"The plants in the Crystal Empire are not really made of crystals." Coelistine wandered up and down in front of the blackboard. "Neither are the animals. It's like with our coats. They just look like a crystal from the outside and only when we are happy or feeling love.
"I have prepared a little something here." He stepped closer to his desk. The class, consisting of twenty ponies with their age ranging from six to eight years, followed every one of his moves. Coelistine pointed at a glass and a jug of water.
"Now, look here," he said, lifting the jug up with his magic, "when I fill this glass, which is made of quartz crystal, with water... like so... what can you see?"
A few hesitant hooves were raised.
"Snow Cloud?"
"There is water in the crystal glass?" offered an earth pony filly shyly.
"That's right. But when we drink water, what can we see?"
"Oh!" Her eyes widened in understanding. "We can't see the water anymore!"
"Exactly. A real crystal, in its true form, is often transparent. Some are not, like Magnetite or Sphaleite. But Crystal Creatures like us ponies are never, ever transparent. Our coat is imbued with magic that only makes us seem translucent but actually bends the light around us." He made a motion with his hoof around the glass.
"Imagine if we could see the food being digested," whispered a colt. "Gross!" His neighbor stuck out his tongue.
"Mister Coelistine!"
Him again. Coelistine closed his eyes for a second.
"Eclipse, it's nice that you are so curious but can it wait-"
"But this time, it's related to the subject," insisted Eclipse, bobbing up and down on his seat with both his forelegs raised. "I am happy, in general, so why don't I have a crystal coat?"
"Er... Some ponies that live here, like you, are descendants from outside the Empire. Your coat is different than ours, it's a bit softer, too. The magic in crystal coats makes a pony a tougher worker, or guard, than the regular Earth pony. On average, we have less strength, though. So, to be clear, there's nothing wrong with your coat."
"What about knights?" asked Eclipse. The class became restless and whispered among each other.
"Knights?" Coelistine hesitated. "We don't have any knights. Only Guards."
"But before? Weren't there knights before Sombra's reign?"
Before Coelistine could answer, the bell rang, a melodious ding-ding from the school tower.
Saved by the bell, the teacher thought, and said loudly over the rustling of the students packing their things, "Please write a summary of what you learned today about crystal creatures. Name three examples of differences between those and actual crystals."
As he packed his own things and went to the sink to empty the glass, Coelistine felt somepony standing behind him.
"Yes, Eclipse?"
"Mister Coelistine, I'm adopted." Eclipse shifted his saddlebags around on his back.
The teacher raised his brows. "I figured," he said cautiously.
"The pegasi have something like knights," said Eclipse. "They call it the Phalanx. I've read that there used to be city states. Now they are integrated into Equestria but they still have those armies."
"I wasn't aware you were interested in military history," said Coelistine, wiping the glass dry with a towel.
"When I grow up I want to become a Royal Guard," said Eclipse proudly. "Like Prince Shining Armor. Or a knight like... Or a knight."
"I see. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there are no knights in the Empire. I think there used to be an order of knights very long ago," he added, rubbing his chin, "but they disappeared shortly before the reign of King Sombra. It's possible he..."
"... made them disappear?" finished Eclipse, frowning.
Coelistine winced uncomfortably. "Yes."
To his relief, Eclipse nodded and did not ask anything else. "Okay then. Thanks, Mister Coelistine. See you tomorrow, Sir!" The colt waved, then ran outside to find his sister who was in a different class.
Coelistine stood in the empty classroom, his eyes on the glass. He knew that Eclipse had been adopted by the White family shortly after the Empire's return. It had cost him some restraint not to see Sombra when looking at the dark grey colt with the black mane. It had helped that Eclipse was so cheerful and uncomplicated, more that one would have expected from a recently adopted pony. On top of that, he was a pegasus, not a unicorn. Plus, his eyes were a deep blue, not the red irises of the tyrant. The only bad thing that could be said about him was that he sometimes asked too much in class, disrupting the flow of Coelistine's teaching. That did not worry him too much, though, better if Eclipse was this way than passive and apathetic.
It was a sad coincidence that the colt resembled Sombra so much. Coelistine had caught his classmates giving Eclipse a hard time because of it. His sister had jumped to his side, defusing the situation, but Coelistine still remembered that Eclipse had asked no more questions for the rest of the week.
Coelistine smirked. As a teacher, he was not supposed to have favourite students. But Eclipse's curiousity had once again spiked his own. Now he caught himself wanting to know more about knights.
The market was full as always. Coelistine wandered across the plaza in a zig zag pattern, looking for the apple stand. He had always liked apples. After finding out that the Element of Honesty loved them, too, he liked the fruit even more. Today, he had run out.
He spotted the green flag fifty yards across the plaza. Coelistine trotted over, making his way past two ponies that enthusiastically argued over the prize of a bag of peanuts.
"Excuse me," he said, gently pushing through the narrow gap. He immediately bumped against something - no, somepony.
A young stallion had been hiding around the corner of the peanut stall. His eyes darted from the bag of fruit he was clutching to Coelistine's face. He had been stealing from a vendor! The dark brown hooded cloak he was wearing failed at hiding his face since it was about two sizes too small for him.
"Sombra?" mouthed Coelistine incredulously. There was an extreme, even impossible, likeness. If he had not known that the pony was dead, Coelistine could have sworn he was the real deal. The stallion's emerald eyes widened in shock and he dropped the bag. He lit his horn. Green magic picked up the stolen fruit and the thief bolted.
"Hey! Wait!" Coelistine ran after the stallion, turning over crates and barrels as he tried to keep up. Angry shouts followed him as he stayed right on the thief's tail, thankful that the hours of gallopping in the evening finally payed off.
He cornered the stallion in an alley two blocks away from the plaza. Both of them were trying to catch their breath, staring at each other. The thief's hood had fallen back, revealing a mane as dark as obsidian. Coelistine had not noticed it before but the stallion's curved horn was wrapped in a cloth as if injured. The stallion spoke.
"Please... please, I don't have any money," he panted.
"What?"
"I can't pay," explained the thief. "I would've if I could, I swear." He talked with the scratchy voice of somepony who wanted to avoid a visit to the City Guard at all costs.
Coelistine sighed, brushing back his mane. He kept a distance of a few feet but made sure to stand in the middle of the alley so the stallion could not run past him.
"I don't want to report you. I don't even know who you are. You look like somepony I know, though."
Please don't be him, he thought.
"You and the rest of the Empire." The stallion groaned as he realized his slip up. "Crap."
He huffed in exasperation and eyed the alley behind Coelistine. Once again taking the bag into his magic, the stallion ran towards freedom - but Coelistine tackled him and threw him to the ground. The two of them rolled into a bush, entangled, and were stopped when the thief's back hit the wall of a house. He called out in pain, wincing. Coelistine used the chance to grab the cloak and lift it.
The stallion had no Cutie Mark.
"It is you," whispered Coelistine. "I can't believe it."
Sombra ripped the cloak from his grip. Eventually, he broke free and stood up.
"I'll have to kill you," he said hoarsely, frowning at the teacher. Coelistine shivered. He had to act fast if he wanted to get out of this in one piece. Maybe he could distract Sombra, confuse him enough to escape.
"Why? It's not like you." The teacher rose and brushed the dust off his forelegs. "You've always been a nerdy kind of guy. And really nice, too."
"Not anymore," said Sombra coldly. "I have... what are you saying?"
"You wanted to be one of the heroes."
Sombra squinted his eyes as he recognized the teacher. "Mister Coelistine?"
"I still remember you running around the school yard, playing with that filly. What was her name? Hope? By the stars, you've really payed for all the shit you've done, haven't you." He scoffed with contempt and even though his heart was beating so fast that his neck felt half its size, Coelistine pressed on. "You even died. Usually I woudn't say it but I think that's a fair consequence for slavery and high treason."
Sombra stood frozen and looked to the ground. Was that guilt? Shame even? Had he hit a nerve?
"Don't say her name," he said, his voice cracking.
"Sorry, kid." Coelistine took the bag of fruit from the ground and tossed it over to Sombra. The bag was not caught. It fell to the ground and a few pears rolled out. "I had hoped I'd been wrong. When you seized power I didn't even recognize that colt anymore."
"Me neither." Sombra avoided his gaze. He took the bag and turned to run again.
"Hey!" called Coelistine even though his mind called himself an idiot. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Thanks." Sombra put up the hood and disappeared around the corner.
Thank the stars for my big mouth. That had been really close. Coelistine exhaled and flopped to the ground as his knees gave. He wiped the sweat from his face with a shivering hoof and felt the sudden desire to have a strong drink.
Arcus annoyed the two guards at the door. He kept walking in a circle in front of them, waiting for the portal they were guarding to open. They looked straight ahead but Jonathan caught one of them following Arcus with his eyes. He smirked and leaned against the opposite wall, arms crossed.
Finally, one wing of the large door swung open and Twilight stepped outside, followed by Detective Blaze, Abrasive Paper and two more guards. One of them was without armour and had a bandage around his head. Still, the way he walked alongside the others was a giveaway. Jonathan winced inwardly, guessing where the bandage came from. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor did not follow; they remained inside the Throne Room. There was probably a second door through which ponies could enter or leave the room, mused Jonathan.
Arcus stopped his pacing and turned to Twilight and Darren.
"How did it go?" he asked nervously.
Detective Blaze eyed the guard with the bandage. The pony frowned back at him. Then, without further comment, the three guards left; only Blaze stayed behind.
"So, when?" Blaze asked Twilight.
She rubbed her chin. "Today, I think. Please give me two hours, I'll have the money until then."
"Understood. Thank you for your cooperation, Princess. See you later."
"Er, yes, see you later, Detective," said Twilight awkwardly, giving him a broad smile. Blaze turned to walk away when he thought of something. He looked over his shoulder.
"By the way, you did really good. This your first time representing somepony?"
Twilight blushed. "Yes," she admitted.
"I have seen attorneys less prepared than you, Ma'am." Blaze grinned and left, his cloak swaying as he picked up the pace.
"That went well, I think." Twilight smiled at Darren.
"Yes. Thank you for your help. I will repay you once I-"
Twilight shook her head.
"No," she said. "I won't have that. You need to get settled first, Darren. Anything else can be discussed after that."
Darren lowered his hood to look Twilight in the eyes.
"If you are sure."
"Is anypony going to tell us now?" said Arcus impatiently.
"I was supposed to pay 8,000 bits for battery, but - ," Darren raised an eyebrow, "- since I saved Eclipse from dark magic, the fee was reduced to 5,000." He adjusted his backpack and scabbard as he spoke. The backpack was significantly larger than before. Jonathan suspected that Darren had put his armour inside of it. That would explain the metallic noises the pack made when they walked.
"That's still a shitload of money," said Jonathan, his eyes wide. "You gonna be alright?"
Darren hesitated. Twilight stepped forward before he could reply.
"I'm going to pay it," she said. "Since I'm not a princess of the Empire I can't pardon Darren. But the least I can do is help out."
"Oh, good." Arcus was relieved. "So that's what the talk with Blaze was about. Good thing it's not a prison sentence! That would have been a problem."
"Actually, I suggested the fee," said Twilight. "I'm just really glad they did not ask why. Come on, let's go. I'd like to go to the bank."
"So, Darren," said Jonathan as they walked along the corridor, "do you have an idea where you gonna stay? The City Guard's hospitality probably expired after this, er, hearing."
Darren smirked. "True. I hope to exchange my old money for bits. It's mainly gold and silver, that should suffice for a week or so. Still, I will obviously have to work and rent a house. That is, after..."
"...solving the other problem," finished the priest. "Any new impressions you might wanna share?"
Darren shook his head. "Same."
"Still hungry?" Jonathan pressed on.
Arcus rolled his eyes.
"Jon, why in Tartarus are you so convinced it's going to be the same with him as it was with you?"
"Same curse, same cure?" suggested Jonathan, wrapping his scarf tighter around his neck; Darren's cold aura made even him shiver. He frowned, biting back another comment.
"Darren's not a priest," said Arcus. "I'm still not convinced about the Crystal Heart -"
"If you don't mind," Darren cut him off, "I'd like to try dinner today."
"Oh!" Twilight beamed. "I'll invite you!"
Jonathan huffed. It was rare that Darren interrupted someone. Was it really the best thing to pamper the knight like this? Maybe they should just leave him be? At least Twilight should not carry the entire load of helping Darren out, Princess of not. He cleared his throat and raised his brows, saying firmly, "Let me. You got the fee covered, I've got this covered, alright?"
Twilight's ears folded back. "Sure. Of course. Right, it would be weird if I... yes."
"Are we good, Princess?" said Jonathan, giving her a friendly smile.
Twilight nodded, her ears still down. The fur all over her back bristled.
"Anyway," Arcus changed the subject, "Got to catch the night train. I called in sick for today, just in case, but I can't pull that off for two days in a row without seeing a doctor." He grinned. "Still worth it, though. Great to see you didn't get lost in the Twisting Nether, Darren." His expression grew serious. "You're gonna be okay."
The cold subsided a little. Arcus stretched out his hoof and Darren bumped it with his fist.
"Take care," said Darren, "and... thank you."
"Anytime. And if you need somepony for advice or any help, just call me."
"Call you? How?"
Jonathan grinned widely.
"When we've eaten, I've got a really cool surprise for you."