//------------------------------//
// Interrogation 
// Story: Cold Days and Warm Hearts 
// by moguera 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 9: Interrogation

"So," said Posey as she settled into her seat at the table, "How far have the two of you gone?"
Fluttershy's cheeks lit up bright-red.  "Mom!" she exclaimed, looking positively mortified.
"What?" asked Posey, "It's a valid question.  Not only have you been dating him for nearly half a year, but you're actually staying at his house.  I think it's an inquiry worth making."
Fluttershy seemed to shrink in her seat as her gaze darted around the restaurant to see if anypony was looking their way.  "But here...?"
Posey giggled lightly.  "Oh Fluttershy, nopony's going to care about what we say."  Her eyes sparkled with amusement.  "Unless, of course, a certain daughter of mine keeps shouting whenever I ask a simple question.  Then they might start paying more attention."
Fluttershy's slumping posture gave the impression that she was trying to sink down beneath the table.
"So..." said Posey, waving her hoof in a motion indicating that Fluttershy should answer her original question.
"Well...we haven't done much," said Fluttershy, sitting back up and trying her best to keep her gaze from jumping around too much, "We've slept together but-"
"Hold on," said Posey, an eyebrow going up, "Slept together or slept together?"
Fluttershy didn't fail to notice emphasis on the second one.  "Um...the first one," she said.
Posey relaxed a little.  "Oh that's good.  I'm a bit worried about what your father might do if the two of you had..."  She didn't need to finish the sentence.  "In any case, it's good that the two of you are taking things slowly right now.  There's no need to get ahead of yourselves."
Fluttershy nodded.  "True.  Caramel and I have been doing very well lately.  He even gets along really well with Dawn.  Dawn's been calling him dad."
Posey couldn't quite keep a squeal from escaping her.  "Ooh!  That's wonderful.  I'm so happy for you."
"Thank you mom," said Fluttershy, her posture relaxing.  She should have known that Posey wouldn't be too intrusive or overbearing.  She sighed and sat back, taking the ambience of the restaurant.  "Where's dad?"
"Oh, out and about," said Posey nonchalantly, "I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to drop in on your coltfriend at work."
Fluttershy's body went rigid at the thought.  "Oh!  Please tell me he wouldn't!  That could be bad?"
"Well, I'll admit he can be overzealous," said Posey, "But he won't take things too far...probably...maybe..."
"Mom..."  Fluttershy dropped her face into her hooves.  Silverlight harassing Caramel at his job could end very badly, especially if Bon Bon was in the store too.  The cream-colored mare was known to have a fiery temper at times, especially when it came to ponies causing trouble at her shop.
"Don't worry dear," said Posey, patting her daughter's shoulder, "Things have a way of working themselves out."
"That's what you always say," grumbled Fluttershy from behind her hooves.



"I see," said Dawn after listening to Arkenstone, "Thank you for telling me."
"What will you do?" asked the beige stallion.
Dawn shrugged.  "What else can I do but wait?  Terra Heart will come when he comes.  If there is no way of knowing, then I will simply have to accept that."
Arkenstone's lips twitched into a smile.  "You're right about that.  Remember, Red, Storm, and I are all here, so don't go trying to do everything yourself."
"I won't," said Dawn.  With that, he turned and walked away from Arkenstone, returning to the floor to continue serving customers.  The teahouse was fairly busy, given the number of ponies seeking shelter inside the warm confines of the shop, enjoying steaming cups of tea to chase the cold from their limbs and warm their insides.
Arkenstone was impressed that Dawn had accepted the news with such grace.  It was a sign of how far the colt had come, but also a sign of how much he had been through.  Dawn was no stranger to looking out for himself and keeping aware of his surroundings.  It wasn't likely that Terra Heart would try sneaking up on him anyway.
The door to the shop opened to admit a gray and blue stallion with an irritable expression.  Looking around, his eyes almost immediately zeroed in on Dawn.  Arkenstone didn't fail to notice, but also noted a distinct lack of hostility from the unfamiliar stallion as he approached the colt.
Dawn had just finished serving another table as he turned to look at the approaching stallion.  "Hello grandpa," he said politely.
The stallion's irritable demeanor melted almost instantly as his eyes drifted upward and he let out a happy hum.  After a second's coughing he managed to regain his composure.
Dawn couldn't help but smile at his grandfather's antics and directed him to a table.  "What can I get you?" he asked.
Silverlight chuckled and set down the menu without looking at it.  "I'll leave it up to you."
Dawn nodded and went into the back to prepare his grandfather's tea.  At the same time, he asked Arkenstone if he could take a break, which was quickly granted to him.  With the rest of the Crusaders working, there were always plenty of hooves on deck to keep things running smoothly.  Technically, Arkenstone could have easily kept the entire teahouse running on his own, but it pleased him to provide a job for Dawn and his friends.
A few minutes later, Dawn left the back, balancing a pair of pots and their respective cups on a tray over his outspread wing.  Silverlight watched Dawn carrying the tray with a healthy amount of respect.  Looking around, he noted several other foals around Dawn's age working around the shop as well.  He even recognized the orange one that was Dawn's fillyfriend.  She and the other pegasus colt were carrying their trays in a similar manner, using the feathers on their wings to execute fine manipulations of the pots and cups.  It was an impressive display, something he'd never really seen other pegasi do.
As he watched Dawn move with similar dexterity in setting out the pots and cups, Silverlight couldn't help but ask.  "Where did you learn to do that?"
Dawn smiled as he took his own seat at the table, mentally counting down the minutes until the tea had finished steeping.  "I learned it from a friend on the Weather Team," he explained, "It's based off of a writing technique that he helped develop in Guoxia."
Silverlight blinked.  "There's an outlander in Ponyville?"
"Two actually," said Dawn, his eyes narrowing fractionally, "Is there something wrong with that?"
"No," said Silverlight, glancing at Dawn in confusion, apparently wondering why the colt was asking, "I was just a bit surprised.  You don't usually see outlanders in communities like this.  They tend to congregate in the big cities."  He shrugged.  "I guess close-knit rural communities are a hard place for ponies from other cultures to fit in."
"They do so well enough," said Dawn with a shrug, "In fact, if it weren't for their clothes, you would never guess they weren't Equestrian."
"I see," said Silverlight, "It's very interesting.  I've never seen anything like it."
"I think it's beginning to catch on," said the ebony colt with a smile, "I've had a few other pegasi asking about it."
"I wouldn't mind learning about it myself," said Silverlight, "It would certainly make my job easier and mouth cramps would be a thing of the past."
"I'll talk to Storm Front," said Dawn as he moved his wings to remove the baskets from the pots and pour the tea, "If his techniques are drawing such interest, he may want to consider switching professions."
Silverlight laughed and nodded.  He paused the conversation to lift the cup of tea to his mouth and take a generous sip.  His eyes widened for a second as the flavors of the various spices in the blend mingled with the aroma of the tea itself on his tongue and swallowed.  "This is amazing!" he gasped as he set the cup down.
Dawn chuckled, taking a sip from his own cup.  "Sir Arkenstone learned a great deal about tea while traveling abroad, especially in countries like Guoxia and Pachydermia, where it is fairly common to blend said tea with spices.  When he came back here, he decided to set up this teahouse in Ponyville."
"My, that's a well-traveled stallion," mused Silverlight, "Wait!  Sir...You mean he's a knight?"
Dawn nodded, though he knew better to tell his grandfather the complete truth of Arkenstone's position.  "Yes, it was part of his service to Princess Celestia that had him wandering abroad in the first place."  Dawn wasn't entirely certain of that, but it seemed a reasonable deduction for why a Celestial Knight was waltzing about outside the country.
"I see," said Silverlight, "So he was a knight acting in service, rather than just an ennobled one."
"I'm not entirely certain on the details," Dawn admitted, "I believe he may have received his rank after his service, as a reward for it.  He doesn't care much to talk on the topic.  I think he doesn't want to be treated too differently because of his rank."
"Makes sense, I guess," said Silverlight with a noncommittal shrug.
The two of them spent a few moments enjoying their tea.  As he polished off his first cup, Silverlight set it down and gave Dawn a serious look.  "Say, Dawn...?"
"Yes?"  Dawn looked at his grandfather quizzically.
"Listen, I need your input on something," said Silverlight, leaning in towards Dawn, "About your mother's coltfriend..."
Dawn raised an eyebrow.  "What about him?"
"How do you...how do you feel about him?"
"Um..."  Dawn blinked, clearly confused by the question.  "I like him just fine," said the colt.
"Are you really okay with the idea that that stallion might become your father?" asked Silverlight with an incredulous tone.
"Actually, I've been rather looking forward to it," said Dawn, "I think dad is a wonderful stallion."  His eyes narrowed.  "Does this have something to do with why you were looking so upset when you first came in?"
"Well..." said Silverlight, "I was trying to get a chance to speak with him and get a better feel for him, but..."



The door to the candy shop nearly burst off its hinges as the tall stallion was launched out into the street.
"AND STAY OUT!" roared the mare as she came stomping out the door to glare at the stallion she had just tossed out of her store.
"You can't do this to me!" Silverlight shouted back, "That stallion is dating my daughter!"
"I don't care," said Bon Bon, not relenting in the slightest, "This is my shop and he is my employee.  If you're just going to harass him, then you can get lost!"



"I think I get the idea," said Dawn flatly.
"Um..."  Silverlight was taken aback by Dawn's deadpan expression.  "Listen.  I'm sure that he's tried to make a good impression on you so that he can get with your mother.  But that doesn't necessarily mean he's a good stallion."
"I would think that I have more of a basis for making that decision than you do," said Dawn, "We've been living with him for quite a few days now and he and mom have been dating for months before that.  He has also been there for me during some of my most difficult times and helped me get through them.  So, yes, I would say that I know him well enough to say that he would never willingly do anything to hurt mom."
"Willingly?"  Silverlight raised an eyebrow.
Dawn shrugged.  "We all hurt each other unwillingly once in a while."  He sighed.  "I know that I have hurt mom on a few occasions, even though it is the last thing I would ever want to do.  In that respect, I think dad has a much better record than I do."
Though he seemed to be rethinking his position, Silverlight clearly wasn't completely convinced.  "Just what's so special about this stallion?"
Dawn blinked.  "Well...he's nice."
"That's it?  He's nice?"
The colt actually chuckled at that.  "Isn't that enough?  He's gentle and kind, sort of like mom.  Oh!  And he's a good cook."
"That's important to you?" asked Silverlight.
Dawn smirked at his grandfather.  "It's certainly worth thinking about.  If mom were to break up with him, then I would have to give up being able to eat dad's onion soup.  That would certainly make me think twice."
Silverlight opened his mouth to argue before realizing that Dawn was actually joking with him (at least partially).  "So you really trust this guy then."
"I do," said Dawn, "And I would prefer it if you didn't chase him away.  So I hope that you will treat him more nicely from now on or I might not be calling you grandpa anymore."
Silverlight sighed and drank some more of his tea.  "Alright," he said, "I'll give the guy a chance."
"That's all mom and I can ask," said Dawn.
Silverlight set down his cup and took a closer look at the colt.  "I guess he must not be so bad if you're willing to trust him."
Dawn nodded.  "You've read the article about me.  You know the baggage that I carry.  Mom was willing to accept me in spite of it.  The fact that dad was willing to accept me as well is a point in his favor."
"I see..."
Something seemed to occur to Dawn.  "Speaking of the article...Last night, you mentioned that mom hadn't told you about me and you found out through the newspaper."
"That's right," said Silverlight, wondering where Dawn was going with this.
"That was a few weeks ago," Dawn pointed out, "I'd figured you would have visited much sooner than that."
That got a chuckle out of the stallion.  "Trust me, we wanted to...Or I wanted to, at least.  Your grandmother had to hogtie me to keep me from jumping on the first train to Ponyville.  Unfortunately, neither of us could afford to leave at the time.  We both work in the Weather Department at Las Pegasus.  The transition between fall and winter is always the busiest time of year for us as we're rushing to make sure that the first snowstorms of the season are ready to ship out.  Unless it's a real emergency, like a death in the family, you can't get any time off during that period without requesting it months in advance."  His smile faded slightly.  "Of course, there was another reason too.  In fact, I think you might have been part of that other reason."
"How so?" asked Dawn, tilting his head.
"The article mentioned that you were part of that kerfuffle in Cloudsdale, right?"
Dawn nodded.
"After word got out about what had happened in Cloudsdale, especially everything about the tribalist elements taking over the city, all the other major pegasus cities throughout Equestria basically went on tribalist high-alert.  There were a lot of internal inquiries to make sure nopony was trying to pull the same thing that the tribalists in Cloudsdale did.  Of course, if you were trying to leave town while that was going on, it would look pretty suspicious."
"I see," said Dawn, "I apologize for the inconvenience that caused."
"Not your fault," said Silverlight with an indifferent shrug, "Celestia knows, I wouldn't want those jerks pulling the same thing in Las Pegasus and I don't think regular ponies are gonna let them get away with it easily next time."
"Does your city have any problems with tribalists?" asked Dawn, his ears perking in curiosity.  He knew next to nothing about the other large pegasus cities.
"Yes and no," said Silverlight with a shrug, "It'd be near impossible for the kind of conspiracy that happened in Cloudsdale to take root in our city.  Las Pegasus used to be just another cloud city, just like Cloudsdale.  But, a century or so ago, they entered into a sort of partnership with an earth pony town below.  The place was a vacation destination, so it was the perfect place for pegasi working in the clouds to go down and spend some time enjoying themselves on the ground.  That built up the town's economy, it became a city.  More earth ponies and unicorns started moving in.  With the cloudwalking spells unicorns could cast, it became possible for the ground-walkers to come up to the clouds, so the cloud side became a vacation destination for them, a chance to experience the pegasus lifestyle.  Eventually, the two cities decided to just merge and Las Pegasus as we know it was born."
Dawn hummed thoughtfully.  "So, because the cities merged, the pegasi started depending on earth ponies and unicorns to support their economy and vice-versa," observed Dawn.
"That's right," said Silverlight, nodding approvingly.  Fluttershy had certainly picked up a sharp one.  "And because of that the tribalists would never find enough of a hoofhold to pull off the same kind of takeover they did in Cloudsdale.
"But that doesn't mean we don't have problems of our own."  Silverlight sighed and shook his head.  "Just because we're a mixed city doesn't mean we don't have tribalists.  Because they can't get enough support to pull off some kind of coup, they form gangs instead, wandering around the clouds, causing trouble, beating up tourists.  It can get pretty ugly."
"I can imagine," said Dawn darkly.
"Even worse," said Silverlight, "Their shenanigans basically inspired the unicorns and earth ponies to start doing the same down below.  So now there are gangs for each tribalist faction out there.  Then, to make things more complicated, there are mixed gangs, pegasi and unicorns, earth ponies and unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies...and then there are the just plain criminal scum who come in and try to make a profit selling weapons to anyone who'll buy.  So now they're a bigger threat to civilians and cause plenty of collateral damage whenever they skirmish with each other."
"Sounds bad," said Dawn, wincing sympathetically.  It was certainly a far cry from the relatively crime-free nature of Ponyville.  Most of the problems that had arisen for the town either did so as a consequence of some of the supernatural forces at work in the Everfree, or as a result of Dawn's own presence, which had drawn members and agents of the Cult Solar.
"Well, I make it sound worse than it is," said Silverlight, "Every big city as those sorts of issues.  The gangs tend to congregate in lower-income neighborhoods, where there's less Guard presence.  Even tourists aren't really in much danger so long as they don't wander into the wrong part of town.  Things have been getting better too."
"How so?" asked Dawn.
"Well, there's this new group that's been going around the upper and lower levels of the city," explained Silverlight, "They've been organizing civilians of all tribes and getting them active in helping to prevent crimes, spot suspicious characters, help coordinate Guard responses, band together and get these crimes to stop, that sort of thing.  They're making some real progress and there has been a pretty serious reduction in violent crime lately."
"That's good to hear," said Dawn.  His eyebrow twitched.  There was something familiar about this.
"Yeah, they seem to be a good bunch," said Silverlight, "If I recall, their official name is Sunlight's Shadow."
Dawn's ear twitched.  "That's an interesting name..."  He was liking this less and less.
"I remember reading one of their pamphlets," said Silverlight, "It talked a whole bunch about living up to the ideal of Princess Celestia; that, as an alicorn, she represented the the perfect harmony between tribes in her form and that we should be inspired to try and embody that harmony in our own lives."
"That is...very interesting..."  Dawn felt cold now.  He had a very good inkling of just where Sunlight's Shadow came from and just what it was doing.



"I must say, you always have the most amazing stories for us whenever we visit," said Posey with a laugh as Fluttershy related some of the strange events that had taken place since the last time her parents had visited, including those that Dawn had taken part in.
"Well...yes..." said Fluttershy with sheepish smile, "Ponyville is a very nice town, but things can get a bit...lively."
"You mean like that time Cerberus got loose and came visiting?" asked Posey, "That one's my favorite."
"Actually, he came back just a little while ago," said Fluttershy, "It was actually during the drought.  Dawn was recovering from one of his fights at the time, so he got to meet Cerberus too."
"Oh my!  Really?" gasped Posey, "He wandered away from the gates of Tartarus again!"
"Oh, not this time," said Fluttershy cheerfully, "Actually..."



"Fluttershy!" Twilight yelled as she galloped up the path, "Why didn't you tell me Cerberus was here?  Quick!  I have one of Pinkie Pie's balls! (1)"  She levitated the toy in question above her head.
The happy panting and huffing of the three-headed dog came to an abrupt standstill as all three of Cerberus' heads focused immediately on the ball bobbing about in Twilight's magic.  The gigantic hound rolled to his feet from where it had been laying, letting Fluttershy rub his belly.  One of the heads let out an excited bark at the sight of the ball and Cerberus immediately went into an eager crouch, his tail wagging impatiently.
"That's a wonderful idea!" exclaimed Fluttershy, "He absolutely loves to play fetch.  Quick!  Throw the ball..."  Fluttershy shrunk down a little.  "But not toward anything he might accidentally crush please."
"What are you talking about?" demanded Twilight, "We have to get him back to the gates right away, before some terrible monster escapes."
"Oh, he said not to worry about that," said Fluttershy with a giggle.  Cerberus barked in agreement, "He says that this is his day off and that somepony is watching the gates in his place for a while."
"Huh?'  Twilight was so surprised that she completely forgot to maintain the ball's levitation.  The large red sphere dropped at her hooves and began rolling across the ground...
...Which was enough to spur Cerberus into motion as he leapt for the rolling ball, nearly running Twilight over as he charged after it.  Twilight barely managed to teleport to the side before she was knocked tail over teakettle by the colossal canine.
As soon as she regained her bearings, Twilight turned back to Fluttershy.  "What do you mean he has a day off?"
Fluttershy tittered as Cerberus proudly trotted back, the head on the right proudly carrying the ball while the other two looked a bit sour that they hadn't managed to get it.  Fluttering up, Fluttershy positioned herself between the left and center heads so that she could scratch them both behind the ears, cheering them up immensely.  "Oh, it's nothing too bad.  He says that, every year or so, somepony comes to watch the gates for him so that he can run free and play.  He actually came to visit me last year too."
"Huh?"  Twilight wanted to ask more, but was stymied when Cerberus' right head dropped the ball at her hooves.  Immediately, the two other heads forgot Fluttershy and all three snapped their focus to the ball, panting eagerly.
"He wants you to throw it," said Fluttershy, grinning cheerfully at Twilight.
"But..."  Twilight looked down at the ball, then back up at Fluttershy, then at Cerberus.  With a defeated sigh, she said, "Fine..."  Lifting the ball with her magic, she sent it hurtling along the open expanse between the cottage and the Everfree Forest, where Cerberus could run without accidentally destroying anything.  He bounded after the ball, making the earth shake every time his paws came back down to the ground.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked, turning her attention back to Fluttershy, "You don't think he's lying to avoid having to go back and do his job, do you?"
"Oh no!" gasped Fluttershy, "He wouldn't lie to me."
"That he wouldn't."
The two mares turned to see Arkenstone trotting up the path, smiling widely at them.
"What are you talking about Arky?" asked Twilight, turning to regard the beige stallion.
"Well, after you bolted, I realized that I probably needed to explain the arrangement with Cerberus so you didn't panic."  He chuckled.  "I guess I was a little late.  I didn't realize he had been coming to Ponyville for the past few years."
"Oh...um...he said he really likes the attention I give him," said Fluttershy shyly.
Arkenstone's muzzle turned towards her and he smiled.  "I figured that was the case."
Twilight opened her mouth to ask what Arkenstone was talking about when the increasing intensity of the tremors indicated Cerberus' return, this time the center head holding the ball.  He was quick to deposit the ball at Twilight's hooves for another throw.  Twilight was about to do so when Cerberus' left head spotted Arkenstone and let out a mighty, yet joyous bark.  Immediately, the other two heads shot up, ball forgotten as they saw Arkenstone.
An instant later, the massive dog was looming over the beige stallion, his three heads ducking down, mouths wide open.  But Twilight's horrified premonition of Cerberus attacking the stallion she had a crush on was quickly dissipated when, instead of biting, All three of Cerberus' heads began to lick Arkenstone enthusiastically, prompting a loud laugh from the stallion.
"Yes!  Hello!  I've missed you too, boy."  Arkenstone easily endured the bath all three tongues were giving him and did his best to pat the side of one of the heads whenever he could reach around their tongues.
Twilight couldn't help but giggle at the sight of a Celestial Knight being enthusiastically licked by the massive dog.  Her giggles came to an abrupt halt when she saw Arkenstone suddenly start smirking her direction.  Realizing what he was probably about to do, she began backing up, glaring at him reprovingly.  "Don't you dare..."
Arkenstone's smile stretched wider.  "I think you need to give Twilight a little attention too," he said, "After all, she did such a good job throwing the ball for you.  Maybe if you give her some kisses, she'll throw it for you again."
"No!" screeched Twilight, which was all she had the chance to yell before Cerberus whirled about and pounced on her, the tongues from each of his heads knocking her about with the force of his licks, sending Twilight stumbling and spinning from one head to another in an endless cycle of slobber and doggy-breath.
Arkenstone grinned wickedly for a few minutes before finally relaxing with a chuckle.  "Alright boy, that's enough."  He turned to the ball and gave it a strong kick, sending it bouncing along once again.
Instantly, Twilight was forgotten as Cerberus returned to pursuing the ball, barking excitedly.
Twilight stood there, her mane completely drenched with saliva.  She glared at Arkenstone as he continued to chuckle.  Even Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at her.
Finally, after realizing there was no way she could salvage her dignity, Twilight let out a defeated sigh.  "Fine," she groaned, "Are you sure this is okay?"  She gave Arkenstone a searching look.
The beige stallion nodded, still smiling.  "It's perfectly alright."  He too was thoroughly soaked, but looked unbothered by it.
"Oh my!" gasped Flutter as she swooped down towards them, "I had no idea you knew Cerberus, Mr. Arkenstone."
"Yes," said Arkenstone, "We've met before.  He's a perfectly good boy."
"Oh, you'll have to tell me about it sometime," said Fluttershy hopefully.
"I'm sure that I will," agreed Arkenstone.  He nodded to Twilight.  "Come.  Let's go back.  I'll explain the situation."
"Okay," said Twilight before turning to Fluttershy, "I guess you'll look after him then."
Fluttershy giggled lightly.  "Oh yes.  He's such a big sweetheart."
Twilight and Arkenstone began to make their way back to Ponyville.  As they walked past Fluttershy's cottage, they noticed a colt, sitting in the shadows.  Dawn Lightwing sat there, looking somewhat sour.  It only took a single glance to see why.  The colt had been completely soaked with dog drool.  Dawn spread his wings, strings of drool stretched from the appendages, where the feathers were still in the process of growing back, to connect to his barrel.  On top of his head sat an equally soaked and equally dour looking Angel.  Both of them sullenly watched as Cerberus came bounding back.
Twilight couldn't help but stare.  "I guess he got you too, huh."
Dawn nodded.  "I lived for a year in the Everfree Forest.  I've seen terrible monsters, ugly things.  But I've never felt so disgusting in my life."
Twilight couldn't help but nod in agreement.



"So now you have the Guardian of Tartarus visiting you every year?" asked Posey, gaping at Fluttershy.
"Oh yes," said Fluttershy, smiling brightly, "We always have such a lovely time.  It's such a pity he only gets one day off every year.”
“I suppose so,” agreed Posey, thinking it over.  She supposed that guarding such an important place must be a full-time job.  Having one day off a year certainly did seem like a little less than what might be deserved.  Something else occurred to her.  “Mister Arkenstone is Twilight Sparkle’s coltfriend, isn’t he?”
“Oh…” said Fluttershy, a little startled, “Yes he is.”
“I’m a bit surprised that the owner of a teahouse would know so much about Cerberus.”
“Ah…well…yes…but…”  Fluttershy was struggling a little to figure out what to say.  She knew she couldn’t reveal Arkenstone’s status as a Celestial Knight to her mother.  Vaguely, she recalled how Arkenstone had explained things to her before she had been aware of his true status.  “You see…before he settled in Ponyville, he travelled around, doing a lot of odd jobs and…uh…well, I guess he met Cerberus sometime around then.”
"My," said Posey, putting a hoof to her lip, "He must be very well-traveled then."
Fluttershy nodded in agreement.  Quietly, she remembered how Arkenstone had given her the truth about the arrangement with Cerberus at the party where Twilight had formally introduced him to everypony.



"So every year, Cerberus gets a day off and one of you Knights watches the gates of Tartarus until he returns," summed up Dawn quietly as he leaned up against Fluttershy.
Arkenstone nodded.  "Yes.  We take turns, depending on who's available.  It's not unpleasant, but it isn't particularly stimulating either, so nopony has any particular aversion to it.  Besides, we're all good friends with Cerberus."
"Oh, so he was on vacation that first time," said Fluttershy with a surprised gasp.  The first time Cerberus had come to Ponyville, it had been during Twilight's time travel associated breakdown, which had only been exacerbated by the task of Twilight taking Cerberus back to the gates.
"Actually..." said Arkenstone, a peculiar hesitance to his voice, "That time he wasn't on vacation."
"Oh!  What happened?"
The beige stallion sighed.  "One of Tartarus' more dangerous inmates managed to distract Cerberus briefly in order to get him to abandon his post.  By the time Twilight managed to escort him back, that inmate had already escaped."
"So something did break out of Tartarus," gasped Twilight as she settled next to her coltfriend.  Her eyes began to dart around, as though she anticipated some fiend popping up in the middle of the party.
"For a time," said Arkenstone, "Fortunately, he was not on the lam for long.  Swift managed to track him down and deal with him rather easily before hauling him back to Tartarus."
"Swift?" asked Dawn, his ears perking up at the unfamiliar name.
"Yes," said Arkenstone, "Swift Stride...another of the Knights."
"Oh!  Another Knight!" gasped Twilight excitedly, "What's he like?"
To everypony's surprise, Arkenstone visibly grimaced, as though recalling an extremely unpleasant memory.  It seemed that he had words to describe his fellow Knight, but not words he felt were for polite company.  For a moment, he seemed to struggle with what to say before finally deciding on something.  "You don't want to know."
"Is there something wrong with him?" asked Twilight curiously.
Arkenstone sighed.  "He is a...character...is the only polite way I can put it.  We Knights do not have a history of friendly relations with one another to begin with, but even by those standards, Swift is especially hard to deal with."  He paused.  "I will say one thing though.  Out of all us Knights, I believe, beyond all doubt, that Swift is the strongest...in many ways.  I know that the others agree."
"The strongest Knight," mused Twilight as she, Fluttershy and Dawn all mulled over Arkenstone's words, "I wonder just what kind of pony he is."
"With luck," said Arkenstone, his eyebrow twitching, "You'll never have to meet him."



"Fluttershy?"  Posey tilted her head as she regarded her daughter.  "Is something wrong?  You've been sitting there a while without saying a word."
Fluttershy started, jolted out of her reverie by her mother's words.  "Oh!  I'm sorry, I was just lost in thought for a moment."
"About what?"
"Nothing important," said Fluttershy with a small smile, "Just a silly memory from earlier."



Coco Pommel smiled as she fed the line of fabric through the sewing machine, taking quiet solace in the up and down motion of the needle as it pulled the thread through, stitching the seams together with rapid efficiency.  This was one of her favorite parts of working in fashion, that quiet sense of losing herself to the hum of the sewing machine, putting everything together stitch by stitch.  Already, in her mind's eye, she was putting together the finished product, imagining how it would look on the pony wearing it.  In this case, that image was far more important than usual.  After all, Rarity would be wearing this costume.
Coco was currently in the process of stitching together the components of the Princess Platinum costume that would be worn by Rarity during the Canterlot Hearth's Warming pageant.  Coco could already see the elegant alabaster mare strutting across the stage with her natural regal quality.  Though Coco had never gotten the chance to see Rarity in the flesh before, she had seen enough pictures to let her imagination fill in the gaps.
Over the buzz of the machine came a metallic rattle, a sound that nearly made Coco seize up.  She managed to avoid flinching, but only barely as her right ear twitched in an agitated manner.  Oh right...he's here...
Behind her, a cream-colored colt, his coat flecked with gray, lay sprawled across a cushion pushed up against the wall.  Perlin Bluestreak's yellow, hawklike eyes didn't fail to notice Coco's twitching and he moved more carefully to avoid rattling the mithril feathers of his wings any further as he resettled himself.  His eyes were fixated on the fabric as Coco fed it into the machine and pulled it back out, watching her practiced, professional motions with quiet fascination and admiration.  Honestly, he found watching Coco work fascinating in much the same way Rarity's had been when the fashionista had made his cloak back in Ponyville.  His silvery-blue tail twitched idly as continued to stare silently at the earth pony seamstress.
He never made any comments, never made a sound if he could avoid it.  Much of the time, Coco could easily forget he was there at all.  But nopony was perfect.  Every once and a while, he might give some unintentional indication that he was still there, his eyes never leaving the mare in front of him.  Those moments irritated Coco like no other.  They also sent chills down her spine.  Her spirit seemed to oscillate between irritation and fear as her annoyance with Perlin's continuous watching warred with the utter terror the colt inspired in her heart.  Even now, she could still vividly recall the second ever time she had met him, watching him in the Crystal Caverns below Canterlot as he carved his way through a host of trained bodyguards with careless ease and an eager smile, as though the bloody slaughter had been nothing more than a foal's game to him.
Why does he keep coming here?  More than anything, Coco wished she had the courage to ask that question aloud.  What does he want?
When Baron Elderflower had provided Coco with this opportunity and employment, she had dared to hope that she had seen Perlin for the last time.  But, every now and again, the colt came back.  The first time, he'd torn his cloak in one of the missions he'd run for the Baron.  A few times, he came back for other sundry repairs to his garment.  But other times, it seemed he simply came to watch her work.
It was an incredibly creepy feeling, knowing that Perlin's eyes were on her.  Coco had to stuff all of her focus into her work to keep her blood from turning to ice in her veins at the knowledge that a hired, unrepentant killer was in the same room as her, watching her with such interest.  She had to wonder if Perlin ever thought about killing her.  She wasn't about to ask either way.  If anything, she just wished that he would disappear and she could truly be free of the fear that he inspired once and for all.
Still, there was no way she could voice that to the young stallion directly.  Coco very much liked her head where it was.  So she bent herself to the task at hoof and pushed all thoughts of her audience to the wayside once again.



Shining Armor didn't even try to stifle his yawn as he let his eyes sweep across the barren expanse of spreading out beneath his chariot as the two pegasi at the front valiantly pulled it onward.  He was immensely grateful for their assistance, seeing as they, like him, had been roused at an uncomfortable hour for immediate deployment.  Such things were within the purview of the Guard, but that didn't make it any less pleasant.
Shining knew that first hoof.  What had been supposed to be nothing more than another night with his beloved Cadance wrapped in his arms had been interrupted by the arrival of a scroll from Spike.  The scroll had contained the deductions of Arkenstone and Shining's two mercenary employees.  They had determined that the leader of the cult was up to something and that a clue might be found in Appleloosa.  However, since it was impossible to know what kind of window of opportunity they had, Shining had been obligated to act immediately.
As a consequence, here he was settled at the head of his chariot, pulled by two pegasi, with another two ponies seated behind him.  Behind their chariot came two others with the same arrangements, a group of fifteen Royal Guards, including their Captain, now cutting through the sky to Appleloosa.
As the sun rose higher, Shining's eyes narrowed, searching the horizon for the first signs of the town, which should be coming into view any moment now.  Down below them, the black line of the train track that ran out to one of Equestria's outermost settlements was still the only visible sign of civilization.
And then, there it was.  Shining's eyes took in the sight of the wooden buildings that seemed to rise out of the desert like a mirage.  The desert itself had given way to scrubland and plains, which were at least fertile, as evidenced by the rows upon rows of apple trees laid out off to one side of the town.  Even as he looked Shining could see the broad lanes that ran across the orchard, the paths used by the buffalo as they stampeded across the plains and desert.  Now their passage was a part of Appleloosa's harvesting process, allowing the town to make its mark on the apple produce market.
Thanks to the buffalos' stampeding, the Appleloosans could complete their harvest in a fraction of the time required by nearly any other farm in Equestria.  Because of this, Appleloosan produce and products were always among the first to hit the shelves across Equestria during any phase of the harvest, which gave them a leg up on the competition, seeing as the newness of the settlement meant that the earth pony magic that fed the trees hadn't had sufficient time to improve the quality of their yield.
All of this had been in the intelligence reports Shining Armor had been able to gather about the town before setting out.  He hoped to learn more about Appleloosa, particularly anything that might be relevant to his investigation.  However, he intended to investigate more directly first and research later, if necessary.
Already, Shining knew exactly where to start, as he'd been given the name of the pony most likely to assist him in this investigation...Applejack's cousin, Braeburn.