Arc and company step out of the portal.
Arc stretches. It’s good to be home again!
Raven looks up from her work. “Commander I... GOOD HEAVENS!!! SOMEPONY HELP!!!”
Flash Sentry and a few guards run into the Main Hall! They look at Arc and his squad, horrified at the extremely bloody sight before them! “Commander! Are you all right?!”
Arc laughs! “Yes, yes not to worry. None of this blood is ours! Just a little adventure during our training exercises.”
Ember laughs! “Yes, we’re fine!”
Arc turns to his squad. “Good job out there! Let’s hit the showers!”
Ember shoots Arc a wicked smile! “Great idea, Arc!”
He rolls his eyes. “Very funny, Ember! You can use the shower in my quarters.
She gives him a withering look! “ARGH! Why are you humans so darn modest?!”
Arc and company leave to get cleaned up. Flash Sentry and the Royal Guards with him can only look after them, traumatized! “He calls that a ‘little adventure’?!”
The squad follows Arc to their semi-private quarters where they get cleaned up. A Royal Guard enters momentarily to drop off fresh clothes for Arc. Afterwards, Arc and his troops sit down together on the couches.
“I feel much better now that you boys have drawn your… uh… “first blood” so to speak.”
Xenos looks over at Arc. “It was just hunting, but I would have hated for somepony to freeze up during the real thing!”
Max leans back on the couch with the others. “I’m almost afraid to ask but, what’s next on the agenda, sir?”
“To tell you the truth, I’m working on our next plan as we speak. Why don't you all take it easy for the rest of the day. I'll figure it out by tomorrow.”
Arc reclines for a bit with his squad before getting up and heading down the hall. “I guess I should see how Saffron made out with the meat we sent her.”
He heads to the kitchen to find Saffron preparing the evening meal. She looks up as he enters.
“Commander! What can I do for you?”
“I just wanted to make sure all was well with the meat we sent over the other day.”
Saffron nods! “Yes, I finished preparing it. Most of it went into the deep freezer, but let's just say at least you and Ember are set in the food department for quite a while! Tonight I’ll make you a special dish with cockatrice meat!”
“Good! Looking forward to it!”
Arc leaves the kitchen and heads back to his quarters. Closing the door behind him and walking slowly into his living room. “Whew! What a day!”
A voice calls out softly behind him. Arc turns to see Ember standing in the doorway to his room with a towel wrapped around her body.
He raises an eyebrow. “Ember... that doesn't really work for you.”
Ember whips the towel off and slams it on the floor angrily! “Darn! Lyra said this was a good idea!”
“LYRA?! I she STILL trying to learn about… what did she call it… human mating rituals?!”
“Yup.”
Arc folds his arms across his chest. “And you are only too happy to help!”
She smiles guiltily at him. “Right again!”
He rolls his eyes. “Well, you can tell Lyra that a human would be more likely to mate with a pony than a dragon!”
Lyra pops her head out of the nearby closet. “REALLY?!”
“YES!”
Lyra slowly walks toward him, batting her eyelashes.” Well then… how about you and I…
Arc interrupts her. “No! Lyra! Out! Now!”
She walks toward the back door. “Alright! Maybe next time!”
Arc looks to Ember as Lyra leaves. “Remind me to talk to Flash Sentry about tighter security measures.”
“Will do.”
Arc and Ember sit down on the couch together.
“So where are we headed next?”
He looks out the window, avoiding her gaze. “I haven’t decided.”
Ember nods slowly and narrows her eyes. “Oh, I think we both know you have.”
Arc turns to look at her, sighing. “…is it that obvious?”
“Vanhoover?”
He nods. “Vanhoover. I'm worried about those orphans. If any of what Xenos and the others told us is true about the Matron, well let's just say their futures look... dark.”
“Not saying the orphans aren't important but, is this really the best use of the Hero of Light's time? I mean, isn't this more of a social worker/bureaucrat problem? There's plenty of other issues you could be solving! Princess Celestia's disappearance, Captain Decimus' actions, recent monster activity in the Everfree Forest! You're not listening to a word I say, are you?”
“Not really.”
“But Arc…”
Arc looks over at her angrily! “My mind is made up Ember! My next mission is the investigation of the New Beginnings Orphanage, and that is FINAL!”
“Is something bothering you Arc? I've never seen you this passionate about anything before! Other than cupcakes, I guess.”
Arc turns away to look away from her. “I… well… it’s just… Look, let’s just say it’s a tale for another day and let it go, okay?”
Ember nods at him soberly. “I'll hold you to that! So, when are you leaving?”
“As soon as I come up with a plan.”
She smiles! “Actually thinking things through for a change. I like it!”
“Yes, well... This is too important to just charge in, guns blazing!”
“Anything I can do to help?”
Arc shakes his head. “Actually, I think I already have the framework of a plan already. I just need some time... and a good meal.”
Ember facepalms. “I should've seen that one coming!”
Arc and Ember stand up and head for the Cafeteria. As they enter, the pair are greeted by Saffron.
“Good afternoon sir! I just finished preparing your meal. I hope you like it!”
Ember looks over at Saffron angrily! “Hey! What about me?!”
Saffron smiles warmly as she produces another plate. “Don't worry Miss Ember! I made enough for two.”
“Thanks! This smells great!”
The pair leave the Cafeteria. Ember heads back toward Arc's quarters but he heads the other direction.
“Arc? Where are you going?”
“Home. Care to join me?”
“Sure!”
The pair proceed to the Main Hall and step onto the sigil as Arc calls forth his gauntlet. “Raven. Inform Flash Sentry I’m leaving for a while. And get me everything you can on the New Beginnings Orphanage in Vanhoover. I'll be back in an hour or so.”
“Yes sir! The other files you requested are on your desk as well.”
“Excellent! I’ll review them when I return. Thank you.”
Arc powers up the sigil and teleports him and Ember back to Derpy's house. Dinky sees them and runs over to give her father a hug!
“Dad! You’re home! Are you staying?!”
“Sadly not. There's work to be done in the northwest.”
“Aww… can I come?!”
Derpy walks towards them happily! “Glad your home, Arc! We were just about ready to eat!”
Arc holds up his own lunch plate. “I guess we should sit down then.”
The four sit down around the table and talk about the upcoming mission.
Derpy serves Dinky some salad and looks over at Arc. “So, what’s this about trouble in the northwest?”
“Well, it has come to my attention that there is an orphanage in Vanhoover called the New Beginnings Orphanage. The word is they are abusing the foals there. I'm going there personally to verify these reports and see who needs rescuing! And who needs a knuckle sandwich!”
Derpy appears deeply concerned at this news! “Oh my! Is there anything I can do?”
“Not that I can think of. Right now I'm still working on a plan. I was looking at an infiltration mission for this one! Any ideas for a spell that can change me into a foal?”
“I don't know much about magic, so I'm not completely sure. Transmogrification magic is quite advanced stuff! But to de-age you to a foal would definitely be Chrono Magic. Twilight once told me nopony in Equestria was THAT powerful!”
Dinky looks up. “What about using a real filly then, dad?”
“I don't like the idea of putting a filly in harm’s way. Who did you have in mind, Dinky?”
She looks to her father with a very serious face. “Me.”
Arc and Derpy both choke on their food! “YOU?!?!?!”
She nods. “Yes, me.”
Derpy is the first to clear her throat! “What?! Dear, this will be DANGEROUS!”
Ember nods. “You mom's right! Leave this to us!”
“I know mom, but... will it be any less dangerous for those foals in the Orphanage to stay there?! Please! I want to help them!”
“While I really don’t like this idea... I suppose I could ask Twilight to teach me Platinum Valve's Matter Compacting spell so I could come with you. Kronos did say that Equestria would have need of her soon, Derpy. Perhaps this is what it meant.”
Derpy appears apprehensive. “I admit I’d feel a lot better about this if your father was with you, dear. All right, as long as Arc can stay with you it's okay with me.”
“YAY!!!”
Arc nods. “As soon as supper is over, we’ll head over to the Golden Oaks Library. Twilight was able to figure it out in a few minutes. Hopefully she can teach it to me.”
Ember looks over to Arc and shakes her head. “You're really going to go through with this, aren't you?!”
“If you have any other ideas, I'm open to suggestions.”
Ember hangs her head. “No... I don't.”
“It's settled then!”
They finish eating and head over to see Twilight. Arc knocks on the door of the library. In a few moments Twilight answers.
She looks at them happily “Hi everypony! Come in!”
They step inside. Arc turns to her.
"Good evening, Twilight. Sorry to bother you at this hour."
“It’s no problem! What can I do for you today?!”
“I know this is really last minute, but do you think you could teach me how to cast that Matter Compacting spell?”
Twilight looks confused. “I suppose so, but... why now?”
Ember rolls her eyes. “Arc needs it to help him and Dinky infiltrate an... orphanage.”
She looks at Arc as if he’s lost his mind! “Wait a second! You want me to do what... so you can do… WHAT?!”
Arc looks pained. “It sounds bad when you say it like that, Ember.”
Derpy steps forward. “Please Twilight! I'm not exactly keen on the idea myself, but this is really important!”
Ember nods! “A bunch of foals may need help!”
Dinky looks over at Twilight with puppy dog eyes. “Please?!”
Twilight sighs and looks a bit downcast. “Fine…”
“YAY!!!”
The two get right to work! “It takes Twilight over and hour to teach Arc the spell. And another hour before he feels confident enough to use it consistently.
“That's the best I can do on such short notice. The rest is up to you practicing, Arc.”
“Thanks Twilight! Whew! I’m exhausted!”
Ember looks over at Arc. She looks a bit irritated. “I already explained this to you, Arc! If it doesn’t involve fighting, Dragon Magic can be pretty taxing on the mana pool!”
“Don't worry Arc. The more you practice with higher level spells the bigger your mana pool will become. Think of it like exercise!”
Arc nods. “Makes sense. Thanks Twilight, but we need to get back to the base now. There's so much more we need to do prior to tomorrow.”
Derpy looks up sheepishly. “All of us?”
“Yes, Derpy! Do you think I would leave you behind on a mission in which Dinky was partaking?!”
“Thanks Arc! Ember, are you coming too?”
Ember shakes her head. “I would but, let’s just say dragons don’t do subterfuge very well.”
“Think you could show Flash Sentry and our guards a few moves while we're gone?”
“Sure! I’ll see what they’re made of!”
Derpy sighs. “And now I’m worried…”
Arc looks over. “That makes two of us.”
The party heads back to Light's Hope and makes a beeline form Arc's office. He gestures to the files piled on his desk. Please excuse the mess. Busy, busy, busy…”
Derpy points a hoof at the piles. “Wow, I didn't know you were THIS busy with paperwork, Arc!”
He points to a smaller pile. “The larger stacks are personnel files I need to go thorough. These are the files we want.”
Derpy looks at the stack suspiciously. “What are they?”
“: Everything officially known about New Beginnings Orphanage. Let's start reading! Dinky, I want you to head to the kitchen and tell Saffron we are going to have a rather late-night study session. We'll need lots of tea and snacks.”
Dinky playfully salutes as she runs to the kitchen to carry out her task. “Yes sir!”
“Well then, let’s start reading!”
Each of them grabs a folder and review it. A short time later Dinky returns with Saffron who is pushing a cart with a tea set on it. She looks around as they enter the office.
“Oh my word! I had no idea that being the Hero of Light required so much paperwork!”
Arc waves to her with a folder in his hand. “It does! Thanks for the tea, Saffron! Any snacks?”
“I can bake some cookies.”
“Perfect!”
Saffron leaves the room as Dinky walks over to them. “What can I do, dad?”
Arc grabs a very large scroll and walks over to the corner of the room. He unrolls it and lays it on the floor. “I need you to look this over.”
Dinky looks confused. “What is it?”
“These are the blueprints of the New Beginnings Orphanage. Now I know it won’t be easy, but I need you to commit the entire thing to memory! Part of subterfuge and stealth is not making unnecessary movements. We can't have you stumbling around looking for something when you could just go straight there!”
Dinky nods. “I understand.”
“Good girl! I'll quiz you on it later.”
The little filly lays down on the floor and carefully studies the plans. All of them continue their research late into the night.
“Dad, I think I have this down pat! There's just one thing that doesn't make sense.”
Her father walks over to her. “Oh? What's that?”
Dinky points at something on the blueprint with her hoof. “This right here! It looks like there’s a trap door leading down here. But there’s no basement on the blueprints!”
“That's odd... let me take a look at the civil drawings.”
Arc walks back to his desk and unrolls another blueprint. He looks them over before bringing them over to Dinky and lying them down next to her. “Here we are! According to this, one of the town's original aqueducts runs under the orphanage. This hatch must be an access door of some sort.”
Derpy and Ember walk over and join them. “But why would they have that?”
Arc points to some writing in the lower right corner of the page. “Good question, but take a look at this.”
Ember looks over his shoulder. “Looks like it says ‘Drafted by T. Shadow’. A pony of many skills.”
Arc turns to look at Derpy and Ember. “I'll say. Anything else of note in those files?”
Derpy holds up a page. “It looks like the orphanage was originally supposed to be a training facility for elite shock troops. Princess Celestia deep-sixed the plan part way through and ordered it be turned into an orphanage.”
Ember nods. “It says here that the pony who was supposed to run the facility was a military prodigy in the special forces division! Looks like she was tops in her class in everything and took the news of the change of plans rather hard! Uh oh...”
“Uh oh what?”
“Shortly after the orphanage opened, she took over as Matron of the facility!”
Derpy looks over at her wide-eyed! “Are you saying the Matron is actually a Special Forces expert?!”
Ember nods. “Looks like it!”
Arc stands up. “Well, that explains a lot.”
Dinky gives him a confused look. “It does?”
“Sure. She was unable to train the next generation of Special Forces, so she did the next best thing she could think of.”
Ember frowns. “Which was…?”
“Preparing foals for a life of service in the Equestrian Military.”
Derpy looks down at her hooves sadly. “How... sad. To have a future forced upon you...”
“Don't worry Derpy. We're going to put a stop to it! In any case... let's see how well you studied that blueprint Dinky.”
Arc draws a rough sketch of the blueprint on the chalkboard. “Now Dinky, I want you to fill out the names of each of these rooms from memory.”
Dinky walks over levitating a piece of chalk with her magic. “Sure thing!”
She quickly does so. Arc looks back and forth from the board to the print in his hands. “Well done! You have quite the memory!”
“Thanks dad!”
“What now, Arc?”
Arc looks over at Dinky. “Let's see how well I can hide in your mane, Dinky.”
He casts the Matter Compacting spell on himself and shrinks down to roughly the size of a large button. Ember walks over and lowers a claw to him. “Need a lift?”
Arc steps into her claw. “Thanks!”
Ember places Arc on Dinky’s head. He hides himself in her mane behind her ear. Dinky giggles! “Hee, hee! That tickles!”
“Okay Dinky, can you hear me?”
“Yes! It feels like you’re inside my head!”
“Good! I want you to try walking around now.”
Dinky trots around the room. “How’s this, dad?”
“So far so good. Now, try shaking your head, hard!”
“But I might hurt you!”
“That's the point! I have to be sure I can hold on no matter what you do.”
“All right…”
Dinky jumps and shakes her head violently for about 15 seconds!
“Woah... dizzy... you all right back there, dad?”
“Ugh... I think I know how laundry feels right now... but I'll be fine. Can you run up and down the hallway a few times?”
Dinky runs out of the room! “All right, here we go!”
Ember turns to Derpy. “I think Dinky may be enjoying this a bit too much.”
Derpy nods her head as Dinky runs back into the room. “Arc as well.”
Arc yells in Dinky’s ear. “Sudden stop!”
Dinky stops as fast as she can as Arc lets go of her mane and flies forward toward Ember! He quickly casts the counter spell and returns to his normal size in midair!
Ember’s pupils shrink. “Oh sh…!”
Arc plows into Ember and the two collapse on the floor in a pile. “I think we have ourselves a secret weapon there! You okay Ember?”
“Just peachy…”
Arc helps Ember up. “Well, looks like Dinky and I are ready for our part. Now's probably a good time to get some sleep. Come on you two, I'll walk you home.”
He leads Derpy and Dinky out of the office as Ember calls out after him. “I'll see you back at your quarters Arc.”
“Alright. I won't be long.”
Arc sees to it Derpy and Dinky make it home safely before he returns to Light's Hope via sigil magic. He sighs to himself as he flops down on his bed.
“Finally! Time for some rest!”
Suddenly he feels a claw on his back.
“Oh… hello Ember.”
“Miss me?”
Arc rolls his eyes. “I just saw you like twenty minutes ago.”
“Was it that long?”
He sighs. “Ember, you do realize there is another bed in this room, right?”
“Yes.”
“A bed that I had put there specifically for you to sleep in?”
“Yes.”
“So, why don't you sleep in your own bed?”
“There's something wrong with it.”
“What’s that?”
She grins at him wickedly. “You’re not in it!”
Arc rolls over. “Argh! Good night Ember!”
Ember snuggles up against Arc’s back and closes her eyes. “Good night.”