Little was looking around on the little playing area, unsure of where to go or what to do.
"Heya." Apple Bloom came up beside her. "It's lunch time. You eaten already?"
"No." Little inclined her head left and right, ears wobbling. "What food?"
Apple Bloom clopped a hoof to her face. "Did we not bring you somethin'?"
"What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle joined them. "Heya Little Hop! Enjoying your first day?"
"No lunch," explained Little. "It's alright, so far."
A loud snort drew all their attention towards a new pony joining the mix. Diamond Tiara had entered the conversation. "They send you bunnies without food?"
"Tsuki," corrected Little nervously.
"That, right." She turned and waved, an old stallion marching up, her butler. "Get her something to eat."
"As you command, miss." And soon he had a little table set down and a wide variety of little plates, each with something different to sample.
Apple Bloom peered at it wide-eyed. "You just have him bring a spare lunch just in case?"
"No, that'd be dumb." Diamond rolled her eyes. "That was all mine, but I'm full. Go on." She pointed at the selection. "Eat up."
Little stepped up uncertainly, nose dancing as she took in the various scents. She homed in on a big ripe mushroom. A big fat portobello mushroom plate, grilled and appealing to her developed senses. She grabbed up one of them and began nibbling excitedly, happy noises lifting from her quivering form.
Apple Bloom tilted her head to the left. "Huh, who knew tsuki loved mushrooms? That was right kind of you, Diamond."
"Very kind," agreed Sweetie Belle. "I already ate all of mine," she added with a note of regret. "If I had known..."
Diamond buffed her chest softly. "I have it, so I can share it." She walked up to Little, watching her eat. "You look like you're enjoying that."
Little stuffed the rest of that mushroom into her mouth, chewing in great munches before it was gone in an equally big swallow. "Thank you!" She reached for Diamond, embracing the stunned-looking filly. "Good pony."
Diamond squirmed out of that grasp. "Easy there. Your hands have grease on them." She rolled her eyes, a smirk on her lips. "The name's Diamond Tiara."
"Little Hop." She pointed to herself, then began to point at the others. "Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle."
Diamond laughed at that. "Oh, I know their names just fine."
"Friends? Good!" Little brought her hands together in a loud single clap before reaching for the other mushroom that remained. "We are friends now, yes? Nice to make so many friends. Fast."
Apple Bloom slid in next to Diamond Tiara. "Be gentle on her. She's new in town."
"New in the country," spat back Diamond. "I know that. I never saw a tsuki before. Look at those horns." Her eyes moved to the horns atop Little's head. "Not like a unicorn at all. Can she do magic with them?"
"I don't think so." Sweetie Belle lifted up a roasted carrot in her magic, lifting it slowly towards Little's snout.
Little did not reply with magic. She just grabbed the floating carrot and it was soon gone. Her eyes went to Sweetie though. "Thank you."
Sweetie nervously laughed. "I was testing something, I admit. Can you do magic?"
Little inclined her head left and right. "Tsuki don't do magic. Tsuki do better." She stood up, bouncing in place a little. "I saw other tsuki working on it. Do magic."
"Better?" Sweetie shook her head before lifting her shoulders. "This I wanna see. What kind of magic?"
"Magic."
With that clear instruction given, Sweetie settled on making her horn glow brightly atop her head. "Ta da!"
Little's eyes fixed on it even as they slowly closed. She tried to do as she had seen the adult does doing. She felt for the flow of magic, and she tried to slip along with it, to follow its trail.
Soft gasps made her open her eyes, and ruined the moment. "What?!"
Sweetie pointed at Little. "Your fur started changing colors."
"All wild like," agreed Apple Bloom. "But mostly where Sweetie was. That's a neat trick ya did there."
Sweetie giggled. "I got distracted." Her horn wasn't glowing anymore.
"And so did she," noted Diamond, looking to Little. "You done eating?"
"Much better." She patted her belly and fell back to all fours. "Thank you."
Diamond made a little shooing motion and her butler was on the case, packing up the food for later use or disposal. "You're welcome. Now we should get back to class or Miss Cheerilee will get mad at us."
Scootaloo skidded to a halt right beside the table, flipping an entire plate off of it onto a waiting hoof that she bounced towards Little. "That wasn't nearly enough. You're a big fil--um, whatever little tsuki are called."
Little caught the plate with an alarmed squeak for fear of it smashing against the ground. "Are you sure? You don't need it?" She was looking to Diamond Tiara.
Silver Spoon leaned a bit against Diamond Tiara, joining the crowd. "She is, like, too cute."
"She is kind of sweet." Diamond made a wave of a hoof. "Go on, eat it. I offered to share, didn't I?"
"You are a very good pony." Little Hop grabbed a dangling napkin and cleaned her hands in a flurry of motion before reaching to grab for Diamond anew.
Diamond danced back with a little laugh. "You have to earn hugging rights. Finish your food and head inside." Scooting around Little, she returned to the classroom.
Silver Spoon peered at Little skeptically as she went past, just to pause. "Do you like hugging all ponies?"
Permission given to eat, Little let the pasta slide off the plate into her maw, chomping it noisily and mesilly, her snout becoming a mess as she tried the new food. "So good! I never tried this before, what is it?" She looked to Silver Spoon who happened to be right there. "Do you know?"
"Looked like wheat noodles with a tomato sauce and stuff." Silver nodded in agreement with herself, just to be grabbed by Little. Luck was with her, the tsuki's hands and arms still clean even if her face was a mess. She was being hugged warmly. She tensed, but soon relaxed. Being hugged by a tsuki was kinda nice... "You're, like, welcome."
Sweetie floated over a cloth napkin, dabbing and cleaning at Little's face. "Come on, we have to go."
It was time to return to class, but Little had gained two new friends, which meant it had been a very good lunch indeed.
Shining looked from one to the next. Some looked sullen, others glared at him defiantly. They had captured five griffons. "Two of you we couldn't save," he started. "I apologize for that."
"Fool," spat one of them, spitting on the floor towards Shining, but not quite reaching him. "Do you think we weren't trying to do the same?"
Shining frowned at the spiteful bird-cat. "Unlike you, we do not relish in the idea of death. You are our prisoners, but you will not be abused. You will be given trials and judged for your crimes."
Another griffon sagged with a miserable groan. "Then it's off to jail forever instead of just killing us and getting it over with. So much better!"
Shining circled in front of that griffon. "So long as you draw breath, things can improve. You can improve. I am sorry two of you were denied that. Some of our own also saw their last yesterday. We are going home, you're coming with us. Think on what you did, and what you will do." He turned away and began walking.
Other ponies closed in to get them up on their feet and the procession began in earnest to emerge from the cave and begin the journey back towards the Crystal Empire.
A crystal mare trotted alongside the prisoners. "You know," she spoke to none of them specifically. "I bet whoever knows what they're up to... and shares it... probably will get a lot less of a punishment." A few glanced towards her, but none of them spoke, yet. She smiled faintly, continuing her strategy. "Just a few words, between friends. Nocreature else needs to ever know..."
It was her job for the trip back, to put on such pressure, in the hopes that one of them broke and gave valuable intelligence. it would make their intense battle worth it.
"Toby." The smith landed nearby, a strange new thing on his back swaying with its own weight and the changing momentum. "Have. Try."
"Try what?" Toby turned in place, rearing up to meet the smith in a warm hug. That was when he took a closer look at what was attached to him. "Oh! Hit hard." He pulled the sheathed sword right off the smith's back into his inexperienced hands, giving it a testing swing. It was about ten pounds of steel, weighted for the strong arms of a tsuki. "Big!"
"Hit hard," agreed the smith with a slow nod. "Come." He bounded away, trusting Toby would follow. He led the way to a small area set aside for tsuki practicing more martial things. Landing before a dummy, he pointed at it. "Hit. Hard."
Toby landed nearby and bounced up to his feet, drawing his new blade free from where it had been bouncing around on the way there. "Out of the way," he cautioned, not trying to swing it until the smith was shuffled aside. He griped tightly on the hilt and brought it down, just for it to bounce off, his arms and hands stinging. "Ow! What do wrong?"
The smith chuckled as he stepped forward. He reached for the length of metal and grabbed it. "No cut." He reached around and pointed instead of grabbing. "Cut." The heavy blade was only sharp on one side. "Hit. Cut." He hiked a thumb at the dummy. "Hard. No hit, cut. Again."
Toby turned the sword around, rotating it so the sharp part aimed the way he needed it to. "Sharp. Cut." It made sense! He hadn't spotted the difference before. "Hit. Hard." He raised the sword up and brought it down in a terrible slash, hopping up just as it came down, his entire body getting in on the rotation.
The sword bit into the hard wood of the dummy, creating a huge gash about three inches deep and about as wide. One of its arms dangled a moment before falling to the ground with a clatter. "Hit Hard!" declared Toby with the happiest grin. "Good. Good good. You are best." He let the sword drop so he could give the smith a fresh hug. "Need practice."
"Practice lots," agreed the smith, returning the hug. "Not done."
"Not done?" Toby peered back at the blade. He wasn't sure how it could be improved. "How not done?"
The smith grabbed for Toby's hands, turning them around to see where they had begun to swell painfully. "Hold, hurt. Not want hurt. Fix." He then thumped Toby right on the chest. "Not Hit."
"Not hit!" Toby realized then, remembering he had asked for armor, and that wasn't there. "Yes. You good tsuki."
"Do best." He hopped forward and grabbed the sword from the ground, putting it into a sheath on his back. "Work. Make better. You like."
"Already like!" gushed Toby with brimming joy at what was being made. "Even better. Thank you."
"Enough thank." He crossed his beefy arms. "Thank by hit hard, not be hit hard."
Toby nodded firmly, reaching for the sword, but the smith danced away, hopping back with a laugh.
"No," he stated simply, though he was smiling. "Not done. Be ready." He was gone in a great bound, leaping down the tunnels with practiced hops.
The left Toby behind, rubbing his hands together gently, trying to dismiss the pain they felt. "Get better." He moved to grab a stick that had been left there and gave it a swing. "Practice." He would do that, even if his sword wasn't ready. He would get his hands tough enough to not be hurt when he used what the smith made.
He would do his best!
Cadance hurried towards Shining when his head crested the stairs leading towards the throne room, but her approach stopped almost as quickly, seeing what was behind him. Many of the soldiers with him were in various stages of bandaging. The number of outright lost were low, but few had made it through the day without a scratch that needed a bandaging.
Then came the bodies and she took a step back. Each was on a stretcher, their faces covered. Those too injured to walk had not been covered. They were, by and large, awake, some even hopeful and happy to be home. Even the sleeping ones, their faces were visible.
The dead were wrapped tight, enemy and friend alike. "By Celestia..."
"Speaking of her." Shining broke off from his column. "Have we received any word from Canterlot?"
"Are you alright?" With him closer, she closed the distance, circling to take him all in. "You don't have any bandages."
He smiled at that. "The guards and the tsuki were fierce defenders."
With a soft thump, Celene landed beside him. "Say stupid. You protect." She pointed at Shining. "What you do."
Cadance inclined her head. "She does have a point there. Oh, Celene..." She came in closer, reaching a trembling hoof to trail among the many bandages that dotted her form. "Poor thing."
"Fight, hurt, be hurt," she grunted as if it should have been obvious. "Hurt more than be hurt. Is good."
"I'm certain you fought with all your power." Cadance drew a hoof back. "You must stay. The least we can do it give you a meal fitting such bravery." She turned to the soldiers still setting up. "That goes for all of you. We will hold a banquet, for the returning soldiers, all of them, even those who cannot join us..."
The tone grew a little more somber, but the energy grew. They would celebrate their mission, with its good and bads. They would see their beloved battle companions on with their heads held high.
Cadance closed with the prisoners. "Shining tells me you were with the bandits." None of them had words for her. "I would invite you as well."
One of them, a female, stood up awkwardly, bound as she was. "Why?! Why would you want to do that? That doesn't even start to make sense."
"Perhaps it does not." Cadance glanced away. "But the dead will remain dead. You fought, for what you believed in... I would hear more of it. Perhaps you can tell me why these creatures had to die. Maybe there is even a point to be found in it. Come, eat with us, and we can learn together." She raised a hoof to her chest. "Perhaps you will see our way of things. Either is possible, is it not?"
Shining set a hoof on her shoulder. "They're enemy combatants."
"They are our guests, forced or not," she replied with a scowl. "My invitation stands. Provided they will attend with manners, they are welcome."
The female shook in her bindings. "Well, whatever! If you're offering, I don't see no good reason to say no. I'll take a good dinner over jail slop if you're giving the choice."
Shining gestured, guards moving to undo her arm bindings, though her talons were still secure. "You understand you are still under arrest, and you are expected to be on your best behavior."
"The best I have," promised the griffon hen with a bit of a smirk on her lips. "Don't expect me to sing any pony songs by the end of it."
Shining flagged down a passing soldier. "You're with her. Make sure she behaves and see to her comfort. Make sure the rest arrive safely in jail."
"On it." The stallion got right to business without questioning Shining's order.
Cadance looked to the slings being dragged away, their contents secured. "How many of them... are ours, and how many are theirs?"
"We lost less than them." He turned an ear to Cadance. "But it was cut short. It wasn't a decisive victory for either side, barely a conflict before the fighting was forced to stop."
"Forced to stop?" She sat, raising a hoof to her chin. "I do not oppose the idea of stopping a fight, but what would cause that?"
"Cave in," he grunted. "We could have rushed in past it as it came down on us, or leave. We took the latter option... I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for." She touched her nose to his cheek. "You brought home as many as you could, and fought bravely. This dinner is for you too, don't forget. Did you learn anything?"
"Not as much as I would have liked to... The ones truly in charge either got away or were crushed. We can't know." He kicked the floor in an impotent display. "They do have magic, and not just blasting."
"That's more than we knew before." She slid against him, supporting him. "We've learned something at least."
"More than that." He stepped away, almost causing her to flop over artlessly. "They're too much, for bandits. They were prepared for us, and ready to fight it out. Only the cave in changed those plans, and that wasn't something they were trying to do."
A different tsuki doe landed near them. "Celene. She go home." She pointed at herself. "We go home."
Cadance stood up at the news. "Wait, please. There's more to be discussed, and many of you are hurt. Please, be our guest for a little while longer."
Shining was suddenly approaching the doe. "You were one of the ones that deflected their magic."
The doe inclined her head. "Stop magic, yes." She made a gesture from the front to the side in a swoosh. "Send away."
"Did you get a look at how they were doing it? The magic, I mean." He waved a hoof a little. "We really need to talk."
The doe shrank back a step. "Talk Celene." She was gone, leaving a Shining there with questioned unanswered.
"We can't force them." Cadance advanced to be at his side again. "We could try talking to their diplomat?"
"The tsuki kit? It couldn't hurt," he sighed out, sounding as if he had little hope in the effectiveness in the plan. "Try."
"I will do my best. You go wash yourself and be ready. That dinner is for you," she reminded. "Let's try to look at the positive side of things." She trotted off, leaving him behind for the moment.
At the sound of a clop at the door, the tsuki kit hopped to his paws and bounded to the door in one leap. He grabbed the knob and pulled it open. "Hello!" Then he say who it was. "Oh! Hello pony princess. How help?"
"Hello to you as well." She dipped her head. "The other tsuki came back from a big fight."
"Did they win this time?" he asked without delay.
The immediacy of it took Cadance by surprise. "They didn't lose," she went with, considering the stalemate her husband had described.
"Good." He clapped his hands and hopped back as he did in what looked like an awkward gait. "I will write a letter to Sombra to let him know."
"You are faithful about that job." She inclined her head faintly. "Do you know Celene?"
The kit stopped cold. "Scary. Good fighter. Why?"
"We want to thank her, for helping us. Do you know a good way to keep her from going home right away?" Cadance smiled gently, hoping the kit could have the answer. "Just a day or two. She seems eager to rush home."
"Thanks are good," he mused. "I will talk to her." He jumped to a window and pushed it open. It seemed tsuki saw any window as a door, as he jumped right out of it without a delay.
Cadance peered at the point. "They don't have wings," she reminded herself, wondering how healthy that habit was. Tsuki were tsuki, which were not ponies. "I won't judge them for what works for them." She resumed her trot past his room, her magic drawing the door shut. She had a dinner to plan for her precious husband and their equally important and needing soldiers.
A shining crystal pony in a maid's outfit nosed into the room. "I'm here to change your linens and offer you a change as well." She trotted past the griffon sitting in a chair. "You look like you could use a bath as well."
"What does that mean!" roared the griffon hen, gaining a glare from the guard also in the room. The griffon rolled her eyes. "I don't look dirty."
"I apologize if I have offended." With a glowing horn, she began to undo and redo the bedding in the room. "I simply meant that you may enjoy a soothing bath before the dinner."
"Oh..." She glanced away and back. "Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad."
"I'll draw it up immediately." She trotted across the room to a fair-sized tub and pulled it with her magic beneath a spigot. With a press of a button, hot water began to flow into it. The maid turned to regard the guard. "You must go."
"No can do, miss." He shook his head firmly. "She's a prisoner, can't leave my sight."
"You do not need to leer at her as she bathes," chastised the maid. "I will keep her safe."
"You heard the lady." The griffon made soft shooing motions at the guard. "Buzz off. I'm takin' a shower." She rose to her feet and began to shake off bits of clothes as she went.
The guard began to color and scurried from the room. "I'll be right outside. Just shout if I am needed."
"Thank you," called the maid, her magic closing the door behind him. "Please come closer. I will help you to relax and be clean at once."
"You sure are trusting." She left a pile of dirty clothes behind, dotted with filth and blood. "What if I hurt you?"
"Why would you do that?" The maid inclined her head. "I am bathing you. You want to be bathed, do you not? Come, sit, and enjoy." She tapped at the tub with a hoof, her magic pressing the button and causing the water to stop flowing. "You will enjoy yourself, and you will emerge refreshed."
"Yeah..." The griffon walked up to the tub, peering at the steaming water. She reached for it, testing it. It was as warm as it looked, but not scalding hot. With careful steps, she entered and began to sink. Magic glowed around her shoulders, gently pulling her down. "Hey! Lemme sit my own self down, thanks." With a rough huff, she settled at her own pace.
As soon as her client was seated, the maid got to work, cleaning fur and feathers with soapy cloths and humming a gentle little tune as she did so. "Doesn't that feel better?" she asked as she worked. "Oh, you must have worked so hard, you're hurt..." She carefully dabbed the injury, the cleaning not pausing, or even slowing.
"I got it fighting ponies," she casually reminded. "I may fight them again."
"Why would you want to do that?" She dutifully cleaned despite the admission. "We are far better to be friends with, than to fight."
"Friends that throw you in jail," she scoffed. "Some friends."
"Creatures in jail are being bad." She leaned over the side, allowing her cleaning to reach further down when she could see more. "Will you be bad? You could not be bad, then you would not belong in jail, and you wouldn't have to go there."
"As if it was that simple."
"Who says it's not?" argued the maid with a little smile. "Don't you feel better?"