//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Confession 
// Story: Piece by Piece 
// by Eltirions 
//------------------------------//

9 December 1008

Shrouded Night had been trained for nearly a year by the Night Guard, and had used that training to fight in the Battle of Canterlot, the Battle of Hope Hollow and various battles against Sombra’s army. Then he’d been reassigned as part of Governess Rarity’s protection detail in the Crystal Empire. As such, he’d resigned himself to doing nothing but guard shifts for a long time.

An escort mission, however dull it might be, was still more exciting than patrolling the same corridors day and night.

The fact that his current charges were two four-year olds only made things better.

‘’Mister?’’ the colt suddenly said.

‘’Yes?’’ Shrouded gave the kid an easy smile.

‘’What’s your name?’’

Well, that’s a first. ‘’I am Shrouded Night, a Sergeant of the Night Guard.’’

The colt looked thoughtful at that, and nodded. ‘’I’m Swift Hoof, and this is Star Glitter. It’s nice to meet you.’’

Shrouded tipped his head a little at both of them. ‘’It’s nice to meet you too, Swift Hoof, Star Glitter.’’ He paused, then added, ‘’You said you wanted to visit some of the shops? Which ones?’’

The two foals exchanged a look, and then both shrugged. ‘’I dunno,’’ Star Glitter said. ‘’I just wanna look around, see what they have.’’ 

Well, that was to be expected. They probably don’t have money anyway.

‘’That’s alright,’’ Shrouded assured them. ‘’Just don’t run off, okay?’’

‘’Sure!’’

‘’Thanks.’’ And Shrouded allowed them to lead the way to the shops they wanted to visit.

No one spared the two foals a moment’s notice, but everyone stared at him. Of course they did; he was a thestral, and a member of the Night Guard. That was a rare sight, even more so in the Crystal Empire. Shrouded kept an easy expression on his face. He wasn’t their enemy, after all.

‘’Look at that!’’

Well, sure.

Shrouded followed the direction that Star Glitter was pointing at to see a small statue of crystal. It was dark blue, depicting an alicorn.

The Empress, he realized after a moment. Probably a replica of the statue that used to stand here.

He blinked out of his thoughts to see Star Glitter staring with very big eyes at the store owner, who was shaking her head.

‘’I’m sorry, little one, but I can’t sell it to you,’’ she said, sounding very sincerely sad.

‘’But why not?’’ Star Glitter asked.

‘’Because it costs money, money which you don’t have,’’ the store owner explained.

‘’Aww…’’ Star Glitter pouted.

‘’I’ll buy it for you,’’ Shrouded spoke up as he stepped forward.

The store owner's eyes widened, then she bowed her head. ‘’Of course, sir.’’

Shrouded reached into his armour and pulled his wallet from a hidden pouch in his upper leg armour. ‘’How much again?’’

‘’Seventeen bits, sir.’’

‘’Here you go.’’ Shrouded hooved her the bits and took the little statue from the counter, then turned to Star Glitter and gave it to her. ‘’And here you go.’’

Star Glitter took the statue and stared at it in amazement for a few seconds, then jumped forward and threw herself around Shrouded’s left leg. ‘’Thankyouthankyouthankyou!’’

‘’No problem?’’ Shrouded awkwardly replied. A hug had not been on his list of things to expect.

Star Glitter lifted her head up and smiled as bright as the sun itself. ‘’Oh, I’m going to put this next to my bed!’’ she said as she held up the statue. ‘’Thank you so much, mister!’’

‘’Hey, not a problem, kid,’’ Shrouded - still somewhat awkwardly, to his distaste - said. ‘’I’m glad you’re happy with it.’’

Now where’s that other kid?

‘’Where’s your friend?’’ he asked Star Glitter.

The filly looked around, then shrugged. ‘’I dunno.’’

For all the love of…

‘’Right,’’ Shrouded sighed, resisting the oh-so-enticing urge to swear loudly and violently. ‘’Come with me, and we’ll find him.’’

‘’Sure,’’ Star Glitter agreed. She finally let go of his leg and walked next to him as he went deeper into the market.

After some searching - which could have been faster, but Shrouded didn’t want to leave Star Glitter on the ground - Shrouded finally found the colt in front of a young stallion, probably in his late teens, talking animatedly with him.

‘’Swift!’’ Star Glitter called out, and she galloped over to him.

‘’Hi Star,’’ Swift Hoof greeted her as he turned to face her. ‘’I was just telling my cousin about you! Shield, this is Star Glitter. Star, this is my big cousin, Starling Shield.’’

The stallion smiled down at the little filly, who gave a nervous smile back. ‘’It’s nice to meet you, Star Glitter.’’

‘’Nice to meet you, Starling Shield.’’

Starling Shield looked up, and in that process, his eyes fell on Shrouded.

Here we go.

‘’Swift, why is there a guard following you?’’ Starling Shield asked slowly. His posture had shifted. This, Shrouded darkly noted, is someone who does not like the Lunar Empire.

‘’Good afternoon,’’ he greeted as he stepped forward. ‘’Your cousin and his friend are visiting the Plaza with some other friends, which include Princess Flurry Heart and her guardian, Governess Belle. The Governess asked me to escort these two,’’ he gestured at the two confused-looking foals, ‘’when they asked if they could visit the stores. I’m just keeping an eye on them.’’

Starling Shield, slowly, looked down at his cousin. ‘’You’re friends with the Princess?’’ He didn’t sound like he believed it overly much.

‘’Yeah!’’ Swift Hoof confirmed, both him and Star Glitter nodding. ‘’She’s really nice! We even had a snowball fight with her and her aunt, and then hot chocolate in the palace!’’

Starling Shield blinked. ‘’Her aunt is here?’’

‘’The Governess,’’ Shrouded supplied.

Starling Shield’s head snapped up to glare at him. ‘’I didn’t ask for your opinion, Lunarist.’’

Shrouded ought to be insulted. He wasn’t, not really. ‘’Take care with your tone, youngling,’’ he chided, because Starling Shield might be less than ten years younger than him but he was acting like someone half his age, whatever that actually was. ‘’I am an officer of the Night Guard, and disrespect is not appreciated.’’

He wouldn’t do anything, not for something as simple as this and certainly not in front of the children, but still.

‘’Oh yeah?’’ Starling Shield took a step forward-

And found himself facing the fact that Shrouded was the one with the rifle in this situation.

‘’I’m not going to harm them,’’ Shrouded promised as he saw Starling Shield analyze the rifle that hung on his left side. ‘’In fact, that would be the opposite of my sworn duty.’’

‘’Starling, he’s nice,’’ Swift Hoof spoke up. ‘’Please, don’t fight with Shrouded.’’

Shrouded held the younger stallion’s gaze until he turned back to his cousin and sighed. ‘’Okay Swift, but I don’t like him.’’

The feeling’s mutual.




|-x-X-x-|




9 December 1008

Dinner was about the opposite of what it had been the day before.

Flurry sat on Rarity’s left, and Rainbow on her right, with the other foals spread around the table next to each other. Conversation flowed richly but separately, as both the foals and the two adults kept to themselves.

‘’Nice food they got here,’’ Rainbow remarked between bites.

‘’Well, it is a palace,’’ Rarity couldn’t help but point out.

‘’Yeah.’’ Rainbow took a swig from her drink, and frowned. ‘’I don’t like wine.’’

‘’And I’m not a fan of your usual swills,’’ Rarity countered without heat. 

‘’I know.’’ Rainbow chuckled. ‘’I do remember Pinkie’s party after we defeated Chrysalis for the second time, y’know.’’

Rarity blushed a little. That had been a night to remember. ‘’The only thing I remember is waking up in the Celestial Church.’’

‘’Didn’t you deface-’’

‘’I heard,’’ Rarity cut in before Rainbow could continue, ‘’that a particular pegasus was found sleeping in Celestia’s bathtub.’’

‘’Ah-ha,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’That. Yeah.’’ She rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. ‘’It wasn’t very comfortable.’’

‘’I can imagine,’’ Rarity said dryly. ‘’We should never have let Discord touch the drinks.’’

‘’Don’t I know it,’’ Rainbow agreed. ‘’I’ll be sure to tell him on Hearthswarming Eve.’’

Rarity was very happy there wasn’t anything in her mouth, for she would have spat it out. ‘’What?’’

‘’Crap,’’ Rainbow muttered. ‘’Uhhh… so yeah, Discord and Fluttershy are coming for Hearthswarming Eve. Pinkie and Applejack both couldn’t come, and Twilight hasn’t been seen by anyone since…’’

Rarity managed to nod, barely. ‘’And the Empress knows this?’’

‘’How the- how should I know?’’ Rainbow retorted. ‘’I’m just a Shadowbolt. You’re more her confidante than I am. But yeah, she probably does.’’

Rarity put a hoof to her head. This was going to cause so much trouble.

She eyed her glass. Definitely not strong enough for this.

‘’Alright.’’ She could deal with this later. ‘’Can you come to my office after I’ve put Flurry to bed? We’ll talk about all of this then.’’

‘’Sure thing,’’ Rainbow agreed easily enough. ‘’Got nothing better to do anyway.’’

‘’Thank you, darling.’’ Rarity tipped her head at her. ‘’I appreciate it.’’

‘’Hey, no problem.’’ Rainbow raised her glass and clinked it against Rarity’s. ‘’To friendship.’’

‘’To friendship.’’

After dinner, Rarity sent the other foals home, escorted by the same guards that had accompanied them on their afternoon excursion, then walked with Flurry to her room once she’d been showered and had brushed her teeth. ‘’Did you have a nice day?’’ she asked.

‘’It was very nice!’’ Flurry replied cheerfully. ‘’I liked playing with you and with my friends, and going to the Plaza, and seeing Rainbow again.’’

Rarity smiled. ‘’I liked it too,’’ she told her. ‘’But tomorrow I really do have to work, Flurry.’’

‘’Aww…’’ Flurry pouted even as she nodded. ‘’I understand, auntie. Maybe Rainbow can play with my friends and me?’’

‘’I don’t know,’’ Rarity admitted, ‘’you’d have to ask her. She’ll probably say yes.’’

‘’Yay!’’

They arrived at the door to Flurry’s room, which had a guard standing on each side of the door, who both bowed their heads in acknowledgement. Rarity nodded to them as well, then opened the door.

Flurry’s room was honestly beautiful, in Rarity’s opinion. There seemed to be something to the crystal that made it glitter and shine even more than elsewhere in the castle, and there was something soothing about it that Rarity couldn’t put her hoof on.

Flurry spread her wings and flew over to her large bed, settling down in front of the pillow, around which laid some stuffed toys. She smiled, then folded her wings to her body, grabbed Whammy and crawled under the covers.

So adorable. How did I ever manage to ignore her?

Rarity knew damn well why. She had been caught in her grief over Sweetie and the fallout of the civil war, and had thrown herself into her work as a way to cope. Fucking stupid of her, in hindsight.

‘’Auntie?’’

Rarity walked over to the bed and made sure Flurry was warm and nice under the covers. ‘’Good night, darling. I’ll see you tomorrow.’’

‘’Good night!’’ Flurry chirped.

Rarity hesitated, then leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on Flurry’s forehead, just under her horn. ‘’Sleep well, darling.’’

‘’You too, auntie.’’

And with that, Rarity flicked on the night light and left the room.

Right.




|-x-X-x-|




9 December 1008

Rainbow cursed the tiredness in her wings. Flying was so much easier than walking up these damn stairs.

This Palace has too many fucking levels, she thought darkly as she continued on. 

The bottle craned under her left wing was looking more appealing each time she looked at it. But drinking while climbing the stairs was bound to end in an accident that, if not harmful, would certainly be embarrasing. She was already tipsy as it was.

Besides, she was saving it for the conversation. 

Contrary to popular belief, Rainbow did have observational skills. And she had damn well seen how surprised everyone had been at the appearance of Flurry and Rarity. The guards had hidden it quite well, but they were obviously taken aback by how the two interacted with each other. The citizens outside the Palace had been surprised as well, but that seemed to be more because apparently neither of them had been seen outside the Palace yet.

Suffice it to say that Rainbow had some very poignant questions for Rarity. And as luck would have it, she’d finally reached the level where both she and Rarity now stayed.

She walked down the hallway to Rarity’s office, then knocked on the door. ‘’Rares, I’m here.’’

‘’Come on in, darling.’’

Rainbow opened the door and stepped in. ‘’Nice room.’’

‘’Thank you.’’ Rarity was sitting at her desk, directly in front of the door. ‘’Please, have a seat darling.’’

‘’Sure.’’ Rainbow walked over to the chair, then sat down in it.

‘’You're drunk.’’

So what?

‘’You're stressed over something.’’ Rainbow put the bottle she’d requisitioned on Rarity’s desk. ‘’Drink.’’

‘’I don’t think-’’

‘’Drink.’’ Rainbow ordered, doing a very good imitation of the Wonderbolt/Shadowbolt instructors.

Rarity stared at the bottle for a few seconds, then pulled a glass from one of the desk’s drawers and filled it with the liquor. She picked up the glass with her hoof and slammed it down her throat, then managed to not spit it out.

‘’Impressive,’’ Rainbow remarked.

‘’Where did you get this from?’’ Rarity inquired as she put the glass down.

Rainbow shrugged. ‘’I went to the kitchens and asked for something strong. They got me this.’’

Rarity hummed. ‘’Well, it’s certainly got a kick to it.’’

‘’Rarity,’’ Rainbow cut through the awkward silence before it could form, ‘’I have some questions.’’

‘’Questions?’’ Rarity tilted her head. ‘’About what, darling?’’

Go for the killing strike first.

‘’Why did everyone seem so surprised about how you and Flurry were acting with each other?’’

Rarity gasped. Her eyes widened a little. ‘’I-’’ She faltered.

Rainbow cursed herself. ‘’Rares,’’ she tried.

‘’I’m sorry!’’ Rarity cried. ‘’I’ve been horrible! I ignored her and mistreated her and- and-’’ She broke down completely, burying her face on the desk, sobs shaking her body.

In an instant, Rainbow was besides her, wings wrapped around her friend as she pulled Rarity’s face into her neck. ‘’Shh, shh,’’ she tried to soothe. ‘’Rares, don’t cry, please.’’

‘’I’m hor-ri-ble!’’ Rarity wailed as she continued to cry. ‘’I shouldn’t be here!’’

Now that was just a lie. And it was painfully obvious that Rarity wasn’t going to be soothed to calmness.

‘’Rarity,’’ Rainbow said, softly but in her best imitation of Spitfire’s trainer voice, ‘’Calm. Down.’’

Slowly, far too slowly, Rarity lifted her tear-stricken face from Rainbow’s equally soaked neck. ‘’R-rainbow,’’ she whispered. 

‘’Tell me everything.’’

And Rarity did just that.

She talked about the stress leading up to the referendum, the bombing, Nightmare Moon’s return and her house arrest. Her release on Nightmare Moon’s orders, and her first conversations with the Empress. Being assigned a place as head uniform designer for the Imperial Armed Forces, all the while being one of the few people Nightmare Moon saw as a friend.

Rainbow tensed her grip the longer Rarity continued, talking of Sombra’s return, the two front war, and Nightmare Moon’s victory over Celestia. The fucking madmare dropping the responsibility for a four-year old alicorn on Rarity’s shoulders. Rainbow would very much like to punch her.

Then Rarity’s explosive argument with Sweetie, and the months spent in the Crystal Empire. Rarity had thrown herself into her work, ignoring everything else by doing that. Including Flurry Heart.

‘’I’m sorry,’’ was the only thing Rainbow could manage when Rarity was done speaking.

‘’It’s not your fault,’’ Rarity whispered, her voice more than a little hoarse after talking for so long.

But it was. Rainbow should have written letters, visited, done something.  So much for being the Element of Loyalty.

‘’Rainbow,’’ Rarity shifted a little in Rainbow’s hug, ‘’thank you. For coming. I missed you.’’

In that moment, Rainbow would have liked to lean in close to Rarity and kiss her.

But she didn’t, because doing so would send Rarity all the way back down to the path of stress, and that was precisely what Rainbow didn’t want. Even through the pleasant buzz of the alcohol, she could realize that much.

‘’I missed you too,’’ she decided to say. ‘’Want me to stay tonight?’’

Rarity nodded as best she could. ‘’Please.’’

‘’Okay.’’