"A human? You found a human?" Twilight exclaimed, her voice rising to an excited squeak as she almost hyperventilated. "Who is it?"
Shining Armor cleared his throat. "He calls himself Darren Houndslayer."
The mirror almost fell out of his magical grip when Twilight all but shouted, "You found him! Oh, Shining, I'm so happy -"
"Wait, please, Twily, there is a problem," Shining interrupted her.
She frowned. "Is he okay? It's been almost a year since we passed the 'Missing' posters around."
"You see," said Shining matter-of-factly, "For one, he broke into a house..."
Twilight's voice filled the throne room, slightly distorted by the magic of the mirror. Darren perked up when he recognized it. Her tone suggested that the Princess and her mate were bringing her up to date. He decided to make himself heard.
"Ahem." Darren cleared his throat.
Cadence and Shining turned their heads towards the source of the sound.
"Ah, Princess," said Blaze, "there is the problem that we can't communicate anymore since his translation spell wore off. What should we do?"
"Translation spell?" came Twilight's voice from the mirror. "I can help with that! I cast the first one, don't worry about that." She hummed thoughtfully. "Either the previous spell lasted unusually long or Darren just arrived. Did you get a chance to ask him about that?"
"Detective?" asked Cadence.
"According to his statement, he arrived a few days ago," said Blaze.
"Well, that explains it," said Twilight. "There must have been some phenomenon that threw his portal exit off the timeline. How did you communicate with him after -"
"How fast can you get here?" Cadence cut her rambling off. "No offence, but your friend is scaring us a little. We need to sort this out as quickly as possible."
"Hm," hummed Twilight. "I need to tell Spike and the girls that I need to return. The train leaves twice a day so it would take me until tomorrow morning. I should also ask Jonathan and Arcus if they could come along."
"Are those your friends from the adventure you-know-where?" asked Shining cautiously, well aware that they were in the presence of guards and civilians.
"Yes. I promise we'll find a way to resolve this," said Twilight. "I'm sure it's all just a big misunderstanding. Darren is a nice and honourable person; you can trust him, Cadence. I know he seems a little scary but he saved my life more than once."
"With respect, Ma'am," Coral Spark spoke up, "Sombra is still on the loose. What about him?"
"You heard him?" Shining asked Twilight.
"Loud and clear. This mirror really is something." Twilight sighed. "Well, this is cause for concern. Maybe you should put up posters that show what he looks like now. I'll tell Princess Celestia and Luna after this conversation so they can brief their Royal Guards, too. And about my arrival: Should we meet at eleven-thirty at the train station?"
Cadence nodded. She said goodbye to Twilight and the mirror stopped glowing, ending the connection. She faced the guards.
"Alright. Since the White family is willing to forgive Mr Houndslayer for his trespassing and not pressing any charges, we can drop the issue. The assault on the royal guard is a different matter and will be discussed on Monday.
"Captain Spark, please coordinate your efforts to catch Sombra with Prince Shining Armor. Return Mr Houndslayer to the precinct. Until this is over, he needs to stay in your custody. But make sure he is comfortable. And he can have visitors if he wants." Cadence looked over to Shining. Had she forgotten anything?
"His weapon," he whispered. "Where to keep it."
"And he can have his sword back. If Twilight trusts him, we can, too."
"To some degree," muttered Shining under his breath, loudly enough for Cadence to hear him, yet he still nodded in reluctant agreement. She knew he had to be more careful than her - it was his job - but her trust in Twilight was absolute.
Everypony bowed, except for the four guards next to Houndslayer, and left. The grey pegasus colt - Eclipse - hesitated and cast a nervous look on Shining Armor. His sister nudged him before he could fall behind and they followed the guards.
When Cadence and Shining were alone, she slumped onto the throne, massaging her temples, and stared at the ceiling.
"I hate politics," she groaned. "I hate trials. I'm still not ready for this."
Shining hugged her and gave her a kiss.
"As far as I could see, you managed pretty well. Smart move to ask the family directly. Now we can focus on the other part of the case and on trying to find Sombra."
"I hate him, too," sighed Cadence.
Blaze accompanied Darren back to his cell. A tray with some food was on the small table, along with a jug of fresh water, a towel, and an empty bowl. The guard that had waited for them beckoned Blaze aside and muttered into his ear, "We found a dead bird under the bed. Removed it before bringing the food."
Blaze frowned. "What was the cause of death?" he asked cautiously.
"Unknown. Had the coroner have a look even though it's not a pony. He says it was dark magic."
"Thanks for the info," said Blaze, patting his colleague on the shoulder. "See you later." The guards left. Now Darren and Blaze were the only ones in the cell.
Blaze took the package from his back and gave it to Darren. The knight unwrapped the blanket and incredulously looked at his sword.
"Are you sure about this?" The doubt in his deep voice was obvious.
"Keep it," said Blaze, nodding.
Darren took out his copy of the notebook. He rummaged in his backpack and found a battered quill and inkpot. Sitting down on the bed, Darren patted the spot next to him.
Sighing, Blaze followed the request and planted his bottom on the bed.
"Alright, let's recap," he said and took the notebook.
He drew four stickponies, two of them small: The White family. Then, he added a stickman. The ponies were given smiles. Blaze hoped that Darren would understand. If not, they would be able to tell him soon enough; until then, Darren would have to be patient. He began another picture: A unicorn with a curved horn, chased by ponies with spears.
Blaze also drew a train that drove towards a castle in a circle, then, an alicorn that emerged from the train. Darren inhaled to ask something but Blaze already added a moon and sun to signify that the meeting would be on the next day. When Darren pointed at the alicorn, Blaze realized that he did not give her any features to tell her apart from the previous stickponies. He decided to draw Princess Twilight's Cutie Mark: A six-pointed star, surrounded by five smaller stars.
Darren hummed. He lowered his hood and looked at Blaze. There was a twinkle in his eyes, something that Blaze had not thought to be possible.
"Finally, some good news." He pointed at the alicorn with a slightly shaking hand. "Twilight Sparkle," he said firmly.
Blaze nodded.
"Yes," he confirmed. "Tomorrow."
"To-morrow," Darren repeated the word.
Darren sat in his cell, staring at the opposite wall. He could hardly believe how everything had turned out. Twilight would be here soon. Once the spell was cast, Darren would be able to explain himself and get the hell away from the Crystal Ponies.
He raised his hand and looked at its back. It was still shaking. At first, he had thought it to be an illusion but now he was certain. Darren had not expected to have peace for long. The bird had been a fairly small creature. He had to hold on for a bit longer. Deep down, he still trusted Jonathan's promise that the Light would free him from his curse. The hope of never having to harm anyone again was the only thing that kept Darren from using his sword against himself.
He lowered his hands, pressed the palms against the mattress and exhaled slowly. There was one more thing he could try to put off the inevitable. Darren remembered himself giving the advice to his own daughter.
It was an especially harsh winter in Lordaeron. In February, they had just enough to eat every second day. Darren and his wife often refused their own rations, giving them to the children. But with seven people sharing a roof and only one paladin in the family, there still were days when the older siblings had to make do with less than a piece of bread. One evening, Arianna, the oldest, suddenly left the house.
Darren found her in the back alley, digging out a small bush.
"Anna, what are you doing?" Darren asked, crouching down next to her. She did not look at him. Darren noticed that her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks wet.
"Come on inside, it's freezing out here."
"Maybe we can cook the roots," said Arianna without stopping her digging. Her fingers were red from the cold. "We gotty try, right?"
"They're not edible," said Darren, carefully taking her hands into his own. "Your mom already tried using them a week ago."
"I d-don't care," sobbed Arianna. She slumped back, relaxing into Darren's embrace. "I'm so hungry, Dad, I'm so hungry."
"I know," whispered Darren. He hugged Arianna and stood up. She automatically followed his movement until they were both standing and hugging.
"How do you do it?" she asked hoarsely. "How can you stand it?"
"I -" Darren hesitated and exhaled noisily. As always, he found himself unable to lie to her. "I try not to think about it. You know, Anna, there is a way to make it at least a little more bearable," he said as he lead his daughter back to the house.
"When we sleep, our body slows down." He opened the back door and they entered. "We breathe more slowly and we also move less. So it's a way to save strength. The farmers sleep more in Winter than in Summer."
Arianna brushed a bit of her blonde hair out of her face. They climbed the narrow staircase that led up to the second floor. She went into the bedroom. Frederick, Darcy and Brannon were already asleep, huddled together under three layers of bleached out woollen blankets.
"Where's Janek?" asked Arianna, taking off her shoes.
"Must be sleeping in our bed tonight," said Darren thoughtfully. They had actually three beds but because of the cold one was currently not in use. The kids took turns at sleeping in their parents's bed; with only three people sharing it instead of four, it was the least crowded and therefore a favoured spot. Darren sat down on the edge of the frame as Arianna slipped under the blankets. Fred shifted his weight, his eyes still closed, and mumbled something. She stroked her youngest brother softly and lied down next to him.
"At least when I sleep I don't feel the big hole that used to be my stomach," she tried to joke, whispering so she would not wake her siblings.
"Light, bless my girl," whispered Darren as he did every night. He bent down to kiss her on the forehead. Quietly, he stood up and left his children sleep, slowly closing the door behind himself.
Darren took off his armor. He needed longer than usual for it; his hands were still shaking and he felt slightly dizzy. At least there were a blanket and pillow on the bed, making the cell almost luxurious. Darren lied down and rolled onto his side. Putting his arm under his head, he tried to get comfortable.
Most people assumed that the undead could not rest but that was not entirely true. While many resurrected creatures actually could not sleep, Death Knights had the ability to do so. When they had been under control of the Scourge, they had been forbidden to rest. Darren had gotten used to it through the years. After he had broken free of the Lich King's grasp, he still would not sleep at night. It had its advantages. He could stand watch twenty-four hours a day which had proven very useful, especially on one-man assignments. But Mother Nature had not developed sleep without a reason. There was even a Dragon Aspect for sleep, just as there was one for time and another for magic... Darren remembered how, back in the days before the Scourge, a man from his unit had begun to hallucinate after three days without sleep, not to mention how irritable and clumsy he had become.
Darren hoped that the rest would clear his mind - or at least numb it until he was released from custody. It was worth a try. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax.
On Sunday, Twilight arrived at the Crystal Empire's Central train station at precisely eleven-twenty-one, which gave her and her friends some time to orient themselves. Arcus Tangens and Jonathan had agreed to come along; Spike needed to mind the castle while the other ponies were otherwise busy. After being away for a few days, work at home had already piled up.
Arcus was the first one to spot their welcoming committee.
"Hah, I can see Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," he said happily, pointing at the ponies that approached the track. Cadence was not alone; Shining Armor and two guards were with her. The guards were not in uniform or armour but they gave Jonathan wary stares which he tried to ignore.
Twilight waved at Cadence and Shining Armor and ran towards them. After hugging and greeting each other, they introduced their entourage.
"Cadence, this is Jonathan Baker. As you can see, he is also a human. And this is Arcus Tangens. He was with us on Azeroth so he knows Darren, too."
"Nice to meet you, Princess," said Arcus and bowed down.
"Please, there's no need for that," said Cadence. "This is not a formal occasion, you don't have to bow." She put a wing around her husband. "This is Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard."
Jonathan scrunched up his face, remembering something. "Sir," he said, "aren't you related to Twilight?"
Shining nodded. "We're siblings," he said, grinning at Twilight who grinned back. Then, he pointed at the guards. "This is Indigo Blaze, who was present at the hearing and managed to talk to Houndslayer before the spell wore off. And this is Abrasive Paper, also a city guard." Both ponies nodded politely, Blaze with more enthusiasm than the muscular blue earth pony next to him. Slightly proud for maintaining a straight face when hearing the names, Jonathan nodded back at them.
"So, you found Darren?" he asked.
"Yes, we did," said Cadence. "Twilight, if you don't mind we should go to him right away so you can cast the translation spell."
Twilight nodded. "Of course."
"What about Sombra?" asked Arcus.
"Not here," said Shining quietly. "That's still classified. Only the guards know of the warrant."
"Oh. Sorry." Arcus grimaced uncomfortably.
"It's okay as long as you don't mention the news in public. Yet."
Arcus waved it off. "Nevermind then, Sir, I'll wait until you are alright with sharing the info."
Shining Armor led the way to the castle. Jonathan and Arcus enjoyed looking at the magnificent cityscape. Arcus pointed at several houses and gave Jonathan a small summary about their history and individual features. Jonathan only registered half of it; he was too impressed by the sight of it all: An entire city made of crystals. He wondered if this was something you got used to.
"Do all humans have white hair?" Shining asked Twilight. "I could see some of Houndslayer's mane. It was grey and long and almost as white as Mr Baker's."
Twilight chuckled, amused by the question. "Okay, brother, one: Humans don't call it a mane, just hair. And two: No, they have different hair colours. But the range is not as wide as ours. Sometimes, they dye it. A human's natural hair color is red, blonde, brown or black - or something in between. I think both Jonathan and Darren's hair lost their colour after they died."
"They what?" Shining stopped abruptly and stared at her.
"Oh, didn't I tell you? I thought I had mentioned it sometime. See, Darren is undead. Jonathan used to be, too, but the Light healed him," said Twilight as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"We have a zombie at the precinct?" That was Blaze.
Twilight frowned at them. "He's just undead, not a zombie. And didn't you notice his eyes?"
"No," said Shining Armor sceptically. "They were hidden under his hood during the entire hearing."
"I saw them," said Blaze. He exhaled. "They glowed. Blue, like ice from a glacier. At least that explains why he didn't want to eat anything. Please, Princess, tell me he won't develop an appetite for brains anytime soon."
Twilight laughed. "I promise."
"Always with the brains," muttered Jonathan with a hint of annoyance. "Wait a second." He touched Twilight's shoulder. "What about the other thing?" he asked, suddenly alarmed.
Twilight's eyes widened. The curse forces him to kill on a regular basis, she remembered. "Shining, we may have a problem," she said.