however, this was the first time I had every really paid attention to their abilities to soar throughout the skies so freely and more importantly these were Royal Pegasus Guards from the Citadel. The Pegasus wing is truly an art of beauty when you analyze its rich curves, brilliant structure, luscious feathers, and the absolutely stunning quality the wing presents flowing with such grace from the body to the wingtip in an ever so continuous flow. Even though I had researched the stories for all three of the tribe types found in Serentia it never occurred to me how elegant in design each of the different ponies are. The Unicorn breed are the wielders of the sacred power of magic; however, at that moment I could not help but wonder how it would of felt to been born Pegasus with the liberty to conquer the skies and celebrate such rebirth in freedom. Over the horizon I saw the Citadel approaching.

"Hey dad"

"What is it son?"

"What is the Citadel like?"

"Well I fell like that would be a better question for Mr. Legatus here" replied my father smiling.

"The Citadel? Well I do not know how to explain it really" Mr. Legatus proclaimed letting out a smirk. "All I can really tell you is that it is a world all by itself. You will like it there. You seem like one of those young lads that enjoys the crystal finish of the Palace along with the majesty of the wide-spanning streets and lively-hood of the squares"

"You must really like it their Sir Legatus"

"Please Legatus is fine you two. And yes in all my travels as an ambassador the Citadel is one of my favorite places in all of Serentia, if not the world. Your family's workshop is as beautiful as well; it has been a long time since I have seen so many breath-taking creations outside of a royal court."

"Well thank you" my father interjected. "The Angelo family takes great pride in our works and if it was not for this guy right here I do not believe any of us would keep our sanity." My father reached over an poked me in the check.

"Hey!"

"Ha-ha. It has been a long time since I have seen my father kid and you are lucky to have such a caring father." Legatus' grimace intensified.

"Why? Was you father unlike Ardore here?"

"Well my dad is no Ardore," declared Legatus. my father chuckled. "Yet I would not call my dad uncaring; my father was a very hard-working stallion and he strived to ensure that I enjoyed my foal-hood. We went camping together, hiking through the mountains, once we even took a balloon ride together, it was my first time ever being airborne"

"Was he an ambassador like yourself Legarus?" my father inquired.

"No, growing up we were simple ground ponies. My father managed a peach orchard and my mother could engineer those sweet orbs into any contraption you could ever imagine. I spent fifteenth years of my life consuming peaches and I never really remember getting tired of them."

"How did you ever get that then?" I inquired pointing to his cutie mark that resembled a quill.

"I was always a natural in public speaking and when I was nine I was selling peaches in town one day when this thing appeared. We were making a killing that day with how well sales were going, my mother contributed to my way with words; however, I did not see how anyone could resist my family's sweet and tender peaches. Anyways, when I was fifteen Lord Armonia visited our town, I remember my family was put in charge of the refreshments for the welcoming party the town had planned. At the party I had seen so many faces that I was not used to seeing a opened up in conversation with so many people that I failed to realize that about an hour in I had in engaged in conversation with Lord Armonia. I sold the town so well to him that he invited me to serve as an ambassador after noting my cutie mark, and that is how I got to where I am now."

"That is amazing" I stated with my eyes swelled to the proportions of an owl.

"You never know, your destiny could be anything that you could have ever imagined." I smiled. "Look we are landing, prepare yourself and welcome to the Grand Citadel!"

"You are a bit early Legarus"

"LORD ARMONIA! I am sorry for our early arrival, this young lad here sped Ardore and I's work by quite a bit"

"No problem Legarus! I am glad for your haste presence. Can you please bring all these wonderful decorations to the Hall so we can begin in the preparations" Armonia then turned to me and a sliver of a grimace escaped his portfolio. "Hello there my boy it has been a while since I last saw you" Armonia proclaimed in glee before turning around and retreating towards the center of the Citadel where the palace laid.

"What does he mean it has been a while?" I inquired.

"No clue" my father admitted. Legarus shrugged.

"Anyway no need in just standing around let us get started. I did not bring you two here so we could just lollygag" Legarus reputed while escorting us to the palace. I could not but help feeling a sense of uneasiness now by Legarus after we saw the prince, almost if Legarus had no intention of me ever seeing Lord Armonia in the first place. "Hey, do you still have that quill that you put into your backpack?"

"Huh? Yea I believe so?" I reached into my left pocket to make sure. "yes sir. Why?"

"Was just wondering." And with that we emerged into the palace. Dozens of citizens of the Citadel from all three of the tribes swarmed around the Banquet Hall carrying our decorations to and fro in a mad frenzy; however, that was the least of my attention. Across the main hallway and two doors down stood two of the largest doors that I had even seen in my life span. The doors were slightly cracked open a tad and what I witnessed inside I could not hit from in delight. Books and not just a stack of books; there was a towering bookshelf full of cardboard depicting a rainbow of colors. Behind those doors laid the Royal Library.

"You coming son?" My dad was already inside the banquet hall and was a puzzled to see my hesitation. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh its nothing dad, I am coming" I transitioned my view and walked inside. The hall was inspirational; despite our recent arrival, all the banners had been hung in their places and a team of a dozen unicorns to my left we busy placing streamers across the ceiling's vast span. The alternating display of bright and dark shades depicted in the streamers contrasting with the intensity of the white ceiling was riveting, proving that even the quality of Angelo product could be bettered in rich presentation. "It’s... it’s..."

"Stunning right?" My dad proclaimed "The Gala is always a wonderful event when it comes to style. I never have taken you because honestly colts your age really would not find much pleasure in it. The Gala is nice and all; however, a lot of the celebrators that come to these events are not the most fun-loving people around."

"You could say that twice" Legarus was attempting to straighten out a tablecloth when he looked up. "I have not missed one in years and I have never seen anyone ever break down and really bust a move."

"Bust a move?" My dad's eyes stabbed Legarus before completely losing their mock-serious tone. "Why don't you see if you could provide some assistance to anyone who could use it son while we discuss something with Lord Armonia." The two of them turned towards a second exit from the Hall and preceding on their way.

With the two of them out of sight I darted out from the Hall as well, dodging watchful eyes, towards the massive doors I witnessed earlier. This time, however, the doors had been closed and when I tried to push the doors open they would not budge. "Hmm?" Getting an idea I stepped back and starred at the doors, while focusing all my attention on the lock. I closed my eyes and imagined the lock disengaging. After roughly two seconds I heard a ping and rushed in excitement to the doors to discover that someone had dropped a copper pin in the Banquet Hall and it had echoed. "well phewy!" I put down my backpack to see if I could find anything that might help me figure out how a way to get inside and after a minute a fruitless searching I retired. I placed everything back into my backpack and prepared to return to the Hall when I noticed I almost left the quill. Mildly annoyed I did not fell like trotting over to pick it up and attempted to use levitation to retrieve the quill. The quill ascend upwards, when the gold lining of the feathers began to tremble and a light radiated from the quill tip into the lock hole; the lock disengaged and the door swayed back an inch, while I was lost in confusion.

"What just happened!?" I reconfigured myself and dashed inside before whatever weirdness that just caused that wore off. The library was, well I should just saw indescribable because their literally no way I could have put it. Selves loaded to their bearings extended two stories skywards and rows upon rows transcended the whole room on every subject I could conceive: history, magic arts, instruction manuals, mathematics, physical sciences, flight charts, fiction, and so many more categories, each with at least seven or eight rows a piece. I embraced every aisle as I moved up and down them; however, on the fifth row of fiction I discovered a novel that must of fell from a surrounding shelf, yet I could not discover its proper place nor did I think I could of reached it if I did find it. I dusted of the cover and proceeded to on in my investigation of the library in my extended state of amazement now picking books off selves here and there making sure to be extremely careful to note their original locations. The fiction section had to of ran for miles because working backwards I only had made it to the n's when my eyes began to tire from all the constant hunting and I committed myself to finding a location to settle.

Lying center of the fiction section I found an opening that consisted of a small table and two chairs constructed out of the finest stain. My backpack was straining from its newly acquired temporary contents and I was barely able to withstand my levitation spell when I finally allowed all the literary works to stampede onto the table. One by one I began to digest the beauty of fiction writing; my father's library was limited in fiction besides for a few stories on Serentian history. One of a kind interested me about a young Pegasus' adventures growing up, while Blue Stone Aura provided a delicate anecdote about two Earth ponies that find their way to be together despite the wishes of the fathers. The Point illustrated the reward of determination after a grand adventure showed him the way to reaching his dreams, followed by Lost in shimmers, a tragedy that depicted a mighty Stallion exiling himself from his home town so that his village could live in peace after a terrible incident in a foreign empire.

"Enjoying yourself" I flailed at the sound of Lord Armonia's voice and hastily slammed my current book closed.

"I am so sorry sir. I was curious and I was this library and there were these books and I am so sorry. Please do not punish me my Lord"

"It’s fine my dear boy, I am not mad at you." he cheered as he studied my stack of novels that I had pleasured myself in reading. "I have been standing here for a little bit a while now, you are mighty fluent in reading are you not?"

"Well I guess so Sir." Armonia's smile widened.

"I see you found Veritatis, that was my favorite novel when I was younger," Armonia determined while pointing to the novel that I found reciting on the ground. "It is about a Stallion named Bladz who was extremely gifted in the art of magic."

"Bladz?"

"Yea I know it was a bit of an odd name; however, the novel was quite worth the read." Lord Armonia recovered the novel and placed it on the shelves. "So what is your name?"

"Well you see I do not have a name. My parents decided that I should discover my own name for myself."

“Ahh I see. Why that is mighty creative. Any ideas of what you think you want it to be?"

"No not really" I admitted. Armonia once again began to shine in a grin.

"I would like to point a few things out to you real quick." I turned my head so I can grant him my full attention. "That quill that you possess is my quill and as you have discovered it works of magic; however, what you probably have not realized is that I was the only one able to use it. The quill requires an enormous amount of power to operate, which means you have an awful large amount of potential."

"What!" My eyes dilated as Lord Armonia nodded his head.

"Also, this is not the royal library. This is my own personal library that generated out of pure magic, distance and space in here is a matter of your imagination. Do not be so alarmed; your ability to enter here proves to me that this is your library as well. Any pony of normal abilities who attempts to enter through the door you came through would only find a closet, you have a special gift and that quill is yours from now on. The quill will allow you to enter this library at any time through any door; and you are the only one who can use its magic."

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Am I dreaming right now?"

"I do not know you tell me my boy" I took two steps forward and touched Lord Armonia's leg.

"I do not..."

"I know. This is a lot to take in. Here take this you may find it useful." Armonia handed me a golden necklace with the most elegant Sapphire that the entire Angelo family had ever seen. "Put it on" I obeyed and placed the necklace around my throat.

"What is this for?"

"Well you are going to need a way to communicate with your new mentor. if that is okay? The necklace allows the transmitting of letters over a median of magic." I stood in shock unsure how to reply. " I will take that as a yes" Armonia smiled. "Oh and for your name how about Bladz, you have the potential to be as powerful as him?"

"Bladz Angelo"

"That is amusing." Armonia turned and a door emerged in front of our eyes. "Come. your father will be looking for you"

I grimaced at the thought of my father hunting my down and followed Lord Armonia through the door back into the palace, outside of the Hall.

Chapter Two (My faithful Student)

"Bladz...Bladz...BLADZ." A hoof nudged at my face.

"What is it Cristalla?!"

"Get up!" She demanded

"Why!" I splinted my right eye open.

"Why? Why? WHY!"

"Yes why?" I sighed.

"Today is your birthday! That is why!"

"Can my birthday wait another hour?" I readjusted my pillow over my head.

"Come on!" Suddenly my sheets began to de-thread themselves.

"Really?"

"Yes! Come on it is your seventeenth birthday. You should celebrate the end of your junior year of advanced studies."

"Just because my birthday is the day after the end of the scholastic year does not mean I should jump around like a maniac celebrating like a Mad Hatter."

"But Bladz you are becoming an upperclassman at Canterdash High, the absolutely greatest school in all of Serentia!" I began to rub my eyes from the abrupt awakening, while turning to face my sister. "Come on get up!"

"If I get up will you promise to stop badgering me?" Cristalla nodding her head in satisfaction taking on an expression of glee. "Okay I need you to turn around for a moment."

"Stop being stubborn," my sister protested, while obeying

"AMBUSH," I spun around and pounded my pillow square across her forehead.

"Why you." Why sister counter-assaulted with a plush baby dragon that she gave me last year for my fifteen birthday by impacting me forcefully in the flank. "Oh no I knocked your cutie mark off!"

"That is not funny, you know that I do not enjoy the fact that I am the only one without a cutie mark."

"You know I am messing with you dear." My sister failed in her attempts to hide her momentary victory. "Bladz you know"

"Yea, yea. I Should be blessed to not have a cutie mark yet. My cutie mark must be really special. You got your cutie mark last in your class and your cutie mark was the best in entire class, beyond what you could of imagined." I glared down at my sister's cutie mark. Cristalla was gentle pink in coat with large violet eyes, her cutie mark resembled a rich blue sapphire surrounded by a magnificent gold ring. The sapphire held a star burst effect and was probably the only cutie mark that I had ever seen that shimmered in sunlight. "You got your cutie mark when you were seven though, I was not even born then. Also I am now seventeen! I have people in my class that have little brothers and sisters with cutie marks!"

"Well maybe; however, how many of them are the number one in their class."

"I am the top of my class as you know"

"And how many of your peers have the amazingly scrumptious Lord Armonia as their mentor!" I rolled my eyes to the point that I could of probably seen brain tissue if I tired. "oh that rich golden mane and his beautiful matching eyes!"

"Cristalla you know that only the most gifted unicorns get a mentor and Lord Armonia has only ever had one mentor, me. Also his eyes are sky blue just like mine, not gold."

"Well, whatever he is still yummy" I cringed at that comment. "And that is something that makes you special. Something that makes us special. I think we are the only brother-sister combo in all of Serentia that both have had a mentor."

"Yea," I agreed. "Mom and dad are really proud to have such gifted children. If I can really classify you as a child anymore. One day you will own Sapphire Convection."

"You do not know that."

"Do not know that? Have you seen your talents as an artist and your cutie mark. My talents, What ever they are, will never compete with you, nor do I think I could handle the responsibility."

"You can never be to sure my dear," my sister cheered. "Oh my, Bladz your amulet is glowing." The center Sapphire was radiated the entire room with a bright blue aura before a yellow flame emerged from the necklace and a letter descended to the ground.

"Hmm? I wonder what Lord Armonia wants?"

My faithful student Bladz,

                Happy Birthday! Seventeen is a wonderful age to become and I am so proud of you. I just received the report from the past week in your studies and I see that once again you finished out strong and mighty. I will be visiting Canterdash next Thursday so please do not trouble yourself about the weekly letter tomorrow, I will gladly communicate with you in person. Enjoy the rest of your birthday, I know Cristalla and your parents work hard to make them special.

                                                                                   Your Mentor, Armonia.

"Armonia coming here! Oh my! oh my! oh my!" Cristalla began to rampage all over my room in insanity.

"You done?"

"What will I wear? Oh I hope I do not look too bad? Oh why me!"

"Do not worry, you will look fine." I could not help but lose it.

"This is not funny!"

"Sure it is not! Anyway he will be here four days from now, not like he is at our doorstep." The pink began to recover in Cristalla's coat. "Was there not something you were trying to celebrate today?"

"Oh I am so sorry, Bladz. Got a little carried away."

"You think?" Cristalla stared me down. "Just trying to lighten up the mood. This room is getting kind of crowded now, I will see you down stairs"

"Wait! I need to ... check to see if I left the, the shower on!" Pulling me back into my room, she charged out, closing my door, and dashed downstairs.

Your room is the opposite way Ms. Hyperactive.

Opening my door I noticed that ribbons decorated the length of the hallway and expanded down the railing of the staircase. Exiting my room I began to come into view of a variety of happenings downstairs, well actually knowing my sister a diversity of Cristalla creations. "Good morning guys!" I exclaimed. No response."ahh" I reached up to rub my eyes, while preceding down the steps.

"Suprise!" I attempted to withdraw as a typhoon of white, blue and cyan confetti challenged my existence. "how do you like the confetti cannon I engineered?" Cristalla was highly satisfied with herself.

"I would not call that as much of a confetti cannon as it is a missile silo! The colors you used are nice though, better than your usual rainbow colored confetti... that you usually throw into the air, not attempt to decapitate me with."

"Glad you enjoyed it. Using rainbow confetti does not make much sense really; you are white with  blue and cyan mane, not white with a rainbow mane."

"That might be cool looking"

"Ehh, I do not really see it fitting you too well, guess it would depend on how you wore your mane," she declared while squinting, processing the image of me with a rainbow mane.

"Where is mom and dad?" I continued to walk throughout our home looking for them.

"They went out to town to pick something up" My sister chuckled.

"Pick something up? What does Cantarsdash offer at eight in the morning that we do not have here at Sapphire Convection?"

"I do not know," Cristalla watched the ceiling and blushed a little "Something I may of asked them to pick up something for me. Want to play speed dart?"

"In what universe have I ever turned down speed dart?" I roared and almost broke through the wall towards our court. The court was not an original creation of Sapphire Convection when it was constructed; however, three and a half years when my sister became interested in the sport she requested permission to build a speed dart court in our backyard which later became a brother-sister project between us two. For two weeks after completing my studies each day we would come out here and pull trees, flatten the ground, install the boundary markers, build the rings, and paint them the standard colors.

The game in theory was easy enough; however, speed dart was a perfect example of the difference between theory and practice. Using magic, seven rings of three colors were animated and would move around the of the field freely in an predictable manner. The colors determined the size of the ring, the points it was worth, and the speed that the ring moved at. The four red rings are large, slow, and are worth one point a piece, while the two green rings are medium in both size and speed for three points a piece. The golden ring is worth five points and is tiny and highly agile. A ball fifteen inches in diameter is used and is designed to fit through any of the flying rings easily. The objective is to kick the ball through the rings and then into the player's goal to score. When the ball passes through a ring, the ring will materialize into a magic colored comet matching the ring that will continue to orbit the ball until the ball is scored, where the comet will return to ring form and continue to maneuver the field. Losing possession of the ball does not reset to comets making a ball with multiple comets valuable to steal. Any part of the body is acceptable for making contact with the ball as long as the ball is not held. First player or team to fifteen points is deemed the winner.

"Wait up! Are you not suppose to be an egghead? Why do you have to take off so fast!" Cristalla hollered while sprinting to catch up.

"What happened to the cheerful party-goer from a few moments ago?"

"Apparently the same thing that happened to the lethargic brother I had just a few moments ago. Anyway we should get started Mom and Dad will be home in about twenty to twenty-five minutes. This game will have to be quick."

"Hey you mind activating the rings?" I pulled the rings off their post and threw them into the field.

"Why do I have to activate the rings? You trying to give yourself the advantage?"

"Not at all," smirking I lifted my neck to the wind and closed my eyes so that I can focus.

"What are you..." I charged my horn and then blasted the skies with a cyan ray that translated into a blue dome around the field. "What the hay is that!?"

"Well you said this will have to be a quick game, so I used a speed dome spell to allow us to be able to play a full game. What? You did not think I sit and read novels all day when I visit the library did you?" Cristialla was frozen in awe. "The dome allows us to move five times our normal speed in all functions, even in thought processing, hence the reason why you do not feel like you have been sped up. Those twenty minutes you proclaimed just became an hour and forty minutes."

"You know I should no longer question you when it comes to the weird things you do. My brain just always locks into a state stuck between confusion and amazement."

"Why thank you but that actually took a lot of energy to conger up. You mind activating the rings and I think we can call it about even." I massaged my head from the level of the spell, it was very high in caliber and I am a little surprised that I was able to successfully complete the spell on my first attempt. doing as she was asked of, Cristalla activated the rings into frenzy, picked up the ball, smashed the ball with her leg, and the game had begun.

"Do not even think about it," Cristalla proclaimed as she managed to acquire first possession, shuffling the ball effectively between her legs until she reached a red ring and slammed the ball through lining the shot so that it passed through both a red and green ring.

"Damn, nice shot! However, you got to do better than that to be successful!" Using all of my agility I dove infront of her, sticking the landing with the ball now transporting south bound. I stuck out my tongue to be a tease as I aligned the shot for the second green ring and propelled the ball at high velocity towards Cristalla.

"Well, well. This actually will be quick. Thanks for the seven points!" As she watched the ball gunned through the last mint hoop and bounced off a red ring returning back my location.

"I know right!" Speed Dash was a game of skill, but it was more than just that. It was a game of luck, agility, and the ability to predict trajectory. I always planned my shots to benefit myself and then prayed that I did not mess up the shot or have the ring change trajectories while the ball was transporting through the air; the rule of thumb was essentially never count on the golden ring for bank shots, it will never happen without luck on your side. I retrieved the ball, realigned myself and then smashed the ball through another red ring and into my goal zone. "I believe that is eight points."

"Quiet you!" My sister rubbed her cranium from the enormous lead I took in the first few minutes of the game. "Today might be your birthday but you will still eat my dust!!"

"sure. Like to see you try," tossing the ball to her. All she did was trot over and slam the ball with an intense amount of force knocking the ball through the golden ring, bounce of a green to pass through a red, where a quick charge up pushed it through the green into her goal, while I stood in my position looking stupid. "Or how about you not."

"How that taste? The art of trajectory and my eight points."

"It is not over yet" I levitated the ball towards me and chuckled. "How about we kick this game up a little notch?"

"Bring it I will still school you and show you who is the one who has already graduated!"

"We will see about that." I charged my horn and energized all the disks "Welcome to speed dart, 3D. Disks will now move in all directions now, not just across the lateral, two-dimensional plane anymore."

"This is more of a Pegasus version."

"True, but is that going to stop us?" I alternated the ball around my limbs before launching the ball through the yellow ring. "Let the true games begin." Our eyes narrowed upon the ball and it felt as the field had left the speed sphere and I was looking now out from inside. My legs locked into position as I was bound spring set to terminal velocity launching forwards to devastate the ball with tremendous force. The ball soared the skies passing through a red ring and in direct trajectory to a green ring, when the ring jerked in direction to the opposite as I watched my hope, my passion, and the ball transcend into Cristalla's goal.

"I hate to break it to you but that is my goal, your goal is there," pointing across the field at my goal. "Fourteen points! Woot!"

"Not if I have anything to say about that," and in a display of social facilitation, I rapidly bombarded the ball with a serious of blows as my sister attempted to catch. I pushed the ball through one of each color and prepared for my final shot.

"Will you wait up?"

"Too slow," as a smashed the ball down-field straight into my goal. "Fourteen points, sister." Her eyes attempted to dig holes into my coat; however, I was immune. "Final point" I declared launching the ball high into the air and stepping back. The ball came crashing down in the middle of us two as we both charged in for the initial strike. Both of us energized our power leg back for the hit when the shire power of both our strikes caused the ball to burst.

"Well looks like that is a tie then," my sister erupted. "we cannot continue without a ball." We both began to chuckle and her followed by me collapsed to the grass. I disengaged the dome and began to rest. "I guess I can clean up, while you just lay there and sleep."

I levitated all the rings to the pole that we store them on and continued to rest. "You were saying?"

"Bladz lets head inside; Dad will be here any moment now and he has not seen all the decorations that I have done. I think it would be funny to witness his reaction this year with the new color scheme." I trailed my sister in confusion, I myself failed to even detect anything out of the typical, besides for the confetti cannon, before my sister and I dashed outside. As Cristalla motioned to pivot around the workshop she stalled causing me to hurdle to her side to see the reason for hesitation.

"Hey Cristalla! Hello birthday Bladz!" declared our father. "Where have you two been. We just got back from the postmaster's office, you two have impeccable timing. Mind helping me bring in these two boxes, Cristalla?" One box appeared to be a plain old box that you would expect of something that was not supposed wrapped, while the other one was rich blue with golden ribbons that bore the Serentian emblem in the center.

"No problem, it would be my pleasure; Bladz and I just tied in Speed dart because the ball broke on us."my sister rejoiced while picking up the two boxes. "I thought I requested only one box? What is this other fancy box for?"

"When we arrived at the post office they handed us both of those. We thought it was weird; however, both are addressed to Sapphire Convection."

"Looks like someone likes you Bladz," my sister cheered half-certainly before disappearing inside.

"Need any other help," I pleaded.

"Not that we can think of dear. Oh wait one second!" my mother exclaimed before digging through the trunk to pull out a small bakery container tied with a red ribbon. "Ms. Mimas sends her wishes and would like you to have this muffin; I am unsure of the flavor she did not say? She replied that she was going to stop by and give it to us later, but we saved her from the trip."

"Ms. Mimas was a good teacher to have three years ago," I recited while accepting the muffin and holding it closer for examination. "Like I assumed, its Mango-nut."

"Mango-nut?" they both inquired simultaneously.

"Yes, mango-nut. One day in class she messed up one of her banana-nut muffin orders and by accident used mango extract. Unsure of what to do with it she brought it in to class and being the brave soul I am when it comes to food tried it to discover that it was surprisingly delectable. Since then mango-nut muffins were added to her family's menu and they have become a best seller."

"Interesting. You should surrender a piece for me so I can access this myself." my father smiled at his notion.

"I will have to think about that," I replied in an attempt not to chuckle at the attempt. "All three of you guys can try a piece." I grabbed the muffin by the bow and prepared for interior invasion.

Our dinning room looked amazing; along with wall moldings, and around the table and chair legs, and hanging from the ceiling, and dancing on the table laid the ribbons of white and blues I witnessed earlier on the stairwell, displayed in the most stunning presentations. Plates and garnishes of proportionate sizes laid on the table, while an acute stack of creatively wrapped gifts laid aside in the serving pantry and the plain box that was transported from town laid across the presents to the right. "Wow she must of worked since early this morning in order to fashion all these decorations before she woke me up," I muttered to myself because even though Cristalla is perfectly able to use magic to put everything into their places, she takes great pride in doing everything personally to ensure it has that unique signature touch for everything she does for me.

"Wow she really went out this time did she not!" my father exclaimed from the workshop area. "Hey son, about that muffin?"

"I am on it! Have you seen Cristalla?"

"Have you tried the kitchen?" I picked up muffin from the location I placed it on the table and entered into the kitchen to find Cristalla hard at work chopping a carrot.

"Hey! What you doing I am trying to surprise you all withe lunch!" she whined while dumping the carrots into a pot.

"Came in here to see if you have a knife and if you would like piece of mango-nut muffin?"

"Mango-nut? Sounds insisting!" Cristalla pulled a napkin from the pantry and a knife from the drawer she was standing next to and cut a one-eighth piece and placed it on the napkin aside herself. "Thank-you!" She pulled out three forks and napkins and handed them along side the knife to me. "That is a decent sized muffin, try not to spoil yourselves before lunch now." I blushed and retreated from the kitchen.

"Looks like you were right dad, she was in the kitchen preparing a lunch."

"Is this a good thing or bad?" My sister when it comes to cooking is a hit or miss; when they turn out for the better they are zealous contraptions of delight and taste, and when they turn out for the worse, well there really no way to describe it.

"I would say the good." I placed the napkins on a counter separating the living room and dining room, and finished cutting the muffin into eight parts. "You want one or two slices?"

"Seeing as you described the muffin as a best seller I guess two and I can supply you with the second piece if I choose not to consume it. Your mother as you can already probably predict will only want one as she would be eager to more fully enjoy Crisalla's meal." I slid three pieces of mango-nut muffin onto their napkins and placed forks alongside. "Thanks son" my father tested as he took a bite, and then another, and another until he stuffed the second piece almost completely inside his mouth. "I think your old teacher just made another customer."

"I think so too," I determined closing up the container to preserve the muffin for later. If I ever felt down it was those small type of things that have the ability to turn my frown upside-down.

"Okay settle down now," my sister proclaimed proceeding from the kitchen holding a large sum of dishes over her head. "Serving today an order of steamed vegetables, a side of seasoned apple slices, apple cider, with the main entree consisting of a cheesy potato stew." Cristalla celebrated a minor victory while anticipating the upcoming taste tests.

"Well, at least you did not burn it," I responded taking a seat and tasting the stew. It was ever rich in consistency and a bit buttery in taste, yet this only enhanced the delicacy of the stew as I would have to admit this being one of the better stews that Cristalla has crafted over the years. "It is not too bad."

"Not to bad? Whats wrong with it?"

"Easy question; you are not enjoying the deliciousness of this fine creation with me." The compliment instantly made her day I could tell and she rushed to the kitchen to remove all her cooking garments. Meanwhile, I attempted to get my parents. "Hey your sludge is going to waste."

"Oh did it turn out bad?"

"Yea so bad that you should give me all of it for myself!" My mother noted my attempt to be cunning and smirked.

"Well will be on our way in a minute dear." my mother affirmed. I nodded and returned to see my sister sitting patiently waiting my return.

"They are on their way."

"Terrific. I do not want their lunch to cool." We both dove into the meal savoring the every flavor that came with a new surprise withe every bite of the stew. The apples and vegetables proved to be just as well because of the shire freshness of the produce.

"When did you go get all these ingredients to make all of this morning?"

"I did not. I roamed around town yesterday while you were taking you finals for the veggies and I visited the orchard as well to pick up some fresh-picked apples and two quarts of their famous cider," my sister confessed, while our parents joined us. We all finished our meals signalling the desert to appear. My sister collected all the bowls and silverware, placing down a new fork and small platters in their places. Passing by she picked up the box across from the presents and placed it in the middle of table to reveal a vibrant vanilla cake consisting of lemon frosting reading in blue Happy seventeenth Bladz, hope your birthday is Sweet.

"Thank you guys for this cake"

"We actually forgot about it and if it was not for Cristalla ordering one yesterday we would of been embarrassed," my mother admitted.

"We are just going to sit here or are we going to eat cake!" Cristalla demanded as she held the knife out to me, which I used to cut a massive piece and supply to Cristalla who was satisfied with its size. I continued to supply my parents with cake moving clockwise until I reached myself in which I placed a piece roughly the size of Cristalla's onto my plate. The cake was obviously originating from one of the finer  bakeries in Serentia because of the shire richness of flavors yet such fluffiness. I motioned to once again to thank my sister; however, she held out a leg at me and nodded welcome to me before I could speak, Once again, Cristalla collected plates after we concluded. "Presents time!" she cheered jumping almost smashing herself upon the wall.

"Need any help carrying them in?" my father questioned in an attempt to undermine the small quantity of gifts.

"It is fine, quantity does not matter to me; it is the effort that counts, Plus they are coming from you guys so how can I not be happy." My father did not dispute; however, one could plainly see he felt a sense of sorrow due to my lack of friends at everyone of these parties.

"How come Axile was not able to attend?"

"He left to spend time with family yesterday when class got out yesterday; plus we really are not friends."

"I see nothing wrong with Bladz. Personally he is the best brother I could hope for!" My sister interjected while dropping three presents to the table. "Open this one first; its from dad," she cheered as sliding a red and white checkered box towards me. I carefully withdrew the ribbon to unlock the boxes contents, Upon removing the lid I witnessed a white gold watch with the face surrounded by diamonds.

"That watch is a family heirloom really," my father admitted. "My father gave it to me when I was sixteen and now I am giving it to you and quite of honestly I think it matches you a lot better then me." I hugged my father neck and thanked him though body language for the watch; showed to me that my father honored me dearly as a son even though I do not currently have a talent that directly aids the business. To my father I was the best son he could of considered, just not in the way he expected. "Do you sister's next; she worked really hard on her's."

"Actually I believe Cristalla wanted her's last if I remembered correctly" my mother protested looking at my sister who nodded. "Here Bladz open mine. I am sure you will like it." I pulled the seam of my mother's gift and relocated the top to discover a white and cyan backpack. "I thought you would enjoy a change of style from the black bag that you have had since you were small. This one is bigger so you do not have to carry so much outside of the bag all the time and matches you a lot better in colors.

"Thanks mom, this present is really thoughtful."

"Yeah, now it is time for the gift I made for you?" Crisalla picked up and carried the final present to me. This one was in a larger pink box and was considerably heavy in weight. Cristalla's eyes burned into my coat as I relieved the contents to find a cyan-blue tux with a white synthetic rose laying on top. The buttons on the Tux were constructed of star-burst effect sapphires which perfectly matched my necklace causing me to instinctively reached up and assure its location. "The jewels took me a while to do. Finding Sapphires that pure was no easy feat, nor was managing to place the effect inside them; however, knowing how much you would like it drove me on. You do like it right?"

"I honestly do not know what to say," I stuttered. "This must of taken you hours to complete to be of such high quality. This is of finer quality than any other tux or dress I have ever seen throughout all of Serentia."

"And it is worth every minute knowing that you are pleased with it." I gazed over at my sister who was enjoying one of the brighter of her life. "I have had a lot of friends growing up; however, you have given me something extremely valuable the last seventeen years; true friendship, and for that I thank you."

"As I do you. I really have no idea what to say."

"Then do not." My sister hugged my neck as I struggled to hold back my liquid happiness. "Want to go try it on?"

"Sure. Thank you mom and dad; I enjoyed today's little celebration."

"Do not thank us, thank your sister," my father protested. I clipped the watch onto my left forearm and placed the backpack on my back becoming surprised by the build of the bag; it seemed like my mother had fitted it perfectly for myself, not to mention the colors corresponded perfectly with my coat and mane. Picking up the box by the ribbon that bounded the tux closed I continued upstairs into my room.

I placed the box down upon my bed and unfolded the tux across my sheets that Cristalla magically re-did since this morning. I slipped my neck through the dress shirt and coat, readjusting the bow accordingly before slipping the white rose into.my left torso pocket in which it was designed for. "it is stunning."

"The true value comes in the presentation and I would say you pull it off perfectly." Cristalla danced a little in satisfaction. "I am so glad it turn out wonderful, I was a little worried. You look just like royalty in that."

"Wait royalty. Where is that other box with the Seretian seal on it?"

"Oh forgot completely about that one. It is in the kitchen next to the stove. Wait one second I will go get it." Cristalla dashed from the room to return only seconds later with the Navy box. I pulled back the tag to discover the sender and found a message instead.

My faithful student Bladz,

                   I hope you are enjoying your Birthday party and would like to offer this gift to you in celebration. I would prefer if you opened this gift last at the very end of your birthday celebration today.

                                                                       Your Mentor, Lord Armonia

"Well do not just sit there, let us see what he sent you!" I unhooked the Seal and slide open the encasing top. "He sent you a key and a letter?"

"Guess so?"

Dear Bladz,

              I hope your party was delightful; however would you please be so kind as to meet me in the library I would like to talk to you personally about something.

                                                                                                   Lord Armonia

"Well this is atypical, Lord Armonia wants me in the library?"

"Well here is your key back. Maybe you could ask what it is for?" I picked up the key from her and slide it into my brand new backpack.

"Probably, have no idea why he would send me a key?" I trotted over to my desk and levitated the golden quill I got from Armonia roughly ten years ago and spread its feathers aiming it at the door. A beam of cyan light matching my magic aura collided with my door causing a portal to open up. "I wish you could come with me and meet Armonia as well; however, I know that you are unable to  follow because you do not have the ability."

"It is fine, I will hear all about it when you get back. Also Armonia said he will be here Thursday in four days and he never goes back on his word." I nodded and motioned through the door.

"Lord Armonia?" No response. "Lord Armonia?" No response. "Mentor?" With the final lack of response I drove down to the tables and seated myself to find The Empire of Termeoca already placed.

"Good afternoon Bladz! It has been a little while since we last talked face-to-face. How have you been doing besides for schooling as I have already seen the way you aced all your finals and grades from the past year?" Armonia declared approaching from my front right. "Also sorry I was not here when you were I was dealing with a few things."

"No problem Sir! My birthday went very well; I played speed dart with my sister and then we had a birthday party, where we enjoyed a wonderful meal and cake. Afterwards I opened presents and got this watch and this backpack and my sister made me this tux that matches the amulet that you gave me." Lord Armonia was staring at the tux. "Lord Armonia?"

"Sorry; your sister is highly skilled, I do not recall that last time I have ever seen such a fine piece of cloth on a commoner. Although you my boy are anything but common."

"Thank you, Sir. She put a lot of work into I can tell. Oh! By the way what is this key for that you gave me?"

"Thank you for reminding me. I will be leaving this evening for the Termeocan Empire; the king there was wondering if I could act as a third party for a legal dispute he is currently having with a tribe of nomads to his southwest and I was planning on returning Thursday morning and spending the day visiting CanterDash. What I was wondering is if you would like to come with me to Termeoca?"

"I would be honored Sir! But what about the key?"

"Oh silly me. I would like to know if you would like to move to the Palace with me and continue your studies at the Citadel." I was left speechless for a second; however I recovered and glared at Lord Armonia for a few moments; then I gave my answer. "I see. Well thank you for your time and take care Bladz." He smiled before turning and disappearing.

"He asked you what!" my sister demanded.

"If I would be intrested in staying with him at the Palace and continuing my studies at the Citadel if it was okay with Mom and Dad."

"Of course we will allow you. We are so proud of you to hear that. What did you tell him?" my father exclaimed.

"Well I had to think about it for a moment"

"And?" my mother questioned.

"I told him that I would be honored to join him both this evening and at the Palace."

"Congradulations Bladz!" my sister ambushed me in a powerful hug. "See you must be destined for something great! Do not let your lack of cutie mark get you down because you will get it and when you do I know that it will fit you!"

"Thank you Cristalla. Thank you mom and dad. I will see you guys Thursday." We all conducted in a large group hug before I began to step through the portal into the library in which I would travel to the Palace.

Happy Birthday. Your new life has only just begun.

Chapter Three (The Citadel)

It had to of been only ten minutes since I communicated with my mentor in this library last and since then this library has been completely rearranged; shelves were translated to other parts and a line of tables had been placed in the center of th library extending roughly eight meters. Novels, as expected, were stacked in piles alongside scrolls and a map that engulfed the entire middle table. I had seen maps of Serentia with little bit of the surrounding areas before; however, this map extended past lands that I have heard little to nothing about and there was an entire third of the map apparently ripped off and missing.

A door arose from the ground the allow passage for Lord Armonia as he proceeded into library once more. "We are going to be leaving for Termeoca in an hour. How are you handling the proposal?"

"I am okay; it was just really unexpected that is all and I am worried about my family."

"Sometimes important choices can approach us when we are not expecting them and it is up to us and us alone to decide if we are going to take them or not. Some will assist us and some will harm us; however, without ever taking a few risks we will never make the goals we set for ourselves." Armonia fixated his eyes on a point in the library's expanse. "That does not mean be impulsive, but you still have much to learn about Serentia, magic, people, but most importantly, yourself. You see the world is full of things that are not what they seem. Any door is a portal to this library, and this library itself is not what it seems."

"What do you mean this library?"

"You will understand when you are ready Bladz." Armonia paused for a moment and then relinquished his serious atmosphere reverting to a joyous tone. "Well while we have an hour want a quick tour of the Citadel?"

"Sure I, as you know, have only been to the capital only a few times."

"I really should have invited you to visit a few times instead of me visiting you all the time."

"It is no big problem," I supplied with a grin.

"Let us begin at the palace banquet hall; I feel like that is a place you are familiar with that way you can formulate a basic map of your new home." Lord Armonia spawned the door and we continued on way to inside the palace. "There are lots of interesting places in our Citadel; however, remember that this is not Canterdash, the people who live here can be a little uptight and some just need a good kick in the head. Some of the most well known reside around these walls and if you ever need something, I can assure you that it will be of the utmost best quality. To be honest your family would well be residing here if it was not for Sapphire Convention being one of the oldest and most prosperous shops in all of Serentia."

"Why do you say that?"

"When your family laid the foundations of your present day business, Canterdash was just a small town outside of here by roughly a dozen miles to the south. The city built around your shop over the years to become what it is today. Other families seeking to find business by supplying those who browsed at your family's store build around your slowly, hence the reason why the market in Canterdash is only a small walk away. As the number of stores and restaurants began to rise so did the populations and for the last seventy-one years now Canterdash has become Serentia's third largest region."

"Never knew all that. So what is around here?" Armonia waved me on and with no further questioning I trailed him out of the palace. The initial stop of my tour laid just west of the palace at a large garden where vibrant roses, begonias, and a plethora of different-colored berries engulfed the grounds. Benches laid scattered throughout the region and a series of walkways connected various sidings of the park with a large pathway running parallel to a stream. At least a couple dozen families were scattered throughout the park and to my left stood a couple enjoying a late afternoon picnic, while a young filly to their left was playing with birds, providing them seeds to munch on.

"This is our central park and one of the four that is scattered throughout the Citadel. It is thirty-one acres in size and as you can see if open to the public on a daily basis. The national celebration of the leaves and the Spring Sega celebrations are held in this park ever year and is maintained by the Serentian park service, whom are responsible for all parks throughout the empire, primarily the Citadel's four though." Strolling though the park I was able to take in the park's natural beauty and the zeal of the families. "You hungry? To the south outside of the park is a food court that offers some quite appetizing creations."

"Sounds delightful." I responded while gazing at my reflection in one of the streams. The food court was not as much as a food court as it was an emporium; there had to be at least forty restaurants on this block alone and the smell alone that radiated on this street was more then enough to drive anyone into a food craving.

"It is a little over-whelming for a first timer here, all the restraints here smell wonderful; however, there is one place here that I enjoy over all others, even though I have to admit that there is not much of a lead; there are places here for any mood, occasion, or style; two solid blocks offering the best entrees from all over Serentia and the surrounding areas." Armonia declared cheerfully as I continued to follow him to a small diner that seemed to be over shadowed by the large and fancy building surround it.

"Good afternoon! Welcome to... Good afternoon Lord Armonia!" declared the hostess.

"Good afternoon madam, do you have room for two today?"

"Why of course Sir." The hostess fumbled with the menus and Armonia found some amusement in the young mare's attempts causing her to plush.

"No need to have a heart attack madam. There is a booth over there next to a dart board we will be glad to take it if that is fine."

"That booth will be fine, we have no reservations right now." She handed us our menus and we seated ourselves to the booth. I cracked open the menu are analyzed its contents to discover that none of the items on the menu seemed out of the ordinary and began to question what made the entrees here so special.

"Bladz I am going to be ordering my usual garden salad with a side of a cheese sandwich, a bowl of artisan vegetable soup, and a glass of herbal tea; any ideas on what interests you?"

"That actually sounds nice; however, is it fine if I get a creamy noodle soup?"

"If it pleases you then sure, it is your dinner after all" Armonia replied alongside one of his grins. He motioned for a waiter and placed our orders in a way that did not even approach demanding in the slightest.

"Can I ask why you prefer this place? What does it have that you enjoy so much?"

"It is not as much what they have as much it is what they do not have. The food here is top notch, but you would expect that of any diner in this area. This diner here, however, does not feature the rapid movement of the bigger restaurants surrounding it, has a quieter atmosphere, the family that owns and works here is friendly to all members of Serentia, and they connect to all the customers here on a personal level, not only trying to provide me with special attention." Armonia explained while the waiter arrived with our teas and placed them on corresponding coasters. "Have you ever played darts?"

"Well besides for speed dart, I cannot really say I have Sir."

"After the we get back from Termeoca remind me to show you how to play."

"Will do." Our meals did not take longer afterwards to arrive and the meals was of very high-quality. The salad was constructed of rich and ripe vegetable, the soup was just below the quality I would expect from Cristalla when she does a great job, and the tea was a perfect balance of taste and texture. Both Lord Armonia and I finished our meals about the same time and the waitress returned to collect our plates.

"Enjoy the meal?"

"Very much ma'am" I informed her.

"Yes, your family always does well." Armonia assisted in collecting the platters and and handed her twenty bits in the process.

"Thank you Sir; however, your meals were only tweleve bits and they were our pleasure, you do not have to pay us."

"Take it all madam. The meal was wonderful and you family deserves it. I will not take no for an answer." The waitress finished collecting the plates and then in joy skipped into the back. "We still have twenty minutes until we are scheduled to leave and I have one last place to show you."

We retreated back towards the palace and circumvented to a large white building with two royal guards standing outside the gate. "Good evening Sir; do you not have a trip you should be preparing for?" One of the guards inquired.

"It is fine gentlemen, we are just stopping by to just talk to the officers."

"We?" I stepped out from behind Armonia to face the guards.

"He is fine, we do not have much time so can you please let us though."

"Yes sir, sorry for the inconvenience," the other guard stated as he motioned to open the gate and strike the first guard for his negligence.

"What was that about?" I pondered to Armoina as we entered the complex.

"Not everyone knows who you are; only the top leaders know about you in Serentia. I did not want you to get harmed if anything ever happened. Even at the national armory I can never be too sure." he whispered back to me. The armory was packed with guards at every corner as we continued to pass a cafeteria, a gym, a training room, and an empty conference room. "The room we are looking for is through these doors" he proclaimed as he held the door open for me. Three men stood inside hustled around a white board arguing. "What are you guys screaming about!" Armonia demanded.

"We are discussing what division is going to be responsible for the training schedule this year for the new recruits." The largest of the three stated; he was a pegasus with both a dark black mane and a solid black coat giving him a pitch black appearance.

"I see Captain Carnivorous. Captain Lightning, where is Ryan?" Armonia declared.

"We do not know Sir, we have not seen him all day" the final guard announced.

"Thank you Captain Tigris." These are the three captains of the Royal Guard branches? Their armor held a chrome finish and each one held a special logo on their flanks indicating them captains of the Royal Guard as well as covering up their cutie marks to prevent quick identification. Captain Lightning was a medium-sized grey pegasus with large wings and a grey-black mane. The smallest of the three was Captain Tigris sanding only half the other two's height and presenting a bright white coat with an orange mane; unlike the other two, he was the only one with a dark tint in their armor and was a unicorn.

"Did someone call me?" An enormous earth stallion entered the room as I turned and stared in disbelief.

"Ryan it is a pleasure seeing you," Armonia muttered.

"You are Commander Inferneus of the Royal Guard!" I gasped. His sharp red and yellow mane flowed gracefully down his orange coat.

"And you are Bladz, student under Armonia; Pleasure to finally meet you."

"Your armor is so cool, it is the best armor I have ever seen."

"Actually Lord Armonia's armor is the best I have ever seen. You cannot dent it no matter how hard you try"

"Inferneus, as you are aware we will be leaving in six minutes to go to Tempeoca for three nights and I was wondering if you could supply two extra guards for the trip," Armonia interjected.

"Sure can; Lightning, Carnivorous, you two will be traveling with Lord Armonia and Bladz; Tigris you will be in charge of the recruit training this year."

"Sending two Captains?"

"Why not? We as officers never get to go on any missions anymore and since for the next two weeks we are in training mode all forces are doubled to make sure everything goes smoothly and placed directly under my command."

"We will not let you down Sir" Lightning replied.

"Okay let us go then" Armonia surrendered and all four of us headed towards the launch field. "Well on the bright side of this, now I do not have to ask for two more Guard pegasi, two captains should easily be able to handle the trip to Tempeoca."

"You can count on us my lord" Carnivorous assured.

"I sure hope so, we need to get on our way."

"Fair enough. Lightning you ready?"

"I am not the one you should be asking that the question is are you ready?" Lightning replied. Armonia and I climbed aboard the chariot as Armonia cleared his throat. "Fine we are going." The take off was something I would expect from skilled flyers of the Guard reaching airborne practically in a single step, which can probably be accounted because of Lightning's large wings.

"I have no idea how those two can chatter so much, guards are so quiet until you give them a position of command." Armonia whispered to me. "The flight is going to be a little bit longer than you a used to, even for fliers as haste as captains of the Royal Guard; you can get some rest while we wait."

"It is fine." I confirmed, placing a wind breaker over my head.

"Suit yourself then." Armonia settled down on the left side of the chariot and closed his eyes off from the world.

"Very funny," I responded placing myself in the same manner beside him.

"I try my best," he chuckled. Pulling a blanket from out of my backpack I placed it over him. "Well thank you for that." I could tell from his flinching that he was not accommodated to the action and was a little taken back by it.

"Armonia? Can I ask how you managed to become King of Serentia?"

"That is a simple question, I never have and never will."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Bladz, I am not a king; I am simply the ruler of Serentia"

"What is the difference between you the ruler of Serentia and the king of Termeoca in principle?"

"The Serentian empire if you have no discovered is a little bit different then the rest of the three empires that surround us. I am not a king; I have never undergone a coronation, nor do I believe I should ever. I rule as the first servant of Serentia and I ensure that the empire operates smoothly. Serentia is a self-sustaining empire; however, it really is wrong to call us an empire for I have not ever wrote decrees or declared war without the consent of Serentia's people. I have not aged in centuries because I have no reason to. My kismet is to watch over the empire and unlike the surrounding kings I do not have a linage to pass down the empire with each new generation."

"It is amazing how you are immortal, how did you ever achieve that? Also, if your destiny is to reign over Serentia for eternity what is your cutie mark?"

"Those are both excellent questions that will be answered in time. I sadly cannot answer either of those questions for your."

"If you cannot answer them then who can?"

"You" Armonia pulled up his head and starred into my eyes. "You are the only one who can fulfill their destiny and when you do you will have all the answers you seek and have ever sought. Get some sleep, even as young Stallion you still need your sleep." Armonia shifted the blanket I offered him and dozed off; however, I could not do the same. I had too many questions left unanswered and all I could do was wonder. Thus that night I laid there and thought. I thought about the moon and the stars, the wind and the rain, and the old and the new; however, the thing I thought about the most was myself.

My name is Bladz Angelo. I am seventeen years as of today. I was born second of my family under Ardore Angelo. I am the pupil under Lord Armonia, ruler of Serentia. I am highly skilled in the art of magic and have the ability to manipulate space using these powers. I have a love for reading and have an idyllic memory in doing so. I enjoy the game of speed dart because it makes my sister happy and my sister is my best friend. Ten years ago my life completely changed and ten years later here I stand confused, misunderstood, and without a cutie mark. I will not give up though and I will overcome. everyday I  am coming closer to my destiny and everyday I come closer to understanding myself, I shall overcome.

"Bladz?" Lightning was calling for my attention. "How does it feel?"

'How does what feel." I stood puzzled.

"You do not know do you?"

"Well neither do you Lightning, its just a hypothesis." Declared Carnivorous,

"Sorry for that Bladz. I got a little impulsive and just wanted to ask. Anyway how are you doing? You enjoying the flight?" I gazed down from the chariot and witnessed a majestic range of snow-tipped mountains.

"Yes; the scenery is wonderful"

"That I can agree with you on!" Lightning nodded while in flight. "We are passing over the outer lands of our empire; mostly populated by Earth ponies and scarce in those numbers."

"We sometimes use these skies for night training when we are stationed at the Northeast base. The wind is light, the temperatures are moderate all year round, and the view is fantastic." Carnivorous added.

"How come only at night?" I inquired. "Would the day time hours not be as effective or useful?"

"You cannot conduct military flight operations during the day even an area as loosely populated as this region. Can cause panic that is not needed; only places where flight operations are conducted during day light hours are the Citadel and the bases." Lightning explained.

"I would think that night operations would generate more attention."

"There are less people in smaller groups. Individuals and small groups are able to logically access a situation, while the masses when grouped together are irrationally fearful of anything and everything. Fear always likes to spread faster then common sense." I was tickled by Lightning's serious tone, while still maintaining his easy-going manners. Lightning I could tell was one of those leaders who maintained an optimal level of optimism and spread the feeling throughout his unit..

"Wait, both of you two are pegasi? Which one of you two are in charge of the Flight Corp then?" I hastily questioned in confusion after pondering the subject.

"That would be me" Lightning motioned. "Tigris is in charge of the Horn Corp, and we currently do not have a Ground Corp captain so Ryan has taken over that position until a new one can be found."

"Can you guys not just promote someone to the rank?"

"We can; however, captain is a hard position to fill and we do not like anyone is up for it at the moment. You do not only have to be psychically elite, but psychological capable for the job." Lightning's wing stuttered for a moment causing the chariot to lean briefly. "Sorry, I was just thinking about the day I got invited to join the commanding offices. Both Carnivorous and I were invited because Ryan  decided to split up the Guard into corps, a lot more organized with the work divided out. I remember that both of us were unsure and doubted ourselves; however, Ryan informed us not to be as he bestowed us with the insignia of Royal Guard Officers - a golden shield with the Serentian seal in the middle; a single star stands above the shield to signify that out of the many we shined and assumed a position of leadership to protect Serentia in day and night."

"What about you Carnivorous?"

"I am Captain of the Scout Corps."

"Scout Corps?"

"At least someone does not know! The Scout Corps is Serentia's elite special corp unit and it seems like everyone across the empire knows about us." Carnivorous complained.

"What do you guys do as the special corp unit?"

"Unlike the main three, we are small in numbers and are not constantly gaining new members. Members of the Scout corps are hand selected by myself and must be approved by Ryan and their corresponding captain. Thus implied, the corp consists of unicorns, pegasi, and earth forces. There is currently forty-seven members, me making forty-eight, and we are primarily responsible for reconnaissance and sabotage." Carnivorous and Lightning adjusted their wings to the new flight environment as we passed over the forest to a vast body of water. "The seas of Arron; they extend for dozens of miles separating Serentia and Tempeorca. I would advise getting some sleep for there is roughly only three hours left in the trip and there is a four hour time difference between the palace and Tempeorca's castle; what you lose now you will not be able to make up later for we will be arriving at their sunrise."

I did not argue and rested my eyes back in my original location. Yesterday was the most interesting birthday I have ever held; however, I have a feeling that yesterday was only a preview of what there is yet to come. I remember adjusting my neck so it did not kink if I moved awkwardly in my sleep, after that I was at a loss.

Chapter Four (Land of the Earth)

In correlation with Carnivorous' prediction the chariot continued into a decent roughly three hours past the point where I retired. Even for captains the flight was a massive stain of endurance, lasting seven hours of straight and continuous flight with no rests or interruptions. Settling down near the Tempeocan Castle at this point almost seemed like challenge as the two struggled to land in the tight space provided and not cause too much of a shock wave through the chariot upon landing. Lightning and Carnivorous for what it is worth did a worthy feat completing the journey and then managing to land without harming either Armonia or I; however, the landing was not the perfect landing the two expected as both Armonia and I were less than genitally launched into the air by a few inches, shocking us both awake.

"Sorry you two," Lightning quickly replied apologetically. My eyes were mere slits at the moment, yet it does not take much to realize how worn out the two were as both their muscles were stiff and fatigue was illustrated all over their faces.

"No large insistence" Armonia reassured the two. Carnivorous attempted to reply; however, fatigue was getting the best of him as he was forced to lay down for a moment's rest. Armonia kept good faith and applauded the two efforts massaging the two's worn-down wings and then turning towards me. "You only received three hours of rest last night, yet I am sure we can find you a place to rest for a little bit once we go inform the King that we are here. And as for you two, there appears to be a store over there see if you can find a little bit out about the empire while you enjoy the air conditioning they have there." Armonia pointed towards an establishment a little while west of the Castle.

"Sir, how do you know they have air conditioning or is even open?" inquired Lightning.

"Well it is about seven here so I would expect the buildings to have started opening up for the day. As of for the air conditioning, I hope they have it around here because I have to admit it is a little warm around here." Armonia complained in good faith. I pulled myself up from the chariot and positioned myself next to Armonia; even with only three hours I had more sleep than Lightning and Carnivorous especially after the flight. We both gathered up a few initial things and turned to approach the Castle where we found two morning guard standing firm.

"Who comes to the castle at such an early hour? Does the does not know that no one can see the King before the hour  of ten?" the larger of the two declared even though there was no much of a difference in size between the two. They both were earth ponies of larger build using their flanks to block the entrance and if it was not for their uniforms I would not of recognized them as guards at all.

"We are from Serentia, your king has requested our presence," Armonia announced firmly providing the guards with the royal seal.

"How do we know that it is in fact Lord Armonia from the Serentian Empire you has sent you two?"

"Look at my armor! I am Lord Armonia from the Serentian Empire, this fellow right here is a subject that I asked if he would be so pleasant as to accompany me, and there are two Serentian pegasus guards here that I sent to find shelter while we inform the King of our arrival because they are exhausted from the long flight." he stated with mild annoyance. The guards gazed upon Armonia's masterfully crafted armor over his white coat before turning to myself to evaluate my presence.

"We are so sorry about that, Sir!" The two guards stepped aside allowing us to pass upon them opening the gate.

"What is it with you and hitting it off so well with guards?" I teased as we continued inwards.

"I do not have an answer for you; they all are too engrossed in playing the role of the big bad guard to have their eyes open to their surroundings and realize who they are addressing. I do not typically lose my patience as you are quite aware; however, guards have this magical ability to push my buttons better than other single group. I swear they are secret unicorns trained in the magical art to annoy me." Armonia proclaimed to me in a tone that was designed to prevent eavesdropping. I personally found his hypothesis enticing and could not help but grimace at the proposal.

The Castle here was of a size comparable to our own and featured a plethora of features that demonstrated power and wealth of the kingdom. Extending down the hallway was a series of portraits that I assumed to be commemorating the past kings of the kingdom and featured all of them displayed the past rulers in prestigious and sometimes over-exaggerated formalwear. "Is this Kingdom as extensive as our own empire?" I managed to inquire to Armonia.

"No, this kingdom is only the size of one-third of Serentia and a large portion of the region consists primarily of water is uninhabited."

"Then what is all the fancy displays around here for and all the enormous supply of guards that surround the place? The only place that we have guards protecting things in the empire is the armory."

"Tempeoca is as I already informed you different than Serentia in that this kingdom is reigned over by a king. Kings for the most part are not the faithful rulers that you are blessed to enjoy and are paranoid about a loss in power. The decorations you see around this hall is to reflect the King's great wealth and power, unlike the commemorations that engulf our Palace of the great acts and deeds conducted by our empire's people," Armonia directed as we ascended our way up a short flight of stairs leading to the massive doors that laid at the end of the hallway where another guard was posted.

"Whom is you who approaches? Why are you here before the tenth hour?" the guard demanded. Armonia rolled his eyes at the guard's tone. He was the first guard we witnessed in the kingdom who actually displayed a suit of armor and was a good eight inches taller than the other two guards.

"Lord Armonia from Serentian Empire here in reliance to King Elitan's request, the two guards protecting this castle let us in."

King Elitan is this guys name then

"Why would King Elitan want to speak with a puny lord from Serentian?"

"Well since you are so kind to ask I think it would benefit you so to know that Lord Armonia is the ruler of Serentia," I snapped adding "Sir" at the end to add insult to injury. The guard was taken off guard; however, hastily recovered to his former state of stubbornness.

"And who do you think you are?"

"Resident of the Serentian Palace, since you are pursuing in your quest to pester our objective you mind informing me of who you would happen to be?"

"I am no other than Sir Daniel, commander of the guard here." One again Armonia rolled his eyes at this guys overabundance of arrogance.

"Well pardon me Sir Daniel, commander of the guard; however, we just completed in a seven hour flight and we would like to see the King within the next few moments if you would be so kind." Armonia's stare shot razors at Daniel who was attempting to reposition himself to make his armor glisten in the light radiating from the glass windows.

How arrogant can a single person be?

"That will not be necessary; Sir Daniel please excuse yourself for the moment I will deal with them," a stallion dressed in heavy layers of clothing replied. Even King Elitan looked like he was full of himself. His mane was neatly combed and his mark resembled the crown he wore upon his head.

Deal with us? I should show him how to deal with us!

"Lord Armonia. So glad you could finally make it to Tempeoca!"

"I would be glad if it was not for your guards pestering me every five minutes. should you have not informed them of my arrival?" Armonia even in frustration had maintained a calmed tone and spoke fluently to King Elitan.

"I did not find any need in it. Your presence should of been enough. What can I say really if they did not know of your identity?"

Did not find need in it! I can think of several things that you could be saying right now after all these mishaps, so you proclaim!

"Easy now Bladz, maintain control," Armonia assured me, whispering in my ear. "It is not worth losing your temper over."

"Welcome to Tempeoca anyway. Would you like a tour?"

"The tour does not only include you castle I presume?" Armonia responded. King Elitan being too arrogant to comprehend the insult instead took it as compliment.

"Why of course not, you will get to see more then enough of it over the next two days; is it not lovely?" he decreed gazing upon his own creation. Armonia simply just rolled his eyes, as well I who found it fit to join him in the action.

"Have any children?" I asked in an attempt to spark conversation that did not have to do with his castle or his wealth.

"Why heavens no! Foals will grow up and attempt to steal my darling thrown! I will not ever consider nuisances like that until I need someone to continue my great name!"

"Can I please hit him?" I whispered to Armonia.

"He is a King! That would be unnecessary!" Armonia reminded me.

"How old are you young one? Seven? Eight?" Elitan practically demanded.

"Well seeing how I am taller than you I am a lot older than eight! Try seventeen your majesty" I practically spat at him with him taking no indication of my anger through my tone.

"Oh dear Armonia! Your company is defective! How in Tempeoca's name could you have let such a fallacy into my Castle! He has no mark, no signature, he is just bare and flawed at the age of seventeen!" I dug my hooves into the ground and felt like tearing his teeth out in every torturous method I could conceive.

How stupid can you get! How does this kingdom not come crashing down! All the figures of authority we have met here are complete idiots!

"I stand corrected; you cannot hit him until I do" Armonia informed me through whisper. "Just ignore him for now."

"King Elitan, this young stallion here is an important member of the Serentian empire, I would prefer if you please lay off the insults." Armonia announced.

"I suppose, he is your problem afterall."

"Easy Bladz," Armonia comforted me. "You said that you were having an issues with nomads and needed me to act as a third party."

"Yes, those creatures. I would prefer to execute them all; however, Queen Loudi advised me otherwise."

"As do I; there are better ways for dealing with your problems."

"Anyway I am discussing terms with them tomorrow at noon. Now about that tour?" With every moment I could feel Armonia’s blood pressure rising even though he was managing to maintain a straight face.

"Let us continue on our way for this wonderful tour then" Armonia stated half-heartedly as I proceeded to follow. King Elitan initiated his tour by presenting to us his "wonderful armory" which stood a mere pebble to our's and followed by conducting in a long ordeal about how elite his army is.

"Sorry to interupt but why is your entire armed fleet only earth breeds?" I finally stated

"Because we earth breeds are the elite breed of all the breeds; something that I would not expect you as a unicorn to understand."

"There are no unicorns or pegasi in this kingdom are there?" I inquired to my mentor.

"I do not believe so."

"Then why did we have introduce ourselves everywhere we go! Can they not assume something when they see two pegasi and two unicorns?"

"One... never mind. I did not believe so, many of the earth ponies here probably do not even know that there are other tribes of ponies out there." I rolled my eyes once more in disbelief as we continued to follow King Gloats-a-lot.

"And this over here is the surrounding city's market." He pointed down the pathway towards a plethora of social gatherings, where I spotted fruit stands.

"Is that a pear stand? Want to pick up a pear Sir since we have not eaten breakfast yet?" I pondered to Armonia.

"How could you think about spoiling your lips with sick commoner's foods, although you are defective!"

I am done with this guy.

"Excuse me Lord Armonia and King Elitan but I will catch up with you two later." Either way it seemed like King Elitan was becoming annoyed with having to tour us and was beginning to view it as a waste of him time.

"Okay, be back at the castle by noon though; we need to set up our room for the night." Armonia replied

"Will do Sir." I dashed to attempt to make as much distance as I could from that King before he whined about anything else that involved him bragging or how defective I was.

I trotted over to the pear cart and gazed over all the tasty creations. There was pear pie, seasoned pears, a slice of pear crumble, stuffed pears, pears raw and soft, almost any form of pears that I could imagine.

"How much for a bowl of those seasoned pears?" I questioned to the mare working the stand.

"That would be three silver bits"

"Three silver bits?"

"Is that too much Sir? How about two bits?"

"No I meant why so low?"

"You are not from around here are you Sir? The King demands such high taxation every spring that we all have to keep our prices low to ensure we have enough business so we can pay them when the time comes."

Some how I am not surprised

"Here take this to help you out" I handed her three golden bits and picked up the bowl of seasoned pairs.

"He actually wants that pie" Carnivorous declared from behind me. "Three pies in fact. One for this young stallion and two for us over here" I turned to see Lightning standing behind him.

"Well that would normally be a total of three golden pits, so you three have already paid for these."

"Non-sense!" Carnivorous placed twelve golden bits on the counter. "Look at these pies! They are well worth four bits a piece!" The mare practically fainted in joy.

"Thank you so much! This is practically an entire week's earnings!" Aquarius pleasure flooded down her face.

"Madam you deserve it" Lightning proclaimed.

"Well what do we have here two captains that are actually nice to people." I exclaimed.

"What do you mean by that Bladz?"

"Well let me just say that some of the guards around here are not the easiest to work with." I waved my leg around my head to indicate insanity.

"We are aware. A guard questioned us in the rudest manner when we were resting under a tree over there." Carnivorous explained. "I do not know who they think they are around here pushing all the citizens around like this; however, it is uncalled for and shameful." Lightning was preoccupied devouring his pie to comment. "You should not eat it like that you might choke; try this instead." Carnivorous placed the pie on the ground and then stomped to have the contents of the pan soar skywards until gravity overcame and was swallowed by a single bite.

"Okay big mouth! Not everyone has the ability to fit their entire head in their mouth!" Lightning accused.

"So what else have you guys found around here?" I interrogated while pulling a few more bits out from my backpack and having to readjust the suit I took off yesterday before Armonia and I left for our short tour around the palace.

"We are as clueless as you. The guard only woke Carnivorous and I up about ten minutes ago. Why no walk with us and let us discover what is around here."

"Better than the tour I was just getting from the King."

"Why do you say that?"

"I am defective and earth ponies are the master breed"

"Enough said! There is a library over there if you want to check that out. You like libraries, right?"

"Armonia tell you that?"

"Nope, Ryan did" Carnivorous interjected.

"Why I did not know that he took an interest in my studies?"

Ryan interested in my studies? That is so cool!

"Ryan takes interest in lots of things that we do not understand. Although that is one of the reasons he is commander; there is not much that I can put past him to not know if he puts him mind to it. He is not the brightest tool Serentia has, but he is a mighty hard worker." Lightning informed me.

"Anyway, I am going to see if there is a textbook on the history of this kingdom; I am sure not every king was this aggregant and at least one of them did something important or cool."

"Hey Lightning maybe there are mares in there that are attractive and smart." Carnivorous stated. I rolled my eyes once more; however, at least this time it was not out of annoyance.

"Hey Bladz wait up a moment!" Lighting shouted as they both stampeded up behind me.

"I am sorry, but really since when are members of the Serentian Royal Guard so loud?"

"We are always loud, the ones that stand around protecting buildings are just boring a choose to do that." Lighting cheered.

The library was relatively small in stature compared to the main library in Cantardash; I have yet to see the Citadel's real library. Books laid on the wall in neat rows and many of them appeared to still be in mint condition. Earth pony education was not a major consumer of novels as their education focused on the practical and the highly motivated attended universities with libraries of their own. "excuse me ma'am; are there any novels on your kingdom's history here?" I asked.

"Back right corner," the librarian responded pointing in the direction.

The life of King Elitan, The trials of a King, History of the greatest Tempeorca; "I am sorry but do you have any books that do not have to do with King Elitan?"

"No Sir, King Elitan thought that books not about him would detract from his rule."

I am done. Done! When do we leave I am getting sick of this guy. I hope these nomads just burned his precious little castle to the ground and have one of the actually sane ponies around here take power!

"Find any smoking mares?" I addressed to Lightning.

"I never stated that as my motive so do not look at me; there are no mares here besides for the librarian although, so you tell me."

"I do not know. She is sort of smoking." I stated as I felt my sides beginning to burst.

"If you mean by smoking, that she is radiating the smell of cough syrup I can give her that. Let us get out of here before I age."

"Fine by me; all the books here have been rewritten to celebrate your's truly."

"Woah! He really is hot headed! Come on Carnivorous" Lightning proclaimed after noticing that he was busy constructing a book fort in the middle of one of the isles. "You are going to get us thrown out!"

"I claim this land in the name of Carivorous! This shall be the eternal land of cookies!"

"Get your behind up and let us go!"

"Fine! I am leaving the fort though!"

"Fair enough" Lightning finally proclaimed as the two followed me out of the library.

"Did not find any good history lessons Bladz?" Carnivorous inquired.

"All the books had been rewritten in the king's point of view." Lightning explained.

"Sounds like my kind of library! We should place a library at the Armory at the Citadel rewritten from my point of view." Carnivorous proudly declared. I could not tell which one of us face hoofed harder; however, Lightning left a mark on his face.

I gazed upon the watch to detect that the time was only approaching the tenth hour when I officially was at a loss for ideas. Taking lead I marched alongside the market scanning for interesting happenings as Lightning did the same on the opposing side of the parkway. Carnivorous on the other hand was too busy harassing every storekeeper to provide much assistance; however, he was afterall interesting to watch as he cycloned from place to place in a display of his agility that seemed to be confusing watchful eyes who were trying to understand what the rush was about. "For a captain I have to admit he is really hyper," I confessed.

"I have known Carnivorous since flight school and that is simply who he is; He is a fun-loving pegasus who takes a powerful devotion to his occupation, placing duty and friendship first. We both graduated amongst the top our class and I pursued a career as a weather pegasus for a newly founded town, where I later became the station leader there, while he became a scout leader. For nine years we pursued those careers until both of us were "reassigned" to the Citadel working under the Armory as civilians; the job was tough and pretty soon we found ourselves as members of the royal guard. Actually now that I think about it, Carnivorous and I were only working as flight guards five months when Armonia decided to split up the forces into divisions and elect us both as captains. I can not tell you if that was his plan all along for us two; however, I have my suspicions."

"So there is usually a method to his madness? He always seems so reserved that sometimes it is hard to anticipate his actions and determine what he is thinking."

"I do not know what he has planned for you Bladz, but whatever it must be it must be important. As you are aware, Lord Armonia is not one to take on students and you are the only student I think that anyone has ever heard about that Armonia actually has ever had."

"According to him I am"

"See my point. The thing that ponders me is what there could be that he is so interested in having you do. There is nothing that crosses my mind and I thought about that for almost all seven hours of the flight yesterday."

"I could not tell you either, he has never given me any formal lessons and all he acts like is a guide." Lightning paused in his position and began to visually analyze me more intensly that I could recall anyone besides Armonia or my family ever conducting in.

"Maybe what I suspected is true"

"And what is that?"

"We will see in time." Lightning announced as we stood witness to Carnivorous posing in front of a mirror display of himself trying on hats.

"How does this one make me look?" Carnivorous declared wearing a dark black fedora.

"It really complements your coat" Lightning stuttered. "I suppose." Personally I did not find reason in purchasing a black hat for a black stallion when you could not differentiate between the two's forms. Carnivorous nodded and placed the fedora back upon the hat stand as he returned to our sides.

"Want to race to that tree and back Lightning?"

"We are not going to leave Bladz here while we are racing around this town! Plus you know I am faster than you and there is no need for me to show you up in front of all these earth ponies."

"You could have Bladz ride your back and see if you are still the hot shot will all that wieght on your back"

"I do not weigh that much" I muttered.

"Never said that you were fat, was just implying that Lightning would not be as fast with additional weight." Carnivorous proclaimed in defense.

"Even so I am not going to risk harming him just because we are bored" Lightning disputed causing Carnivorous to fly up to the top the clock tower to our left to moat, irritated in defeat. Based upon the immediate reaction of the town folks it was obvious that a pegasus was a rare sight in the empire, which is of no surprise really considering that both unicorns and pegasi are practically non-existent here being an earth pony kingdom.

"Lightning! Grab Bladz and get up here quick!" Carnivorous' tone had switched to serious as I was hastily ascended into the air by Lightning. Carnivorous was pointing to a distant point on the horizon where a plethora of black smoke was arising. "We have to help them! There is a fire over there I am sure!" I hardly could recall the feeling of standing again before I was rocketed across the skies towards the smog.

There is a reason I see they call you lightning; the rapid take off nearly snapped my neck! Thank you very much!

A small barn had caught fire outside of the Castle as we flew over to investigate; I should really say Lightning and carnivorous flew as I was preoccupied holding on in fear of my life as we soared at four hundred miles an hour throughout an kingdom I knew little about. The heat radiating off the inferno was intense as we approached the farm and settled down for a landing. They both upon touching down rushed over to offer assistance, while I paused for a moment to catch my breath, my senses, and my stomach.

"What is going on here!" Lightning commanded.

"Our barn caught on fire after a small electrical short-circuiting." The assumed father of the group declared trying to calm down the young colts and fillies that were in a state of panic.

"Do you have any buckets?" The stallion quickly pointed to a corner of the fence where two buckets laid. "Carnivorous grab a bucket and help me carry water from that lake over there to aid in putting out the flames!" The two of them bursted off with buckets in hands to assist as I trotted forward.

"Who are you guys?" the father addressed to me.

"Royal visitors from Serentia; we are here to witness something for your king when we noticed this issue." I replied.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he cried. Lightning and Carnivorous dumped their first trip of water leaving barely a dent in the flames.

They are not going to fix this mess! The flames are already too large! What could I do to assist!

I closed my eyes in remorse as I could not figure out a matter to provide assistance. Tears began to transcend down cheeks as a sudden roar disturbed by sorrow. Standing prone above me was an enormous water serpant that was drenching the barn and extinguishing the flames. The serepant features a cyan glow to it and shimmered in the light before returning to the lake in the simple form of water.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF ANYTHING WAS THAT!" Lightning screamed.

"I do not know" I admitted.

"Sure you don't! That thing was a magic water serpent! Your horn went all flashy and then that enormous thing arose from all the water in the lake and extinguished the blaze! That thing was not living! It was not real! You created that! You gave that thing life through magic and then controlled it to do that!" Lightning exploded. The entire family alongside Carnivorous was standing aside in shock.

"I...I...did that?" Lightning nodded.

"Thank you unicorn! I have no idea what you did but I extend my greatest gratitude." the father proclaimed.

"No problem Sir. I am sorry though for we must be arriving at the castle soon."

"What is your name young one?"

"Bladz"

"I shall never forget your name; you are destined for greatness I am sure." We acknowledge him in grins and returned back to the castle, this time slower in flight than before. The castle this time as we approached was open allowing easier admission compared to the painful experiences that I held from earlier.

"YOU DID WHAT?"

"He conquered up a water serpent to extinguish a barn fire" Carnivorous explained. Armonia stood in the same state of shock that the ponies at the farm we locked in and had a hard time understanding the fact.

"A life spell? Where did you learn a life spell or even the discipline to even use it?"

"I do not know" I admitted. "I read about it once in the library; however, I never expected it to be a real spell."

"Neither did I" Armonia proclaimed. "No one and I mean no one has ever used one; it was just a theory that was hypothesized centuries ago."

"I do not know how it happened! I panicked and it just happened!"

"It is fine Bladz, I believe you three; I have no idea how you did it but you did and that assures to me that you are mature enough for more advanced studies. You have done well my faithful student." King Elitan came rushing in, locked in a state of panic.

"What is it?" Armonia questioned.

"They have taken her!" He decreed.

"Taken who? Who are 'They'?" Lightning inquired.

"The Nomads! They have taken my Queen!"

The one day I only get three hours of sleep and all this happens! I just need to go back to bed!

Chapter Five (Fallen Kingdom)

The captains and I motioned our way down the hallway before Elitan's guards arrived in an attempt to avoid unwanted confrontations; early issues proved to all of us that it was best to avoid the guards in this kingdom. Their wonderful commander 'Sir. Daniel' was the first to arrive at the scene being trailed by an army of at least two and a half dozen guards.

"You have requested my presence my king." Daniel conducted in a bow mock-seriously.

"Those nomads have taken my queen! Track them down and save her!" Elitan demanded. Daniel smirked at the ground for a moment before taking upon a stern facial expression and turning to Lord Armonia.

"How do you know that these foreigners did not abduct her?" Lord Armonia's eyes narrowed at the accusation.

"They may be unicorns and pegasi; however, they are not kidnappers and would not drop down to that level. They have no reason to conduct in such a manner for they are of a prestigious empire!" Elitan decreed causing all four of our eyes to swell up in surprise. Elitan had lost the joyful tone that he has been exhibiting all day and from Daniel's facial expression I could tell that he was not used to Elitan's new tone being directed towards him.

"Very well then," Daniel smirked as he turned to hide from the two while his face was still in my view. "I shall organize a team to hunt down these nomads; they will be ready by the next hour." He dismissed himself with the guards following him without Elitan's permission grimacing without reason.

"I am sorry for his insults Lord Armonia." Elitan's eyes were remorseful as he positioned himself in front of his steps. "I was so busy being arrogant that I allowed my queen to be abducted. I am so sorry for my earlier actions; I wanted Serentia feel like we are a prosperous kingdom and I have failed you all."

"It is fine King Elitan; I understand your motivation and I do not condemn you." Armonia approached alongside Elitan and simply stood aside in an attempt to ease the tensions that he felt. "I have to ponder though why you are posing that it is the nomads?"

"Lord Armonia, it is the possibility that makes sense. The nomadic tribes are agitated after the weeks we have spent bickering over them invading my soil and our current relations are strained even further because of upcoming agreements we are scheduled to have tomorrow. If they were to abduct the Queen they would have a bargaining tool to deploy tomorrow."

"I understand your thought process, but why would they want to harm their chances of peaceful negotiations with a kingdom that they are aware could crush them; maybe not quickly but as nomads they cannot sustain in long term fighting, nor can they afford the severe cost of warfare," Armonia pondered to him.

"Didn't you state earlier that you would not recommend warfare as a means for dealing with them?"

"That is because you wanted to use military might to extinguish a group of innocent nomads at the time; if they stolen the queen for ransom then that is an act of war against Tempeoca," Armonia explained. Elitan was an entirely new ruler now that his over-exaggerated pathos was gone and replaced with anxiety.

"I could think of another person that might be responsible for this case; however, like Armonia implied, it is not an intelligent idea to jump to conclusions." Lightning admitted as we re-approached the main corridor.

"And you would be..."

"Captain Lightning, one of the leaders from the Serentian guard command; Carnivorous and I were the ones responsible for flying here." Lightning pointed to his peer who was gazing a upon a suit of armor on a stand.

"Pleasure to meet you Captain Lightning."

"Pleasure is all mine Sir but please call me Lightning." Lightning smiled receiving one in return.

"Okay I have to ask." I declared. "Why are all the books at the library rewritten in your point of view?"

"Before I came to power my grandfather ruled over this land and removed all forms of literature from the kingdom. I attempted once I took reign to restore our history; however, as I went through the kingdom archives I discovered all the horrid things that my family has done to the members of this kingdom and I knew that I would not be able to recreate our history; so I funded writers to rewrite history starting with my coronation."

"For four centuries I held no connections to this kingdom" Armonia informed us.

"I am aware; that is why I invited you all here, I hopes that I could renew our former ties."

"Insulting my students and our breeds is not the way to renew our alliance."

"I am deeply sorry about that; I may have gotten a little carried away because to be honest I have never spoken with another person besides for my queen, Daniel, or the two messengers I have since taking power nine years ago. I am afraid that if I showed weakness then my subjects would assume I was weak and attempt to rebel."

I have never thought about the possibility of that before.

"Your subjects are upset with you King Elitan and view you just like the previous rulers I presume. The heavy taxation you place upon them harm their businesses and places them in constant fear of you if they fail to pay every year." I informed Elitan.

"Once again that is my fault. The guard demands such a heavy pay and I can not figure out a way to do it without taxation. I was hoping that guards would cycle the currency throughout the empire and at least stimulate the economy."

"The guards are supposed to be paying for their purchases? While Lightning and I were wondering around we witnessed a guard threaten a shopkeepers life over a loaf of bread claiming that you gave them jurisdiction to 'deal with' those who disobey." Carnivorous interjected

"I would never enforce such a harsh punishment! Even though I have threatened execution a few times I have never had the power to go through with the idea. My grandfather executed thousands throughout the kingdom and I am afraid that my subjects are still fearful after his control."

"The problem is that they do not know better! You should go inform them that you are not your grandfather and that you have plans for a brighter future in Tempeoca." I announced with optimism. "What about your father? How was he as a ruler?"

Elitan was silent for a minute before mumbling under his breath "my grandfather executed thousands throughout the kingdom" and turning aware from our observing eyes. None of us were expecting the feeling of dread that rapidly engulfed the castle. Armonia proceeded in front of Elitan and placed his arm on Elitan's shoulder.

"Do not worry King Elitan of the Tempeoca Kingdom; we understand your intentions and what ever happened to your wife we will find her!" he whispered to Elitan.

"She is not my wife." he motioned his head upwards. "She is my sister and the last surviving member of my family. When I stated I did not want children earlier because I did not want a challenge to my power I was lying. I do not have a wife and my sister is more important to me than any other mare in the kingdom." I approached him and placed my left foreleg on this other shoulder and sighed causing him to stare in my direction.

"My sister may not be the only surviving member of my family; however, I will not stop until you get her back! I know what it means to have a sister that cares for me and if it was not for her I would not be where I am today. If it was not for everypony here I would not be here today!" I stared into every single one of their souls leaving Armonia for last. "Thank you; but now it is time we take action! Carnivorous follow the commanders forces using your skills; if they need help assistance please provide it, but if it is the other thing, well you know know what to do." He smiled at the proposal for it was the first truly interesting thing to happen all day for him. "Lightning and I will take our own method for tracking down your sister!" Lightning nodded accepting the plan. "Lord Armonia... would you look over Elitan with you abilities and keep him safe? I have a feeling that we are not dealing with a few pissed-off nomads here." Armonia gazed at me and provided a single nod.

"I will do what I can... Sir Bladz"

"What?"

"We should be getting on our way if we want to be successful in saving the Queen" Armonia claimed before motioning Elitan to follow and the two disappeared behind the internal doors.

"I am going to be enjoying this" Carnivorous glimmered as he sped out through the door.

"You just gave him the best job he could wish for" Lightning rejoiced.

"You think he can handle it?"

"He was not chief scout leader and now captain of the scout corp because he was bad at his job; if I was you I would be worried about the safety of the unlikely person that has gotten on our bad side once he gets a hold of them."

"If that is the case, let's go!" I climbed upon Lightning's back as he braced his wings.

"I think it would be good to know that we will be flying at high speeds this time and you might want to prepare yourself." Lightning reached into his breastplate pulling out two small computer chips, one of which he attached to the side of his temple. "Here put this on your right temple; might feel weird at first but you will get used to it."

"Why do I need this? And what do you mean by high speeds? Wasn't the previous flight high speed?"

"Well for you maybe. The chip transmits neurological signals; spoken words in the mind are read by the chip and then translated into auditory neurological signals that produced the sensation of sound. Also put in these ear plugs"

"And why do I need these?" I inquired as I attached the sensor to my temple and inserted the ear plugs.

"You will thank me later when you are unable to hear a single spoken thing we say?"

"What!" I demanded, however, lightning was on the move and within seconds we were in flight inside the castle; upon clearing the castle doors I felt the two of us accel rapidly while wind ambushed my eye sockets. Lightning's entire body shook over after maybe thirteen seconds from leaving those doors and then everything went quiet and still.

"Congratulations you are flying on the Lightning Express" I turned to witness a white and navy rainbow continuously formulating behind our rear.

"We are flying supersonic!"

"And here you were thinking Lightning was just a cool guy with large wings!" I could tell that he was laughing at me even though my sensor was unable to pick up emotional reactions.

"I see why they call you Lightning for sure now!"

"This is not my max speed! You want to see my max speed?"

"Will it aid us in finding Elitan's sister?"

"Can't promise you that, but I can guarantee we will get from one place to another quicker if we wanted to." I was just about to encourage Lightning on when a black feather magically began to float beside me after ten minutes of flight.

"Hey Lightning? There is a black feather here that is floating what does that mean?" Lightning must of panicked when I stated that because he almost lost control at this high of a speed flinging me wildly as I barely held on. The trip that took us three hours to complete would only take us roughly a quarter of the time at this velocity.

"Bladz, you better hold on!"

"Why?"

"That black feather is from Carnivorous' wing! When he is in trouble he uses a feather to notify Ryan; however, because the guard is nowhere near here he must of addressed it to me! It is time for you to experience the true reason I am name lightning!" Lightning's speed escalated tremendously in seconds as the tip of our flight path formed a white point in front of us.

"I thought we already passed the sound barrier?"

"That is not the sound barrier! That is a ball of solid electrons that are beginning to be ripped from the atoms we are passing by because of our speed."

"WHAT!"

"That ball is solid electricity! Prepare yourself we are entering the speed of nuclear electrical currents!" Just as Lightning proclaimed that the ball exploded, completely engulfing us in lightning that roared around us forming a cocoon of solid electricity. I attempted communicate with Lightning; however the high electrical interference prevented the transceivers from functioned. A blue spark traveled alongside Lightning and struck my transceiver. "Do not try to talk; know and the electricity will speak for you! The electricity will carry your thoughts to me."

I focused on my thoughts and felt the spark emerge, "do you know where he is?"

"Yes; I will be flying upwards in a few moments as we approach him... I need you to let go and do not worry I will catch you afterwards!"

"After what?"

"This lightning can be used offensively I believe."

"You believe?"

"I have never flown at this speed. Armonia just told me that there was a speed for violating electrical balance... I was pulling your leg when I said that I was able to fly faster."

"How do you know what all about the nerve impulses then?"

"I honestly can't tell you that for I don't know why! Carnivorous will be safe because our armor is designed to be lighting resistant so we do not get harmed in violent storms; however, you are going to have to jump... NOW!" I let go as momentum continued to push me upwards. Lightning reversed course aiming straight at the ground. The moment he hit was inarguable as his lightning cocoon imploded inwards and then created an enormous dome of cyan lightning that was self contained yet probably managed to light up the entire kingdom in light. Then there was stillness as I found myself plummeting to the ground.

"LIGHTNING!!!" I screamed in fear. Within the last thousand feet of my fall I felt myself slowing as Lightning grinned lowering me to the ground and then collapsing.

"What happened?" I demanded to Carnivorous.

"I don't know! There was a flash, and then lightning hit the ground, and everything went flying and there was this ball of lightning, and then he flew up and got you and now he is on the ground!!" Carnivorous bolted over to Lightning. "Lightning! Lightning! Lightning! LIGHTNING!" Carnivorous busted into tears over Lightning as he laid there still. "LIGHTNING! WAKE UP LIGHTNING!" I trotted over and rubbed his mane. "Oh Lightning" he mumbled.

"Will you shut up! you are giving me a headache" Lightning cracked his eye open and attempted to smile. "Did I get them?" Lightning's face was engulfed in an expression of pain as he attempted to retract his wings and found himself unable to. "I think I will be laying here for a few seconds," lightning joked in good faith.

"I wish I could allow that Lightning; however, we have to get going soon." Carnivorous paced once again in an new form of anxiety.

"Where is Elitan's sister?" I accused

"Thankfully not here or that blast might of killed her." Taking in realization of that statement he scanned the area in confusion and then pondered into the skies. "What happened to the mass group of guards that were around here?"

"No clue; how did you even get trapped in the first place in the middle of nowhere?"

"I was tracking Daniel and he stopped at this location for a while. I stayed here observing for about ten minutes when  suddenly something smashed into my wind injuring it. I can still fly; however, I wouldn't have been able to out fly them."

"Them?"

"The guards! They came out of nowhere by the dozens surrounding me! I was able to hold the first two waves off, but as more came I was overwhelmed with my advanced abilities in maneuverability stunted. They all had grown wings of a weird formatting and pinned me down."

"Their wings were they of normal appearance, yet somewhat crooked and the feather tips appearing a little bit sharper than normal?" I inquired.

"Yea; how did you know that?" I swallowed my gut and picked at the soil.

"Where did Daniel go?"

"That was what I meant to tell you! He charged off back towards the castle after leading me into this trap! I think the Queen is still at the castle and Daniel allowed Elitan to blame the nomads for what he did!"

"Carnivorous... those things were Sepeti!"

"Sepeti? What are Sepeti?"

"Followers of Sypherous, who formulated to gain revenge after his fall over a thousand years ago. Daniel must be one of their cardinals and is trying to take over Tempeoca to restore Sypherous' reign." I hesitated as I gazed into the mid-afternoon skies. "You know that armor you were looking at yourself in?" Carnivorous nodded. "I think I have seen that design before in a textbook in Armonia's library... that is Sypherous'!"

"Lightning! You feeling better?" Carnivorous roared. Lightning pried his eyelids open and managed to stumble to his feet.

"I am not one hundred percent but I can manage. You ready to go?" Lightning managed to pronounce. "Also can you carry Bladz this time?" he nodded and within moments we were on our way towards the castle once again. "So we are dealing with an evil earth pony then?"

"I am afraid not Lighting, leaders of the Sepeti are unicorns highly skilled in dark art. How do you think the guards were managing to hide their wings?" I admitted.

"So you saying that we are going to have to go against a powerful unicorn that has the current intention to murder us?"

"I never said that, but yes I am afraid."

"Bladz.... your amulet?" Lightning stated pointing towards my neck. The sapphire had taken on a bright glow that sparked anxiety through my mane.

"We have a problem I believe guys... I think Lord Armonia might be in danger now; it usually only glows when he about to send me a letter." Silence emerged over the ground as we completed the final leg of our flight and the castle doors came into sight. The doors upon closer observation; however, was going to be impassible as the doors were locked shut with a dark and powerful magic I noticed upon landing. "I do not know this castle, is it possible that there is another way in!" I cried out.

Carnivorous smirked at my distress. "There is always another way in." before I knew it I was soaring up the castle walls being carried by Carnivorous with Lightning following, landing eventually on the roof.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I addressed to Carnivorous. He shaked his head in disagreement. "Do I really have to jump down a chimney?" To my remorse he nodded and I found myself skidding myself down a chimney that to my surprise had not been used in ages as the two slowly hovered down behind me.

"At least it was clean," Lighting joked even though I found no humor in it. We were upon an enormous dining hall that must of doubled as a ballroom as the tables were movable. A single light was radiating from the hallway and a voice; Daniel's. Rushing out of the room we attempted to maintain our stealth. The armor was missing! Creeping to the throne room we peered inside to witness Lord Armonia and King Elitan standing inside a protective bubble that Armonia must of conjured  up; Daniel standing outside it waiting with a predominant horn now appearing on his skull.

"Where is it!" he demanded.

"What reason do we have to tell you!" Elitan reputled.

"Foolish rulers! You cannot stay in there forever or your precious queen will suffer to  her grave!"

"What have you done with her?" Armonia requested noticing our arrival in his perivials.

"She is suffering from a corruption spell in the basement! You could go in save her if you guys would lower this cowardly shield and tell me where the armor is!" Armonia was pleased with Daniel's ignorance as Daniel has just gave away the Queen's location.

"I think we will pass!" Elitan's eyes dilated in concern as Armonia quickly halted him from speaking by jabbing him in the flank. "Don't" he whispered to Elitan.

"Carnivorous! You need to head down to the basement and save Elitan's sister! A corruption spell is easy to break, it works by concentrating evil magic in a single location; once the door is open the room will not hold the spell pressure that the curse requires." I commanded to him. He nodded in recognition and stormed towards the secondary hallway in hopes of finding a stairwell. "Lightning you feeling okay?" Lightning unsure nodded.

"I will be fine, a large sum of my energy has returned. Just it does not make sense to me."

"What?"

"I have trained numerous hours at my hardest and have never ever seen a lightning particle form; that time it just happened and I have no idea how." Lightning's face was lost in thought.

"Enough! Tell me where the armor is!" Daniel spat. "If you will not tell me I guess I will have to force you to tell me!" Daniel's eyes bursted into a scarlet glow as his skin bubbled and appeared to be charcoaling; a new Daniel was formed with this one standing a fair three inches taller. "Tell me scum!" The floor surrounding the dome blackened and for the first time I witnessed something in Armonia's eyes that I would've never expected. Fear.

"You plan to get us to speak by threatening to send us to Sypherous' dimension of void! Where did you even get the ability to conjure that!" Armonia demanded.

"Oh Armonia how long has it been and you have forgotten my face."

"NO! I cannot be you! You were destroyed!"

"That is what you think! For over a thousand year I laid dormant attempting to regain my powers and after being able to conduct in many of my spells I took control of the guard here and waited for a reason to lead you here. I have waited a long time for this day!"

No! I lost control of myself as I marched myself into the middle point between Lightning and Sypherous. I closed my eyes and breathed as he became aware of my prescence, yet I did not expierence fear.

"Here to watch your pathetic leader be vanquished so I can reign forever!" he nearly choked in his laughter.

"Lightning do not let him do what he is about to do!" Armonia exploded from his lungs. Lightning stood confused and tilted his head.

"I am sorry but the only one who shall be vanished today is you Sypherous!" My voice was not natural and originated from all directions. My eyes flung open presenting a solid white color and my horn flailed in a plethora of an alternating rainbow of colors.

"STOP HIM NOW LIGHTNING!!" Sypherous was locked in fear causing his void dimension to close. Lightning rushed forward grabbing me and knocking me to the floor unconscious as I was beginning to ascend off the ground and generate a mild windstorm throughout the castle in rage.

From the lost you have been found. You have created what is never to be formulated. You are the one who has the potential and the one who has been bestowed with the ability. We have awaited your arrival for we, The Nothing, have begun to see the light because you have shown us. Because of you Bladz, we are now free! Go! Complete what you are meant to be!

Chapter Six (Marked)

The sun's waves composed a melody of tranquility dancing into my chambers and there was a chilliness amongst the air that felt nice after the hard sleep. I twirled on the mattress that I laid on savering in its softness and how delightful a bed felt after the long withdrawal from sleep. The sheets had been neatly folded and tucked in around me; however, I pulled them out celebrating the feeling of Bliss.

"You sleep well my dear?" I rolled out of bed in panic, smashing my horn into the flooring and giving myself a migraine. "Oh I am so sorry! Are you okay dear?" I raised myself to discover where the soft angelic voice was originating from to find a mid-sized light purple mare staring at me with a flowing dark purple mane. "You are Bladz correct?" I nodded my head in uncertainty. "My name is Mari! It is such a pleasure to meet you Sir."

"Hello Mari? Where am I right now?" I scanned the room to find delicately crafted fabrics and arts scattered neatly throughout.

"That would be my bed chambers." I rushed myself out of the tangle of the bed sheets and jumped to my feet. "You are a funny young stallion aren't you. Do not worry I brought you here and tucked you in, you are fine."

"If this is your room, where did you sleep?"

"Well with you of course." I jumped back as an initial reaction. "What? I slept  in this room on my couch?" She walked over towards a neatly placed couch and sat herself down.

"So Mari where am I?"

"Next to my bed... in my room...?"

"I mean where am I as in the place."

"Our castle? Where else would you be?"

"You are Queen Mari! I am so sorry for that!" She laughed at my reaction and laid upon here couch.

"I would not say queen. I am Elitan's sister, not his wife; so I am not a queen. Even if Elitan would like to proclaim that I am a queen in an effort to flatter me."

"Pardon me for asking but how old are you madam?"

"You're fine! I am Elitan's twin, I saw what you were trying to figure out." I examined her to find that she had the cutie mark of a seven blue spikes in a circle.

"What does that mean?" I pointed at her flank.

"That is my cutie mark! I have a side hobby creating things and inventing; the blue spikes match my first project I did of a generator when I was little that power a nightlight."

"That's a cool talent!" I had never heard of a Mare who was an inventor, nor an earth pony for that matter.

"Well thank you! What is yours about?"

"I do not have one I do not think?"

"Then what is that?" I turned to see a complex outline constructed of seven shapes illustrated on my flank with each of the differing bands beholding a unique color. Then one by one the colors disappeared leaving only their shapes' outlines.

"I have a cutie mark... but what does it mean?"

"I do not have any idea but did it just change?"

"The colors just disappeared... yea you just saw what I just saw... What does that even mean?

"I do not know? Have never seen anything so strange."

"What even happened last night?" I strolled over and sat down alongside Mari.

"I think that is a question you should ask yourself" Lightning proclaimed standing at the door. "I will tell you what happened after I knocked you out if you tell me what happened beforehand."

"You were there beforehand... when did you knock me out?"

"Maybe he was correct." I shifted my head at Lightning. "Lord Armonia stated you would hold no recognition of the happenings of last night; he was correct."

"Did he erase my memory or something?"

"He told me that the display I almost saw yesterday was your release and that you were not ready to control it. I do not understand it but there was this symbol that appeared on the ground which I see is the same as your cutie mark now! Congratulations I know you have waited a long time for that!"

"I do not understand?"

"We can ask Armonia about it when he gets back. I have to warn you though... even he was full of doubt when he was stating just that little bit to me."

"What about Sypherous?"

"Let us explain this to you as a group once everyone gets back." Lightning turned around and smiled in a manner that caused the sunshine to reflect off his teeth and radiate through the room before motioning down the hall and downstairs; both Mari and I followed.

The hallway was a tremendous amount brighter than I could've recalled from yesterday and everything seemed to be neatly placed in their location. Everything was neatly cleaned and adjusted, except one thing - the suit of armor that was on display in the hallway was missing. The Grand Hall was the only room where I noticed any change of scenery in as the blinds had been changed from a mint green to a warm yellow; however, the rug and flooring appeared untouched despite yesterday's happenings.

"You want breakfast?" Lightning inquired pulling a plate off the middle shelf of a cart and proceeding to pull lids off platters revealing a spectrum of different tastes.

"Some diced potatoes and a some seasoned apples would be fine." I informed Lightning accordingly taking a seat at small round table that had been set up in the corner next to a greeting window. .

"Hash browns and an apple danish fine?"

"Sure, that is fine," I nodded. "Thanks Lightning!"

"It is not a problem" he proclaimed sliding the plate over to my location. Mari took a spot next to me and extended her legs in relaxation.

"This breakfast feels nice after that sleep; tasty and warm."

"Well thank you Sir. I made it all this morning fresh!" Mari rejoiced.

"Oh you didn't have to go to such extents for us" I blushed.

"Of course I did! Not everyday we have visitors that are as heroic as you four!" Mari was content with herself as she extended friendly warmth across the table. "You know Bladz you are such an interesting character! Being so humble about the meal, falling out of bed in innocence, and mumbling in your sleep..." My head impacted the table as she declared the last one. "What? You were so cute talking with this Cristalla mare... that your marefriend?"

"Sister" Lightning informed her.

"Ahh that makes sense then! The way you were talking made you two seem like really close friends!" My face was superglued to the table as I made tiny circles with my horn. Mari was getting a kick out of my behavior and was charmed by my embarrassment.

"How long was I even a sleep for?"

"If you just got up fourteen hours" a familiar voice proclaimed from across the room. I turned to see Armonia followed by Elitan and Carnivorous enter. "It is the ninth hour of the day now."

"Why can't we just say nine o'clock in the morning!" Carnivorous whined.

"I do not know actually; just I have always heard it by the hour in that format," Armonia admitted. "Do you usually hear is as o'clock?"

"Carnivorous operates off actions not times" Lightning amused to the group. "Breakfast, lunch, dinner, bed, and training are the only times that he understands."

"You forgot desert time"

"Please that term results in an action that I rather forget on a daily basis!" Carnivorous claiming an expression of a mixture of defeat and satisfaction took a seat across from me.

"So what happened yesterday?" I addressed to Armonia.

"I asked Lightning to sedate you after your emotions got the best of you... do not worry though because nothing major damaging happened because of it; however, the wind that you created did allow Captain Carnivorous to use the current to his advantage and impact Sypherous with a strong enough blow while he was awed to knock him into a wall permitting Elitan and I enough time for me to lower my shield safely." Carnivorous conducted in a small bow in recognition of his name.

"And where is Sypherous now?"

"Gone" Elitan announced. I dilated my eyes towards the two.

"How did you harness the power to defeat him without the orbs?" I demand in surprise. Armonia took place next to me and sighed.

"I did not defeat him. He defeated himself or you did it; I do not know which way it was."

"What do you mean by that? Did you not say that I was unconscious!" I got myself up from my seat so I could get a thorough view of Armonia's face.

"What I mean is that after realizing how much potential power you had Sypherous attempted to siphon the power from you. When he charged up and touched you, you were still glowing; all we saw was that simple touch on your horn cause your white coat color to transfer and supersede his blackened coat. Panic was evoked in his eyes as his pupils translated from red to white. And then he shattered and a black crystal laid in his place floating in the air." Armonia flitched from the memory.

"What happened next?" I asked. Lightning approached me and rubbed my mane.

"Six more crystals of the same size roughly arose from various points on the ground encircling around you, each of a differing color, and formed the circle that is on your flank currently. The crystals glowed their color before dissolving into light that radiated at your flank and then were absorbed. We do not know if your cutie mark appeared after that or not because I do not remember seeing it as I carried you to Mari's room as she tucked you in; however, at that time you still had a lot of your color still missing from your face." Lightning explained.

"Pretty cool way to get a cutie mark if you ask me!" Carnivorous celebrated while stuffing down hash browns. "Lightning and I got our cutie marks at flight camp and it was nowhere nearly as cool! Although we got ours in moments of happiness; your's originated from probably the scariest method I have ever heard or read about."

I wonder if after that even is when I dreamt of the voices?

"Lord Armonia are you okay?" I pondered as he was still staring off into ceiling.

"I just do not understand it. This was not what I was expecting...I knew you were high potential but this is not what I was expecting." he cried out silently and laid silent for a few moments as we watched him. "So what is your cutie mark anyway?"

"You are not aware?" He shook his head in defeat. Armonia I could see was not used to not understanding something and the rapid change of events of yesterday had left him in confusion that he had never experienced before. "I believe it is a Santum; however, it is missing all the words."

"A what?"

"It is a symbol that was used to connect the act of magic to divinity; however, lost recognition about three thousand years ago."

"Where did you learn that from?"

"I do not know?" I now lowered my head in confusion now.

"It is okay guys! All that is important is that we all are here and that there is a bright and shining future ahead of us!" Mari commanded.

"Mari; you are always in a good mood and know how to turn my frowns upside down!" Elitan exclaimed causing Armonia and I to recover from our slumps a bit. "The meeting with the nomads is in just over an hour; want to start to prepare for their arrival you two?" Elitan motioned towards us and poked Armonia's face. "Hello Lord Frown, how is the weather under that dark cloud?"

"Dark cloud?" Lightning flailed in surprise to realize that Elitan was metaphorical. "I hate you... you startled me!"

"Weather peagsi will be weather pegasi" I cheered and laughed at Lightning's reactions.

The nomads arrived on time at the eleventh hour in a sense of uneasiness and tensions could be felt as the leader of the group passed in a state of stern surrender. The nomads were forced to this location under a decree by Daniel beforehand five days ago and in expectations of the pseudo-commander's manners it is fair to believe that the nomads were not thrilled to be invited to such an occasion. The nomads were ignorant of the King's real identity and the persona that was illustrated to them initially was not one of celebration. Two larger earth pony nomads trailed the assumed leader of the group and were most evidently designed as guards in case the negotiations did not go smoothly, even though, I am pretty sure that any actions they attempt while be easily handled by us from Serentia; the nomads as they began to take in more attention to us were similar to the commoners around this kingdom as they were confused by the presence of unicorns and pegasi; however, their expressions showed a new form of ignorance for we may had been the first of our breeds that they have ever witnessed and could not understand why we had wings or horns.

"Welcome to Tempeoca Castle!" Elitan exclaimed pulling three chairs aside so they all can sit down at the oval table we set out and fashioned with a formal kingdom display. They took their seats on the left as Lightning and Carnivorous took the middles of the longer sides granting the nomads a large section per person. Content with their arrangement Elitan placed himself just scew from the center of the right end with Armonia and I to his sides; Mari took her place next to me upon setting a platter of chocolate chip cookies in the center of the table. Carnivorous stood strong against the temptation; however, is eyes were in rapid motion.

"Good afternoon ... King Elitan," the nomad proclaimed.

"Right off the back I would like to say that the nomadic ponies are welcomed in Tempeoca."

"Nonsense!... Wait what?"

"I was reading over the report that I was given on the incident and I see that this whole mess was sparked over the destruction of the crops of a planter's field. I would be more than happy to open trade with the nomadic groups and would like to extend this kingdom's hand in friendship after so many years that we have been bickering neighbors."

"Your farmer overstepped his boundaries and was on our soils"

"Actually I had Lord Armonia from the Serentian Empire go over the math of the borders and he found out that the farmer was a quarter of a kilometer into our lands. The lake which was used for reference on the map that both our people use does not take into consideration changes that have occurred within the last ten years. The planter's family reported to me that the lake on our border had dried up four years ago and when I looked in the archives I did in fact find a letter addressed to me from this family from this date that never made it to me because an error in sorting." Elitan recollected showing the nomad the map analysis that Armonia conducted.

"So we were wrong... I am sorry for the trouble then"

"That is not why I asked you here as I have stated already! For years we have been bickering and today I want to put an end to this! Please accept my formal plan for trade agreements and my informal policy for open door collaboration." Elitan proclaimed with a grin.

"How can we know that this is what you seek! Your commander informed us otherwise!" I departed my seat and motioned towards the nomads who examined me.

"I would like to point out to you gentlemen that where do you see this commander in this room?" The nomads were a little taken back by the question. I continued on declaring "the Sir Daniel that threatened you here was not the commander that Elitan had anticipated. He was instead Lord Sypherous from the old Ancasian Empire seeking to take his revenge on us of the Serentian government by trying to focus our attention against this kingdom and the vice-versa. When Elitan failed to accuse us for abducting his sister Sypherous' plan was failing causing him to attempt to overthrow this Kingdom and use it as a starting point to reclaim the world in his name; knocking out the force that defeated him in the initial process. Sypherous underestimated us and in the end he was defeated and destroyed, rid from harming this kingdom or any other nation."

"Who are you if I may ask?" the nomad inquired.

"I am Bladz. Unicorn from Serentia and student under Armonia!"

I should get a sign soon and just start waving it around... I have been having to explain myself too much lately.

"Sorry for my ignorance; we nomads are knowledgeable of the world; however, distance breeds ignorance of my people. Why should I listen to a student?"

"You should listen to him because he was the one who vanquished Sypherous without the aid of external magic." Armonia decreed.

"Also look at him! His mane is fantastic and he has a wonderful white coat!" Mari declared. revolving around the table we each took a turn rolling our eyes at the statement even though I was flattered by the comment. "Be quiet... I can make my own decisions... I just really like his mane..." Mari mumbled to herself.

"Well then it is decided!" The nomad and his guards arose from their seats, with the leader with a hint of amusement with the recent occurrence. "The nomadic tribes understand their miscalculations and would be more than ecstatic to accept a new trade partner, a new open door policy.... and a new friend." We all rose in delight in the haste and beneficial compromise. Elitan and the nomad shook hooves and embraced their new friend. "I should be returning to inform my people; however, I would like to personally thank you for ending a tension that has troubled my people for many decades."

"Thank you my friend" Elitan padded the nomadic leader before he recessed out of the hall and back towards his people. "Thank you guys for your support!"

"Excuse me but I have a very, very important question!" Carnivorous demanded.

"Yes you can eat the cookies" I replied. Picking up the entire platter he began to stuff his face in chocolatey deliciousness. "Eventful start of the week this has been!"

"I suppose; I invited you here thinking that it was just going to be a standard, boring diplomatic event and then we aided in granting Tempeorca two alliances, one with ourselves, saved this kingdom from collapse under the evil plans of Sypherous, rescued Lady Mari here from danger, and you found your cutie mark." Armonia celebrated. Mari applauded in recognition of our deeds once again strangly causing Lord Amonia to sigh.

"What is wrong Lord of Serentia? Worried? Sick? Are you hungry? Is that what is wrong?" Mari questioned hopping from one location to another.

"You remind me of someone else that I know. Not sure which one of you two are more entertaining." Armonia explained in annoyance rolling his eyes discreetly while maintaining good faith and pose. Elitan still aroused from the negoations and how well they worked out in his kingdom's favor was especially amused by Armonia's responses to his sister's joyous attempts.

"We all know someone who is always in a good mood and it is a pleasure to have them around! They brighter our day with cheer and fill our hearts with sunshine through their smiles, celebrations, and ambitions." Lightning directed to Mari who gladly accepted the compliment.

"speaking of which," King Elitan interrupted. " I have something for you Bladz, for all of you to be realistic." My facial features epanded in recongition of his statement.

"What is it?"

"Nothing major, follow me for a minute." Obeying his command I followed behind him as the others out of curiosity trailed as well. Mari seizing the opportunity charged up along my side and offered me a cookie that she managed to get past Carnivorous.

"That is a dangerous feat there taking a cookie while he is shoving them down, you could of very easily lost a leg in that action." I informed her; however, she was amused by my concerns.

"I would of been worth the danger after what you did for me; however, I baked this cookie special for you."

"How did you drug it?" I inquired. Mari took on a confused look for a moment before her amusement intenisified.

"The cookie is a new recpie that I am trying out. I wanted to see how you liked it."

"How come you want me try it? Why not the others?" I declared popping the cookie into my mouth.

"Well Elitan is not a big fan of cookie and I would not expect Lord Armonia to be that large of a fan either. Captain Carnivorous would devour it to fast to get a real taste and if it is bad I do not want Lightning to eat it. I would prefer that you enjoy it though instead of the logic behind it. I mean what are friends for?" I began to choked on the cookie at that moment and had a hard time swollowing; however, managed after a six second episode sparking international interests from the group. "Oh! Was the new recipe taste bad?" Mari's smile began to fade from the state of excitement it recently enjoyed.

"No it is wonderful! One of the best cookies I had ever had! You just caught me off guard is all."

"Too buttery? Salty? Tart? Sweet? Too many distinct flavors? Does it need less of something?"

"No the recipe is fantastic! I was just not you to call me your friend." Mari's anxiety increased as she diluted to allow sorrow if needed.

"It is okay with you right?" she muttered.

"Oh course it is!" I cheered causing her to explode with cheerfulness.

My first actual real friend besides for my sister. Who would of though my first friend would be the theoretical queen of Tempeoca.

"Mentor?" I turned to question him. "Since Mari is not actually a queen yet a member of royal blood doesn't that make her a princess?" Mari was puzzled by this question and did not understand my meaning.

"In traditional earth pony views yes; however, that word was altered to take on a new meaning long ago and has been given to very few ponies. Lord and Lady are better terms for those of royalty or power that are not a king or queen. I am surprised you did not know about that from all your readings."

"I do not recall only readings on them." I admitted.

"Well it has been a while since the world has dealt with one of them. Could of been just the effect of time that has resulted in this." Armonia nodded and motioned for me to continue on. "I will explain it to you later on." Mari and I continued on for the rest of way in silence. Elitan directed us down two flights of stairs and upon a room that was guarded by a powerful yellow magic aura.

"Lord Armonia will you please be so kind as to deactivate this spell" Elitan insisted. Complying to the request, Armonai dispelled the protection spell and Elitan opened to door to relieve the royal archives.

"So this is what laid behind the door you asked me to protect." Amonia stated. Elitan was half-listening and he descended into a row of junk and returned with Sypherous' armor.

"I would like to grant you this set of armor Bladz for your Empire's assistance to Tempeoca."

"That is a royal artifact of your kingdom though" I protested.

"Not anymore. You have showed me that this armor is in better hands if left with Serentia and to be honest you look a little excluded when all of the other three are wearing nice sets of armor." Elitan motioned to Armonia, Lightning, and Carnivorous.

"Wait! This armor is not the same armor we saw yesterday!" I turned to Armonia and Lightning who nodded in agreement. "The armor from yesterday was silver, not black like this one, and was not as lustrous."

"That is because it is not the same armor as you all saw upstairs. Armonia and I stashed that replica in my royal bedroom; however, it was not until yesterday that I realized what this armor really was. Sypherous, as you called him, was after the replica of this armor unaware of the truth that the real laid down here."

"Why did I lock off this room yesterday then is if you were unaware of the armor?" Armonia requested. Elitan held his hoof up in acknowledgement and disappeared for a moment returning with a box.

"This box was alongside the armor, it gives off a high amount of dark energy on a moonless night and I suspected if it was a dark force who abducted Mari then this box is what they would be after. I think it would be safer with  you guys, you can have this too." I took the box from Elitan examining it closely to review no locking system yet held closed by a powerful dark power.

"What is holding this closed?" Elitan took attention to my request and turned to view upon the armor.

"I am unaware, however, I am assuming it is the same power that has stained this armor black. The armor was jet black in every aspect and was composed of a rigid finish. The durability and elegance of the armor was on par with the quality level of Armonia's lacking a seeming hoof-fabricated feel to it. I approached the armor and gazed upon it analyzing its uniqueness. "Why don't you try it on? If anything happens we all are here to prevent you from being harmed." I nodded and reached down to pick up the metal. Upon contact, however, we were no longer working with the same armor as the darkness faded and was replaced with a white-silver finish complementing my coat and the rigidity smoothed out to become flat.

"Well it is magic armor after all." Armonia determined.

"What do you mean Sir?" I starred in anticipation of a response.

"The armor accepted you are the wearer and reconfigured itself to match your coat and figure." I nodded in surprise, yet it was not the weirdest thing I had seen within the last forty-eight hours and in content I pulled the armor over my head, body, and flank, and stood proud.

"Looks nice on you Bladz." Lightning admitted. "Almost a little jealous of how nice it looks." All of us glimmered at this statement as well all retreated back towards to main hall.

The time at the castle was approaching the second hour of the afternoon and none of us had enjoyed a dinner yet. Mari decided to construct a wonderful and elaborate meal for all of us. I attempted to assist in the preparation of the meal; however, Mari insisted otherwise and I was forced to find myself racing birds that were resting around the castle's outer walls, The birds here were not like the ones home in Cantardash lacking the majestic beauty of our home birds; however, the simplicity of their feathers was a symbol of the earth pony pony kingdom itself, basic in form and style, yet overall a content kingdom of ponies. After a half-hour of waiting I retired to check on Mari's progress to find that she was cheering only twenty more minutes or so. I took the liberty of this time to straighten up Mari's room from the mess I left it, folding up the sheets, and positioning all of her belongings in their proper locations. A set of dresses laid free from hangers that I were going to hang when the call was received to arrive for dinner.

The meal was wonderful to say the least and even though it took forty minutes to complete I could find no reason to complain. There was a plethora of entrees and sides scattered completely down one of the main tables in the dining hall. At least seven pounds of food was laid out per the person and I had a hard time deciding between all the tasty creations that Mari prepared. I attempted to sample every production; however, I struggled after getting only two-thirds the way through. I could see in the other's faces that they also were struggling with the abundance of food and were trying to taste everything to make Mari happy; everyone except Lighting and Carnivorous that was whom had dedicated half the table to themselves and was taking pleasure in seeing who could consume the most. Even them overtime began to slow down and there was still a third of food left when they both collapsed in exhastion.

"It is too much! We cannot take anymore!" They proclaimed to Mari in unison.

"I am glad that you all were completely filled and there was enough for everyone!" she celebrated.

"Oh! Everyone! King Elitan you stated that you had those intense taxes because of "Daniel" right and his "army"; now that that issue is over you should explain to your subjects the reason for the heavy taxation over the recent years and help lower it to an acceptable amount that all of your people would be glad to contribute." I determined. "Also, do not be afraid of doing something to create a sense of unity among you people and pride. Serentia has a variety of celebrations throughout the year with our big event being the Gala of the Three Tribes; why not see you you can create some annual traditions around here?"

"Sounds like a plan to me Sir Bladz." Elitan cheered.

"I like the sound of those as well!" Mari rejoiced.

"I hate to be interrupting; however, we should be departing within the next hour. We have a big day tomorrow and I think we should get some fly and get some sleep before tomorrow." Armonia announced. We all nodded and helped Mari collect our plates onto her cart.

"Before you leave I have something to give you." Mari whispered to me. She charged up to her room dragging me behind. She moved her dresses to pull a bracelet that she clipped over my watch. "This is something new that I have recently created that allows messaging over long distances as high speeds. ; this way were can communicate and still be friends even though we are so far away. Also, if Elitan ever needs you four again we can get a hold of you guys without the annoyance of ambassadors and letters and the long time spent waiting for a reply."

"Thank you"

"No problem." Mari kissed me on the cheek before going shy. "Just to let you know... I... you have been the first person that I have been able to truly call my friend."

"Mari?" She looked up in anxiety. "You are my first friend as well that is not my sister." Her eyes teared as so did mine with joy.

"Thank you"

We both hugged each other for a while before I returned the kiss to her cheek. "Promise you will keep in touch." She motioned over to her dresser picking up a simular braclet to the one she gave me and nodded before we both walked down stairs and I prepared to depart as Armonia and the captains had already retrieved the chariot and was ready to proceed on our way.

"Thank you again Serentia for all you have done for us" Elitan cheered. Mari teared while nodding. Lightning smiled upon feeling the atmosphere that was created between Mari and I, and we were quickly on our way.

"How is that new suit of armor Sir Bladz?"

"Was a little heavy at first, but I have gotten used to it. Why are both you and King Elitan referring to me as Sir?"

"After what you have shown the last three days is anything but what I would expect from a normal student. You are truly unique and there is a lot I could learn from you as well as you could learn from me Sir, Bladz Angelo, Royal Knight of the Serentian Empire!"

"I..." I studderd to say something, but Armonia prevented me from speaking.

"No need to say anything." He rubbed my mane and smiled. "Get some sleep, tomorrow is a big day!"

The seed has sprouted, feed it and it may grow.

Chapter Seven (Knight flight)

Departing the fourth hour in the afternoon from Tempeoca, we were scheduled for a seven hour flight across five time zones to arrive at our destination in Cantardash at seven o'clock in the evening local time; however, hourly ten minute breaks were going to push us back at least an hour to be arriving instead around eight local time in Cantardash. We had originally planned to depart early the following morning and ride against the sunrise so that we would arrive in Cantardash at the crack of dawn there, but upon suggestion by Lightning, Armonia proposed that we leave roughly twelve hours early so that I could catch up with my family and pack up supplies so that we all could depart for the Citadel easily tomorrow after all the festivities. It worked out for Lightning and Carnivorous, as they could take advantage of the late afternoon tailwind , instead of having to combat morning headwinds.

The excitement of Tempeoca had proved over-exhausting on all of us; however, it was evident that Armonia was the one who had suffered the most from sleep withdrawal. His eyes were rusted open and he had lost his sense of elegance and grace partially by the time we had departed, even though he strived his hardest to conceal these signs. King Elitan had explained that he and Armonia had went over the national borders and evaluated the situation with the nomads; however, it did not occur to me until pondering about it that there was no time beforehand to go over such minute situations while Sypherous was at large and Mari in the brink of danger; he must have stayed up half the night to figure out those measurements and then was one of the first ones to awaken because he was absent when I awoke. Bottomline factual is that he had received the least sleep within the last forty-eight hours than any of us and showed it by passing out only five minutes into the return flight, with me following suit shortly after.

The final of the third hour of flight marked the second time zone transaction and the entrance into Serentia, placing us at a current local time of half past five as we touched down for Lightning's and Carnivorous' break. the land was a bit harder than what I would've expected, waking me up in the process; however, was not to say dangerous or hazardous by any means. Upon standing I became aware that a cable had become loose to the chariot and the two were forced to handle the manner by placing down in the best method they found possible. Armonia was still unconscious and I found no reason for any of us to awaken him.

"Sorry for the relatively rude awakening," Carnivorous apologized as Lightning was stretching his legs around the field.

"No problem. I should be thanking you Captain Carnivous for fixing that attachment; breaking away in flight is no fun feat and I would prefer not partake in such surprises while I am sleeping." I stated in a humorous tone. Carnivorous sighed for a moment taking on a smile.

"You can call me Shadow if you want Sir Bladz. My actual name is Lunar Shadow, but I prefer that only childhood friend call me Lunar."

"Sure thing Car... I mean Shadow. Where did the name captain Carnivorous come from in the first place then?"

"As a member of the royal guard you find yourself lucky if you are not bestowed with a callsign nickname." shadow explained.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well callsigns are not always bad but they are not always the most pleasurable for many stallions in the guard. Carnivorous Cookie is actually my real callsign and I can assume you already know the reason for that." I nodded in amusement "When I was just a plain guard in the infantry division I had won the monthly cookie eating contest three months running and someone had commented that I devour cookies so fast that they were afraid I would turn into a cookie and start devouring everything. The imagery persisted and my name became over time Carnivorous; pretty good callsign if you ask me because once I became a captain it really added fierceness to my ranking as an officer."

"That is pretty neat! What about Lightning?"

"What about me?" Lightning announced returning from the field.

"Sir Bladz wanted to know about your name." Shadow informed to Lightning, who seemed enlightened by the question.

"My name is a pretty simple story. My actual name is Lightning, Lightning Chaser."

"How did you avoid getting a callsign like shadow? Where you not very well known?" I trotted closer so I could get a better understanding of what he was saying over the sound of surrounding wildlife.

"Well first off I should say that the ones that are not well known are the ones who typically are the ones that get callsigns first so that everyone recognizes their names; however, I didn't get a call sign because my name already matched my callsign really. I was and still am I would say the fastest flyer is all of the guard, so my name stuck Sir." Lightning was more than happy to express his satisfaction even though he still remained humble in nature.

"Bladz is fine really. I understand that I am now a member of the ruling council as a royal knight, but I meet you guys as Bladz and I would prefer it to stay that way between us three." Shadow and Lightning accepted the proposal and were delighted to disband the formality of my new title. "I understand your sense of respect for those above you in power but I am only seventeen and it is awkward to say the least."

"I understand completely" Lightning stated with Shadow nodding in agreement. "Lunar Shadow and I both were friends as colts, we grow up with the same friends, became captains together and have been working happily together as rivals and friends for years. We both find it weird to refer to each other as Captain and refer to the title only when communicating formally with others."

"Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we are running over the break time and should really get back into the air." Shadow determined and without further explanation we all understood and took our places readying for the fourth leg of our flight. "By the way Lightning I think we should only have one more break before arriving in Cantardash."

"How come?"

"I have a feeling about the weather, from my years as a scout leader I just have this premonition that there is some serious weather ahead." Lightning was surprised by this statement knowing that there very few storms that the weather pegasi could not handle and focused on the elements of the weather and the light dark haze that was ahead

"I do not know what it is but that is not a storm of any nature I know of but I agree that we do not want to get slowed down by weather even a small drizzle."

Upon takeoff I motioned to fall back asleep alongside Armonia who was still out cold when the device that Mari supplied me flashed a faint lime green light indicating a new message. Hope your flight is going well, I just finished preparing dinner and it looks fantastic! I know you would have loved it! I scrambled to reply the message; however, failed to find the anyway to type the message when another message came through. I feel like I forgot to tell you how one of these things work; it is fairly simple in design although I feel like anyone unaware would eventually give up in frustration. Hold down the screen for a few seconds and three lights will create a keyboard to use and a reflection sensor will detect what you press! Lost in total confusion I pressed the screen to find that two seconds later three green lights radiated out a small holographic keyboard. I pressed a random key to find the keyboard typing accordingly.

Where do you get the time to engineer these things or the knowledge for that fact. This thing alone uses its own special type of magic or something. I typed to her in reply, amazed by the structure of the keypad.

Actually it runs off sunlight, not magic; the screen has a solar panel built in. Anyhow you should of asked and I would of showed you all my previous failures. I read many, many books on science and engineering that Elitan found in the archives and I essentially use trial and error until I get something to work. One day I hope to make the world more advanced through my creations. I am about to shower and go to bed; thank you for fixing up my room Bladz! Mari left the message off with a stream of characters that I found to be a happy face when I turned the receiver sideways. I once again laid my head down and attempted to get some more sleep.

"Sir Bladz, we will be arriving at your hometown within the next thirty minutes . We will not be too much of a disturbance  will we?" Lord Armonia questioned disturbing my slumber.

"Ahh... what time is it?" I wondered.

"Approaching eight o'clock in Cantardash. Will your family be okay with our arrival?"

Cristalla is going to kill me for not warning her about Armonia's arrival, but I think she could live with it, I am the one who is really going to take the heat from it anyway.

"I do not see any reason that would hinder us my Lord." I replied. Armonia was delighted to hear that and commanded Shadow and Lightning onwards.

"So where again are we heading towards?" Lightning stated.

"Sapphire Convection."

"What do you have to pick up from there?" Armonia rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead in response to the question. "What?... oh yeah... Bladz is an Angelo." Lightning took on a look of concern as he hesitated in thought.

"What is it Light?" Shadow asked poking Lightning in the ribs.

"I don't know, I feel like there was something important to do with that place at one time." Shadow took note becoming aware of the rapid onset of sorrow.

"I am sure it is nothing Light just continue to focus on the flight.' Shadow rubbed Lightning's mane in an act of comfort before encouraging him on. The next twenty minutes laid in silence and upon landing both Lord Armonia and I hastily abandoned the chariot for the beauty of sweet ground that we had been deprived of for long hours; Lightning and Shadow could care less as they motioned around the air free from the restraints of the chariot.

Regrouping from the momentary celebration we all motioned over towards the front door of Sapphire Convection to discover that the door was locked and there was a note on the door. "What does it read?" Lightning posed to the group as Shadow struggled to decipher the words that laid in the darkness.

"I learned a spell from one of my books before that aids in these situations" I informed to shadow. I proceeded over to the door and generated light from my horn. "Words are easier to read in the light versus the darkness I would say."

Went to the convention hall to direct in preparations. If it is something major please try again in the morning. If it is of a smaller caliber, feel free to join us at the hall.

"Hmm, it is written in Cristalla's handwriting instead of my fathers... oh well they are the convention center so let us see if we can get a hold of their attention there." The convention center designed for easy access to our workshop was simply around the bend across from the market. The time was only half past eight and Cantardash already appeared to be a ghost town with not a single pony in sight. Lightning and I took lead, being tailed by Lord Armonia and Shadow, and it was until I took the final bend of the market that I saw the first light illuminated in the city. Dozens of figures wondered inside moving in haste to get something completed, honestly reminded me of one of the panics I typically witness at the Citadel when final preparations are underway are underway for national events. "I really hope they are not over-exerting themselves over such a small manner."

"Bladz, being truthful, when was the last time I formally visited Cantardash?" Armonia inquired to me. I was forced to think about it for a minute until I understood the community's stress.

"It has to of been a good four or five years to be honest." I admitted.

"Cantardash is Serentia's third largest city and here I am to pay so little attention to it. the Citadel is the largest, but I live there; Cittàdiali, Captain Lightning and Carnivorous' current hometown, the metropolis for pegasi, is second; however, I am limited in time to visit there because I have to use a powerful spell to allow me to walk there because we unicorns cannot walk on clouds. Cantardash is the largest, integrated city in Serentia to be honest because Cantardash I would say has an even mix of pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies." Armonia explained.

Impatient to see my family after the long few days I charged over to a mare who was outside stretching her hooves after probably working inside the crowded interior of the center. Upon seeing me; however, she did not share my enthusiasm as she sprinted inside and caused a commotion inside the center. Two minutes later, I saw my father walk out into the open.

"Excuse me Sir, some pony told me that you are a royal guard and may I ask how I could help you?" my father proclaimed.

"Well I would not say I am a royal guard, but you can help me by saying hi."

"BLADZ!" my father screamed in a mixture of excitement and concern as a moved myself into the light. "I did not recognize you in that armor! One moment I will be right back!" Noise intensified inside as screams were created. After a minute or so both my parents and Cristalla exited the building. It did not take too long of a time before I found my sister jumping on top of me in happiness.

"BLADZ! I am so glad to see you! I was put in charge of the welcoming party to put my mind aside while you were gone  for Armonia tomorrow and I am sure he will be glad with how it looks currently!" She cheered. "I like you armor where did you get it?"

He got it from King Elitan of the Tempeocan Kingdom and I am sure that whatever you have planned with be fantastic with what I am already seeing." Lord Armonia proclaimed as he motioned into the light with Lightning and Shadow following.

Cristalla fainted.

"Captain Lightning it has been a while" my father started to declare before Shadow's facial expression cut him short. Lightning uncertainty reflected in his posture as my family became lost on the reason behind his sudden shyness.

"Captain Lightning; Captain Carnivorous; You two are dismissed for the night if you two would like to return the Citadel to check on the current happenings there. Bladz and I will most likely use our own method for transport later." Armonia assured to the two.

Shadow quickly broke the tensions and headbutted Lightning in the flank. "I'll race you back to the armory! I bet you will eat my dust!" Without hesitation he darted into the wind and was on his way. Lightning was a little startled by the situation; however, recovered quickly to take off full speed behind him.

"Why did you do that?" I questioned to Armonia.

"Lightning did not feel comfortable here and I would not want him to feel stressed out, I myself do not understand it but in time we both with understand."

"BLADZ! Where did you get that?!" I turned to see my sister pointing with her whole body towards my newly aquired symbol. "Actually nevermind that question. What is it?!"

"It is some magical symbol from ancient text" I explained to the my family. "We will explain while I am collecting a few necessities from the workshop." I motioned them to follow behind as Armonia and I worked our way back to home. "Oh! By the way Cristalla, thank you for the suit once again; however, I forgot to wear it while I was abroad, although I am glad that I did not to be honest."

"Why is that?" Cristalla stated unsure if she was to be offended or relieved.

"It is a good thing... I did not want your hard work to get ruined. Last two days have been a little chaotic and might not be so well put together anymore if I had it on at the times." Cristalla's face took on relief as we stopped to wait for Ardore to unlock the door so we could proceed inside.

"Yes, the suit that you gave your brother was of the upmost most excellent quality; you should be very proud of your work." Armonia complemented to Cristalla who upon receiving this compliment once again almost fainted. I secretly rolled my eyes to overlook my sister's hyperactivity towards my teacher.

Upon unlocking the door my father, Ardore, held the door open for us all as we passed inside the workshop. The decorations from my birthday still engulfed the walls in delight as the gentleness of the evening-night breeze swayed the ribbons in a manner of elegancy. The tablecloth from my celebrations was still stretched over the table and the only major change I could see was that the confetti from Cristalla's cannon was no longer flooding the floor. Puzzled by the continuation of the celebratory creations I climbed our stairs to find the railings still wrapped and my room door still left open. My bed had been fabricated with a new pair of sheets since I departed and the top of my dresser laid bare of its previous contents. motioning downstairs I aimed at the single person I could suspect to be responsible for this, my sister.

"Why is everything still hanging up, while my room has been restored to neatness?"

"Well you never left it dirty or disorganized in the first place, I just wanted to fix it up for you while you were away because there is no need to leave things that are going to be untouched for a while lay dormant." My sister admitted.

"Is that why all these decorations are still hanging up?" I posed to her in a candid manner. She was silent in no desire to reveal a secondary motive behind her selective attention to cleaning.

"Well it does lighten up the workshop if I must say so, makes this place a little bit more enjoyable to work in... it is not a problem that it is still up is it for you?" she muttered in anxiety that I might be displeased.

"It is not a problem. I am just not used to you not removing everything after the parties and celebrations." Cristalla was expressing a mixture of shame, embarrassment, and happiness, and was uncertain how to respond to her motives.

"I find it very appealing in this workshop of yours Cristalla and it is wonderful in presentation, just like how your mane is styled." Armonia praised to Cristalla who once again nearly fainted and instantly Armonia realized if it was the truth or not, he had made a mistake.

"You really think so? Thank you! Your mane looks nice too, and your eyes, and that coat, and that suit of armor that you are wearing is of such great beauty! I wish I could be as stunning as you sir." Cristalla replied in a frenzy.

"Why would you want to be on the leveling of stunning of I? Look at your creations! These are of a quality unknown to my hooves personally!" Armonia rationed to Cristalla. "Although to be honest my hooves are not very talented anyway." Armonia had transformed Cristalla's addittude back into one of cheer and I could see on my parent's faces that they respected Armonia for his actions there.

"I showed Bladz a lot of my methods! Maybe he could show you a thing or two?!"

"I would like that," he proclaimed turning to me and supplying me with a glance that illustrated his sincerity. My mother pulled out some chairs from the dining table so we could all rest our legs while we discussed; however, it did not take long before I found myself once again in motion.

"You guys were asking about my new cutie mark right?" I supplied to the group who instantly took on emotions of curiosity nodding in anticipation. "Well to be honest I have no clue what it means; it is an ancient symbol that was used to correlate divinity with magic if I remember right; however, I have no idea why that has anything to do with me."

"Was it colored at one point?" Cristalla pondered to me.

"Yes? Why do you ask that?" All of us eye'd Cristalla in demand for reason for her questioning.

"Well that outer shape, the one just inside the final circle, I think I have seen before," she informed us. "when I injured my leg that one time about three or four months ago after falling down the stairs and you tried to heal my leg using magic, that symbol appeared flashing a few colors quickly before turning white and aiding my joint, remember?"

"I remember you falling down the stairs and going into panic, but I do not recall using magic to heal it directly with a white symbol appearing? I remember wrapping it with an elastic bandage."

"Well you did and I was very grateful alongside that!" I gazed over at my mentor who was lost in thought after Cristalla finished her proclamation. Out of concern I poked him instantly startling him while gaining his attention. He was shaky after being pulled out of his illusion; however, quickly began to recover by taking upon a grimace.

"So you told us where you got that armor Bladz; however, you never told us exactly why you are wearing it?" my father proclaimed dropping the issue of my mark and moving on to the new discussion.

"I will explain, you should begin to get the things you need together; we will be here tomorrow, but I am not sure how much time you will be able to devote to packing. I would try to get everything you need to get done, you get done tonight and bring it to the Citadel." Armonia advised to me before turning to my family. Without argumentation I proceeded up the stairs turning around to barely witness them and get the background of their conversation. "The reason that Bladz is wearing that armor is because it is his armor; he earned it for completing a notable and great deed for Tempeoca in saving their kingdom from demise and as a royal knight I find the armor suiting for him."

"You mean Bladz, Bladz? As in our Bladz? That one?" my father pointed towards my direction. "The one right over there? In the snowy armor that is standing roughly an inch taller than me now?"

"Yes"

"And you mean royal knight as in royal knight, royal knight? As in the one that serves on the ruling council? The position that works directly over a district?"

"Well yes and no to be truthful." Lord Armonia admitted.

"If he is a royal knight then what district does he have control over?" my father insisted.

"Well you see... he is does not have sole jurisdiction over a district..." My father's eyes became critical. "You see... I was planning on having Bladz have jurisdiction over all of Serentia partially."

"WAIT WHAT?" I demanded from the top of the stairwell, charging down to receive a better understanding.

"I only have one royal knight and that is you Bladz. Would be pointless to give you a single section, it is not like we need super structured bureaucracies in Serentia. I was going to have to work as my substitute when needed because if you would remember I said I usually find myself too busy to formally visit every place throughout the empire from time to time. Also, remember how I told you that there is a lot that I cannot teach you, that you will need to find out yourself? There are thousands of ponies from each of the three tribes that can give you first hand experience of what you need to learn."

"You had this planned all along when you asked me to join you didn't you?"

"Actually I did not and I was trying to figure out a way for me to teach you everything that I believe you need; then you showed me that you have the power, the strength, and the will to be your own teacher for what I cannot provide. In these situations I will be your guide, your teacher, your follower, and your student." Armonia celebrated. "Not to mention you get to go explore all the wonderful regions of Serentia and get to know our empire's subjects now that you live, work, and play in the royal castle!" I nodded in appreciation as my entire family was stunned in shock; it was only less than three days ago that  they were informed that I would be taking residence at the citadel for my final two years of study and no one could have anticipated the enormous changes that have occurred within the last few days. Leaving them in their shock I proceeded once more to finish my packing.

Packing consisted of the typical supplies that one would anticipate; I grabbed all my quills and collected up the cool and exciting gifts that my family had given me over the years and slide them into my backpack that I carried in over my armor. I stacked up all the books that I found favorite and decided to take the ones that were actually mine with the intention to return all the other books to the family study. Clothing was never a challenge and acquired my grooming kit that I had gotten from my mother a short while back. I was just about on my way when I stumbled across a picture of my sister and I playing together when I was just a young colt and threw the picture frame gently inside my lesser stuffed left pocket with a zealous emotion upon my embrace.

Returning back downstairs I found everypony gathering around the door. "We should be returning to the convention center make sure that everything is going well, you two take care and you said that you two have your own way of returning to the Citadel?" Cristalla stated.

"Yes, madam; thank you for all of you all's hospitality" Armonia assured. Cristalla nodded towards me before all three of them disappeared. "You mind doing the honors please and opening our way to the the palace?"

"Sure just let me find that magical quill."

"You do not need it. You are the one who opens the door, the quill was so that you would realize it," Armonia pleaded as I was surprised to find that a simple usage of my horn opened a door straight to the palace.

"Where is the library?" I decreed.

"You did not wish to visit the library so the library as you perceive omitted itself to allow easy, haste travel. Your first I should believe." Without further questioning we both stepped forward and entered the beloved palace of Serentia. Lightning must not of informed the others about our early return because the lights in the palace were all off supplying the atmosphere with a sort of eerie presence. Without delay I continued down the hall to an upscaled atrium with doors encircling its outer parameter. The ceiling had been painted to display the Empire's emblem surrounded by the symbols of the three tribes and the cycle of the seasons was illustrated as the background.

"The artwork here is by far one of the greatest collections I have ever seen I have to admit. Although I would have to say I would expect no less" I stated. "So which one of these rooms here am I staying in?"

"I have hired many of the most artists and as I have already informed you many of them reside around in the Citadel." Armonia decided. "And what do you mean which of these rooms are yours?"

"Exactly that; Didn't you say I would be living at the palace with you during the rest of my studies?"

"Yes I did indeed; however, these are reserved for guests of the palace, none of them are for you."

"Then where am I staying?" I inquired. Armonia must of been a little taken back by the question because he took on an expression of concern.

"You will be residing on the upper floor with me? There is a large and comfortable room I had refurbished just for you Bladz." Armonia declared continuing his uncertain tone. I was speechless; the upper levels were off limits to essentially everyone and were where all of Armonia's studies and other various other tools for effective reign laid. I did my best to accept his proposal with losing my composition as he encouraged me to follow him upstairs. The second story of the palace was locked off my an enormous door that featured no keyhole glowing with a faint dark green hue and Armonia motioned right past it towards the third floor with no recognition of the floor.

"What is that door for?" I pondered to my mentor who was a half a flight ahead of me.

"The door with the green aura around it?" I nodded. "I honestly couldn't tell you, never been in there. I cannot break the seal that is hold the door shut."

"You cannot break it?"

"The seal unlike most other seals is not constructed out of raw magic... it is fabricated out of another force of magic that is focused and trained and of extremely high quality. I am not the one who is designed to break the seal that holds that door shut."

A seal that even he cannot break? Whatever that magic is it must be very, very powerful.

"This will be yours." Armonia announced stepping upon the third floor.

"Which one of the doors is for my room and which one is yours?" I questioned after catching up to him .

"Your room is the one on the back-right; however, I feel like you misunderstood what I mean by this is yours. This entire floor is yours, the fourth floor is the operations center and I reside on the final fifth floor. I specifically had this floor reinvented as I stated for you; there is a library and a study and a guest room for your family if they were to visit and a small kitchen off your bedroom if you get hungry at night and I even have an observation room that I had installed at the last minute!" Armonia pointed to a smaller sized room where a large telescope laid inside. "It is essentially a science lab and can basically withstand any experiments you choose to do in there as long as take proper care of the environment."

"This entire floor is mine? The entire floor?"

"Yes."

Wow!

"You really should get some sleep Bladz we have a big day tomorrow I would not want you tired during all the festivities." Without enduring for a reply Armonia was already on his way to his residence on the fifth floor.

My room was enormous to say the least as an entire home theatre system laid inside as well as a king size and four desks placed evenly around the room with integrated slots for ink bowls and quills. I single dresser was in the corner; however, the thing that really caught my attention was two glass doors that led to a balcony outside. Going outside I was amazed to find the citadel laying below me and I was being given a powerful aerial view of the capital city. Taken over by the room elegance I set my bad down forgetting to unpack. The moment I laid my head on the pillow of my wonderful bed I was out.

The complex timeline of tomorrow lies in the simple events of today.

Chapter Eight (The Garden)

The foreign flick of a candle light caught my eye as it creeped into my eyelid aggravating my slumber. Night was enduring and I was determined to return to my state of sedated consciousness by attempting to ignore the candle light by covering up my head with a pillow; it was  effective to say the least as beams of light radiated into my retina. I had not lit a candle before falling asleep nor could I figure out a reason for one because the palace employed artificially fluorescent lighting; however, I was in defeat over the situation of the candle as I rose from my position to witness not one, but now two candles of mystery.

The floor radiated off a darker tint that I had remembered, remaining black in the wake of light. With cracked eyes I pursued the candles to find that they were continuing to distance themselves from my presence. The relatively familiar layout of the room that Armonia had given to me was no longer existent and in practice the new schema has become a maze-like foundation to me. The candle light disappeared behind a corner and now annoyed and thrown into a state of irritation I hastily followed in charge and a determination for answers. The candles I were pursuing where by the dozens around the bend; however, it was not the quantity that was unsettling; the flames were black.

Anxiety paralyzed me as the next thing that my mind processed was distinct breathing ahead of me; the following, a heartbeat. In my best effort I pulled my head up to wear witness a single pair of violet eyes gazing upon me from inches away from the top of my mane. The black lights from the candles were extinguished as faint laughter stained the air and the temperature dropped to the centigrade of what I knew of decay. The room that I had once thought I was amongst was gone, replaced by openness and a plethora of storm clouds that produced no rain. Lightning flashes conquered the skies and the light of one allowed me to acquire my first true glance of the figure in front of me; a blackened unicorn of great stature who wore a smile that struck fear completely throughout my soul.  I in those few moments I realized something and at that point of recognition I was speechless ... I knew that face, just with no idea why.

I thought to run; I thought to scream, holler, and tear; however, my body would not let me. I wanted to escape; I wanted to protect myself from the face; however, once again my body was numb from stress and refused. "Please!" I whimpered to myself as I conducted in my last attempt; I used magic to try to remove the danger. I failed myself, I was unable to banish its presence. I breathed in and glanced into its eyes which were forged in death's grace. It smiled ever so gently and then was gone before I collapsed to the ground in absolute terror.

Stand!

"What? I did not think that! Why is that voice in my head!?" I cried.

Stand!

I complied to the best of my current abilities as I felt my legs began to fail. Another black figure appeared in the background; however, this one while radiating anxiety towards me provided me with little fear. "Who are you!" I demanded as I saw a rich dark blue aura motion around the figure.

"A pony just like you are yourself! I should be asking who you are!" the voice was stern in its manner yet was comforting in its own special way.

"I am Bladz" I stuttered to the figure.

"You are Bladz!" it commanded spreading out a massive set of what I assumed to be wings. "Never forget who you are and never lose sight of what you seek for you alone are responsible for what goes on in there!!"  With that command I felt a release in my chest as my blood pressure rapidly returned to normal.

"You are being too hard!" A second voice commanded in a more comforting tone. I turned slightly to my right to see another figure emerge while maintaining to stay out of range for proper sight. "I am sorry for the directness Sir," the second informed to me. The new arrival's coat was not black and was of a lighter color I was to presume while not being able to fully tell. The character did not radiate a color in the position of a mane nor was the character if the last two's greater heights; what the character did have though was the most beautiful green eyes that I had witnessed.

"He had to see it!" the first one argued. The second took a breath to dispute, but resulted in a sigh of agreement.

"Who are you two?" I demanded.

"That will be explained in due time." The initial one determined.

"Who was that thing then? Can you tell me that!" The two laid silent in uncertainty until a third figure, taller than the other two appeared in between the two.

"It was you Bladz!" the third proclaimed before all three spread wings and I was blinded by an intense spectrum of light. "It is all the parts of us who make up who we are! Embrace yourself, all of your inner-self, and you will understand who you are Bladz!" the third voice commanded and slammed a hoof upon the ground resulting in a final creation of void.

My eyes were erupted open in concern as I saw in my room sunlight and a place familiar. It was all just a dream Bladz, no need to be alarmed. I pulled myself from under the covers as I felt the last remnants of shock escape from my body. I prepared my bed after the night and stretched out the various kinks that I had acquired. Regardless of how realistic it felt, last night was only just a dream that I have to understand I strived to continually preach to myself. Satisfied with my room I departed and headed down stairs in the hunt for my mentor.

The first floor unfortunately was not the quiet sector I was hoping it to be because I descended the stairway I found a full class of royal guards flooding the palace. I found myself virtually pushing myself through the crowd and with no success at finding Lord Armonia. For five wholesome minutes I struggled pushing myself through the standard issued guard armors, grabbing the attention of many who dismissed my presence. After the continuous failures I remembered that the fourth floor was where important management operations occur; if Armonia has all these guards here for a reason, then the leaders behind that reason are probably upstairs. I hurried my way back towards the stairwell.

"Halt!" a group of recruits commanded. "Both Captain Tigris and the commander have stressed that no one is allowed above the first floor." I could hardly tell if it was the recent relationships I had had with people over the last three days that have annoyed me or it was the fact that I had not been awake for very long; either way I was not in the mood to deal with it.

"I have reason to be upstairs!" I protested.

"Likely story! What are you an assassin? a thief? A spy?"

"Do not be ridiculous!" I demanded. "I...need...to..go...up...stairs...okay?" Assuming from their faces, the sarcasm did not help.

"Stand down," a familiar declared giving me a sense of relief. "There is no need to pester the ponies you are trained to protect." Shadow approached from behind the group with Lightning trailing.

"We are so sorry Sir! Please forgive us Sir!" the recruits proclaimed towards the two captains.

"It is understandable for you newer recruits, you will understand soon enough," Lightning qualified. "The real one you should be referring to as Sir is Sir Bladz here though." The group turned to get a better understanding of the situation. "Sir Bladz here works on the Royal Council." Confusion was present in the recruits faces; however, they were not going to dare question the authority of two of their superiors as they scurried off.

"What did you do to instill the wrath of Serentia into them?"

"New recruits are always like that. They do not want to jeopardize their chances to be team leaders or even fear that they may be placed in outposts that no one wants." Lightning explained. "Sorry about that though, the empire is unaware that they have a new leader in charge alongside Lord Armonia."

"It is not issue I suppose, all this questioning of myself is starting to get annoying is all."

"I advise wearing the armor, the guards will not question you if are wearing it." I nodded. "Anyway, we were on our way to the recruit conference upstairs; sort of lucky that we are running late isn't it." Lightning laughed.

I was about an entire flight ahead of them as we continued upstairs so that I could throw on the armor on my way up and make a well developed effort to arrive at the same time as they did to the conference. When we arrived the conference was drawing to a close as the initial thing we all were presented with was a departing Tigris who was on his way back to the recruits.

"Lightning, Carnivorous, I am offering you both two opportunities to volunteer." Ryan declared.

"Volunteer or are we being volun-told?" Lightning questioned.

"That is completely up to you"

"Either way we are doing it then so what is up?" I could not help but laugh at the logic.

"First off you two need to be Bladz's and Armonia's escorts today for their visit. After that, tomorrow is going to be a busy day, Tigris wants to have Scout corps auditions tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan" Shadow determined while nodding. "Cannot guarantee though that I will recommend anyone."

"Understood Captain Carnivorous. I only request you give all of them a fair and honest chance." Ryan proclaimed motioning downstairs. "The mayhem will be cleared out shortly," he assured to the group of us.

"Good morning you all," Armonia stated behind us all in cheer.

"Good morning Sir! Why are we up here to discuss matters of the guard? I thought that was done at the Armory?" I pondered to him.

"Excuse me for interjecting, but there are cots in my office right now to accommodate all the new recruits during their initial training; I speak for all of us when I say the Armory is not the best place for discussions right now." Shadow explained with Armonia and Lightning nodding in agreeance.

"If there are cots in your office how come you two were arriving late?"

"We did not crash at the Armory last night," Lightning put simply. "We have several friends throughout the city that are willing to house us for a night."

"How come you did not crash here then?"

"The same reason we did not stay at the Armory; Carnivorous wanted his precious beauty sleep and there was little I could do to argue it. Why do you think we are late? I had to get this thing up!" Shadow was amused by Lightning's frustrations as he concealed his best efforts not to laugh.

Armonia proceeded past the friendly conversation and broke the joyous atmosphere. "The festivities in Cantardash are going to begin at ten and it is nine now, we need to get going."

"I am pretty sure we are already ready Sir!" Lightning directed to all of us, where no one found objection.

"Wonderful! The earlier the better! We will get to socialize a little bit before the events then!" Armonia provided in zeal reviving the cheerful atmosphere. Armonia took lead with all three of us following suit as we now advanced downstairs on our way to Cantardash.

Ryan was accurate when he stated that he will pull the recruits out of our hair because between the short times between our descents all of the recruits had been directed out of the palace. The frontal doors had been sealed shut as Lightning and Shadow took the responsibility of opening the doors for us out of courtesy. As pure sunlight escaped the emerging crevice my retinas were being seared by the light's intensity. A little bright don't you think for nine in the morning! All four of us must of been affected by the intensity because before I knew it Armonia was extending a pair of sunglasses to my face, a pair of which was already upon his own.

"The sun arose early today and is of a greater intensity than I could remember; however, it is nothing that a pair of shades cannot solve." Armonia cheered as I placed the pair upon my own face. Harsh sunlight slowed but did not restrict movement at the Citadel as the streets were lively and gazing upon the park I saw how many ponies were celebrating morning sunshine for picnics, and games, and relaxation. "Sure is a nicer day at least, will you be okay to go to Cantardash Lightning? You seemed tense yesterday."

"It was only the weather yesterday, I always get like that when there are really bad storms in the background."

"Ahh I see," Armonia noted as we took our places for depart. The current atmospheric conditions were perfect for flying as a light breeze was going to serve as a tailwind enhancing the grace of the flight. Lightning and Shadow were more than aware of this as their wings were extended to get a feeling of the morning conditions. Without a comment they both motioned forward becoming airborne simultaneously.

"Lord Armonia, I had the weirdest dream last night. There were these three figures in the background and myself... and what I was informed was myself." Armonia held a hoof out to silence me, his face was enlightened yet concerned.

"These three figures? Was one of them black with a dark blue mane?"

"I guess it could've been a mane, but yes. Why you ask?" I pondered, turning to find Armonia showing evidence of anxiety. "You okay?"

"yes I am fine, it was only a dream I would not fret over it." Armonia commanded and then I sat in a daze.

What do you know that I don't mentor

As we approached Cantardash we witnessed ponies by the hundreds swarming around the convention hall. The center was only designed to fit about two or three thousand, there were way too many to fit them all I knew. Our flight was quickly grabbing the attention of the entire district as we approached because the shire number that were turning to watch us. Choosing a place that was familiar, Lightning touched down next to my family's workshop where my father and the Cantardash mayor were waiting patiently.

"We were not expecting you all so soon," the mayor admitted upon our landing. "We are just getting a few last things done as the citizens take their places." The three accepted the mayor's statement while I was still in doubt.

"How are you planning to fit everypony?" I inquired to my father.

"Cristalla took care of that; as you are aware the stadium is designed to hold thirty-two-hundred, but that is when the center is left bare. After a few transports of chairs we were able to add a stage to the center and over a thousand additional seats. We had to start giving out seating tickets yesterday afternoon and many pegasi even offered to hover above and leave room for us unicorns and earth ponies."

"Why were we not informed yesterday of the expected turnout?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise for you all!" my father cheered.

"I understand your surprise Bladz, but I expected no less; this is afterall a big event for Cantardash seeing how it has been years since I last formally visited." Armonia decreed. "let us not waste time questioning when there is things to be done!"

The convention center that laid across from the market was now hardly visible over the enormous crowd of ponies that were surrounding it. Our goal clearly was not to make it to the center because with every step we found ourselves chatting amongst the crowds with the various crowds that swallowed us. By no surprise most of the attention was directed towards Lord Armonia who after all was the ruler of the empire. A few younger pegasus stallions did stop and question Lightning aware that he was the flight corps captain. Shadow and I unfortunately were abandoned dishtowels in a drawer; not many ponies were aware of the Scout Recon Corps and I was just Bladz to the empire's citizens who were unaware.

"Bladz?" a voice called out. "It is you Bladz! Nice to see you!" A young mare had approached me from behind with lighter purple hair. "Nice armor, you cosplaying for Armonia's arrival."

"Nice to see you too Daisy." I stated questionably. "I am not wearing this armor for Armonia's arrival, this is my armor." she rolled her eyes at me.

"Sure you are; so who is your friend here?" she questioned pointing to Shadow.

"Captain Carnivorous" I informed her.

"Oh are you cosplaying with Bladz here?" she stated causing a mixture of hatred and disappointment appear on his face. "Nice to meet you."

"Yes, charmed." Shadow provided in an attempted voice to conceal annoyance. Daisy must of appeared out of pity because she disappeared just as quickly as she appeared. "Who was that?"

"Daisy Seed, we were classmates last scholastic year." I explained. Shadow just grunted and motioned that we try to maintain proximity to the other two so we do not get lost.

"Sometimes I wish people would put two and two together and realize that people do not walk around in a heavy suit of metal all day everyday because they enjoy it. I mean my armor matches Lightning's, is it really that hard to see that I must be a captain of the guard? Does this armor look fake to you?" he complained.

"I do not know why people cannot put that together, I have no idea why Daisy would ask me if I was dressing up like Armonia. This armor color is not even the right color! Oh well, the festivities are suppose to start in roughly five minutes, let us get to our places in the center." I determined. Upon entering the gate for the convention center we became aware of how little there was outside the center compared to inside. The entire stadium was stuffed to the max and the center seating area did not have a single seat open except for a single front row where reserved notices were placed. Standing in the middle of the entrance processing the seating tickets was Cristalla.

"Excuse me madam, but where do I seat myself." I pondered to her from her side.

"It is stated on your ticket si... BLADZ! It is so great for you to have finally arrived!"

"Actually we have been here for about thirty minutes it is we are just now finally making it to the center."

"Well that is good. The reserved seats up there is for us all. I have an identification leynard on each of the seats with you guys' names on them."

"Who's idea was that?" I questioned.

"The mayor's. We are selling them for two bits a piece in hopes that it will aid in the creation of a renovation program to fix up some of the aging structures in the city. They feature an aerial view of Cantardash on the front with a commemorative name tag on the back."

"Impressive!" Shadowed admitted before we continued on towards our seats to find Armonia and Lightning closely behind us followed by my parents and the mayor. The platform stage stairs laid directly in front of us and we were positioned  in what I assume to be the order of appearance with the mayor holding the first seat on the right. A few moments later Cristalla finally settled down alongside me motioning to the mayor to begin, who trotted up the steps.

"Mares and gentlecolts, thank you for coming out to honor the visit of Lord Armonia!" the crowd burst into a roar of cheers. "Will you please be so kind as to put your hooves together for Lord Armonia!" The crowd burst into another wave of cheer as the mayor motioned Armonia upon stage. "Along with Captain Lightning and Captain Carnivorous of the Serentian Royal Guard!" Both upon mention worked their way up the stairs. All three waved as the mayor went silent. I felt rejected at the moment, I had not been called up and I was an outcast in the current situation. The roar of the crowd finally died down when the mayor opened her lips once more. "And from our very own city of Cantardash, Sir Bladz Angelo, new royal knight of Serentia!" I moved myself upon the stage, but there was no cheer, the stadium was in shock and in disbelief until a single wave of deathening cheer conquered the stadium. I waved as the intensity of the response caused liquid pride to appear.

"I would like to thank you all for coming out here and welcoming me after five years without a formal visit!" Armonia screamed to the crowd. "The four of us just got back from Tempeoca, a kingdom that lays off the western side of the empire's border. We are once again trading allies with Tempeoca!" Cheers silenced Armonia. "But more than that; Tempeoca is now a friend of Serentia! But do not look at me for the cause of that! Do not look at Captain Lightning, nor Captain Carnivorous! Sure we are part of the cause, but it was your fellow Cantardashian Sir Bladz Angelo that made it possible!" The stadium was inaudible. "But that's not all; Sypherous had returned from where I thought he was extinguished." Instantly the convention center went quiet as the pegasi who were hovering above settled down in anxiety. "That is right! Sypherous, the evil force of legends attempted to return to cause mayhem; I say attempted because he failed to succeed in this plans because Bladz took leadership and using teamwork rescued a dear friend of his now and eradicated Sypherous from existence by purging the darkness." The pegasi launched themselves into the air and the entire building was cheering my name. "I give you the new addition to the ruling council, Sir Bladz Angelo!"

"This is your celebration, what are you doing?" I demanded at Armonia with tears motioning down my face onto my armor.

"That may be true, but you are the one who should be celebrated. People are no longer going to question your identity and where other would have been a better place to reveal who you now are than you own hometown here in Cantardash." Armonia explained to me.

"Thank you for coming everypony!" the mayor proclaimed to the crowd. "Let us continue this celebration around town and give these four the real Cantardashian experience!"

"Sir, I am so ecstatic that my legs are shaking," I informed to Armonia.

"Yours too? I thought that was only me," Lightning declared.

"Guys!" Shadow screamed causing us to turn to witness an expression of fear. "That is not your nerves that are shaking!" The top of the convention center cracked under the vibrations as fragments descended clipping a pegasus' wing and knocking her to the ground.panic erupted all throughout as the vibrations escalated expediently causing a mass build-up at the gates. "This is the strongest earthquake I have ever experienced and it is still increasing in magnitude!"

"No time to chat! Look at the ceiling it is going to cave in any moment! The pegasi can escape through the sunpanals; however, if we do not do anything hundreds of casualties could occur when that ceiling fails!" Lightning declared.

Armonia sparked his horn to attempt to aid the ceiling supports, but the vibrations were too intense and he fell repeatedly. "The vibrations are too great for me to do anything magical! Forget it let's try and aid as many as we can!" Armonia determined.

Cantardash has never had an earthquake before, why are we having one now at this magnitude?

Lightning and Carnivorous had taken flight and alongside a few other pegasi were picking ponies up and rushing them to safety. "There are too many!" Lightning cried out just as the roof made a final crack and came rushing down towards the community.

"NOOO!" I found the best footing I could and stomped the ground with my horn glowing causing the entire stadium and atmosphere to glow green. The roof fragments retraced the downfall and were reunited with the ceiling. The earthquake's breaths were being choked causing the vibrations to expire and the danger to be extinguished. The pegasus who had her wing crushed found no harm in it and returned to her footing in disbelief. Water rushed in between the surrounding ponies to watched as the water attacked the flames that the earthquake had caused by having falling lights send the flooring ablaze. My horn concentrated a green flame at its tip before it exploded outwards evaporating the left over moisture. The amulet that Armonia provided to me a decade ago shattered as the green aura faded from my surroundings towards me. A green outline of my cutie mark that laid below me was pulling the color inwards and then it faded as I collapsed to the ground.

Where am I? My surroundings were turned into a rainbow field of flowers. I looked upwards in confusion to find a light green pegasus descend to land roughly two feet ahead of me. "Who are you? Where am I?" I demanded to the pegasus; however, all she did was grin at my presence. "I do not understand! Where am I? Where is Cantardash and Armonia and Lightning and Shadow!" I panicked to the mare. "Where is my sister?" I muttered bursting into legitimate tears and falling to the soil. The mare motioned towards me and placed her hoof on my shoulder maintaining her smile. She lowered her head and had our foreheads touch.

"You have done well my dear. You have done well." she whispered to me patting away my tears.

"Who are you?" I whimpered to her, but all she did was back up a few feet and smile.

"I am exactly who you know I am; there is no need to cry my dear," she replied as she was turning into a green dust that encircled me before the dust became more fluid and phased into my chest.

I am just a part of the whole Bladz

Chapter Nine (Coat of Gold)

The ceiling was white and smooth compared to the steel skin of the Stadium I last remembered. I gazed to my right to pull a window out in the background and another pony standing aside. Blobs of colors sat on the table next to me. Where am I? I rolled my cranium to the left to see with improving vision a door, a painting, and finally my armor put aside. I am at the palace in my room? How did I get here? "Hello there" I turned back to the figure next to the window to realize that it was a life-sized plush of a unicorn, it was a life-sized model of me. "Well hello there, you are looking mighty nice today!" I joked to myself. "Where did you get that mane done it is a fantastic style and color." There was tag left on the right ear and I moved slightly to realize that I was not going to be getting up anytime soon as powerful wave of pain surged throughout my body originating from my right shoulder. "Well looks like I will be staying here," I laughed to the plush. "Are those flowers for me?"

"yes" a squeaky voice made who was revealed to be Lightning.

"I do not sound like that!" I protested. Lightning smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

"Alright besides for the busted up shoulder I guess. How long have I been here?"

"Three weeks."

"Okay three weeks that is not too bad.... THREE WEEKS!!" I screamed. Lightning nodded to provide assurance. "How does one sleep for three weeks!"

"Well let me see, how does one sleep for three weeks? Well I guess if you stop a eight-point-seven magnitude earthquake, extinguish a plethora of raging petroleum fires, get hit in the back by a sharp piece of metal all beforehand that virtually slices your shoulder and right foreleg off, and live to tell the tale then I guess that is how."

"I do not remember getting injured." I declared.

"I am surprised you don't, I guess that is the power of adrenaline. I sometimes do not realize I injured a wing during a storm when I was a weather pegasus until I finally laid down upon clearing the storm."

"I guess so... so which one of you weirdos made a replica of me to replace me with?"

"You know we could never do that!" Lightning chuckled. "I would miss you too much already for that!" Lightning pulled up the tag and read over the name. "Says it is from Speranza; however, I talked to the others and we have no idea who that is. Looks really realistic does it not."

"So he is finally awake," Armonia spoke to me in a gentle voice. "I was worrying about you Bladz, promise me you will not get hurt again."

"You know I cannot promise things like that!" I replied in good faith. "Anyone else I should know about who is here?"

"Not that I know of; Carnivorous is at the Eastern base right now checking on a lieutenant of his. Your family was here for three days after the incident; however, had to return to their workshop."

"How was Cristalla taking it?"

"She was the one who wrapped your arm initially and brought you to the hospital so you could get the proper stitching. She did not leave your side for a week after the incident and she refused to eat anything pretty much while she was here."

"I hope she is doing okay." I muttered. "She does not need to worry so hard for me."

"To be honest, we all were worried about you, she just took it the hardest." Armonia admitted. "Captain Lightning, will you be so kind as to travel to Cantardash and inform Bladz's sister Cristalla that he is awake and doing fine?"

"I would be honored to do so my Lord," Lightning bowed before turning and flying out through the open window trying to catch high velocity.

"I am privileged to have that stallion as a captain." Armonia declared.

"He really is more than a captain isn't he." I proclaimed smiling.

"Yeah, how is your arm feeling anyway?"

"Sore but like I said I will manage."

"Are you able to get up and get into a wheelchair? I have something to show you."

"I can try but I cannot make any promises."

"I can get it for you!" Armonia determined using magic to pull back the sheets and pick me up and place me in the wheelchair.My right forearm and shoulder were wrapped tightly in bandages as slight movment reminded me of the pain. "You good?"

"Yes I am fine." I responded as he began to push me.

"Mari has been worrying about you as well; I found out how to use that device and I told her about it when she was asking how you were and you were not responding because of you condition. Anyway, the main thing I want to to point out to you is the door of the second floor. I think it is the same color green that you used in Cantardash." Armonia explained as he carefully motioned down the stairs trying to assure that I was not injured any further. "What the?" Armonia proclaimed as we arrived at the second floor to find the aura that was protecting the door had disappeared as we found our way inside the door and upon the second floor.

"About time you two appeared" A voice proclaimed as all the lights shined on revealing a light yellow youthful mare with a glistening green, yellow, and pink mane. The mare's horn was proportionally larger in size than what seemed natural; however, this aid in her gracefulness. "Your shoulder looks like it's improving," she comforted to me stretching out a set of wings that were on the verge of challenging Lightning's in size."

"You're an alicorn? I thought was only a legend?" I directed towards the newly discovered figure. "How did you get in here?"

"I walked in just a few minutes ago expecting you two to be here but meh, was just a tad ahead of the game today I guess." she explained. "I am surprised Armonia here did not inform about princesses as we all are alicorns."

"Who are you?" I questioned with both eyes wide opened.

"My name is Princess Amore Cinetica Speranza, but please, you can just call me Hope." she stated laying herself down in the middle of the first room behind a candle. "You see there are many things that are green in this world besides the color of nature; there is green with envy, green is used by some to describe anger or money, but green is used for another thing as well, Hope." she explained as the candle in front of her produced a green flame.

"What do you mean?" Armonia and I demanded.

"Bladz, you manipulated nature that day three weeks ago to stop that earthquake, to rebuild that ceiling, to fix that young pegasus' wing."

"Why could I not have used magic to heal my wound then if this potent nature manipulations you speak of could of helped the mare's wing?" I questioned.

"Nature is not a universal heal; she had a broken wing and over time the wing would of repaired itself naturally. You cut was not something that nature could have helped all by itself, medical attention was mandatory if you wanted to live and survive the event; if not you would of passed because of the large sum of blood lost."

"How injured was I?"

She stood up levitating the candle alongside her. "Let me just say it took a large sum of my energy to keep you from pushing yourself beyond your limits, but it would've been meaningless if your sister did not find the courage to face her fear of what she could have assumed when you crashed down."

"What you mean you used a large sum of your energy to save me?" I pondered as Hope realized she had said too much. "What do you mean!"

"I was watching you in the sidelines where I had concealed my identity so I could watch the celebration in peace and not draw attention to myself. The earthquake was horribly timed; however, I should of saw it coming."

"Why do you say that? And why do you sound familiar??" I replied jumping back in my chair putting too much pressure of my shoulder causing me to yip in torment. "It couldn't be."

"But it is, I was one of the alicorns in your dream. We exposed you to one of your seals in hopes that you would be able to develop over time a way to tame it; however, we made you vulnerable by doing so! We had aroused the seal without you having the time to suppress it so when you became emotional at the center it struck and caused the earthquake. I did the only thing that I could think of at the time! I used my magic to force the first seal to break! You were close to being ready but you were not completely yet! I could've killed you if you did not manage to take control of it!" The alicorn burst into tears that began to flood the flooring around her. "I was ignorant and I almost lost you! This is all my fault! I was the one who asked her to do it and I was the one who persisted after she denied until she finally let in! You weren't ready! You weren't ready!" Hope shriveled and collapsed to the floor in sorrow. "I am so sorry."

I did my best to move my wheelchair towards her as I stretched my left forehoof out and rubbed her mane. "A young mare so beautiful should not cry like that." She attempted to take in deep breaths and calm herself. "It is okay. I am fine and happy and I couldn't of been more grateful. We all make mistakes and I do not blame you because you realized your mistake and took the risk that could of saved all of those ponies lives at the center." I put my hoof under her chin and pulled up her face so I could look her straight in the eyes. They were strictly luscious in sight; two perfectly crafted emeralds that stood purer that even the gemstone that Armonia had supplied to me that I found shattered. "Your eyes alone are perfect and is enough evidence alone that you should not fret over the deeds that have been done. How old are you?"

"I am fifteen... You really think that I have beautiful eyes?" I nodded causing her to burst once more in tears, yet these tears were not originating out of pure sorrow. "Thank you Bladz" she whispered. "I see why..." she began to teel before cutting herslef off.

"Yes?" her face was full of concern.

"You are really kind you know that. No one has ever complimented me before to be honest."

"I find that hard to believe; how does an alicorn, a princess as beautiful as you go fifteen years without a compliment?"

"Ponies are not aware of my existence, I never wished to be seen because the power of hope that I work to provide is not something that should be considered originating for an external source when I need to provide that initial spark of hope to a pony," she explained freezing up after the last statement. "You two are the only ones outside of the house who are aware that I exist."

"Where is your home?" I spoke to her.

"When I said the house I was not referring to the tangible sense of the word; I have no real home," she admitted.

"Yes you do. You have a real home here!" I informed to her, who looked up in disbelief. I turned to Armonia who was unsure what to say after watching the entire conversation unfold and simply just nodded at the proposal.

"Bladz, you do not need my approval for what you just decided. You are showing something that is greater than anything of the principle of a student or a citizen, you just illustrated unconditional forgiveness in reason to a young mare who deeply cared for your well-being and has punished herself through her own remorse. You looked past her title and her struture and I can see that you valued her for her heart; demonstrating that you are more than deserve your title because what you just did is what should be expected of a true leader. This is your place too and your decisions are to be honored."

"Then it is decided Princess Amore Cinetica Speranza! You are welcomed to stay here in Serentia if you so decide to!" I commanded.

She dropped her head once again to the ground and waterfalled joy. "I would be honored... yes!"

"Welcome to Serentia!" I decreed smiling at her. I lost my authoritative voice and motioned myself as close as I could manage to her. "Welcome Princess Hope and thank you" I whispered joining her in contributing to the flooding.

Armonia did not attempt to stop either of us and content with the situation retreated upstairs where I heard moments later a set of hooves touched down above me. Muttered voices could be heard just faintly upstairs as the two must of conducted in a haste, yet decisive debate as the hooves stomped again before Lightning apparently took flight and was gone once more. Hope was obviously not used to crying because throughout the entire endeavor she was resisting it and wearing herself out in the process. I comforted her mane once more as she stood up and hugged my neck being careful not to affect my shoulder and closed her eyes taking in the moment. Blissed with the situation I closed my eyes as well and attempted to readjust my head to provide better comfort to her causing for a brief moment for our horns to touch. The emotions must of been getting the best of both of us because our magic was sparking off; however, in that brief moment I understood the essence of hope and I could feel that Hope has just experienced probably her first real understanding as well of her name judging for her reaction.

"I have a room that you are more than welcome to occupy; would you like to see it?" I soothed to her.

"I would be more than happy to see it." she smiled. "You can only begin to understand long long I have needed this."

"Hate to get off topic here, but I might need a little help too," I pointed towards the wheelchair; she was amused by the statement and my attempt to brighter her mood was effective.

"I guess I could help you out," she rolled her eyes mock-seriously as she grabbed hold of the handles behind me and brought me towards the third floor by trying her best to use magic to slowly bring me upwards.

"So what was the plush for?" I addressed to her, who was taken back in shock.

"I... I..ahh...I just felt sorry for what I did and I wanted to do something to make up for it... I know it was a petty attempt for comfort."

"Do not say that Hope," I stopped her. "I loved it, thank you." She hide her embarrassment as she pretended that she was not blushing which I found cute. "No need to be shy," I joked to her, "it was a very thoughtful gift."

"Which one of these is mine" she questioned as I speculated about the floor layout.

"I guess that one would be fine," I stated pointing to door directly across from my own. The room was essentially the mirror image of my own room, except this room was bare essentially except for a nicely placed bed and dresser. "A little bare but that is nothing that I cannot fix for you."

"I respect your hospitality; however, you are still injured and you do not need to strain yourself. Promise me that you will not do that will you?" she asked of me. I responded with a simple nod of the head and was rolled back to my room, where she pulled back my sheets and helped me lay down providing special care to my shoulder. Hope closed my blinds and pulled the plush she brought closer to the side of my bed within reaching distance. "Rest now, you need it Bladz!" she declared using her darker green magic to pull my sheets upon me, smiled, and then turned off my light and closed my door. "Thank you." I heard her whisper.

I woke up to find my arm in a more comfortable position as I attempted to wiggle it to find no pain. What the? The ceiling had dyed a lighter shade of grey and the floor was onyx in nature as I placed myself on my feet and continued to the door. "Hello? Anyone here?" I hollered down the hallway jumping in remembrance of the spot where I initially saw the figure of darkness. Bladz you really need to stop having these crazy dreams.

"I would not call your dreams crazy."

"For the love of," I screamed jumping backwards, "does everyone have to sneak up behind me nowadays?"

"Sorry about that," a navy blue mare stated to me in a sense of laughter. "Thank you for what you did."

"What did I do that you are thanking me for?" I questioned in confusion.

"For what you did for Princess Speranza; forgiving her ignorance and taking her into an actual home." the mare informed me stretching out her wings for a moment before quickly retracting them again.

"It was not really of a decision that was a yes or no; she seemed like she needed a home and who am I to deny her of that? Also, are all the mares I am going to met from now on going to be Alicorns?"

"No, even though it may seem like that to you at this point." she cheered. "It takes a special stallion to not become affected by a princess' title and treat Hope like an actually pony with her own feelings and aspirations, and I can only thank you for that. You know how young she is and I am worried about her; my sister and I find it difficult to give her the attention she needs and until now she has refused to open up to anyone else."

"How come she decided to open up to me? And was it your sister who was the third one I saw the other night?"

"Yes my sister was the one who you saw last of the three of us, I actually did not expect her to say anything, she told us that she was only going to sit back and watch while we did the talking to you." she exclaimed plopping herself on the bed. "I do not understand her sometimes but she means the best for us."

"Where is she now?"

"Busy, daytime is a very busy time for her; also I am here naturally, not magically today."

"What you mean by magically?"

"Oh excuse me for not explaining that! I have the power to enter the dream realm and bring others along with me. I take over my sister's work at night, but night is such a boring time you understand, so I aid ponies in their sleep and make sure everyone is okay."

"So you prevent people from having nightmares?"

"No, nightmares are useful as they allow us to indirectly overcome our fears, I only offer a little advice here and there when needed. I used to cause nightmares, but that was in the past and that was a different me to be honest consumed by jealousy," she determined tossing a pillow into the air that landed awkwardly on her face causing her to burst into muffled laughter.

"You never explained to me why Hope opened up to me?"

"I think it might have to do do with what happened in Tempeoca; Princess Speranza left to provide a spark of happiness to a depressed youngish mare by the name of Mari who I believe you are aware of. Anyway, I think she took an interest in you because when you arrived there you gave Mari unconditional compassion even though you barely knew her."

"That happens everyday though?"

"Actually is does not happen as often as you think, even though it happens more than scarcely; however, I think she found connection with Mari and you helped Mari. You see it is easy to help the ones that everyone loves, the ones that everyone knows and cares about; but it is harder to help those that no one knows because those that are unknown will not provide a social reward or benefit. What it will provide I personally see as something greater than social recognition, something that a young mare about your age explained to me after long years of seeking retribution for what was irrational to condemn; kindness to those who are unseen builds the foundation of long-lasting friendships!" the mare smiled in bliss. "Not to mention Bladz that there is something about you that grabs our attention; you are not blinded by the physical reality of things and can envision the metaphorical nature of your surroundings allowing you to understand and learn from the world in a way that many others do not find useful."

"I guess I could see some similarities between Hope and Mari," I exclaimed.

"You do not need to be sleep all day Bladz though, you have the world out there waiting on you!" She jumped from the bed pointed onwards. "Also tell Hope not to worry because I would of not given in if I was not one-hundred percent sure that you Bladz could have handled it, even it did not work out how we planned; however, it worked out in the long run," she smiled before beginning to depart.

"Oh wait! I never caught your name Madam!"

"You will figure it out when you need to, I know you will!" she instilled before spreading her wings and dashing away.

"Excuse me Sir but there is a mare downstairs with both horn and wings that is attempting to burn down the kitchen? She claims that you know her? This correct Sir?" Lightning declared to me the moment upon awakening.

"How is she planning on burning down the kitchen?" I inquired.

"She is attempting to make what she said was... toast?"

"Do I even have to get up?"

"No but that reminds me! The doctors say you will be good as new in about a week or two and you will be able to walk on it gently until then. They gave me these narcotics to ease the pain while we wait for the injury to dim so that you can continue to operate a normal lifestyle." Lightning informed me.

"Do I need to take one now then?" I started reaching my left foreleg out.

"No need, the doctor came by about fifteen minutes ago from what Armonia informed me to check on your shoulder and upon request gave you a mild dose of morphine." I wiggled my right arm to find the pain absent.

"Okay in that case let us see what Hope is doing!" I exclaimed pulling myself out of bed and onto the floor finding an unusual, yet effective balance. "Well this is not too bad I believe" I declared trotting around a little bit.

By the time we had reached the second floor I had become aware of just what Lightning was referring to as the smell of ash enlightened the atmosphere. Armonia must of never reached downstairs while this was occurring because the smell intensified as I approached the dining area that the Palace held for large social gatherings such as the Gala of the Three Tribes. Entering the dining hall Lightning and I noticed a line of platters containing a plethora of creation that revealed no other color but black. Well at least we know she is not a alicorn because of her cooking abilities.

"You want me to deal with this?" Lightning inquired.

"Yes and no to be honest; Ask her to come here please, I would like to talk to her." I motioned to Lightning who strolled through the push doors into the kitchen area. I few moments later a yellow horn and two rich green eyes poked out in greating.

"Bladz!" she proclaimed charging from the kitchen. "I made you something to eat for once you woke up!You are walking that is good to see!"

"Ahh... you are aware that food is not supposed to be burnt to blackness right?"

"Oh it is burnt? I knew that it did not look right compared to what the chefs constructed." she blushed trying to hide her disappointment.

"It is fine," I laughed. "Well at least you were not trying to kill us all; would be afraid of how that may have turned out." Hope lowered her realizes that she had failed; however, handed her a glass of juice of the table before her emotions could get to her. "I applaud the effort. but I do not think cooking is your thing."

"I do not think either!" Lightning quickly interjected causing a small hint of a smile to appear between Hope's checks.

"Here have a..." I questioned holding a hardened black brick towards her before pulling it away. "Well actually nevermind; how about we clean this up and later we all will find somewhere else to dine seeing how this is your first night here."

"Well to be honest Bladz, this if really only your third actual night here, you have been essentially a living coffin for the last three weeks." Lightning responded.

"Well I would enjoy that offer; however, I think I am going to have to take a raincheck on that!" Shadow announced from beside the door. "And I think your new friend is going to also."

"What are you saying Shadow?" I demanded from him.

"There is someone here who wants to talk to you two, I did not understand what she was referring to until I got here. Captain Lightning you remember this mare right?" Shadow announced as a tall white mare walked in beside him with a flowing colorful mane that was constructed out of some sort of magical aura like the one the mare had in my dream except was not blue in design and was larger in size.

"Hello there Bladz, it is an honor to finally meet you after all I have heard about you!"

Chapter Ten (Wings and Apples)

The mare was neither young nor aged. She had a unique pose to her and unlike Hope and the other alicorn she held a powerful sense of predominant authority about her that depicted fair, yet jurisdictional rule. "I have seen you before! You were the other one in my dream, but why do I feel like I have seen you elsewhere?" I pondered openly to the group.

"I am sorry princess; however, I am unsure who you are and something deep down tells me I do not want to remember." Lightning stated to the towering Alicorn.

"That is fine Lightning Chaser. Will you please locate Lord Armonia for me? I need to discuss with him a few matters; however, please do not mention my being to him." The mare requested. Lightning may of not remembered who the mare was, but her aura of authority commanded obedience from him, along with Shadow who escorted himself behind.

"I know who you are! I knew I have seen you before! You are the ruler of Equestria to our north! Princess Celestia it is right?" I commanded resulting in a simple bow from the mare.

"Nice to make your acquaintance," she stated.

"Pleasure to make yours as well Princess."

"And are you aware of why I am here?"

"No please enlighten us!" Armonia ordered sharply descending the stairs while continuously staring at the group in the dining area.

"Armonia it has been a while since we last met! You seem to have a wonderful student, even though I find it weird that you took one on."

"What are you attempting to say?" Armonia interrogated.

"Nothing negative Armonia, no reason to get defensive; just you are not someone that I would anticipate to have a student is all."

"And what is wrong with me having a student?"

"it has been a good three centuries since we last communicated and I have seen that your attitude has not changed much." Celestia commanded, who was getting annoyed with my mentor as he was acting irrationally harsh towards her. "I have a student I should say that is about the same age as Bladz here, she is quite gifted when it comes to magic as well." she informed towards me.

"So for what reason did you come here?" Armonia asked in a slightly gentler tone because as I rotated I could see that both Lightning and Shadow were staring down Armonia for his sudden loss of gentle manners.

"Princess Speranza is going to have to get her belongings and I was thinking that this would be a great time for Serentia to visit Equestria since it has been such a long time. I mean with what I hear Bladz is now a member of your ruling council, or honestly the vice-ruler of Serentia, and I think getting to know Serentia's sister kingdom will aid him well."

"He is injured, he cannot go with his shoulder; he needs to get some rest the doctor stated."

"Actually Lord Armonia the surgeon as you know came by earlier and informed me that Bladz is perfectly able to continue everyday activities; all he has to do is use a narcotic if he is feeling too much pain," Lightning interjected.

"And what if he depletes his narcotics supply?"

"Well he has weeks worth, so I see no reason for him to run out my Lord?" Lightning explained. "Even if Bladz and I lost them I am sure that an Equestrian pharmacist would be able to supply him with some more of whatever drug it is." Armonia we could see was still maintaining a face of concern about the idea.

"Lightning and I will go with him," Shadow determined.

"It is no longer training time for recruits, you two have work to do around here." Armonia responded.

"Doing what Sir? Neither Scout Corp or Flight Corp have exercises scheduled for the next two weeks and we have no major national holidays approaching? I am sure that the lieutenants could handle any skirmishes that occur that they are needed for."

"I suppose." Armonia agreed in defeat. It was obvious that he did not want me to go to Equestria, or even his captains for that respect; however, he held no legitimate reason for opposition. If I was going to serve well as a royal knight I needed to learn as much as I could about both domestic and foreign affairs. "How many days do you suspect this will take Celestia?"

"No more than a day Lord Armonia, no need to worry." Princess Celestia responded before Armonia accepting the situation disappeared upstairs. "Well you guys want to get on our way? We might be able to get a large chunk of Princess Speranza belongings prepared before it is time for sunfall."

"I suppose so if it is okay with you Hope." I reasoned receiving three nods in sequent order encouraging us to depart "So how did you get here anyway Princess Celestia? I do not see guards or any other means of transport around here."

"Well how well do you think a small fleet of pegasus dressed in armor would be accepted in the Citadel without any connection to the Serentian Imperial Guard?"

"I would tell you that I personally would not be too please, although Shadow seems to know you so he would of stood off." Lightning informed to me while Shadow agreed with Lightning's statement.

"My point exactly, I waited for Shadow to show up to present me because I did not want to start any trouble, but I flew here."

"You flew here!" Hope exclaimed, "since when should a princess such as yourself have to fly such long distances?"

"You did it didn't you?" Celestia presented to Hope. "and are you not a princess yourself?"

"Well yea, but you are different. You are Princess Celestia, long standing ruler of Equestria and I am just some alicorn that has been in the shadows for years." Hope justified which caused Celestia to pause for a moment as she halted Hope in her tracks.

"You are an alicorn! There is no such thing as just some alicorn because those who are alicorns are not ones to be pushed to the sidelines! Do you remember what you were before you became an alicorn?"

"Not really, I was an alicorn long before I can remeber, you found me as one, remember us discussing this on multiple occasions."

"Exactly!" Celestia proclaimed.

"Exactly what?" Hope pondered to her puzzled.

"Hey Bladz!" Lightning whispered to me resulting in me turning to face him. "I got you something real fast that you might need!" he explained presenting to me my armor. "It is not going to be too heavy for you will it?"

"I doubt it," I informed him slipping the chestplate on before clipping on the side and leg guards. "When did you even leave? I did not notice your absence."

"I departed hastily while you all were engaged in them two's discussion. Was only gone for about a minute." he explained.

"Hey I hate to interrupt but... you all have wings and can fly? How am I supposed to get there without a chariot?" I declared to Princess Celestia.

"Oh sorry for not asking you first but I was wondering if you were okay being carried?"

"I am not sure that I will be able to be carried. I am unable to hold on and I am not sure if Lightning would be able to hold onto me and still fly the distance efficiently."

"I feel like you misunderstood what I was referring to carry you." Celestia noted. "You know nature magic do you not?"

"I do not think I have read many books on the subject to be honest."

"Did not asked if you read books on the subject, I asked if you 'knew' nature magic."

"I suppose I do with all things considered but what would nature do for me? Wait you mean ask assistance from something in nature?"

"That is what I was guessing; I honestly was assuming something and never thought up a plan B." Celestia admitted.

"Would you like a candle?" Hope questioned.

"Why would I need a candle?" I inquired as she dug through a small bag to find a candle.

"Honestly I have no clue why you would need a candle but I like staring at the blaze." she stated continuing to dig through her small pack.

"Blaze... that's correct! Fire!"

"Well yeah a fire and a blaze is the same thing?"

"No fire, fire as in movement!" I declared sparking a blaze upon the air above me with the green magic. I threw the green ball of plasma as high as I could find necessary.  "Fire as in..." I shouted as the ball exploded out unevenly taking the form of a bird. "as in a Phoenix!"

"Well... that is not what I meant when I said something from nature." Celestia gasped as the green burning bird roared to the surface towering over the group while grabbing the attention of the guards at the armory who rushed from their posts forcing Lightning and Shadow to take action to calm the guards down. "a...massive... ten-foot tall... phoenix..."

"Oh Princess! She looks just like your own pet phoenix, just a lot, lot bigger." Hope exclaimed.

"Ahh okay? So should we head towards Equestria now?" I posed to the group whom for the most part were still in shock. "I had read about phoenixes before but look at this thing it is enormous! I thought they were only supposed to be about four feet at the most and red overall really."

"They are," Celestia declared. "that is not a phoenix though that you think it to be; it is a Grand Phoenix and unlike their sister species they radiate magic instead of fire as their source of aura, whatever magic that was just then, it was not just nature magic Bladz" Celestia spread out her enormous wings and took flight with the others following.

"Hey wait up!" I screamed jumping upon the bird which immediately spread her wings out and soared skybound at a rate that startled me and the group around me as within seconds I was hundreds of feet above the Citadel.

The flight to Equestria was going to be unlike our passage to Tempeoca and in a way the two were not even going to be comparable. The previous flights revolved around safe and secure transport which prevented excessive velocities on pre planned routes of discourse; for the first time I was understanding an aspect of flight that I had never realised before as the green bird of flame soared with me. The grand phoenix did not have to be told what to do, how to move, whether I wanted to proceed skywards or not, she just knew.

"Princess Celestia?" I commanded pulling alongside her. "Why is Lord Armonia so hostile towards you?"

"I would not say hostile as much as it is concerned Bladz." she expressed to me while Hope overhearing the question flew up to my side. "You have to understand Bladz that Lord Armonia as you know him has been over Serentia and her affairs for a long time and we all have a history of defining moments. In Armonia's case, he cannot remember the details of the events and it strikes concern into his heart because the very few things he does understand from that that time is the very things that should be forgotten."

"I understand... at least I partially understand." I gathered from my thoughts. "So what is it that you need to get that requires all of our attendance?" I pondered to Hope. "Hope?" I turned to find her lost in thought, "Hope!"

"Oh sorry, honestly I have no clue why it would require any of you three, like I said I don't have many things that I own... I was without a home before Celestia took me in." she explained in light breath."Princess Celestia did say that she wanted you to come to Equestria to visit to be honest, not to help."

"That is not of an inconvenience is it?" Celestia questioned

"Not at all... I suppose; it is just..." I stuttered gazing deep into the phoenix's coat..

"Just what?" Celestia questioned.

"Nothing... I do not know honestly... so what about the other one?" I reasoned.

"Other one?" Celestia wondered raising an eyebrow.

"The other alicorn that I met; I never caught her name even though we have talked more in depth."

"Oh, her name is Luna, Princess Luna, princess of the night." Celestia provided. "You say you communicated with her again?"

"Yes ma'am, she was asleep and visited me to thank me for Hope."

"Princess Luna is nocturnal in nature, which makes sense for a princess of the night; that is weird though because it was Luna's idea for Hope and I to visit Serentia," Celestia explained beginning to accelerate. "It is vital that we return before sunfall." Without further word Celestia pushed herself to a new found limit encouraging us implicitly to pursue.

"What has gotten into her?" I demanded in inquire.

"Not a clue, but I am up for some high speed flight!" Lightning bolted off from the group in pursuit of Celestia. "You guys coming?"

"Race you Bladz to those two!" Shadow challenged.

"Phoenix's become intangible once they reach a certain speed, I cannot race you."

"Dude you are riding on a magic, massive bird that is already intangible!"

"You have a point there... Okay I will race you if Hope...Hope!" I commanded who was already racing through the skies. "You're on Shadow!" I replied in rapid succession before launching myself high in altitude before pivoting to launch myself at high speeds.

"Cheater!" Shadow exclaimed before pushing himself to ariel speed limits.

I had never ventured too far North from the Citadel in Serentia and for the most part I could find no real reason I theorized as I found myself approaching the tail of Lightning, who was enjoying the new found tempo.

"So what is even out here?" I directed towards lightning.

"Well if we were to go a little bit westwards we would find Cittàdiali over there," Lightning explained pointing towards a large cloud settlement that stretched completely across the horizon.

"That has to be over twenty leagues away! How can it be so large at such a great distance!"

"It is only a small bit smaller than the Serentian citadel and that is only because the Citadel includes the surrounding areas into the calculations that really is not part of the citadel; however, has no independent form of state under the empire; unlike Cantardash and Cittàdiali that have democratic elections every once in awhile Cittàdiali was the capital of the pegasus kingdom before the Serentian empire was formed, Shadow and I reside in one of the more prestigious districts where there is less activity; Shadow says it is a lot like where we grown up in cloudsdale, although I cannot be certain for sure."

"Cloudsdale? So you are actually from Equestria? How were you unable to recognize Princess Celestia?"

"No real clue, but I try not to fret over such small details because I should be grateful instead after Armonia and I believe this Luna who assured I was okay and helped me out after I retired from the weather forces; I mean do not get me wrong I loved the job, but something just felt missing." Lightning sighed. "Shadow was a renowned scout leader before he left with me to join the Serentian guard; he is such a well, caring friend, even though I question his judgments."

"Why did he leave if he was already satisfied with his career?"

"Because Lightning had a lot more to lose and I was not going to sit back and allow him to suffer through the confusion. We started together before and both of us became successful, and together we are living enjoyable, fulfilling lives once more." Shadow exclaimed managing to catch up to us after I sped off. "That bird of yours really has some speed behind it."

"Maybe, but I do not see it as a challenge!" Hope sneered launching herself through me almost knocking me off the phoenix.

"Hey what was that for!" I demanded readjusting myself from the surprise assault.

"Why don't you stop acting like a snail and find out!" Hope announced provokingly thundering off once more causing me to initiate in chase.

"So Lightning who is that new mare anyways?" Shadow I heard inquire in the background.

"I honestly do not know, she showed up and Bladz took her in. When I found her she was burning down the house with her wonderful culinary skills."

"Bladz did?" Shadowed proclaimed in amusement. "Well that was very kind of him to do."

"What is with you! Shy at first and now overly zealous and energetic?" I demanded bypassing her.

"I have been thinking and... well would you look at that we are over dragon territories! This mountain range splits the lands and sets the border for Serentia and Equestia." Hope celebrated dodging the subject.

"What were you thing?!"

"nothing at all.. I see you can handle more intense speed but what are your true limits?"

"We are already leaving the others behind! And what is it!" I commanded; however, Hope held little intentions of revealing what ever was upon her mind. "Well at least wait up!"

Equestia was and still is one of the most interesting locations I had ever visited, with every location I flew over illustrating a unique culture and lifestyle. Tempeoca was the first foreign kingdom I held the privilege to visit, but Equestia was different in the nature that in a way it reminded me more of Serentia than a foreign kingdom to me. "Hope.. what is it like to know that you do not belong to a specific location and can venture to all the various sites of beauty across the world?"

Suddenly losing her enthusiasm Hope sighed. "That was one of the things that have troubled me in my past Bladz. In every sight there was a question, and many of these questions you can expect no true answer. Have you ever heard of a location west of Equestia?"

"Honestly no, why are you asking?"

"there are places of such raw beauty that you cannot help but wonder what lies past the border; that location of one of them."

"What is there?"

"I never found out... I couldn't... I just found myself some how unable to continue. I do not understand the reasoning behind it but I felt this strong hesitation and this sense of... this sense of"

"sense of what?"

"I do not really know how to explain it but I have only really felt it once before."

"And when was that?" I inquired to her noticing that whatever it  was had struck her into a state of silence. "It is okay if you are uncomfortable Hope... I am not going to force you to speak about anything you are uncomfortable with."

"I do not know to explain it to you Bladz" she cried with tears purging her complexion.

"They don't" I comforted to her. "what is that little settlement down there?" I asked pointing down towards the village.

"That is Ponyville, it lies just outside of Canterlot which is right over the horizon there," hope explained motioning towards a palace on the throat of a mountain.

"That castle is enormous compared to the surrounding urban area."

"Well yeah I guess you could say that Canterlot is not as extensive as Serentia's citadel; however, it is still of a decent size," she dictated as we braced yourself for approach. "You might want to start to figure out a home for your bird during you visit, not sure how well people are going to cope with a ten-foot tall green phoenix." she laughed which helped purge her evidence of recent tears.

Taking the lead I did my best to assure the best landing I could accomplish placing myself down in front of the castle.  I rolled myself off the phenoix's back and found my hooves firmly on the ground after that long flight as the sun was on the verge of disappearing within the next thirty minutes or so. Okay so where can we send you?

I would not worry about thatThe phoenix turned to face me directly and grinned, or at least what I assumed was a grin and then dissolved into a green mist that rushed into my horn. What reason would I have to leave you Bladz, we have only just began to synergize.

"What?" I posed to my surroundings.

"Impressive!" a tall dark mare commanded from my right. "I am glad to see you two have arrived safely" the mare smiled turning to the southern horizion. "The others are lagging behind I see but that is okay."

"Thank you Princess Luna for inviting me, where you anticipating our arrival and that is the reason you are out here?" I asked to her.

"Actually the guards told me there was a massive green bird-like creature approaching and I decided to investigate to make sure it was not hostile. I have to admit I was not expecting you to be commanding that thing Sir Bladz Angelo, nor was I expecting any of you guys for another fifteen minutes at the least. You guys must be hungry after the long flight."

"It was only about four and a half hours Luna, it was not like we have been in flight all day; however I cannot refuse food." Hope argued partially marching herself to Luna's side. "You coming Bladz?" she questioned causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"Here let us see if we can get the chefs to prepare something for you all so that it is ready for when the others arrive. Actually, Bladz you like apples?" Luna stopped in her tracts in demand of a response.

"I love apples. Why do you ask?"

"We just got a shipment in from Sweet Apple Acres and they taste amazing; especially when they are diced and turned into scrumptious baked seasoned apple slices."

"Sounds delightful Princess Luna, thank you."

"Do not thank me just yet Sir Bladz for they have not been prepared yet, we have to find the culinary staff first and see is they can craft them for us."

From the Castle hall to the dining centers to the gardens I felt for the entire time that I was receiving an unofficial tour of the castle as we hunted down the head chef that worked for the castle. One would think it would be easier to hunt down a head chef; however, he was nowhere to be found when we visited the kitchen and it seemed like no one in all of Equestria had seen him for the last fifteen minutes. Figuring that it was pointless to hunt him down after ten minutes of searching we collapsed in the dining room where, as if it was an act of mockery, the chef appeared from our rear and pondered what we were doing.

"Be a dear please and create some baked season apples, we are going to have roughly three guests showing up in just a few minutes," Luna gasped.

"Yes ma'am I will get right on that" the chef responded zealously.

"Get right on what?" Celestia pondered from the entrance of the dining hall. "Why are you guys on the floor?"

"The gravity here felt a little light so when laid on the ground to test it. Seems alright if you ask me" Luna punned. "where are the other two?"

"Why do you say that there are others?"

Luna pointed to me and cleared her throat. "Sir Bladz Angelo of the Serentian ruling council. You really think with what you told me about Armonia nowadays he would've sent him without at least two others to look after him?"

"Nice use of deductive reasoning! They will be arriving shortly, they sped ahead of me a little bit because Captain Carnivorous mentioned he had to met with Miss Loyalty before he forgot. What were you guys really doing though?"

"Luna was nice enough to try to something made for us; however, we had to hunt down the chef who was nowhere to be found and that is why we were on the ground laying down because we were exhausted from the hunt." Hope admitted.

"Well While we wait on the apples want to start getting packed for your the place you can actually call home?"

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Hope smiled in a way that sent joy into me through her happiness showing a new form of contentedness.

"Luna? Didn't you have a reason for requesting Bladz here?" Celestia inquired motioning into the room, helping Hope off the floor.

"Who said I had a reason?" Princess Luna huffed giving in after a few seconds. "We might not be back before the apples are done, but we will try to catch up with you guys later than. I have someone I know you would like to met Bladz."

"And who is that?" I asked jumping to my hooves and standing beside Luna who had already brushed herself off.

"You do not know her yet; however, I have a feeling that you two could learn a lot from each other only after a quick meeting." Luna explained provoking me into uncertainty, but Luna did not hesitate to allow me to pose more questions as she hurried herself from the dining hall forcing me to stampede behind her.

"You should try to at least stay within range of those who are tailing you; I do not think I have ever ran that fast in my life." I demanded running down the castle corridors behind Luna trying to replenish what little breath I had left because of how fast Luna was."Now, what makes this Mare so special?"

"You two have a lot in common and like I said, I think it would benefit both of you very much." Luna provided to me upon knocking on a large door alongside the corridor. I could make out whispering inside before I heard what sounded like a book closing and a stoll moving backwards a tad. A young mare after a brief moment appeared at the doorway in delight upon seeing Luna's face.

"Good evening Princess Luna. How did you sleep?" the mare stated. Her main coat color was violet with her mane consisting primarily the same with hints of bright fuchsia. She was roughly that of mid-height for a young mare I estimated for her age with essentially ordinary features of what I would expect of a unicorns save one feature, she as well had wings.

"Rather well thank you. Sir Bladz Angelo I would like for you to met Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Charmed" I responded in my best faith trying not to reveal the fact that the sudden wide display of Alicorns was starting to annoy me.

"Princess Twilight here is our most recent addition to our ranks I guess you could say." Luna explained as the young mare gave way to allow us in. "Where did Spike go?"

"I asked him if he could assist in sorting a few papers I did today. He will probably be back in about ten minutes," Twilight directed towards Luna. "So anyway, you must be a captain of some sort of foreign guard, I have never seen armor like that before."

"Well you are correct about the foreign part; however, I am sorry to inform you that I am not a captain, I am just a royal knight from Serentia."

"Just a royal knight from Serentia? Please tell me you are kidding! I am just a royal knight from the extremely prestigious  Serentain empire! Please pay no attention to me at all! That is amazing! What is it like ruling the biggest empire in existence! Is it challenging? Do you have to read a lot of books? I like reading books, do you like reading because I sure like reading! Do you have people come up to you and throw tangents about how awesome it is to meet a royal guard and do you have to find a way to escape massive crowds who flood you in desire for autographs and photos and oh my gosh! There is a Serentian royal guard right here in the flesh in my living room! Well it is not my living room because this is Celestia and Luna's castle but right now it is because I am staying here for a little bit but it is still theirs in essence!"

"Actually almost no one knows who I am in Serentia; well those in Canardash do but that is because they just found out three weeks; I can assume though that it could have spread a little bit. Also, I do like reading and it is a pleasure meeting you  Princess Twilight."

"No the pleasure is all mine! What do you normally like to read?"

"Well I have not been able to read since I nearly had my leg cut off; however, I read practically anything I can get my hooves on. " I exclaimed turning to reveal the hints of my bandage the extruded from my armor. "It is one of the reasons I was top of my class at the academy."

"Was?"

"Yeah, Aronia offered to do my final year of study and I really cannot turn an offer like that down!"

"That's amazing!"

"Sorry for interupting you two" Luna declared standing between us; "however, I have to point out that you both are extemely gifted in the art of magic."

"Oh that is awesome as well! When I first got into magic I accidently turned somepony into a cactus! She is okay now of course."

"I wish I could say that the worst I have to worry about is turning someone into a cactus. Last time I used power I did not intentionally employ I was almsot killed from it!" I determined pointing once more to my arm.

"Pardon me? What do you mean?"

"You should know Twilight that Bladz is still having trouble with his magic and in his case you cannot rush it."

"It is not that I am a slow learner or anything, I read and learn at extremely accelerated rates, and I have an eidetic memory; however, my magic is just hazardous to myself and my surroundings."

"Bladz! Your magic is not hazardous! Unlike Twilight here who held a large sum of raw magic and had to reform it through focused study, you are gifted with powerful magic that is highly refined and you need to work to understand it." Luna demanded. "How many unicorns do you know that can reverse one of the harshest earthquakes that I have ever heard of?"

"You did what!"

"Yea and I almost died from it" I laid my head on my forelegs.

"But you didn't! Princess Sparkle are you aware of why we are here?"

"I am guessing to help Bladz with his magic?"

"Well in a way yes, but there is little you can do physically to aid him. You are the one I see with having the most in common with Bladz and I was hoping you could assist him in understanding something that none of understand, something that you cannot hope yourself to understand!"

Twilight stared blank for a moment as she retreated to her novels where I assumed she found comfort in the midst of the uneasiness that this abstractness must of provided her with. "Why me?"

"Because you are the only one I know can help Bladz in his current situation!" Luna assured to Twilight.

Twilight motioned herself to various angles in order to take me in. I was unsure of what she was trying to accomplish and for a minute or two I was completely lost about her intentions. "I got nothing Luna and Bladz, I am sorry."

"It is okay" I informed her.

"I just have to know what is your cutie mark about?"

"You mean the symbol with the pentagram?"

"What pentagram? I am talking about this thing" she questioned resulting in Luna trotting to alongside her.

"The Complex" Luna whispered.

"The what?"

"Nothing! Bladz I will catch up with you later! I need a few moments to think!" Luna declared and without further hesitation hurried out of the room.

I pivoted my head to find that the cutie mark that I had been so elated to see had been replaced by a new depiction. "What is that! What happened to my first cutie mark?"

"First cutie mark? Well I do not know but this does not look like a symbol to me as it looks more like a glyph to me."

"What is this complex that Luna just mentioned?" I inquired.

"I do not know for sure but old mythology, and I mean really old mythology states that when destiny decided to bring harmony between the world's creatures that a magical force know as the complex created an original corps of alicorns to protect harmony and maintain balance in the world. A special form of a pentagram was used by ancient scholars to identify the complex and was assumed to represent raw magic."

"This original corps of alicorns? What was this?"

"The royal archives might have something on the subject want to try there?"

"I guess it is worth a shot."

"Follow me then; it is just a short walk down the hallway." She exclaimed picking up a scarf and motioning out the door. "Spike I will be back in a little while."

"So what else can you tell me about this complex?"

"Ahh not much at the current moment" she started pulling random books off the shelves to replace them after a few moments. "I am looking for a book with the symbol you discussed on it." I nodded and commenced in doing the same as her on the opposing shelf.

"Found something!" I hollered holding up a marron book that seemed to be crafted centuries ago.

"That's it!" she announced flipping through a few pages. "According to this there originally were five alicorns of equal vote that decided decisions over the world, even though they were not of equal power. Says that two were responsible for regulating the continuity of time, while one was responsible for protecting the group from harm like some sort of guardian. He also was the protector of the Complex's secrets."

"What does that say?" I asked pointing to a section underneath an illustration of the third.

"States that he gave up his powers to protect the world from darkness, that his power was dividing up amongst six orbs that serve as substitution for abilities. His wings served as a seal to lock away the darkness."

"Could it be?"

"What"

"We have a very similar tale to that in Serentia about how Armonia saved the empire from Sypherious, a powerful dark lord of evil, that I know now was corruption of the seal of darkness."

"Seal of darkness?"

"Long story, do not worry about it."

"Doesn't Armonia mean Harmony?"

"Yeah what about it?"

"My tiera here is the element of magic, one of the six elements of harmony! Could it be that your Lord Armonia was the creator of the elements of harmony! That he is the guardian stated in this book?"

"Maybe, what about Celestia and Luna aren't they responsible for night and day?"

"What about it?"

"Well that is a continuity of time. The uneasiness that Armonia must feel towards Celestia and Luna is because he does not understand why he feels like he knows them so well! It makes sense now! About about these other two?"

"I do not know?"

"What does the book state?"

"That's is what I mean, the rest of this book is nothing but blank pages."

"That makes no sense? Why would someone make a book and leave half the pages blank?"

"Maybe it is because they have never been able to finish it because they never figured it out. Who else do you know that could be the other two?" Twilight pondered. "Why don't you try asking Armonia?"

"He has no memory of his past, he will not be able to help us. Hope mentioned another empire outside of Equestria to the west earlier; maybe I can find answers there."

"Sounds like a start. I have to ask though why is your cutie mark greyed out except for the green there."

"I do not know but the others are going to start to worry soon, we should get back."

Twilight nodded and attempted to put the book back.

"Can I keep the book? I know that seems like an odd question especially since it is from the Equestrian royal archives?"

"I do not see why not; however, I would ask Celestia just to be sure. Why do you want it?"

"I want to read it for real. Also, I think Lord Armonia needs to see this. I think it could mend a few wounds."

She nodded and we were on our way.

Chapter Eleven (Lights in the city)

When we returned to Twilight's temporary room in the castle I found a small purple and green creature standing in middle of the room organizes some quills. Naturally I flipped to find out that the "Spike" that Princess Luna was referring to earlier was a baby dragon serving underneath Twilight. I never get any of the cool thing; only the weird ones! Thanking Twilight for her assistance I carried myself back towards the center of the castle where I heard four distinct voices radiating from the dining hall, Luna was not one of them.

"Hey guys how was you meeting with the Miss Loyalty?" I inspired towards them trotting into the hall.

"Miss who?" Lightning started confused.

"Dash?" Shadow questioned putting down a glass of milk.

"Yes Dash, it is just that Luna and I call her Miss Loyalty because of her relationship to another princess here in Equestria." Celestia explained.

"Is she another one of the holders of an element?" I asked towards Celestia.

"What do you mean an element? Dash is the daughter of an old friend of ours and I was just checking in on her." Shadow objected. "What are these elements you speak of?"

"I am surprised you know about those Bladz; did Princess Sparkle inform you of this?" Celestia posed. "And it is nothing to worry about Captain Carnivorous or Lightning."

"Actually we were discussing some things and it happened to be one of the things we brought up. According to a book she showed me one of the elements is loyalty so I was just going off a limb and guessing the two have a connection."

"Very nicely done, yes this is correct."

"Excuse me sister but can I please have a word with you" Luna demanded from the doorway. "It is important."

"Excuse me for a moment." Celestia excused herself moving to Luna's side and converting to a faint whisper that I could barely make out. "What is it?"

"How good is your memory?"

"Decent. why?"

"Bladz's cutie mark. Why do I feel like I have seen that before?" she stated in near silence. Celestia proved what I heard was accurate by turning her head for a moment to look at my cutie mark.

"No clue? What are you trying to hint at?"

"I just feel like I have seen that before and the only thing that could come to my mind was the Complex."

"What have I told you about that theory! It takes known principles and tales, and paves them into a relationship that we cannot prove. Is that why you asked about my memory?"

"Yes I want to know if you remember anything from that time."

"Luna you know that neither of us can remember anything from that long time ago."

"Lord Armonia remembers a few things."

"No he doesn't! He just understands a few things and holds them as superstitious beliefs that are not backed by evidence."

"It is all we have though and it makes sense!"

"Many things make sense if we are too ignorant to see how they are wrong. They were named the elements of harmony as we have discussed because Armonia discovered them and named them after himself, we have no evidence that they have anything to do with him and his reasoning for giving them to us is not concrete itself. The first thing either of us can remember is getting the elements from him and using them to rid Equestria of it's former state of chaos. We have discussed this before and you have to remember to not go off on the vivid tangents!"

"He has these seals that are different than the ones we are used to!"

"Of course he does, I did not put those seals on him!"

"Then who did?"

"I do not know; however, any unicorn of greater strength could have done it, It does not have to be me. Armonia could have done it and we will never know because his mind functions on the moment and he could've done it and not remember it."

"In order to break a seal the caster has to unlock it or the seal has to be overloaded by a greater force. You really think Bladz would've been able to overload a seal that Armonia, a very, very powerful unicorn could have did?"

"He did not break that seal on his own. Hope shared her power with him and did you not say you had faith in him? In that regard your hope transferred power to Princess Hope which provided Bladz with additional strength. I have to admit that a large amount of power laid behind that seal; however, that means little about what could be behind the other ones."

"But what if you are wrong and the tales are true? What if I am correct? What then?"

"Listen my dear sister Luna. Bladz is the only real chance we have to restore our relationship with Serentia and more importantly Armonia. Also, he has shown true generosity to Hope in taking her in when he say she needed it. If you do not want to consider Equestria in your considerations of Bladz please at least consider her."

"I understand" I heard Luna sigh. "It just sort of makes sense."

"What?"

"What if Bladz is the evil force that Armonia used to talk about in a new form?"

"Highly unlikely my dear; he is too innocent to be even a dark apprentice. And even if he was good at hiding it that would not correlate with the talents in nature we have seen."

"Are you saying that some pony cannot be talented and a dark accolate?"

"No what I am saying is his magic would of been tainted towards the dark arts in some way." Celestia huffed. "Believe what you want Luna; however, do not think about harming him in any way!"

"Understood" Luna whispered with conviction before swiftly disappearing down the hall. Celestia readjusted herself and made her way back to us.

"Sorry about that once again, I have no idea what has gotten into her" she admitted taking a small serving of baked apples to bypass whatever she might of been assuming could've resulted from that small interruption.

"So what was that about?" Lightning questioned breaking the ice of the atmosphere.

"Princess Luna has an overactive imagination and she was just going off beliefs that are not to be proven either way." Celestia stated stuffing her face more more apples to delay further questioning in hopes of killing the conversation.

"It is fine; how did packing go you two?" I addressed to both Celestia and Hope.

"Oh rather well! We were able to get most of my things together." Hope notieratized.

"Oh you guys must of worked hard to get that done."

"Actually not really... I do not need to spend much time on something that is so basic; I do not have very much that I can call my own." Hope explained joyously in an attempt to extinguish a hint of sorrow. "Princess Celestia, it it getting late, especially for you and you need to get some sleep as you want to be on time tomorrow morning."

"Wisely determined Miss Hope. I am sorry you guys that our time has been cut so short; however, I see what I can do to assure that we spend more time tomorrow to enjoy your visit." Princess Celestia apologized radiating a mild scent of uncertainty. "Do you need me to show you all to your rooms?"

"No I think I can handle it" Hope protested without delay.

"Upper floors, northern corridor." Celestia informed to us.

"why not the guest area?" Hope stated plainly in confusion.

"I see no need to impress you guys with elaborated rooms that will make you guys feel out of place. The northern corridor is where Hope and I stay; you guys will feel more at home there." the white alicorn cheered.

"Thank you Princess for you hospitality!" Lightning declared upon picking up one of the last servings of baked apple. Celestia bowed and departed on her way to bed.

"I do not know about you guys, but I honestly am ready to retire!" Shadow yawned stretching out his wings and laying himself down on a table with lackadaisical interest. "How you doing?" Shadow posed at Lightning throwing an apple at Lightning who caught it in his mouth.

"Alright; we can call it a night if that is what you want, if that is okay with you Miss Hope."

"Well that is eventful" Hope giggled. "I think you two lasted about thirty seconds longer than Celestia."

"Well you had a good idea with sleep." Shadow determined.

"You do not have to justify yourself; follow me the Northern corridor is almost impossible to miss."

Hope to say the least was not lying when she said it was impossible to miss; the atmosphere upon moving upstairs and slightly down the right gave the entire a new atmosphere as the exaggerated chandeliers became simple lights, enormous dome shaped rooms became a single linear hallway, and framed photographs and portraits decorated the walls instead of declarations of Equestria.

"This room contains two queen beds if you two would be okay sharing a room," Hope directed to Lightning and Shadow. "Bladz you tired as well?"

"Not at all to be honest" I admitted to her. "Can I put this book down for now though?"

"Of course! Just put it next to that door for now." She replied pointing to a door. "Sweet dreams you two."

"Good Night!" Lightning declared with Shadow supplying a simple night afterwards promptly launching himself upon the mattress as Lightning closed the door officially retiring inwards.

"So what do you want to do?" I inquired.

"I do not know really but let us not waste time thinking about what we could be doing! Let us go for a walk and I am sure we could figure something out. Canterlot is a beautiful city at night afterall." Hope cheered launching herself into a loop nearly knocking a chandelier out with one of her hooves.

"Quite a night owl I see!" I sneered pulling her down from her personal cloud of energy.

"Well honestly I am more of an all-day owl! It is just I am in a relatively good mood tonight! Anyway let us get on with that walk!" I nodded and we motioned our way through the castle once more; however, this time the castle held an uncanny stillness to it everyone it seemed had departed on towards their homes for the night. The dishes from the dining room had been removed most likely by the last departing chef we noticed when we passed by and besides for the standard guards on their shifts Hope and I were alone as we departed the castle.

"So where we heading?" I questioned her taking myself to the edge of the castle grounds.

"I do not know to be honest; this city is nice and all but I do not know much around here."

"That's right you do not like to be seen in public." I pivoted to express my face of concern.

"Not without a hat or a dress or something to hide either my wings or horn; I rather not cause a scene. Here I have a place I want to show you." Hope mentioned partially sighing.

"How far of a walk is it?"

"It is not a walk," she proclaimed as a green aura surrounded me and carried me upwards as Hope spread her wings and flew carrying me beside her to the top of the mountain that Canterlot stood on. She released me allowing me to regain my footing from the sudden levitation. "Here" she proclaimed pointing downwards, provoking me to approach the edge in hesitation. "Do not worry I will not let you fall." Over that edge laid Canterlot with a stunning display of little and large, graceful and bold lights filtering through the darkness overhanging the city.

"It is beautiful up here; do you come here often or something?"

"When I need to think I sometimes do or when I cannot sleep. Really is a wonderful sight isn't it?" she smiled pulling something out of a small bag she must of had to her side that I missed.

"Yes; what is that thing?"

"It is a crystal that I found I think when I was really young, it does not really serve any purpose that I can figure out; however, I just could never find it to get rid of it."

"Can I see it?" I asked holding out my right forehoof towards her and was met with a small gemstone in my grasp.

"I know it looks like a dumb old gem but I just like it." Hope stuttered.

"It is very nice Hope, you should not be ashamed with putting value into something that you think is worthless because to you it is not worthless and that is something that you absolutely should never be ashamed of because it is part of who you are. Also, I think this stone is nice as well and is a very nice find by you; I feel like I have seen this shape and design before but I do not believe I have seen one of this color that I have held before." I laid down and invited Hope to do the same.

"Have you worked with a lot of gemstones before?"

"It is part of being an Angelo, you work almost daily with gemstones; or at least see a couple dozens daily of various shapes and sizes." I informed her and she nodded in understanding.

"Yea I forgot for a moment that you are Armonia's student and just recently started dealing with him a lot more often."

"So you never told me when you got that stone."

"I have had it before Celestia found me. She told me it was one of the only things that I had when she took me in." Hope explained moving herself closer to me and placing a hoof of hers on one of mine. "Are the stars not wonderful tonight?"

"Yes they are; it is making it hard for me to decide what I like better: the sight of the city or these stars."

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what? It was the only thing that I could have done."

"But you did not hesitate nor did you do it impulsively. What would you have done if Armonia said no to it?"

"He didn't though"

"But let us say that he did say no. What would you have done?"

"I would've argued with him to figure out why not?

"Why though? Is he not your mentor? Is he not supposed to be your guide, your leader, your teacher?" Hope demanded. I was silent. "You remember me talking about a feeling that I did not quite understand and I have only felt it once before?" I nodded. "I have been thinking about it and I think I might know what it could have been."

"What?"

"Fear; fear so intense that my powers would not be extinguish it. Fear that drives you to insanity then leaves you to beg and scream and cry and just sit there trapped in a prison from reality bound in nothing more than your own anxieties. But this feeling has a second side, an aftertaste that contradicts reason and causes you to desire such fear, like you crave it, like it is part of who you are and without it you are incomplete, lost and broken until you discover the something that transforms the fear into something greater, something that does not cause fear, something that causes a new emotion, action, or something of the sort." Hope responded in hasteful speak making her words almost undecipherable.

"Hope you know that fear is a powerful emotion of ours and without it when would not be able to  survive. Fear, however, has another purpose in that it causes hesitation and when it comes to fear there is a single thing I try to remember; it is better to know what you fear than fear what you know." I started wrapping my hoof around the one that she had rested on my foreleg. "Think of fear as a star here: to us small and far... ahh where are the stars?"

'What!" she jumped her head up to see that the stars that we had just admired had disappeared. "Where did they go? Stars do not just disappear! That is not natural! That is not possible!"

"Why are you panicking?"

"Two things can remove stars from the sky so quickly and there are no clouds in the sky right now."

"What else can wipe an entire sky clear of stars?" I demanded in trepidation of the answer. "it isn't..." Hope moved her head to confirm my terror. "Dark arts," I whimpered. My heart held still as I witnessed silent flashes of purple lightning above me originated without source leaving behind a dark violet mist in the atmosphere that began to condense around a central point above us. No. The mist hardened together and turned to blackness, the lightning stopped and a new found calmness was found in the air. The silence moaned on until the cries of blackness purged the skies and two immense violet eyes opened to stare down at us. No! The eyes narrowed as below them a new line of violet mist emerged taking the form of razor teeth. Then it launched itself towards us constructing a body of darkness on its way down. "NO!"

The creature had be to storming down; however, to me it felt like minutes, hours, days as my eyes locked onto those enormous balls of violet plasm bolting down. I am unaware of how far it was going to get but I knew one thing at that point and it was the only thing that mattered. In panic I strived my hardest to remain calm and did the only thing I know I could accomplish in that time; I executed a protective shield over us and Canterlot below. I ducked down to avoid eye contact because it then crossed my mind that I will be able to protect Hope and I until the time of sunrise; however, without Canterlot's shield will only last so long and there was at the moment nothing that I could do.

"Bladz?"

"I am sorry. I cannot hold this and save canterlot, I do not know what to do!"

"Bladz, the shield, it is white?" Hope exclaimed in tears. I continued with my head down. "Bladz? You know what this is don't you!"

"I am afraid so!" I whimpered as Hope moved in closer beside me and paused. "I do not know why that shield is white though."

"Bladz...it is better to know what you fear than fear what you know." Hope attempted a smile. "I want you to help me overcome my fears but first we must overcome what this is that is making us both fearful."

"I do not think I know a way of dealing with this though" I whispered to her in hug.

Hope lost her burst of enthusiasm and sighed "I did not ask if you could think of a way out of this way, I asked if you know a way out. You stopped an earthquake! You must know something at least to allow us to get down to the castle with enough time to get Celestia and Luna." she spoke near tears. A series of slams where heard above as my fear intensified by the worst sound I could've asked for, the shield above me cracked.

"I do not know. Hope, I just do not know anything that could help us." A hoof was placed on my uninjured shoulder, yet when I looked down I saw Hope's hooves firmly still around my sides causing me to jerk in turn to see a tall white unicorn staring down at me with a long mane that prismed colors downwards. We got this Bladz! The unicron trotted to the center of the shield and faced upwards where he grinned and ignited his horn that revealed a rainbow effect. The shield shattered under the white unicorns spell; however, as each piece shattered it turned into light and beamed upwards forming together an enormous pillar of white light that blinded me and eradicated darkness from the skies. When I looked up he was gone.

"What just happened?"

"I do not know, there was this unicorn with a rainbow magic color and then a white light formed that shined upwards." I stated returning to my feet.

"Really? Because what I just saw was that exact same thing except that white unicorn was you and you just sat down after you finished." Hope declared.

"That is not possible."

"But it is," Luna stated from behind me touching herself down, "and I am sorry for doing that."

"What do you mean Miss Luna?" I questioned.

"I was not entirely sure who you were and I put you and Hope in a state of panic for me to find out."

"Wait! All that was not real? You did that too us?" I demanded.

"Yes and I am sorry! Can you please forgive me for my foolishness."

"How can I not forgive you? I just something that I did not understand and I want to know more about it." I admitted.

"Thank you Sir Angelo, I mean Bladz." Luna bowed. "You two should get some sleep now, it will help if you two are functional in the morning. Why are you two even up here anyway?"

"I wanted to show Bladz the view of the city from up here," Hope explained. "We will return to our quarters Luna."

"Good night you two," Luna smiled launching herself skybound.

"Here I got you" Hope picked me up and we reversed our course this time landing on a balcony just outside of the northern upper corridor. Upon setting my legs down I could not help but notice that my balance was still shaky as was Hope's.

"So anyway I meant to ask but which one of these doors is for my room?"

"Well I did not want to say anything because I was afraid you might of been upset but there is no other room. I was thinking instead that you could crash in my room for the night since it is larger than the one the other two are in."

"Ahh, okay?" I eyes were the size of pumpkins as I took in what she just informed me and I was skeptical of her thought processing.

"No worry" she quickly started opening the door. "You do not have to sleep on the floor or anything, there is enough room on my bed for you seeing how it is larger than a king size. I have a separate set of sheets if you are not comfortable sharing sheets."

"Thank you" I replied taking in the offer and realizing how innocent Hope truly is. "it will be fine thank you for the consideration."

"What will be fine?"

"Sleeping here with you for the night," I cheered picking up the separate set of sheets and laying them out over half the bed. "Thank you again."

"No problem" she responded warmly turning off the lights and each of us crawled under our own separate set of layers.

"Sweet dreams Hope."

"Same goes to you Bladz, thank you for what you told me and did tonight." she supplied to me turning to give me a quick hug and then repositioning herself to her side.

"Oh by the way Hope, you said that you felt that bittersweet feeling of fear and desire two times. When was the other time?

"When I first saw you."

Chapter Twelve (Garden of Shadows)

Scared of me? Scared? Why would she of been scared of me? Was it something I did? Did I do something wrong? My eyes launched open as I awake in a lake of my own sweat and an enormous headache. Eight times I have awoken and they were only getting worse. I turned to gaze upon Hope for a brief moment who was still resting peacefully less than a meter from me. I am surprised yet very glad that throughout the night I had not disturbed her in any way by waking her up or anything. "At least you are well," I sighed at her in sleep and stretched for a few moments receiving a little of delight over the last time I awoken to find the painkiller had completely worn off placing me in a plethora of discomfort to understate the torture by magnitudes.

I attempted to rest my eyes and fall into slumber; however, the seconds turned into what felt like minutes, which felt like hours, which felt like days, months, and years. I felt eased to know that I have someone close to my proximity yet the identity of her left me uncertain. I finally could not take it any longer and with care I flailed myself off the mattress to put my hooves firmly on the ground. "Just calm down Bladz you are going to be alright. Stop letting things get to you so easily. I understand you have been having a long and confusing month but that is no reason to prevent yourself from getting some sleep" I scolded myself, immediately engaging in an internal dispute over if I should ignore myself or not. Drinking some water will help me clear my mind and the exercise will help me cope a little bit with the stress. I fumbled to open the door and proceeded out the door without another breath contemplating on my concerns.

The castle was still pitch black in the night and judging on my knowledge of sleep patterns I concluded that the new day had begun; however, daylight was nowhere approaching. Another thing that quickly became evident to me was just how little I could recall of the layouts of the castle as I passed the same atrium enough times laying somewhere that I have clue about that I could probably recall every detail of the design that was painted on the ceiling. I find it hard to believe that a kitchen or a dining area of any major royal establishment this size could be so troublesome to find, although yet again I do find it hard to believe as well that I am staying in a foreign empire castle without extensive study of diplomacy, or anything dealing with foreign areas under that logic.

"You seem a little lost."

"Well I guess I could say I am glad to see you Miss Luna," I stated in recognition of the voice.

"Having trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah; Hope said..."

"What Hope stated was most likely for your ears alone or she would've said it around you and I's ears together. So what are you after anyway?"

"Was looking for the kitchen or something so I could get a drink of water. I was also planning on trotting around to stretch my legs but as you can probably tell, I have already experienced my fair share of that for one night."

"Have you tried the stairs?" Luna motioned towards a large flight of stairs that laid in front of us slightly to the right. Luna was more amused by my annoyance with the suggestion than I would have liked; however, I did not take much insult as my thirst was hastily accumulating. "Your mannerisms and actions really do serve as a pleasant form of entertainment during my precious night." Luna punned taking lead down the stairs with me. "I guess it aids in allowing me to trust you a little, even if I barely have met you."

"I do not know how you define trust but okay, I guess."

"Well I trust you enough to not try to beat your mane in for sleeping in Hope's room."

"I can explain that!"

"No need I understand Hope's reason for it, the room that the other two are in works well yet three would be pushing comforts. Hope as well I can see believing that there is nothing wrong with either; probably because as we both are completely aware, trying to wake that young mare up is a challenge in itself and one that I personally would not enjoy to undertake in. Do not tell her that I said this but I rather fight a battalion of dragons than wake her up; would require less energy and I have a better chance of surviving the encounter."

"You trying to say that she is not much of a morning pony?"

"Well no, she wakes up well but I am less likely to starve to death waiting for a dragon army to surrender or retreat than wait on her to get up."

"Nice use of overexaggerated sarcasm." I responded to her as we entered the dining area.

"I try my best," Luna grinned and she fumbled through a cupboard and pulled out a simple glass cup that she filled with water and handed to me. "Our cooking staff will not be delighted to find a dish awaiting them in the morning but  a single cup is not going to push anyone even close to the edge; not after my stunts."

"Like what?"

"Well, let me just say that last year I discovered the miracle that is ice cream thanks to Celestia, while the staff discovered the lesser miracle of what the castle looks like after Luna discovers the miracle of ice cream. Took them a week to get all the stickiness off everything and took me a month to lose all the weight it gave me as a cruel, sick joke. I learned a valuable lesson about the meaning of family that day and it was delicious.""

"How did you not ever have ice cream before?"

"Well, that thing you were talking about earlier known as fear, well it can have some negative results if you let it get to you. I mean it is nothing major, just me trying to establish eternal darkness over the land which ended with me getting trapped in the moon for a thousand years but it is okay!"

"What?" I questioned pulling the glass from my face after taking a sip.

"It is what can happen when you let things get to you. You never stop learning and meeting new people and you will be amazed with what people can teach you. In my case I let jealousy get the best of me and instead of talking it out with my sister I tried to take over the day because people sleep through my night. Now I just remember that during the night young fillies and  aged stallions alike will lie asleep and dream; and sometimes I would argue that dreams are much better than reality. They give us a median which we can control, even if sometimes we forget that. Dreams allow us to express our happiness and sorrows, our delights and hardships, and in dreams we can learn to face our fears."

"In honesty the ability to enter dreams sounds stalker or creep status; however, you work as the mediator I take it."

"I guess you could say that. I have to admit, it feels better to fight nightmares than cause them like I used to do though. Not everypony has began to trust me yet; however, I still do not see a reason for that to hinder me from assisting them now. Some ponies can just be stubborn and accepting me is a lot harder to do than it is for others like Twilight. I mean do not get me wrong there were disputes over it with many celebrating and others disputing, but over time people are being to accept the idea of Princess Twilight, while I have experienced a much slower rate." Luna explained in despair.

"Sometimes it is best to not be accepted because it leaves us not too distracted with the things that too often cause us to go blind and allows us to see the things that we need to see." I determined upon taking my final sip of water and placing the glass in a sink. "I was never one to make many friends but that left me more time to read and write and think and explore the sciences should I can get an understanding of it myself. I like having friends but for most of my life my books were my friends and my sister was my best friend; if I ever wanted to do something my books would always be there to allow me to do it, especially after Lord Armonia supplied me with access to his library."

"Oh! He gave you full access to the serentian royal archives? That is unusual of what I would expect of his yet I honestly do not know him very well."

"Well not exactly; it is a different library of his."

Oh, okay then. Anyway want to come with me?"

"Where are you going?"

"Well I told you that I watch over ponies and their dreams. Well I cannot do it by just laying around."

"You are just going to enter a random's person dream at will!"

"Well I could do that but I find that very inefficient. See how it works is fairly simple but complex to understand. Every pony has two separate domains that they exist in, the mind and the body, that constantly interact and depend on each other, and there is an essence that exist in every pony that connects us all in a way. To understand what I am trying to say you can visualize an apple orchard with the trees serving as the body and the apples serving as the mind, while the water in the soil connect all the trees together. Essentially it is this field of magic that touches everything and by manipulating this I can allow my mind to enter that of another's."

"Who or what taught you the ability to control such unusual magic?"

"Do not recall; however, it is not controlling because I cannot force my way into people's dreams. The magic we are discussing demands assurance from all participants. Luckily for us the unconscious is very responsive to needs and even if the conscious mind refuses it, the unconscious will override the order to allow what it deems best. In fact, I am pretty sure this magic is also associated with the formation of cutie marks or something of the nature because cutie marks are one of the .things that every pony will experience regardless of type." Luna responded receding from the dining area forcing me to follow.

"Okay and about Celestia and Hope, how did they join before into my dream?" I inquired to her.

"Well you see the thing was that we did not visit you, you visited us. I connected them to me and then you joined me so they never were connected directly to you, we all meet through connections with me."

"I see, I understand what happened then. How are you planning on me to help you then if you have to place them in a reality you created for them?"

Luna stopped in her tracks and provided me with her attention. "Bladz, one of the things that have crossed my mind recently was the fact that you not only defended against a powerful illusionary attack by me, but incinerated it. If a pony can figure out a way to follow me to assist another pony by manipulating a force of magic that we do not understand it would be you. You have the talent in magic to at least give it a fair attempt."

“Well if I have learned anything about magic from my studies at the academy, which is not much since I learned most of the basics in my youth from books before I even started, it is that more powerful magic can essentially be broken down into categories. Yes I thought I did not know nature magic when I did but I can assure you that I do not know how to manipulate magic to intrude on another’s mind, nor do we even know what category that would falls under?”

“Well I would be probably the last one to assist you in categories and identification as education was not much of my thing; I learn better through experience and really the only magic I know if those that others have taught me or I learned on my own.”

“I know what you mean by that,” I nodded. “The academy that I am gladly no longer attending has never really taught me anything cool or interesting when it comes to magic. I was approaching the middle grades before the class even attempted levitation of anything heavier than I few pounds. I had been doing that already for years!”

“Did you show off a little or maybe even act like it was too difficult just to mess with the class?” Luna questioned taking a renewed interest in our discussion.

“Well I guess you can say I showed off a little. While the were working on how to pick up a textbook, I might of picked up every bookshelf, table, and desk in the classroom and flipped them upside-down faster than anyone else could even pick up their book.”

“Nice one! Anyway, try not to think of it as intrusion we are asking after all sort of.” Luna stretched her neck out towards the ceiling and her eyes sought to pull a star out of the night through the wall above. "I just do not understand it."

"Understand what?" I demanded in puzzle.

"Nothing," Luna stated snapping out of her daze. "Well let us give it a try; after all, everything not tried will always be impossible."

"So how do you enter them anyway? Do you use a spell setting? Do you have to be asleep? Do you just think it?"

"No, no and not quite; you cannot think here with this, you just have to know what you will do and then let your magic do the rest," Luna explained placing me in an even greater doubt. I closed my eyes and pushed myself to steady breathing. The castle's silence allowed me to hear Luna's heartbeat as well as my own as I plunged myself into calmness and sparked my horn with magical aura just as I was advised..

Well I guess this could be worse although I do not feel any different. Okay you have to believe that you can do this. I took a deep breath in and opened my eyes for a brief moment to see Luna watching me with anticipation. You are not knowing, you are just think! Not wanting to disappoint her I decided to give it my full attention and with a final breath I concentrated.

My concentration was broken abruptly by a weird fluttering of my heartbeat forcing me to open my eyes to find Luna with a slight grin engulfed in trepidation. "Well that is disappointing," I commented to her noticing no change in the environment besides for a light bluish tint that was painted on everything because of the light that radiated from my horn.

"If that is disappointing I would hate to see what you call satisfying." she proclianed.

"Come again?"

"We are inside the aura! How did you do that! We both were just standing and suddenly you turned to a bluish mist and when I looked down I was turning to a bluish mist and here we are regenerated as mist inside of some median! Did you turn us into pure magic?"

"I highly doubt that; however, what you probably saw was your mind linking with this magic. Aren't you used to this?"

"no, no, no, and no again! I link directly with people! I have idea where we are, well I have an idea where we are, but I have no idea how you got us here!"

"You said to enter! Where were you expecting me to go, it is not like I can join you mind and what ever or who ever esle where we are going. Did you not think this out?"

"To be honest I though it was not going to work."

"Well I guess it did work" I exclaimed seriously before breaking into laughter at the complete irony of being lost mentally now both metaphorically and now physically. "what now?"

"We look for people who need our help, nightmares and situations of extreme distress causes disruptions in this field; we just have to observe until we find a big enough disturbance to indicate that someone needs our help."

"Fair enough," I nodded stretching out my hooves and laying myself down on the ground. "So how long will that take?" Luna placed herself beside me taking on an expression of despair. "I'll take that as we may be here for a while."

"They do not happen as often as you may think and I usually am busy watching the stars and assuring that the night is running smoothly as well." Luna placed her head down upon the flooring and closed her eyes. "We will know when we are needed, trust me the disturbance will be unmistakable." Luna pulled herself up and flew straight up launching herself out a open window disappearing from my sight. A few moments past before Luna dragged herself back inside the window turning to me, "You know I would of prefered you as a pegasus right now."

"If I was a pegasus I would not be her right now," I challenged.

"You mind if I carry you?"

"I would not recomend that with my leg being injured."

"You think that would of been fixed as being in a stat of magic?"

"Well now that you mention it I do not understand why it is still harmed. Although I do understand what you mean by you will not miss it; I have this unmistakable feeling of a migraine right now from just outside the castle."

"What? You can sense it? When I said it was unmistakable I mean you can see disturbances visually? You sure I cannot pick you up and carry you or at least to levitate you?" Luna attempted to pick me up with her magic; however, as she did so she was collapsed in exhaustion. "Or maybe not?"

"Figured that" I commanded, "I am too heavy for you to hold me in our current state because we are synced by magic, using magic will draw away from your sync and could possibly synchronize you. It is okay I can walk, it is not like my leg is giving me crippling pain I will run out behind you." Luna moved her head in agreeance launching herself out the window and me to the nearest door that I could remeber to the outside. When I placed my hooves on the outside ground I gazed upon the stars to see luna motioning towards a location south of our position and by sensing a general origin of the disturbance I nodded and was on my way towards the area.

Drawing in towards the area was weird because with every step that gave me this sensation that I was drawing closer I felt at the same time farther away. The streets were empty; however, I could not tell if this was the truth for reality. The sensation intensified to a crippling point when I stopped upon a small residence that somewhat out-of-place being surrounded by larger homes in all directions. Luna took root beside me now that I had arrived at the location and I could tell by her hesitation she was questioning the reason for such an outlier as well.

"So now what?" I posed to Luna.

"We try to enter; if we have permission then we will be allowed to do so." Luna stated then paused once more. I motioned to the front of the door and lifted my right foreleg. "I just do not know how we will do that though in this form?" she sighed as I placed my hoof upon the door. My hoof phased through the door and my body followed in surprise landing hard on what appeared to be a street  in mint condition yet aged with time's nature.

"Luna. where are we? Luna? Princess Luna? Princess Luna!?" I screamed out finding no entrance or exit to which I could have entered. Stay calm, just stay calm! It is not like you are trapped her realistically. You are simply in a dream. Not your own dream but nevertheless a dream! "Princess Luna! Princess! Princess Luna!!" I lowered myself and attempted to make myself as tiny as I could because of a factor of extreme uncertainty that left me feeling like prey instead of protecting whom ever from the predator that is nightmares.

"What is wrong?" a smooth voice inquired behind me. I turned to find an older green pegasus filly staring down at me in question. "Something troubling you sir?"

"I am sorry but do I know you from somewhere?" I asked.

"Well I would sure hope so but you may of saw me as bigger, and taller, and older, and well basically not a filly," she informed me trying to form a smile.

"Is this your dream or nightmare?"

"Why no silly! I have been here only as long as you have! Or maybe a little bit after? Or maybe a little bit before? I do not know anymore!" The filly threw her fore hooves up in defeat.

"Well okay then? Have you seen a taller mare around her with wings and a horn?"

"If you are worrying about Luna is do not worry, just try to remember that those you need will always be there for you, even if it not in the way you can understand.." The filly smiled and tilted her head before running off into the shadows and disappearing from sight leaving me still disoriented.

"Bladz! There you are! Sorry we got separated!" Luna exclaimed landing beside me. "I do not know how we managed to get separated but nice work figuring out a way to enter this dream sphere!"

"you do not understand how glad I am to see you; however, did you know that filly?"

"What filly? I have not seen anyone or anything her except building and streets, this place is too dark. I have no idea who is having this dream but I can tell you I cannot find him or her." The ground rumbled from under our hooves as in the distance we turned to witness a sky reaching build trumble to its foundation. "Or maybe we just did?" I took off towards the rubble while Luna took flight and trailed behind me flying very low.

I arrived at the foundation site in disbelief about how such a large building could collapse like that without a sort of external force.that was excessive enough by what I could tell, and neither could Luna from her reaction. I did my best to push debris aside widening the size of the perimeter to inspect the damages. "You see anything out of the ordinary her?" she questioned. "And I do not mean the fact that there is a fallen building?" I shook my head to indicate a negative for there was nothing meaningful here and the building appeared to of been empty upon collapse. "Check the left and I will investigate the right. A building does not fall on its own like this and must follow logic, even if that logic is not realistic, there had to be a reason or a cause for the collapse."

I trotted over to the left section and began to push debris in all directions unmasking a plethora of broken concrete originating from the above and the below. The only place that appeared to have dodged this disaster in this area was a small patch of concrete that by sheer luck dodged the collapse while being surrounded by destruction. The middle of a pile of debris closer to the building's foundation revealed an empty picture frame with the glass laying beside. The glass was shattered but upon inspection the friction of the collapse has melted much of the glass to have the sharp edges take on a smooth quality.

"Bladz! Come here!" Luna demanded from her side of the building. I stampeded over in concern and found Luna hovering pointing downwards to a massive pile of debris where a single orange hoof was departing from. I began to rip the carnage out of the way alongside Luna, digging our way down to the injured pony. Digging we began to uncover a middle-aged stallion suffering in agony.

"What happened? You need help, hold on we will try to assist you!" I informed the orange stallion.

"I am not the one you are looking for," the stallion groaned. "He left to find assistance; however, I know he will not find it. This tower has fallen and damaged those that are innocent. The collapse put strain on the surrounding area and without proper action the destruction can spread beyond our beliefs."

"What do you mean? This building has already fallen and the damage has been done, it cannot fall again and cause more damage." Luna commanded.

"But a stone from this building can be used to knock down others and without the stone the building cannot be made complete again. You will see in time Bladz" the stallion declared and then vanished into shadows.

"What was that about?" Luna asked openly. "This is the weirdest nightmare I have been in and trust me when I say I have been in some weird ones."

"I can imagine. He said my name and it never stated it? Anyway, there is another pony here who's dream this is and considering how this building is blocking the road here I would assume that he followed the road in the opposite direction with no sence of location."

"You think so?"

"Better than nothing" I justified beginning to trail the street.

"True; I will hunt for this pony from the skies," Luna agreed following behind taking off airbound. "He did not say anything about what this pony looked like did he?"

"Not that I recall, but he did say he so we know we are looking for a male." Luna nodded and raced off upwards to get a wider view. I did not travel fifty feet when a stallion charged up from my front in exaustion.

"You there! You are traveling in this direction! Did you see the fallen building? My friend needs help!"

"It is okay, everything is fine. Your friend is fine, you are simply dreaming. I am sure he is fine in reality." I told him.

"No he is not! They are coming! I know they are! They are coming to spread destruction through what we have lost! We have to be brave and stand up for ourselves and our people!"

"What do you mean we?" I questioned to him.

"We must!" He screamed blistering my eardrums. He suddenly disappeared from sight and he fused together with the sound waves that collided with the ground sparking shockwaves. I struggled to keep my balance as the vibrations intensified and I did my best to figure a way out of this place. The surrounding city began to collapse around me and skies started to glitch.

"Hold still" a voice declared as the white stallion I had seen before when I was defending against Luna appeared charging towards me and knocked me upon its back without a moment's slow-down. "You have to get out of here!" The unicorn sparked a rainbow aura and a portal of light opened in front of us. We launched ourselves through it placing us outside of the door Luna and I entered from. "Where is Luna?"

"I do not know? Who are you?" I posed to him. The door opened once more and Luna was thrown out disoriented by the green pegasus filly. "You again!"

"We have no time to explain this Bladz! You already know what you are wondering, all you have to do is figure out what it is that you know and understand it!" The stallion stated and both he and filly turned to colored mists and faded into the magical aura.

"What pushed me? I was flying along and suddenly there was a loud shout and I was pushed through a random portal."

"I would not worry about it?" I ignited my horn turning us both into a magic aura that rushed back into the castle. I blacked out for a moment but when I opened my eyes I was back in my physical body and Luna was as well lost in an overwhelming amount of confusion I judged by her facial expression. "I am going to bed again Ms. Luna, thank you for this experience."

"You are welcome but what just happened?" she inquired. I sighed a long sigh and nodded a single nod at her. "You do not understand it either do you?" I nodded once more. "Okay then Bladz, I should be the one thanking you for your assistance really. I do not know how I would of handled that one by myself. Thank you."

"Well good night once more."

"Good night!"  She took lead as we returned to the outside of Hope's room. "And Bladz."

"Hmm?"

"I will probably not see you again tomorrow before you guys depart so do we a favor. Make sure you maintain the state of happiness."

"You mean about Hope?"

"No, I mean you." she commanded causing me to be taken back by surprise. "Just do it for me please because there is something I understood tonight and it would be best if you maintain your positive and bright atmosphere."

"Thank you princess." I bowed.

"Thank you" Luna hesitated to say something else and then fell silent.

"Tonight has a beautiful sky; nice work you did." Luna blushed and then smiled opening the door for me. I walked inside past her noticing a single tear drop fall under gravity from her.

Chapter Thirteen (The Kingdom to the North)

Despite the occurrences of the previous night only one thing approached my mind as I slipped back into consciousness, What is burning? I forced myself to roll over to discover a lovely plate of black sitting on a small table beside me with a card alongside.

I made you breakfast and left it here for when you get up! Your's truly~ Hope..

"Well I guess it is the thought that counts" I stated in amused defeat pulling myself off the bed mildly impressed how the drug was still in effect. I dragged myself into Hope's bathroom where I used a light, clean cloth from a pile aside to wash off my face and neck, and then compressed together with hot water against my shoulder. Using the wrap that was around my shoulder beforehand I constricted the washcloth in place and put on my armor in order to add extra support. I assumed this would work for the best; Celestia wanted us to get to know Equestria a little before we left to return to Serentia, and as a member of the Serentian council it would serve well for this to be my first major act of diplomacy if I did it correctly.

Departing from the room I was relieved to find the castle a whole lot easier to navigate in the daylight. I approached the balcony blissed yet surprised by the sun's intensity as it was one of the brightest shines I have ever encountered. I marveled at the warmth and how the sun's rays reflected so flawlessly off the surroundings before retreating from the corridor towards the main center of the castle. Today I feel is going to be a good day. I wandered around the castle briefly moving from dining area to several corridors and finally the outskirts of the throne room, where I finally found Celestia and Hope engaging in graceful discussion.

"Well good to see you finally awoke! Having fun sleeping in until almost ten?" Celestia humored herself. "I do not blame you though considering what Luna told me about you assisting her last night. How did that go? Luna did not tell me"

"Well only did one so I cannot really say much about it." I told her.

"Well I can understand what you mean by that. Hard to compare something if you only have one thing to compare."

"The sun is stunning today if I may so Princess."

"Well I am not the one you should be telling that to. Hope helped me today with it." Celestia informed me. Hope's soft yellow face turned red as my eyes turned and locked momentarily with hers.

"I did not do anything really, it is your sunrise." Hope responded to Celestia.

"That may be so but your assistance is what has made the light celebrate in luscious thanksgiving."

"Thank you again for letting me help."

"It is no problem! You did very well for your first time and it is the least I could do!" Celestia proclaimed causing Hope's face to shine even redder. "Bladz, I am sorry but I will not be able to show you around today like I would of liked; however, I am more than certain that Hope can serve in my place. Also, Ms. Sparkle stated earlier that she is going to Ponyville today, they are having some sort of celebration and she wanted to know if you want you can tag along with her. She said that you might be interested in meeting a few people over there."

"Thank you ma'am. Where are Lightning and Carnivorous?"

"They left to spend the day in Cloudsdale based on Lunar's request. Oh by the way, how did you like your morning meal?" Hope's eyes lite up in anticipation.

"I found it to be a pleasant surprise!"

Celestia nodded and walked beside me towards the throne room. "I asked the chef to make something for you just so you do not starve to death." she whispered to me as she passed. I smiled but I was content with what I got; it was not like it was burnt entirely to the core, just a few edges and the bottoms of somethings.

"Well quite honestly I have no idea what we could do and I have nothing planned but I see no reason for that to hinder us!" Hope admitted.

"Whatever you have think of or decide I am confident will be fine." I told her. Hope once again blushed, this time grabbing me in a hug, grateful for the support in making her newfound duty a little easier. I was initially taken by her lunge at me; however, I returned the hug back to her smelling the smooth aura of her hair's conditioner from unclose. About five seconds passed until I attempted to pull away and found Hope glued to me.

"Sorry," Hope released the hug and blushed once more. A few moments lingered in the air until I broke the silence with light coughing. "Want to try the gardens? They are not overly abundant with blooms right now but they still nice and are a peaceful place for us to start our tour I guess."

"I would like that" I grinned. "Lead the way please princess." I stretched out a foreleg forward to indicate I was ready to get on our way. Hope returned my grin and held out a hoof imitating my gesture than began on her way.

The gardens’ location directly beside the banquet hall surprised me as how I did not stumble across them sooner; however, that mattered little compared to the breathtaking beauty that constructed the area. Rich reds, smiling yellows, and greeting green flowers all weaved through the park-like area and served as sheet music to the birds’ songs above. “This place is amazing!” I breathed in awe.

“Yes it is isn’t it? Celestia supplies the basic funding; however, this is a public project that ponies from all over the kingdom have contributed to and maintained. Although Celestia does have contracted gardeners come out to ensure it is kept up with correctly.”

“I am surprised no pony is here if this is a public project.”

“Public project, but not public property; there are days when these grounds are open for the public, but events happen here at the castle and Celestia and Luna cannot have various ponies moving around constantly throughout the day. Come let us continue on my little tour, I do know a few places that you might like.” Hope nudged me to follow her as she made her way out of the garden.

“Where are we going?” I questioned as we approached the castle’s entrance.

“You will see,” Hope smiled. As we left castle grounds I took in Canterlot’s construction and the unique detail that was placed in it. There were shops, restaurants, homes, and even in the distance two large stadium-sized domes, all with the unusual style of architecture that the castle featured. In whole the style was growing on me and was serving as one of the more recognizing features of Canterlot that I am sure served as well for many ponies before me. “You already know about this place,” Hope teased pointing to a large building with two guards standing in position that Twilight informed me was the royal archives.

“How do you know that?”

“The book that you had would only be available there.”

“Wait you know about that book?”

“No? Why would I know about a random book? I just know that the pages seemed really old and the only place around here with pages that old are typically only found in the archives.” Hope stated cheerfully confused by my reaction. “This isn’t what I wanted to show you though! Come on!”

I followed along once more spotting a young couple conducting in brunch together when I noticed that upon looking towards me they took on an expression of shock and quickly did a quick bow towards us. “That is weird?”

“What is?” Hope paused in her pace.

“That couple over there bowed to us?”

“I have to admit that is weird. I do not believe that Celestia or Luna alike would of announce your presence, nor do I think they have had the time to?”

“I think I might of figure out what they were bowing at,” I whispered to Hope lifting up my hoof and pointing to her horn followed by her wing. Hope jumped a little bit in shock as her anticipation had led to negligence on her part. “It is fine I am sure. You should be proud of who you are.” Hope’s cheeks rosed as I bowed back to the couple in friendly exchange and had us continue on our way.

“We’re almost there!” Hope exclaimed as we approached a train crossing.

“You were bringing me to a train station?”

“Well technically yes, but no. It is what is next to the train station that what I want to visit.” Hope informed me as we crossed the tracks moving to our right towards a dome building with similar design to the others in Canterlot.

“An Aquarium?” I asked softly

“Mhmm, many ponies overlook this place and the rest never even consider visiting here. Do you like aquariums?”

“Never honestly been to one sadly; I always meant to go to one but we never found the opportunity between various orders and schooling and all that.”

“Well then it is time for your first visit! There is a turtle here that I absolutely love to talk to!”

“There is a magic turtle here that can talk?”

“No sadly he cannot talk to me verbally; however, I know he understands me and does little actions to communicate with me. Almost the same things really if I may say so especially since many actions speak louder than words.” Hope explained pushing the door open that served as the aquarium's entrance and holding the door for me. The place was empty like Hope informed me; however, I had expected at least to see employees standing around.

"Doesn't this place need a staff to maintain it?" I asked turning to see Hope waving a greetings to a baby alligator.

"Well it once had staff but as this place became less and less visited Mr. Dune, the owner here, took on full responsibility of maintaining the aquarium. I convinced Celestia and Luna to aid in helping him keep this place in shape; however, Celestia helps by supplying Mr. Dune with feed and necessities such as filters to keep the tanks running smoothly. Thus this aquarium has no form of advertisement except by the word if mouth, which I try to assist with as much as I can."

"Where is this stallion anyway?"

"Sleeping. He works at night that way he does not hinder the experience for anyone who decides to stop by during the day since that is when a strong majority of ponies who do ever visit come. He used to have to wake up during the day to feed the life around here but since I helped him build an automatic feeder that is linked to a clock he has been able to spend more time sleeping and performing beneficial construction and maintenance."

"That was nice of you to assist him."

"I come her enough so it was sort of my way of thanking him and giving back." Hope reasoned

"So where is this turtle of yours?"

"I do not know really?" Hope worried looking though a glass tank that laid six to our left. Hope trotted around looking in at different angles until she paused a finally smiled waving me to come towards her. "Be quiet but there he is," hope cheered pointing to assist me. A small turtle had buried itself partially in the sand and was resting with its left foreleg partially extended. The paw was partially destroyed.

"What happened to him?"

"When he was found he was injured and was suspected to of been attacked by something. I think because of his small size he was able to get away but not before he took injury." Hope explained. "The pony who brought him here stated that he was unable to find any other turtles that might of been his parents. In essence he was lost until Mr. Dune agreed to take him in and ever since he has been here living his life away from members of his kind. There have been other turtles that have gone through here with injury that have stayed in this aquarium; however, their time here was short because when they are able Mr. Dune sends them back to wild."

"And this one cannot go back because of his leg." Hope nodded. "What is his name?"

"Mr. Dune does not like to give names to things."

"But you are not Mr. Dune," I teased to her. "What is his name?"

"Jet; I figured it would be appropriate considering how well he is at moving around the tank. He finds currents from the filtration system and uses them to help him move. He even built little trenches to allow him assistance from any angle" Hope pointed around the tank at places in the sand that had been pushed aside leaving several hills and valleys. "I am so glad he found a home and is safe." Hope forged a small smile and readjusted her posture he stand straighter.

I waited a moment to allow her to think before breaking her concentration with a small bump to the flank and presenting a gentle grin as her intensity was beginning to get to me. "Sorry to interrupt, but what time were we supposed to meet Twilight?" I held out my wrist to her so she could read off the time on the watch-transmitter that Mari gave me.

"Oh, my goodness. I almost forgot! The train is going to be leaving is about ten minutes for Ponyville."

"Well the train station is right outside, I will go get the tickets while you spend a little bit more time here."

"No I can get them," Hope challenged.

"It is no problem" I declared, "Oh and thank you for bringing me here even if I was not able to spend much time here. I enjoyed my first little visit to an aquarium." Hope opened her mouth to say something but before she could say something I grabbed her in a hug. When I let go she was in shock and was blushing a little bit. "I will come get you when I have the tickets."

Leaving the darker environment of the Aquarium to the intensely bright day staggered me and left me blinded as I walked outside. The train destined for Ponyville was already laying on the tracks; however, there was not a ticket booth that I could see in sight and a sudden realization hit me that this side of the train was the less visited area and any ticket booths would be more likely to exist on the other side. With this in mind a second realization hit me, there was no way through the train and I was going to have to walk around the train if I was going to get the tickets. The train stretched on for what felt miles back as I decided to transcend the edge of the cars towards the front instead. To my relief as I made the turn in front of the lead car a ticket booth laid just a couple yards away from me.

"Good afternoon." The ticket master greeted me as I approached.

"Good afternoon, decent number of cars here that are attached."

"Yeah, I hear that a bunch of towns ordered a large supply of produce and all that with the harvest season coming to a close within the next few weeks for the spring crops."

"I see. Anyway I need two tickets for Ponyville."

"Why certainly Sir, that will be four bits." I smiled nervously as I realized that I lacked any form of Equestrian currency at all. I pulled out and placed four pieces of Serentian golden bits on the stand and tried to keep a straight face as the ticket master was confused by the new form of currency.

"Where you from?" he questioned me unfamiliar with the new form of currency.

"The serentian empire" I sighed concerned.

"That lies to the South of us correct?"

"Why yes, have you been there ever?"

"Sorry son but I cannot say I have. Not many people I know even know that your empire exist; however, I have done a bit of traveling in my days and I would say that that place one day."

"Honestly I could probally say the same for many of the ponies back hoem when it comes to Equestria."

"Here," the ticket master stated giving me back two of my bits. "I will cover the cost of the tickets for you as I collect coins and would love to add two of these to my collection."

"Thank you sir."

"And thank you! Hope you enjoy the rest of you visit in Equestria!" He proclaimed handing me over two tickets. I looked down at my watch to find that I only had five minutes remaining before the train was scheduled to depart. Unable to run in fear of further injuring my leg I sped walked back over to the aquarium where Hope was just leaving as I approached.

"Nice timing." I informed her.

"Why thank you," she blushed. "Jet says hello, he awake after you left. You get the tickets?"

"Yes; I should of asked for some Equestrian currency first but it worked out for the best. The train will leave in less than four minutes so we better hurry. You want to cover up your wings or something so you do not draw attention to yourself?"

"Nope! I am going to take your advice and be proud of who I am."

"Well that is good," we both blushed as the sound of the engine howling reminded us of what we were doing as we raced towards the center passenger car that had a door open on our side. We hopped onto the train as the conductor was making his final round and was about to close the door.

"Tickets?" he asked and I handed them over. He inspected them and handed them back momentarily. "Very well, next time though try to get her a bit earlier, you two almost got locked out." I shook my head in understanding and the conductor continued on his way to the front, inspecting tickets and shutting doors.

The car we jumped on really was lucky for us as there was not a single soul on this particular car. I sat myself on one side of a booth and slide over to the window; Hope took the seat across from me. "I never been on a train before, I usually just fly if I need to go somewhere. Honestly I think I was originally a pegasus because I would've made a horrible unicorn." Hope gave a slight smirk and we both laughed at first nervously then genuine.

"We have trolleys in Serentia for each city and Armonia had plans to nationalize them, but I never asked him about it. I walk everywhere really so it never did cross my mind. I guess I could not fully say that I have never been on a train, but it is close." The conductor pony must of finished up his route because the train began to move and take haste towards its next destination of Ponyville. We both sat in silence staring out the window at the passing landscapes as we waited. Equestria was a different place than Serentia; however, judging off the rich landscapes, the populus' attitude, and the general atmosphere of the entire kingdom in general I would of had a hard time guessing between the two. The train ride was only to last about thirty minutes but as each minute began to pass I thought more and more about Equestria, Serentia, the connections between the two, and how compromise allowed the creation of the two great and powerful regions; ponies from all different walks of life coming together as one.

"Hey Bladz?" Hope barely breathed.

"What is it?" I responded.

Hope lifted her hoof and pointed into the skies around ponyville where a group of pegasus were dashing around making what I assumed where the final preparations in the skies for the festivities that Twilight promised us. "I believe that is Ponyville's weather team, they are responsible for monitoring the skies and assuring that the earth maintains a healthy balance of weather in this region. I have heard from some ponies that it is a busy job but can you just imagine working as someone who gets to spend almost all their time stretching their wings and enjoying the freedom of flight? There are teams all over the kingdom, you must have teams all over the place in Serentia as well."

"Not quite," I shrugged admittingly, "The flight corp has a second duty of watching the area's weather but Serentia does not have to worry that much about bipolar weather or anything like that really. Outlandish weather when it occurs is dealt with but for what it is worth we leave the weather for nature to decide. Weather in Serentia is so routine and predictable sometimes that ponies have actually have suggested a legend that states that there is a magic guardian that looks over nature and the skies. We have never had a crop failure since who knows how long."

"We have had the same luck, although I am sure that ours can be credited to the fantastic weather teams, they may not be the most time-efficient sometimes but they always get the job done and they always do it right!" Hope stated proudly. I continued to have my teeth gleam and watch the pegasi above soar as they worked in a somewhat organized manner. A lighter blue pegasus with a flowing rainbow mane caught my attention as we pulled into the ponyville station. The younger mare launched herself through a line of clouds smashing each one to bits and afterwards signaled to the rest of the group who all gathered around her revealing her as some sort of leader. The train doors opened themselves automatically and Hope and I used this opportunity to depart. Stepping off the railcar we were both surprised to find ourselves the only two passangers who had traveled from Canterlot to Ponyville with this trip.

"Hope! Bladz! I am so glad you two got my message that I left with Celestia!"Twilight cheered greeting us alongside another mare who was orange in color. "I was afraid that you guys were not going to get it for a moment. I mean I was sure you were going to get it because Princess Celestia would never forget. I mean she could but I would not think so or at least I hoped. If she forgot it would of been horrible! You two would not got her because you would of never known to get the tickets and then you guys would of never got on the train and than you guys would of never stepped off the train and then I would be standing her waiting and you guys would of never showed up and then I would get all sad and I don't know really and"

"Okay I think we get it Twilight" The orange mare interrupted. "Howdy y'all to Ponyville! I'm applejack I live here in Ponyville at Sweet Apple Acres where my family and I have been taking care of our apple orchids for generations now."

"Nice to meet you Applejack, my name is Bladz." I held my hoof out to shake hands that Applejack gladly accepted.

"That's a rather unusual name if it is okay to say so. Twilight tells me you are from outside of Equestria; you do not look that different to me than most stallions around here besides for that get-up you are wearing."

"Why yes, I am from Serentia, we are south of Equestria. Also, not everyone wears armor or really much anything of the sort in Serentia either, it is just that I am part of the Royal council there now and I thought it is only right for me to take my first act of diplomacy with a little bit of correctness, although I would rather skip all the outrageous stuff that I know we all would be better without. Oh, and you can call me Blades if you are having a hard time with my name; Bladz is pronounced bah-lad-z with there being more emphasis on the lad and the z actually having a purpose instead of just having it serve as a false s, but so many people have trouble with it unless they hear it a few times that I have begun to accept Blades as a nickname."

"Well if your name is Bladz I find it only polite for me to at least try to use that first. And it is a pleasure to met you Princess Speranza, Twilight has mentioned you a few times to me recently but I had a hard time believing her at first. Little hard to believe that there is another princess that we never knew about for several years."

"Well thank you" Hope thanked Applejack shyly,

"Do not worry Hope, not many ponies know I only told my closest friends and one of them I did not tell just in case she let the word get out." Twilight quickly informed her bearing an open grin.

"It is fine," Hope pulled herself together to say. "I should be more accepting myself and I promised myself that I will work to do just that!"

"That is a darn tooting good additude to have if you ask me!" Applejack proclaimed. "Anyway, Twilight asked me to show you guys around while she makes sure everything is going well for later."

"You okay with that?" Twilight inquired.

"It will be fine, thank you two for this." I told the two who were instantly relieved.

"I will see you and Hope later then!" Twilight declared spreading her wings and taking off towards somewhere else in the town."

"She sure does like to fly around since she got those things," Applejack teased aloud plotting her plan of action. "Well I did not give much thought into it really because not quite sure what y'all are interested in so I assume I can just give y'all folks the generic tour."

"That would be wonderful and very kind of you Applejack." we both relied.

"Sorry but Yee-ha! I actually was thinking this was going to be harder than this but you seem like a pretty chill stallion Bladz, especially for a diplomatic traveling type. Here we can talk as we go" Applejack trotted herself in between us and motioned us on.

"Had some trouble in the past with diplomats?" I asked her.

"Not entirely, just a game warden honestly, if y'all can say that counts. Twilight, I, and the others may of confused her for someone else and we may of left her to tour herself around a good-sized subkingdom in Equestria." Applejack attempted her best to not show any signs of residual embarrassment. "It worked out for the best though."

"Well that is good," I added. The ground in ponyville consisted of firm, rich grass which differed from the Citadel's and Canterlot's concrete flooring and reminded me much more of my home in Canterdash. In fact, this entire town reminded me of Canterdash from the diversity of building's around here with many different styles coming together in one location to the overall clam nature of the ponies who we passed by.

"Something on your mind Sugar cube?" Applejack wondered to me as we passed a gate into an apple field.

"Huh? What? Oh it is nothing, was just noticing the similarities that Ponyville shares to my own home."

"Really now? The Apple family has been here in Ponyville since the beginning, the town that is here today is because of these apple trees here."

"This your farm?"

"The family's, so yep! I raised some of these trees since they were just little sproutlings, they have grown and made me so proud! What does your family do? If I may ask."

"They are designers mainly, but we do repairs, decorations, basically if you can think of anything to do with fabric or gemstones we did it."

"Really now? I know a certain mare who would love to see you then; she is in the fashion business as well."

"That is awesome! I would love to see how her designs are! If that is okay with you Hope." I cheered, Hope gracefully agreed.

"Alrighty then, follow me." Applejack commanded and reversed her tracks, signaling for us to follow, turning left upon leaving the gate. "just going to give you are warning, my sister and her friend's were supposed to over there, just to forewarn you."

"So what is this mare's name?"

"Oh pardon me! Her name is Rarity. How did I forget to mention that beforehand? Anyway it is Rarity."

"Nice name for a fashionista; her designs I take it must live up to her name."

"Well I am not much one for fashion, not at all to be honest; however, she does do some rather talented work."

"That it?" I pointed towards a bloated building that just radiated a personality for fashion.

"Dead give-away?"

"No, not at all. It is not like it just gives off the aura of a fashion designer or anything" I chuckled. "I have to get this Rarity credit though, this building is an impressive first impression."

"I am sure she would absolutely love to hear that." Applejack knocked on the door and was instructed my a inaudible holler to me that Applejack took as an invitation, opening the door and walking inside. Hope and I followed at a distance as I paused every few seconds behind Applejack to take in Rarity's boutique.

A white mare with a gorgeous purple mane was positioned around a dress form measuring out fabric amounts when Applejack rounded the corner with us behind. Another mare stood aside wearing a set of green shoes with leaves embroidered whose coat color was yellow with a pink mane color making her almost identical to Hope in color scheme except this mare looked slightly older and she was missing Hope's signature green strip and wore her mane differently.

"The similarity caught you off guard a little didn't it?" Hope whispered to me. "It caught me a little surprised as well."

"Applejack? What are you doing here? Need help with something?" the white mare inquired.

"I could very easily ask you the same thing. What are you two doing?"

"Fluttershy is assisting me in making boots."

"How is fluttershy helping you make boots?" Applejack questioned.

"Twilight told me that this princess did not have any accessories or anything and since I really cannot make a crown or anything for her I thought I would make the next best thing. At first I was not sure so I asked Twilight who asked Celestia what this mare liked and Twilight told me that I should try anything joyous and what is as joyous as nature? So I asked fluttershy to come over with her boots that I made her so that I can make this princess a set out of this golden silk I made!"

"Well that is mighty generous of you Rarity. You do not have to do that for her, I am sure"

"It is no problem Applejack! Really, I am more than happy to do it." Rarity interrupted. "Those boots fit correctly Fluttershy? I want to make sure the ones I make for the princess are absolutely perfect."

"Why yes, these are wonderful in design and structure. Maybe use a smaller thread though so the backing where you sewn them is not as noticeable; however, I am sure you want them to be durable."

"Way ahead of you Fluttershy my dear! I made this silk and thread with diamond dust to add extra strength!"

"Rarity?!" Applejack attempted to demand.

"One second Applejack." Rarity held her hoof up for a moment. "You think it would be better to use a forwards or backwards cross-stitch Fluttershy?"

"Oh definitely a backwards."

"Rarity?" Applejack interjected again.

"Sorry dear, What is it? And also didn't Twilight want you to do something today?"

"Yes, she did. In fact that is why I am here, I am showing Bladz and Princess Speranza around Ponyville." Hope and I pushed ourselves a little bit more in sight of the purple-haired mare.

"Princess Speranza! I wanted these shoes to be a surprise!"

"These boots are a surprise to me" Hope decreed quickly. "And I am sure they will be an even bigger surprise once you are done with them, I cannot wait to see how they will turn out."

"Thank you dear" Rarity sighed in relief. "And you must be, how did you pronounce it, Bladz?"

"Yes I am Miss. Rarity. Applejack tells me that you are a fashionista and hearing how you added diamond dust to that silk tells me you know what you are doing. I have had to add ruby dust to a strand of red fabric to add glamor to it before but I could never imagine working with dust so fine that it would of added structure and strength to the fabric to prevent heavy duty wear like you are attempting."

"You must know a lot about gemstones in order to know how to combine fabric and stones." Rarity stated.

"Bladz's family here works in the fashion industry in Serentia." Applejack explained.

"Well to be honest Applejack, the Angelo family sort of is the Serentian fashion industry. I do not mean that to be stuck-up I simply mean that all the major designers in Serentia are constantly coming to us for our approval."

"Really now?" Rarity took a new found interest as her eyes sparkled with excitement. "What is the name of your family's boutique? I was ell you if I have heard of it."

"Sapphire"

"Stop! Do not tell me that you were just about to say Sapphire Conventions!"

"Why yes?" I asked curiously.

"I never knew that is where that is located! My mother gave me a scarf when I was younger that bared your family's logo on it. It was so stunning and so pulchritudinous that it was one of the things that made me decide to take up a life of fashion! Two-hundred-seventy-six of the finest diamonds I have ever seen perfectly placed so from any and every angle the scarf radiated a plethora of color in every direction!"

"That sounds like my father's handy work if you ask me" I laughed politely.

"I was not expecting such a legendary figure of fashion to me than a member of the family responsible for such raw beauty and fashion!" Rarity moaned.

"I am not sure if I would fret over my last name if I was you Miss Rarity." I whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "I was looking at the designs you have over there on that desk and they are of a unique quality that I personally am impressed with."

"You are!?" Rarity's pupils dilated four times their original size.

"Yes and judging off those boots that this pretty mare over her is wearing I have to say you are one heck of a artist with cloth." I smiled and waved at the mare who appeared a little scared by the situation.

"Thank you, my name is fluttershy," I managed to decipher from the mare whose voice registered quieter than the wind.

"It is okay, Bladz and Speranza are friendly," Applejack assured her and Rarity reassured her.

"Thank you again Bladz for your kind words! They have really boosted my confidence as a pony of fashion!"

"I am not a fashion designer and I am rather young, but I can tell you for sure that you are in the right buisness, do not give up on your dreams because you truly have potential in the field." I told to Rarity as my final statement on the matter and I witnessed tears begin to move down her face.

"Thank you" Applejack whispered to me. Fluttershy who had been standing aside for so long final approached me and blushed with a light smile. "Hey Flutter, have you seen Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie belle?"

"They left to help Pinkie, they thought it would be another good opportunity for them to try and get their cutie marks."

"Not this again!" Applejack rolled her eyes in frustration. "Well it was nice seeing you two, we really should continue on our small little tour." Fluttershy nodded as Hope and I did the same motioning around to follow Applejack. Two yellows hooves spun me back around as I was grabbed and pulled in alongside Hope by Fluttershy for a hug in appreciation

"It has been a pleasure Cera." Fluttershy muttered to me before letting go and waving us a final good buy.

"Well that was not what I was expecting. Do not get me wrong, I am not complaining, no where near it, it was just very unexpected for you guys to do that for Rarity, Fluttershy, and I. It was very thoughtful and sweet." Applejack declared as we retreated from Rarity's boutique and home to the center of Ponyville daily life.

Hope pressed herself closer to me and nudged me with her flank. "Who is Cera?"

"I do know know who Cera is?" I eluded attempting to maintain Applejack's new motivated pace. "Applejack, do you know who this Cera is?"

"Fluttershy mention that name?" Applejack quizzed. Hope supplied her with a confirming gesture. "I see, If I remember right Cera is Fluttershy's ancestor and is one of the reasons Fluttershy thinks that she is so good with animals. Cera was really  good with nature and kind hearted. Twilight helped Fluttershy trace back her family history by looking through books here and in Canterlot."

"What did Cera do for a career? Did you guys figure that out?"

"I am not sure if Cera ever did have a career, she supposedly died when she was nineteen; however, Twilight could not find a death certificate or anything. It was like after she disappeared, she never existed because we could not find anything on her besides for that little bit of information; it was over a thousand years ago, records that far back is always a stretch."

"She had a daughter and after her disappearance nature's creatures kept the daughter safe and raised her until she was able to join the other pegasus in cloudsdale here in equestria after Princess Celestia and Luna came to power." I recited.

"Yes, how did you know all that?" Applejack paused in inquiry.

"I read it in a book that was in Lord Armonia's personal library. It was one of the books and novels around there that really stood out to me."

"The book that Twilight found that information in was a thousand years old, I am surprised a second copy of that book still exists." Applejack proclaimed as we stepped into the surroundings of what must of been Ponyville town square. Various ponies buzzed by carrying out their days free of large conflicts and enjoying the spoils of everyday life. Several ponies gazed over as we walked along the streets and were delighted to see two new faces, while others appeared to care less or were not affected by our appearance enough to indicate any outwards sign of trepidation or excitement.

The ponies did pause for a moment, however, as the weather team that we witnessed earlier above us touched down in the market and the light blue mare that was acting lead placed herself down a couple feet ahead of the rest.

"You all are free now, thank you and great work today!" The mare complemented to the three others who composed of the weather team. "So what you up to Applejack?" The mare readjusted her flight goggles placing them above her head.

"Just showing these two around. How is weather training going?"

The mare leaned over a little bit to get a quick glimpse at us before returning to her original orientation. "It's going rather well, I think these cadets will make excellent weather pegasi soon. So these two are the ponies that Twilight was talking about; was confused on what she was trying to tell me as she caught me just about to start the training exercises."

"That is so cool of you to be training others to assist you," Hope approved to the blue mare who leaned once again to get a better view of Hope.

"That's a nice set of wings you got there. Sorry to inform you though that those pegasi are destined for Manehattan; Rainbow Dash is the only pegasus Ponyville needs to clear these skies on a typical day!"

"Oh you are the Miss Loyality that Princess Celestia mentioned."  I declared. "Pleasure to meet you, Shadow and Lightning told me that they visited you yesterday."

"Oh yes those two. I am honestly going to say it was a little weird having them randomly come asking about me, it must of been years since I have heard a single thing about either of the two. They were cool though. Miss Loyality you called me? You hear that? Miss Honesty," Rainbow snickered.

"There is no need to laugh at that name Rainbow!" Applejack decreed at rainbow.

"Sorry, I am sorry. I have never heard that name before and it is sort of funny to hear," she apologized. Rainbow fully took her goggles off and placed them in a small backpack that she picked up from beside a stand "You guys heading towards Sugar Cube Corner or something?"

"Yea, the last place I really need to show them is around the market and since I am looking for Applebloom it works out for the best."

"There you go being an overly-protective sister again," Rainbow teased Applejack.

"I am not being over protective!" Applejack snapped at Rainbow causing both Hope and I to jump in surprise. Rainbow smirked satisfied with Applejack's reaction. "Sorry for that you two." Applejack sighed.

The four of us continued together past the street side merchants and the variety homes, shops and facilities until we stumbled across a building that must of leaped out of a young filly's or colt's dream. The entire building looked like a whole bunch of sweets mashed together in a form of a house. It did not take a genius to figure this out. "Let me guess, this is Sugar Cube Corner."

"You are good at this guessing game, you sure you have no been here before!" Applejack and I wailed in laughter as rainbow stared at us lost about what we were talking about.

"It must be easy to get around here," hope supplied. "Half of the locations here are unmistakable."

"Adds character to the town if you ask me. Stay with Rainbow, I am going to go see if I can find my sister and well let me just say Pinkie Pie is not the most subtle pony when it comes to meeting new faces. She can be a little, how can I put this, different." Applejack instructed us and then went inside.

"She means crazy," Rainbow corrected. "Pinkie out of the six of us is the one you will have a hard time forgetting. She will make sure of that. Overall though she is a good friend to have." Rainbow sat herself down steps and invited us to join her. "What is it with you two anyways? You two have completely thrown off my notion of what defines a ruler to me!"

Hope placed herself back to her feet as if she was offended before slouching a sitting back down beside me, pain struck in her eyes. "I know, I am joke of an Alicorn."

"I meant nothing like that; I meant that you have wings and yet you do not reign over anything, while you" Rainbow turned her hoof over towards me, "You are according to Twilight some foreign ruler or something yet you have no wings! What is up with that! I do not get it anymore!" Rainbow fell back in defeat holding her hooves stretch up to add dramatic effect.

"Well I am not a great and power ruler like Princess Celestia or Luna are. I am just some unicorn that is lucky enough to have Lord Armonia as a mentor, I really doubt I have what it takes to ever run Serentia nor do I see Armonia stepping down from his position, he has been the long standing ruler of Serentia for over a thousand years."

"Beats me, I am in the same boat as you."

The door behinds us creaked open as Applejack re-emerged from the building trotting to above Rainbow Dash. "I was only gone for a few minutes, you already trying to sleep?" Applejack sighed. Rainbow just waved her off. "Anyway, come inside guys, they are ready for us. Found those fillies at least, they in there trying to give the Cakes some assistance."

"About time, my wings were getting stiff!" Rainbow expressed launching herself inside. Applejack's eyes narrowed before dismissing the notion and followed the zealous pegasus.

Rainbow's warning was spot on as my entrance resulted in hurricanes of excitement from the pink pony inside and fear from me because the Earth pony stood motionless, face locked in a single expression of glee. For over a minute the pink mare did not breath, her eyes did not twitch, and if I did not know better I would of said her heart and body were frozen in time. It was only too late when it occurred to me that Hope's and I's presence here had ignited a ticking time bomb and we did nothing to escape it.

"Oh my! A new princess!? But Twilight but recently became one! Wait two? We have had two new princess recently! But I did not hear anything about it and I would've wanted to come! Did I miss something?" Pinkie pie bombarded us while dashing around the room taking on a variety of differing poses. Twilight, appearing from upstairs, and Applejack both grabbed Pinkie pie to end her mayham.

"You did not miss anything Pinkie, if there was a coronation you would of been the last person for us to forget to tell." Applejack informed her.

"This is Princess Speranza, she has been a Princess much longer than I have Pinkie. The reason you have not heard of her is because that was her decision to keep her identity anonymous to the world."

"Why would you want to do that?" Pinkie puzzled.

"I would not make sense to Equestria, I have no past for them to understand and I have no purpose to reign over or anything. Equestrians would be lost and confusion can breed chaos that the kingdom does not need." Hope determined to the room.

"Why would you be revealing your identity now to everyone-?"

"She isn't, she is with Bladz, who is the one that I thought might benefit from meeting us all. No offense Hope." Twilight interjected.

"None taken."

"Are you a new resident to Ponyville? That is a funny way to move here if you are. I have never seen anyone arrive here in heavy metal, actually now that I think about it I have never seen anyone wear armor around here besides for the guards. Are you her guard? Your armor is different than that of a guard's though."

"Sorry to inform you but I am from Serentia. I am only visiting Ponyville." I told her. Pinkie's face lost a bit of euthisarm to be quickly replaced with double that of before.

"Serentia? Is that around Equestria? It does not sound very familiar and I thought I knew everywhere in Equestria? One secound I will get a map!"

"That will not be needed," Twilight stopped her. "Serentia is a large empire to Equestria's south."

"We are sort of like Equestria in the fact that we were founded with the alliance and peace between pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies alike, and we have a royal guard and all that, but we do not have Princess like you guys have here."

"Let us head upstairs and replace this conversation with why you two are here." Twilight commanded. Neither of us argued with the statement and we all relocated up the steps. Scattered across tables laid punches, a cake, cookies and small sweets, chips, fruits and oats. Twilight walked up beside Hope and butted her with her wing, "Surprise! I had Pinkie put together party celebrating your farewell, even if she had no idea what she was doing" Twilight blushed.

A single tear transcended Hope's face as sudden realization hit her that this was the first of act of kindness done for her about her arrival by the ponies of Equestria and she barely knew these ponies. "Thank you," Hope struggled to say attempting to hold back more tears.

"Well then! Let us not just sit around then, Let's party!!" Pinkie pie exclaimed smashing down a button on a music player in the corner filling the room with sound and instantly both Pinkie and Rainbow began to dance. Hope hastily forgot her sorrows and joined in with the two with Applejack following in.

"You look lost," Twilight approached me. "The reason I asked you to come here is simple, I wanted you to meet the elements that we discussed earlier together. Pinkie is the element of laughter, Applejack honesty, Rainbow loyalty as you know already apparently, and Applejack told me that you visited Rarity and Fluttershy already who are the elements of generosity and kindness. Actually speaking of those two I am wondering what is taking them? I invited them."

"I am sure they will show up, they were making something when we interrupted them earlier."

"I see. How come you are not dancing and having a good time?"

"I am, just the fact that you brought me here makes me happy. It is just..."

The downstairs crashed open as two sets of hooves charged their way across the floor and up the stairs. "Sorry that we are late Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed with Fluttershy behind her carrying a small box.

"Nice timing, I was just asking about you," Twilight informed Rarity.

Rarity rubbed her hooves together nervously. "Yea sorry about that." Rarity directed Fluttershy towards Hope. "This is for you, I hope you like them." Hope accepted the box from Fluttershy placing the box on the ground and pulling the ribbon off that laid on top, sliding the box open. Hope did not state a word as Rarity's face was instantaneously consumed with concern. "Do you not like them?!"

Tears formulated on Hope's face once more as she placed her hoof inside the box. "No, I do not like them." Despair creeped into rarity's heart. Hope pulled one of the small shoes out that filled the room with a radiant gold and green. "There is no possible way for me to like these Rarity. That would be wrong of me to like them for what these have given me is not something that deserves to be liked." Hope turned flooding eyes over towards Rarity and her voiced cracked, "I love these Rarity, thank you!" Tears consumed the carpet as the raw beauty continued to stagger everyone in the room. Hope slipped each shoe on one at a time and then walked over to Rarity where she gave her a small hug followed by a bow.

"I am so glad that you are pleased with them," rarity's eyes twinkled. "They fit okay right?"

"They fit perfectly, I am more than pleased!" Hope celebrated. The two once again fell upon each other in hug. The shoes matched the basis that Rarity presented to us earlier, but out did my expectations with the tip of the final leaf on each shoe being a green coated with vibrant emeralds to give the shoes a dashing effect that I would of found impossible to believe if it was not for my own eyes.

"Why did she make the tip of those two leaves green on the forelegs." I pondered to Fluttershy.

"Rarity thought it would be a good symbolism of her name, believing that it can show that even in every situation there is a bit of hope. You think it was a good idea?"

"I think it was a wonderful idea!" Fluttershy was grateful and nodded in relief.

"Well let us not just stand around now that that is over with, Let's continue to party!" Rarity cheered. All of us collectively conducted once again in lively celebration. The punch and the cake were consumed accordingly as the party continued onwards and one right after the other Pinkie had a way of finding games for us to play that left me exhausted.

"Glad to find you actually enjoying yourself!" Twilight said offering me another cup of punch as the party began to wind down and Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow all departed.

"No thanks, my blood is about to become punch in a minute if I have anymore of that."

"Addicting isn't it? Pinkie makes good punch. What was it that you were about to say earlier?"

"Oh!" I rubbed my arm anxiously. "I was just wondering what color was Cera."

"You means Fluttershy's Cera?" Twilight turned her head and focused at me. I unsurely nodded. "Why are you asking about Cera?"

"I was just wondering. Fluttershy mentioned the name. Wanted to know if you knew what color her coat was." I replied nervously.

Hope walked over to beside us wearing a large smile. "Thank you, for all of you guys, for this! Bladz, it is getting sort of late and we are going have a busy day tomorrow flying back."

"I need to head back to Canterlot as well tonight, so I will head back with you guys after we are done cleaning up."

"Already done!" Pinkie Cheered in the background.

"Oh, well that was fast, something about you I will never understand," Twilight muttered under her breath.

"I guess we can get on our way then!" Hope stated. "It is not a long flight but I rather not fly too late for your safety Bladz."

"Oh wait! I have been working on a new long distance teleportation spell. You guys want to be my first test flyers!" Twilight galloped in place.

"I am not sure if that would be..."

"Perfect!" Twilight sparked her horn and my legs went momentarily numb as I found myself standing outside of Hope's room. "Celestia must of already went to sleep because the moon is already out; that's a shame I wanted to thank her for remembering to tell you two! Well good night!"

"Wait Twilight!" I stopped her before she teleported away.

"Oh sorry, almost forgot to answer your question." Twilight apologize. "Green. Her coat was a light green, just like the color green that is on your cutie mark." Twilight smiled and teleported away.

Chapter Fourteen (Gifts of Friendship)

This night of sleep I found even more difficult than the last as trepidation and sheer exhaustion kept me jumping back and forth between states of consciousness, and by the time Celestia had awoken in preparation to rise the morning sun I had exhausted myself more than I had before my slumber while feeling strangely rejuvenated and relieved at the same time.

The dusk morning air breathed life into me as I departed Hope's room in part slumber, her shoes laid neatly placed in the box they were given in beside her bed with only a single other box to keep them company in a relatively bare room. The balcony at the end of the corridor served as my tool and my fellow witness as I gazed upon the Lunar disk of the night descending and the stars wished their farewells to the ponies below. The sun extended its hands onto the horizon and pulled itself up under Celestia's blessing who stood above on a balcony like my own beside her sister Luna in newfound solar light's embrace. Princess Celestia smiled at Luna's finished work and extended to her an expression of pride before stepping aside to allow the Princess of Night to rest. Never before had I seen a more remorseful sunrise and moonset as this one.

I dragged myself back towards Hope's fleeing resonance of slumber and entered her bathroom once more where the cloth that eased my shoulder's cries the day before rested upon the marble. I drew myself an ocean of warmth doing my most to drown the sound of the faucets hot tears. I was aware of the possible unpleasant experiences that could lay in my future as a result of this action, but these thoughts were carried away as fluid warmth hushed my worries replacing them with a momentary bliss for me to relish. I pulled in a single breath as I forced myself under and counted as the moments passed and I was consumed entirely by liquid serenity; a single breath departed and I followed in motion the bubbles that resulted.

Silence sang through the air as I dried myself. draining the pool of its contents. I sighed to myself and stretched out my legs leaving this room, replacing it with the calm atmosphere in which Hope resided. I turned back towards the restroom of recent depart and with the motion of a simple pen stroke tainted the molding with a blue aura that formed together causing a solid faint blue light to radiate from the doorway. I stepped in to the library that for a month now I have abandoned determined, yet fearful, to know of the truth that lies upon these shelves. A table laid square center in front of me, the map I so questioned before hand was rolled up and dormant. One at a time I turned each page about the pegasus who resided in nature's garden, and with each word I struggled harder to deny my realizations, with every character I prayed and begged to stop, but curiosity told otherwise until the act had been done and the novel had found itself back to its proper location on the shelves.

A tear drop experienced the act of gravity and fell to the floor crashing, causing a small wave in the library's magic foundation sending ripples in all directions; a flower arose and bloomed in its place. I turned away to find Hope standing beside me placing me in shocked surprise. We both had questions that we wanted to ask, yet neither of us asked them just yet. Hope gazed deeply into my eyes in confusion as I felt them shift from green to their normal cyan and the weight of a thousand feathers being lifted off my heart.

"What is this place?" Hope questioned in awe. "Where does it end? These shelves stretch must on for miles." Hope starred down an alleyway of shelves seeing how they continued on endlessly drawing only slowly together towards a central point in the horizon far from her or my reach alike.

"How did you get in here?" I asked Hope still mentally trying to recover from an experience unique to me.

"I walked in after seeing you sitting there worried flipping through pages. It made me worried."

"I mean I thought this was something that only Lord Armonia and I could enter. Anyone else would be unknown to its entrances."

"Is this Armonia's library?" Hope posed to me and I affirmed with a nod. "That title just doesn't feel right to me."

"Come on Hope, we have a day ahead of us and I cannot wait to enjoy my last day here in Equestria!" I smiled and nudged Hope easing the tensions of the atmosphere that was causing the brightness of the library to sour. Hope returned my gesture and was rejuvenated with laughter as we departed from the library beside each other, the portal closing as we passed through.

The morning sun was in full bloom now as together Hope and I embraced the new day. She had to prepare herself first and while she did that I made sure that everything was ready, folding up her sheets and placing them along with the remainder of her belongings in the box against the wall that consisted of what she owned or was given. A little pink earth pony plush greeted me at the bottom of the box laying on its side. I reoriented the tiny push back upon her hooves and closed up the box. I slipped on my armor and collected up the rest of my belongings placing them in my bag; the book that I got from the archives rested alone as a closed up my bag and waited outside the room for Hope. When she emerged her mane was nicely groomed and she bore a gentle expression towards the morning light.

Navigating the hallways of the castle had become second nature by now, not that I had a few bad experiences earlier with navigation or anything, and acting as guide we both decided to find our way towards the main center of the castle.  Proceeding past the throne room, I was surprised to find it this time empty with only a single guard standing inside. The garden flower's cheers greeted us openly but were less joyous then they had been the day prior. There was a distinctive silence in the air that as we continued on our way towards the place of dining and as we entered we were surprised to find two , not three, sets of eyes waiting to greet us and one of them were not the ones we had expected.

"Good morning!" Princess Luna smiled at me with Princess Celestia beside her.

"Good morning Luna, what are you still doing up?" Hope questioned.

"Celestia asked me to stay up and provide some assistance if you need it. I got a little extra rest last night so I would be able to help you." Luna smiled warmly.

"I am confident that Captain Carnivorous and Lightning will be enough assistance, thank you for the offer though." I stated.

"Join us please you two," Princess Celestia waved her forearm to the two sets across from them. "The chefs made some rather delicious oatmeal today that I know you will enjoy Bladz, really is a delicacy!" Four bowls laid on the table with the two that laid in front of Celestia and Luna had been emptied of their contents.

"Sorry if we did not wait for you two's arrival, the oats were tempting." Luna blushed apologetically,

"Did Carnivorous and Lightning already eat?" I inquired noticing an abstence of bowls for them.

"That is what I want to talk to you about and why I asked Luna to assist you two later. Lightning and Lunar Shadow are not returning with you two, they informed me that they are staying here in Equestria to reside once again in Cloudsdale." Celestia exclaimed

"What you mean they said they are staying in Cloudsdale!" I demanded in surprise.

"I am sorry to inform you Bladz, but Carnivorous and Lightning both agreed yesterday that it is best if they returned to their old lives. I questioned their motives as I knew that you or Lord Armonia would've done the same, but their hearts are set and there was nothing I could do to convince them otherwise." Princess Celestia informed me. "I know this is hard for you seeing how they were two of the first friends you really could call friends, they both told me this would be hard or you, but I would like you to remember something else. Besides for each other, you were the first person who really listened to them and understood them in Serentia, Bladz. They did not want to tell you but they knew from the start when they came here that they would not be returning with you because they said Serentia no longer needs them."

"What would make them think that!"

"They said Serentia now has you." Celestia beckoned. "Lunar Shadow wanted me to give this to you. He told me you would know what it is." Celestia reached to her side and placed a silver insignia on the table that she slide towards me. The center of the insignia bore the Serentian royal symbol upon a shield with wings extended from behind it; the top read Vinculum Unitatisr, the bottom Scout Corps. "Remember that you have not lost them as friends, they still are here and they still care. In the process you have made many new friends as well; those ponies you meet in Ponyville I am sure are more than happy to say that you are their friend."

Luna arose from her seat and drew in closer to Hope and I. "And you have made two more friends on top of that Bladz; you are our friend and it has been a pleasure for this kingdom." Luna grinned a little bit and her tone became gentle, "and It has been a pleasure for me, even if we did get off on the wrong foot originally." I swallowed any sign of excessive happiness that mentally was putting me on the verge of a flowing river and was proud that I had the opportunity to meet these ponies here in Equestria. "And Hope?" Luna turned her attention to the young mare, approached her, and hugged her neck. As Luna back stepped away from her a golden necklace hung off Hope's neck bearing the pink gemstone that Hope held dear. "And as for you Hope, I will miss you." The two once again hugged this time holding it until the grin on Luna's face blossomed.

"Sorry to intrude but are you really sure that it is a good idea for you to assist us Luna?" I inquired. "This could put you are schedule for a few days."

"I will be fine, it will be worth the sacrifice on my part." Luna argued.

"I will not be able to talk you out of it will I?" I gave in and asked realizing a fight would be futile.

"Nope, your stuff with me," Luna laughed. I turned towards Princess Celestia and with my eyes asked if she was okay with this truly.

"I will do my best to assist you in getting back on our regular schedule when you return my sister," Celestia declared in a way that asserted her serious approval about Luna assisting us more towards me than her sister. "I shall honor what you think is best." Celestia smiled, collected our bowls for the staff, and departed.

"Let us prepare to make way," Luna cheered as we followed behind her in return to Hope's quarters. I levitated the box that laid waiting for our return and we retreated once again to the front entrance of castle. Hope began to stretch out her wings in anticipation of flight, while Luna only stretched out a single hoof, a single tiny felt ring box laid in it. "I want you two to know that I never had any intentions of returning with you two; I know you two will have a safe journey and you will reach your destination in good health. After all, how is your arm feeling Bladz?" A sudden realization hit me that the entire day I had not felt an ounce of pain from it.

"What did you do!"

"I did not do a think, I only noticed that you had no wrap or anything on it, and you seem not to be in any form of discomfort so I thought I should bring it to your attention."

"No harm meant, but If you had no intentions of traveling to Serentia with us then why did you tell your Celestia you did?" Hope integrated.

" I wanted to give this Bladz without arousing my sister's suppositions." Luna handed over the ring box to me holding her hoof on it. "I trust that you will only open this box when you are ready."

"What you mean ready?" I inquired.

"When the time comes you will know, something will tell you and it will be unmistakable." Luna explained.

"What do you mean?" I demanded once more.

"A green pegasus filly told me," Luna smiled taking her hoof off the box. I slide the box with care into my bag that was still positioned on my back. "I have had both of those for a very long time."

"Both?" I asked confused. Luna quickly leaned her head back catching something that was behind her crown without giving anyone a chance to see what it was. Luna grabbed my right forehoof with her free foreleg and pressed the new item onto it with her other foreleg. A bright green light radiated from in between our hooves and green designs shaped like vines moved down my leg until stopping at the knee. Luna once again removed her hoof and whatever item she had pressed again me was gone and the tattoos of light began to fade.

"I know you will make all of us proud," Luna extended her wings and launched herself straight up, teleporting on her way skywards. The door of the castle slammed closed, and Hope and I were left to get on our way home.

I lite a small flame upon the ground that turned green in a second's notice. The clouds above opened to make way as the green phoenix from before descended, perching itself beside Hope. It stood almost twice as tall as I could remember and its magic coat had turned solid.  It stretched its wings out and pushed one wing underneath Hope, tossing her gently up into the air causing her to scream and landing her upon its back before turning turning to me. The phoenix gazed at me with comforting green eyes that were soft and held a familiarity to them before doing the same to me, placing me next to Hope. I reached out with my magic and brought Hope's box aboard.

"You could've warned me next time!" Hope screamed returning to normal breathing patterns. "When did your bird start doing that!"

"Probably the same time that he became as high as a house" I teased and singled for the phoenix to take flight. I wrapped my hoof around Hope to help calm her after the sudden surprise and next thing I knew she had fallen asleep in my arms and I shortly followed suit.

"Bladz! Psst, Bladz!"

"Huh?" I called out opening my eyes to find myself in a field surrounded by flowers of every hue. "How did I get here again!"

"That is simple, younger one, well actually not so much but you get the point." the gentle voice of the pegasus called out. The clouds above parted and the phoenix we were riding on descended.

"What? What are you doing here? Where is the pegasus that just called out?" I demanded towards the bird.

The phoenix pivoted its head at me and its eyes twinkled. "Parton me Bladz," the phoenix declared. Her wings turned to feathers and two forelegs descend, her claws became two hooves and her beak softened turning to a snout; the bird's head became more round, as well as her body, and a flowing green mane and tail emerged. The phoenix transformed itself into a green pegasus about my age.

"Are you Cera?" I asked the green pegasus.

"I am indeed, my Bladz." The pony informed me wiping her mane causing the surrounding dandelions to dance in a current of air that rotated around us.

"How are you in my mind?"

"That question is not my responsibility to answer as it is not something that I can try to explain to you."

"How come?" I demanded.

"Because I do not have the answers, nor would I think that either of us would understand them." Cera grinned and watched a small bunny hop along into the horizion. "Think about it now really, do you think that you are really sitting there on my back sleeping right now dreaming about flowers and bunnies and spring breezes."

"I am not following? What are you trying to say?"

"I do not know really," the green pegasus cheered. "I was hoping you knew because I do not have a clue what I am blabbering about!"

"Okay then? May I ask why you never mentioned to me sooner who you were and how you are now this phenix!"

"Well that is a pretty simple question that I can answer but sadly cannot expand on." Cera formulated in the air between us two large leaves that began to spin around in a vertical plane that resembled the leaves on my cutie mark. "Before you simply just used my magic, and now thanks to Luna you own my magic!" Cera clapped her hooves together and the leaves began to sparkle.

"Magic? But you are a pegasus? What you mean your magic? And what do you mean thanks to Luna?"

"Well like I said I cannot really expand on this, but your seals, Luna and Celestia referred to them as that so I will use that name so you can follow easier, are like walls." Cera formed a wall beside us out of vines putting a door in the center. "It separates two areas allowing passage through a door if you have the key to unlock this door and allows simple passage." Cera formed a key out of a flower and opened the door. "However the problem with this is that only so much can do through a door at one time. In order for there to truly be truly unlimited movement between the two sides the wall must not exist." The vine wall shattered and turned into a green mist that faded into the wind. "And that is what Luna had done for me; she had knocked down the wall that stood between us!"

"That still does not explain why you say your magic."

Cera supplied me a small laugh and smiled. "What just because I have wings and no horn means I cannot use magic?" Cera transformed herself into me with her eyes remaining their normal green. "My wings are gone and I have a horn now, does that really make a difference though because in this form I am not myself," Cera transformed back into the green pegasus.

"I do not understand." I proclaimed.

"You do not have to, no one is asking you to understand it besides yourself. If you seek to understand you must seek to accept though and the only one who can choose to accept what you do not understand is you."

"But it does not make sense?"

"Does it really have to make sense Bladz? Since when does everything that we see outside of concrete reality have to make sense?" Cera sat herself down in the field. "This is all that I am able to tell you Bladz, I am sorry. And just so you do not make a fool of yourself, the phoenix will not talk back to you, she is simply just an application of our magic and nothing more."

"Wait, one last question! Why are you here?"

"You will understand that in time when you are ready." Cera smiled as she and the world around me disappeared into a green cloud of dust. "Time to awaken, home to approaching."

"Why does everyone keep telling me that!" I demanded but it was too late and she was gone for with the moment.

I opened my eyes to find the horizon ahead showing the outskirts of the Citadel. "Hope!" I nudged her. "Hope!" I continued to nudge her until tired eyes opened in question.

"What is it Bladz?"

"I was just wondering if you would a wake up call or if you'd rather lay out here." I teased as Hope stretched herslef up just as we touched down in front of the Palace's entrance.

"Well that was fast then I thought," Hope stated surprised as I assisted her off the bird and to the ground below, picking up the box of her belongings as well. I thanked the bird and it took off once more into the clouds and disappeared.

"Welcome home Hope," I whispered to her as I led her to her room and set the box down. I placed the old sheets aside and pulled a separate set of sheets from a closet, using them to make her bed, placing the the small plush pink pony that laid on the bottom of the box at the headboard.

"Don't you think you should go inform Lord Armonia that you have returned?" Hope inquired.

"Well unless all the guards are blind, I am sure that he already knows or at least is about to find out." I supplied Hope with a tiny smirk and departed for my own room. The sheets had already been replaced for me and there were new flowers in a vase that we sent from my sister, whom had no knowledge that I had left for two days.

"Glad to see that you are back; how was the Kingdom to the North?" Commander Ryan asked from behind me.

"Very good, Equestria would be more than happy to renew our past relations with them as close allies."

"Restored alliances with both of our neighbors and it has only been a month. Impressive, but I was not asking about Serentia."

"I made some new friends there, and few that I will have a hard time forgetting." I told Ryan, who I could tell from a momentary grin that he was happy with this news. "Hey Ryan, about Lightning and Shadow."

"You do not have to say it, I already know. I knew that one day they were going to depart and I am just glad I got the time with them that I did. They both made excellent captains, but they will make even better with what they are doing now back where they belong." Ryan sighed and underneath his seemingly neutral expression I felt a touch of sadness, and a whole lot of happiness. "You want me to inform Lord Armonia for you or your return?"

"Please do, if you would be so kind."

"It would be my please Sir!" Ryan saluted me and I returned the gesture as he turned and walked away.

I pulled off my armor and placed it on the plush of me. A note descended to the floor that was written in a dark blue ink that reminded me of night.

I am glad that you had a safe trip!~ your friend, Luna.

Chapter Fifteen (Decision for a Captain)

The following days were interesting, yet as painstakingly boring as they can come; however, Hope was able to get settled in a little bit with my help before the days of agony began. Both Hope and I found ourselves absolutely exhausted upon returning from Equestria and we both slept the entire afternoon away, awakening in the evening only to find out that the only pony who was more shocked by Lightning and Shadow's surprise resignations was Lord Armonia himself. It took Armonia two whole days before he even addressed the matter and when he did I found myself wishing that he would have decided to postpone any actions on the matter for a later date, a much later date; however, I did understand the need for action. Lord Armonia was not mad at either of the two declaring that it was an honor to have both of them served under the guard, but this did not stop the long and absolutely boring meeting that was scheduled to follow the next day.

________________________________________

"The purpose of this meeting today is to determine the analysis and evaluation process for the commissioning of two new captains to replace the ones that have recently departed. The positions we are striving to fulfill today are that of Captain Lightning Chaser, Flight Corps, officer of the fourth degree, responsibility being the command leader over the United Royal Flight Guard, also known as Flight Corps, and that of Captain Lunar Shadow, call sign Carnivorous, Scout Corps, officer of the fourth degree, responsibility being the command leader over the Royal Special Engagement and Reconnaissance Team, commonly known by the very few as the Scout Corps." Armonia announced granting us permission to be seated at the oval operations table of the palace's fifth floor.

"The long introduction was not needed Sir, but I understand it is part of formal procedure." Commander Ryan sighed.

"I know," Armonia fudged a smile. "I will try to make this as painless of a meeting as I can because what comes after is what is going to make us all want to just get up and walk away from all this. We have two positions to fill and do we have any suggestions on how we plan on doing this?"

"How about we hold a contest to evaluate all those interested." Captain Tigris determined breaking the silence.

"A contest may help us determine who the best in the field is; however, that does not mean it will tell us who the best for the position is sadly." Ryan objected.

"Well we could look at all the lieutenants and how they are handling their branches and promote the one who is doing the best."

"I know I have no experience in this subject, but I do not think that will give you the best tool of measurement." I stated.

"Sir Bladz is correct Tigris, the differences between the regions are too immense for that type of evaluation," Armonia exclaimed in agreement with me.

"No offence Tigris, but Commander why do we need Corps Captains? Is being a Captain that strenuous for you Tigris?"

"No offence taken; however, while the work may not be as strenuous as other positions in the guard, being a Captain is a whole lot of work and handling any more than one branch is nearly impossible nowadays." Tigris informed me.

"I used to be able to balance out and watch the three branches when they were one group but because how much Serentia had boomed in population the last two decades I would say it is impossible now. I never was doing it by myself anyway once I became Commander, I had grade three officers to assist me, and while we still have them they work under the captains now." Ryan declared and Tigris nodded.

"Well Lightning told me that they never applied for the position, they were chosen instead. Why can't we just choose two new captains like you did then?"

"There are certain guards that one just knows is going to make a great captain and you know them from the start. Lightning, Shadow, and even Tigris here, I knew were to be captains the day they set the hooves down for training. We do not have any ponies like that right now that I can honestly say that about, even though we have many talented one, we just need to figure out which ones are the most talented." Ryan declared.

"Flight Corps Captain is going to be a bit easier to narrow; however, what is your take on Scout Corps Commander?" Armonia instructed.

"Permission to request a shift of power?"

"Given," Armonia motioned for Ryan to continue.

"I do not feel like we should leave the Scout Corps to this evaluation process, the branch is too dangerous to be placed in the hands of chance and I would like to relieve myself of the Ground Corps and take on the Scout Corps until we can get an assured new captain."

"If that is what you wish, the decision is yours to make. That does not eliminate the need of a second captain, but we did just remove unicorns from the evaluation process so this may go a little bit quicker."

"Scout Corps, I know from Lightning and Carnivorous talking about their responsibilities, is a lot more work; you sure you can handle it Ryan?" Tigris inquired in worry.

"I will be fine; it is not like our guard is an immoral group of brutes. Every guard takes an oath to not only to protect and defend, but to show discipline and provide assistance to anyone who may need it across these lands as you are aware."

"I am, but we still have not figured out a way to narrow down the list to one."

I held my hoof across the table to grab everyone's attention as I prepared myself to speak, "we may not have a way to narrow it down to the two individuals we need, but what you two do is request notification from those who are interested and evaluate those who respond. Since we are not looking for the best of the best in physical performance, set a standard for what is required basically to be a captain in fitness and then research those who remain on their abilities in the field and as a leader by asking around."

"That will not get us to the final point we will need, but it is a start and right now that is all we need." Armonia backed me up. "After those tests give them a test of critical thinking and analysis; the candidates do not have to be geniuses; however, I do expect them to be able to think abstractly when the time calls for it if they are to be effective when things skew from the norms."

"Noted Sirs," Ryan saluted Armonia and then did the same to me. "I will send word out requesting responses this afternoon with a deadline for returns in two days. Until then Tigris and I will develop the method and standards for a captain. We can do the evaluations by region to make this go a little faster and smoother; however, I am unsure how long it will take to reduce the list further because we are going to wait to do the research."

"Bladz, I want you to complete research on the qualifying ponies after they pass their fitness evaluations and administer a few tests to deem their mental worthiness if they check out as worthwhile. I trust your judgment here and you can get Miss. Speranza to assist you with it." Armonia commanded to me and I nodded in recognition. "It is settled then and we can bring this meeting to a close. You all are dismissed." Armonia walked over to the door and held it open for us all to depart.

I was the last one to leave the table as a pushed the chair that I was sitting in back under the table hiding a sigh. Why did I know that he was going to get me involved with this! I departed the floor returning to my own and knocked on Hope's door. A voice welcomed me inside and standing beside a window was Hope who gazing into the morning breeze. "What are you doing?"

"Watching and wondering how so many ponies below rush on their way, while there are so many others over there on the edge of that park that can be so care-free and enjoy the morning's song." Hope smiled declaring. "How was the meeting? As boring as you feared it to be?"

"Not as bad as it could've been. Years of study have served me well in developing the patience for those things." I informed her as she closed the window and turned to give me her attention. "Lord Armonia gave us a job to do together."

"What does he want me to do? I am not sure if I would be able to do much around here yet?"

"Nothing much really, he just wants us to go to various places and get information of potential future captains."

"He wants us to spy on ponies?" Hope exclaimed a little shocked.

"Not entirely spying, but close. We are not going to be watching them from afar and try to see if they are doing something wrong or anything. We are just going to ask around and see if they would be good for the job or not. Afterwards we are going to see if they can think abstractly enough by giving them a test of creativity of some sort.”

"Well that is a little disappointing," Hope sighed plopping herself on her bed. "I was sort of looking forward to hiding in a bush when you said that."

"We can still do that if you want just to see how they handle it," I stated amused with Hope's attitude on the matter. "In fact that might even make this chore a little bit easier and more enjoyable. It is a good thing that I decided to be so kind inviting you here or these tasks might've made me go crazy."

"Speaking of going crazy, never noticed how much I relied on the assistants around the castle. I ran out of toothpaste while you were in the meeting and I could not find any anywhere!"

"Lower bottom drawer under the sink next to the bathtub," I said pointing towards the bathroom in the hallway.

"Thanks for the information, but I already found out."

"You are quite welcome!" I chuckled causing Hope to mimic my laugher and stick her tongue out at me while giving me a death stare. "So what do you planned for the rest of the day?"

"You know I have nothing planned, have I had a schedule since I got here? I am still settling in." Hope started pulling herself into a sitting position on the side of the bed, motioning for me to sit next to her.

"You want to learn how to play speed dart? It is a game native to Serentia that was created by unicorns, yet everypony is able to play it nowadays. A unicorn is required to start the game off as of right now, but I hear that there are ponies working on a way of enhancing the rings so ponies do not need to have a unicorn friend in order to play."

The door behind us radiated a knock from it as we both turned to find Lord Armonia standing in the doorway. "Excuse me for interrupting you two; however, we never finished our tour Bladz and Hope seeing you need one as well I suppose this works out."

"Thank you sir, we would like that very much," Hope cheered picking herself off the bed with me following. "But don't you have work to do with this new task of getting new captains?"

"Not yet I don't." Armonia informed us. "And Bladz, you are no means obligated to get involved in this mess if you do not want to."

"Thank you for that Sir, but it is my responsibility to do this. This is my responsibility to Serentia." I declared to Armonia. Lord Armonia nodded giving a slight smile due to my determination sighing afterwards, "What is wrong?"

"Nothing; let us get on our way! I want to get as much toured today before the day ends, where did we leave off again?" Armonia determined turning and ushering us to leave for the tour.

"You only showed me the local park and the shopping section along an avenue before we went to check on King Elitan's problem." I informed him as we descended the staircase.

"Is that correct? Well looks like we have a lot of ground to cover." Armonia stated. "Any suggestions on where you two want to begin?"

"Anywhere you two decide is fine by me" Hope said with excitement in her voice as we departed the Palace's walls.

"Hope and I were discussing about having her learn about Speed Dart, so I guess we can start with the Serentian Stadium." I instructed to Lord Armonia. Armonia nodded facing the Armory with a continued face of despair.

"You sure you are okay Sir?"

"I am going to be honest with you Bladz. There is a rising problem in Cittàdiali that needs to be addressed and the two pegasi that I can count on to investigate are gone. I fear that the only two that I can call upon now are you two; however, I do want to get you guys involved. Unfortunately, I feel like I have no easier option; I need you and Hope to visit there for me. Be warned, the pegasus city is different than any other city in Serentia, many of the pegasi there never learned to integrate with members of the other two types of ponies because unicorns and earth ponies alike cannot stand on clouds."

"Okay? What is it?"

"There has a been a recent report of a group of pegasus who are trying to formulate followers for a cause that I am not quite sure about yet; however, they are acting in secrecy when there is no reason for such behavior. I am not one to deny a pony's right to privacy; but this does not make sense to me and something feels wrong with it. The group appears to have come out of nowhere after we returned from Tempeoca and has been growing ever since. Please investigate this for me, the interview process can wait until later until this resolved. I am counting on both of you for this."

"Not to doubt myself but what can I do?" Hope posed to Armonia.

"Hope, Bladz cannot do this without you, you are the only one I can trust with the task of getting close without causing an alarm." Armonia exclaimed supplying hard eye-contact at her.

"You trust me?" Hope questioned in surprise. "You barely even met me."

"Yes, but Bladz trust you and that is all I need." Armonia stated stepping back to face the armory once again. "The decision up to you to do this task. I do not want to send you both into an uncertain situation; however, I feel like I have no other choice. The choice is up to you both though and I am not going to think differently of either of you for what you decide. I just hope you make the correct one, which one that is I do not know. I will leave you two to discuss it." Armonia began to walk away from us.

"Wait!" I declared causing Armonia to pause. "We will do it! If that is okay with you Hope" I turned to her who offered no objection.

"I have a friend who can offer you shelter once you get there. Also, you cannot wear that armor going there, word may of not of spread to Cittàdiali yet, but I do not want you to take a chance. There is something in the room where we met Hope that will assist you." Armonia smiled at us and walked away from us disappearing inside the armory.

________________________________________

We returned to the palace dismissing the tour for now to find that Armonia had had a new formal dress for Hope and a weird suit folded with a note on top of them. Two hats laid aside, each of which matched their respective cloth.

If you two are going to be successful you have to be able to blend in without drawing more attention than what is needed to yourselves. Good luck in Cittàdiali you two and Bladz it will be best if you found another way to reach Cittàdiali without the use of the phoenix.

"Oh my! This is absolutely beautiful!" Hope screamed on the top of her lungs in glee. A pink, purple, and green dress hung from her hooves that was embroidered with gold stitching and stunning jewel work. "Oh! This is amazing! And this hat matches so perfectly! Who made this?"

"Only one person I know can make a dress like that, Armonia must have asked my sister to make that for you."

"This suit is heavy, what is up with it?" Hope pointed out to me. The suit was the same one that Cristalla had given to me just over a month ago for my birthday with two larger bulges now in it. I picked the suit to find white feathers attached to the sides. I threw the suit and hat on trying to adjust to the new weight on my back.

"Bladz! You look just like a pegasus now!" Hope shouted putting her dress on, streaming her wings into holes designed for them and put her hat on as well. "How do I look?"

"Like a pegasus as well. An absolutely spectacular looking pegasus in that dress. That dress really suits you and the hat completes the outfit for sure." I declared.

"Why thank you," Hope blushed. "So what are you going to do with about flying though?"

"Well?" I shook myself to test the sturdiness of the wings. "These wings are very well made and I may be able to use my magic to manipulate them to cause flight; however, I will not be able to make it, it is too far away."

"I have no use for my magic; I will offer what I can to assist you."

"Thank you Hope, I might be able to make it if we do this right then." I cheered sparking my horn from under the hat and test flapping the wings with the cyan aura surrounding them. "Well we might have a problem, the auras of our magic is going to reveal our identity."

"Mine might but your will match the skies on a clear day from a distance. Just harden them when we come in range." Hope suggested. "How far is Cittàdiali?"

"Depending on how fast I can flap these things, about an hour."

"An hour! Oh wow you really are going to need my magic for assistance." Hope exclaimed. "You want to get on our way?" Hope motioned towards the stairs and I followed as we approached the balcony-window. "Lead the way," Hope waved me on.

The first few flaps were hard and it was almost impossible to get anywhere near consideration of actual flight, but as momentum was built I felt myself being lifted off my hooves. "So this is what is feels like to have wings, this is incredible! Better than I imagined from my observations and readings." I steadied myself and launched myself out the window into the skies with Hope behind me.

"You are a natural at this, even if it is not true flight." Hope complemented to me. I felt a sudden release in pressure from my magic as Hope flew a small circle around me. "That better? I streamed you my magic reserve."

"Yes, that is much better." I informed her. For years I had imagined the art of the pegasus' flight, but I never imagined the blissness of such freedom on this level; It was better than I had ever imagined. The wind as it streamed through my mane unchallenged reminded me of the day when I first experienced the art of magic and I felt the rich aura flow through my veins. Hope noticed my new found freedom and joined beside me as we flew in unison towards the horizon in silence serenity.

The edge of the massive cloud-city of Cittàdiali began to come into sight when Hope's wings hesitated and she almost lost her control as her face showed concern. "Whoa! You okay Hope?" I asked hastily.

“Yea I am fine," she assured me as she regained and resumed straight and level flight. "Bladz? Do you have a way to walk on clouds?"

"We never thought that out did we?" I declared in realization. Hope affirmed my fears as we drew closer to the city. "All this energy we are putting into this flight will be meaningless if I cannot land."

"You have to know a spell! I thought you said you read a lot in that library, you had to of saw something."

"I saw a spell that allowed water and cloud walking when I was just a young colt, but I learned that spell almost a decade ago and I am not sure if I can get it right without practice. And even if did get it right, I do not know if I have enough energy left to cast it."

"I know you can do it. You have to be able to. You are one of the most talented magic users I have ever encountered. I believe that you can." Hope gave me the last of her reserve and I sparked my horn for the spell as my hooves glowed with a magic aura surrounding before being absorbed by my hooves. "That is good," Hope smiled. Her wings failed as exhaustion struck her and began to rapidly descend. I folded the wings in and angled myself to catch her.

"Hope!" I screamed as reached out to grab hold of her. I did not slow down as I watched Hope smash into the ground with the full force of gravity. "Hope!" I used the last of my strength to slow down enough to land beside her noting that the clouds were harder than I imagined. "Hope, you wings!" I screamed seeing her left wing badly bent and her right wing dislocated as my vision went out and exhaustion conquered me as well pulling me to the ground.

Chapter Sixteen (Put the Best Wing Forward)

Warmth skortched my lips as a stream of light, creamy liquid descended my tongue into my throat. The atmosphere surrounding me was calm and cool only enough to counter the afternoon heat without causing a chill. I attempted to open my eyes to find the effort to strenuous. I tried at least a dozen more times, each attempt left me no closer than before, and finally in surrender I gave out the faintest sigh that ponies known to ponykind. Faint as it may of been though, it was just loud enough to startle a pegasus who had streamed the liquid into my mouth.

"Oh! You're awake," a tiny voice squeaked. She had to be from my guess a filly no older than seven based upon her voice. "Madam is not back yet; however, she will be back soon. I am glad you are awake, madam was worried about you." The tiny filly continued to ramble one as I found myself unintentionally, yet effectively, blocking her out to build up my strength.

"Where is she?" I rasped. The filly fell silent as in a refusal to speak. "Where is she?" I rasped once more facing continued silence. "Damn it! I asked where she is!" I demanded feeling my vocals strain. The filly was once more silent; however, this time I felt out of fear.

"You mean the yellow mare?" she posed shyly. I shook my head to confirm to her. The young pegasus hesitated in uncertainty before opening her mouth to speak. "Madam sent her to a secure hospital upon seeing her wings, they looked..." The filly caught herself before she said anything that she felt she would later regret.

"Go on with what were you saying," I stated in cold-hearted patience.

"They looked pretty bad, may be weeks before she flys again with a crash like that. Mother told me that she not only landed hard, but she landed hard on the wrong spots."

"And who are you?"

"I am the daughter of my mother who works under Madam as her assistant and maid."

"Who is this Madam that you keep referring to?"

"Madam is the kindest pegasus that I have ever known! Well I do not know her very well, but she is!" The filly proclaimed.

I tried my best to crack my eyes open and turn to face the filly's voice."Please tell me she is safe." I uttered as a thin line of light touched my cornea and then I feel back down upon my pillow exhausted.

I was awoken by the shaking of my pillow being fluffed between hooves, the firmness of the which the action was conducted did not make sense for a filly. A considerable amount of energy had returned to me since I passed out once again and I found it much easier to open my eyes and turn to see a gentle mare in light clothing wiping down a nightstand next to me.

"Is she okay?" I asked her softly trying to to startle her too bad.

"Mr. Angelo?" the mare turned to see me looking at her. "Glad to see you have awoken since my daughter told me you were last conscious. That is a decent bump you got on your head, never have seen a bump on a pegasus so profound before." The mare declared poking my horn in wonder.

You have got to be kidding me. I guess Armonia was not kidding when he said that some of the pegasus around here are ignorant of the other types of citizens that reside in the empire. I stared in a mixture of disbeliefs reaching up rubbing my horn and acting in surprise about it. "How do you know my name? and how is the young mare that I passed out next to?" I asked carefully.

"Sorry, I am the Madam's housekeeper. Madam only told me that your last name was Angelo and to make sure you are okay; that's all she told me." The pegasus explained. "The mare is doing fine, she is still in the hospital though. I do not know if she has awoken, she was still out when I last went there. You two must of went on a long flight to exhausted enough to sleep for eighteen hours."

"It was a decent size flight."

"Well I am betting you want to get up for a moment and at least stretch your wings." the mare claimed causing my eyes to jump open. I knew that I was in no condition to use magic and using magic at such close proximity would surely give me away.

"I am okay! I feel better but I still need to rest!" I nearly snapped at her throwing the pillow over my face.

"Okay then, anything I can do to help you? If you are feeling better when you get up I will see if Madam would think it would be okay if I took you to see your friend."

"Thank you," I fudged a smile. "Just so I can tell you if I am able or not later, how far is this hospital?"

"Oh it is not too far. Just turn right after leaving the front door and travel straight a little bit and it is on the left." the housekeeper mare informed me and turned out the lights in the room to leave me to rest.

I waited a few minutes after she departed before I pulled the pillow off from over my face and gazed around the room for possibilities. I wanted to make sure Hope was all right; however, I was not going to get anywhere if I just laid under the sheets. There was a set of curtains blocking out the afternoon light to my left and I pushed them aside briefly to find that escape would of been impossible to do without question. The skies were flooded with pegasi going from one place to another and I could tell that walking would have raised question in at least a few ponies above, and flying was out of the question I knew; my magic had yet to recover enough to consider the concept of flight. I looked around the for some sort of solution finding only some bandage wrap  and some scissors lying in a drawer

I reached down to grab them, but before I could get them I heard hooves moving towards the room and hurried up and closed the drawer and threw myself under the pillow once more. The door opened silently pushing air across the room and upon my hoof as an indication. Hoof steps approached me and stopped alongside the bed just inches away from me. The visitor did no mention a word and just continued to stand next to me as I felt my heart rate begin to increase. The visitor lifted a hoof and placed it upon my exposed right fore hoof and held it there for a few moments. There was a tingling in my horn and I felt the heaviness in my chest extinguish. The pony beside me retracted the hoof and without a word departed, pausing for a moment before closing the door.

"Phew," I told myself wiping the sweat off my neck. I extended my hooves out to stretch and became instantly alarmed to see my right hoof glowing green like it did beforehand when Luna pushed something into it. I pressed my other hoof into it and found the hoof no different in temperature or feel than usual before the green designs disappeared. I turned to the door in wonder before dismissing the notion that it could've been Princess Luna. I motioned back over to the drawer pulling the wrap out and wrapping up one of the wings on the suit. I thought about just taking a chance and flying but I was unsure of well I actually felt and knew that I would taking a major chance if I did.

I found my hat next to the door and put it back on before cracking the door open and looking out, slowly sliding out. The hallway was clear and no pony was in sight until I came to a door barely open. The housekeeper sat inside speaking about the various works she did today to another pegasus out of my sight behind a section of wall that I guessed to be a mare based upon the shadow casted. I slide past being as careful as I could  finding the filly working in a kitchen making something in a medium sized pot. it smelled like some sort of thick soup and I paused behind a counter as she walked near me opening a refrigerator and grabbing something before turning and retreating back to the the pot. This filly was unmistakably related to her mother as their coats and manes were identical in color. I hurried to the door and slowly opened it and closed it as quietly as I could.

The street lying outside the home was abandoned from any pony's hooves as I began to head my way down its stretch. It was constructed out of clouds yet surprisingly firm underneath my trot as I watched the pegasi above swarm all of their various directions. After about three minutes of walking I looked down at my feet and noted how the cloud did not even budge under my weight. It was understandable how Hope was able to get so injured with such resistance; however, I was left to wonder how pegasus are able to construct these things with such ease. I shrugged and just left it as just the magic of the pegasus.

It took fifteen minutes until I saw anything large enough to be the hospital that the housekeeper described and it was at least a good five minutes away. During this entire walk only a handful of pegasi actually looked my way long enough to raise question, and those who did quickly saw my wrapped wing and dismissed the matter. Entering the final minute of my tour a light tap was placed on my shoulder and I attempted to ignore it, but a second tap forced me to respond.

"Hello can I help you?" I spun around to see a young mare hovering behind me that I had seen several times enter the family shop over the years but never bought anything. She was always full of questions and my sister was always glad to answer them, and over time I think my sister became friends with her; however, this my first time seeing this mare in about two years.

"I am sorry," the mare blushed embarrassed, "I was just wondering if you were okay sir?" I looked at her more closely and realized that she had no recollection of who I was. I followed her eyes and noticed they were focusing on my suit. "Is that from Canterdash?"

"Pardon me?" I asked her.

"Sorry, it was just that is really nice and I used to know someone who made things as nice as that, but it has been a while." The mare rubbed her mane nervously. "I am sorry for wasting your time," she sighed placing her hooves on the ground. "You heading for the clinic? I will walk in with you." I nodded and waited for her to walk to my side before continuing alongside.

"And to answer your question, yes I am from Canterdash," I informed her and her head moved up in a spark of surprise. She went to say something but I stopped her. "And yes this suit is from where you think it is."

The mare hopped a little and turned back to me, "I knew you looked a little bit familiar! Have you been there recently? There is a unicorn there named Cristalla, do you know her?"

"I guess it would be fair to say I have seen her quite a few times."

"That is fantastic! Do you know how she is doing?" the mare demanded as the doors to the hospital slide open.

"Last time I saw her she was doing well. She is worried because her brother has left the house to attend a prestigious program of study, but I know she is proud of him."

"I am so glad, it has been so long since I last saw her!" The mare took flight once more. "I hope to one day see her again, thank you!" The mare waved as she flew away.

The hospital waiting room was jammed with ponies; however, fortunately for me the front desk was empty and I proceeded forth. A stallion in scrubs was sitting behind a stack of papers, evaluating their use and stuffing every other it seems into a folder and onto a shelf behind him. "Hello," I stated.

The stallion placed the file he held in his hooves into a folder and then looked at me. "You here to see Doctor Mason?" the front desk stallion stated placing a sign in sheet next to me.

"I am here to see a yellow mare that came in her recently with a broken wing or something?" I smiled nervously as the stallion took a long look at me before turning and pulling a file off the middle shelf with a pink and green identifier on it.

"What is your relationship to her?"

"I am a friend of hers," I informed the stallion who continued to look at the file. He continued to shift papers around inside before he close the folder and placed it back on the shelf.

"Room 331. Turns out you are here to see Dr. Mason afterall. third floor, on the left." The stallion pointed towards a set of elevators. I hurried into the elevator and waited as the basic hydraulic system slowly creeped its way up the building to the third floor. The elevator hesitated moving past the second floor and a stallion is a white coat stepped on. He looked at the button pressed seeing that it read three and backed off to a corner.

"You need to get that unwrapped? It looks really fine in shape to me." The doctor pony proclaimed. "You want me to give a look at it?"

"No it is fine." I stated at him uncomfortably.

"Nonsense, I will look at that for you free of charge. Who is your doctor I will inform him that you appear to be making good progress.

"Doctor, ahh, Oakseed..." I lied.

"Never heard of him..." stated curiously. "Is he any good?"

"He is, ahh new, but he is fine. Excuse me for a second." I jumped out the elevator as the doors slide open and turned the closest corner discreetly looking back. The doctor looked a little confused as he trotted into an adjacent room to the elevator.

I know he was trying to be nice, but that was close. My suit held a few wrinkles and I used my hooves to straighten them out as I looked up to read 331 on the door beside me. Well that was easy. I slowly cracked the door open noticing that the lights were off and pushed my head inside. The bed was folded smooth and silence had stained the room. "Hope?" I inquired as I slid my hoof across the sheet. "Where are you Hope?"

A hoof pressed against my shoulder causing me to jump  "Easy now!" A voice whispered as the housekeeper mare appeared beside me. "I do not get it, Madam knew you were gone and told me I would find you here without ever leaving her room," the housekeeper attested.

"Where is she!" I worried blankly

"It is hard for me to explain and I will try to give you a better answer later Sir, but from what Madam told me, something has come up with your friend and Madam has left without informing me with anymore details."

"Left for where?" I demanded curiously cynical.

"She did not tell me, nor do I have any idea of where she would need to go outside the city. She left me with the responsibility of making sure you are safe and well fed for the evening. Madam told me just trust her here; she asked for us both to trust her." The housekeeper pegasus stated. I wanted to argue; however, realization occurred to me that I am in a city that I do not know, nor belong, and these three are the only pegasi that I can be sure will bring me any closer to Hope. I considered the opportunity, finally giving in and walking back with her to the house. Thankfully, she did not question the wing and walked beside me instead of insisting on flight.  

I was correct in my earlier assumption about the filly's cooking; she had prepared a wonderful warm and creamy veggie soup for us all with an overly-excessive amount of noodles that her mother commented on, but I strangely preferred the filly's error. The dinner table was relatively small consisting of only enough room for four, yet was not critical to me. I pushed the noodles in my bowl around with a spoon as I watched the filly shovel down her own creation.

"Something wrong?" the housekeeper pony asked as she placed down a bowl for herself at the table and collected her daughter's bowl to get her some more.

"It is nothing ma'am, thank you for the soup." I sighed.

"You are mighty welcome," she stated spacing down a refilled bowl. She looked at me for a moment before she sat down and turned towards me. "I know you are upset, but you have to eat. We will find her."

"I just do not understand how she would of got taken from the hospital without anyone noticing." I sighed stuffing a spoonful into my mouth.

"I am with you there. No pony I know just disappears just into the ground that I know of, especially with how many guards were at the hospital today." The mare admitted. The words hit me funny causing me to choke on my second spoonful.

"Are there usually guards at the hospital? I mean I can understand one or two, but you know."

"Not usually any more than that if any. We are a pretty quiet district, crime is almost unheard of and I do not think we would serve as the smartest target for an initial invasion." she justified than sampled her soup. "Not that this city is liable to invasion either; we have the highest concentration of Flight Corps guards in the entire empire."

"I am aware," I stated. "This city cannot be void of ground ponies though or you guys would be at a fundamental weakness. What are their responsibilities?"

"Transport, they are responsible for transport here. We can not function off only what can be flown up here, there is a pullet port system in the middle of the city that a large sum of Pegasi are employeed doing. I have never been near the lift because the conditions there are rather dirty at times. Regardless, the non-flight ponies monitor the workers and the cargo for safety, and report to the flight captain."

"Lightning?"

"I do not know what his name is, some red Pegasus whom shows up here and there before disappearing frequently."

Red? I took back in surprise. "How long has this captain you mentioned been around here?"

"A little bit over a month. Why you ask?" the housekeeper questioned.

"No major reason, I am just interested with out royal guard system because, you know, they are important."

"That they are, I have no idea what would happen if they were ever to fail us."

I finished up the rest of my bowl without a word and excused myself towards my temporary residence. As I motioned with each hoof step I found myself pausing with increasing frequency to more closely inspect my surroundings. The house did not radiate as a location of trouble, as it just gave me a general feeling of uneasiness, yet uncanny relief. The walls featured pulchritudinous designs of greens that curled much like leaves and vines in a spring garden, and while there were several lights, most of the house had been optimized for natural sunlight. No where was there a picture of anything besides various depictions in all of her moderates and extremes; the house was void of the madam's existence almost.

The room I laid upon earlier I had given little attention to as well and upon further inspection I was amazed by the simple complexities that the space featured. The vines danced around this room as well and the blossoms sung their lullabies to me as I acknowledged their cries by placing my hoof upon on and imagining to pull the pedals open so it can celebrate in the lunar song's glow. Three birds gathered around above the doorway, looking up collectively past one another and out into the open skies in ponder. The raven, the lark, and the dove bestowed their blessings to me as the moans of the owl's remorseful tears formed a sympathy of wisdom and reflection as it passed through the crack of the window, which was open to allow a slight breeze to be enjoyed.

I trotted over to the bed to find a new set of sheets had been laid out. I reached down and placed my hoof upon the blanket above as a knock came from the door. "Excuse me Sir, but Madam asked me to wash the old sheets so I thought I would," the Mare stopped in full sentence as she witnessed the fully constructed bed already. The mare walked to the sheets and ran her hoof over it before smiling a slight smile. "these are very special sheets of hers, she must be trusting you to be gentle with them I suppose." I ran my hoof and was superseded by the soft, yet firm texture of the sheets. "Surprising, are they not?"

"Yes Ma'am" I agreed and paused at a sudden feeling of familiarity. I turned back towards the housekeeper and her face was lacking an excessive worries giving me the feeling that this Mare and her filly were no stranger to being alone at night.

"The Madam got this from a shop in a town South of here by about a ninety minute flight. Owned by a family of Unicorns that use their magic to make such nice things as this right here, but you ask me it is not just magic that leads to anything this amazing and I have to give them perks if I ever met any of them."

I pulled a corner from the sheet back and marveled at how fine of the stitch was; It was barely visible and seemed oddly familiar to me causing the gears in my head to grind. I examined the corner more closely as I prepared myself to getting closer to rest when I noticed two italic letters sewn in the corner in light blue thread; BA. I staggered back briefly in surprise as my initials where presented in the same strategically placed way my father would have done and a sense of pride dawned on me as I remembered how my sister would address me occasionally when I had made something with my best efforts. These sheets were the first thing I ever made to be sold with my family where I did all the major work under my sister's supervision and after long hours toiling I got my father's approval, whom gladly placed my initials on the item. Bitter-sweetly I wrapped myself in past memory becoming reverent in satisfaction as happiness dampened my other speculations of fear allowing me to peacefully slip into sleep.

Chapter Seventeen (Clash of Thunder)

Rest had fallen short for me and earlier feelings of optimism were fleeing as I laid next to the window gazing upon the quiet night sky. Pegasi respected their curfews around this district for not soul was victim of my sight and not a single wing trilled above that reached my ear. The stars had lost their pride and wind was full of sloth. A garden of moonlight rained from above, the source was angled away and distant. I reached out placing my hoof on the window glass and was aware of the shadows that it cast in the moonlight on the floor aside me. I slid my hoof slowly down watching it descend like it was a distinct phenomenon being witnessed from afar.

I picked myself up from the floor and moved to the foot of the bed where I looked more closely at the birds that were positioned over the doorway. Each of the three species were so different and yet all three shared in the wonder of flight, a feature that I did not naturally have and with each passing moment I uncontrollably felt myself blaming myself for not persisting to make sure Hope was okay. I flailed at the stern gaze of the owl's preying eyes illustrated over and I pulled myself back down to the window finding a calming, yet spiteful agony in it once more.

To my surprise two indistinguishable birds danced in the background and I was drawn to watch them as they circled in the moonlight's gentle light in fair conversation. Several moments passed as the two small creatures soured before the two placed themselves on the adjacent building to me. The two I could see now where ravens of the night whom continued to speak whisper between themselves on their chosen perch before pivoting my way to allow me a better view of their structure. They both were of the typical black; however, their pupils reflected an uncanny purple in the moonlight as they patiently sat looking down near me at the world below.

Seconds morphed into minutes as the two ravens did not alter their gazes and it became increasing obvious that the two had fixated on something. The window prevented me from seeing what it could have possibly of been there, but as the gaze endured so did my curiosity and I was eventually driven into action. I arose from my position and proceeded onwards to the night world.

The house was quite and still as I followed the same path that I had used earlier to escape to find Hope missing. The exit was as last time silent as I hurried around the side of the building to find the two ravens instantly take flight. The two creatures circle above me precariously before taking in the direction of the Northwest, deeper into city grounds, engaging my attention and making it nearly impossible for me to ignore the situation that had already struck my interest. I gazed momentary around me to assess the risk, finding my earlier assumptions correct; the skies and the streets had suffered a death of activity that would be revitalized with the crack of dawn. I sparked my horn to boost the cloud walking spell to be safe causing myself to go momentary light-headed and acting against every other better judgement I had at the time I followed the wingspans in the night.

The streets held a gloomy sort of tranquility to them as each hoof step softly bounced off the clouds below in my modest gallop. Every few minutes or so I would catch eye with the ravens that were intermediately traveling, leading me forwards, but the majority of my gaze was fixated on the stars above with their light, the moon behind me with her grace, a single comet's bittersweet song, and how all of them worked together peacefully determined to maintain a balance through the night that Luna watched over. The whole night in itself reminded me of Luna and it left me to wonder what happens in the case that she fails to comfort the young filly in conjured distress or the defenseless soul bound to a night without dreams. Surely no pony alone, Alicorn or not, could watch over every pony and simply put I felt she couldn't. For seventeen years I have experienced the horror of nightmares over the years and only in one and one alone could I recall seeing Luna in the dreams.

I drew myself closer and closer to the heart of the city westwards following the ravens' proceeding into a new district. It was not hard to figure out the layout for the City of Wings; the elaborated housing with broad streets began to narrow gradually as I continued with the houses rescaling to in many situations only a fourth of their preceding counterparts.  The air was thickened and my view of Luna's gift began to become more obstructed through the quantity of smog that resided above this new district region. The clinging of metal bars smashing each other in ferocious rage echoed through the skies and resulting in artificial flashes of lightning in the distance. The clinging of the two alloys were unmistakably loud; however, every pony was sound asleep in the district as they had become accustomed to it, it seemed. My two guides seemed unaffected by the poundings and continued forward until the housing broke into a large ring in which there stood the port and the industrial center of the city, the grandest of our empire.

A medium sized fence had be fabricated around the plant and the gates were assured to be sealed. The fence served no function to the port for a fence could be simply flown over by any normal pegasus, especially in Cittàdiali. The fence instead acted as a civil guardian, protecting young fillies and colts from transcending into a location not suitable for them that would place their young lives in perilous circumstances. A long row of lifts aligned my left side of the interior and without getting any closer I could make out a tall cylindrical silo that belonged to the Serentian weather factory in the due center of my view. The right was composed of four to five large scale buildings without extrusions or identifying features that would indicate production bringing me to the conclusion that they might be used for storage; a theory that made since considering that Cittàdiali would need a considerable stock of necessities in the case that a disaster hindered intercity commerce. Lying beyond the buildings was a minimum of at least eight stallions working industriously on the frame of another structure, unidentifiable to me. A click, a flash of light, and a metallic cry followed each other in a rhythmic pattern; one right after another relentlessly.

The two crows I had followed had deteriorated from existence and I spun around finding no evidence of the whereabouts of the two feathered beasts. Originating from the center of the area, screams of metal engulfed the district as one of the smaller of the lifts on the left began to descend downwards. I witnessed six ponies make their down from the city in slow decent towards the lower port below; none of them had wings and none of them appeared to be workers. The hiss of wind appeared behind me and I leaped closer to the walls of the structures of the outer ring to stay out of sight. Two pegasi soared above, their eyes preying for something, and followed the six ponies down the hole. I watched in curiosity as they descended and turned to continued to indefinitely watch the stallions working on the structure in the distance. So much work had to be done by the group; however, they were making great progress through their synergy. The hole left by the lift was automatically covered up by a thin layer of cloud to prevent ponies from falling accidentally, and upon the layer touching down the stallions in the distance instantly took slack and recessed, catching my surprise and causing me to ponder.

They were not working because they were good employees, they were fearful of group that had just descended.

The streets and buildings had not changed in the time I was gone, and even though I had not paid close attention to the path I had traveled, the general shifts throughout the city served familiar and assured me that I was traveling in the correct path back. The mist of the air seemed to had spread farther than I could have imagined and the fibrous hands of smog reached to the corner of the district that was serving as a temporary place of rest. A black feather from a raven lied on the very edge of the final turn and I galloped gently towards it to pick it up. I placed my hoof on the feather and felt moisture embrace my neck. The house keeper's filly face was drowned in tears and as she looked up from her gaze three words departed her mouth: "Please, help her."

I led her back to the house and was stunned to find the door of the house was broken to pieces without need; the door had been unlocked beforehand. The interior of the house was trashed; cabinets and drawers had been ripped out of their slots and a variety of glassware had been thrown in anger against the walls. "What happened?" I demanded from the filly who was still in shock.

"Two black pegasi came her and attacked mama looking for something. I escaped out through a window before they arrived like mama told me; however, when I heard the screams of pain I ran as hard as I could away with tears gushing down my face looking for help. Not a single light was on and I was scared, so very scared when I ran into you!" the filly exclaimed almost hyperventilating.

I gave the young filly my attention and placed my hooves on her shoulder and mane, looking deep into her eyes in an effort to calm her through surprise. "Easy now, young one. I am going to find out what is wrong and where your mother is, and I know she is okay," I told the filly in the calmest voice I could manage.

"You promise!" the filly inquired with large eyes.

"I promise, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye" I smiled at her pushing an imaginary cupcake in my eye. The filly broke a small smile and he tears ceased to flow down her face. "Now you have to promise me that you will stay here, I will be back in a few minutes." She nodded and I followed the debris throughout the house looking into each of the first few rooms, finding nothing. The master bedroom was no different being empty as well; however, as I motioned to depart the room I found a thin, dark layer of moisture trailing out into the hallway. I pursued the continuously widening path and found at several points the path was broken, continuing less than a foot ahead each time leading into my bedroom.  I pushed the door open slowly to find the mare lying in the center of floor causing me to twitch in horror; her eyes slowly followed my hoof steps as I approached her concerning.

"They came looking for you. They were looking for you and I did not tell them. I couldn't after all and I wouldn't because I promised her I would look after you," the mare breathed. Her body was in shambles with her hooves being displaced at their joints and cuts aligned her torso without order. The two attackers assulted her until they had deemed her useless and left her without help. None of the wounds were fatal; however, as a whole the mare was left in fatal condition. A light green rose was gripped tightly in her forehoof unsoiled or harmed. "Madam gave me this rose before she left telling me it will help us if we run into problems. I do not think his is what she would of had in mind. Promise me that my child is safe and that she will continue to be."

"I have made more promises recently than I would like to and I am not going to let you give me that responsibility," I commanded at the mare sparking my horn with blue light and inspecting the wounds of the mare closer, wrapping some of them gently with my magic with shards of fabric from a mauled sheet.

"I knew that bump on your head did not make sense. How do you have wings though?" the mare questioned.

"They are not real; mighty hard to tell otherwise though. My sister has a very skilled ability to create such things I guess." I informed her. The fragments of fabric were continuously being draped in blood and I feared that there was not enough I could do to slow down the bleeding.

"Thank you for trying, but I am afraid we are fighting a losing battle," the mare sighed.

"It is not over yet! Stay here with me!" I demanded of her.

"My name is Begonia," the mare supplied a slight grimace.

"Stay with it, Begonia!" I picked up the rose that fallen limp aside her with my magic and tried re-positioning her head and legs to allow more blood to stay near the vital organs. I took hold of the rose and when I took a firm grip on it the pedals shimmered a bright green aura. I had a feeling it was you. I let go of my efforts on Begonia and focused my magic on the rose. I shifted my magic to a green aura and the rose pedals spread out flat. The flower turned to green dust that scattered to the floor and formed a green circle of magic rose pedals around Begonia lifting her from the floor and surrounding her in a green aura. "She never stopped looking out for you," I smiled blissfully as the wounds on Begonia's torso shrank and her breathing rate steadied. She lost consciousness in exhaustion and I left her to sleep for the time being as the rose pedals continued to dance around her, mending the numerous minor cuts and bruising.

The filly had patiently awaited my return as she sat quietly beside the door. She opened her mouth to speak but I cut her short, informing her that her mother was going to be okay and thanked both of them for their hospitality. I sparked my magic and straightened up the house a little, reforged the door, placing it back on the hinges, and marveled at the filly's sudden confusion. "It is okay; I understand, but I do not belong here anymore. Allow your mother to rest peacefully and do not disturb her. And get some rest yourself, a young filly needs her sleep." I provided a final cheer of glee to the filly and hurried out the door without any more description.

Determined in rancor, I retraced my steps back towards the port with Luna's disk watching from above once more. The air was strained with tension in the high rising city and did not dare to speak the slightest whispers in fear of backlash from the bitter hunter. The port shared in this silence and the workers of the night were scattered throughout the facility keeping watchful eyes. Two stallions wore harnesses and were resilient pulling the manufactured structure that they toiled on before under a tarp and on wheels towards the grandest of the lifts.

I traveled alongside the right edge of the industrial circle and aligned the buildings of scale, which I was able to now testify as warehouses, between the group and I. Then using the shadows cast by the housing and the warehouses I crept my way forward which aided in my concealment. Rounding the storage structures I witnessed a Flight Corps Pegasus shouting commands at the workers loading the vessel, made inaudible by the hum of the warehouses' refrigerating systems. The soldier was of the lowly rank of a grade one lieutenant officer and held no right to be in uniform out of shift and especially no right to be giving orders to civilians. I waited and watched, and watched and waited until the task of moving the structure was complete and the lieutenant ordered the workers to gather through the common gestures to do so. Worker stallions motioned around the area and caused a momentary outbreak of chaos that allowed me to circumvent around the workers while distracted as get closer to the lifts. The crowd gathered and moved collectively to the warehouse that I was beside without word; a final worker had stayed behind for the moment and dialed in codes to a keypad beside the life before closing the pad and chasing the group inside.

The edge of the large lift cracked as the locks of the lift released and the enormous platform began on a slow descent down. I rushed forward and jumped a yard down onto the falling platform before a cloud cover placed itself over the humongous hole that formed for the lift departing. The cloud lock above touched the edges of the lift's boundaries and small mechanical components extended from the cloud that grasped onto the main cloud of the district sealing the hole off marking my officially depart from City of Wings for the port system below. I leaned my way over the edge of the falling platform and was quick to discover that the region above for industry was nothing compared to the dozens of square miles of metal and structures that laid on the surface below. The region was surrounded by small mountains at every angle forming a natural dome around the entire urban micro-city and isolating this valley from the world outside, save for three heavily guarded paths through the mountains, the main of which was sealed by a large mechanical door.

Earth pony workers gathered on the floor below awaiting the end of the lift's journey, and upon the distance being light enough, I hurdled myself to the Earth below and hauled into the shadows of the new region that I frankly did not know even existed. I rested out of sight and watched the ground ponies motion to retrieve this new item. One worker dressed in blue versus the orange of the group circled around the object in confusion, and it could be seen that he had not been expected the package to descend and was lost without any instructions. The pegasi that I had witnessed earlier swooped upon the inspector and after a very haste conversation, the stallion ordered his men to fall back and ignore the object. The pegasi watched with blistering eyes the workers leave and the larger of the two pegasi waved his hoof in the air upon their departure signaling the appearance of a new group of five stallions that grabbed hold of the structures foundation and collectively pushed it forward. The hoof steps of the workers acted as cover as I darted along the lines of shadows in slow, concealed pursuit.

The two pegasi hovered above and behind the group, supervising their movements. "You think this will work for us?" the smaller of the two dark pegasi questioned to the larger.

"Those idiots better damn well hope it is effective, or they will experience a fate I will promise is worth than death. We have already one thing not work out smoothly as we predicted tonight and I am not going to have two failures in one night. If this thing does not work, then everyone of those pieces of urban industrial scum are going to experience a place many magnitudes worse than Hell," the larger snarled.

"We were too impulsive tonight and we should've given it more time and thought."

"Screw time and thought! That bastard got lucky! I will find that lord and with Serentia now down two of the best captains, we will have our revenge! He will come hunting for that mare soon enough regardless and when he does we will succeed!"

"And what if no one shows up for her? I mean it is very possible that we traced the wrong magic."

"No! We were on the correct path and he is too honorable to leave her behind. Regardless, he has three days to appear and hand himself over or this mare is just a waste of our time and is expendable."

"You have got to be stupid to let a catch like that go in three days. Even if Armonia does not appear in three days, she is still valuable to someone powerful probably and she could be beneficial to us in other ways." the pegasus spun a coin around his hooves.

"Three days or we get rid of her," the larger one barked. "And you must be stupid to even thinking I was going to let anyone walk away from us. Why don't we just make giant posters and buy billboards to encourage recruitment! I mean, it is not like high-level treason is punishable severely in all of the governments around here or anything."

"Whatever," the pegasus waved the larger off in surrender. "I have no idea why I have to deal with you You have no sence of practicality."

"I will show you a sense of practicality!" The larger roared towards the smaller, who starred at the other unaffected by the threat. "Well someone has to keep you and your 'practicality' in line," the larger huffed causing a small burst of laughter to escape my throat. The two pegasi instantaneously stopped in their flight and motioned around causing me to flee into a quick alleyway. "Did you hear something?"

"I will check it out. Probably another one of those damn birds again." The smaller black pegasus began to move towards me while the larger continued to push the workers forward. The pegasus systematically checked every corner, every alleyway and every cold street light on his way back towards me and as he continued to get closer I could feel panic begin to trickle down my neck as sweat flooded. The wing flaps of the black pegasus echoed throughout my ears and alongside my heart beat, the two deathened me. The pegasus reached my alleyway and took two body lengths in when the two ravens from earlier flew past the pegasus and headed straight up skywards. The pegasus rolled his eyes and retreated back to the street. "Figured it was these damn birds, they are everywhere in this city," he cursed under his breath.

"That was a close one," a voice declared behind me. I flailed and my mouth opened to shout when a hoof pulled my muzzle shut and a second hoof kept me still. "Easy now," the voice commanded. I turned to see a long-time familiar face.

"Ambassador Legatus, what the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that! Actually, what the hell you doing here!" I whispered aggressively.

"Oh Bladz, it has been years since I saw you. You're no longer a filly anymore I see, even though your mane is still styled essentially the same way."

"Why are you here?"

"Come on, walk and talk with me. I will explain on the way to where I am staying."

"They have abducted one of my friends, I cannot walk and talk right now."

"So? Running straight into an organized terror group with hopes that asking for your friend back is a better idea than walking and talking for a few minutes?" Legatus teased. I did not say anything and stood stubbornly knowing he was right. "That is what I thought, now let's walk and talk." Legatus grinned sharply as we continued down the alleyway.

"So? What are you doing under this city, Legatus?"

"I came interested with rumors about two of the captains, but when I got here I found something off and decided to stay to keep a watch out. Also, call me Eclipse, there is no need for formality here." the stallion smiled. Legatus had been staying at a high-comfort suite during his stay at almost no cost because how well he was at making friends with people. He pulled a seat from under a coffee table and invited me to sit down placing a cup of hot tea and a saucer in front of me. "I find this blend very delightful if you ask me," Eclipse proclaimed taking a sip from his own glass. "So what brings you here?"

"Lord Armonia instructed me to investigate some unusual activity in the area and that is how I got here. A hard landing placed my friend and I in need of care; however, and she had to be sent to the hospital. While I was still out of it and trying to recover, she got abducted by those two I am assuming."

"Oh, that does not sound like very much fun." Eclipse formed a frown upon drinking some more tea, and I took my first sip. "Pointless to stay up when we cannot do anything. Night is soon going to be over and we do not want to miss out on sleep while we can get it." Eclipse yawned. I was stern, yet I didn't argue. "Well I will catch up with you later," Eclipse finished his tea and placed it on the counter. "You can stay wherever you would like I guess, no where really for me to object to really."

"Le, I mean Eclipse, what were you doing up so late anyway?"

"These two birds kept pecking at my window. Got up to wave them away." Eclipse yawned and waved me a final goodnight.

Chapter Eighteen (Preparing the Deck)

After Eclipse departed for the night, I continued to sit upon the table, drinking the hot tea and thinking in worry. I finished up the glass and poured myself a second cup, and then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, until I found the pot empty and tea bags no where within sight for making a new pot. I began to dig through cabinets to find some replacement bags, although it was not a very hard hunt as the shelves and cabinets where highly organized and structured, the bags were nowhere near the first place I checked. It did not take long to find a box of tea bags though and I dumped the three old ones out and replaced them with new ones along with water, placing the pot on the stove and setting the temperature to  the lowest setting so that Eclipse would have some hot tea by the morning.

I would have loved to stated that I stayed up all night in worried trepidation; however, the sand in my eyes were weighing tons and the event of the night had worn me down, not to mention I was still recovering from injury. Within five minutes of me putting myself down on the couch, I was out cold, and by the time I had awoken, the lunar disk in the sky had vanished and been replaced by the day's star. I stayed on the couch as my eyes adjusted to the natural light flooding the room, it was a wonder how a room under a city could be so bright and rich in sunlight.

Eclipse's hooves toiled from the kitchen as plates touched down on the glass of the table. I turned my head and found the kitchen to be just out of view, being blocked by the curvature of the living room. Plates continued to clash on the table and the radiating aromas escaped towards me hinting at a plethora of different delightful fixations. A chair scraped backwards momentary before being readjusted forward in ridiculously slow increments. I held in my laughter at Eclipse's slow approach as a dozen of jokes flooded my mind about it; another voice did not, a mare's embarrassed giggle ventured through the air, entered my ears, and was processed by my brain.

Hopping up from the couch in a rapid pace, I ended up finding my first up-close encounter with a hardwood floor as a blanket that had been placed on me, by who I assumed was Eclipse, tripped me and causing me to crash downwards. I squirmed out of the blanket and brushed myself off, noticing no change from the kitchen setting. I folded the blanket up and placed it on the couch and creeped my way around the corner where two lime-colored eyes instantly greeted me and waved a friendly hoof.

"Good Morning, Bladz!" A youthful light green pegasus cheered at me, who wore a dark green scarf around her neck in the middle of Summer. Her mane was composed of a blend of three shades of green that complimented her coat and eyes, and her cutie mark resembled a tree with the roots forming a circle. She picked up her glass of tea and grinned with Eclipse beside her before taking a short sip. "I would introduce myself but I would be wasting my breath, would I not?" the mare teased placing the cup back on its respective platter noticing my shocked stare. "That was not very lady like of me to do that, my dearest apologies. I am"

"Cera, nature pegasus," I interjected. "How is Begonia doing?"

"Much better, thank you heavily for being brave with her." Cera took another small sip of tea. "My real name is Cera Gardena though," she stated uneasily. "You want any tea? Eclipse made it with a rather delightful batch of flavor."

"I told you already, I did not do anything to it" Eclipse responded honestly. "Did you finish up the tea yesterday night Bladz?" I nodded in response and Eclipse sighed in relief afterwards. "Well that explains the difference, that was not my tea to use."

"Oh, I am sorry. Your friend will not be mad will he?"

"Do not worry about it, I am sure Ryan is not going to mind."

"This is Ryan's home!" I exclaimed in surprise. "Why does he live here?"

"He doesn't, this is one of his several homes." Eclipse informed me. "He has a home in every major location in the empire, and we have known each other so long that he has given me permission to say at anyone he is not using, as long as I leave it in good conditions."

"Why doesn't he use the bases?" I inquired.

"Because sometimes it is nice to visit a place without being a center of attention, not that Cera would know anything about that."

"Well excuse me mister look-at-me-the-shining-diplomat," Cera placed the cup on the platter and readjusted her posture. "Some of us have control of our social egos."

"And that is why you are wearing an expensive designer scarf." Eclipse chuckled at the mare's defense as Cera straightened out her scarf sternly.

"Not my fault you have no sense of taste. One would think that you would develop a taste for fashion over the years."

"Maybe you can teach me one day when you are not snooping around at parties across the empire. Is that what happened four years in the Serentian highlands?"

"Why I say! Have some decency my lad! It was on business, I assure you!" Cera proclaimed in bitter aggravation before they both broke into laughter.

"Did I miss something?" I questioned completely dumbfounded with the event.

"Sorry, Bladz. Cera works as an intelligence officer for Armonia, and we have know each other a really long time I guess you could say." Eclipse explained.

:"You mean 'the intelligence officer,' It is not there are multiple ponies in my position unlike a certain job that I know of."

"Yea , keep telling yourself that your job is important when I do all the work."

"So you would wish! If it was not for me you would not have a job."

"Excellent idea, keep telling yourself that." Eclipse proclaimed which acted as the final straw for Cera who threw her hooves up in surrender. "Well played, but once again I prove victorious!"

"What is an intelligence officer?" I demanded.

"Sorry once again," Cera stated, "I am the empire's eyes I guess you could say. I explore recent gossip by blending into society and visiting the various conventions hosted by ponies of influence. Almost all ponies, regardless of how trustworthy, eventually slip and tell me what I seek when placed in the correct situation. Thus, I get the news on the latest potential problems while they are still in development and relay them to Lord Armonia."

"So you are like a spy? Does that mean you work for the Scout Corps?"

"Heavens no! Working even at their peak, the guards could only wish to work a fifth as quickly as I do. They are stuck waiting for commands and clearances from their superiors, slowing them down." Cera cited. "Do not get me wrong, the Scout Corps once they get the information passed down to them from Armonia, they do a fantastic job investigating, but they are not very good at finding things out quick enough unless they waste valuable time."

"I do not think I have ever seen that commanding pegasus ever wear a suit for longer than twenty minutes," Eclipse added.

"I do not think I have seen you not wearing a suit longer than twenty seconds," Cera countered, which Eclipse applauded to and sarcastically marked a line on a napkin.

I rolled my eyes at the two, secretly trying not to submit to their comedic arguments. "So how are you here anyway Cera, like here at this house," I posed openly to the two.

"I invited her here," Eclipse informed me while pouring himself a glass of now warm tea.

"You invited her this morning?"

"No, yesterday." Cera recalled to me.

"Yesterday? Why were you invited yesterday?"

"Well the original plan was for you to come down here in the morning and for me to meet you two here shortly after, but our plans got skewed a bit," Cera stated with a half-laugh.

"For what reason would I have to come down here besides for what I know now about those two pegasus who attacked Begonia and are responsible for abducting Hope?" Eclipse face quickly lost its joyous emotion as he stood up from the table and placed the kettle back on the stove. "Sorry?" I told him uncertainly.

"It is no problem Sir Angelo, I was just hoping that you knew was all. I guess that is the price of being the physical protector unlike you Cera," Eclipse sighed.

"Did I miss something?" I asked Cera in whisper. Cera trotted to Eclipse, knocked him on the shoulder and pointed to me.

"Sorry for that." Eclipse retook his seat. "In dangerous situations, you may have seen a white unicorn that acted as a guardian. That was me, well part of me as it is my essence's current purpose is to protect. " Eclipse waved mock-seriously.

"That was you? How do you know this?" I demanded.

"Cera and I do not know this, we are making a fair guess. We do not know what our essences have shown you and we do not even know if you are very familiar with them, but since you broke both of our seals, it would only be fair to assume that you have seen our essences ,considering it is your connection with them that breaks the seal."

"Wait, back it up. I have broken two seals? When did I break yours?"

"When you stood up against Sypherous to protect your friends, when you barely knew them. You proved yourself worthy of my essence's approval and thus my essence broke the seal, allowing you the structured use of the magic of light and purity, and granted you your cutie mark, which changed when you broke Cera's seal."

"But, I knew you before all this happened." I replied in growing unease. Eclipse stood up and led me to the chair, telling me to sit and drink some tea that he quickly poured for me.

"You do not need our essences for us to exist, Cera existed long before her seal was even broken." Eclipse turned to Cera who nodded in agreement.

"I have known you for quite a while now Bladz," Cera affirmed. "You have seen me while you were maturing, I am sure. I visited you several times while you were growing up to check and look out for you. I know you saw the sheets that I laid out."

"The ones I made when I was a very small colt. I could not believe you had them."

"They had never been used before now. I bought them so that I would not find myself worrying about you as much."

"So does this mean that others I know could be seals? How do I know if somepony is one of my seals?"

"You will not and can't. We ourselves don't even know if there are other seals that you could even meet, besides for one," Eclipse proclaimed. "It is because of this essence running amuck that caused Cera's seal to break. This third essence  wishes you no harm, Bladz, and I want you to understand he is only unstable due to his current confusion."

"How do you know that this other one is present?"

"My essence would have no meaning without this third essence. My brother and I must exist together for one of us to have power because without darkness and corruption, there is no such things as light and purity."

"So Sypherous was not after power when he attacked in Temperoca, he was after your essence?" I gasped and Eclipse nodded.

"They do not only have your friend Hope, they have Eclipse's brother too" Cera interrupted.

"Without the essence of darkness they will not be able to directly use my brother's magic; however, they know that he is of value to me, just as Hope is to you, and they are trying to lure us in so they can use his dark magic for evil, immoral actions once more," Eclipse concluded. "I am not sure that there is anything we could do at the time, the guard, as well all know, is not in the best of conditions right now, hence why they have chosen to begin this treason. And what makes matters worse if we do not even know who 'they' are and how many we are up against." All of us wore faces of worry, and this time it was I who found their self unable to remain sitting as I left the kitchen without a moment's notice. The other two I felt wanted to check on me as I dropped myself onto the couch, but neither them did.

How are we supposed to be successful with Serentia's current military situation? I kept asking myself in my head with the obvious answer repeating tirelessly. The answer to this question was obvious and upon accepting this I picked myself up and traveled down the hallway opening every door finding nothing I was hunting; that was until I came to the second to last door which I found locked. I quickly unlocked the door with my magic, reinforcing to myself just how rare a unicorn was around here, and became witness to a room containing a variety of detailed maps that would be used for strategic planning.  I scattered through them and pulled out a map of Serentia, a map of Cittàdiali's high grounds, and one for the region below, rushing back into the kitchen where Eclipse and Cera both were still residing. "Cera, how long would it take for the Ryan to get here, if you left right now, with the needed forces."

"They would at the earliest be able to get here by mid afternoon tomorrow with current situations I would believe. You need me to leave to talk to Ryan?" Cera responded confined.

"No, that is not needed. How did you two figure out that Shadow and Lightning were not going to return?"

"It was given knowing Shadow that he is going to want to stay if he ever visited Equestria again," Eclipse replied.

"And how many people knew Shadow that well?"

"Not many, just high ranking employees of the empire and Shadows men."

"So how else would they know that two captains are not retired?"

"What are you trying to get at Bladz?" Cera inquired.

"The only other way for somepony to know this information this quickly is for this pony to be a guard. I do not think we are dealing with just citizens, I think this is a lieutenant who would be aware of the state that the guard command would be in and is planning on deceiving the people of Cittàdiali in order to gain power." I explained moving everything off the table and spreading the maps out. "The chances of a Flight guard invading without reason the home city of the pegasus breed is unlikely and even less likely when they figure out that there is a possibility that they could be fighting fellow pegasus guards. Those who do swear their loyalty to Armonia over Cittàdiali nevertheless will not have an easy time getting down here to this region below because the only way down is through a lift system that would be controlled by the rebels below." I pointed to the center of Cittàdiali and how all lifts are concentrated.

"This is true," Cera agreed. "The region below was designed as a fortress against foreign attack after what happened with Sypherous. It would take a miracle for the guards to get in here, especially since it is the guards inside that control the massive gates that seal this place up along the ground paths."

"Precisely! That is why we must strike tonight!"

"Tonight? With the three of us? Only the three of us?" Eclipse asked in disbelief with my suggestion. "You want us to charge in there tonight without any back-up if we would need it, so we can go get ourselves captured and made witness to their reign of chaos?"

"We are not going to need backup. You see Eclipse they are expecting us to be so scared of what might happen that we take the safer route of the two evils because they know that tonight would be too risky for us. They do intend for us to strike single handedly and if they are to do as I predict they are going to need to prepare so when the time is right they can effectively convince the population that it was Serentia that turned on Cittàdiali. They are trying to start a war and break Armonia's mentality before the real fighting even begins."

"And what if you are wrong!" Eclipse challenged.

"Then we are only catalyzing inevitable doom for this empire and eventually our neighbors!"

"You know it really sucks when you yourself don't come up with such a thorough analysis and plan of action." Eclipse rolled up the maps and placed them back in my hooves. "You better not let us down, you have my support."

"Well look at you Eclipse returning to battle." Cera teased. Eclipse grabbed the maps once again a threw them at Cera. "Use that magic of yours and figure out what you can find out about our new friend of ours. If Ryan was smart, which I know he is, he would have copies of supplemental records laying somewhere within that office that would be somewhat up to date. Find out anything you could about the officers in this area, I do not care if it as dumb as a minor infraction for stepping on a turtle, find out subjects for whom in the hell we are dealing with."

"Yes your majesty." Cera teased. "Finally some work around here that utilizes my expertise efficiently!" Cera was so excited with the new task that she bumped into the wall twice as she charged towards the her latest source of intel.

"And as of for you Sir Angelo, Serentian Royal Knight, we have some work to do if you are going to be ready for tonight."

"Come again?"

"You did not think that I have spent my entire life being only a boring Diplomat did you? While Cera is working let us get some training done. There is a practically abandoned indoor sports complex down here that would work perfectly for our training purposes." Eclipse exclaimed as he sparked his horn and manifested a polearm constructed out of pure light magic before he dissolved it in satisfaction. "Oh how long it has been since I have felt the sweet taste of my magic's passion for carrying out justice. This shall be advantageous for both of us I feel." Eclipse grinned fiercely.

The sports complex had been replaced and abandoned for a reason which I found out the hard way by the time we finally got there. The complex laid at the very north end of the port city and it took a good thirty minutes of precautious jogging to get there. Besides for that, the complex was a beautiful setting for athletics with courts, fields, arenas, all packed together in a way that maximized the efficiency of the location. Eclipse led me to an enormous auditorium area with an indoor racing track, where he smiled in satisfaction noting the suitability of the area to his plans.

"Is this where you had in mind?" I questioned Eclipse who nodded.

"I think this is just about as well as I think I could ask for, regarding the short notice. Anyway let us get on our way," Eclipse determined. "The primary element of being successful in a small-party invasion force is being able to blend in and get what needs to be done done, and then haul tail out of there. Our main purpose is not going to be facing the enemy, but locating and extracting your friend and my brother."

"So what is first?" I pondered. Eclipse acknowledged with a gesture and using magic began placing fallen ceiling tiles and other forms of debris to block out the windows, eliminating a strong portion of the light in the hall.

"The first step to being discreet is being silent, for if we are not silent we cannot hope to be successful regardless of how talented or prepared we are for combat; we would be left with a fight that I don't think we could handle and would be in grave danger." Eclipse informed me walking forward carefully with extremely light hoofsteps. "When you move around you need to place the front of your step softly and then roll the force of the walk into your hooves to minimize the sound of them." Eclipse trotted slowly stressing the movement with each step and encouraged me to do the same. I was surprised to find the movement rather simple and after a few stumbles while trying to do it at a jogging pace, I was a natural at it and darted alongside the courts lines in nearly complete silence before Eclipse stopped me.

"So what else is do I need to know when dealing with stealth?"

"Not much else to it, just need to ensure that your movements are fluid and you use shadows to your advantage, which you did rather well last night when I found you. Now that you have the sound factor down, we shouldn't have any issues here." Eclipse extended his right fore hoof out and sparked his horn to generate the polearm of light once more. "The key to our success is going to rely on defense though because I do not see many possibilities that the most prized possession of these ponies is going to be able to be easy captured without raising alarm." Eclipse marveled at the polearm, running a hoof down the formulated shaft. "Ludicium is the name of this beauty, she had been my weapon of choice during all my days in the face of in combat training exercises."

"So I understand that defence is important sir, but what is the purpose of summoning your polearm?"

"Oh that is rather simple," he smiled spinning the polearm magically in the air and thrusting the weapon quickly at me causing me to roll backwards in surprise.

"The hell was that for!" I demanded.

"Basic reflexes exceptional" he determined aloud blocking out the remaining light in the building causing the room to go dark. The point of the weapon nearly skinned my throat as I quickly used magic to grab a steel plate to block with. "resourceful - very interesting."

"Are you out of your mind!" I hollered as a third strike come around and cracked the concrete beside me forcing me to jump out of the way.

"You are missing the point of this exercise! Do not simply try to avoid the blade, predict where it is going to be and use the movements to your advantage." Eclipse continued to carry out one steady, powerful strike after another with each attack conveying the same danger as the last. The shining spear penetrated the floor and walls with the sound of grinding tears and the force of each impact caused additional debris to pollute the dusty air. The time between the strikes were not allowing rational thought as was Eclipse's obvious intent, I could see it in his eyes. I circled the room in trepidation rolling backwards each time and Eclipse relentless pursued until a corner neared. Forced to make a decision about which direction, I forced myself to roll with uncertainty's strength straight under Eclipse's thrust, and instinctively grabbed the shaft of the polearm, pulled the point into the ground forming a pivot point, and used Eclipse's momentum to rip him off his hooves and head-first straight into the wall with alerting force. His body slammed into the ground, the spear of light disintegrated.

"Oh my! Eclipse! Are you okay?" I charged over and shook his barely conscious body. He slowly turned his head to face me, an expression of surprise tainted his face, before he quickly turned his head back and spat up blood. He waved me off a bit as he shakingly pulled himself back to his feet, spitting up another mouthful of blood in the process.

"Remind me never to push you into a corner again," Eclipse bursted into light laughter. "That is one hell of a way to show me how to use one's movement against then." He brushed himself off and regenerated the polearm. "How about we try this a few more times now that you have experienced what I was looking for."

Eclipse continued on with the swings, joists, and swipes with the generally the same amount of force, yet the ferocity of the first wave of assaults was gone, replaced with focus amongst the two of us as I practiced adjusting myself at the last moment to exploit the momentum of the polearm and add my own contribution before assisting in producing gentle stops. Eclipse I could tell was by no means using all the strength with each lunge, maybe not even half, but the swings of his polearm were far above what felt normal, even for many of the guards.

"How are you feeling with defending and using momentum?" Eclipse inquired after we completed a couple dozen practice scenarios, a strong majority of which I proved success in, causing for a sense of pride to be found in Eclipse's approving stares.

"Feeling confident in them," I replied optimistically with the results and Eclipse nodded confirmation to me. "What's next?" I declared excited for the next activity.

"That is all I got for you."

"But, what about offensive skills?"

"I cannot teach you offensive skills for we all are all naturally drawn towards our own weapons and abilities that are part of what makes us unique. The weapon is was destined to wield was the polearm class and I am afraid there is no way of knowing what weapon suits you, until you know yourself."

"Can't we just learn some basic skills of a weapon, I know that I am not going to be a master at it but I would still like to atleast try." Eclipse considered my proposal briefly and finally nodded, giving in. Levitating two boards he cut slices of wood away using magic to create two mid-sized wooden swords that he assured to round off for safety.

"Swords are not the easiest weapons to develop true skill with, but if you are going to learn the basics of a weapon, the sword has served and will continue to serve well, I would imagine, as a widely accepted symbol of power, nobility, and grace and is worthy of recognition." Eclipse testified and I wrapped my hoof around the hilt testing the weight. "yeah, I would not expect it to be balanced or anything if I was you, I am not a craftsman afterall."

"It is no issue," I assured him and Eclipse, pleased with my attitude, began to show the basic steps of swordsmanship. I felt I caught on quickly and before long I found Eclipse and I conducting in playful mock duels. Eclipse with light humor narrated every swing, spin, parry, and slice as we both worked on our abilities with the wooden pseudo blades. Eclipse was by no means inexpierenced with the sword, yet his form and confidence with a sword lacked the ferocity and synergy he demonstrated with his polearm allowing me on more than just a handful of occasions to better his stand, outmaneuver his thrusts, and parry him with surprising ease. The art of swordsmanship was honestly easier than Eclipse had made it out to be and overall I greatly enjoyed the weapon, but the sword in a way felt wrong to me and I it did not match the natural rhythm that Eclipse declared prior.

"One moment," Eclipse paused me holding a hoof up and looking out the ceiling windows. He waved to grab attention as he pointed out the windows and then rotated his arm around to instruct me to look completely around. The sun was completely out of sight indicating an afternoon time. "We should get heading back soon. We need to find out what Cera might have discovered." Eclipse warned and threw his weapon aside. I was hesitant to do the same; however, upon rational thinking I realized it would have been pointless and perhaps even dangerous to be carrying a sword in broad daylight, wooden practice sword or not, and threw the imitational blade aside, trotting hastily behind Eclipse.

When we returned to Ryan's industrial cottage we were greeted by an energetic green pegasus dancing around the kitchen with glee. Aroma engulfed the air with pleasures, stacks of files and folders engulfing the kitchen table, all of which were neatly folded and stacked, save one folder. Cera somehow, unknown how by either Eclipse or I, was able to visit the local market in our absence and three small pots were left parboiling on the stove.

"Since when do you cook?" Eclipse interrogated Cera as we rounded the corner and grabbed her attention.

"I will have you know that, what happened to your face?" Cera replied in a mixture of concern and  vengeful laughter. I turned to see Eclipse instantaneously annoyed, his lips were still swollen and bits of blood was dried onto the outside of his mouth.

"Is there really any need for your lip?"

"I would give you lip, but I think you have enough for both of us! Anyway how did training exercises go?"

"Very well, Bladz is a natural starter for everything we tried." Eclipse pronounced proudly as he pulled a chair back to sit  down.

"That is fantastic!" She addressed to me. "You guys are a bit later though than I expected but you two are just in time."

"Yea, sorry about that, we got caught up in offensive training. What were you able to find out?" I inquired to her as she carefully moved the pots on the stove and killed the heat.

"An interesting little bit on a friendly pegasus around these parts here." Cera walked over to the table and pulled the lone folder forward. She threw the folder open and slide the file towards me that illustrated a blazing bright red Pegasus with a laundry list of comments written below on his rep sheet. Ember Coalstone.

“Who is this guy?” I asked to Cera who pulled a second file aside from atop of the towering stack.

“Look at the last few comments on him,” she instructed pointing to the rep sheet. Disorderly conduct, suspicious behavior, treasonous activities, tried on dangerous engagements against the Serentian Flight Corps, discharged on supported believes of acts of unlawful research.

“What is about this guy that is interesting you? I agree that this guy appears to have had a screw loss somewhere, but we need guards actively apart of the guard.” I protested to her and with which she opened the second folder and placed it on top of Coalstone’s file.

“Notice anything?” The new image was of a slightly older stallion, but was without a doubt the same Pegasus with the last name being only slightly changed to a ‘k’ instead of a ‘c’. “Now look at this” Cera announced to Eclipse and I, pointing to the dates of Coalstone’s discharge that was five past years’ January. “You remember anything that was significant that occurred around the same time?”

“Shadow and Lightning became captains around then, so?” Cera pointed at Ember’s discharge rank. Grade three officer: captain of guard research.

“He was the one that was in line for corps captain when the divisions were split, he I would assume he would have a few unsettled grudges because of that.” Cera rationed closing both the files and handing over a report titled Close call: the king of darkness by Ember, written but never released. “He would be the best bet to guess that he is the one after the dark essence. He would be angered by Armonia and Ryan’s decisions and predicted that the likely hood of Armonia repelling a second return of the darkness would be unlikely.”

“I suppose that means that the attack on Temperoca was an effort to gain troops and with Sypherous being defeated he need a new method for causing chaos.” I added.

“And a civil war is just the chaos he would need because not only will an army of minions, but a civil war would weaken the nation by splitting forced in half and allowing a distractive film to be placed over the Empire’s eyes.”

“What did the file say about his abilities in combat?” Eclipse motioned.

“I think a bumblebee would be a greater danger than him if he was the one fighting; however, as a researcher he would have made some very powerful friends and chances are the mere idea of facing him head on is ridiculous and unrealistic. He is going to do everything he can to not have to fight his battles himself and get others to do it for him. In most of these cases, the leader places strong trust in a handful of individuals and these are going to be the ones that assure the most danger.” Cera testified preparing three plates of rice, beans, and oats for lunch, sliding the plates in front of us.

“The two pegasi,” I whispered to Eclipse.

“There is a good chance; they sure did have a unique brute way about them with the little I have seen.” Eclipse nodded in agreement.

“Eat you guys, we can continue with this afterwards, but right now you need to make sure we are well and full so we do not feel the reverse later.”

All three of the creations held a wonderful taste to them and upon completing my meal, I washed off my plate and placed it appropriately into the dishwasher rack. I dismissed myself to Ryan’s study where the maps had been extended out and pinned on the center table which I drew closer to study. The detail of the Serentian was not something phenomenal, yet still held great accuracy. The survey of Cittàdiali was quite different, charting small alleyways and the location of fences on top of the expected streets and points of visual reference. The port of Cittàdiali I realized after study was not just center for the city but was the median by which the roads blended and spanned from making it a strong defensive point while not quite the opposite.

Retiring from the cartographics, I leaned back against the wall, suddenly surprised to find the drywall to have sharp crests and troughs in it, and pivoting I became aware that the walls actually lacked wallpaper or basic drywall. A series of shelves instead laid superimposed into the wall containing a plethora of texts. The sections of the wall were grouped and divided up into similar contents by categories that were organized alphabetically, and upon closer inspection every category itself was organized the same way with all the books being sorted alphabetically in subfields.

My eyes scanned the room vigorously looking at all the numerous texts of war and strategy, anthropology and logistics, architecture and diplomacy, chemistry and physics, Biology and psychology, and the so many more categories that lined the room. Surprisingly the largest section was dedicated to mythology with there being a massive collection of at least a thousand novels composing it, and I ran my hooves along the spines of the texts quickly reading all of their diverse topics until I came across a sole Maroon spine that was not labeled. I slide the book from besides it neighbors, dusted the cover to reveal a sole symbol, and dropped the book in shock, it landed pages up with Ryan's handwriting marking up sheets of paper that had been placed inside. It was the book of The Complex, Ryan had tried to solve the puzzle of the missing two.

I did not pick the book up from where it fell. I instead lowered myself to the text and laid down with grating curiosity. The pages that Ryan had left inside the book were fragments of ideas and evidence for theories that he proposed, but none of these theories were listed or discussed in the papers I scanned by the time Cera and Eclipse appeared behind me.

"What are you doing?" Eclipse was the first to inquire to me. I folded the book up and held it in the air.

"What can you tell me about this," I pointed with my free hoof at the book and then all the books surrounding us.

"Ryan is one of the brightest and most talented scholars in Serentia, as well as a brilliant military strategist and commander." Cera explained causing me to develop an even stronger appreciation for the man.

"And what about this. What can you tell me about The Complex." I demanded, but their faces displayed unquestionable ignorance and uncertainty. "Never mind," I dismissed the question realizing that despite how knowledgeable they were, they had limitations and were not scholars themselves. "Sorry, let's continue with what we were going over earlier."

"So we need to have a plan of action, I pinned these maps down and have already found out the key events of the evening, but I am no strategist," Cera qualified to us as we all surrounded the planning table. "The lower guard is stationed near the gates and functions with two dynamic shifts, meaning that all guards don't start and stop their shifts at a certain time and the transaction occurs gradually over the course of an hour, 18:30 to 19:30. If they are smart, which we know that Ember is, they would wait about a half-hour before they do anything to ensure that the first wave guard is retired. Also, not every guard on the night shift is likely to be apart of this operation so public centers would be out of the question for them, so what I want to know where this operation would be located and when would be the best time to attempt this rescue?"

"What about here?" I pointed to a medical clinic slightly north of the house.

"That is a place of medicine that has guards stationed there and is a public center. Why would they station themselves there." Eclipse challenged.

"No, no, Bladz has a point though. A place of medicine would be the absolutely worst place for Serentian guards to assault if a plan for civil war did carry through. Also, guards who are stationed at hospitals don't have rotational schedules because guards with medical abilities are need there in case something was to happen. Moreover, it is easy to convert the clinic, as long as they are still doing what they are designed to do they are not going to be under too much fire if changes in organization occur," Cera testified for me.

"Do you think that is how they were able to find and capture Hope so quickly?" I posed.

"I did not even think about that! If their base was a clinic they would have easier access to patient records around Cittàdiali! That is all the evidence I need," Cera celebrated a little. "Cittàdiali medical centers switch to night staff near 20:30, so how does a couple minutes past the third hour before the new day sound?"

"Sounds like we have a time and a place, but how exactly are we supposed to break into a medical clinic?" Eclipse expressed skeptical of the plan. "How are we supposed to break into a medical clinic with hopes of not being successful and not get anyone hurt?" Neither Cera or I had an answer for him, and neither of us wanted to respond for Eclipse was emotionally and morally split and neither of us could figure out what to say to aid him first. "We are not going to be able to, we are just going to have to hope for the best and hope that luck is on our side because we need hope if we are going to save Hope, my brother, and Serentia." Eclipse pulled open a drawer in Ryan's desk, picked up a small bag, stuffed it with a few metal objects from various drawers, and tossed the bag over to Cera.

"What is this?" Cera asked barely catching the bag in suprise

"A wretch, a knife, a few breaching charges, and two smoke capsules."

"Why do I need a wretch, a knife, a few breaching charges, and two smoke capsules?"

"Bladz and I will not blend in around here and this is what you do for a career. We need you to break in and cut the power to their lighting. We may not have their layout and energy grids but I do not doubt your abilities. You have never let Serentia down and without what you do we would not be where we are right now." Eclipse told her. Cera was momentarily stunned upon hearing Eclipse admit the importance of her job and then saluted in understanding. "Bladz, looks like our little bit of training is going to be essential. We will have a few minutes before Cera cuts the lights, let us pray to make the most of those minutes and the chaos that is going to occur afterwards to get this task done."

"Understood sir!" I saluted him in respect.

"Oh and Bladz?"

"Yes sir?" I puzzled at him as left momentarily, returning with a black bag from which he pulled a long metal line from and placed on the table.

"There was a reason for me training you in swordsmanship, if this ever came to this I wanted you to be competent enough to be able to use this. In training you showed that you are able way more than I could have dreamed for." I cracked the hilt forward and was amazed by the sheer beauty of the blade with symbols of silver lining the interior. "That blade was crafted with what little I had left of my former abilities as a master of light magic, I never was able to figure out why I made it, that was until I heard that you became a Royal Knight."

"What are these symbols for?"

"This is a magic blade, unsheathe it and find out." I pulled the sword out of its crafted sheathe like instructed and held it steady. Eclipse dug into his bag once more, picked two small items up, and pressed one against my free left hoof resulting in a white light to engulf the room and yellow symbols to appear on my arm. "Thank you for getting this for me, Cera."

"It is no problem." she replied after the light had finished.

"What was that?"

"The white crystal soul; each magical domain has three parts, an essence that serves as the base fro that magic, a crystal soul that allows you to channel it, and a key that allows you to embody the domain."

"And what is this key?"

"Do me a favor and hold him still for this one, Cera." Cera wrapped her hooves carefully around my torso and took a firm footing as Eclipse placed a second stone on my hoof that was freezing. "You will find out soon enough, now try to resist this and I am sorry." Eclipse pressed down on the second item causing the room to be engulfed in purple and black lightning and intense pain to be originating all over my body. "You can do it! Persist!" I gripped the hilt of the sword hard enough that I could feel blood vessels pulsating in the hoof. The event only lasted roughly five seconds; however, it felt like centuries of straight pain. "Bladz, how you feeling?"

"I do not know! You tell me how I look like I feel!" I screamed; however, before I could state anything else on my mind Cera spun me around, jumping up and down while hugging me.

"It worked! It worked!" Cera celebrated

"What worked? Almost trying to kill me?"

"That was he crystal heart of darkness and the essence was able to accept it without even having the seal broken. Your abilities never do stop impressing me, but now it is time for you to learn about this sword. Hold the blade out and view the sword not as a weapon but an extension of your magic." I nodded and focused light magic towards it. The symbols glowed a white light and the hilt of the blade developed magic wings that wrapped around my hand.

"Whoa, can I do this for all the domains?"

"I would expect so, but right now is not the time to figure out how to use nature with it." Cera announced. "Where am I supposed to meet you guys?" Both Cera and I turned to Eclipse who wore a stern expression and sighed.

"I am afraid that when the time comes, chances are that you will have the answer to that question already."

Chapter Nineteen (Ace of Spades)

The three of us had several hours to eliminate before our plan of action could even commence. Eclipse recommended that we use a large slice of it resting for about four hours, which was very reasonable considering the night could be a long one and becoming weary would have been our plan's death card. I anxiously accepted Eclipse's advice considering the possibilities, not one particularly wanting to overload on the factors of chance. Cera, on the other hand, bypassed the opportunity for sleep declaring instead a need to return back to her home before more preying eyes were on watch so she could prepare herself properly for her role. Despite the approaching task, I cannot say I had a troubling time losing consciousness on the couch, but my ease of rest was no where in comparison to Eclipse's. For all he did was enter his room, throw himself onto the bed, and then was rapidly out cold.

Only about three and a half hours had passed when I picked myself off that sofa with the benefits of the moderate-sized nap. It was not as long as Eclipse recommended, but my body was not going to allow anymore rest regardless of my efforts and I did afterall still feel a dozen times better than before. Surrendering to this fact, I folded the blankets once more and began to hunt around the house for Cera, realizing shortly that she had failed to return during my slumber. Trepidation slowly seeped into my heart and mind, penetrating them with the questions of 'what if' in the midst of her lack of return, and I had to force myself not to worry, calming my heart by telling myself that she was a mare of her word and I had simply awoke before she would had anticipated.

I trotted gently into Eclipse's chambers to waken him, but after finding the nearly albino unicorn consumed with contentment in his rest, the early considerations was voided as I felt wrong disturbing him without a real reason besides as an act of selfishness. Unable to do much else, I decided to simply wait it out through reading and galloped my way out of the room and back into Ryan's planning room, pulling a random book with my magic from upon the shelves as I entered. The Lore of Yesterday's Strata the front of the text read and hastily flipping through found that the text was composed mostly as a series of folklore and the mythology of past generations and people, gathered and translated over time from various sources and extents.  Mythology, never being the easiest subject, held very enticing characteristic to me than that of just plain old text because typically there was a significant meaning behind them that made them worth while; not to mention that they offer insights into the cultures of history.

The first passage of the collection was allegorical in nature and featured complex writing designed with simple words and phrases, hinting me to believe that this particular era was marked by literary division based on class status. The composition's moral teachings were designated for the ears of the masses, but would of had to have been read by the literate gentry to those who would of had to dedicate their lives to the land, instead of a thirst for knowledge. The three stallions of the parable were depicted light-heartedly by the author with a few underlying hints of sardonic disdain found within due to their ignorance as the three stallions banded together to averenge their friend's humiliation without a true sense of common purpose. The three when presented with the possibility of wealth, acted on the brutish impulses of greed and followed paths of their dishonorable thoughts. Blinded by desires, the each participated in the taking of their fellow stallions' lives; all three to trickery, the youngest by the blade.

The depiction of a blade reminded me of my own and motioning to the table in which we drew out our plans, I unsheathed the lonely majestic steel from its skin. The shimmer of the light reflecting off placed me once more in a designation for awe and I swung the sword a few times in mock combat becoming enthralled in the perfect sence of balance it provided. The wind generated sang rich melodies to catch my glance, and the runes of the sword's length were too vivacious to ignore. I held the hilt out in my hoof once more and focused on the span of blade, breathing lightly with concentration. I sparked my horn and attempted an enhancement of nature resulting in a sole leaf to unhold outward from the shaft before my channeled aura failed and the sudden creation of heat on the blade caused me to drop it in reactive haste. A light giggle originated behind me and I spun quickly to find the brief end of a rear hoof dodging my gaze.

"You know if your objective is not to be discovered you really should not laugh," I teased her, relieved to know that she finally returned safely.

"And you should know that you are not supposed to drop your weapon in combat. That air you were fighting could have done some serious harm to you." Cera rounded the molding of the door flailing her forehooves in an imitation of sword fighting, mockingly dropping the weapon and dramatically making a show with a slow fall. Instantaneously as she entered, I was speechless, lost between a state of amazement, shock, and surprise. Cera did not dress to impersonate a nurse, impersonation would've been underplaying her disguise, she had completely disposed of her identity and took on a role that transcended past disguise. Her coat's color was altered towards a blue, her mane was lightly styled and temporary dyed to a white-sky combination, and her attire was not fresh pressed and extravagant like the commercial image of a nurse, she resembled an employee of medicine that would of spent decades in the field already and in a way was more convincing in presentation than I would've even considered possible. "You like it?"

"Where do I even start! Are you always this convincing with outfits like you are being right now to me?"

"Well to be honest, this one is very rushed. I usually do a lot better than this and even develop an unique accent to go with it," Cera replied humbly causing my eyes to dilate in disbelief towards her.

"You usually do better? Is that even possible?"

"You would be amazed with what I can pull off when given more than just a few hours to prepare. I have never been discovered and I would not imagine that I ever will unless external forces give it away for me." Cera waved me forward and handed an envelope to me. "You got fanmail by the way," she announced. I unfolded the seal and pulled out a hand-crafted thank you card with an illustration of Begonia, I, and her daughter drawn in crayons. Two green rose petals fell out from inside and Cera trotted over to me now interested. "What do you have here?"

"Looks like something from the filly," I stated unfolding the paper to find a letter of thanks again, surrounded by a heart and a signature of her name in green crayon.

"Begonia was the one who handed that to me, she was awake when I got home and I checked on her, I was assuming that note was from her, but I guess not. She has such a nice daughter, such a great help and a pleasure to have around."

"She seemed very sweet with the little time I spent with her," I stated somewhat somber, turning to Cera "Hey Cera?" My tone of voice struck her and she pivoted to look into my as solemn eyes.

"What is it dear?" She questioned, her face bewildered by my expression.

"I was just wondering," I lowered my head unaware of how to say it. "I was just, well, if you are the same Cera from Fluttershy's ancestry, I was wondering what happened to your daughter?" She was not saddened or taken back by this question, and in response she instead gave me a light, truly-genuine smile.

"Do not worry about that my dear Bladz, remind me to give you this story on a later date, but I assure you she has made me proud." Cera softly pressed her hoof upon my check. "Between you and her, I have yet to find another pony that can even come close to what you guys have accomplished, especially with you Bladz. Even when things get a little out of our hooves, you have stayed loyal to yourself and your promises. Her hoof slide down my neck and was transformed into a long hug. When she retreated, her face was beaming with new light. "Let us go awake the sleeping beauty, he has overslept his own limitations that he set for us all."

Eclipse did not like waking up, I learned quickly. It was not that he was mean or harsh towards the individual that awoke him, or even the actual act of trying to wake him up, it was actually getting him to stay awake that proved problematic. Everytime we successfully awoke him, he fell back asleep within thirty seconds and our efforts would become a lost cause. For about five minutes we consistently kept having to nudge him until Cera, by now frustrated, bucked his matress over causing Eclipse to land back first into the floor. Eclipse slowly raised his head and stared at Cera with burning eyes; Cera just smiled and walked away victorious.

"You better watch where you sleep for that one," Eclipse threatened, pulling himself off the floor and repositioning the mattress.

"With how hard you sleep, I really doubt I would have any problems at night. Even if you were to actually try to carry out that threat, what could you even do? Mess up my mane? Couldn't be any worse than yours right now," Cera countered playfully. Ellipse ran his hooves through his mane, straightening out the erratic hairs. "Come on anyway, we only two hours to spare."

The two passed me as they departed the room and I trailed behind as we motioned to gather around the planning table where my sword still laid unsheathed. Eclipse did not seem to be reactive to this and simply sheathed the blade and handed the sheathed sword over to me. Eclipse was awake, but was still suffering from morning lag and could not manage to get a single words out without overwhelmingly stuttering before he finally gave up and pointed to a hanging clock and Coalstone's file. Cera seemed to know what he was trying to say and nodded in recognition.

"See anyone suspicious or maybe even our friend Ember while you were at it?" Eclipse finally managed to say.

"In all honesty if I saw him, I was not paying attention considering I had to return back here without anypony wondering why there was a nurse walking around the port systems," Cera exclaimed.

"No problem, nice disguise for such a short notice by the way. What is the strap for though?" Eclipse's question of Cera's attire caught me off guard and I instantly looked over at Cera who had a strap going around her that I missed entirely earlier.

"Oh! I am glad you said that Eclipse," Cera informed him pulling the strap off and than wrapping the strap around my torso and clipping the sheath of my sword to it. The strap perfectly blended in with my coat and was molded almost perfectly to my shape. "I meant to give that to you Bladz, that is actually why I returned so much later than I wanted to, I made you that to help you carry that sword and not have to worry about slugging around the sword and keeping track of the sheath."

"Thank you," I started testing the location by pulling the sword out and then back into its sheath several times while walking around with it on, satisfied as the sword stayed in place the entire time. "Very nicely crafted, this is going to be exceptionally advantageous with carrying this thing around."

"Do not mention it, creating things for practical use is what I do," Cera blushed. "Not that what your family creates is impractical or anything." I shrugged, indicating that I took no offence. Eclipse knocked on the table sardonically grabbing our attention after picking up and placing three different-colored generic plastic pony models on the map; one red, one blue, and one green. "What are these for?" Cera inquired pushing one over.

"Found them earlier when I was digging through the drawer, thought they might be helpful as we go over the plan one last time," Eclipse proclaimed. Cera and I nodded to him to show our attention, and he placed the three pieces on the location of Ryan's house on the map, which was almost not even depicted. "Okay, so Bladz will be the blue one considering that blue is his natural mane color unlike Ms. Blueberry over here. Cera, you should logically be represented by this green one, and I guess I will have to be this red one."

"Makes sense considering how red your face was when you woke up from your little knapp," Cera punned.

"And moving on! Cera, you will be apart of the exchange of the staff and you should try to make your way inside the control room. How you are suppose to do that, we are not aware of yet." Cera nodded and Eclipse followed his statement with the movement of the green piece. Bladz and I will enter through a backdoor, if we can figure out a decent one, about six minutes into the shift and we'll start hunting the rooms while staying out of sight." Eclipse now moved our pieces in unison to the center of the clinic on the map. "At about twelve minutes into the hour, you will need to cut the power of the lights, Cera. Hopefully by then we will have Hope and my brother found and ready so we can take advantage of the darkness and make the most of the opportunity."

"Quite a bit of uncertainty we are working with, especially for a rescue mission, but yet again it is not like we have the choice really," I stated light-heartedly adjusting the strap one final time.

"I would not be working with such a risk if I could help it, but the truth of the matter is that one pony can never be fully prepared for what to expect," Eclipse agreed. "We all good with the plan?" No one argued otherwise and Eclipse continued. "Okay then. Cera, do you still have the materials I gave you earlier?" Cera nodded and confirmed by waving the small adjustable wrench. "Looks like we are set. Bladz, you and I will leave for the clinic in thirty. Cera, I recommend you leave for the clinic about fifteen minutes ahead of us considering you need to match the flow of the other workers. Let the odds ever be in our favor, I see potential in our future and it will be the question of if we make the choice to walk through the door or not that is going to make the difference".

The time preceding our departure painfully dragged on, and while Cera expected her disguise for a final time and Eclipse finished reading Ember's file, I just laid patiently and anxiously waiting. Cera made her disappearance two minutes early with her nicely brushed mane and reasonably pressed scrubs, giving me a quickly silent pat on the shoulder before she composed herself and walked out the door. Ten agonizing minutes later Eclipse finally appeared from the room carrying two black top hats, one of which he tossed onto my head. He stared at it briefly, then shrugged. "It works at least," he replied confidently to my resulting gaze of inquiry.

"What is this? And if you were trying to find something that matched my suit, this color is off."

"Well for one, it is a top hat, and two, it is not meant to go with anything, its purpose is to cover up the nice sized bumps we have on our heads." I thought about it for a minute and readjusted the hat, placing it more firmly around my skull. "You ready to go?"

"Ready as I am ever going to be," I informed him getting up and heading for the door.

"That's the spirit!" Eclipse stated sarcastically and took lead as we departed outside. The walk to the clinic was only about a ten minute walk in all honesty, yet because Eclipse wanted to ensure that we stay out of sight in fear that we may lose the element of surprise if we rush it, what should of taken ten minutes expanded to almost thirty. If a pony was to head due north from leaving Ryan's house and then a small scoot left they would of found the clinic, but sadly for me aswell we took a less direct path that curved around the city and at one point intersected a tiny road that brought a pony within very close proximity to the clinic, behind the main entrance. "You think Cera may have found the room by now?"

"I doubt it. I may have not spent much time in medicine, but I can tell you just from how involved we had to get with our customers in Canterdash that it is probably going to take her a little while to make it to where she needs to be."

"Fair enough, I guess we could use some extra minutes anyway," Eclipse stated pulling a back door open and signalling for me to seep through as quietly as possible. The hallway was absent of individuals in direct sight, yet the chatter between working ponies and hoofsteps were abundant in the backgrounds. Eclipse stepped in behind me and very slowly shut the door to prevent a strong release of noise. "So, what now?" Eclipse whispered causing me to turn and give him a disappointed stare. "I never said my plan was perfectly concise, I cannot plan what I cannot predict."

I held my hoof up quickly to stop his chatter as a set of hoof steps began to intensify in volume. "This way and quick," I commanded trotting on light hooves leftwards down the hall. Each room had a distinct, somewhat random-looking number listed above the room's number with a slot that was used to indicate the room's occupants below, two amenities for workers that unfortunately I knew was going to be little help considering they did not know who Hope was, only that she is a pink mare with wings and a horn. I grumpled under my breath briefly due to this new unpleasant and annoying complication; at least they would help tell us where she was not. "If you were keeping Hope somewhere and you did not know her name, what would you label her?" I inquired to Eclipse softly noting a halting in the background steps.

"Can I buy a vowel?"

"What!"

"Okay fine, how about a consonant? Is there a 'C'?"

"I am being serious," I growled at him.

"You are forgetting I do not even have the slightest clue who you are talking about besides for the name. I mean think about it, I have not seen her yet; she could be standing right in front of us and I would be completely unaware," Eclipse reminded me and I did not hide my dismay as I began to read off random names looking for anything that could be remotely even close to making sense. "What about Ember Coalstone?"

"We will deal with him later if need be," I determined. Eclipse tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to a name roster that had Ember's name listed. "Or that works too." I giggled a little embarrassed that I missed that door. I pressed my ear against the door and listened for any noise or whispers inside. Hearing nothing I took grasp of the door handle and pressed myself forward.

A thin stream of light entered alongside me from the hallway which I hastily used to conduct a quick survey of what I could make out. Visually the room appeared empty, no pony appeared in the thin momentary beams that lit the right half of the room, and I waved for Eclipse to close the door behind us.The brief light did allowed me though to catch a glimpse of a lamp in the back of the room that I approached. Futile clicks was the lamp's response as I continuously turned the knob getting nothing else but additional frustration.

"Thank you young hero, but your princess is in another castle," a very monotone voice declared from the darkness. I unsheathed my sword using magic and starred viciously in the darkness seeing nothing. "You know there used to be a time when stallions would not walk into places of healing and threaten to stab ponies," the voice stated mockingly and Eclipse broke into laughter unable to take it much more.

"You know you do not have to mess with the poor guy," Eclipse announced tapping my shoulder and then sword. I resheathed it curiously and Eclipse gestured into the darkness. "Come on out from that darkness" A pitch black unicorn appeared from the complete darkness and sat down on a near by bed where the light reflecting from under the door was slightly illuminating him. He was essentially some sort of dark clone of Eclipse with the two almost being identical save for minor muscle curves and the coat color. "How have you been Void?" Eclipse sighed relieved.

"Sorry, but let us hold the family reunions til later. Where is Hope!" I demanded sternly.

"She is not here right now but I assure you not to worry, the staff here is phenomenal. She got her yesterday and they are doing some x-rays of that wing of hers. You should've seen Ember's face yesterday when she got here, somepony could have boiled water on it he was so mad that there was a princess here."

"Mad? Why would that have made him mad? And what do you mean she is safe in this place when this Ember guy is trying to cause mayhem!" I challenged.

"I am taking it that Cera figured everything out about Ember, no offence to either of you two, but I smell her handy work at play. Not to mention that there were hoof steps outside a couple minutes ago when normally no one ever comes down this hall and then you show up here brother."

"She is very good at intelligence, which is no surprise considering the best taught her. " Eclipse made a mock bow to Void.

"I know she is doing well considering I did not even know that she resides in these parts until a day ago. Something must be nagging at her since she is not normally one that I would imagine to use such a fatal fallacy in her situational analysis." I looked at Void with my remaining tolerance for the night, but Eclipse's presence kept me calm. "If the purpose of all this was for vengeance and to cause chaos would there really be a reason to go to such extremes?" Void presented to us and I just waited for his response growing impatient. "I am sorry for shooting random questions at you by the way," Void apologized to me causing my patience to increase but more importantly calmed me oddly. "You must be Ver...Vera..."

"Bladz Angelo" I told him luke-warmly.

"Oh wow I was really off, nice to meet you Mr. Angelo."

"What were you trying to say about Ember?" I directed to the dark stallion.

"Oh yes, let me just get to the point. Ember may be running this operation, as you guys have probably discovered, but in reality he is ignorant of what he is doing. He is not a criminal, he is just a ticked off pegasus who followed a lead that put him in a situation that I am not sure he is aware of yet."

"What you mean brother?" Eclipse posed to stallion upon sitting himself next to him.

"You seen the two black pegasi right? Well I know you have Mr.Angelo, my birds have told me that a young white unicorn was present in the city, but what about you Eclipse?"

"Only very briefly, why you ask?" Eclipse admitted.

"Woah, wait up! Those birds that were staring at me for a while where yours?" I roared. Void chuckled a little bit, and pushed curtains aside and tapped on the window. The two ravens settled down on window sill and Void cracked the window to let them in. They both flew in and settled themselves on his lap happily as Void began to pet their heads.

"I am sorry for that, they are trained to seek out magic users so they would of taken an interest in the aura you give off. Sadly my pets are bestowed with my magic aura and their prolonged stay made the house you were staying at a target for those two pegasi that I mentioned. Those two pegasi belong to the family that has been keeping me hostage for all these years with that link spell their ancestor placed in his genetical material using Sypherous corrupted power."

"Wait, that does not make any sense. How could they have a link spell on you if they were up above yesterday night, while you were down here?" I protested. "The strongest link spells only allow about a hundred meters at the most, and there are very few unicorns that can even pull those off with a group of supporting unicorns to assist with the casting."

"Well the reason for that is simple, I am not bound by that link spell anymore since those two revived Sypherous since it required every bit of dark magic they had at the time; however, they are too stupid to understand that link require a constant flow of power to be maintained."

"So you are telling me that you could have walked away from this mess a while ago and saved us from this mess!" Eclipse growled at his brother.

"I could have but I am not going to."

"Why not?" Eclipse and I inquired in unison.

"Because that would put Ember at risk, you are going to have to trust me brother when I say that that stallion is not a danger to us in himself, it is his alliance with these two idiots that has made him a threat, but it is a necessary evil."

"How is a sector of the Royal Flight Guard being used for purposes of evil deemed necessary?" Eclipse rejected his brother's statement.

"It is necessary because while there is greater chance of the two pegasi's plan working with the addition of all these forces, the two are stabilized and are not going to do anything that could harm the plan. These two pegasi are very hungry for power and will do anything to get this power. They act on impulses and If I was to disappear I fear the worst for Ember who has actually apologize to me on numerous occasions; Ember should not be involved in this mess. The father of those two was a genius in his study of my magic, but he was murdered by the two before he completed his work because they wanted the credit for themselves. Until this plan of theirs is fulfilled, Ember has value to them. If I was to leave"

"Then Ember is likely to met the same fate as those two's father." Eclipse stated trying to finish Void's thought.

"And not only that but if Ember and I are gone there will be nothing that will be restricting those two from trying to retaliate on the citizens here. These pegasi have twisted minds and are cowards, it wouldn't be hard to estimate how many lives they would take before they were finally stopped, but I personally do not want to make that calculation."

I could only stand there silently. My world just a few moments ago focused on saving Hope and getting away to safety, now I was consumed by the horrid truth of fate. I sighed and trotted over to the lamp fumbling for the plug in partial depression. "There is no need for use to sitting around in darkness really," I announced softly and pushed the prongs into the wall. I placed my hoof on the switch and pressed forward. Light engulfed the room, and then it disappeared as soon as it had appeared as the loud clicking of mechanisms in the walls fired and the lights in the hallway in stages began to die one row at a time in rapid succession. "Son of a, this evening cannot get anymore stressful. Come on Eclipse, we have to at least find Hope and get her out of here while we still can."

"No." Eclipse responded flat and strong.

"What! What you mean no!" I declared steaming now.

"I mean no. We came prepared for a fight if we had to defend ourselves, but the rules of the game has changed, we are not dealing with an army anymore that we have to worry about but the safety of Cittàdiali from the threat of these two psychopaths." Eclipse told me and placed his hoof more firmly on my shoulder than anyone had ever done before. "I hope you can understand."

"Eclipse, I am going to be honest with you, when Cera's essence first came up to me in a dream and told me what she did, I honestly thought I was going crazy, but in the recent twelve hours I have learned something. I may not know how you, and Cera, and I guess even now you Void know me, or even why for the love of I don't even know, but I took a title as Royal Knight of Serentia, and while I may not be some old and wise stallion with a refined personality from experience, it is my obligation to look after all of the citizens and our people, and that is what I plan on doing!"

"That is what I like to hear!" Eclipse cheered and Void forged the first smile I saw from him. Eclipse turned to Void and nodded, Void in response trotted over to me beside Eclipse. "I think it is time for you to learn what the keys are that I was talking about."

"I just left one occupation not to long ago, at least I will prefer this one," Void sighed jokingly, placing a hoof on my chest. "Waiting on you."

"Do not doubt yourself Bladz. We can deal with this small bump in the road, I have full faith in you." Eclipse produced the most genuine smile that I had witnessed and placed his hoof on my chest beside Void's. Eclipse cleared his voice as a more serious atmosphere spread throughout the room as Eclipse's voice soften, yet intensified as he spoke with conviction.

In the consideration of the truth of the light,

One stood firm against a horrid blight.

Conducting alone he acted on virgin wish,

To quench the soul's desire to escape anguish.

With the ability to reverse a curse bestowed,

He toiled to provide the undeemed a new abode.

Believing that in time we'd be a worthy exception,

to be saved from promises of false redemption.

To act in the decrees of Saint Thomas,

The sole caster could all but promise.

The stallion's mind was sound and far from heartless,

his destiny was bound to relieve the wholly darkness.

He did what was needed so we could depart,

but with time we all began to grow apart.

Still bonded together we strived  to serve as one,

Lugubriously our essences cried for it to be done.

And thus today I salute return of our eternal knight,

Dead seconds and days no longer hinder our reunite.

We act once again to reward he for what I have been given,

for through him we among the many have been forgiven.

And thus a return to our once glorious flight,

In the consideration of the truth of the light.

Starting from the hooves that laid upon my chest, the respective magic of the two caused their coats to glow their colors brightly, spreading rapidly throughout their entire bodies until they were fully engulfed in their magic lights. Eclipse formulated his smile once more and then their entire bodies shattered into glass-like dust that circled around me and entered into me through the places that their hooves had contacted. Realization of what had happened did not hit me yet, I was too determined to fulfill the mission that I had been given. And thus I opened the door to the hallway and charged my way throughout the the clinic, ready to hurdle my way around any doctors or nurses if needed that would be reacting in distress over the death of the lights. Where I was heading I did not know, but wherever it was, I knew I was going the right way for I did not have to know where I was heading for it to be the correct destination, that was just how unicorn magic works sometimes.

I was ready for any clinician I would have seen, but I did not see any. In fact, even the slightest speck of noise that echoed throughout the clinic was becoming only more distant as I continued and gradually I began to find almost no benefit in being so quick that I was clumsily making ruckus with my thundering hoofsteps and  I transformed my stampede into a controlled, hasty gallop. As I reached the end of the hallway, there was still no indication that the lights were going to be back anytime soon and a new hallway appeared that ran perpendicular to this one in both the right and left directions. Hope I could feel was close, but where exactly I could not decide as I alternated between looking down the two hallways.

I did not make my decision on which way she was when unexpectedly I felt the wall shake a little and a crash radiated from the left side. A door slammed and Ember, unaware of me, charged in full strength past me down the hallway from the left to the right side of me. His right wing was badly scraped and his back foreleg had been injured in someway causing him to have an amusing limp in his dashes. On his back was a pink mare that Ember was holding onto dearly with his remaining left wing, she looked severely dented up and only a few of them looked like they had been there since the crash. A second door slammed moments afterwards and the two dark pegasi soared past, their faces locked in expressions of hatred. They were after Ember; however, they did not continue to pursue the bruised pegasus as they rapidly slowed down upon passing me. Ember was still in sight as they decelerated, but they were no longer after that guard anymore, they had sensed me and it was the magic that I contained that was their real interest.

I frankly do not even know how I was able to do it, but the speed at which I took off back down my hallway defied every ideal I ever had about my level of fitness, although quite honestly I could care less about my new land speed record, the high velocity of a pegasus propelled by their wings was going to be faster than any speed that a pony could be able to manage on hoof. The two took a few seconds to reverse their course of direction, but it was not long before he two pegasi whipped themselves around the corner and darted straight towards me. I had no other choice and before they could reach me, I rolled myself to the right and into a push door and a kitchen-like environment causing the two to overshot the door. I was not going to study the place while two dark pegasi were wanting my head, and I scrambled as I could to make it into another room that was the kitchen room's dining area, now empty of any tables or chairs, but at one time could have been used to fit probably half of the clinic in a single sitting. The clashing of pots told me that they had entered the kitchen area, and it became obvious to me that running was not going to do anything. There was unlikely to be a better chance for me to fight back in the needed space and I was not one for taking chances. I cracked my sword from its sheath and held the hilt in my hoof waiting as with each clash of a pot I anticipated their arrival.

The commotion quickly died down and there was silence as I stood waiting in the middle of the open room. The kitchen-area was not a big room and there was no chance of me of been able to reverse my direction back down the hallway and pursue Ember causing me to become moderately confused at the lack of motion. My grip on the hilt weakened as my state of anticipation reduced and I was about to push the sword back to its original place when the doors leading from the kitchen rocketed open and charging at full speed was the brute of the two, who used his momentum to conduct in a powerful first hit that I braced for with only milliseconds to spare that pushed my entire body to slide back about three inches. Punch after punch after punch the brute continuously swung one right after the other, his full force of hatred was backed in every strike that I blocked or dodged, and ever step was just as clumsy as the last with the brute staggering momentarily after each assault.

"Hold still you damn parasite!" the brute spat throwing an iron jab towards my head. I was barely able to dodge the intended crushing blow by placing the side of my sword in front of me angled, which buffered the hit and with the addition of my efforts being used to push sideways, I took advantage of the swing's intense strength, knocking his forehoof's length out of the way, making him supremely unstable, and permitting me to grab hold on of his chest and I hurl him as hard as I could manage towards the wall. Just as the brute pegasus went flying, the door that lead directly to the hallway burst open and the smaller of the two brother stormed in from this hallway entrance, being greeted with the impact of his flying brother that happened to have been launched straight towards him; the two awkwardly rolled before the brute's back collided with the wall ending their chaotic motion. Both of the two dark pegasi were staggered briefly from the unanticipated collision; however, they did not take long to recover and upon standing back up their anger was tripled in expression, and when they finally turned and looked up to see me, I found myself unable to contain myself from laughing at the two's misfortune that only increased their anger tenfold. "Annoying pest," the brute cursed at me and commanded his brother forwards into the fight. The two of them together took turns attempting to land blows on me, and with each attempt they made I made successful attempts of exploiting their weights against them until it almost started to feel like a game, where I was tossing them around like common fruit flies.

"What's wrong, do you have any idea on how to use a sword correctly! I knew that the light essence would not put up much of a fight, but I was expecting more." The smaller of the two rationed disdainful to me while holding his hoof out to halt his brother's actions. The momentary pleasure fled from me as the weight of the insult carried. I was weirdly struck by the tone of the statement, but the purpose of it was to after all I felt was to anger me into impulsive decisions that would work in their favor. My hesitation to be offensive I had felt caused the brute to underestimated my abilities with my weapon, and the wiser one seemed to have figured this. The extent of my competence he could not tell, but a miscalculated attack by me was all he needed to be victorious in the beginning because they had experience and strength in their numbers compared to lonely me. This plan of action I was aware of because of my studies in psychology and historically had been a common method of the uncivilized assaulter to try to affect their opponent mentally through anger. I knew I had to resist impulsive temptations, yet I also knew that carefully the mechanisms of deception could be thrice as powerful if done correctly and with thorough dedication to the performance.

"And I expected to find you two pegasi to not be so incredibly pathetic," I countered to the stallion and charged forward without definite form at the two with sword drawn diverting my direction to a leftward roll at the last second. I regained proper standing with sword still in hand when a sudden loss of a chunk of my mane appeared in front of me and I looked to find the wiser one had had a knife hidden in his wing and had planned to thrust the knife into my shoulder to disable me, but missed do to the roll. The realization of the danger returned to me as I felt the shortened hairs, converting my acting into a new infuriating reality. I held my sword out with my right forehoof and pushed light magic forward causing the wings of the sword to appear and wrap around my hoof. New to me, a crest of light appeared on the floor underneath from which symbols extended around the room onto the walls, illuminating the darkness with glowing symbols. "If you really want to play this game, let's do this." I spoke decisively to the two and charged with the light-radiating blade. My swing was attempted to be parried by the pegasus' knife, and while it did prevent a successful hit onto either of the pegasi, the knife instantaneously shattered on impact and instinctively I used the yellow magic to catch all the metal shards prior to launching them all vigorously as a bombard of rapidly moving projectiles at their hooves. The storm of shards completely annihilated the small section of flooring; however, quick reaction on their part resulted in only at the most three or four minute cuts on the wiser, who was stunned by the act preventing him from immediately jumping out of the way like the beastial brother. For ever so slightly as the more astute one became aware of the shards, I caught a glimpse of fear his eyes while he evaded the metal blitz storm.

"Bastard, just surrender already! You are only prolonging our plans and dooming yourself to a greater Hell the second you fall into our hooves," the beast-sized one spat and charged at me blinded by anger, the exact way that the slimer one had attempted to cause me to do. His anger had made him fail to rationalize that I did not have to be as close to him to strike and as he drew near I slashed my sword straight at his torso. The large, dark pegasus was too close to dodge, yet too far to land a defensive strike first. As my blade came swishing towards him, he was left with no other choice but to act on impulsive if he was to be able to continue to fight, and thus the stallion threw forward his hoof and caught the blade head on resulting in the sword tearing straight into the hoof, which vibrated as the momentum was absorbed by the bone. Blood gushed down the stallions hoof as he managed to hide the pain, but I felt it and I glanced into his eyes to see a soul full of sorrow and regrets enclosed by a shell of brutality. For once I began to derive pity from his ignorance and understood that the reason for his actions were not entirely his fault. I sparked the sword with nature magic and let go of the hilt as the intense heat of blade cauterized the bleeding and melted the wound shut so he would not bleed to death before I could do what I decided for him.

"Evil has tainted your soul, but these act of savagery are done to your own incomprehension, being instead orders to be followed blinded by a promise for power. The darkness has not consumed you entirely and thus you shall be granted a chance for redemption. The scars of your decisions shall carry into your new state for the acts you have committed will not go so easily without consequence." I levitated my sword quickly back to me, granted it the magic of light, and then stabbed the sword through his heart. Light radiated from the wound as I pulled the sword out without a drop of blood tainting the blade as the elemental enchantment of the weapon disappeared. "Shall your second chance prove benevolent to your spirit!" I intensified the light that radiated from the wound with my final reserves of the golden mana. As the light grew, a strong column of light radiated upwards from the floor, burning intensely around the stallion until he had disappeared into the column and was gone without a trace. The column continued to spun and orbs of light began to centrifuge away from the center, which scattered as they broke away from the column and entered into the symbols on the wall.

A powerful hoof smashed into my jaw knocking me to the floor and causing the sword to fly out of my hooves. I rolled to see the other stallion standing above me enraged to the point of madness. "Where the hell is my brother!" the stallion roared and viciously kicked the side of my head. I had given the brute a new chance to relive his life without the consuming evil of his sins, but in his brother pegasus' eyes I had conducted murdered. The pegasus was consumed with a new level of hatred and denied any opportunity for me to speak through his consistent assault on me. "My brother is gone! My brother has been assassinated by your vile hooves!" he chanted and struck me with his intensest force before turned around satisfied that I would not make a break for it in my condition. I would have been dumb to flee anyway for there was no way for me to outrun him, but the pegasus' retreat did allow me to reach out and regain my sword. "Foul day is today! My brother is of no longer! Wait, he is no longer! Fair day this is to be born of the foul! Now it shall be all mine and I shall have all the power!" the hatred of his voice had dissolved and the pegasus burst into laughter.

"How can one be so cruel as to celebrate the loss of one individual from their life for the potential of power in the end." I cursed with radical disgust and bitterness.

"A tragic occurrence for such a relatively useless partner. My time of mourning shall come when the light bows to the darkness, and the sun cowers from the night in fear of the red seas of tomorrow's forthcoming." The stallions laughter intensified and he cheered to his own works, bathing in self-proclaimed glory. The aura of the pegasus' acrid darkness surged around the room and using the surrounding feel I charged my sword with my first use of the dark art. The blade narrowed and increased in length as it darkened to a sleek, high-gloss black. A steel chain extended from the end of the hilt and wrapped around my forehoof, ending next to my shoulder where a tiny serrated knife hung. I gazed down at my new sword's form with purple irises staring back. The dark winged stallion galloped in front of me and nudged me hard in the head with his hoof. "What's wrong? You finally given up on your stupid little resistance? Maybe I will not make you suffer too much after all. A shame it would be, but with what I am going to that Ember Coalstone for his treasons it will be worth my while. And after I get a hold of that little pink mare who caused my plans to sour, a second-hand broodmare is the best she will be!"

My grip tightened around the hilt of the sword and I performed a quick backflip from my knees, launching the small knife into the bottom of his jaw, and landing on all my hooves with a surprising new ability in acrobatics. I may of even second guessed if I was even conscious or not if it wasn't for the pain I felt from the bruisings the pegasus gave me through the bucking. The knife was lodged still into his chin with the chain still attached to the hilt of my blade. "That mouth of yours voices a whole lot of sinful words that quite frankly is starting to piss me off a little bit. Do me a favor and refrain from using it, or better yet, let me assist you with that," I smirked at him and jerked the chain back. The saw-like fragmentations of the tiny blade refused to let go of the stallion's mouth and ripped his entire jaw off, only flinging off after another whipping of the chain. I held the blade out and sparked the sword with another charge of dark magic causing the purple lightning from before to now dance around the blade and chain without touching or affecting me. I whipped the sword around once more causing the small blade to embed into the stallions hoof from which I transferred the lightning over to along the chain. The stallion attempted to scream, but came out awkward from his torn face. I provided little mercy to the pegasus and used the opportunity to hurl my sword through his other forehoof.  The stallion collapsed in pain and I trotted over to him, pulling his head up from his mane and staring into his fearful eyes, the purple reflected off his corena from my gaze. "This is the results of your sins! You shall endure the wrath for your entire family's sins, a strong majority of which are your own! You shall face the same fate as Sypherous for your wretched deeds, but first you shall see the true form of what you sought! Aeternae damnatum poenam!" I snatched the sword from the wounds throwing it backwards and pressed a hoof into his forehead where the reserves of my dark nature flooded into him, overwhelming him and exposing the truth of darkness to his soul. Plague magic enclosed the pegasus and his eyes painted over to a solid black. He shook violently as the dark magic consumed his body until he began to phase and with a final effort my hoof slammed him into the floor where the portal that Sypherous had once tried to open appeared and engulfed the black pegasus.

I trotted slowly walked over to my sword, which had returned to normal and had magically cleansed itself of any residue of battle. looking into its reflection I saw my own cyan eyes once again and sheathed it with my heart still racing. I pressed into my bruises noting their truth as jolts of pain flooded me once more. I escorted myself from the room in silence and continued down the hallways where the lights had been restored. I encountered several nurses and doctors on my way down the hallway who all commented and tried to assist me, but I waved off the efforts finally reaching the front of the clinic where Cera stood with Hope on her back and Ember beside her with his wings and hooves restrained from rapid movement.

I would have tried to ask her how she caught Ember, but she stopped me holding a hoof up. "He turned himself over to me, I did not have to chase him down." I looked over at Ember who wore an expression of remorseful anguish. "You going to be okay?"

"I think so," I told her.

"Let us return for the night back to Ryan's, you need your rest," she suggested in a motherly soft, yet commanding voice and I nodded taking lead from the place of medicine; Cera followed behind keeping Ember in between us as we walked back. Even though this time I was taking the more direct way home, it took longer for us to get back to the house as we had to cater to the restricted speed of both my beating and Ember's restrictions. The walk, however, was more enjoyable than the previous one as I found myself relishing the light brisk coolness of the atmosphere and had been relieved of the nervous tendencies of before.

As Cera and I became within distance of Ryan's house, I was embarrassed to find that the lights were left on by Eclipse before we departed earlier and light was radiating through the curtains in the windows. I cursed under my breath for being so irresponsible, but Cera told me to not feel bad for it and told me that she would take the blame if it becomes a problem. I attempted to argue that it was more my fault than hers, but she was not going to hear it for she had made up her mind. I gave into the matter and in surrender turned the knob of the front door becoming twice as shameful as the door had been left unlocked as well. This time I did not even care anymore and just dismissed the irresponsibility. I brushed myself off as I entered the home and strolled into the living room where four hooves of a large ground pony dressed in finely polished armor greeted me.

Chapter Twenty (The Kingdom of Hearts)

The towering commander was almost entirely unaffected by our sudden presence at such an eccentric hour of the night and welcomed us as we entered the living area of the home. Extending a hoof, he invited us to take a seat around him; although as Cera could contest, it was not much of a choice with the way he composed himself and it felt a lot more like we were being voluntold to sit than actually being given the option.

"Before you say anything sir I can explain," I declared, but Ryan waved me off before I could testify any qualifications of the statement.

"Do not worry, I understand that the interview process can be brutal sometimes; I mean just look at those bruises. Do not tell me, but with how rough you look, you must have gotten a good number of candidates!" Ryan played ignorant as he pointed over to Cera and Ember.

"I know you know who Cera is and you probably know who that pegasus is," I rolled my eyes at Ryan who seemed satisfied with his attempts at humor. "Besides, Hope and I were not sent here to interview and recruit, but commence in a task given to us by Lord Armonia."

"We are aware," an orange unicorn walked into the room from the hallway looking absolutely exhausted with no intention in sharing Ryan's false enthusiasm. His muscles were worn down and the normally well-combed mane of his was chaotically scattered with no clean order. The unicorn casually casted a slight glance at me as he entered, but as he noticed my condition, he could not help from doing a double take as he proceeded past us. "Oh wow you do look rough."

"You look just as burdened; what happened to you Captain Tigris?" I inquired to the orange stallion.

"Just going to say that this place is way too far away to walk to from any distance. I teleported Ryan and I to Stalliongrad, but it was still thirty plus miles here. Why this place has to be so far out in the middle of nowhere compared to the rest of Serentia is beyond me," the captain complained.

"Well if you just visited this place beforehand you would have not had to have to worry about that problem," Ryan teased at the midsized unicorn. Tigris was too annoyed already and hesitated to even respond to the mock-serious leader. Tigris trotted several circles around the room to prevent himself from bustering in his irritability and by doing some simple math it was not hard to figure out that the two must have had to spend at the least ten hours today walking. Under these considerations, it was understandable the reasons for his displeasure, and Tigris would have had more than enough time to stage his complaints to Ryan during the journey, which I am sure he probably had done on more than one occasion. "Why don't you visit lovely places like Cittàdiali here, Tigris?"

"I wonder why," Tigris directed a hoof at my horn. "You know what this is? This is the first horn I have seen all day since we left the capital and I am positive this is the only one I am going to see anywhere near this place."

"Well you could have stayed and worked on those applicants," Ryan proposed.

"First off, no thank you, and moreover, you know as well as I do that would not work out very well. You needed me since you wanted to get here before tomorrow's afternoon, and considering how you want to get back before the morning, I do not see you with any other options." Tigris asserted and proceeded over to Ember where he checked the cuffs that Cera had put the red pegasus in. "Speaking of which, you ready to make the jump before I get too tired to do anything. In all due respect sir, unicorns are not usually ones to conduct in this much physical activity for a day. I can, will, and have done it because of my position as captain of the Royal Magic Corp, but it still has been a long day."

"I understand entirely Captain, sorry for my excessive exhilaration." Ryan admitted and arose from his seat to the middle of the room. "Pardon me Sir Angelo and Madam Gardena, the drug that is the midnight darkness has a potent effect on me. You two need your sleep, especially you Bladz, and I am hindering you all's retirements from this night."

"It is fine sir, but I cannot deny my desires for rest at this point." I informed him modestly. Cera without hesitation agreed to my proclamation by seconding the motion with a raised hoof.

"In these regards then I shall leave you three in peace and will be awaiting your return to the Citadel. I will be taking Ember off your hooves and we will be returning to the citadel to make preparations for his trial." Ryan motioned over to Ember and Tigris, and relieved Cera of the watch. "The guards here are instructed to provide service to the citizens of the Empire and they will give you assistance if it is needed. You do not have to use them if you have an alternative route back. I leave that choice up to you Bladz, it is your decision." I acknowledged Ryan's suggestions and he recognized me with a nod. Ryan signalled over to Tigris by forming a 'T' with his hooves, which told the unicorn to begin to charge his magic in between Ember and Ryan, and moments later the three were gone as Tigris' teleportation spell took place.

Cera carried Hope into the master bedroom that Eclipse had stayed in the night prior, and using my magic I stripped the mattress of its layers and replaced them with new, firm-pressed cotton. I placed the sheets upon Hope and her resting hooves, her calmful rest shuddered as I did a final fluffing of her pillow before Cera retreated from the room contented. I followed the green mare briefly afterwards and found her flapping her wings briskly in circles, which I had seen Lighting do before when he was about to take flight. "You heading somewhere?"

"It has been a long day for both of us Bladz, and I need to make sure Begonia and her filly are doing okay. I would love to stay, but I am afraid that it would serve better if I return in the morning. It is what I need to do I feel," Cera testified and I opened the door for her with swollen hoof, bowing in anticipation for her passage. "You are not going to try to convince we against it?"

"From how I see it, you have a better reason than I do. There is not any present issues that call upon you, and thus I see no reason for you to be obligated to spend the night here. In all actuality, I would be honored more to know that you are working hard to watch over those who might really need you right now and I have little doubt that that filly needs you a whole lot more than Hope and I need you at the current moment. Have a wonderful night Cera, and I will see you tomorrow," I told her, resulting in tender smiles from her as she whispered gratitude and was on her way for the night.

WIth Cera departed, I returned back to Hope's chambers and began to tuck the young mare in more firmly; going around in stages with my bare hooves and straightening out the odd curves that my fatigued magic had caused. Her right side wing cast was exposed as I made my way around and before I pulled the final section of the sheet to cover her completely I examined Hope's cast and found a small face drew on it in black marker with the name 'Wingy' written underneath it. Despite the name, the small illustration was of a generic unicorn and lacked the wings that would have denoted the picture as an alicorn. It occurred to me that the small illustration had been done by Void in his isolation and it was a form of sublimation for the loneliness he must have felt due to the plethora of decades he experienced during his imprisonment. The illustration brought a fulfillment of joyous bliss as I recalled the stallion's light nature in the few moments that I got to meet with him, but at the same time reminded me of the results of the night in a stream of mixed feelings on the matter.

I finished tucking Hope in and sat on the edge of the bed. Hope's soft breaths sung lullabies to the lunar winds and I passed my hoof gently through her soft, fluid pink mane that fell as rain to the puddles of her tranquil cheeks. "Words cannot describe the relief that the soul feels. Lines of verbal speech pray, but cannot proclaim a way to weave that of which they know into sentences that can synthesize the melodies of the heart's bitter longings and fears." Breezes of the night served as tender callings from the extinguishment of pains, and into the grace of slumber I descended, hooves dipped in the gentle waves of an ocean of roses.

Falling asleep was not my intention, at least not next to Hope, where my loss of consciousness occurred without being under any covers or possessing a pillow. I had planned to sleep in a guest bedroom aside the master room since Cera was no longer present, but as I lost myself in post-Insomniac delusionary imagery, I found myself falling short in the time before fatigue took its payment and prevented me from carrying out this action of relocation. When I awoke the room was deprived of any evidence from the occupation of the pink mare, and I had been moved from above to under the sheets where I had not only been positioned in her place, but the care I had received was identical to that of which I provided Hope with during the night.

Four dark hooves of a stallion marched their way past the bedstand from the door and fumbled with a lamp. The hooves clicked on the light resulting in fluorescent rays radiating throughout the room until the stallion was able to discover how to open the curtains to the joyous beams of the world outside. "Can I ask what you are doing?" I inquired to the set of dark hooves that scrambled at the hearing of my voice.

"I am just a ghost," the dark stallion darted himself down before I could get a fair look at him and waved his hooves through the air fluently imitating the movement of tentacles causing the shadows of his hooves to dance around the room in systematic madness, "I am simply just a figment of your imagination; you are tired and seeing things."

"Yes, because we both know that he is going to be imagining a big, black idiot as the first thing he sees when he wakes up. I am strongly related to you and even I would not wish to have such a horrible nightmare as that for my early morning sights." A white unicorn proclaimed rolling his eyes as he grazed into the room. The stallion was tremendously tall with long, powerful legs that gave him a height that rivaled Armonia and even Celestia's standing heights. The stallion's mane extended fluidly from his head down to just before his knees, and his face looked vicious and confident in presentation. His cutie mark matched that of Eclipse's and his voice was unmistakably a match, but the form of the stallion did not make sense. The darker stallion finally arose and resembled the same sorts of transformations being a taller, bolder, more-vibrant version of the stallion I had seen before.

"Eclipse? Void? Do my eyes care to play deceptions on my mind, or are the stallions upon me really who they appear? Common sound and shape in a distinct scale." I pulled myself from under the coverings of the bed and positioned myself on the edge of the mattress, sitting in face of the white stallion and his compliment who proceeded over to the other.

"Little wierd but nevertheless truthful that we are who you think Sir Angelo," the new Eclipse informed me sparking the lamb with magic to cause it to once again illuminate. "We are as real to any other pony as we are right now and before you ask, I can assure you that the reason you did not see us earlier is not because we were not able to assist you in your battle, but because it would have been unwise. Yesterday your performance was without question outstanding and your judgments upon the two were exactly what I see fit, and for this I have to commend you, but if we assisted you these feats would of never happened."

"Let me give you some clarification for the diplomat over here; his words, while persuasive, have lost much of their former directness," Void attested. "When a type of magic in the pure form is stable, the energy it regenerates is quick and constant allowing enormous recharges in magical energy in very short amounts of time. Now that we are linked to you, our presences are directly related to your own magic through two passive spell formed long in the past. The first is that our physical presence actually uses your magic, but in such a minute level that it would take one second for you to passively recharge the amount of magic just my presence would use in fourteen years. The second of which is a limiting spell that prevents a particular element from dropping below a reserve of a certain percent. Both you and I feed directly off your reserve of dark magic when we use the dark element. When we reach that level of lowness, we both will lose our ability to use the art for a brief period, but once again the recharge rate of your magic makes that almost impossible to occur. The problem yesterday was that our magic forms were not stable yet, especially mine, and you did not have the recharge rate that began to develop in your rest; if we assisted your magic would of been drained faster and you probably wouldn't have been able to use the castings that you did."

I bit my lips as I took in and processed the stallions' messages debating if I should just restart the day later and go back to bed, but by this point normality had been thrown out the window and was on the other side of Serentia by now. "Okay, okay. Now that I have had my morning dose of obscurities, where is Hope?"

"Oh, that nice pink mare was heading for the kitchen when we came by to check on you after each of us drank a hot cup of morning tea." Void told me. "I have to admit, I have never had this 'tea' stuff before, but it is a rather delightful morning beverage that you ponies have around here."

Instant worry stuck me as he spoke and I sniffed the air finding no foul odors yet. "What was that 'nice pink mare' going to the kitchen to do?" I demanded from the two.

"She is being sweet and was going to assist in making breakfast," Eclipse cheered with a pleased expression. I hurdled myself to my hooves and charged throughout the house, leaving the two behind, and slid myself into the kitchen where two sets of green eyes looked at me curiously.

"Well good morning to you too Bladz," Cera stated briefly curious before she turned back to the counter where she had a small sized cutting board laid out. "Now Hope, there are always going to be ponies who are going to be picky about how their food is prepared, but personally I like working in a way that it is convenient for myself." Cera fumbled with a small paperbag and pulled out a green pepper that she placed on its side on the cutting board. "When I cut something like a green pepper here, I like to slice it along these edges and when you do slice something you want to have the back of the blade slightly higher than the front and then push forward and down so you can use your momentum to assist in the cut." Hope watched closely as Cera demonstrated the action, her wings were wrapped in clean bandages along with her shoulders to aid in support. Cera passed the board over to Hope and described what cuts she would like made, watching her through the first slices and then satisfied with her form, turned and approached me.

"what are you doing here?" I asked interrogating the green pegasus.

"Came by with ingredients for making garden omelettes for you guys, figured you guys might need some breakfast after all. I found a cookbook yesterday when I was going through the files yesterday and I wrote down a few recipes to give to Begonia. She collects recipes that are unique and may be worth a try, and what am I to argue, they are usually really good." Cera admitted.

"Excuse me Bladz," Hope nudged on Cera and I, grabbing our attention. "I finished slicing up the pepper like you instructed Cera." Cera paused momentarily to inspect the pepper slices and then applauded pulling out the rest of the paper bags contents revealing an onion, tomato, shredded cheese, and a score of eggs.

"Cut the rest of these veggies with the same style for me and then mix everything, save the eggs and cheese, together." Hope saluted in understanding and go back to work dicing up her task, and Cera turned back to me to finish her thought. "I have to apologize  seeing as it may take a little longer than I had originally anticipated, but as you can see I am showing Hope how to prepare the omelettes and we are having to take our time considering we cannot afford to make too many mistakes; I picked these supplies up early this morning before many of the shops were open so we are a little short on excessive ingredients."

"It is not a problem, It was just when I was told that Hope was preparing a meal I thought Hope was the one making the meal and well."

"You do not have to say it," Cera assured me, "I know how she almost probably burned a kitchen down before," Cera chuckled.

"You do?" I asked in surprise.

"She wanted to originally cook the eggs on high with an ungreased pan. Not much of an indicator, but it is not hard to figure that it might have happened before." Cera explained.

"Yeah, I guess," I responded to the mare a bit relieved and smiled light-heartedly. "So, what about Begonia and her filly? Why are you not with them for breakfast?"

"Yeah, about that," Cera's grin became more uneased. "They want to stay with me, Begonia sees me essentially as part of her family and I was wondering if that would be fine. I told them that I am sure it would be, but I did not have the proper knowledge really to say that."

"I am sorry, you lost me. What are you trying to say? What would you not be able to stay with them?" I inquired and Cera rubbed the side of her head with a forehoof.

"Well, you see the problem is." Cera's body turned into green mist and materialized behind me where she startled me by tapping me on my flank. "There is a reason the sword was not able to accept the nature magic, you did not have enough nature magic reserved to channel the magic. Your recharge rate was higher than the magic that was being used, but when you start low and your recharge rate is low, it is hard to get magic levels up to a good amount for actual heavy usage."

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on, and wait! You are magically linked to me as well? Since when and why did you not tell me?"

"Since about this time this morning, and you see this reaction," Cera motioned her hoof in a circle around me. "This is why I did not tell you because at this time yesterday your reaction would have been exponentially worse than this. Think about it, a pegasus that can teleport around without a horn, although it really is not teleporting because I cannot control where I go too much and magically this is all I can do. Anyway, I am going to have to come with you to the Citadel; it is not healthy for me to be so far away for longer periods for either of us, and I was wondering if she might be able to seek employment under Lord Armonia." Cera forged a begging smile and lowered herself to the ground, looking up with big pity-evoking eyes causing me to get a little disturbed by her actions.

"Okay, okay! I am sure he will, just stop with that before that weirds me out in more ways than one. You do not need to go for the cute approach to this." I declared to the pegasus.

"No, but it was fun and kind of funny seeing your reaction." Cera teased and returned back to the kitchen where she continued to demonstrate to Hope how to make the omelettes. Eclipse and Void appeared from down the hall and entered into the living room area with my sword sheathed on Eclipse's back.

"What were you two up to?" I quizzed taking my sword from Eclipse.

"We just finished straightening up the rest of this home. You done running of in a random hurry?" Void stated in question as Eclipse sparked his magic, closing the rest of the doors and locking them. I did not respond to the rhetoric, but my sudden upheaval in front of the two from earlier did not allow me to hide momentary embarrassment.

It did not take long for Hope and Cera to finish up the garden omelettes for us all to enjoy, and as all of us could agree, they were definitely worth the enjoyment. Even though Hope was under Cera's supervision, she essentially crafted the delicious morning meal all by herself and after I finished, my satisfaction led to me applauding her achievement and causing her to blush; Cera understood partially the significance of Hope creating a well-crafted meal that was worthy for kings, but Eclipse and Void could hardly figure out what the celebration was about as I praised Hope's work. The two stallion brothers were the last to finish their meals and as they did so Cera, Hope, and I did our share of the housework. By the time they concluded their morning consumption, we had only had the two plates left to be dealt with which took relatively no time at all.

Strapping my sword to my back, I was the last one out of the home as I did the final inspections, making sure all the rooms were being left in good standings before locking the door behind me on my way out. The option to take up Ryan's offer still existed; however, we did not consider it really. Cera went on ahead to gather Begonia and her filly, while the rest of us traveled by hoof to the central lifts where we caught a ride up to Cittàdiali. As we travelled upwards, I casted the cloud walking spell upon Eclipse, Void, and I, and after we got off the lift, we approached the large warehouse that I had told Cera was going to be our meeting point. When we arrived we were surprised to find the two mares and the filly already present and waiting on us.

"Mr. Angelo, it is a pleasure seeing you again, how have you been sir!" Begonia cheered in glee as I drew closer. The filly was equally delighted to see me as I approached and mockingly placed a hoof onto her eye; I mimicked the action doing the same and causing the little one to giggle.

"So what is the plan?" Cera questioned to me, prompting me to realize that I never informed anyone of my intended course of action. I placed a hoof partially into my mouth and whistled. The rest of the group looked at me weird, except for Hope who instantly began looking around. "I do not get it, what is that supposed to do?" I held my hoof up and counted back from five as the others continued to look at me like I had lost some part of my sanity, but then the airwaves vibrated as a high pitch scorned the air and the green magic phoenix landed in between us. The members of our group, except for Hope and Cera, were speechless and were lost in awed disbelief by the shire size of this new, unanticipated bird. Cera, on the other hand, trotted over to the phoenix ecstatically, who lowered its head to Cera's level to accept her. Cera wrapped her hooves around the phoenix in joyous compassion, making me unsure if she was mostly doing this because of her existence as the embodiment of the nature seal or if she knew about her linkage to this phoenix already. Cera motioned and was  allowed to pet the side of the green phoenix's head, whereupon was reduced to a purr-like rhythm.

"Why is there a pheonix here?" Void jolted at me, and I explained to him, along with the others, that it was my way of returning without the use of the guards. No one had a reason to complain about the use of the phoenix, it had only just startled the group really. The filly in fact was actually impressed and elated to discover that such abnormal creatures actually exist claiming that she and Begonia instead thought that the mystical creatures told in legends were only exactly that; figments composed from the mind of the author.

"Are we all ready for the travel back to the citadel?" I inquired to the group. "If we leave now we can make it to the Citadel before the sun makes it too far past the quarter point in the skies." I signaled for the bird to lower itself and climbed aboard, afterwards helping Hope do the same, when I became aware of the folly of my plan, there was no way we were all going to be able to fit. "Well, looks like we have a small problem," I announced and Cera galloped closer to witness my problem.

"Well looks like we are going to have to compete to see who is going to be going to the Citadel, there really is only room for one more pony," Cera informed the group of my issue, and we all began to glance at each other in search for answers. Eclipse and Void were the first two to budge by raising their hooves and grabbing our attention.

"While I do agree we only have space for one more physical seat, I do not see any limitations on the metaphysical," Eclipse reasoned nudging his brother, who nodded with common recognition. They two spread themselves out and before any of us could comment on their meaning or intentions, the two unicorns formed magical circles underneath themselves and disappeared into mist.

"They are, and I guess we are aswell, lucky that they could re-enter their magical states because they were about to be left behind; they would be no match for my superiority," Cera proclaimed flipping her hair back. "Anywho, the seat belongs to you champion," Cera pressed a friendly soft hoof into the filly and then looked at Begonia. "If that is okay with you after all."

"I do not usually partake in longer flights, but I do not see a dark cloud in sight that could ruin our passage and make this too hard of a flight." Begonia admitted casually. "Carnation, would you like to travel with Bladz and Hope?" The discharge of the filly's exhilaration sparked chaotically and she did not think twice as she hurled herself in between Hope and I with little assistance. With everyone now handled and roughly an hour's worth of flight time ahead of us, I gestured for flight and we all lifted off for the Citadel.

The flight back, as we had foreseen, was a pleasant one marked by tranquil winds and a thin cloud ceiling most of the way that blocked the most intense rays of daylight. Carnation was delighted when we took off, full of anticipation, but it only took about ten minutes for the small pegasus to fall victim to solemn content and began to hibernate against me with quiet snores. Meanwhile, Hope and I occupied ourselves through a challenging series of obscure twenty questions and by the time we were beginning to be within range of the Citadel, they started to get so difficult that they were almost impossible to answer correctly without exceeding the twenty question limit, and then still they managed to be tricky. Our final round proved to be the most obscure being composed of Hope's choice of lunar albedo and my counterment with optical fovea; neither of which we were able to guess anywhere near correctly.

The Citadel as our capital was a unique symbol for the power of unity, and the prosperity that it could bring to the empire. Entering the airspace of this metapolis allowed the vast styles and activities of the capital to come within sight, and Begonia as we flew over was flabbergasted with every aspect of it. The Cittàdiali that she had known of was nothing in comparison to the reality of the CItadel's lavishing and impressive depictions of luxury. The Citadel was on a new level to Begonia and she did not hesitate to express her understanding of this. I did not wish to awaken the sleeping filly, but as we drew closer, I nudged the little filly awake by applying a soft hoof to her shoulder. A small leg stretched itself forward and grasped for the cotton above, while an adorable little yawn was released from Carnation's relaxed chest. She rubbed her eyes as she gradually pulled herself up to a sitting position where she was instantaneously struck by embarrassment to have fallen asleep, yet said no words in fear of worsening the situation, but Hope and I assured her that there was no harm in rest.

Few minutes of flight over the area brought us closer to the center where the palace lied, and while at first there seemed to be calmness at the center of our capital, as we got closer and my gaze fell upon the Armory, I was shocked to find the militant base swarming with activity as guards by the dozens flooded into and from the large buildings. "What do you think that may be?" Hope questioned openly noting the base as well.

"I am not sure, but activity like that is never common; even with what is going on with the current status of our captains." I replied nervously to Hope and Carnation shared in my concerns in expression, not because she knew why, but because as a small filly new to the Citadel, the mass mob seemed to frighten her. I commanded for the phoenix to touch down in front of the palace, and after we all got off and Cera and Begonia had both landed behind us safely, the bird rocketed vertically into the skies knowing that her presence here at the current time could cause issues with the mass of the armored guards.

I ascended the steps of the palace and pushed open the large metal doors with Hope and the others trailing behind me. Directly inside stood Lord Armonia and Tigris who was departing as we entered and had to wait for us to pass before he trotted out the door and closed it behind him. "It is nice for you to finally return my dear student and friend Hope, and a pleasant greeting is extended to you Madam Gardena; I am glad you guys were able to find each other." Armonia welcomed to us as he redirected his attention from the unicorn captain to us.

"Well I guess I could say that Hope and I did not go through too much harm to find them," I chuckled as Armonia took notice of Hope's bandaged wings and gritted his teeth in pity for the injury.

"Do not worry, I do not think I felt any pain from them when it happened." Hope attested to Armonia whose pity was continuous.

"Maybe you didn't, but those things were painful to look at when it happened," Begonia interjected causing Armonia's gaze to transaction over to her.

"Excuse me, but who are you ma'am?" Armonia demanded from the mare.

"Pardon my manners my lord; this is Begonia and her daughter Carnation. These two, along with Cera, are migrating here to the Citadel and we were wondering if Begonia could work here at the palace. She has been a housekeeper for Cera for years now, so she will not need any training." I qualified to my teacher.

"If that is what you wish for, then let it be done. I was actually going to put a job opening available for the public next week now that you and Hope are now residing here, this actually works out rather conveniently." The two mares celebrated as the trepidation blossomed into excitement. "You can stay here until you have a residence of your own. Same goes to you Cera."

"Thank you greatly sir," Cera declared and was seconded by Begonia.

"You three can prepare your rooms, choose any which one you will like down the hallway here on the first floor. Hope, Bladz, meet me outside in a few minutes please. I am sure you two would like to have a few moments to settle back in, but please do not be longer than so, I have something I need to discuss." Armonia decreed to us before he disappeared out the front door.

"I am going to leave you gals to what you need to do to get settled in. I can think of anything that we immediately need to do that we cannot go see what Armonia needs first Hope," I contested and Hope held no argument against the proposal. We turned to depart and as we did so two magic circles formulated themselves on the ground in front of us, one yellow and one purple, and the two unicorn brothers appeared. "What are you two doing?"

"Sorry Bladz, but if you were to spend an hour as just a line of magical code and you will see how miserable it is," Eclipse asserted. "We are going to say and offer help to these mares, you two go and do whatever it is that Armonia needs you for." Hope and I accepted the stallion's suggestion without dispute, finding no need for it. galloping outside, we found Armonia sitting alone aside on the steps leading down from the palace.

"Is there something wrong sir?" I questioned and Armonia shook his head in denial of any issues.

"I would ask you how things went, but the activity that is going on tells me the results of your visits." Armonia sighed and gave in to the weight of his thoughts. "I am glad that you two were successful, but I was not expecting you guys to take the matter into your own hooves. If anything happened to either of you, I just would not know what I could say about that, I would have be devastated and it would of been my fault."

"But nothing did happen to us because Cera, I, and all of us took matters into our own hooves," I stated in an effort to extinguish his thoughts of worry by repeating our successes, yet avoiding the fact that there were two pegasi who wanted my head and every bit of magic it contained. "I understand your worry though."

"I knew you would, but my dearest apologies still exist. If only I would have communicated with Ryan beforehand, I would have known what actually laid in store for you two." Armonia continued to blame himself, but the light in his complexion started to return back to normal. "Regardless, Tigris asked me to attend the trial for my presence is necessary for the counts of treason that this pegasus has been charged with. I was wondering if you two would serve with me in deeming the outcome of the trial acceptable."

"Of course we would," I determined to the stallion and we followed his lead to the armory. The main building was crowded with primarily pegasus guards who had stopped by to drop off their application for the new captain position and ended up staying noticing the upcoming trial. All three of the primary guard corps were present in the armory and there may have been scout guards there, but without prior knowledge of who was actually in this branch it was impossible to determine either way. The guards, despite the chaos, somehow formulated a pathway for the empire's leader and us to pass; for the most part Hope and I were given curious gazes as we proceed behind Armonia; however, there were a few ponies whose eyes lit up with recognition of my identity, but those numbers were very, very small.

The mob of guards extended all the way into a grand meeting hall, where upon the lines split and the guards were scrambling to find a seat amongst the outer rings of the stadium-like seating. We, however, did not turn to occupy this region of seating and continued forward, past a small table where Ember stood, and stopped beside Tigris and Ryan at the front of the room. Ember did not seemed affected by the presence of the hundreds of guards around him, or the fact that he was in the middle of a large hall about to face trial, or even the existence of the heavy punishments that were bound to a verdict of treason. He wore the same stern expression of regret that he had worn when Tigris and Ryan retrieved him from us, and as he watched Armonia, Hope and I enter, his expression was stained with what felt like to me a drive to apologize for his actions. His eyes illustrated a deep depression for his action and a fear that he could never hope to be met with any opportunities for understanding, which seemed to weigh heavy on his mind and made his inability to communicate the sorrows of those eyes evermore painful to him.

A steady stream of observers continued to enter the hall, but the trial was not designed to be of a public spectacle and thus Ryan did not give attention to this flow as he order the commencing of the trial. Tigris stepped forward towards Ember and stopped just a yard away from the pegasus. "We gather here on this late summer day on the account of the charges of treasons placed against a Ember Coalstone. Is this not you sir?" The pegasus was hesitant to talk, but not because he did want to, but as we watched him draw his attention to Tigris I could see that he was afraid to. "Is your name not Ember Coalstone, I ask you again." Tigris reiterated.

"It is, sir." Ember admitted

"And are the Ember Coalstone that is listed here as the third rank officer of the Serentian Royal Flight Corps, forcibly discharged in years prior?"

"I am sir."

"And are the Ember Coalstone that is currently listed here as an officer commissioned and stationed in the city of Cittàdiali?"

"I am."

"And did you conduct in the act of fooling the guard of this city into believing that you had succeed the command of Captain Lightning Chaser of the Royal Flight Corps?"

"I did sir." Uproar broke out within the crowd; however, a stern gaze from Ryan instantly quieted the upheavals.

"And did you or did you not conduct in such actions with malicious intent against the empire or any pony that is associated with its well-being?"

"I did, sir."

"And were you aware that such actions would have made you eligible for the charges of treason?"

"I was aware."

"And yet you continued to do so. Do you contend and affirm all the statements you have pledged to?"

"I contend and confirm that all statements were truthful by my nature."

"Any further statements you would like to make before you are to face the coming punishments for these actions?"

"Yes, there is." Ember turned to Hope and I and stared at us with lamenting eyes. "I am sorry for what I have done, I wished no harm upon either of you."

"I rest this case to our mighty commander Ryan and our noble council; I have trust in all of your judgments, which I expect to be both fair and just for the crime that has committed. This 'Ember Coalstone' has knowingly acted in careless disregard for our military's solemn codes and has disrespected the fidelity of our people.

"Thank you Captain Tigris," Ryan exclaimed to the orange unicorn, taking his place on the floor. "Listen here Ember, I am not going to lecture you on what you did wrong, or what the punishments of treason are; we both know these well as it is addressed in our laws. Any guard who chooses to conduct in the crude behaviors of perfidy, unlawful sedition, or the vile acts of treachery, and has conducted in the apostasy of our creed, let it be in malice or false benevolence, shall be stripped of all ranks and titles, their membership within the corps shall be terminated, and they shall be tried upon release in front of our ruling council without any entitlement to the protections of citizenship. Our history together goes back years Ember, but this fact has no value here. On the premise you have conducted in perfidy, you are found to be guilty; on the premise you have been conducted in unlawful sedition, you are found guilty; on the premise that you pledged to conduct in acts of treachery, you are found guilty; and thus acting in the most faithful terms that normally would be done by the flight corps captain, Ember Coalstone, you are hereby found guilty of all these trials, your position in the flight corps shall be forever voided and your presence there shall be expunged from all records, purging the sins of your misdeeds from the corps. Do you understand these current standing verdicts?"

"I do, Commander Ryan; on all of these terms I cannot deny my acts and my guilt." Ember proclaimed to the court as he struggled to keep his tears from marching down his cheeks. Ryan turned his attention from the red pegasus now to the crowd where he prepared himself to speak.

"The verdicts you have wished to have seen have been given and the trials that you have all wanted to witness have come, and now they are gone. I wish you all safe passage as you all hastily leave for the next section of this trial is not allowed to be seen by the general populace of any domain of our empire. If you are found to be within ear reach of this room, you yourself will stand where this red pegasus stands on a matter with no limitation on the punishment and is not bound by a creed to be humane in the enactment of this punishment." Ryan did not have to repeat himself, all the guards got the message and flooded out of the modified courtroom at tenfold the speed that they had entered. When all the guards were gone and out of reach, Ryan's stance of authority weakened and he held no more reason to prolong the aura of command. "Bladz, tell me not what you know, but what you have seen of Ember."

"I saw him twice save right now. The first time he was carrying Hope and was trying to protect her from two pegasi of darkness, my presence halted the two stallions as they turned their attention on me allowing Ember to get away. The next time I saw him was when he had been arrested by Cera in which she informed me that he had turned himself in to her." I told to the group.

"What do you make of these statements Ember? Why were you carrying Hope on you back and why did you turn yourself in?" Ryan demanded.

"Because I was fearful and could not handle these feelings of ... I acted against my will to allow these actions to unfold and I used research that was not mine to use for anticipations of personal gain. I could not stand this thought, but resisted it until you showed up miss," Ember pointed over to Hope. "At that point I was at my limit, and when I discovered the motives behind the two pegasi's plans, I grabbed her and did my best to get away from those two devils. They beat me to hell, but I persisted until I was able to breach charge the door open and run for our lives. When I ran past you Bladz I almost was about to break down in cry, but dedication to reach safety drove me forward. Years of research had allowed me to start to feel the magical presences of the darkness and I had became well acquainted with that of the two pegasi's evil spin on dark magic, too cruel a feeling for any pony to feel. When I ran past you Bladz, I felt a new form of darkness, one that was genuine and very similar to that of the black unicorn they held hostage, but yours gave off a feeling opposite of the pegasi, I felt that you had developed a sense of control over the art and there were these other feelings that you gave off that I could not explain either. I did not doubt that the pegasi were going to feel your presence as well and when their aura began to fade away I knew they went after you, and at this point I collapse to the ground in tears. I was unsure if you were going to get away from the two creeds of hell, and knowledge of the two heartless fiends' brutality I feared the worst. When I found the green pegasus, Cera you called her, my feelings of hatred for myself were too deeply founded and I saw no reason for me to meet any salvation for my deeds."

"And why is it that you felt guilt for these deeds and ended up halting in your actions?"

"Up to that point no one had been harmed at my expense, and in all practice, I had not intention for anyone to ever get harmed. I have no idea why I pursued such a selfish motive in the first place, except on the terms of unforgivable ignorance. When the time came down to it, I could not find myself harming the empire I was born to and loved." Ember sighed. "I cannot ask for forgiveness for conducting in an act so horrid."

"And forgiveness you shall not receive. One has to have wronged to be forgiven and while you have done deeds that are shameful, you have not wronged the empire to the extent of treason," Ryan acknowledged and we all turned to the commander caught off guard by his statement. "You have wronged the Flight corps, but you have done nothing to actually harm any pony and you have halted yourself before any such results could have occurred. Lying about being a captain is a serious matter, but when it comes down to it, it was a lie and not much more."

"What are you trying to say sir? I have acted against our code and walked towards the direction that is told to be treason in our code," Ember protested.

"It is without compromise that you are guilty of the three aspects that can make you suspect for treason, but in the end you have failed to meet the second part of the qualification, you have remained loyal to your empire and your morals. Also, I cannot charge you for an action that you really are not responsible for in the long run."

Armonia spun his head over to Ryan who was smirking. "Come again commander."

"Ember was just acting in the way that I had expected him to. We all have pride and when we made Lightning captain over him his sense of pride had been crushed. If I was to reflect back onto what he has done for the Flight Corps, Ember's works cannot be given a value for they have been without doubt one of the greatest values we have had for the guard. His study of the magic arts is what led to creation of the different corps, especially the unicorn and scout corps. When I ordered Lightning to discharge Ember from the Flight Corps, Lightning resisted to do so seeing no reason until I arranged for false allegations to be placed on your head Ember."

"Why would you do such a thing sir! I thought the works I did for the guard was marveled by you!"

"They were and still are, but you see, you were the only one with knowledge of the evil family of darkness that was trying to exploit the power of darkness and corrupt magic except for myself, and thus you were the only one that I could trust to lure them in. The problem I had was that they were not going to come to you as their enemy, so I had to ensure the two of you had a common enemy and separate you from the empire so if you ever get identified you are not put into danger."

"And what if the plan did not go to how you planned it?"

"Ember, have you forgotten that I am a master strategist and keen scholar on the subjects on psychology and sociology. Some of the ponies that worked underneath you were actual employees on my payroll that I trained to get you and anypony else out of danger if things went sour, and they promised their lives to ensure that it gets done. I would not have put you through this if I did not have a way for you to get out of it." Ryan assured the pegasus.

"Sir, you know I cannot deny your judgements, but I have just been not only discharged from the Flight Corps, but I have been marked to be expunged from all records and be seen as having never existed in the guard," Ember stated in open confusion, unsure if he was supposed to be angry or unnerved.

"And you have publicly been marked for treason, which means that in principle that you no longer exist." Ryan informed Ember with a smirk pulling out a thick cloth. "Which in all essence, if just what we needed."

"For what reason would that be commander?" Armonia interjected.

"If it is not too much to ask for, Ember Coalstone here is not only deserving, but has more than proven his determination to our great Serentia." Ryan unfolded the cloth partially revealing the projection of a flat, golden trinket. "Ember you have done well and while it has been delayed, I present to you all the newest Scout Corps Captain! Your services cannot be awarded enough for how you have aided us all and I cannot wait to see how you will benefit us in the future." Ember was stricken speechless by the unexpected new position, and his eyes watered from the occurrence. Lord Armonia was the first to clap for the stallion, showing his approval of the action and was followed by Tigris, then Ryan, and then Hope and I until all of us were clapping for the new captain who had been given the position he had deserved from the start, just not in the way he had anticipated.

"And that is what happened this summer. I moved to the Citadel and took on a new role as essentially the co-ruler of Serentia, learned that my gift in magic was a lot more than I could've ever imagined, witnessed the instatement of a new captain, visited two of the kingdoms along our borders, and most of all met a range of different ponies that I can actually call my friends." Bladz declared cheerfully standing up from his sitting position and extending a warm smile to the group of Hope, Cera, Eclipse, Void, Begonia and her daughter Carnation. All of which had laid around the young stallion in the middle of banquet hall and listened to his recollection of the summer and how each one of them in some way shaped the creation of Bladz's present day.

"Years from now I am going to look back at this moment and think about these two hours that I am never going to get back," Void mocked to the group as he pushed himself up from the floor to get hit in the head by Cera's hoof. "What? All I got out of that was just how awesome I am." The stallion winked his eye at Cera who backhoofed him for a second time causing Eclipse to laugh at his ignorant brother.

"Mighty eventful summer if you ask me," Begonia determined helping an exhausted Carnation back to her hooves. "You have been farther in one summer than I have been my entire life, and I am a pegasus. Anyhoof, Carnation and I need to get some chores done before noon rolls around so we are going to have to catch you guys later." Carnation waved a hoof to the group as she and her mother departed the hall through the eastward entrance.

"I guess I could get these two idiots to leave you alone for the last few days of your summer Bladz. Thank you for enlightening us with that, I liked it and it made a good start to my day, even if one of us have egos bigger than their bodies." Cera turned an annoyed over at Void who was about to counter, but fearing another backhoof stayed quiet and followed behind Cera and his brother who left eastwards as well.

"I guess it is just you and me now Hope," Bladz chuckled before the door of the south side entrance contained a knocking which the two turned to find Lord Armonia standing in the doorway. "How long have you been standing there sir?"

"Only long enough to see the rest of your group depart, do not worry." Armonia extended a friendly bow over to Bladz's curiosity. "How is that hoof treating you Miss Hope?"

"Very well, thank you for asking."

"That is great, for a minute I was worrying that I was going to have to get a giant plush made for you." Armonia teased and Hope about died as her face turned into a cherry in her embarrassment. "Do not fret Hope, I still admire the thoughtfulness behind that action.  Anyway, Bladz, I have something for you," Armonia announced tossing a small spiral notebook at the young stallions feet. "I know there is about a week before the years starts, but in the time between then and now I would like you to write down the lessons you have learned over this summer, about fifty or so I would imagine would suffice. Oh and Hope?" The young mare locked attention with Armonia to find a second small spiral notebook tossed her way. "The same goes for you as well, do not think that you are just going to sit around all day as Bladz goes through schooling."

"Fifty lessons learned! I am essentially a year or two below Bladz, shouldn't my count be different?" Hope stated to the Serentian ruler who stopped to think about this for a minute.

"You are right Hope! You need the practice, make it seventy-five for you," Armonia reasoned before retiring the way he came. Hope stood unmoving in disbelief and eventually Bladz began to poke her cheeks in worry about the mare.

"You okay Hope?"

"yeah, I am going to be okay. Seventy-five, you know what I will show him! I will write seventy-six and write the last one in huge letters and all capital letters!" Hope declared, eyes burning for her revenge.

"That's the spirit. We can work on them together, it will make it a lot easier for both of us." Bladz nudged at her. "But first, didn't we have a picnic planned for today in the park that I promised I was going to show you. We can sit by the the stream that runs through it if you would like."

"That is right, how could I almost forget! I would love to have a picnic today, the weather around here basically makes everyday a great day for a picnic." Hope cheered forgetting about the assignment and pushing the thought to the back of her mind. "Should I asked the chefs if they could prepare a basket for us?"

"I, believe it or not, would prefer your cooking over theirs, it would mean more to me," Bladz admitted to the pink mare whose face turned another shade of red before giving him a warm, long hug followed by a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you Bladz, that is very sweet for you to say. Now come on, we have a picnic to go on and we are going to have to stop and ask the chefs to make us a basket before we go."

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