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."