Picking Up the Pieces

by Evilhumour


Chapter Twenty-Six: Rex, Gentle Step

Chapter Twenty-Six

Rex

It was a new day, and the Bearers were restless.

Five of them had finished their day at the Library the evening before, saying their goodbyes to Hush Tone (with Wind and Page each exchanging a fond hug with her before going) and then all returning to their hotel suite. Serrated had accompanied them most of the way before saying her own goodbyes at the door and promising to visit Night again soon, then departed. Xvital had returned to them soon afterward, and the six had settled in for dinner and a good night's rest.

The next morning though, when Page had been preparing to return to the Library, she was informed that it had been 'requested' that they stay in their suite that day, for their own safety, while the Captains were otherwise occupied with their Captain-General's hearing.

Page had been most irritated, as had Wind Breaker; as he had explained, he had wanted to spend more time with Hush Tone. Rex, however, had quickly taken charge of the situation and calmly asked if some of the Guard could retrieve a few things from the workshop he had set up at the Library, so he and Page could work on the trackers he'd been setting up. They'd agreed, and so he and Page had spent the morning doing that. Vix-Lei, on the other paw, had dragged Night into their suite's kitchen for another cooking lesson (as she had pointed out, he'd managed just fine with only his hooves before).

That left Wind Breaker and Xvital. The former, Rex could tell, was rather fidgety, until Page reminded him of the books she'd brought home the day before, and he'd managed to engross himself in one of those. Xvital, meanwhile, had been focused on the official reading material from her country that she'd come in with the day before, up until Vix-Lei announced that lunch was served.

They found it quite enjoyable, and congratulated Night, who looked rather embarrassed at the praise he was being given.

"So," Xvital said, changing subjects. "Any word from the outside?"

"Not yet," Rex said. "Hearings like this can go on for hours, depending on how much the defendant and the plaintiff have to say, and how much evidence needs to be presented."

Vix-Lei nodded. "Plus there's how long a judge needs to deliberate. Or the jury, if there is one."

"I just hope everything works out," Page said. "Gentle Step may be... intimidating, and I may have my issues with Memorizing Gaze. But they don't deserve this."

Rex nodded back. "According to the news, Judge Diamond Knot is presiding," he said.

Vix-Lei smirked. "Judge Knot, eh? Lest ye be judged?"

Night Blade and Wind Breaker both rolled their eyes at the pun, while Rex facepawed. "It's a good thing you're making that joke in private," he informed her. "I read up on his record when they announced who would be presiding. According to the news articles, the last time somedog said that in his presence, he told them he'd heard that joke more times than he cared to remember, finds it very annoying, and threatened them with contempt of court for it."

Vix-Lei made a face, but nodded. "I guess I can see that."

"New subject!" Xvital said quickly, before turning to Rex. "So how's the trackers coming?" she asked.

"I've finished a pair for Wind Breaker and Hush Tone," Rex said, before looking at Wind. "I had to tweak the formulae in order to work two DNA samples into it at once, so as to create one that will specifically find the griffon who is related to both of you. I am hoping that at some point, we will be allowed to either trace its path ourselves, or to submit it to members of the Guard so they can travel to the Griffish Isles with it. Though if the latter case comes through, I suspect we might have to wait longer for results. They may wish me to create trackers for a number of other griffons as well, so as to allow them to make just one trip there instead of repeated ones."

Wind Breaker looked relieved. "Thanks, Rex."

Talk turned to other things until they'd finished lunch, and then Page disappeared into the back room for a bit. "I'd be glad to help with the cleanup, but I need to talk with my Sages about something," she explained.

Rex nodded understandingly, and he and the others set to work. They were soon all back in the living room, Page included, and Wind was fidgeting again.

"So when do you think-" He was cut off when the door opened and a unicorn mare walked in.

Gentle Step

"Good, you're all here." Gentle Step looked around. "Ladies, gentlecolts." She stepped aside so three other mares and two stallions could follow her in, and each of them took a seat. When everyone was settled in, Gentle spoke.

"I think it's time," she said, "that we get some answers and explanations."

Wind Breaker squirmed uncomfortably. "What kind of answers and explanations?"

"Preferably truthful ones," the Captain-General replied as she took out a notepad and began skimming over it. "First and foremost, how all this situation got started." She arched an eyebrow at them, before continuing. "According to the reports, the earliest that the six of you came together was the night of the Honour Festival, during a fight with a particularly unpleasant unicorn by the name of Sharp Point." She heard Page hiss softly at this, but let it slide. "This fight, in which you all acted in defense of a changeling nymph and her child, led to you being held in jail overnight, and released the next morning with the intention that you would be returning for a court hearing in a few days. You then," and she consulted the file she was holding, though it was more for show than an actual need to refresh her memory. "Were involved in a fire at the old Museum of Victory, a location which was fortunately otherwise empty. You informed the Guards that Sharp Point was responsible for this fire, which we have since determined was not in fact the case, and I will be questioning you on that soon.

"A short time afterward, you bribed one of our Guards to let you into another quarter of the city, a situation that has since been dealt with via his demotion for dereliction of duty and later for his leading other Cadenza Guards in a temporary insurrection on your behalf after your return to Canterlot. You were next seen attempting to pass through the Blas Bridge, which resulted in a massive blackout throughout that portion of the city due to the actions of Mister Wind Breaker, a blackout which we are still dealing with the aftereffects of." She gave him a look, prompting Wind to squirm uncomfortably once more, and she made a mental note to herself that he would be key to gaining any truths the rest of them would try to hide from she and her captains.

She continued on. "The following day, you successfully escaped from Canterlot via a stolen skimmer - an event which our Full Moon has some questions about - and into the Everfree Forest. Two days later, Captain Gaze and his team met you in and outside of Sunny Town, at which point Miss Turner informed him that you had learned of an entity that had taken control of the government, an entity which only the six of you could defeat, and then you had your second fight with Sharp Point, during which Mister Blade here earned his rather unfortunate moniker." She heard Night Blade growl at that, and was not surprised in the least. It was an ugly one and painted him in an unpleasant light.

"This fight ended when you were rescued by the Questioning Order of the Goddess-Princess Celestia, despite one of you being a changeling - one of the beings they had sworn to eliminate." She flipped a page. "The next event we have is the sudden rebellion in the Crystal Dominance, brought on by the Questioning Order and which is still going on even months later. Then you turned up in the Cuanmiztl Kingdom, where you encountered and gained the aid of Prince-King Tizoc, and with him returned to Canterlot, where you fought and defeated the divine spirit known as the Nightmare, which was possessing King Well Banded at the time, and somehow channeled the divine spirit of Harmony to do so." She closed the file and leaned in closer to them, giving each a piercing look. Some were more telling than others, though Xvital and Page gave nothing away unsurprisingly considering their pasts. "There are more than a few details I would like to hear regarding your adventures, in order to fill in the gaps in our records."

"What, precisely, do you wish to know first?" Rex asked. He spoke with a careful, cultured tone and manner. From her own reports and observations, this was his attempt to appear beyond his species and was an act that was all but second nature for him at this point. She would keep in mind the times that his speech patterns were more akin to those of a typical diamond dog as to be more alert of potential dangers.

Gentle Step regarded him with a slight nod of her head. "Going by chronological order, how did the fire in the Museum of Victory really start?"

"The fire was an unfortunate side-effect of the physical manifestation of the spirit of Harmony, though we were unaware of its true identity at that point, since it had taken a new form suited for its current mission and was calling itself Balance," Rex replied. "It briefly explained that it had chosen us to inherit its Elements, and then departed in such a manner that caused the fire. We could not explain this to the authorities in a way that would sound believable, so we blamed Sharp Point in the hopes that you would arrest him instead. I confess, given his behavior the night before, that I would not have been surprised in the least if he'd already had some other reason to be arrested anyway. Because of this, he made a logical choice for a scapegoat."

Gentle Step raised an eyebrow. "I see." She looked at them. "The next question..."

Sweet Surprise stood up. "Begging your pardon, Captain-General," she said. "Request permission to ask this next part, and my apologies in advance if I sound unprofessional while doing so."

Gentle gave her a look as this was out of the agreed plan, but nodded. "Go ahead."

"Right." Looking straight at Vix-Lei, she asked, "Who the fuck taught you how to drive like a batpony out of Tartarus‽" She glanced at Night. "Er, no offense intended."

"None taken," Night replied. "Considering that apparently my own siblings went joyriding in our family skimmers when they were younger - and I have been assured that they have all long since been punished for doing so - and at least one of them crashed during such a joyride, I would say such a description is fairly accurate."

Sweet looked at him in surprise, then turned back to Vix-Lei. "Ahem."

Vix-Lei laughed. "You mean, when I led you and your Guards on a merry chase?" She sobered with the pointed glare directed at her and no doubt recalling that Sweet was actually a very potent unicorn. "Sorry about causing you so much trouble there, but it was nothing personal. We were just trying to escape and save the world, and you were trying to catch us because you'd been tricked by the thing we were trying to stop."

Sweet nodded. "In hindsight, it makes a lot more sense. But answer the question, if you will."

"Right, right. Well, back in Ledra, I grew up around a shipyard, you know? Flying's practically in my blood." Vix-Lei stretched her arms out in what seemed to be a casual gesture or possibly a subconscious means to demonstrate her strength as a deterrent. "And I picked up more than a few tricks from my dad's employees. Most of them worked part time driving passenger chariots when they were in college, so they knew how to do all kinds of sick turns!"

"Cab drivers. Right." Sweet sighed. "That explains a lot, and it sounds like I'll have to see about getting some of them as teachers for our Guards now." She heard Gentle scribbling something down, and then backed up.

"Next question," Gentle stated, looking at the nymph in the room. "The Questioning Order. They helped you. Why?"

"Because we were the Element-Bearers," Page answered. "They still hate me for what I am... but apparently, part of their mandate was to help the new Bearers when they surfaced, regardless of species."

Gentle laid her notes down. "And how, precisely, did starting a rebellion in the Crystal Dominance help with this?"

Page looked embarrassed. "The... last one we met, said they started the Crystal Dominance Rebellion as a distraction," she said. "To keep the Guards from finding us when we... er."

"They might as well know," Wind Breaker said with a sigh, tapping the surface next to him with a claw. "The Order had been holding onto the sixth Element all these years, in one of their storage vaults. They also had this weird mirror that led to another dimension, and we wound up having to go there to get Xvital's Element after it got swiped out of her hands by this one unicorn who'd been living there. Her name was Sunset Shimmer, and she used to be Celestia's student; ring any bells?"

Gentle Step was already on her hooves, but the other five Captains were standing in an instant, and Memorizing Gaze in particular was looking very surprised. "She's still alive?" he asked.

"Yeah," Wind said with a nod of his head. "We left her on the other side after magically knocking some sense into her - kind of a weaker version of what happened when we purged the Nightmare, and channeled through some of the locals, but it worked."

"How exactly do you know about her?" Xvital asked, leaning across the table.

Gentle Step gestured for the other Captains to sit back down, and then regarded her. "There is much about Sunset Shimmer that you do not yet know," she said, evaluating the situation and making mental preparations. "But continue. What exactly was this other dimension like?"

"Well, we came out in front of a high school, and turned into new forms to match the locals," Vix-Lei spoke up. "Nice place, but a little odd, considering some of the people we met there. Apparently that dimension was linked to this one, kind of a parallel development, they said. A lot of the locals are based off of ponies who used to live in this world, including the goddesses and our predecessors, and some others too."

"New forms?" Sweet Surprise sounded interested. "What kind of new forms?"

Gentle Step gave her a look, but then nodded at Vix-Lei to continue.

"They called themselves humans," Vix-Lei said. "Same basic shape as minotaurs, but shorter and no horns or hooves. And I could actually see my knees." She shrugged. "Weird."

"Their faces were much flatter as well," Rex said. "And their teeth were omnivore's, but nowhere near as sharp as I'm used to."

Sweet considered this, looking almost uncharacteristically serious but Gentle could easily see why considering her own talents in transformation. "I don't suppose any of you could draw what they looked like?" she said.

"I can try," Xvital said. Sweet passed her some paper, and she went to work. After a few minutes, she'd turned out a decent sketch of her other form, and handed it over.

Studying it carefully, Sweet lit up her horn, and a moment later had popped into a new shape. "Like this?"

The five males in the room instantly looked away, and Gentle Step curled her lip. Before she could speak though, Page did. "Just like that," she said. "Except... they were fully clothed." She concentrated and a moment later had transformed herself. "Like this."

Sweet looked at her, then down at her own bare body, and shrugged. "I see..."

"And so do we all, more than we'd like to, so if you'd mind changing back?" Violet suddenly said.

"Right." Sweet popped back into her natural form. "Okay, I'm good."

One by one, the males in the room opened their eyes, and looked at Page's current form. Memorizing looked interested. "I've been a two-legged form before, but that one's new on me," he said.

"It was new to me too," Page said as she returned to her unicorn state. "I'd never been a two-legged form before myself, but we all got used to it very quickly."

"So," Blazen Sun said from his seat, stroking his beard. "You said the locals were based off of ponies from this world. Including the goddesses?"

Page nodded. "I can... show you one of them, if you want."

"Please, do," he said.

With a deep breath, Page nodded and shifted forms, and the others' eyes widened as they saw the form she'd taken.

"This is Principal Celestia," she explained in the woman's voice. "The local version of our long-passed goddess. She was in charge of Canterlot High, alongside her younger sister-" and she shifted form and voice again. "Vice-Principal Luna."

"My word," Violet breathed. "This is... incredible!"

"Excuse me, you said younger sister?" Blazen Sun asked with a raised eyebrow with Sweet Surprise also looking interested. No doubt due to the fact that this was about their goddesses that they were the high priests for.

Night nodded. "From first observations of the two, Vice-Principal Luna was visibly younger than Principal Celestia, and when one of us asked -" and here he shot a glance at Vix-Lei. "While we were in the Vice-Principal's office filling out paperwork, she confirmed that her sister was three years older than herself. We don't know for sure if the same is true of the goddesses here, but it would make sense."

Meanwhile, Page had reverted once more, and picked up when Night nodded at her. "We were really surprised at seeing them," she said. "And even more so when we met some of the other locals. Including the local version of my predecessor." With a pop, she transformed again. "Meet Fluttershy," she said in the other mare's soft voice.

"The Stern Warden." Standing Wall shook her head. "And I presume the others were all there too? The Warrior, the Lady, the Wise Oracle, the Stallion of Dedication, and the Magi of Stars?"

"Well, we never actually met the Magi of Stars there," Wind Breaker said. "But we did meet the rest. And the ones from this world."

"What do you mean?" Standing Wall asked with narrowed eyes.

"When we each earned our Elements," Night Blade said, "We were mentally transported to our predecessor's Paradise in the Elysium Fields. We got to meet them there, and learn a little bit more about our new situation. We also discovered that through physical contact with their counterparts in the world of Canterlot High, we and they were sent back there temporarily. During this time, we had the opportunity to speak with the spirits of five of the original Virtuous Six in greater depth, and to learn the truth behind some of the histories, which had been misinterpreted by King Blueblood due to his receiving the information second-hoof."

Gentle Step looked contemplative. "Misinterpreted, you say."

Page nodded. "Most of the so-called villains, like the Blue Sorceress-" and here she transformed again, into the blue-skinned girl's form and voice. "Were actually nowhere near as bad as we thought. The Blue Sorceress, for instance, was a showmare named Trixie who accidentally inspired a couple of colts to lure an Ursa Minor into town, and the Magi of Stars saved her life as a result. When the invasion happened and Twilight was assumed dead, Trixie vowed to honor her memory." She looked at Violet. "According to Applejack, you're actually Trixie's descendant, and she's proud of what you've accomplished."

Violet's eyes went wide at that, and so did all the others'. After a moment, Gentle Step signaled for her to continue.

"At any rate, we learned a lot." Page reverted to unicorn form. "For instance, most of the Virtuous Six actually aren't happy about their monikers."

"Especially Applejack," Wind Breaker threw in, drawing attention back to him. "Turns out the 'Stallion' of Dedication with the Element of Honesty, the one who keeps the others honest by being honest, is actually a mare - ponies got her mixed up with her brother Big McIntosh. And she is really not happy at how her family's turned out since her time. They used to do quality product, but it's gone way downhill since then. I personally tasted one of the ones she grew herself in her Paradise and it was really good."

The Captains exchanged glances. "And what about the rest?" Standing Wall asked.

"Well, my predecessor was Pinkie Pie, the Wise Oracle," Vix-Lei stated. "Also known as the Element of Laughter. Earth pony with a big poofy mane. And she just loves throwing parties for people." She chuckled. "Really, she's like a pink rocket-skimmer made of happiness, and boy can that girl bake. But the second time we talked, she explained that she thinks being called the 'Wise Oracle' makes her sound too serious - sure, she had kind of a sixth sense for random stuff, but she had to figure out what the reactions meant through trial and error. My brother Argus has the same kind of thing."

Blazen Sun looked thoughtful at Vix-Lei's words, and then she continued. "Pinkie told me that she can be serious when it's really called for, but keeping it up all the time just isn't our thing. Our Element means we're supposed to generally lighten the mood so everytaur around us doesn't get so wound up that they snap and go crazy."

"So if you were in the Guard, you'd be your squad's morale officer, then," Standing Wall said. "Always good to have."

"Sounds about right," Vix-Lei replied. She looked at Rex, gesturing for him to speak, and he did.

"Mine was the Lady," he said. "Rarity Belle, the Element of Generosity. She was the least displeased with her nickname, because while it has been mainly used to inspire elitism, those who follow her have at least made some effort towards honoring the values of her element, giving charitable aid to those who need it. In fact, I believe her sister's descendants are among those who have best stayed true to her Element. True generosity is selfless, brought on out of a desire out of the greatest good for others."

"I am the successor to the Warrior," Night Blade said a bit stiffly, looking slightly uncomfortable. It was just a sideway glance with a flicker of his healthy wing, but Gentle saw it and made a mental note to ask about it later. "Who is none too thrilled by the fact that she died before she could join her favorite stunt fliers, the Wonderbolts - the so-called 'Thunder Warriors' of legend. Our Element is Loyalty, and we are the ones who protect our friends, even at great personal cost to ourselves."

"And Fluttershy's and my Element, the moral center of the group, is Kindness," Page said. "She didn't like being called the Stern Warden because it made her sound scary, when she was really quite shy most of the time." She turned to Xvital, who looked the most uncomfortable.

"The Magi of Stars," she said. "Her Element, and mine, is Magic... or Friendship. The balance between all the others. And her real name was Twilight Sparkle." She took a deep breath. "She was the student of Celestia and the younger sister of Shining Armor, the consort of the demigoddess-Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

"Twilight..." Memorizing breathed sharply, no doubt feeling a swirl of emotions considering his ancestors's involvement with them. He looked at Xvital. "Did the other Virtues say anything about her Cutie Mark? Did it have stars, like the ones on her statue?"

"Er, yes," Wind Breaker said. "Applejack said the statues of the six of them got her Cutie Mark right."

Violet looked down at the emblem she wore on her uniform. "So it matches," she muttered. "Good to know."

Page looked concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Gentle Step said. "In fact, I believe something may be very right. But we're getting a little off topic. You got to know the original Bearers, and their human counterparts, and then you channeled Harmony's powers through these same counterparts, I presume, thus healing Sunset Shimmer?"

"Exactly," Night said. "Healed, as it turns out, of something the Nightmare and some of its allies had done to her, if what it said during our confrontation with it was to be believed. We left her in the care of the human Elements, before returning here with Xvital's crown."

At that, Xvital snapped her fingers. "Oh nuts."

"What?" Page asked.

"Oh, I just remembered," Xvital said. "In all the chaos of everything that's happened since then, I completely forgot about it. We promised to show our Elements to-" and then she clapped a hand over her mouth, aghast.

"To whom?" Gentle Step asked.

"Er... the... guy who helped us with Wind's tracker after he saw we had them," Xvital said nervously as she glanced in the Captains' direction, well aware that their status as heroes didn't excuse breaking the law. "Payment for his helping us."

"Oh?" Violet leaned in. "And who might this 'guy' be?"

Xvital looked very nervous before answering. "One of my... contacts?"

Memorizing Gaze gave her a look of his own. "And I'm guessing you don't want to say anything that might make him think you turned state's evidence on him," he said.

Xvital nodded weakly.

"If it's the same person I think it is, we already know about him," Memorizing said. He leaned over and whispered a name in her ear, and her fur stood on end.

"That's the guy!" she said with a squeak. "How-"

"I've got agents keeping an eye on him," Memorizing said, rolling his eyes. "He's comparatively harmless, seeing as he's just in it for the money and to satisfy his own lust for wealth and pleasure, and he has no idea that one of his people is actually one of my Guards. Or that they alerted another one that was with Sweet's people, so she'd know that you were in the area."

Sweet looked at him in surprise, and he shrugged. "I told you I had some of my own Guards in each of your divisions," he said with a pointed grin that only a changeling could pull off. "All part of the job of keeping Canterlot and the rest of Equestria safe."

"And I take it that this... person is someone you feel is better off where he is, since you are able to use his presence to keep an eye on a portion of the criminal underworld in Canterlot?" Gentle asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing she should take a further look into this herself.

"Exactly," Memorizing said, before turning to Xvital. "I'd appreciate it if you kept that fact quiet when you see him next time though. He is still useful and we are retrieving all the relics that he sold, so we can restore them to their rightful place eventually," he told her and his fellow Captains with Sweet staring harder at him.

Xvital nodded. "Will do."

"So what happened then?" Standing Wall asked. "As Captain-General Step said, the next thing we knew, there'd been a rebellion in the Crystal Dominance, and you six were seen heading south to the Cuanmiztl Kingdom."

Xvital nodded. "The Questioning Order put the mirror on their airship and flew it away, then, as Page said, started the rebellion as a distraction. We weren't too happy when we came back through and found out about what they'd done while we were away - if it had been up to me, we'd have used stealth to escape. They decided to start things all on their own."

Gentle Step nodded back. "It is good to know you were not advocating for violent rebellion," she said. "Any idea of the mirror's current location?"

"No," Page said. "They dropped us off a while later, after... well, I'll let Xvital explain that part. But they didn't say where they were going after that."

Gentle Step nodded, then turned to Xvital. But it was Blazen Sun who asked, with grandfatherly concern, "So what happened next?"

"Well, we were still on the ship when I put on my crown, and..." Xvital shuddered. "I... met Twilight. Except she wasn't herself at the time. The Nightmare was holding her prisoner and torturing her, and she'd taken on this other persona to try and protect herself - at least, I think that's why she did it." She sighed. "She was actually still alive, even after a thousand years."

The six captains' eyes widened, but Gentle Step gestured for Xvital to continue. It was Page who spoke instead though.

"When Xvital put on her crown, she screamed and fell into a coma," she said. "Since none of us had the expertise to really treat a member of her species, we went to the Cuanmiztl Kingdom for help. She came out of it once we were there and told us what she'd found out, then we ran into Prince-King Tizoc, and he and Xvital had a long talk about their past. And once they'd made up, he agreed to help us."

"After all that, once we were back here, Page found out that King Well-Banded was the one who'd been possessed," Vix-Lei added. "So we split up - not that it did us a whole lot of good, since the Nightmare caught us all in the end. It tried playing some kind of mind games with the rest of us, then we fought it for a while until it accidentally gave us the clue to beating it. That's when Xvital came back, we triggered the Elements' powers, and we sent the Nightmare packing."

"And where were you?" Gentle Step asked, directing this question to Xvital.

"The Nightmare had me locked up with Twilight's body, though I don't know exactly where it is," Xvital said. "It forced us to watch as it fought my friends... but I didn't realize that's what they'd all become, until it actually said the word 'friends'. That's when Twilight broke out of her shell, set me free and gave me everything I needed to know about my purpose as a Bearer, telling me about being the bridge between the other five and kicking off my magic. Then, like Vix-Lei said, I teleported to my friends and we kicked Nightmare butt. Everything after that, you already know."

"And... what happened to Twilight?" Violet asked, tapping the note pad with her pen.

Xvital looked down. "When she broke free, it let her spirit finally move on to Elysium," she said. "I didn't see it happen, but somehow... I just know," she said. "I felt it, in here." She pointed to her heart.

"Then she is finally at peace," Blazen Sun said. "I wish her all the best." The oldest of the captains suddenly looked very tired, no doubt feeling his age.

"Yeah," Xvital said. "We all do."

There were a few minutes of silence, before Gentle spoke up.

"I've been wanting to ask you something of personal interest," she said to Night, staring at him intently. "We found the shards of your old sword in the Everfree, yet you had a new one by the time you returned to Canterlot. Some presumed it was given to you in the Cuanmiztl Kingdom, but I could tell at a distance that it was not one of their style. So where did it come from?"

Night looked surprised. "The Questioning Order had it in their vault," he said. "They allowed me to take it as a replacement for Determined Point."

"May I see it?"

"Certainly." Night Blade drew the weapon out and presented it to her.

"As I expected; a Masamane blade," she said with a knowing smile, giving it a few practice sword spins before returning it to him. "He said he'd destroyed all of them, though he wasn't completely sure. I guess he was mistaken after all."

Night Blade arched an eyebrow. "He said? How..."

Sweet Surprise spoke up before anyone else could. "How much do you know about how our Captain-General was promoted to her current rank?"

"Rex and Night Blade confirmed the stories when I asked about them a while back," Vix-Lei said. "About her breaking into Tartarus, rescuing a couple of other guards and then breaking back out with them. I still had a hard time believing it then, but I trust them."

Gentle Step nodded. "If I hadn't been the one it was happening to, I might have had a hard time believing it myself. But I was." She faced the group. "What a lot of people don't know is that time in Tartarus is... different. While the rest of the world experienced five days, to myself and my companions, it was five months. During this time, I encountered many wandering demons, and bore witness to a number of the realm's most dangerous prisoners who were still in their cages, including the centaur lord Tirek. But I also met Masamane himself, whose spirit had taken up residence in that place millennia ago, for reasons which are his to tell. We became friends of sorts, and he taught me how to forge my own weapons after some time, though I doubt he would ever approve of me saying that they are in his style." She half-drew her two swords, staring at them with pride. "I personally made Justice and Protector under his instruction, out of the horn of a demon I had fought and spared. I would have inherited his land and issues if I had slain him," Gentle said with a wider grin on her face as she recalled the event. "Instead, I made him look weak in front of his fellow demons by not killing him, thus implying it wasn't worth my effort to do so." She chuckled at the memory of the outraged face on the demon when she had done that. "I used them to secure the return of my companions from the High Lord Demon's remaining lackeys that came after us, and saw us safely back to Equestria."

"And then Captain-General Rocky Peak recommended you for his successor, and all the active captains agreed," Sweet Surprise said. "He was so proud of you when he found out what you'd done..."

Gentle Step felt the faintest traces of a blush on her face. "We always had it drilled into our heads that no one gets left behind," she said. "I just held true to that as best as I could during that period."

"With a record like that, it's a wonder you weren't the new Loyalty," Wind Breaker said. "Actually... I can't help but wonder which of you would have been which Element if Balance had chosen the six of you instead of us."

"Laughter," Violet instantly said, pointing towards Sweet Surprise. "No question about it. You keep our moods up."

"Generosity," Memorizing added, pointing at Blazen Sun. "I've seen enough of you to know that you're always willing to give of yourself when needed."

"Violet would probably be Honesty," Standing Wall said. "She's certainly direct enough and doesn't hold back when it comes to cutting through the chaff."

"That leaves Kindness and Magic," Gentle Step said. "Mems would probably be Kindness, actually." She noticed him blushing. "What? You do tend to treat those you've brought in far better than many think they deserve."

"I'm a protector," Memorizing replied. "That includes making sure there's no brutality when we're bringing in suspects, even those for particularly heinous crimes."

Standing Wall raised a hoof. "That leaves Magic, and while I may be magically talented, I doubt I'd really fit what you said about it. Gents here would actually be better as the balance between us six, so she'd be Magic and I'd be Loyalty."

Gentle Step nodded. "I agree, you would be a good fit for that one," she said. "But at any rate, all this is just speculation, and since we already have an active team of Bearers, the point is rather moot." She looked at her fellows. "Does anyone else have anything in particular they'd like to ask about?"

"Actually, I'd like to speak with both Miss Turner and Rex on some things," Violet said. She turned to Page, and pulled a book out of her saddlebags. "I understand you're actually a fan of my work?"

Page's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes!"

"And seeing as I'm currently working on the next volume..." Violet turned to Rex. "I've heard about the Reclaimed spell you were working into a necklace, and I'd like to hear more about it from you. It sounds like something that would be interesting to work into my book. And that genetic tracker that one of my guards contacted me about the other day."

Rex smiled. "I would be honored to have my work, and that of my friends and students, included in such a publication," he said. "And for my creations to provide you with assistance in your own work."

As the two moved to one side of the room, Gentle noticed Standing Wall looking at Xvital.

"Xvital, if I may ask you a few questions?" she asked. "What do you recall of where you were kept when the Nightmare kidnapped you?"

"Not much, to be honest," Xvital said. "It didn't look like it did the first time I met Twilight, that's for sure. Other than that, I didn't catch a lot of it; I was kind of distracted by watching the Nightmare fighting my friends."

"Can you recall anything; anything at all," Standing Wall asked, leaning in. "How it smelt; was there any difference in air pressure when you arrived in the Gem Room?"

"Maybe some?" Xvital said with a shrug, clearly trying to recall but shaking her head in the end.

"Hmm," Gentle summoned a map of Old Canterlot and one of the current state of the South-West. "If I am to guess correctly, it would have placed her in a location that meant something to her as to be further cruel; either her residence with the Goddess Celestia or the place of her beginnings."

"It can't be the former; we would have found her if that were the case," Standing said as she crossed out the section of the old Canterlot castle before looking at the city surrounding the residence of the Goddesses. "So her remains should be buried under the Middle South-West corner, maybe even in the Under."

Xvital nodded. "Maybe," she said. "I wish there was a way to trace my teleport; I went straight from where I was being held to where my friends were."

"Too long ago to do so now," Gentle said bluntly, regretting the missed opportunity.

"I kind of figured," Xvital said.

Rex, turning from Violet, nodded solemnly. "Even an expert in magic present at the start of all this would have needed some time, an afternoon probably, to disentangle the traces and determine the new whereabouts of somedog who had used a transportation method of that nature," he said. "And I suspect the strong energies present in the Gem Room after all that happened would have only further confused the issue."

"That and any possible evidence and traces are long since gone," Standing Wall said. "Unless you haven't cleaned yourself since your kidnapping from the Nightmare, I doubt there is any chance of me tracing the soil back to its location."

"No chance of that," Xvital said. She clenched all three of her fists in frustration. "Wherever we were, Twilight deserves better than to be left there," she muttered.

"Could you have truly traced the soil back to its location from just a handful of minerals?" Rex inquired, looking at Standing.

"Of course, if I had the materials," Standing Wall replied.

"Fascinating." Rex's eyes gleamed. "I have always been interested in the assorted fields of thaumatical practices. If I could see that variety in action, it would add greatly to my stores of knowledge and understanding of them."

"I have been trying to get Standing to try and write a book on Earth Pony magic for years now, but as she always says it is too abstract to put down on paper," Violet replied with a glowering Standing Wall giving her a dirty look. "That, and if she tried, it would end up drier than the San Palomino Desert."

"And I suppose your thaumatical treatises and theories are a romantic adventure best seller?" Standing shot back.

"No, but while my works are concise and clear, they at least get the point across without being as stiff as a priest's collar," Violet returned. "My college dissertation was well-received in part because it got the point across in a logical manner and in part because it wasn't as dull as some of my classmates' were. I still don't know what Dark Meadow was thinking, including so many 'mayhaps' and 'perchances' and 'wherefores' all strung together and repeatedly comparing one thing to another that no average reader would have heard about without specifically looking it up." She sighed. "It gave me a headache just trying to read more than a page at a time when he gave me a copy after graduation, I don't know how the thesis committee ever got through it."

"Perhaps," Memorizing said, drawing attention towards him as he moved in the middle of them. "You two can collaborate on this topic, as you have the experience to explain such material and the status of an established writer."

The two mares looked thoughtful, and Violet nodded. "Maybe," she said. "I'd like to get my current one finished before the year is out though."

"I will need to think on it myself," Standing Wall said. "Some of this is very hard even for me to explain, and I'm the one who figured out how to do it in the first place."

Rex nodded. "Regardless, if you are able to find a way to do so, I'd be very interested in hearing it," he said. "My own people may not be able to practice thaumatism, but any varieties of it have always been of interest to me."

Standing Wall nodded, then gestured to Xvital before the two stepped away from the group and off to one side, speaking quietly.

Turning her attention to the other Bearers, Gentle Step eyed each of them in turn. Vix-Lei seemed rather calm, while Wind Breaker was still fidgeting and Night Blade looked not quite as grumpy as he usually did. Page was still listening intently to Violet and asking or answering questions, while Rex sat and looked as if he were genuinely understanding of everything that she was saying.

Either he really does know his stuff, or he's a better actor than I thought, she thought to herself.

Blazen, Memorizing and Sweet were all rather calm, though Sweet was still eying Vix-Lei as if she wanted to say something more to her; what, Gentle wasn't quite sure yet. It was Memorizing who first spoke though.

"My team and I still have some work to do, tracing one part of your journey," he said. "The Everfree is still wild and dangerous. But as we understand, you spent two full nights there before the Questioning Order found you and recovered you for the third night. How was the experience?"

"It was an experience," Night Blade said with a sigh. "The terrain was rough, though luckily we did not encounter any dangerous wildlife."

Memorizing nodded. "You also found a constructed shelter of some kind at one point," he said. "A lucky find, I'm guessing."

Page looked up and nodded. "In more ways than one," she said. "The cottage we found had somehow survived for over a thousand years."

"That old?" Sweet asked skeptically. "I realize they had stronger magic back then, but still, how did they manage to pull that little trick off?"

Page looked down. "It was Fluttershy's home," she said. "The second time I met with her, she said their families had protection spells put on it after she died."

That drew a round of startled noises, and Vix-Lei nodded. "That's about how we reacted too, when we figured it out," she said. "A piece of the lost City of the Virtues - or Ponyville, as they called it. And then five of us got to see other parts of what it looked like when we had our big meeting with five of the Bearers and their human selves, and it was great. Really welcoming and homey, if you know what I mean." She sighed. "I figure the rest is all filled in with trees and such now, but back in the day, it was a sight."

"Did they have preservation spells put on the rest of it?" Blazen inquired.

"We didn't think to ask," Wind Breaker said, sounding embarrassed. "At least, I didn't."

"While I can't speak for everypony else, I can safely say that Rainbow Dash's home is not likely to be around anymore," Night Blade said. "I presume you've read the histories that tell of the city of Cloudsdale, made entirely out of clouds, before magic's weakening caused the pegasi that lived there to have to evacuate and reestablish themselves in what we now call the Cloudsdale Mountains instead. Rainbow Dash lived in what she called a cloudiminium, a three-story house floating in the sky and made entirely out of clouds, using the same methods as that lost city." He tilted his head. "It also included a rainbow waterfall, though how such a thing was possible is beyond me."

"I know I'd like to visit Sugarcube Corner again," Vix-Lei said with a smile, before she sighed. "Wouldn't be the same without Pinkie being there to bake for us though."

"Rarity's Carousel Boutique was also a pleasant place to experience," Rex contributed. 

"And Sweet Apple Acres was a nice place too," Wind Breaker said. "That's where we had our big meeting with all of the Bearers who could be there at the time."

Gentle Step resisted the urge to look startled. Instead, she checked her notes. "The inn that four of you were staying at the night of the Honor Festival isn't anywhere near that old," she stated. "So I presume you're referring to a different business."

Rex nodded. "The inn of which you speak is owned by Rarity's family," he said. "Presumably the descendents of her younger sister. We have determined that young Sweetie Belle must have been the ancestor of the family that shares her and her sister's surname, a minor noble clan in the West who have long been associated with the priests of the Lady."

Gentle Step nodded, and Rex continued. "The place I speak of was an actual boutique that Rarity owned and operated, where she made custom outfits for her clients," he said. "There is also a store of that name that does the same type of work on the other side of the mirror, and the human Rarity is one of its employees. Though from her comments, it seems she wishes to own it for herself someday."

"That's interesting to know," Gentle noted, jotting a few sentences down. "Do you know if any of the others have living families in present times?"

"The Apple clan, of course," Wind Breaker said with a sigh. "She was the middle of three siblings - we already mentioned her big brother, and she had a little sister too."

"Haven't run into anytaur from the Pie family on this side yet," Vix-Lei said. "She had three sisters though, so it's likely there are some out there."

"Rainbow Dash was an only child, as far as we know," Night Blade said. "At least, her human self was."

"Didn't they say something about the Trio Wood Nymphs being their little sisters though?" Vix-Lei asked. "Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and... who was the third again?"

"Scootaloo," Rex stated. "Presumably the same one for whom the colloquial term for Thaumatic Moratus is derived from."

Night Blade shook his head. "If they were sisters, it was purely honorary," he said. "I questioned the human Rainbow Dash on the subject at one point, since it had been brought up before. She informed me that the young Scootaloo of that world looks up to her greatly, and they are part of a charitable youth mentoring organization together with Rainbow Dash as her mentor, but they are not blood relatives."

Page bowed her head. "Fluttershy had a younger brother, who changed for the better after she died," she said. "His name was Zephyr Breeze. We haven't met any of his descendents yet, but Fluttershy says they exist."

"And I suppose that since Twilight Sparkle was captured and her brother died on his wedding day, their family has died out," Standing Wall said.

Page cringed slightly, and Gentle Step eyed her carefully, while Night Blade moved over to her side and wrapped one hoof around her. She leaned in against him, but still looked down.

As he moved though, Night Blade's saddlebag shifted, and he grimaced, gesturing to Wind Breaker. The griffon quickly moved to take it from him, and as he did, a small piece of paper fell out, which Wind snatched up. He was about to put it back in the bag when Night beckoned with his head, and Wind hoofed it over to him.

Studying the card, Night blinked. "Hmm, almost forgot I had this," he remarked as he hoofed it back to Wind to put away.

Sweet Surprise, who was standing close enough to catch a glance of the card in Wind's talon, suddenly froze. "How do you have my wife's card?" she hissed.

"Your wife?" Night blinked before his eyes widened. "So you're the one who accidentally flooded her study?"

In an instant, the mare was in his face. "You'd better not have-"

"Peace, peace!" Night held his hooves up. "After we found out we were supposed to be the new Bearers, we started making our way out of Canterlot, and we had to make a few stops along the way. During one of those, we got a little... confused about where exactly in the city we were, and which way we needed to go. I got sent out to ask for directions, and your wife - who had no idea who I was - was kind enough to give me a map of the area and some advice." He sighed. "I should probably make an appointment with her, see about straightening up my many personal issues."

"An appointment?" Page asked, straightening into an upright position. "Is she a doctor?"

"Not just any doctor," Sweet said as she turned to the other mare, puffing out her chest. "The best damn psychiatrist in Canterlot."

Page looked at her in surprise, then nodded. "Maybe I should see about talking with her then too..."

"Probably wouldn't hurt if I did either," Wind Breaker threw in. "Does she do addiction counseling, and if she doesn't, can she recommend somepony who does?"

"I'd have to check with her," Sweet replied. "Though if she doesn't, then Hot Rod would probably know of one. With his work as a firepony, he does see some unfortunate stuff at times. He does talk to us about it, but he has mentioned how a few of his fellow fireponies and those that they have rescued talk to counselors and therapists."

Wind nodded. "I appreciate that," he said. "I've already gotten a little advice from a fellow recovering addict, but I could use all the help I can get."

Page blinked though, and tilted her head. "Talks to you two?" she asked. "Is he that close to you and your wife?"

"He'd better be, considering he's our husband," Sweet said with a playful grunt.

Night blinked, then looked as if he was trying to remember something. Suddenly, his ears flicked. "I thought I saw your wife wearing two rings when she was walking away from me that day, but I wasn't sure," he said. "This explains a lot."

Sweet nodded with a grin, but declined to comment.

"Didn't know herding was a thing here," Vix-Lei remarked.

"It's not common, but it happens from time to time," Sweet said with a sigh. "Most just think it's about the physical aspect of it but that's just a side effect of our relationship. We truly do love each other and by the goddess-princesses I cannot begin to imagine how badly Hot Rod is getting ribbed by his fellow fireponies about us now that we've publicly revealed ourselves." She groaned into her hoof. "And he won't be up for mentioning him getting teased about Sound Mind and me to us."

"Hey, as long as you guys are happy, that's what matters most," Vix-Lei told her. "And I'd say you're lucky to have found two ponies who love you and one another like that." She looked down. "I wish I was lucky enough to find even one for myself. Only guy I know for sure who's ever been interested in me for me is on the other side of the mirror."

"Love is a wonderful thing, as I know well from personal experience," Blazen Sun said. "But as I have also seen in my long life, sometimes the lack of respect from your fellow soldier or coworker can lead to serious issues." He stroked his beard. "I will be looking into these possible matters on your behalf, as the fire departments are under my jurisdiction."

Sweet looked gratefully in his direction. "I appreciate that," she said. She then turned her attention towards Page. "You seem to know something about Twilight and Shining's family. You reacted towards it. Can you elaborate?" 

Page suddenly looked terrified. "I..."

Night and Wind were at her side in an instant, the former not surprising to Gentle Step in the least, though she mentally quirked an eyebrow at Wind reacting just as quickly. Both had fierce expressions on their faces.

The other three moved to surround Page as well. They all looked very protective of her, and for a moment, even Memorizing looked stiff as his loyalties were now being tested, torn between his inborn position as Royal Protector and his oaths to Equestria as Captain of the Hidden Guard.

Looking at her other four Captains and their own surprised looks (three of them moreso than the fourth), Gentle Step had the feeling she knew what was going on in their minds at their reaction, and she would need to head it off now.

"Captains, this is a highly sensitive topic and you are under the strictest of orders not to share this information with anyone, including the King himself," she snapped with her Captains staring at her in surprise but they nodded their heads in agreement. "Page here is the direct descendant of Shining Armor and Queen Chrysalis."

There were several startled exclamations from both Captains and Bearers alike, but not from the eldest of the Captains, who had looked far more calm than the others from the beginning. Looking at Blazen Sun queryingly, Gentle made a gesture inviting him to speak, and he did.

"That would make her the current Queen of the Badlands Hive, Step," he said, stroking his beard. "I thought that was the case."

"And I had the feeling you'd already figured it out on your own," Memorizing told Blazen, who gave him a friendly nod of affirmation.

Page, who still looked nervous, suddenly turned Gentle Step. "How did you figure out I was Shining Armor's descendant?" she asked. "I admitted I was the Queen to you, but I never said anything about my many times-great-grandfather's identity."

"Highly classified historical pages from the personal journal of King Blueblood the First," Gentle answered. "I was allowed access to it when I became the Captain-General and it revealed, among other information, the fact that the two copulated while Chrysalis was disguised as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

Several pairs of eyes blinked in surprise at this piece of information.

"How did Blueblood know this?" Sweet Surprise asked.

Gentle Step looked at Page. "The answer also lies in his journal," she said. "I know it, but do you?"

"What my grandmothers' memories have told me is that Blueblood learned the information by Chrysalis's own dying breath," Page said with a sigh. "I was also told he was the one that had a chance to end our Hive's queen lineage but chose not to kill an infant in its crib which made my hive feel indebted to him and is why we mostly stayed in Canterlot instead of regrouping elsewhere."

Gentle Step nodded. "That's just what his journal said," she said. "Not the part about the debt, but all the rest of it. He felt that Chrysalis was a monster, but her child was an innocent... also, because he had some respect for the late Shining Armor, and couldn't bring himself to kill that stallion's child, no matter her other parent's identity."

Page nodded. "That... that part was not specified in the memories I inherited, but I'm not surprised," she said. Then she looked around at all six Captains, before speaking again.

"Shining Armor has been my hero for a long time," she said. "My ancestor was named for him, in fact, a name that has been passed down to each succeeding generation." Suddenly, her body language shifted, and she looked more regal than Gentle Step had ever seen, even when she'd first admitted the truth. "I am Lamella Armor the Tenth, and all I seek is for my hive to be able to live in peace."

Then she was back to the unicorn pony they had been observing before, and looking very tired. "That's all I've ever wanted for us," she said quietly.

"Rest assured, child," Blazen Sun said. "You and your hive have nothing to fear now, not from any of us. We have long wondered of the Queen's identity, but you are not Chrysalis, and I for one have no desire to persecute you for her actions."

Page looked rather relieved, and at her nod, the other Bearers all sat back down where they had been, though Night and Wind stayed close to her.

"Just how long have you known about her being the Queen?" Violet asked Gentle suddenly. "Not very long, I can presume."

"You presume correctly," Gentle told her. "I found out the day before Mems' and my photo ended up in the paper. And save for those of us currently in this room, I have not spoken of her identity to anypony else since that time."

Memorizing looked at her a little questioningly, and she arched an eyebrow back at him. "Yes, I'm counting you in that." To the others, who were looking confused, she explained. "By virtue of his own birthright, Memorizing has known of the Queen's bloodline before any of us. He did not know her personal identity until recently though. Furthermore, I let him know I had learned it during the time I was off duty. But that was the only time I have spoken to anypony about it before here and now."

Page looked grateful at her statement.

"All of this to the side," Standing Wall said, looking uncertain and no doubt uncomfortable with withholding key information from the King. "You mentioned previously that the Nightmare had allies that did something to Sunset. Do you know who they are?"

Rex looked as if he were thinking deeply, before he answered. "Not by name. The Nightmare said itself and other 'Champions of Chaos', a term I did not recognize, were responsible. It did not identify the specific individuals though." He stopped, appearing to be thinking again and putting his words in order, and Gentle waited patiently for him to do so.

At last, he continued. "At the time, the Nightmare said something about this being 'a little present to the Champion of Order'. By deductive reasoning, I presume that this was another title for Princess Celestia, based on Sunset having been her student, along with other things it said. I can also infer from some of its words, such as it voicing a regret that Sunset's actions in her transformed state only affected a few due to her being in another land, that it intended for her to somehow achieve the Element of Magic here in Equestria in order to cause maximum damage. The Nightmare said that if she had done so, it would have caused Equestria to tear itself apart, but her fleeing to Canterlot High reduced the harm she could have done."

He frowned. "The Nightmare also said some other things that make me wonder," he said. "It said something about us, and it, having Opposites. It also claims to have been responsible for inspiring Chrysalis to attack Equestria, claiming that if she had interpreted the nightmares it sent her correctly, she would have made peace with Celestia - the Lady of the Day, it called her, but it was rather obvious whom it meant - instead of invading."

Page was growling softly at that, and Gentle couldn't blame her. If she was interpreting this correctly... "Did it say why it sent her those nightmares?" she asked calmly.

"The Nightmare said it was supposed to scare those who stray back onto the right path, and that it sent bad dreams to more than a few ponies, like Celestia - she figured out what her dreams meant and sent Sunset away so that whatever they'd inflicted on her wouldn't kick in, while Chrysalis wasn't so lucky and ended up its pawn," Wind Breaker said. "But as Honesty, I figured out that part of my powers involve Knowledge, or Facts. And from that, I was able to tell that it wasn't saying the whole truth when it was talking to us. It was trying to control the world and cut off one of its great Powers, which is way beyond its intended Duties."

The others looked at him, and he shrugged. "My Element's apparently been going into overdrive since we started fighting the Nightmare that day," he said. "I've been able to read deeper truths out of things, including what it was telling us. And how Page and I had a deeper but still platonic connection."

Memorizing nodded. "So my brothers' reports said," he said, before looking at his fellow Captains. "And I presume your Guards have the same information in their end-of-day reports." 

"I haven't had time for an in-depth reading of the ones I got yet, what with this morning's events, and I doubt any of the rest of us have either," Standing Wall said. "Except for maybe Lieutenant Flight, he was in the office very early before we all met up to go to the courthouse. Care to fill us in?"

Memorizing looked over at Wind Breaker, who raised a talon. "May I?" he asked.

When Memorizing nodded, Wind looked at the other Captains. "It turns out I had family here in Canterlot all along," he said. "Rex's DNA tracker put him on the trail, and he did some extra testing to be sure. According to the results, Matron Hush Tone of the Library is actually my grandmother."

"And since she's my guardian and practically my mother," Page added. "That makes Wind my honorary nephew."

Gentle Step mentally nodded. That would explain his reaction and quick protectiveness of her, she thought.

Meanwhile, Blazen smiled. "Congratulations, young one," he said. "I am glad you have found your family."

Wind blushed. "Thanks."

Blazen then frowned. "Though this issue will not be unique or isolated. I think we should start setting up an agency to assist the griffons who need aid in finding their blood relatives."

"That was the original plan, before Lieutenant Flight chose to speed things up," Memorizing informed him. "Rex, I don't suppose you'd be willing to lend us your expertise in creating those trackers, like the one that helped your friend find his grandmother, to help us do this?"

"I would be honoured to lend my assistance," Rex said.

Violet cleared her throat. "You said earlier that these are based, to some extent, off the Reclaimed spell you were working with," she said. "Are there other methods, besides magic and DNA, that could be used to create trackers from?"

"Potentially," Rex said. "Those are the two methods I have used before though. In fact, aside from my work on the Reclaimed spell, I created an aura tracer based on it that... well, it used traces of magic that had been left on Xvital when the Nightmare attempted to attack her after her first use of her Element led her to Twilight. There was enough left of both its and Twilight's auras that I could transmute them into a form that could be inserted into a physical object, and thus track it back to its source." He frowned. "Unfortunately, those trackers all went missing between the time we were captured and the time we awoke. The Nightmare may have destroyed them, or it may have just hidden them away." There was a light growl in his voice as he said the first part, before he looked calm again.

"With us being at the epicenter of Harmony's wave of magic, it wiped away any traces of the Nightmare's magic that may have been on us, so I cannot recreate that specific tracker; ones based on those schematics are not beyond my doing though," he said. "I am both distressed and relieved by this. While knowing its influence has been removed is good, it is also most infuriating that doing so has made things more difficult for us. Theoretically, with one such tracker, I might have been able to find the others - and the ones meant for Twilight, assuming it kept them all together - if they still exist."

Several of her fellows' eyes looked rather wide at this, and Gentle decided to speak. "If we could find those aura trackers, we could potentially find where Twilight's body is," she said.

"Just what I was thinking," Violet told her. "I don't suppose Prince-King Tizoc had one too, did he?"

"Unfortunately not," Rex said. "I wish I had thought to give him one for Twilight, at least. I would not inflict one for the Nightmare's magic on anydog, as negative as it was, unless it was absolutely necessary, as it was in our case. I can work out magical formulae, but I have no real magic of my own, requiring the assistance of a unicorn for the transmutation process. Yet despite this lack, even I felt uncomfortable working with it."

"I'm like Rex, no real magic of my own to let me feel it, but that aura gave me the creeps just looking at it even before we met its source," Vix-Lei grumbled. "Much worse than the Order ponies did."

Gentle Step nodded. "Divine origin or not, the darkness within its aura was disturbing to me too," she said.

Violet tapped a hoof on the ground. "Moving away from how disturbing this being was, and speaking of divine auras," she said. "Is there any chance I might be able to study your Elements at some point? I know you have already promised to let this other individual see them, but as magical artifacts of any variety, they are of interest to me."

Wind Breaker eyed her, and she gave a shrug. "Also, King Well Banded has asked me to study them, if I can."

The griffon nodded, clearly satisfied at the answer.

Xvital shrugged. "So long as nobody tries to run off with them while you're doing it," she said. "And we probably ought to be around while you're checking them out. No telling how they'd react in the hands, or hooves, of someone other than their wielders if they didn't like what was going on." She looked at the other Bearers, who all nodded in agreement and Gentle had to admit that was sound logic.

"Speaking of checking things out," Vix-Lei started. "How'd that hearing go? I guess you're back on the job, seeing as you're here and all."

Gentle Step gave her a look. "I am certain the news will be all over the papers tomorrow," she said. "But yes, I have been reinstated, seeing as how the individual attempting to have me either break up with Memorizing or be removed entirely has himself been arrested for abuse of power and attempting to do physical harm to me in court."

Xvital facepalmed. "Good grief."

"Why did he try to do that?" Wind asked, looking rather stunned himself.

"Because he was pissed that she got the Captain-General spot instead of him all those years ago," Sweet said with a grumble. "Guy's been holding onto a grudge all this time."

"Eesh." Vix-Lei looked a little disgruntled. "Doesn't he know that's one of the fatal flaws that can ruin a 'taur?"

"If one lets negative emotions take control of them, they often do not care at that point," Rex replied. "And I expect this individual may have had such issues for a lot longer than just the length of your captaincy," he said, gesturing to Gentle.

Gentle nodded. "Either way, he has exposed himself, and our people are investigating him more thoroughly now to see what other abuses he may have conducted in his work, so that we can see justice is properly done," she said.

"As long as he's punished for his betrayals," Night said, sounding disgusted. Page leaned over and nuzzled him, causing his eyes to lighten a little.

Gentle made a mental note of that. "At any rate, I think we have learned most of what we needed to know from you for now," she said. "Though I expect some of us may wish to speak to each of you individually again on some of these things. If there is any more, we'll make sure to contact you about it. And when Captain Lulamoon is ready to make her examination of your Elements, we'll let you know that too, so you can all make arrangements to be available."

Xvital nodded. "Thank you, sir," she said.

Gentle nodded. "One other thing, since I haven't read the most recent reports yet," she said. "How have your lessons in magic been going?"

"They're going," Xvital said. "Control's improving so I don't set my bed on fire anymore, which is a relief, but I'm still working on other stuff. The advice I got from Deep Blade has helped a lot."

Gentle nodded again. "I see. And I will be sitting in on one of your classes soon, so I can evaluate things for myself."

Xvital dipped her head at that, looking nervous again. "Right..."

"Until we meet again." Gentle gave them all a nod, and then headed back out the door, her companions following her.


Once they'd made it back to Gentle's office, she made a point of sealing the room, and then faced all her captains. "Well. Your impressions?"

"They were telling the truth," Violet said. "At least, the truth as they knew it." She let out a sigh. "Including the part about my ancestor, which I'm still surprised about."

Standing Wall nodded in agreement. "I couldn't sense any dishonesty from them either," she said. "Their loyalty to one another is clear, but they never lied, not even to protect Miss Turner, though I get the definite impression that if you had not stepped in, they would have been most willing to act to protect her from us."

Blazen Sun also nodded. "Fear for their friends' safety was at the forefront then," he said. "I can understand why. They are all as close as family, and would do what they had to do to keep their own safe."

"And I don't blame them," Sweet added. "Going to have to talk to my wife about this..."

Gentle Step nodded understandingly, then turned to her last Captain. "Memorizing?"

Memorizing Gaze looked uncomfortable, but finally nodded. "My team will double-check on some of the things they said, but I didn't feel any dishonesty either," he said. "I felt fear, concern... determination. And a lot of crankiness from Blade, which I expected. But no deceit."

Standing Wall snorted in what looked like amusement at his words. "No kidding about the crankiness," she said. "That boy's going to send himself to an early grave, putting stress on his heart like that."

"Actually, according to the reports I got last evening, he had an echocardiogram while he was in the Griffish Isles and his heart's doing just fine," Memorizing told her. "He filed the report on it at the hospital he visited here yesterday when he went to have them check on his wing."

He was met with some surprised looks, but Gentle raised a hoof. "That aside, I'd like each of you to write your own reports on everything," she said. "Submit them to me, along with anything else you feel you wish to speak to them about. I'll make sure we each get the chance to speak to them again about anything else you feel the need to discuss with them, so we can expand on it and put them together into as complete and coherent a report as possible. Once that's done, I will personally see to it that the King gets and reads this report. But remember what I said: for her own safety, and by my promise not to reveal her true identity, Miss Turner's direct ancestors are not to be brought up."

All of them nodded, and she continued. "Meeting adjourned, and I'll expect your preliminary reports as soon as possible. I'll see you all later; for now, I need to talk to my lieutenant and catch up on everything else that's been happening while I was out."

The five saluted, and once she'd unsealed the room, each left in their own way.

Going to her desk, Gentle Step sat down, before hitting the button that would signal Mist to come and see her.

The day wasn't over yet, and they had a lot of work to do still.