//------------------------------//
// Heart | Spades 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

"You lost her, didn't you?"
"Sir, I-"
"Again."
The first of the two guards looked down to the ground. "Yes, Sir."
Shining shook his head, possibly more amused than annoyed. "I don't know why I still trust you with this," he said, but his tone was friendly.
"To be fair, Sir," the second guard replied, "we did not expect her to teleport through the wall."
Shining just looked up at the ceiling, almost as if expecting someone else to look down from the sky and come save him, then he turned around and began to walk through the corridor. "Let's find her before Cadence comes back, she'll get worried otherwise."
The two guards looked at each other, then began to follow him. "Sir," the first began, "Princess Cadence is currently-"
"Taking a nap in her rooms?" Shining looked back for a moment while still walking forward. "Nah. That mare sneaked away through the window, she's on top of the Wall right now."
"And how do you know, Sir, if I can ask?" asked the second one. 
"I just do, Quartz. I just do." Shining reached a new hallway, and had a look around. 
"Which way, Captain?" the two guards asked together.
Looking to his left, Shining pointed a hoof behind himself, to the right. "I'd say we follow the trail of knocked-down flowerpots and disassembled armours."



The trip with Rainbow had gone well. Perfectly, even, for what it was supposed to be. The area had been secured, and nothing dangerous had happened. And yet... 
"Rarity?" Sweetie Belle's face peeked out from behind the half-closed door, accompanied by her light knocking on it. "Is everything okay?"
Rarity lifted her head up from the table, and had to bite down on her lip as a few pops went off in her neck and back. That at least gave her some distraction from the seconds of nausea and disorientation that followed her abrupt motion. When the room finally decided to stop spinning and the misshapen splotches of colour danced their way out of her eyes for good, she answered, "Yes, Sweetie. No need to worry."
Her sister seemed hesitant to leave. "Okay. I'm here in the other room if you need me. Do you want me to make dinner?"
"I..." Rarity looked at Sweetie Belle, then at the clock on the wall, then at the open bottle lying on the table, already too empty to spill anything even while on its side. She really wished to begin another make-out session between her forehead and the table for a moment. Instead, she just looked back to her sister. "I'm sorry. I'll make something, just... Give me fifteen minutes or so, okay?"
"Okay." Sweetie Belle gave a small nod, then slid back out of the room.
Rarity went back to looking at the table. There was a sheet of paper on it, set askew, one of the ones she used to sketch on, and without thinking she turned it around. A rough design for a hat was drawn on the other side.
She grabbed the bottle and downed the rest of it.