Stronghooves looked up from his paperwork as somepony knocked on his office door. He gave a soft smile, recognising the silhouette of his trusted officer beyond the frosted glass.

“Come in.” He beamed pleasantly, putting down his quill. The bright blue aura around his horn died down, and he sat in respectful silence, eager to hear about his compatriots findings.

Inspector Shield opened the door, fixing Stronghooves with a stare that told him that he’d learned something very troubling indeed. He threw a salute, taking off his helmet and letting it clatter to the floor. The poor stallion looked exhausted, and Stronghooves could hardly blame him.

“You didn’t tell me that she was your little sister.” Shield commented casually. “Seems like the sort of thing that you’d have mentioned, considering how important this investigation was supposed to be.”

Stronghooves met Shield’s gaze evenly, giving a small smile. “Well, she doesn’t exactly see herself as my sister anymore. At any rate, there’s a lot of bad blood there, and I wanted you to form your own opinion of the situation without talking to either of us first.”

Shield cocked an eyebrow at him. “There’s a story here, isn’t there?”

“You’ll only hear my side of it, unfortunately.” Stronghooves said sadly, ears splaying back. “I don’t know what she’d tell you if you asked her for her own account, if I’m honest.”

“That’s as good a place to start as any.” Shield nodded, slumping back and closing his eyes.

Stronghooves’s expression softened, and he got to his hooves, horn flaring. In the little kitchenette just beyond the office, he began to brew a couple of cups of coffee by magic. “This is a...well…sad tale, all things considered.” He sighed, boiling the kettle. “Sky and I used to be inseparable. I was her big strong older brother, and she...was born the wrong species, according to my mum and dad. You’ve seen the kind of ponies they are.” He added darkly.

“Yeah, they were...real characters.” Shield chuckled weakly, opening his eyes and frowning. “So you two used to be friends, right?”

“That’s right.” Stronghooves nodded back. “I stood up for her for the longest time. Every time dad screamed at her, hit her, I’d be there to save her from him, to stand between the two of them and stare him down.”

“You guys had a rough family life, huh?”

“Without question. Still...I did my best for her. I tried to foster her dreams, to help her be the best little pegasus she could be.” He smiled softly, pulling out a worn photo from one of the drawers in his desk and passing it over.

Shield tilted his head as he peered at it. It was a little photo of Stronghooves standing in the Cloudsdale City Square. He looked lanky, young, in his early teens, and atop his shoulders stood a very small pegasus filly indeed. She had a long, braided red mane and a little Wonderbolts hat. Shield frowned. It was Sky all right, and judging by Stronghooves’s appearance and age in this photo, it was taken at around the same time as the doctored one he’d seen back at the house.

“You’re walking on clouds.” He frowned. “Pretty impressive trick for a unicorn.”

“It takes quite a while to learn the spell.” Stronghooves chuckled fondly, taking the kettle off of the stove and filling two mugs. “Still, it meant so much to her. She’d been waiting for ages to see the Wonderbolts, and mum and dad wouldn’t take her.” He paused for a moment as he levitated the two mugs over, tilting his head and smiling fondly at the old memory. “She told me she’d love me forever.”

“What happened to you two?” Shield asked, his face a mask of confusion.

“Those.” Stronghooves sighed, pointing his quill at Sky’s tiny little wings, frowning mournfully. “Imagine if, in an all-unicorn family, you suddenly gave birth to a pegasus. Could you imagine the shame?” He sat back in his seat, cradling his mug. “Our parents never quite accepted her.”

“But you did?” Shield asked, taking a swig from the coffee mug like an alcoholic from a hip-flask.

Stronghooves nodded. “I did everything in my power to try and make mum and dad love her, but...I wasn’t that strong or clever. Eventually, Sky went truant and got expelled. Mum and dad kicked her out after I went to bed.”

“And you didn’t go looking for her after she left?” Shield cocked his head disbelievingly. The coffee was beginning to work on his curious mind, driving him to push harder, further. There was something so strange about the Captain. He’d never seen this side of him. He’d always just been a well-mannered, friendly authoritarian. To think that he’d lost his sister and had had to endure such abuse…

“I was lied to.” Stronghooves bowed his head. “My dad came into my room the next morning, said that Sky had gone truant and run in front of a carriage. He...wouldn’t let me see her.” He placed his own mug down on the desk, his frown deepening. “I only saw her again years later, and by then...she’d turned into that.” He gestured at the wanted poster on his office wall.

Shield bit his lip, setting his mug down. This isn’t what I expected when I agreed to this investigation… The Inspector had never been good at this sort of thing, being as he was trained as a guard rather than a counsellor, but there was something about Stronghooves’s expression that was just so...broken.

“You couldn’t have prevented it, Captain.” He said quietly, after a while.

“Perhaps not, but because of the lies I was told, and the lies that she absorbed, the next time she saw me, she thought I was a monster, all because of this.” Stronghooves tapped his helmet with his plated forehoof, sighing.

“It must be hard to know that she’s going to end up behind bars.” Shield sighed, shuffling himself closer to the desk and lowering his head, bringing it level with his commanding officer’s.

“It undoubtedly is,” Stronghooves nodded, glancing up and meeting Shield’s gaze, “but worse still is the idea that I’ve lost her forever. I’ve missed out on so much of her life. I never got to see her grow up, to celebrate her birthdays with her, to let her know that her brother always loved her.” He fixed Shield with a look of borderline panic. “She thinks I abandoned her like my parents did.”

Shield took another sip of his coffee, looking over at the poster pensively. “How old was she when she got kicked out?”

“Five.”

“Holy shit.” Shield muttered. “With all due respect, sir, your parents are assholes.”

“I’ve got no love for them, Inspector. That’s all the respect they’re due.” Stronghooves shook his head. “I don’t talk to them anymore. To be honest, I still haven’t forgiven them. I...don’t exactly think I can.”

“That’s why you sent me to talk to them, huh?” Shield raised an eyebrow curiously.

The Captain nodded, not meeting his gaze. “Perhaps that was cowardly of me, but I don’t think I could face them, especially if the subject matter was this sensitive. You could understand, no doubt, how my own feelings would get the better of me.”

“And I was brought in because you needed somepony with a fresh mind to look into it.” Shield nodded. “Somepony who didn’t know anything about the history you two have, who could ask where Sky was without personal feelings getting in the way. Everything’s starting to make sense now.”

“And what’s your verdict, Inspector?” Stronghooves raised his head, steepling his hooves and regarding the officer with an apprehensive look, as if expecting some manner of harsh judgement.

Shield was taken aback. There was something about the Captain’s openness that unnerved him. Why keep things bottled up for so long? Well, that much was obvious, though Shield could only speculate. Pressure from his higher-ups and parents to keep his sister a secret. After all, revealing that he was related to the best burglar in Canterlot would reflect badly on him as a guard, and Shield knew that Stronghooves didn’t deserve that. He was an incredible officer, friendly and relatively easy-going, with a hooves-on approach to his duties as a guard. He didn’t need something like this ruining his reputation.

Everything’s becoming so clear now…

“I think that you got badly screwed over by a shitty situation, if I can speak freely.” Shield said slowly, after a while. “From what you’ve told me, and from what I’ve seen, you’re one hell of a brave pony. I dunno how many ponies could stand up to their mum and dad like that.”

Stronghooves lowered his hooves in front of him, giving a soft little smile. “Thank you, Inspector. I’m glad that I was able to prevent any harm from coming to her for a while, but I’m still responsible for her safety, and I failed.”

“Bullshit.” Shield shook his head, growling a little. “You’ve been blaming yourself for something you couldn’t have ever controlled. You didn’t even know that she was alive. You had your dad’s word that she was gone, and you reacted naturally. How could you have possibly helped her?”

“All the same, I’m her big brother, and in the absence of her parents’ love, I’m responsible for her wellbeing.” Stronghooves sighed. “It’s still my responsibility. She’s twisted by the life she was forced to lead, but I’m confident that I can rehabilitate her better than any prison.”

“You want your sister back, I get that.” Shield nodded. “She’s kinda gone and done something unforgivable by stealing those crystals. I thought the other officers told you in the briefing that this is a “fate of Equestria” type of thing. We...can’t afford to let personal feelings get in the way.”

“You’re right, of course.” Stronghooves agreed, meeting Shield’s gaze again. “However, I’m positive that she didn’t do it, and I can prove it too. I just need time.”

“You sure about that?” Shield cocked his head.

“I’m certain.” Stronghooves replied firmly. “I know where the crystals are, and if I can get the names of the ponies responsible for the real theft, I can clear her name.”

“Hold on, you know where the crystals are? Why didn’t you tell me? This is dangerous shit, Captain!” Shield protested, ears perking. That woke him up more than the coffee.

“They’re being kept inert. I know for a fact that the ponies involved in their theft don’t know the first thing about megaspells.” Stronghooves smiled, his voice and expression still as calm and collected as ever. “I’m taking the time to work out the full extent of their operation. In the meantime, however, they don’t represent a clear and present danger to Equestria. Not as long as I’m around.”

“Why didn’t you tell anypony that you were doing the undercover cop thing?” Shield got to his hooves apprehensively. It was inconceivable that the Captain could be this naive, this secretive. Shield didn’t know what to make of it.

“I just did.” He grinned. “You’re the pony in charge of the investigation into my sister’s whereabouts, and you need your mind clear of any concerns about those crystals and the threat they represent. Let me worry about that.” He winked. There was something about the way his eyes shone, full of fervent hope and confidence, that lifted some of the weight off of Shield’s heart.

“Are you sure you can handle it?” Shield cocked his head. “You can’t just expect to go up against an entire conspiracy that’s stolen a bloody superweapon by yourself!”

Stronghooves met his gaze with an expression of quiet confidence. Everything about his body language, his low voice, his soft smile...all of it told Shield that even if Stronghooves didn’t know what he was doing, he certainly believed that he did.

“Trust me, Inspector.” He said simply. “I know what I’m doing, and you have to believe that for both of our sakes. We both have a job to do, and if we can work together, we can save a broken pony’s life and keep Equestria safe. However, I can’t do it alone. I need somepony who has my back.” He held out a hoof, smiling hopefully. Help me...please, I need this…

Shield regarded his hoof doubtfully for a moment, before biting his lip and taking it. “We’ll do it together, Captain.”

“Come now, there’s no need to be formal. I’d prefer it if you just called me Stronghooves.” The Captain replied, giving Shield a firm, confident shake. “You and I are going to have to trust one another for this to work, and the first step towards building that trust is being on first-name terms with your buddy.”

Shield chuckled. “I didn’t expect to be making friends with my boss when I came in here today.”

“Nopony ever does.” Stronghooves winked. “It’s good to have a friend again. Everypony seems so scared of me because of my station. I can’t remember the last time I just sat back and talked to somepony.”

“Well hey, I go bowling on Wednesday nights. Maybe we can make that a thing.” Shield chuckled. After a moment, however, his smile faded a little. “Hey, listen, I’m sorry about that stuff happened between you and your sister. I’m not a psychiatrist, so I can’t exactly find the magic words to make it better.”

Stronghooves got to his hooves, grinning at him. “Shield, you’ve done far more to help me by promising to work with me on this than you perhaps appreciate. You’re going to help me put my shattered little family back together. I can’t thank you enough for it.” He, a large imposing stallion and Captain of the Royal Guard, let out an excited little squee. “I owe you big time for this.”

“Hey, it’s nothing. Just keep me tanked up and I’ll get the job done.” Shield beamed, waving a hoof dismissively. “It’s weird, you know...something was tugging at the back of my mind. The way you told your story, I figured that you’d never spoken about this to anypony before.”

Stronghooves glanced down at his hooves. “It’s not exactly the first thing I bring up when I meet somepony, no. It’s kind of weird that this’d be the first thing I discuss with you when we finally get to sit down for the first time, but I suppose it’s relevant to your investigation. Now...I’d like you to make me a promise.”

Shield nodded briskly, perking his ears.

“I want you to promise me that when you find Sky, you don’t kill or hurt her. Just bring her back to me, just so the two of us can talk. We’ll then keep her out of harm’s way until I can deal with this little conspiracy. Is that clear?”

“After the way she made me look like an idiot during her interrogation a couple of days back, this morning I would’ve told you to eat a dick.” Shield chuckled. “But...I guess I can see why you’d want her unharmed. Don’t worry Cap...Stronghooves. I’ll get your sister back.”

The two stallions exchanged a smile, standing up straight and looking one another in the eye. Stronghooves couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot. With the Inspector, diligent as he was, working with him, Stronghooves was confident that he’d be able to rebuild his little family in no time at all.

The Captain’s ears perked as someone knocked on the door, and a frown crossed his face.

“Come in?”

A young guard runner opened the door, trotting inside. “Captain Stronghooves, we’ve got reports of a pony matching Sky Runner’s description. She’s at the Canterlot Train Terminal.”

“Is she alone?” Stronghooves asked, already pulling his armour on. It was dented and battered from the last encounter he’d had with Silver Tongue’s Operative, making for a poor fit. That was the least of his worries right now, however.

“Well, she’s in a crowd at the terminal, but we did spot some larger stallions following her.” The runner shrugged. “We don’t know if they’re accomplices or bounty hunters. They could be both.”

Stronghooves tugged his sword out of the umbrella stand in which he’d left it, sheathing the weapon over his back. The first vestiges of panic set in as the runner spoke, and the stallion struggled to keep his voice level as he expelled images of Sky coming to serious harm from his mind. The very image of that poor little pony ending up dead because of Silver’s lackies was too much for Stronghooves to handle.

I’m not going to let that happen. I’ll never let that happen… He thought to himself as he slammed his helmet on his head.

“Right, here’s the plan.” He said decisively. “Shield, get everypony you can get your hooves on. I want the whole city guard regiment brought down on the train station if you can manage it. I’ll go and see if I can intercept those ponies who are after her.”

“Stronghooves, are you sure you can handle this?” Shield asked doubtfully, as his commanding officer made his way to the door.

“Trust me.” Stronghooves smiled back at him. “I didn’t get this good at my job without having a couple of tricks up my sleeve.”

As he galloped out of the office, out of the barracks and onto the street, Stronghooves let his confident smile fall, grim, growling determination taking its place. He was going to save her this time, no matter what it took.

Hold on Sky, I’m coming…