Where Loyalties Lie: Honor Guard

by LoyalLiar

VII - Guilt

Shining Armor was ushered by the palace servants into the upper dining room. His memories of the place were still of Soldier On's cold, desperate words, and Celestia's fury. The dark wood and narrow, east-facing windows left the place shadowed, cold, and claustrophobic.

The ponies within didn't help. There were eight ponies, by his quick count, and ten chairs. They were all watching him, quietly. He moved to the only acceptable open seat, halfway down the left side of the table. As he approached, the Princess spoke up.

"That is not your seat, Captain." Her horn, still slender and lethally pointed despite her change in stature, gestured toward the foot of the table. There, he found a padded silver throne, emblazoned with Luna's coat of arms.

"Princess, I don't think-"

"Do not think I intend for you to take her place, Shining Armor." Celestia's gaze, sharpened to a soul-cutting blade, swept across the room, taking in each face in turn. "This place is left empty to remember an absent member of the Stable." A tilt of her head was enough to move him toward Princess Luna's seat.

He acquiesced only to get the lingering gazes of the nobles off his back. Even when he placed himself in the tall, cold, and lonely throne, he could feel the fur of his coat standing on end beneath his armor. It would do him little good in the dark room, where the weapons of choice were bladed words and twisted ideas.

When he was finally settled, the eyes of the group turned as one to the pony on Celestia's right. "I, Powdered Wig, Count of Trottingham and Lord Chancellor of the Stable of Nobles, call this meeting of the Stable of Nobles to order," boomed an overstated, grating voice. It came from a unicorn whose size would have been more imposing were it not for the rolls of weight that covered his unending neck. He placed an overbearingly prideful hoof upon the center of his chest, and opened his mouth to speak again. Out came a burgeoning cough that put flinches on the faces of those sitting opposite him. Another followed, and then a third, and when the hacking fit had finally ceased, the heavy unicorn's vibrant purple jacket was stained with sweat. He took almost no time in catching his breath, however, and his unnecessary tone continued without further incident. "Let all those present state their names and be titles for the benefit of their peers."

Having finished his introduction, Count Wig lowered himself down onto his flank again on his seat to the tune of a painful creak. When his girth finally settled, he gestured with his horn to the stallion sitting on his left.

A stuffy-looking unicorn mare with half-moon glasses settled low on her nose rose up from her seat. A billowing rust red dress tumbled from its place folded on her back into countless ribbons that covered her frame like a waterfall. "Red Warden, Keeper of the West and Duchess of San Palomino."

Then came an old pegasus, wearing a blue necktie over a white shirt. "Silver Lining, representative of the Council of Cloudsdale." His words were followed off by a snort of disparagement from somewhere within the room. The old pony seemed not to have noticed beneath his thick moustache, as his wings were pressed back against their seat.

The next pony, sitting immediately on Shining's right, was one he knew all too well. "I am Prince Blueblood, Defender of the esteemed Domain of Canterlot." The brute that called himself a guardian had, in fact, been a Royal Guard once, though Shining knew all too well that the service was yet another of his dishonest attempts to bring glory to himself and his family. His single term of service had been grudgingly given in exchange for the title he put forward, rather than for any actual feelings of duty or service.

Eyes swiveled swiftly around the room, but Shining Armor was ready. He rose up from the ill-fitting throne and placed a gold-shod hoof over the amethyst armor on his chest. "I-"

"Not now, Captain," Celestia corrected. The reprimand was short and businesslike, and told Shining that some inane rule gave him no right to speak his name. He was perhaps a bit embarrassed, though the pumping blood of his determination more than easily overrode the emotion.

The next mare who rose up to speak bore the curious coloration of a half-breed. Unlike the Cloudsdale pegasus, her words had not even begun to flow when the untraceable sound of disgust was offered to the room. She ignored with clearly practiced pride as she began to speak. "I am Oromo Heartstone, and I speak for Zebrica."

The quiet she left behind was quickly filled by another voice, pointedly shrewd in its every intonation. "Sforzando Eccesivo, Il Principe de Bitalia." The lead unicorn, (whose fat could never be mistaken for anything else), Powdered Wig, glared at him. He responded with a blunt groan. "I am Prince Sforzando of Bitaly, though you all ought to know that."

"Thank you, Prince," Powdered Wig muttered, before gesturing to the final noble.

Shining had come to expect little puffing-up from the alicorn, and that was precisely what he heard. "By birth, I am simply Watchful Eye, but the ponies of my care have chosen me as Premier and Tsar of Stalliongrad." The Tsar wasn't a particularly tall stallion, and he certainly lacked anything resembling real muscle, but the genuine tone of his voice, the slender gauntness of his face, and the length of his peculiarly sharp horn served to give him an air of height, towering over all his peers in the room. Only Celestia remained above him, her plain pink mane and shrunken form still set aside over all others by virtue of her 'divinity'.

Before Shining could wonder about the alicorn any longer, his attention was again stolen by the heavyset leader of the table, whose unmistakably boring tone made the guardspony want to put his face down on the priceless ebony table and take a nap.

"The Stable recognizes Duchess Warden, Representative Lining, Prince Blueblood, Governess-General Heartstone, Prince Sforzando, and Baron-"

Shining was caught unprepared by the sudden response. Anger flashed across Watchful Eye's face, and the alicorn's slender hoof smashed against the polished tabletop with an unforgiving force. In response, the fat Unicorn didn't miss a beat. "...Forgive me, Tsar Eye." Appeased, Watchful Eye removed the offending limb, and returned to his silence. Powdered Wig nodded, and continued his seemingly unending speech.

"We regret that due to illness, Marquise Couture of Prance is unable to attend." He gestured to the empty seat Shining had moved toward on entering the room. "The Stable now recognizes its honored guests. First, and truly foremost, we recognize Her Solar Majesty, the immortal Princess Celestia." Shining couldn't help but notice that as the words were spoken, Celestia's face took on a look of something like irritation.

"And finally, the Stable recognizes Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard." A long pause followed, as the nobles all stared at him again, silently judging. When the unspoken trial was finally over, what seemed like hours later, Powdered Wig lifted his voice yet again. "We are here to discuss a matter of grave importance to the body of Equestria, and how it will affect our subjects. At this time, I yield the floor to Princess Celestia."

"Thank you, Lord Chancellor," Celestia offered with a smile, before settling forward to address the seven nobles in attendance. "I'm not sure what you have heard, so I will simply tell you the truth. Three days ago, a unicorn mare who calls herself Masquerade attempted to assassinate my sister."

Gasps and gaping mouths made it perfectly clear which of the nobleponies already knew the reality of the situation, and which did not. The former made up nearly all the ponies present, and Shining Armor was glad to count Blueblood amongst their number. On the other hoof, the ruler of the meeting, the ruler of Stalliongrad, and the father of Princess Cadance all held straight faces. Given his discussions with both Sforzando and Cadance, it wasn't hard to guess where had learned of the plot. The other two were less obvious. Regardless, the three maintained stony faces, likely afraid that some show of emotion would offend Celestia.

The true ruler of the group continued after a simple raising of her hoof brought silence to the room. "Rainbow Dash, who you may remember as the Bearer of Loyalty, was able to prevent this attack, but a poison still entered my sister's body." Celestia's tone was dispassionate and carried an undercurrent of iron, far from the raw emotion that Shining had experienced two days earlier. "As we speak, Luna lies comatose in the Palace infirmary."

At the mention of Rainbow's name, Shining caught a quick glance of some reaction on the face of Silver Lining, the sole pegasus amongst the group. What the older stallion thought, though, he kept hidden behind tight lips and an implacable face. His reaction was not the one which received the rest of the group's attentions.

"What can we do for you, Princess?" The words escaped the Bitalian Prince's lips so quickly that Shining Armor couldn't help but believe he had been waiting to ask them. Such preparation, and obsession with appearance, certainly fit his father-in-law's tendencies, and he slowly realized that Sforzando might have been trying to build sympathy, for a later, ill-advised request.

"Yes, your Majesty, how can we be of service?" Duchess Warden followed, with not quite the same sudden emphasis that her predecessor had used.

"Calm, please." Celestia requested. "The first way you can assist me is to calm yourselves, and think." Then she waited, for what must have seemed to her to be only a drop in the ocean of endless lifetimes. When all was as silent, as orange light from a slowly-approaching sunset snuck in the windows, she deigned to speak again. "In order to prevent our current issue spilling out of hand, I would ask that you seal your borders."

Prince Sforzando piped up again with his overpowering, near-shouting voice. "Princess, I understand the urgency of the matter, but doesn't that risk sending the wrong message to our neighbors? Not to mention the loss of trade."

"I can deal with whatever political backlash we face, but those borders are not the ones I am most concerned with." Her gaze swept slowly over the table, meeting every pair of eyes in turn as she had at Shining Armor's seating. "I mean for your jurisdictions to close to one another." Her words were met with gasps and shock, but they did not stop or even slow. "Canterlot will reimburse the loss of trade, but until we deal with this issue, this is the only way to contain both the assassin, and the knowledge of her plot."

The ponies at the table started talking all at once, and through their words Shining found himself unable to make out even a single thought. Celestia waited for a few moments, but when the sound showed no signs of relenting, she raised a single hoof and was nearly awarded silence.

Prince Blueblood alone found himself unable to simply shut his mouth. "Auntie, you have to be joking! We can't afford to replace Equestria's trade out of pocket, and I have no intention of seeing my treasury disappear overnight."

Celestia was ready to offer a calm response, but her words were too slow to beat Shining Armor's reaction. The stallion's tone had incensed him, built upon a dozen other tiny factors into a solid shout. He slammed a hoof onto the table, just as Watchful Eye had, hard enough to send the rest of the room's nobles jumping in their seats. "You're worried about money, Blueblood? Are you honestly more concerned with staying rich than you are with the Princess' life?"

Prince Blueblood rose to the accusation, and the two towering unicorn stallions found themselves glaring eye to eye as they shouted at one another. "Listen to me, commoner! I don't-"

Blueblood found himself unable to out-shout the infuriated guardspony. Shining's fury came in three parts: his burning focus on Luna's salvation and vengeance for Mark Down, his anger at the detestable greed of the stallion, and his personal hatred for Blueblood himself. Together, they gave the captain a shouting force to be reckoned with. "How much is Luna's life worth to you, then, Prince? How many bits would you spend to save her?"

Blueblood answered with a surprising ferocity, lifting his own voice to match the stallion he saw as his lesser. "You clearly have no idea what you're talking about, Captain Armor, so allow me to explain myself. I'm not interested in keeping the money for myself. My private holdings are more than enough to satisfy me. The treasury, however, is necessary for Equestria to function. I admit that Auntie's plan might well help you catch this assassin, but it would come at the cost of driving Equestria into the ground."

"Equestria will survive longer than Luna will!" Shining answered.

Rather than a further shout, Blueblood's response was to shake his head degradingly. "Really, Captain? How long, do you imagine? A day? Two? Do you know anything of economics? How many bits do you think travel between the Equestrian domains in a full day?"

"I don't see why that matters, Blueblood." Shining answered. "I'm interested in saving lives, not counting bits."

"Fine. I'll spell it out." The unicorn's prideful tone was borne by a smug, superior smile. "Inter-district trade accounts for three hundred million bits every twenty-four hours. That means Canterlot goes bankrupt in a day and a half. After that, it's the commoners like you who start paying. Jobs disappear. Families go hungry. And you know what, Commander? We get riots. Ponies die. That's the cost of what you and Auntie are asking. Do you understand? Or do I need to use more common words?"

"This meeting will come to order!" Powdered Wig seemed near to passing out from the force he put into his words. "Prince Blueblood, Captain Armor, I must ask that you return to your seats for the time being." His desired were granted with only the slightest modicum of acceptance, but they were granted nonetheless. "Good. Now, Princess, while I understand the concern for your sister, I fear that she is but one pony out of many within Equestria. My fellows, do you have anything to add for Her Majesty?"

"I do." Oromo Heartstone, the half-zebra, straightened in her chair and spoke. "Princess Celestia, your plan is folly." Her tone picked up a sort of musical quality. "Unless of her location, you have some proof, two birds in the bush are not one in the hoof."

"Don't spout your zebra nonsense here, Heartstone," Sforzando derided with a snort of distaste, and utter obliviousness to his own hypocrisy. "Use common Equestrian like the rest of us."

"I think you're missing her point, Prince." Silver Lining, the Cloudsdale representative, turned toward Shining Armor, speaking under his bushy moustache. "Captain, do you know where this assassin is? If so, we could close that jurisdiction, without harming any others."

Shining shook his head. "We have leads, but no definite location."

"Of course he doesn't." Duchess Warden, the blood-colored unicorn mare beside Powdered Wig, lowered her nose to look over her behind the half-moon glasses and glare at Shining Armor. "Canterlot has been nearly conquered three times under this pony's watch, and frankly, the Royal Guard is an embarrassment." Her head swiveled from left to right in an instant, ending with her nose pointing at the Princess. "If you had only made me aware of this disaster a handful of days ago, I could have gathered some of my Rangers, and we would have solved this disaster by now. I propose we find a replacement."

"Do not deride Captain Armor so quickly, Duchess." Shining was surprised to hear Sforzando's voice coming to his defense. "You may be forgetting, but he was able to stop the Queen of the Changelings, when she had even defeated our Princess." The Bitalian ruler looked down the table at his son-in-law, smiling. On another day, Shining might have derided his hypocrisy, after their earlier discussions of his rule, but he wasn't in a position to turn away the help.

"Thanks in no small part to your daughter," Red Warden added, feigning fatigue with her words. "We know, Prince. We've all heard about their infamous wedding. This doesn't excuse the fact that he was unable to prevent the attack in the first place. It also fails to address our real issue, which is how a measure as desperate as closing our borders could in any way assist us."

"My thought," Celestia answered, with a surprisingly harsh tone, "was that isolating Masquerade would allow my Guard to catch up to her, and prevent her from leaving Equestria. I admit the plan is an act of desperation. That's exactly the problem I am facing at the moment, however. I am desperate. If any of you have a better plan, please let us hear it."

The silence that followed was short, broken by the prim and proper unicorn sitting to Celestia's left. "I am afraid that none of us are military advisors, Your Majesty, save the pony to your right. Tell us, Watchful Eye, what do you think should be done?"

The Tsar answered by closing his eyes and bowing his head. "You misunderstand the history of my home. I am not a soldier, nor does my mind follow their tactics. I was only the voice of our revolution. My sons were its planners and its soldiers. They are here, if you wish to speak with them, but I feel that we are spending our time poorly."

Silver Lining turned his head to the side in a mix of confusion and mistrust. "Are you saying that trying to help Princess Luna is a waste of time?"

"I am saying that worrying over Princess Luna is a waste of our time. Let younger ponies bear that burden. Our duty is to give them what they need, and to watch over them, should they fail. That is what we must concern ourselves with."

Shining felt his drive for the hunt rise with every word that left the Tsar's mouth. "I'm not going to fail."

The alicorn broke his focus on Celestia, and turned toward Shining with a fatal focus. "I have no intention of telling you otherwise, Shining Armor. But unless your magic has shown you the future, and guaranteed her health beyond the shadow of any doubt, we must be prepared. Can you do this?"

"You of all ponies should know that reading the future is forbidden, Watchful Eye." Prince Blueblood's derisive correction was accompanied by a wave of his hoof.

Silver Lining, the pegasus of the group, took on a confused expression, but it was the half-zebra who raised the obvious question. "Why should that magic be forbidden? It would most certainly benefit Equestria."

A half-dozen mouths were opened to answer, but Celestia cut them all off simply by setting her gilded hooves gently upon the table. "The future has many possibilities, and until choices are made, all are possible. This is why magic cannot bring a cutie mark before its time; a foal's special talent could be many things, until it is realized."

The Princess then turned her gaze to the room's windows, as she wistfully observed the horizon. "Looking into the future takes away those choices. What is seen, even if it is terrible, and dark, will alway comes to pass. Choice is stolen away, and free will no longer exists." She pulled in a long and dreary breath before finishing her thoughts. "Such magic kept my sister from me for a millennia, when I ought to have only lost her for a day. I will not gamble with her life again."

Shining Armor was shocked beyond words, as his mind was drawn back to his sister. He could clearly remember when Twilight had shown him a simple, dusty greenish-gray book, titled Predictions and Prophecies. Its meaning took on a new light in his mind.

His reflections were shattered when Red Warden's nasally tone again broke the silence of the room. "I suppose that if somepony has to bring up this sordid topic, I shall do it. Princess Celestia, if the worst were to come to pass, what would you have us do?"

Celestia stared blankly forward. Shining Armor was left in the uncomfortable position of sitting across the length of the table from her, and he couldn't tell whether her eyes were fixed on him, or seeing somewhere else entirely. "If it happens, you must tell your ponies the truth, and guard your borders." Her face slowly drifted in the direction of Oromo Heartstone, who seemed just as unsettled by the Princess' attention. Worse, Celestia's tone picked up a hint of intensity as she spoke to the guardian of Zebrica. "Magnus has been my associate for many years, but it is the way of the Griffons to strike when others are weak. You would need to beware of them."

"Do we need to be worried about war?" Silver Lining asked, clearly shaken by the thought. "After what the dragons did-"
Celestia's gaze snapped to him with a sudden focus, and her tone built in strength. "Lord Krenn will not cross me, Silver Lining, after what happened a decade ago. Of all my peers, he I would trust the most. Nevertheless, Watchful Eye, I would expect that you would be mindful of his subjects."

The Tsar nodded in silence, as Celestia moved her focus to Duchess Warden. "You, Red Warden, have the most to fear. Both the boars and the changelings would come across your lands, and both have reason to attack us while we are weak. Should I lose my sister, I will lend you the Royal Guard."

"Yes, Princess."

"Good." Celestia's head swept the assembled ponies slowly. "Is this what you wanted from me? A promise that I would not forget Equestria as I mourned Luna? Or are you wondering about something else entirely?"

Nopony was willing to speak up to the obvious hint. It took a long time for words to again enter the room, and when they did, it was with a trepidation that Shining Armor would never have expected from the boisterous tongue of his father-in-law.

Sforzando leaned forward slowly and stiffly. "Princess, there is... one more matter."

"You want Luna's power." Celestia almost spat the words, and her nose wrinkled as if a foul odor had come to her attention. "I know you aren't the only one here, Sforzando. Say it now. Go on."

Nopony answered, fearing the chance that Celestia might find reason to hate them for the words they chose next. When the Princess found that her prompt was met with silence, she turned her attention to Powdered Wig. Her face lost its hints of anger. To Shining Armor, it was as if she had put on a mask; one which she wore so often that most ponies mistook it for her face. She had the tiniest hint of a soft smile, but her face largely suggested wisdom and serenity. It lacked any sort of anger, but Shining couldn't imagine the feeling had been buried far beneath her surface.

"Lord Chancellor, would you want to be known as 'the Immortal' Prince Wig?"

The heavy pony's rolls of fat quivered under Celestia's seemingly friendly focus. "Well, Princess... that is, if you were to offer it to me..."

"I see." The words were a simple statement of fact, rather than the condemnation that some of the ponies present were no doubt expecting. "What of you, Duchess Warden? How do you feel about the night?"

Unlike Powdered Wig, Red Warden had too much pride to quiver in fear before her almighty ruler. She closed her eyes and straightened herself up. "It would be the greatest honor I could ever receive, Princess."

"Yes, it would." Celestia said nothing more than the simple words, turning her eyes toward Silver Lining. "What of you, Councilor?"

The old pegasus' words were stolen away by the stallion to his left. "Auntie, surely you must be joking! He isn't even a noble, or a unicorn, let alone an alicorn."

"And yet he has more magic than you, nephew. He could raise the moon just as well as I do, if he had to. So tell me, Silver Lining, would you take Luna's place?"

The pegasus was the first of the group to slowly shake his head from side to side. "I would not, Princess."

"Interesting." Celestia turned her head to Prince Blueblood, and she spoke before he could even open his mouth. "You don't need to answer, nephew. I know full-well that you would seize that power in an instant."

Shining Armor readied his tongue, but found himself eternally grateful when the ruler of the sun passed over him, turning to Oromo Heartstone.

The half-Zebra spoke up without being asked. "Such power could bring respect to my land, though at the cost of the Princess, I dare not demand."

Whatever Celestia thought of the zebra words, her face offered no more explanation than it had to the other nobles. Her head swiveled further, to the Prince of Bitaly.

"Et tu, Sforzando?" the ageless alicorn wondered.

"Not for myself, no. I think the gift should belong to my daughter, Cadenza."

Celestia nodded slowly, and then turned back across the table to Shining Armor. "What do you say to this?"

Shining's blood ran cold for a moment, as the fearful ponies in the room turned their eyes to him. His mouth was dry when he opened it, and he sucked in a bitter breath before he spoke. "No, Princess."

"What? Shining Armor,-" the prince's tone sounded betrayed, but Shining Armor cut him off.

"Sforzando, I don't want Cadance to have to watch me get old and die. I don't want to leave her alone forever."

The words were followed by silent contemplation, until at last the Bitalian prince fell back against his chair, shaking his head slowly. Celestia turned to the last pony, Watchful Eye, who met her gaze with a solemn face. "My words will be the same as Shining Armor's, Princess. I would have my sons bury me. I will not bury another of my sons."

Celestia turned back to the group as a whole. "Do you understand why I cannot let Luna go? Anypony could raise the moon. That isn't why I need her; I need my sister because she is the only pony who can ever be there for me without it hurting. If I had to choose another, it would be Twilight Sparkle. She would never fill the part of my heart I hold for Luna, but her company would keep me well in the ages to come."

The Princess turned to Shining Armor, and her mask showed a crack, as the hints of a tear built near the corners of her eyes. The water never fell, but the gentle sparkling it gave in the faint light was unmistakable. "I could never do that to my student, though. I could never take away her friends like that, and force her to live on as they passed away. And so, if I lose my sister, I will be alone. Forever."

Celestia then stepped up out of her throne, head held low. "This meeting is over. Travel home safely, and be thankful for your mortality." As she left the room, Shining Armor couldn't help but hear the soft tap of a single raindrop hitting the stone of the palace.

"Now duck. Goo-" Dead Reckoning's breath was stolen from his body as a well-toned wing struck him in the throat. He shook his head, bringing focus back to his only remaining eye, and smiled. "You weren't kidding about being fast, kid. You've got some good magic in you."

Rainbow Dash adjusted her pith helmet and smiled wide. "Fastest flier in Equestria, and only pony to ever make a Sonic Rainboom, right here. What's magic got to do with it? I'm not a unicorn."

The jungle pony took a step back from the little field of their battle. His focus turned briefly to the small pond whose shores had become their camp. Ultimately, his hooves carried him to a tall, lanky tree whose roots were covered by a pair of saddlebags. From his own bags, he grabbed a pair of flat crackers. One was thrown Rainbow's way, accompanied by a wry smiled. "Crack didn't teach you any of that?"

"Crack didn't teach me anything, Dead Reckoning. He just kept telling me not to use my wings, like I was an earth pony or something. I don't know who put the stick so far up-"

"That's enough, kid. I get that you don't get along with him, but there's no need to be that mad about it. He's a good pony if you get to know him. He's got his reasons. Also, you don't need to call me Dead Reckoning. Just Reckoning is fine. Or Deadeye, if you like that better. Just don't call me 'Dead'."

The comment was enough to earn a laugh from Rainbow, who then sounded out the names in her head before answered. "All right, Deadeye, if that's what you want, you don't get to just call me 'kid' all the time."

"Deal, Dash. Now, what was I saying... right, magic. So, all ponies have magic, not just unicorns."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, pegasi use magic to fly and walk on clouds. We all have that, though." Rainbow shrugged. "I don't see the big deal."

"Well, that's just because you don't understand how it works." He paced over to the tiny pond whose bank had become their camp, and dipped the tips of his wings into the water. "How hot do you think it is right now, Dash?"

Rainbow looked back to her wings, and the patches of damp sweat that were building on her tan shirt beneath them. The sheer scorching of the sun that broke through the canopy was bad enough, but the humidity was the worst. They brought to Rainbow's mind much more potent words.

The wet heat sapped her energy, and slowed her every step.

"It's pretty hot."

Dead Reckoning turned, and flicked his wings at a tree a few feet away. Rainbow was left with her mouth hanging wide open as the droplets of water that flew from his feathers did not splash down the branches. Instead, they clung to the bark, in the form of tiny icicles.

"Fancy a cool drink?"

"How did..." Rainbow couldn't even finish the words.

"It's just a magic trick," he answered. "It's also not very useful, but it is pretty easy. I bet you can do it. Go stick your wing in the water."

Rainbow couldn't wait; she flew the short distance to the water's edge and dipped her wings. "Okay, now what?"

"Now, you think of something sad."

At first, Rainbow questioned the order. She had to remind herself that it was magic, and it didn't always make sense; nearly half the things Twilight did were way crazier than what she'd been asked. She called into her imagination the ending to Daring Do and the Cove of Candles, where Daring's closest friend, Dodger, gave his life to save the mare. It was an easy thing to imagine, and it had even made Rainbow sniffle a bit. She focused on the picture her mind had made, recording every minute detail, and slowly, the tips of her wings began to feel numb with cold.

She opened her eyes and thrust her wings forward. "Ha!"

Dead Reckoning maintained a surprisingly straight face as a decent-sized splash of water ruined the short mess he called his mane. "I don't think you got the feeling right."

"Well, why should it matter anyway?"

"That's how pegasus magic works, Dash. It's based on how you feel - that's why its called Empatha. Like... hmm... What do you usually think about when you pull off a Sonic Rainboom?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Well, I don't know. Pretty much anything, I guess. I can sort of do it whenever."

Reckoning seemed impressed as he nodded. "When you did it the first time, how did you feel? What made you want to try?"

"Well, I guess I felt like I needed it to show up that stupid colt, and win..." Rainbow's voice trickled off as realization reached her. "Then, the next time I was able to do it, it was to save my friend Rarity."

The scout pony broke into a massive smile. "Exactly! You were able to do that magic because you felt like you needed to. Desperation was the key, until your magic got used to it. Making ice is the same, only instead of desire, it works off sadness."

The young mare gave a slow nod of understanding, and then closed her eyes to focus. Her mind brought her back not to fiction, but to memories. Memories of her childhood, and a long hospital hallway, and an old, friendly pegasus.

Papa was talking to a doctor pony. His name was Doctor Chart, and Rainbow didn't like him very much. He kept telling the filly that Mommy needed to sleep, or that she had to take her medicine. The medicine always made her sleepy, and she never wanted to play, or even hear about flight camp.

Papa usually brought Rainbow to the hospital, but today, he hadn't been there when school got out. Rainbow was a pretty good flier, though, and she knew the way to the hospital by memory.

Doctor Chart and Papa were talking in big words. Rainbow didn't know most of them, but she imagined Papa was going to be building a new part of the hospital soon. That was usually what he talked about when he used big words. All the grown-up ponies wanted him to give them his clouds, which confused Rainbow, since there were clouds everywhere that anypony could just go grab if they needed more.

All the thought Rainbow put into their talk was unimportant, when her little hooves finally brought her to the tall white door to Mommy's room. The number on the front said 424D, though the little box with Mommy's name was gone. Rainbow pushed against the door, and it started to swing open.

Then she felt a big, strong leg wrap around her middle, pulling her away. She felt a warm coat against her back, and a big bushy bunch of hair pressed against her ears. She knew it was Papa when she felt the way his fuzzy face tickled her.

"Not today, my only sunshine."

"We can talk later." Doctor Chart said, before turning to walk away down the hall.

"Papa, why can't I see Mommy?"

"Because, sweetheart." The words made Rainbow sad. She wriggled in Papa's grip, and his hold wasn't tight enough to keep her. Her little hooves hit the ground, and right away, her wings started beating. Papa usually let her win races, but this time, he wasn't fast enough to catch Rainbow at all. The filly pressed her hooves against the door and darted inside.

The room was empty. Mommy's bed was made, clean and tight, but Mommy wasn't in it. All the paper, and the machines, and the bags of funny-colored rainbow water were gone.

"Where's Mommy?" Rainbow shouted, when Papa came in the door.

Papa didn't say anything, but when he saw her, his face crinkled up, and Rainbow could see that his eyes were getting wet. She was afraid that shouting had hurt his feelings. She ran up, and wrapped her little legs around one of his. "I'm sorry, Papa. I didn't mean to yell. I just want to know where Mommy is."

"Mommy's gone." Papa told her, as his face tickled Rainbow's ears. "Mommy's gone to be with Daddy."

"Come in, Shining Armor." The Princess' words were accompanied by the doors to her chamber swinging open from within. When his eyes took in the ruler, he was surprised to see the hints of life and color returning to her mane. It was still primarily pink, but subtle hints of green and blue had filled the edges, and every few moments, it would quiver in an unseen breeze.

"You look good, Princess."

She shook her head, not even bothering to meet his gaze. Her focus was on the sun setting outside her window. He noticed her horn glowing with magic to bring about the event. "I've been told that every day for at least a thousand years, Captain. It's just my magic beginning to return. Thank you for noticing, though."

He nodded. "I found something in our investigation."

Celestia turned away from her sun in an instant, and her eyes narrowed into focused points. "Something to help Luna?"

He didn't even have to answer for her to lose her hope. The reality was written as plain as day across his face for her to see. "No, Princess. I'm afraid it's bad news. One of my lieutenants, Mark Down, was killed this morning."

Celestia bowed her head with practiced grace. "I'm sorry to hear that. Where was he investigating?"

"Here, Princess. Canterlot." Her eyes grew ever-so-slightly wider at the revelation. "In my office."

"A guardspony killed him?"

"I’m not sure yet. I doubt it was Masquerade herself; the violence was too… too brutal to match her profile. But I suspect somepony working closely with her. Whether a traitor or an outsider, I can’t say yet. Whoever it was, Mark knew, or at least thought, that somepony was following him. He wanted to get this letter to me before he went into hiding. Whoever killed him must have taken the first page, but I found the second in my office." He unfolded the letter and levitated it to her. As her eyes scanned the words with incredible speed, his explanation pressed on. "I needed to talk to you about the chance that there’s a traitor in our ranks. First off, could it be one of the Night Guard? I don't know much about—"

Celestia's face suddenly became frighteningly cross. The little hint of a smile she usually wore was completely gone. "No, Captain."

"You're sure, Princess? I know they might seem trustworthy—"

"You misunderstand; this isn't a question of loyalty. Those creatures are incapable of betraying my sister. I would rather not speak of them."

Shining Armor was stunned by Celestia's words, and it took him far too much time to put aside his surprise at the bluntness of her speech. It took him a false start to finally begin speaking again. "I... I understand, Princess. If the traitor isn't among them—and there really is a traitor—it means that they're in the Honor Guard."

Celestia nodded. "At least, that is what Mark Down is suggesting. Do you have anything to add?"

Shining took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to do. "Yes, Princess. Soldier On. She was the one to inform me of Mark's death, rather than one of my guard, even though the attack happened in my office. Then there's the fact that she's apparently some sort of war criminal in Stalliongrad, if the nobles there are to be believed. And I understand she is also the acting Captain of the Honor Guard, after the Commander's death."

Celestia nodded as she replied. "I'm tentative to declare her guilty without more solid proof, however. Steel trusted her completely."

It took the experienced guardspony barely a moment to make the connection between the name and the title of Commander. "With all due respect, Princess, the Commander is dead because of the ponies he trusted."

The words seemed to wound Celestia. She looked away from Shining, focusing on her setting sun. He was prepared to apologize, but her words bested his speed. "Yes, Captain Armor. He is. She would also seem the logical choice, with regard to your Lieutenant's comment on the Blizzard Revolution."

"Actually, that's the first I've ever heard of it. What happened?"

Celestia's horn ignited, and the setting of the sun continued. Its momentary pause had likely gone unnoticed across the world. "The Blizzard Revolution was a fortunately brief war in Stalliongrad, going on six years ago, though the story starts long before then. You know that the Domain of Stalliongrad forms our border with the dragon’s homeland?”

Shining nodded only once.

“You must have been a colt when they invaded. The Dragon Wars hardly touched Canterlot, but they decimated Stalliongrad. Ponies were starving, scavengers and gangs ruled the streets. Baron Frostbite told me he needed absolute power in his Domain to fix his worries. I granted it to him.”

“What do you mean by absolute power?”

“Forced labor camps for the earth ponies—” at Shining Armor’s wince, she nodded. “Terrible, but even they agreed at the time. The alternative was starvation. The dragons had torn up our railways, and relaying them in the heart of eternal winter was the work of months, if not years. He tasked the pegasi with that work, as well as hunting down the gangs. And the unicorns he set to work building up shelter, and then rebuilding the burnt out husks of their cities. They accepted it when they were starving and freezing. But when the work was done and things didn’t change—”

As Shining watched, Celestia’s eyes fell. “He became a tyrant?”

“I tried to wean him away peacefully,” Celestia replied, voice drowning in regret. “He wouldn’t hear it. I sent my best ambassador Marathon. Then I went myself. But in the end, I sent the Commander.”

“Alone? I’ve heard the stories about his skill as a fighter, but even he couldn’t just win a war alone.”

Celestia shook her head. “That wasn’t the goal. If I’d sent the Royal Guard, I’d be just the tyrant he was. Imposing rule from afar always ends poorly. The Commander offered an alternative—helping the Stalliongradi populace rise up for themselves. He chose Watchful Eye to be their leader. You may recall the Tsar's reaction to the title of Baron a few hours ago."

"I see." Shining Armor nodded. “Who fought for Frostbite, if the population was being treated that way?”

“Frostbite paid his favorite police very well, and he had a great deal of money in support from the other nobles. He hired a considerable number of mercenaries from Griffonstone.”

Shining nodded yet again. "And Soldier On fought in the revolution?"

"I can’t imagine the Commander met her any other way," Celestia replied. Briefly, she turned her head to the window of her chamber, and her horn glowed as she pushed the sun below the horizon. "But I never knew for sure. She didn’t like to talk about her past; the few times I wasn’t too busy to talk while she was assigned to guarding me, we talked about music or worked on her Equiish. She was quite a good singer.” Celestia shook her head, and in the motion, Shining could see immeasurable fatigue. In his memory, it seemed the Princess had never before lost her train of thought. To her credit, she shifted back to her point quickly. “After Frostbite was overthrown and the last Windigo ran out of hatred to feed on…” Celestia trailed off at Shining’s look of confusion. It took her a moment’s thought to recognize the cause. “The Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant story isn’t as historical as you might believe, Captain. Stalliongrad is the site of the ancient unicorn capital, but the eternal winter that wraps the land isn’t some lingering magic. One of the windigoes from all those years ago is alive and well, somewhere in the tundra. But again, I digress. Steel brought Soldier On back here, perhaps a year or two after the revolution was over, to serve on the Honor Guard."

Shining Armor was shocked. "He recruited a war criminal for your personal guard? And you allowed it? All due respect, Princess, but have you gone insane?"

"I knew nothing about her actions in the revolution. I trusted Steel's judgment, Captain." She turned away from the night sky behind her, and offered a mournful gaze to Shining Armor. "Perhaps that was a mistake." She took on her most serious expression, one Shining recognized from her fateful duel with the Queen of the Changelings. "I will confront Soldier On, Captain. You are to pursue Mark Down's killer. The trail may lead you to Masquerade.”

Shining Armor bowed in acknowledgement of his orders, and then stepped out of his ruler's room, ready to finally face his unknown foe.

Dead Reckoning had to dodge out of the way when a trio of icicles flew toward his head. Reflexes built over three decades in the field were more than enough to pull him out of the way with ease, leaving the flying spears to shatter against a tree at the edge of their clearing. The broken shards of ice left dancing glimmers of purple, pink, and orange in the fading light of the sunset.

It didn't take Dead Reckoning long to begin an encouraging clap. "I'm impressed, Dash. You learn fast." He looked at the shards of her ice, melting on the dirt floor of the jungle, and compared them to his own effect. She certainly hadn't made quite as much of the frozen water, but her contribution was still amazing, especially given the difference in their experience.

He turned toward the filly standing with her wings in the lake, and his jaw dropped. She shook her head, burying whatever painful memory had given her the ice she used, and looked up at the effects of her magic. "I didn't do nearly as good as you, though," she said, disappointed. Clearly, she hadn't noticed her other effect.

"Maybe you don't have as much control," Reckoning's wing pointed to the water at Rainbow's hooves, "but you do have a lot more raw power. I'm sorry, by the way."

"Sorry for what?" Rainbow looked down, and Dead Reckoning couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. Nearly half the pond was covered in a sheet of thin ice. In the perfect mirror, she gave herself in a little smile, and adjusted her ill-fitting pith helmet. She must have thought she looked 'cool'. It wasn't often Reckoning got to interact with younger ponies, and the immaturity of it all warmed his heart.

As she finally broke away from her own image, he remembered her question. "Well, like I said, our magic is based on emotion. So I'm sorry, because whatever it was you thought of, it must have been really terrible."

Yet again, she obviously felt the need to be tough. "It's nothing." He obviously couldn't see inside her mind, but the ice on the pond was more than enough to make it clear how much her memory hurt. He didn't feel up to pressing the issue, though.

"If you say so. Now, come over here, and sit down, so I can explain a few more things." His wing patted a spot beside their lazily constructed fire pit, before he folded his legs and took a seat himself.

"Aw, but I wanted to try that again!"

The one-eyed pony shook his head. "Don't waste your time. Ice isn't any good in a fight." He could recall times when ponies had tried. Most of them ended up dead.

"You'll never make enough to actually freeze somepony."

"Well, maybe I want to be able to do something besides just hurt other ponies." The words were surprisingly scolding, and Reckoning had to stop, and remind himself that not everypony viewed life through his eye. Said eye wandered lazily toward the ground, as he reflected on how the amazing filly in front of him had wound up out in the Zebrican jungle. He felt the fairest thing to do was not to mention it, and that left his only option in the form of a lazy idiom he'd heard too many times in his own youth. "When you're Honor Guard, it's easy to forget about things like that." It hadn't originally been about the Honor Guard, but she didn't need to know that. Once upon a time, wars hadn't been from fairy tales.

Reckoning was caught completely off-guard by her response to the statement. "So, you don't have a family, or something? At least, some friends? What do you do with your time off?"

He really only spoke to the Griffons and Marathon anymore, and neither of them were delusional enough to ask a question like that. It was so ridiculous that it brought out a laugh, but not the sort he usually gave. He knew almost instantly that the barking, hollow noise he had made was the laugh of an old dying guard who didn't actually think something was funny. He didn't have much way to fix the noise, though, and so settled for explaining himself. "I haven't taken time off in six years, Rainbow Dash. And no, I don't have a family." It wasn't quite true; somewhere back in Equestria, he had a brother, along with at least a half-dozen nieces and nephews. Of course, none of them would welcome a visit from 'Crazy Uncle Deadeye'.

"The rest of the Honor Guard are the only ponies I'd really call friends." He hadn't meant to sound so sad, but he saw pity in Rainbow's eyes. It made him mad. "That's how the Honor Guard works. We give up everything for Celestia. Nopony else matters. No family. No friends. Just duty. I'm damn proud of that." He closed his good eye, so that only his scarred white orb was watching her. It had always struck him as strange that he would never know what that looked like, from somepony else's point of view. Regardless, the griffon talons had taken out most of his eyelid, so closing the thing properly was generally an exercise in futility. "Don't feel sorry for me. I chose the Broken Guard. It's what I do. Anyway, we were talking about magic, right?"

He had hoped to lighten spirits after the grim talk, but Rainbow seemed almost frightened by the sudden shift in his demeanor. "Uh... yeah. Ice magic."

"Right." He nodded firmly once. "Don't waste your time. You've got to figure out what sorts of magic work best for you. It's sort of like a cutie mark; it's based on what you're like, and who you are."

"So what kinds of magic are there? Can I see the future, or teleport?"

They were the questions everypony asked when they learned about pegasus magic, and in his lifetime, he'd answered them a dozen times. "No, you can't. That's unicorn magic, or as its supposed to be called, Arcana. We don't change the way the world works. We bend what's already there to our advantage. That means things like ice and thunder, but it also means animal instincts, for the 'Stare'."

"What about earth ponies?"

"That's the funny one. See, unicorns do magic, and pegasi make magic, but earth ponies are magic. Its called 'Endura'. The sort of things they do are always there, always... on, I guess you'd say. Some earth ponies can make things grow."

"What, like overnight? I bet Applejack would love that."

He didn't know who Applejack was, but given her name, it wasn't hard to guess. Everypony knew somepony from the Apple family. "No, not any faster. When an earth pony that has that sort of magic takes care of a plant, it grows bigger, and stronger, and healthier. You get more fruit, or bigger flowers, or whatever it is you're growing. That's why you don't see unicorns or pegasi with farms. We can't compete."

"I guess that makes sense." Rainbow nodded. "What else?"

"Well, some earth ponies are just really strong, like Soldier On. I've seen her buck through a solid stone wall before. That's pretty common, actually. They sometimes have some other weird, little things too. Lieutenant-" His words stopped, as he remembered the explanation Marathon had given him of recent events. Whatever she said, he still had a hard time believing the Commander was gone. "Sorry, Captain On has this sort of danger sense that I've never seen in anypony else. It's really weird, but she almost never gets hit by anypony who's attacking her, cause she knows exactly where everything is coming from."

"What, like Pinkie Sense?"

Dead Reckoning couldn't resist a sarcastic response. "Well, that depends on what the hay 'Pinkie Sense' is, apart from the dumbest name I've ever heard."

Rainbow opened her mouth to explain, but something stopped her. If Reckoning were to hazard a guess, he would have said that she decided the effort of explaining wasn't worth it. "It's nothing."

"If you say so. Now, back to pegasi. I figure we can try and teach you one more trick before you get some sleep. I figure you could probably learn a thunderclap or a smokescreen pretty easy."

It didn't take long for Rainbow to decide. "Thunderclap. Definitely."

Reckoning nodded. He had expected the answer, though he didn't bother clarifying that it was because of the traits she shared with Thunder Crack. She probably would have reacted poorly. "Thought so. All right, you do this with your back legs. Try and think of something exciting, that gets your blood pumping." He stood up, and flexed his own hind legs, balancing with his wings. "Anger works too, but it's usually pretty hard to get angry on purpose."

Rainbow followed his motions, and then closed her eyes. Reckoning just waited as her imagination conjured whatever exciting thing (or pony, as Crack preferred) would get her blood pumping.

Then the world exploded in light and sound. His chest burned in fiery agony. Everything went bright white.

His eyes opened slowly. The world was still fuzzy at the edges. The first things he saw were the grass, and his hooves. The right one was bleeding, heavily, in two places. Blood was staining his fur, and the grass beneath it.

The air smelt like ozone, from the lightning that was probably still flying everywhere. His ears were ringing, and all he could hear was a high-pitched, constant squeal.

Somepony pulled him to his hooves. Or maybe it was his wings. It was hard to tell. Everything was sore. He pulled up his head, and looked around.

He had fallen in a hole, probably torn up by a unicorn fireball. The low divot had probably saved his life, keeping him out of view of the enemy. It took a hard, painful stretch for him to press up to the side and peek over the top.

They were getting closer. At least six big ones. Three had weapons, one was obviously a mage of some kind, and the last two were the kind that killed with their claws and talons and beaks, like animals. The ringing had just barely started to fade when he heard a clear voice behind him in the crater.

"Get up, Reckoning! You need to be airborne, now!" He spun around, swinging a wing-blade in a wide arc. The mare behind him jumped back in shock. "Watch it, Sergeant!"

"Shut the hell up, Captain!" He hissed. "We've got six of them, coming this way. I can't out-fly that, not in the open."

Unending Vigil was utterly serious when she answered him. "I don't expect you to, Sergeant. Just get them in the air, and Flag's squad will take them down."

It was a suicide mission for anypony else, but that was why she'd called on Dead Reckoning. He flexed his wings and nodded. "Are they ready?"

"Do it."

He shot off into the foggy blue. It took barely two seconds for the first bolt of lightning to soar over his shoulder. He rolled to the side, wings pulled in, and then dropped into a dive, as the second shot over his head. Their mage had good aim, and great reactions, but neither were good enough. The pegasus was going far too fast. He'd made it nearly a half-mile into the sky when he finally saw them following. The griffon's bigger wings were faster, but less agile. The latter made little difference in the open sky, but the savannah of northern Zebrica had few trees or obstacles for an alternative.

The unicorns in hiding below surged up as one. The sky filled with bursts of light. The griffons dropped, one after another. It was probably wrong, but he smiled as he watched them fall. Better than ponies.

A sharp pain in his left wing cut off his pleasure. He jerked back to see the last griffon clutching his wing. They were falling, together, and none of the unicorns were shooting. It took him a moment of agonizing pain, in freefall, to realize why.

It was using him as cover.

"Shoot! Shoot, damn it!" His words were lost in the wind, but he heard the griffon's laugh.

"Not today, pony." Its wings flared out a mere dozen feet from the ground. The collision stole the air from his lungs, and cracked at least two of his ribs. He couldn't get up. The monster stood over him, and pulled back a wickedly sharp talon. Its focus was on his face, on his right eye.

That's wrong... I lost my left eye.

The claw swung forward, and stopped, as a pegasus mare delivered a crushing buck to the monster's face. It recoiled in fear and pain, but she wasn't done. Her rear hooves bucked out again, and with the sound of a thundering cannon, the creature fled into the sky. A single burst of magic claimed its life.

The mare who'd saved his life turned back to him with a mix of anger and confusion.

"Easy Breeze?" He asked.

That's ridiculous; she was never a soldier, and she lived in Cloudsdale.

The friendly mare grabbed him by both shoulders and looked straight into his eye-s.

"What's gotten into you, Reckoning? And how do you know my mom?"

"Your mom was named Easy Breeze too? I didn't know that." Reckoning waved off the strange comment and smiled at the beautiful mare standing before him. "Well, you saved my life there. I didn't know you could make a thunderclap."

"What are you talking about? You taught me that, like, ten minutes ago!"

"I..."

There was no slow fading, no easy transition. He simply blinked, and it was gone. The plains, the Royal Guard, the dead griffons, the fire and the thunder, all disappeared. In their place were the trees and brush of the deep jungle, and the mare standing in front of him was Rainbow Dash, clad in her silly helmet and a slightly torn safari shirt. She looked angry.

"What the hay is wrong with you, Reckoning? I did the thunderclap, and then you totally freaked out."

He blinked the one eye that could, and shook his head vigorously. "You sent me back, Rainbow."

"What?" she snapped.

"It's not your fault. How far is camp?" He hoped his non-answer would get her to drop it. It didn't take much to make him realize it was a stupid hope.

"You only flew a few hundred feet." He turned, only for Rainbow to angrily grab his shoulder. "This way. But that doesn't answer anything. I need an answer."

Reckoning sighed. "I had a flashback."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

He hated explaining. "Your thunderclap made me think it was - Celestia, I don't know, thirty-eight years ago? Maybe thirty-nine now? Anyway, the griffons went to war with us. I thought I was there."

"So you just went crazy?" Rainbow's anger was blurred with concern. "Do you do that a whole lot?"

He stopped walking, and nodded. "Maybe once a week. Usually, if something catches me off guard. Look, we can talk about it back at camp. I need to think."

Rainbow's reaction was a throaty growl, but even with her hunched shoulders and her disappointed tone, she gave the stallion his precious privacy. He spent the next dozen steps wishing the walk wouldn't end. Only one realization came to him as he paced across the jungle, and that was that a very, very old burn on the center of his chest was very, very hot.
When they finally reached camp, he sat down a bare few inches from the fire and bluntly ignored the heat. His hooves and wings idly began unbuttoning his shirt as he waited for the questions to begin.

Rainbow, ever eager to live up to her speed-related titles, didn't waste any time in picking up. "You're telling me that you have flashbacks to a war from forty years ago?"

"Not just that, no. The Dragon War. The Blizzard Revolution. Maybe a half-dozen more." He kept his voice as bland as possible, in an attempt to control himself.

Rainbow nodded very, very slowly. "Right. And these flashbacks happen all the time?"

"Maybe once a week, like I said." He was aware that a grating tone had entered his voice, but he neither bothered to change it, nor cared.

"And you just thought that not saying anything would be fine and dandy?"

The filly's sarcastic tone sent him over the edge. "Listen, Rainbow Dash, I didn't ask to be like this. I've spent my entire life making it so that Equestria can be a safe, happy place for ponies like you who don't even know I exist. Got it? Well, some time a while ago, something inside me decided that I couldn't take it anymore, and I snapped. Okay?"

Rainbow's mouth hung slightly open as the bigger, older pony paced around and thrust a hoof against her chest, pressing her toward the ground. He wasn't about to take her interruptions, or her sarcasm. "I thought it was over. So much for a special talent as a scout when the guard won't take you, but it turns out there was a pony who understood what was up with me. The Commander found out about me, and he let me join up with the Broken Guard, just like that. I was with all the other freaks, keeping our own little secrets, and everything was fine and dandy, until one day I blew that chance too. I had a flashback in front of Princess Celestia, and I hit her in the face. So now, I'm out here in the middle of nowhere, wasting my life playing border patrol on the Griffons, because I'm an embarrassment to everything I've ever stood for!"

He finished his rant panting, with his wings flared and his one eye glaring as tightly as it could. He could feel the veins popping in his forehead, as his heart struggled to keep up with his fury.

Rainbow seemed terrified. It took a great deal too long for Reckoning to realize that the wing blade he had never taken off his right wing was pressed close against her throat. In that instant, the anger and the force were gone, replaced in total by shame. He stalked back to his side of the fire and curled up onto the dirt. "I'm sorry you have to put up with me. You deserve better than getting stuck out here."

He lay there, with his eye closed, and waited for the usual half-sleep that made up his nights to overtake him. It was to his incredible surprise when a warm, gentle wing wrapped around him tightly, and a soft weight pressed against his side.
Rainbow's voice was still shaken, and he could feel her keeping herself away from his bladed wing, but she still had the courage to speak up. "I can't imagine what it would be like to be told you couldn't use your special talent."

He looked over at the mare embracing him, and shook his head. "You've got guts, Dash, to come sit next to me. I shouldn't have shouted at you."

"No, you shouldn't have." Rainbow slapped his shoulder with a hoof. "But I think I'm a cool enough pony to shake that off."

"I didn't warn you. I can't really have expected you to act any differently. What actually happened?"

"Well, when you said a thunderclap, I didn't realize it came with actual lightning." His mind locked onto the words, even though Rainbow kept talking. "I think I hit you in the chest. You were out cold for a minute, but when you woke up, you started calling me Captain, and then you just flew off. I followed you, but a hippogriff came after you when you got above the canopy. I used the thunderclap to scare it off."

"Well... thanks." He put his head down on his hooves. "Can you take the first watch?"

"Sure." She pressed her wing tighter against his side. "Just warn me if you've got any more crazy- er, personal things I should know."

He didn't think the mistake was funny, but he gave her a laugh for comfort's sake. "Not until morning. There's a bag of little black seeds in my saddlebags. Take two before you got to sleep. They'll help you train your magic. And one more thing, Dash."

"Yeah?"

"You're the first pony who's had the guts to stay close to me after one of those. Thanks for that."

The words she answered were so foreign that they had to have been part of a dream. "That's what friends are for."

He slept soundly and calmly, for the first night in twenty years.

Celestia's quill scratched widely across her page when a thunderous knock shook the door of her study. Her late-night attempt to focus her thoughts and regain her energy had been interrupted. Her letter to Twilight was ruined, and would need to be rewritten. With no more than a thought, it was put aside. She resolved to scold whichever guardspony was standing outside the door, before recalling that Soldier On had yet to report back, and she’d been forced to bar the doors with her own magic for lack of another healthy Honor Guard anywhere near Canterlot to take the place.

With a sideways glance, her magic opened the door, revealing another alicorn flanked by a pair of stallions in heavy black coats.

"Watchful Eye, this is unexpected. And Foresight as well." She was careful not to sound entirely pleased; the nobleponies were supposed to have left. Briefly locking eyes with the smallest of the assembled ponies, a blood red pegasus, she spoke up again. "I’m afraid you’ll have to remind me of your name, my little pony.”

“My name is Roscherk Krovyu.” The words may have been right, but the timing and inflection were off. She doubted the young stallion really spoke Equiish, though that hardly mattered to him. Even in the way he locked eyes with her, she could feel the strength of his magic. He was a soldier, and a talented one at that.

“Red Ink,” Foresight offered. “If you prefer an Equiish name.” In the back of her mind, Celestia idly noted that the translation Foresight had provided was extremely generous.

“What are you doing here, Foresight?” Celestia turned toward the unicorn of the group. “The train back to Stalliongrad left three hours ago."

“I purchased an airship,” Foresight answered, sounding more irritated at having to have spent the sum than proud of the sheer wealth such a purchase required. Beneath his gold-rimmed glasses, Celestia noted the beginnings of the purple bags that would explain his short temper.

The Tsar stepped slightly forward from his entourage. “I shared a small portion of what you discussed at the meeting of the Stable of Nobles. My sons,” Foresight tilted his head briefly in the direction of the red pegasus, “wanted to offer their assistance.”

Celestia caught her lip before it showed a real frown. She’d been hoping they weren’t just trying to garner favors. She opened her mouth, ready for some casual acceptance of the token offer, and then stopped, her tongue paused just behind her teeth. In place of pleasantries, she raised a brow. “What, specifically, are you offering?”

Foresight and Red Ink glanced at one another. The latter spoke up. “Masquerade.”

“Stallions, I will be blunt.” Celestia turned her head away from the group, glancing out the window of her bedroom. “I have fifty-thousand of the best soldiers—” The princess stopped abruptly at what sounded almost like a snort. Red Ink fought and failed to restrain a chuckle behind his wing. “Is something funny?”

Ink shook his head. “Princess, Masquerade is assassin, not old mare needing help to cross street.”

“Roscherk,” Watchful Eye scolded sharply. “Уважение.”

In Celestia’s mind, she heard ‘respect.’

The black-jacketed guardspony shrugged with his wing. “Apology, Princess.”

“What my brother was trying to convey,” Foresight picked up, “is that we are trained to deal with Masquerade in a way the Royal Guard simply isn’t.”

“Are you offering me the services of your Black Cloaks?” The Princess let her shoulders relax, trying to restore calm after Ink’s mockery. “Does your domain have so many guardsponies to spare?”

Red Ink shook his head. “Wrong ‘we’, Princess. I am likely taking squad or two of best soldiers, but not whole guard. But ‘we’ are brother and I.”

Celestia considered the stallions for a moment, and then let her attention settle directly on Foresight. “I would appreciate it if you were blunt as well. I remember Twilight telling me about your skills in dueling club at my school, and I’ve heard more than a few rumors about Ink’s talents. But if I knew where Masquerade was, I would fly out and hunt her down myself. If I knew some spell to reveal her location, I would cast it. What do you offer?”

“Experience.” Red Ink almost growled the word.

Foresight nodded. “Four years ago, not long after Princess Luna’s…” Foresight hesitated nervously. “…return, Stalliongrad was divided.”

“I thought you had finished the Blizzard Revolution before my sister’s return.”

“We had.” Celestia watched as Foresight’s golden magic began to idly fiddle with the scarf he wore in place of a necktie. “But life doesn’t just go back to normal the minute a peace treaty is signed. Baron Frostbite had a lot of money, and we had a lot of hungry farmers who wanted to go back to their farms.”

Red Ink made a noise in his throat; Celestia wasn’t sure it was meant to be a word. All she was certain of was the anger the sounded conveyed.

Foresight spared his brother an irritated glance before continuing—fiddling with his scarf all the while. “The domain needed the money to fix the railroad, and set up a real guard so we wouldn’t be eaten by yetis or vargr or the other things you find in the tundra. Land devoted to storehouses and housing. But the… I don’t want to say ‘common ponies,’ but I’m not really sure what else to use…”

Watchful Eye glanced to his son. “It is a label of honor. Common ponies are more honest than our ‘peers’.”

Celestia caught herself genuinely smiling at the Tsar’s comment, though the grin lasted only a few seconds under the pressure of recent events. “I assume, Foresight, that these hard-working ponies thought they deserved a larger portion of the spoils of battle?”

Foresight nodded. “They wanted it all, Princess. They wanted to carve it up like a Hearth’s Warming pie. It sounds nice, but I’m sure you know that just isn’t realistic. So we tried to explain. But they didn’t understand, or they didn’t listen. First protests, then riots. They wouldn’t listen to me; they started calling me ‘the new Frostbite’. Ink didn’t have any better luck. But they would listen to our youngest brother.”

Celestia’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “I see…” Her eyes glanced back to the window, altogether too aware of what was coming next in the story.

It was Red Ink who picked up. “Masquerade killed Polnoch. Galm’s Elixir. Took his body.”

A wince flashed over Celestia’s face. She knew the poison; it wasn’t fast enough to work on Luna, but for a mortal pony, the pain was excruciating.

“I’m sorry.”

Ink’s response sent a chill down Celestia’s spine. “Let me kill her.”

“Ahem,” Foresight cut in. “Ink, perhaps you should step outside.”

Ink shook his head. “Princess is understanding. If it were Luna—” The other two stallions in the room twitched at the harsh statement, but Ink simply left the thought incomplete, hanging in the air. His only addition was to turn his body fully toward Celestia, and stare straight into her eyes for a few long seconds. With the unspoken question conveyed completely, the harsh red stallion turned away and walked out of Celestia’s presence.

Foresight and Watchful Eye were silent for what seemed like far too long. Celestia wished one of them would speak up, if only so her mind would stop fighting to finish Ink’s parting sentence. Finally, out of sheer desperation, she broke the quiet. “If you didn’t catch her, how did you know it was Masquerade?”

A look of shame and guilt flickered over Foresight’s lightly wrinkled muzzle. “She takes her contracts through intermediaries. Ink and I were able to track down the pony who handle the contract on Polnoch—his name meant ‘Midnight’, if that’s helpful, Princess.”

Celestia nodded, knowing that she needed to hear what Foresight had to say, but hating to watch the suffering it took him to tell his story.

“The intermediary was a pharmacist. Masquerade had used him to mix the poison. When we confronted him… Ink didn’t take long to make him talk.” Golden magic cinched up Foresight’s scarf. “He told us that Masquerade let him keep a quarter of the contract, so he’d be motivated to keep handling contracts. He also told us who’d placed the contract.”

“And who was that?”

Foresight swallowed nervously, and glanced back at the door to the room. “Princess… do you know the name ‘Stoikaja’?”

Celestia felt as if she’d been slapped. “Soldier On?”

“It more literally means ‘Resistant’, but I think that’s the Equiish name she’s been using. In Stalliongrad, she fought alongside us in the Blizzard Revolution. When we won, she led the ponies who demanded we divide up Frostbite’s property completely. When Polnoch started to work out a compromise that would solve our problem, she had him killed. Then she claimed we’d done it, and started up a new rebellion.” Foresight hung his head. “Ink thought he had killed her, a few years back. Hurled her off of Frostbite’s wall. The rebels claimed she was still alive somewhere. We never knew for sure.” He lifted his head. “Not until she walked right in front of us downstairs, dressed like a Royal Guard.”

“She’s Honor Guard,” Celestia explained. “The Commander brought her here.”

Watchful Eye winced. “No. No, he wouldn’t do that. He knew what she did to us.”

Ignoring the alicorn’s pensive struggle, Foresight adjusted his scarf yet again. “I can’t tell you why he brought her here, Princess. You certainly knew him better than I did. But what we can offer you is this. The Commander trained my brother to be a soldier. And with the Commander’s passing, Red Ink might just be the strongest pegasus in Equestria. I don’t say this out of pride—I’m absolutely not proud of my brother for it—but I stopped Ink from fighting Stoikaja downstairs because I know that his fire magic would burn up that whole room, and everypony in it. He’s spent the last four years hunting Masquerade and Stoikaja. He knows how they think. How they run. Where they hide.”

The unicorn forced down a breath. “Princess, if you’ve heard of my brother, then you know his reputation. And a lot of it is deserved. Believe me, I know that he isn’t the most pleasant pony. But right now, he is the best chance we have of catching Masquerade and saving Princess Luna. All we want out of it is the chance to ask her what she did with Polnoch’s body, so we can finally put his memory to rest.”

Celestia nodded on autopilot; her mind was locked on the image of a burly Stalliongradi mare in gilded armor. Had Soldier On really betrayed her?

Foresight paced slowly to the door, and only when it had closed in near-perfect silence did the Princess realize that Watchful Eye was still sitting in her room, as if waiting to be acknowledged. "This information could well save Luna's life, Tsar Eye. I hope you can forgive my earlier terseness. Thank you for bringing your sons to speak with me."

"You need not give thanks. Letting my youngest rest will be thanks enough."

Celestia nodded, slowly. She hadn't yet had much time to speak with the new ruler of Stalliongrad, but his refusal of the offer of Luna's power had earned him at least the potential for the Princess' respect. "Forgive me, but is there something else?"

"Yes, Princess. You saw my son, Red Ink. He is... bloodthirsty."

She chose a diplomatic response. "I’ve known many determined, driven ponies before."

"You and I both know that his actions do not deserve pride. The ponies of Stalliongrad are afraid of him and his Black Cloaks, but rule by fear doesn’t last—certainly not without becoming evil.” The rather small alicorn bowed his head slightly. “He still fights for justice—or at least I force myself to believe that he does. He hasn’t yet fallen to hurting innocents or condemning ponies who disagree with him. But with the way his path is going, I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time.”

Celestia offered a slow nod. "I understand your concern, Watchful Eye, but I'm afraid I don't know what you want me to do about it. I can speak to him on the subject, if you would like, but you are his father."

"My proposal is different, Princess. Whatever else my son may be, he is an amazing soldier. On that front, Foresight told the truth. He learned everything he knew about serving as a guard from the Commander, during the Revolution. But I know that the Commander was not a pony who ruled by fear. And I know that you aren’t either. If the acts Twilight Sparkle has achieved say anything at all, I know you can teach him. Let Roscherk serve you the way the Commander did. After he has saved your sister, you can save him."

Celestia glanced up toward the ceiling of her chambers, and the thin terrace where the Commander used to look down at her from above. Whether she liked it or not, she knew she needed Red Ink’s knowledge, and his skill.

Without speaking a word, the Princess’ gaze returned to Watchful Eye. Slowly, mournfully, she nodded.