//------------------------------//
// Chapter Nine 
// Story: Bloodlines 
// by Autocharth 
//------------------------------//

Dash charged. Her dagger lashed out at the stranger. She moved in a blur, blade aimed right at his throat in a sudden surprise attack. “Got ya!”

Time Turner rolled his eyes as he swayed back. The dagger flashed past him with inches to spare. To her credit Dash compensated with admirable speed, striking again. She ignored Twilight’s surprised shout to stop, trying her best to add another hole to the intruder’s head. Whoever he was, he was fast enough to duck away from her second attack. One hand dipped into his long coat, she assumed going for a weapon.

“Dash, stop!” Twilight shouted again.

“Sit.” There came a tiny flicker of light from his hand.

A tremendous pressure suddenly struck Dash. It seemed to come from every direction and pressed every in at every angle, reaching her entire body. Movement was beyond her. Dash froze. Her expression was locked into a ferocious snarl as she stood there mid-attack.

“Dash!” Applejack roared. She took a step forward, greatsword angled towards the man only to find Twilight suddenly imposed between them. “Outta the way! He just did somethin’ to Dash!”

“It was a harmless spell, she’s just paralyzed. Didn’t you hear his name? This is him; this is Time Turner!” exclaimed Twilight.

Applejack looked past her, fixing him with a steady glare. He had stepped back and was holding his hands up, empty save for a slender length of wood in one hand. A wand. Whoever he was, he didn’t seem put out at the attack or her glare. In fact, he was smiling with a gleam of amusement in his eyes.

“I thought he was dead,” the ranger growled. “An’ didn’t ya hear what he said about yer brother? Must be a spy or somethin’.”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s not. It has to be him. Please, Applejack, just trust me. If he was our enemy he would have already attacked.”

“Oi,” Time Turner protested, his smile turning into a frown of mild annoyance.

“Besides, he’s the only person I know who would craft a wand of Hold Person with the word ‘sit’ as the spell trigger,” she continued without missing a beat.

He tapped the wand against his chin for a moment, then shrugged. “Eh, fair enough.”

Applejack wavered. If Twilight really wanted her to not attack, it would be simple enough to use the geas on them to make her drop her weapon. Scowling, Applejack lowered her sword and eased her stance.

“Let Dash go,” she ordered him.

Time Turner gave her an apologetic half-smile. “The spell should last another...three...two…” He counted down on his fingers. “One.”

Forewarned, Dash kept her balance. She bared her teeth, expression dark and dagger held at the ready. Before she could resume her attack Spike hit her from behind. His arms curled around her waist, tugging her back.

“Hey! Let go!” she snarled. The thief struggled to push him off with one hand, the other trying to keep her dagger pointed at Time Turner.

“Please, stop! It's him!” Spike cried, pulling hard as he could.

Twilight ignored the pair as she walked up to Time Turner. His smile fell, giving her a somber look. She stared at him for a moment. Without further adieu she threw her arms around him. His expression softened and he returned the hug.

"I thought you were dead," she murmured. 

"Reports of my-" he began, tone joking. 

She cut him off with a glare, pulling back slightly. It was a wet glare, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Don’t joke. Not about this. Don't," Twilight told him sternly. "I thought you were dead!"

Time Turner held his hands up defensively. "Alright, I'm sorry." He looked nervous for a moment. "You're not going to slap me, are you?"

"Uh...no?" She gave him a confused look.

"I will," Dash offered. She was ignored.

"Ah, good." Time Turner rubbed his cheek. "Some women get rather...upset when they think you’re dead only to find you having tea in her kitchen. Can't imagine why. I mean, there was a bit of blood..."

Applejack stepped up to the pair. She was tense and wary, ready to leap into action at the slightest sign of anything untoward.

"That's all well an' good, but I wanna know the hell ya found us," she growled. "Ya turn up after we get ambushed, tellin' lies about Twilight’s brother."

She saw a flicker of doubt in Twilight’s eyes at the reminder of what Time Turner had said. The mage took a step back from him. 

Time Turner sighed. He glanced around the dank tunnel, revising his opinion of the impulsive girl with the dagger. She was shielding Spike, dagger held defensively between her and the mysterious man.

"I don't have anything to do with any ambush. You know I don't approve of wanton violence, " he reminded Twilight.

Her eyebrows rose. "I also knew you were dead."

"No, you thought I was dead. Now you know I'm alive and you really need to trust me." He dropped his hands into his pockets and gave her a serious look.

"I thought you were Shining Armour’s friend," Twilight shot back. "How could you accuse him of something like this? My brother, part of this? That's crazy."

"Twilight, someone tried to kill me," Turner said darkly.

"What does that have to do with my br-"

"They were waiting for me. Inside my house," he interrupted. Turner ran a hand through his hair. "They used his passwords to bypass every ward I had."

Twilight shook her head. "They must have just gotten past-"

"My wards tell me whenever a password is used and which one. It was his." His tone weary, he sat down on a chunk of fallen stonework. "Shining Armour knows not to give it to anyone under any circumstances. I gave him another password if he needs to send someone else to me."

She blinked, shaking her head again. Applejack was looking between the two with increasing worry while Dash wore an expression of intense thought. Behind the thief, Spike looked at Twilight for answers. Returning her gaze to Time Turner she denied it yet again.

"Shiny wouldn’t do that. He helped me plan our trap," she insisted. 

Turner arched an eyebrow at her. "He did, did he? The trap that ended in a headlong flight through the sewers?"

Twilight stared at him, almost refusing to hear it. She knew her brother could not possibly be responsible. "That..."

"That's right," Dash took over. She jabbed a finger at Twilight. "He picked that place for the ambush, right? Right?"

Flinching away, Twilight stammered out, “W-well, yes, but that doesn’t mean he was involved in the ambush.”

“Right, so those guys just knew we were there by magic?” Dash asked. Her expression was dark and her knuckles white from the pressure of her grip on the. “I know a trap when it’s sprung by a bunch of guys with swords and magic.”

“Blueblood knew I was going to use the statuette as bait. If he told the thieves about that, he could have arranged this,” the noble insisted stubbornly. She glared at Dash. “My brother had nothing to do with this! Blueblood must be behind it! You just can’t trust Shining because he’s a guard!”

Dash glared right back. “No, I don’t trust him because that Bluebastard might have known you were going to use stupid statue as bait, but he didn’t know where, or when, or anything else! Face it Sparkle, this was a set up.”

Time Turner approached Twilight, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Twilight, I’m sorry. The thieves knew the layout of my house, my defenses, how I fought, they were even prepared for my usual assortment of magical items. There are only two people in the world who know so much about how I fight.”

“Then it must be the other one!” Twilight nearly shouted. Her hands shook as she tore her shoulder from Turner’s touch. “Shining Armour isn’t a part of this! Why are you doing this? He’s your friend!”

“Then that should show you how serious I am! Twilight, I’ve risked my life and soul for that man, and he’s done the same for me! I’ve spent every minute since I was nearly killed in my own home thinking about this and trying to find out the truth.” Turner took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He had known this wouldn’t be easy. “There’s no one else.”

Applejack stared at the pair as they argued. She saw Spike let go of Dash. He was staring at the two with a look of horror on his face. For a moment, Applejack wondered how she would feel if her brother was accused of trying to kill her. Or how it would feel to watch a friend and someone she loved arguing about it. The dragonblooded boy had her sympathy.

A painful thought occurred to her. Wishing it hadn’t, but unable to pretend, she got Dash’s attention.

“Shinin’ said he didn’t know nothin’ about the fires, right? The ones ya found out about?” she asked quietly. Dash’s confused look faded as she followed where that went. She nodded. Applejack sighed. “Damn it.”

Stepping between the bickering pair, Applejack separated them with a hand on each’s shoulder. She turned to Twilight. The scholar looked at her in silent surprise.

“Sugar, I hate to say it...but yer brother kept sayin’ none of the fires we found out about happened, or if they did it was just a normal fire. Unless he’s the stupid sort, an’ he don’t strike me as that, he’d recognise when somethin’ ain’t normal. Those fires weren’t. Ya said it yerself.” She tried to soften the blow with a gentle tone. It didn’t do much good, she saw as anger flared into Twilight’s eyes once again.

“What would you know?! Shining Armour did not try to kill me!” she screamed. Shoving Applejack away she reached out, pulling Spike to her. “Stop it! You’re wrong!”

Spike clung to her. “T-Twilight…” he hesitated. “He was...really weird before. He wouldn’t- they’re w-wrong, right?”

Time Turner shook his head sadly. “Spike, I’m sorry, but-”

“Shut up! Just shut up! Shining Armour is my brother! M-my big b-brother best friend...f-forever…” Twilight felt hot tears running down her cheeks. “H-he wouldn’t...he wouldn’t t-try to...to…”

It made sense. She had to kept telling herself that, but she was lying. Everything suddenly slotted into place perfectly; how they had gotten into her chambers, how the trap had been set. The only way for them to have gotten away with all the fires and thefts without someone looking into it before now. Something inside her broke.

Spike held Twilight as she cried. Soon, they both cried. Twilight was curled around her little brother, sobbing incoherent denials not even she believed.

Watching the aloof, egghead of a mage break down sent a cold, painful feeling through Dash’s gut. She realised it was a guilt, and...sadness. For Sparkle. She didn’t understand why she was feeling that. Dash wasn’t the one who caused this. Oh, sure, she had taken to the idea that it was Shining Armour, it made sense, and she had been harsh, but, well… After a moment she couldn’t think of a but. There was not but about this. Sparkle-...Twilight was on her knees crying her heart out and all Dash could do was feel bad.

‘Wh-what the hell? She’s a noble! A burning know it all and...and her brother she loves and idolises probably set her up to get killed.’ Dash pressed a hand against her forehead, trying to get a grip on this. She shouldn’t care that Twilight was heartbroken by the betrayal of someone she looked up to. Which was all well and good, except for the fact that she did care.

Applejack strode over and without prompting kneeled down next to Twilight. There wasn’t really much she could say. She just put one arm around Twilight, the other around Spike, and bowed her head silently.

Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, Time Turner glanced at Dash and shrugged. He indicated a few feet away and, relieved to have something to distract her, Dash followed him over.

“Let’s give them some time,” he murmured. He stuck his hand out to her. “I doubt I’d be welcome, being very much the bearer of bad news. I can’t say it’s a pleasure to have met you here, but were we somewhere else I’m sure it would be.”

Dash took it cautiously. “Dash. I guess I gotta agree. Sorry about the whole thing before, kinda on edge.”

Time Turner smiled mirthlessly. “No need to apologise. I appreciate that Twilight has a friend who can act so swiftly to protect her.” He studied her expression. “Or, at least I assume you’re friends.”

Realising she hadn’t masked her reaction to being described as Twilight’s friend, Dash shrugged uneasily. She had the uneasy feeling that he was seeing far more about her than she wanted him to know.

“Regardless, you have my thanks. One of the people who tried to kill me was a shapeshifter, so we’re going to need to be careful.” Tucking his hands into his ragged coat, Time Turner kept the huddle in his sight. Regret and guilt played across his expression before vanishing under a mask of control. “Perhaps I should have been more careful about this...”

She gave him a vague shrug again. Dash simply didn’t know how to react to this friendly stranger who was meant to be dead. Especially after she had tried to kill him. That usually made things pretty awkward.

Sighing, he shook his head. “There’s not really any good way to break this sort of news...damn it, Shining, what the hell happened to you…” he growled. There was anger, the heated fury of someone stung by betrayal. “I haven’t spoken with him in months. Nearly a year, since he started seeing that woman.”

“Woman?” Dash only spoke.

Time Turner rolled his eyes. “Yes. A woman. I knew there was something odd about her, but oh no, ‘you’re just being paranoid’, like it’s perfectly normal to find women in big slabs of crystal at the bottom of a dungeon full of traps and monsters!” He scowled darkly, saying ‘that woman’ in a way that suggested he wanted to say ‘bitch’. “It’s like the time with the girdle, no one bothers to listen when you tell them not to touch the shiny object.”

“So, some woman is the reason the Lord-Captain is trying to kill his sister?” Dash asked skeptically. “That’s just lame, doesn’t he have a will of his own?”

“Oh yes, very much so. He’s got a mind like a fortress.” Time Turner smiled grimly. “A sorcerer once tried to dominate his mind. Shining gave him a bloody nose in reply.” His smile faded, days long past zooming past his eyes, overlapping the image of Twilight’s look of utter pain. “Oh, Shining, you fool.”

After long, unpleasant minutes Twilight rose unsteadily. She looked at Time Turner through red rimmed eyes. He fidgeted under her silent gaze.

"Who...what did the assassins look like?" She asked. One hand held onto Spike, keeping him close. Her breathing was ragged and unsteady, but her eyes were burning with some nameless emotion.

Time Turner considered her for a moment. "One was a man, although I doubt he was human what with the black carapace. A sorcerer, if I'm any judge." It went unsaid that he was.

"Sounds like that fella who was screamin' an' cussin' at us," Applejack observed. "Don’t suppose the other one was a wererat bastard, was it?"

“Not that I could see. The other was a woman; she was obviously the leader.” Time Turner shuddered. “She was the real problem.”

Twilight closed her eyes, trying to think. “Okay...we need to work out why. Did you have something like this?” She showed him the statue, and when he shook his head she frowned. “What about something that fits it, thematically?”

“Nothing with those runes either. They were more assassins than thieves,” he said with an unhelpful shrug. He frowned as well. “Mind you, one of them was pawing my souvenirs, but you’re right. Why would he send them after me? I just thought he was so enraptured with that woman he had other things to do.”

Ignoring the way Twilight twitched dangerously when her brother was mentioned, Time Turner began to pace, muttering with each step.

“There must be something. I was between projects, and nothing I’ve done lately seems linked…” he shook his head. “There has to be a reason. He sent assassins after you because you were digging too deeply. I wasn’t doing anything related to him.”

“I…” Twilight rubbed her forehead. She murmured, “I think we need to be sure. If you can’t think of a reason why, it might not be him. It might be someone else we don’t know at all.” She held up a hand to forestall their replies. “I know all the evidence and reasoning we have points to him. I know that. But...but I just because I know that doesn’t make it true. We need to know, for certain, he’s the one behind this and not compelled in someway.”

Time Turner was shaking his head before she had finished. “Twilight, no. Your brother’s mental defenses are solid, more than solid! It’s a fortress!”

“Someone could have somethin’ he’s gotta protect,” Applejack suggested.

“The Shining Armour I knew had one thing he wanted to protect regardless of the cost,” Time Turner retorted. “And he just tried to have her killed.”

Applejack’s expression darkened. That remark had hurt Twilight, the mage stepping back, but before Applejack could give Time Turner a smack Dash did it for her. The thief swatted him across the back of the head.

“Ow! Stop it!” he complained. The man from Trottingham covered the back of his head with his arms. “What was that for?”

“Shut up,” Dash scowled in answer. “She’s right though, if this makes no sense then we need to be sure.”

Time Turner sighed. “I really thought we had this resolved. I don’t want it to be him, but everything points to him. We want to know why they tried to kill me, when the only way they could have gotten into my home that way is if Shining helped them.” His expression turned dark. “Shining Armour is also the only one who knows about my gir- back-up home.”

He was given three sets of raised eyebrows and skeptical looks. Time Turner rolled his eyes.

“Okay, he knows I have a girlfriend and where she lives, and shortly after I got her to leave with me her home burned down.” Time Turner rubbed his eyes as he sat back down.

Spike spoke for the first time in minutes to fill the silence. “Why...why are you so set on this being Shining?” he asked.

Time Turner looked at him for a moment, his face set. “Because even if someone could use magic to overwhelm his mind once, for them to be able to control or influence him for the months in which the thefts took place is simply insane. If he fought them off even once the entire thing would be undone. Multiple casts a day for outright domination, at least once a day for less powerful, more subtle influence.”

Dash and Applejack looked at Twilight. She nodded reluctantly. “T-that’s true...oh, l-long night…”

Spike wrapped an arm around Twilight. “W-we can’t be sure. Can’t you do that spell that detects this kind of thing? Detect Compulsion?”

“Detect Charm, and I don’t have it prepared today. I won’t even be able to prepare it if I don’t get my spell book back.” Twilight tried to think of something. “I suppose Detect Magic would work for that too, but…”

Dash interrupted, “Yeah, we can’t head back to your place. They’ll be staking it out, you can bet on that, and you’re not what I’d call stealthy - not when you aren’t cheating, at least.”

Twilight scowled. “Magic is not-”

The sound of fingers snapping interrupted them. Time Turner tried to stand so fast and in such alarm that he tripped and smacked into the ground face first. Applejack froze, fingers still held out from snapping them. All four stared down at Time Turner.

“I...I think he’s afraid of finger-snaps,” Dash said, and tried not to burst into laughter.

Pushing himself up, Time Turner gave Applejack a very serious look. “Do not ever, ever, do that again.” There was a faint trace of menace in his voice.

“Er...okay…” Applejack looked awkwardly around, clearing her throat. “Well, I just thought of somethin’; Twilight sure ain’t sneaky enough, but Dash is.”

Dash’s look became a glare. “What. You want me to sneak into the palace, into a place probably crawling with those guys? And, you know, guards! You might as well ask me to sneak into the anthill!”

Slowly, Twilight turned to look at her. Something gleamed in her eyes.

“No.” Dash shook her head. “No way. How stupid do you think I am?”

Time Turner thoughtfully tapped his chin with his wand of Hold Person. “You know,” he remarked idly. “I could sneak in, but they still don’t know I’m alive. Whereas they do know you escaped…”

He began to pull things from his pockets, searching for something. Scrolls, wands, a staff, a sap, brass knuckles, a chicken , he kept taking things, apparently at random, from pockets too small to hold one of them let alone a dozen.

“I don’t think anyone could control Shining Armour for this long,” he went on nonchalantly. “But if you can sneak into the fortress, you can check while you do something else; search his office. There has to be something we can use to not just prove he’s behind this, but what exactly it is he’s up to. Now, where did I put that scroll…”

Spike raised a hand. “Uh, Turner, isn’t your robe...magic? You know, like a bag of holding? A robe of holding?”

Time Turner nodded distractedly. “That’s rather the point, Spike.”

“Right...what I’m saying is, can’t you just shove your hand in and say the name of the item you want, and you get it?” Spike asked.

Time Turner went still. He didn’t look up at Spike, nor did he look at the others or he would have seen the amused smiles they now had. He slowly straightened from his bent over posture and pulled his hand out of the lower pocket. Instead it went into a higher, deeper pocket.

“Scroll of Detect Charm,” he said in an entirely neutral tone. When his hand came out, he held a scroll.

Twilight cleared her throat pointedly.

“Thank you Spike,” Turner said. He gave the boy a rueful smile. “That was a bit embarrassing. Moving swiftly on! This, miss Dash, is a scroll of Detect Charm.”

Dash stepped back. “And that has what to do with me? Since I’m not going to try sneaking into the damn anthill! That’s suicide!”

Twilight passed her staff to her other hand and began to pull her ring off. “What if you could become invisible?” She held out her ring of spell storing. “Please, Dash. Time Turner is right; if you can get in, you can look for any hints to what this whole plot is about, why these artefacts re so important. You can find out if my brother really is responsible for this...please.”

Looking past Twilight, Dash looked at Applejack. She wasn’t sure why, or what she was looking for. The ranger gave her a look that conveyed ‘do you have a better idea’? and followed with an encouraging smile.

“I don’t know how to use a fancy magic scroll,” Dash pointed out. She shrugged as if it all very unfortunate, how sad, let’s move on. “Too bad.”

Instead of being discouraged, Twilight smile at last. “Actually, Dash, you won’t need to do much to use it. You’re a sorcerer now, remember? You just need the activation word to use the scroll’s magic. I know you still can’t read-”

Dash protested, “Hey, I wrote my name last night! And Applejack’s!”

“Your ‘j’ was backwards and you forgot the ‘c’,” Spike muttered, not quite under his breath enough. He grinned at the glare she shot him. “But you’re doing really well!”

“If we just take some time so I can help you understand the scroll, you should be able to use it.” Twilight’s expression became pleading. “Please, Dash. I can use the invisibility spell in the ring, but it will only last a few minutes and I just can’t sneak like you can.”

“Why not just order me to?” Dash snapped. She folded her arms, scowling. “That’s the only reason you’d trust me not to run off with the ring-”

“I dispelled the geas.” Twilight’s voice was soft, her words said almost absently. She didn’t look at Dash or Applejack. “Days ago.”

Dash blinked, staring at her. “...huh?”

Time Turner watched in interested, noticing the way Applejack leaned forward with her mouth dropping open. This was, despite their current, rather fetid hiding place, quite fascinating. A geas? No wonder a thief like Dash was working with Twilight. Despite Shining’s complaints - now tainted memories - Time Turner had nearly quite abandoned contact with a few old associates. He could see why Dash was well-known among the more daring thieves of the slums.

Twilight repeated her revelation, “I removed the geas. What did the geas prove, aside from the fact magic could dictate your actions? I want you to trust me, Dash, and this is how I want to prove it. I just...I wasn’t sure how to bring it up, and when all this started happening I got so focused on it, I never thought to tell you. I’m sorry.”

Dash blinked again. She was stunned. “You...you removed the only thing forcing me to help you, tell me right when you needed my help most, and you’re apologising? What is wrong with you?”

“Hey now Rainbow, that ain’t-” Applejack started, but Dash just ignored her.

“Are you stupid or something? When you need someone’s help, don’t tell them you don’t have control over them anymore!” The thief snarled. She glared at Twilight, hands on her hips as she faced the noble woman. “I thought you were meant to be smart, Twilight. You should have told me after I had done what you wanted.”

Twilight stared, mouth hanging open. She wasn’t sure whether Dash was angry at her, or, well, angry at her but for a different reason. Time Turner’s barely restrained giggling wasn’t helping. She didn’t realise Dash had taken the ring until it was being spun between the thief’s slender fingers.

“Alright, show me the stupid scroll,” she instructed as she dropped her arse onto a flat bit of rubble. She glared at Twilight when the mage just stood there. “Well? What, got all day? Come on, let’s get on with this.”

“T-thank you, Dash, thank you so much.” Shaking her head in amazement, Twilight took the scroll from Time Turner, rolling her eyes at his mirth. 

It wasn’t until she had unrolled the scroll and Spike had take a seat on Dash’s other side that she realised something

“You called me Twilight.”

Dash fidgeted, shrugging as if it was nothing. She looked away, only to find Applejack there. The woman smirked, the expression slowly melting into a warm smile. Giving a melodramatic sigh, Dash just shrugged again.

“Yeah, so what? I can call you whatever I want. No-one is Dash’s boss,” she said in return.

Twilight smiled, a warm, genuine smile. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.” Her tone was light and teasing, and for once the thief didn’t take the chance to fire some snark her way. It felt, as they started on scroll theory 101, like they were friends.

*

A shadow slipped through the pre-dawn gloom. The only sign of her passing were the occasional crumbs, but she wasn’t the sort to let much of anything slip away once it was near her mouth. The anthill loomed, an ominous presence at the heart of the west merchant district that nonetheless brought a sense of safety and security to the people who lived here. Built of dark stone and almost sinisterly designed edifices with razor curves. 

Dash took another bite of her muffin. She had to admit, whoever Time Turner’s girlfriend was, she made awesome muffins. She felt rejuvenated after her night-long lesson on how to use a single scroll. If she could read, it would have been easier according to Twilight. Since she couldn’t they’d had to make sure she understood everything on the scroll. It had certainly made her head swim, she hadn’t even noticed when Time Turner went off. His muffin-bearing return had been a welcome break.

“Just focus on the magic and the words,” Twilight had said. “You know what the spell is meant to do, and I’ve taught you the actual words of the spell, just in case. That should give you what you need to activate it.”

“It better,” Dash muttered to herself. She glanced along the road. Any minute now, if Time Turner was to be believed. She took another large bite, devouring the rest of the muffin as the sound of wheels filled the cold, empty streets. It was only now occurring to her to wonder why Twilight’s ‘respectable’ scholarly friend knew the anthill’s schedule for moving prisoners.

The wagon came into sight. Where the slums and the area around it were always alive to some extent, out here the presence of the anthill kept things quiet. The wagon trundling up the road had the results of the night’s busy hours from one of the small satellite watch houses.

“Time to go.” Dropping out of sight, Dash drew the hood over her head. She felt a shiver along the back of her neck. The hooded tunic she had ‘borrowed’ from a rooftop clothes line a few streets over covered her bright hair, and she used the drawstrings to keep it on tight. 

The thief slipped down, hugging the wall of the alley in shadows. The rattle of the wagon got louder as it approached. To Dash it was a thunderous sound, growing along with her nerves. The moments before she got to work on her sneaky business were the worst, the most nerve-racking. She tensed. The horses trotted through her line of sight, clopping along the cobblestone.

‘Nearly...’

The guard atop the wagon came into sight, snapping the reins. The boxy, barred wagon lurched, the front wheels coming into sight. She darted forward, throwing herself under the wagon. Her hands wrapped around whatever holding places she could find to haul herself up. She wrapped her arms around the central bar, clinging to it like a limpet.

The journey was bumpy and rough. Dash was especially glad for the tunic’s long sleeves. She wouldn’t have looked forward to sneaking through the anthill with her arms full of splinters. She waited impatiently for the wagon to reach the fortress, and then, once it was empty of men, to rattle and creak into the stables. Dash endured the lengthy process with a growing weariness in her arms. Only when the wagon-driver closed the door behind him, leaving the now horseless wagon in the dark, did she finally drop to the floor. She knew better than to let a sigh of relief out.

Pausing only to rub her arms, Dash checked the ring was still on her finger and the scroll still inside her shirt. Satisfied, she glanced along the floor. Her keen vision pierced the low light left to her. There were no feet or legs to see from under the wagon and no sounds. She rolled out and stood up. Dash grinned.

“Time to show these guards why they needed Twilight to get me,” she muttered. Now she as in the anthill, with only the job ahead of her, any anxiety was gone. Her blood was pumping. Listening at the door, she peeked through once she was sure there was no one there. A hall leading deeper into the fort, lit by dull mage-lights, waited for her. 

Dash’s steps were soft and soundless. She listened intently as she made her way into the heart of the guard fort. This was the quietest time, according to Time Turner, and his information had been good so far. She decided she really needed to find out where he got it. Neither he nor Twilight had been able to provide perfect directions to get to Shining Armour’s office, but she had a general idea where it should be. Ducking out of sight whenever she heard approaching footsteps, the thief’s progress was slow. The thrill it gave her, on the other hand, was immense. She grinned wildly as a pair of chatting, yawning guards passed the broom closet she had hidden in the moment she heard them coming.

“Hey, you hear if Captain Green is back?” asked one.

“Eh, hells if I know. I’m not going upstairs, not in the mood the boss is in.”

Frowning, Dash pressed against the door. Her hopes to hear more were in vain, the pair marching beyond even her acute hearing. ‘Shining Ass is in a bad mood? ‘Cause Twilight got away?’

Whatever the answer to that was, she would find out herself. The fact Shining Armour was here, when he wasn’t supposed to be, was going to make things a tad trickier.

‘Nothing I can’t handle,’ she assured herself. Resuming her journey, the thief found frustration blossoming. ‘This place is a burning maze!’

Tempted as she was to use the ring and simply sneak along the main halls, Dash forced herself to keep away from them. Even at this quiet hour there would be more people than she was prepared to risk there, and she might actually need the ring later.

A small servant’s stairwell provided her a way upstairs discreetly. She kept glancing up, making sure no one was coming down. Counting at each level, she finally stopped at the fourth floor.

‘This is...probably it. She said fourth,’ Dash thought, peeking around the door. The hall resembled the ones she and Applejack had been marched down. ‘Score!’

She was only a minute into the her search for Shining Armour’s office when a door opened behind her. Someone muttering curses followed, sending even more alarm bells ringing in Dash’s heard. There was something familiar about the voice, something that made her want to duck and cover.

“Ohhu,” she hissed the unfamiliar word Twilight had taught her. It meant ‘stealth’ in some language or another, and it would give her seconds of invisibility. Dash didn’t wait to see if it worked. She darted back behind the door, barely missing the guard emerging from the door. He paused, frowning.

“What-” He looked both ways down the hall before scowling. “Bloody windy pisshole.” The guard sneered at the empty hall and set off, running a hand through his long green hair. “Not long now…”

Dash stood there, totally still, not moving an inch as he strode past her. Her eyes were fixed on the guard’s hair. That shade of green was oddly familiar, and the voice struck as her again as alarming. Before she knew what she was doing she was following him. Before too long the magic faded. Her footfalls remained as quiet as ever, but she let him get further ahead of her. This was incredibly stupid, she knew that, but Dash could feel the knowledge that this was the right course.

It was hard to just follow someone without knowing where they were going, with no cover and no way of knowing when they would turn a corner of stop or anything. She just had to hope she was far enough back that she could duck out of his peripheral vision in time and that she didn’t lose him with each corner. The whole affair was made easier by the fact there wasn’t another soul on this floor. This at least made Dash more confident this was the floor Shining Armour was on; if he was the boss no one wanted to be on the same floor as.

‘If he’s on this floor, then hopefully this guy will lead me to him,’ she thought victoriously. Whatever about this guy that was familiar was turning out to be very lucky. More for her, not so much for him.

They reached a hall that Dash was pretty sure she had been pushed down. She saw the guard stop, looking at something with a faint sneer. Sneaking up behind him as he reached for a door, Dash glanced curiously over a pair of bottles that reeked of wine, lying shattered under stains on the wall.

'Long night, gonna need to use the ring again. I hope this is his office,' she thought irritably. Dash covered her mouth with hand and hood, murmuring under her breath at the same moment the door handle clicked open. "-"

"Huh?" The green haired guard looked back at the empty hall. He grimaced at the wave of smell from the room beyond and turned back to it. "Lord-Captain, I...ugh."

Dash agreed with him wholeheartedly. 'Ugh' indeed. The room stunk of alcohol. She slipped past the staring guard and found the room matched the smell. Bottles of win, a few spilled across the floor, provided the heady aroma. Lying face first on his desk, his fine clothes clearly shared the same theme as the room.

'Okay, weird,' Dash conceded. 'Panicking 'cause we got away, trying to drown out knowing he's screwed?''

"Pathetic," growled the guard. His voice was different; Dash had trouble deciding from just one word but it sounded more sinister and raspy. Watching from the corner of the room, Dash craned her head to watch the guard stride over and prod Shining. Impatient, he all but slapped the noble's head when the prod did nothing.

The Lord-Captain jerked awake. Bottles were upset and toppled. He rocked back in his chair unsteadily, looking up at the guard with reddened, tormented eyes. Dash stared at him, invisible mouth agape. He had been crying. His eyes were rimmed in red and tracks ran down his cheeks.

"W-wha'?" He mumbled, blinking blearily.

"Lord-Captain, it's Captain Green. How are you?" It was a stupid question for him ask, as far as Dash was concerned. Surely he had to be able to see his boss was doing badly.

'Where have I heard his voice?' Dash tried to recall it, frowning unseen in the corner.

Shining Armour laughed, if a sound that bitter and harsh could be called laughter. It certainly had no business near humour. After a few seconds he broke off, coughing. Except not, she realised. It was closer to choked sobs. 

"H-how'm doing?" Shining asked with mocking, false cheer. "She's dead. T-Tw-..." he pawed at his eyes for a moment, holding back his anguish for all of a moment. "My little sister is dead and it's my fault! How in all the hells do you think I feel?"

His face buried in his hands, Shining didn’t see the contemptuous sneer on Green's face. Dash did though, and the way the guard carefully hid the expression. She watched with horrified fascination as Green leaned forward to offer false-comfort.

"Oh, come now sir," said Green jovially. "You could hardly have known the thieves could lay a trap for her. I mean, yes, you did picked the place for her, but you couldn't know the thieves would be able to turn it against her."

'Oh come on! Even I could do better than that!'' She thought with a disbelieving look at the guard. Green was far too relaxed about this, and was it just her imagine or did his mouth twitch towards a smile for a moment when Shining Armour let out a strangled sob. 'Now that's just cruel.'

Green didn’t let up. "You know who you should blame? The thieves, and whoever tipped them off."

Shining Armour roused from his stupor of guilt and self, peering at Green uncertainly. "Who?"

"I wish I could tell you. If you knew, you could find them. Hurt them. Arrest them,” rasped the guard, grinning at Shining. “Don’t you want to do that, Lord-Captain? Find the person responsible for letting your sister get killed and beating them blue?”

Dash watched Shining Armour nod weakly, the noble reaching slowly for another bottle of wine. It had been weird, the way Green emphasised blue like that, and she wondered why. The guard intercepted his hand.

“Perhaps have some tea?” Green suggested.

“Le'go,” Shining Armour grunted, glaring up suddenly.

Dash experienced joy when, for a moment, Green’s expression went slack. It sadly passed, the guard marshalling his self-control. He gave Shining a frosty smile.

“Lord-Captain, I really think you should have some tea.”

Shining glared blearily. “I shed-”

“What would Lady Cadance say?” Green cut in. It was phrased as a question, but the tone was not.

“...” Shining Armour said nothing. His expression had gone slack, his eyes vacant.

“She would say,” continued Green with a wicked look. “You should have some tea.”

“Tea,” repeated Shining Armour. He blinked slowly. “Y-yeah...tea. I’ll just…”

‘Long night, how long does it take to make tea? How long does this thing last?’ Dash had to clamp down on a rising sense of panic. She crossed her fingers and, on a whim, sent a prayer to Celestia. ‘I know you’re probably busy, but, y’know, this is for your apprentice and all. Give a girl a hand?’

There was no miraculous event suddenly saving the day. She couldn’t really think of anything that could help her out that was obviously miraculous without being, well, obvious anyway. Dash scowled silently as Green prepared the tea. She had to work out where she had heard his voice before. She stared at his back, watching him activate the magical teapot. She smirked when he underestimated the speed by which it brought the water to boil, a ten magical seconds, and his hand lingered against the metal for a few seconds too long. Her smirk fell away as he hissed an explosive curse, face contorting into a mask of fury. 

She saw the attack the night before in her mind, but more importantly she heard the explosive, violent snarls of the dark sorcerer. Green looked normal, his skin distinctly not carapace-like. She focused on his hair. Long and green. Just like the sorcerer. His voice was different, but he had been screaming insanely when she heard him.

‘Burning day!’ Dash nearly gulped. ‘Come on, come on, how much longer have I got? This is not going to end well for me!’

“Here you are, sir.” Green put the tea down before Shining Armour. He gestured. “Drink. It’s what Lady Cadance would want.”

Picking up the cup mechanically, Shining Armour picked up the cup. He didn’t let it sit and soak for long, simply throwing back the dark, toxic green tea.

“Good.” Leaning down, looking Shining Armour right in the face, Green gave him a sinister glare. “It’s your fault. You’re the reason your sister is dead. You caused it. You did. Her apprentice too. He hasn’t returned, he must have gone to find her. So he’s dead because of you. The guilt is yours. What did I just say?”

Dash had seen cruel things in her life. She had seen murder over a few copper coins and violence for less. Betrayal, manipulation, fast-dealing had all been part of her life before now. Yet watching Green rant and make Shining Armour repeat it in a dull, empty voice was one of the cruelest. She could almost hear the sound of something breaking in the noble, his shoulders slumping. She was willing to bet if she could see his eyes they would be just the same. Broken.

After a minute of this, Green turned and left. He didn’t bother saying anything as he left, closing the door behind him with a sneer. He was half out when Dash’s invisibility faded. It took every drop of self-control not to let out a sigh and slump against the wall in relief. Shining Armour was curled up, his head on the desk. She watched in silence until his breathing changed from that of a man being tortured to sleep and slowly, quietly, pulled the scroll from her shirt. The sound of the parchment unrolling was unbearably loud to her ears, seeming to take minutes, but at least she had the arcane parchment ready.

Covering her mouth with one hand, Dash mumbled the words. A certain volume was needed, apparently, but she didn’t exactly want to wake Shining Armour. The words were engraved in her memory by a few hours of repeating them again and again and again and again and again. The ink vanished from the scroll as she spoke until not a drop remained on the parchment. Magic rushed from it out and up through her.

Dash had to muffle her gasp of surprise. It was like the Detect Magic spell. There was a sense of her senses expanding. She blinked. Rather than the auras of coloured light Twilight had taught her were magical auras, she saw a misty, transparent energy laid over Shining Armour. There were half a dozen colours, all mixed and swirled around him.

‘As if there was any doubt...wait...’ She got up, taking silent steps until she was next to Shining Armour. The cup of tea lay next to the slumped guard, the dregs shrouded by a green mist. ‘Huh.’

Leaving him, she padded over the small table with the tea. Sorting through it, she paused. Tea bags, green ones, matched the tea and one of the shades of magic swirling about Shining Armour. She kept herself from whistling.

‘Score.’ She took one of the bags, slipping it into her pocket. ‘Yoink. Twilight’ll love this thing.’

Satisfied with what she had found, Dash did her best to put it back like it had started. Yet as she passed the desk and its passed out owner, she hesitated. Shining Armour was a sorry sight; his mind was being messed with and he thought he had gotten his little sister and little brother killed.

Dash glanced along the table, eyeing his quills and ink pots. She lifted the hand still holding the expended scroll. The glimmer of an idea shown in her eye and the thief grinned.

*

“Spike.”

The boy looked up at Twilight. She was giving him a Look. That did not bode well. He gulped.

“Uh, yeah?”

She frowned, patting the makeshift stone bench next to her. Dragging his feet, the dragonblooded boy came over and sat. He knew this wasn’t going to go well for him, if she was finally going to ask what he knew she was.

“Things have been rather rushed and busy, so I didn’t really have the chance to sit down and ask you why you were there. You were supposed to be with- y-you’re not meant to be here.” Twilight glanced at the dagger on his belt. “And where did you get that?”

Spike rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. “I, uh...a couple of months ago, S-Shining and I made a deal,” he finally admitted reluctantly. “Once a week, when I’m meant to be with him, he lets me go off on my own. And I go exploring.”

He tensed, waiting for the explosion sure to follow. After a few seconds of silence he cautiously looked at her. Twilight looked...disappointed. It sent a knife of guilt right into Spike’s heart and he looked away again, face burning with shame. Before it could take too much of a hold over him, however, he felt her arm around him, pulling him close.

“I’m not angry, Spike,” she murmured.

“But you’re disappointed,” came his muffled reply.

She held him close, one hand stroking the back of his head gently. “Yes,” Twilight admitted. “I am. But I don’t care; just promise me, don’t lie to me again this sort of thing. Don’t….don’t trick me, like this. Please. I don’t think I could take it.”

Spike flinched as he realised how she would feel, tricked and betrayed by the brother she had looked up to. The thought of lying and hurting her like that made Spike sick to his stomach. He wrapped his arms around her.

“I won’t. I promise. I won’t do that to you,” he promised softly. They stayed like that for a while longer, taking comfort from the physical closeness as much as anything. There was a protective sense to how she held him.

Applejack watched the pair from the mouth of the tunnel. She had taken it upon herself to take watch, to guard from any more enemies. The sight of the two was heartwarming, but made hers ache. She covered her eyes for a moment. She missed her little sister. She missed her big brother. She missed her family.

‘Nothin’ to stay for,’ she reminded herself. ‘Every reason in the world to leave.’

The sound of movement down the tunnel brought Applejack’s attention back to her job. She started to draw her sword. Before she could, Time Turner appeared. He put a finger on his lips, patting the bulging satchel hanging by a strap across his chest. He grinned, tossing a muffin at Applejack as he strode past.

“The dagger.” She heard Twilight asking Spike. “Where did you get it?”

“Why, from Shining Armour!” Time Turner answered for him. He squatted down in front of them. “Where else?”

Spike looked amazed. “How did you know?”

“I cheated. I gave it to him.” Opening his satchel, Time Turner pulled out a book. He offered it to Twilight a flourish. “A gift. Well, it’s actually yours, but since I-”

Twilight had already taken it. “My spellbook! How did you get this? I thought- no, no.” She stopped herself. “Dagger first. You gave Shining Armour that dagger, and he gave it to Spike? Why?”

Time Turner shrugged. “Well, I can’t say why he gave it to Spike, but I gave it to him as a birthday present last year.”

“Alright. Spike-” Twilight began to turn back to the boy.

“Oh, and so I could track him,” the roguish scholar added cheerfully. He grinned at their surprised expressions. “After we got separated a few times during our adventures, I decided to make sure that if I needed to find him, I could. That’s how I found you.”

Closing her eyes for a moment, Twilight took a deep breath. “Ignoring what that says about your sense of personal space and privacy...I’m not sure. Spike, why did he give you the dagger? Do you think he knew?”

Spike shrugged. “I don’t know, it really wierd. He said ‘just in case’, but he didn’t say in case of what! He couldn’t know I was going to find you.”

They shared his confusion. “Does he know where you go?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t think so…” Spike looked at her uncertainly. “This is all really confusing.”

“It certainly is. We need to set that to the side for a time. We can think about it later, when we have more information. Right, I’m more concerned about how you, Turner, got my spellbook. I thought we had agreed it would be too dangerous to go back for them,” Twilight said, giving her friend an annoyed look.

“No,” he corrected her. “We agreed it was too dangerous for Dash to sneak back in to get them. Not only is she not as good as me, but she doesn’t have a girlfriend who delivers reagents to you.”

Twilight’s brow knitted in confusion, clearing a moment later. “Ditzy? She’s- did you have her spy on me?”

He waved his hands, dismissing the notion. “No, of course not. Well...okay, no, but she likes to talk about what she does and sees and who she talks to and all that sort of thing. I just have to listen.” Time Turner frowned at her. “I don’t see why you’re complaining, now you can prepare some spells again.”

Spike had to muffle a snicker at the look of annoyance on Twilight’s face. She rolled her eyes and sighed, taking her book and opening it. “I suppose so. We’re just waiting for-”

“And it’s me!” Dash appeared in the tunnel before Applejack. Greatsword in hand already, Applejack lowered it with a scowl. The thief swaggered past her, grinning triumphantly. “And have I got news for you!”

Twilight rose to her feet, her face cast into an intense look. “What is it? What did you find? Something about the artifacts? Something about him?”

Dash’s good cheer faded. She looked...Applejack focused on the sudden shift in Dash’s stance. She had good news, but something was wrong with it. There was bad as well.

“I can tell you good news, and bad news. The good is pretty damn good, the bad is…” Dash hesitated. “You won’t like it.”

Now that was interesting. Not just that there was news, but the fact Dash was actually stopping to warn Twilight before she said. Applejack felt her interest piqued further. Finally, the rainbow-haired girl had decided Twilight wasn’t the enemy.

“Tell me,” Twilight said immediately. She corrected herself, the arm still around Spike’s shoulders tightening, “Tell us.”

Dash told them. She told them all she had seen and discovered. About the sorcerer posing as a guard, and what he had done. She winced as she explained the tea and its aura of charm. Lacking any knowledge of spellcraft, all she could do was talk about it’s presence, but that was enough to set Twilight alight with elation, that her brother wasn’t trying to kill her, and fury that someone would use magic like this on her brother.

“Cadance? You’re sure he used her name? Why would he do that? He must have been…” Twilight hesitated, shaking her head. “That can’t be right.”

“Why not? We found her in a lump of crystal at the bottom of an insane wizard’s lair! I knew that ‘no memories’ thing was bull.” Time Turner narrowed his eyes. “And now ‘High Priestess’, oh yes, very impressive, no one suspects a thing, no one except-”

“Yes, Turner, we know you don’t trust her, you’ve spent the last ten years telling anyone who will listen!” Twilight snapped. “I know Cadance!”

Dash spoke up, saying, “Wait, you actually mean her? The High Priestess? Doesn’t she go around giving food to orphans and the poor and stuff? Everyone loves her.”

“The perfect cover! Shining Armour and her get cosy, next thing you know someone is poisoning him with…” Time Turner sniffed the stolen sample of tea. “Mind weakening tea!”

Twilight snatched the tea from him. “Cosy?” She scowled and cast Detect Magic, focusing on the tea. “It is mind weakening. I don’t think I’ve seen it before, but it’s definitely magical.”

“Chemical too. It’s a double effect, must have been prepared in special conditions. Unique stuff, don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like it. Unique.” Tapping his chin thoughtfully, Time Turner frowned. “What does Cadance want? Aside from a controlling interest in Shining Armour’s mind. Long night, it must have taken months for it to work!”

“Cosy?” Twilight repeated stubbornly. “What do you mean, they got cosy?”

He gave her an incredulous look. “What? He hasn’t told you? He and Cadance have been ‘courting’. All very hush-hush, private and everything. Until now, less than ten people knew. Captain Green Husk seems to be the go-between for them, in fact.”

“How do you know that?” Spike asked. “If its such a secret?”

“Ditzy does a lot of courier work, to all sorts of people. She just seems to fade into the background for other people,” Turner answered with a fond smile. “Not for me though.”

“How sweet, blah blah blah!” interrupted Dash, rolling her eyes. She ran a hand through her hair, brushing it back. “Let’s focus; priestess who everyone loves, does her magic healing thing, she’s evil?”

Applejack’s eyes caught something. She stared at Dash’s ears, noting their odd shape. They weren’t just not quite normal, they were definitely sharper and more pointed than a human’s ear. Had they been like that before? She frowned thoughtfully, thinking back. Had she just not noticed? Shaking her head, Applejack realised she had lost track of the conversation.

“-so, we need to work out how Cadance is involved. If she is. Green might have just been using it as a phrase, something he uses since it involves someone important to Shining,” Twilight was saying. She hesitated. “But...Shining did mention the tea being given to him recently by a friend. It almost sounded like he was going to say Cadance...

At last, Applejack spoke up. “I think I know why.” Her tone was thoughtful as she leaned against the wall. “He said that last time ya talked?”

“At his office, just the other night,” Twilight explained. Her gave was questioning but she kept her curiosity silent, waiting to see where Applejack was going

Applejack nodded. “And he gave the dagger to Spike just a couple hours ago, right?” Her brow furrowed. “Ya said the tea would need months to work, so he’s been drinkin’ it for a while without ever mentionin’ it. But he mentioned it now…”

“This going somewhere? ‘cause I don’t get it,” Dash complained.

Time Turner cocked his head to the side. “I think I might get it. Two abnormalities, right before something far more overt. He might not have been consciously aware of the trap, but on some level he realised something was going to happen.”

“‘s right, an’ mentionin’ the tea to ya Twilight, maybe part of him knows it’s doing somethni’ nasty. He don’t know he knows, or he can’t fight it enough to stop, but he can bring it to yer attention.” Grinning fiercely, Applejack saw the understanding reach Spike and Dash almost at the same time.

“He’s fighting it off!” Spike cheered.

Twilight looked as intense as she ever had, processing the new information. “If he can defy whatever compulsions or programming they’ve gotten into him, it has to be subtle. That’s why they used this sort of slow, long-term method; his mental defenses could shrug off direct attacks. Which means overt contradictions, or orders he won’t naturally go along with-”

“Like increasing his guilt!” Time Turner exclaimed. “That’s why Green did that! Not just because he’s an evil bastard, but because not only does Shining Armour have an awful case of hero syndrome and a tendency to take blame he has no claim to, it would be make him easier to manipulate. Break him down.”

“There’s another motive for yer murder then, since yer his friend. Kill ya, he feels bad ‘cause he can’t catch who did it,” pointed out Applejack.

Time Turner paled. “Which means...if I had shown up to him later, it might have broken the effect.” He sighed. “I should have trusted him. Burning day, I was a fool.”

“It’s alright, you were just being your usual paranoid self,” Spike assured him. He was unaffected by the withering glare Turner sent his way.

“We need to be sure he’s going to break out completely. If the source of the magic in the tea casts a direct charm spell on him, perhaps even Dominate, it will be much, much easier unless we can totally break any influence over him,” continued Twilight.

Spike piped up, “Green! That guy! He must be using magic to disguise himself, right? His voice too.”

“That...yes, that could work!” Elation filling her, Twilight hugged Spike tightly. “If we can dispel his magic, reveal his true form and show that we’re alive, that might be enough to snap Shiny out of it!”

Dash wooted and Applejack grinned. “Sounds like a mighty fine plan. But where are we gonna do it? Hit the bastard with a spell somewhere Shinin’ Armour can see, I mean?”

They began to discuss it, trying to work out when and where they could do it. Somewhere Green couldn’t just flee from, where other guards at least could see and where Shining Armour would definitely see. Only Time Turner didn’t speak, just watching them. He did nothing, simply absoring the conversation. Twilight shivered, muttering about the cold, and his eyes lit up.

“The Sun’s Fire Festival,” he said suddenly. They all looked at him in surprise. “The lighting of the flame. At dusk tonight, to signal the light surviving when even the sun is gone. Shining Armour is going to be there, when Cadance lights it. With, if I guess right, Green Husk.”

Twilight nodded. She could feel it, now they had a plan. Confidence. As crude and unrefined as it was, she knew it was their chance. They weren’t being tricked and deceived any more, controlled by an invisible puppeteer.

“At dusk,” she said, quietly but solemnly. “We find out the truth. We save my brother.”

*