//------------------------------// // Chapter Seventy Five // Story: HiE - A Hollow in Equestria // by Charlie_K //------------------------------// Chapter Seventy Five Ulquiorra stood silently as he waited. Until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna finally took their leave, his pesquisa would pick up little else in the immediate area. The results were certainly better than they had been when he'd been standing just a few feet away from Princess Celestia in her emotionally disturbed state, but it still wasn't enough to pick up possible minute traces of reiatsu in the general area. What had been detected back in the dungeon, had been another matter entirely. What had been there -even on the coroner Challons from last night's rendezvous- had been in significantly greater quantities, and far easier for him to pick up on. That wasn't the case right now, however. Whoever had murdered the guard at the back of the closet, had managed to do so, without leaving a significant amount of reiatsu present on the body. That meant looking for potentially microscopic traces, and warranting a much greater degree of concentration, and focus, than he could manage under present circumstances. His ears, however, were working just fine, and he could easily pick up on the approach of three ponies; two with shod hooves, and one without. Two of the guards from previously, and Challons in tow, based on what he could sense right now. "I must say, I'm getting quite the workout today," Challons commented as he approached, medical equipment in tow in his magical hold, signified by an alabaster glow emitting from his horn. "It's not all that often, that I'm called on to investigate quite so many mysterious deaths, and within such a short amount of time. And even less often, when they occur in the same area," he stated. Ulquiorra said nothing, finding neither interest, nor relevance, in what the unicorn had to say about his work. There were times when saying nothing at all was the preferable course of action to take, than yammering about pointlessness. He could care less about the coroner's background experience at this point in time. "Well then, let's get on with this, shall we?" Challons asked rhetorically as he set his equipment case down on the floor. "Not just yet," Ulquiorra replied, causing the coroner to pause in obvious confusion. "Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, have yet to take their leave from the palace. And I would prefer to examine the body myself, before it's tampered with in any way," he explained. "And just what are you hoping to find, that requires the diarchy to be away from the palace?" Challons asked, not really getting what the whole deal was about. Really, it all struck him as being rather strange. "Evidence as to who murdered the guard, after he murdered Thrush, and why," Ulquiorra elaborated. "Oh," Challons replied and paused. "Just out of curiosity, what has you convinced that this was an act of murder?" he asked, wondering what he wasn't seeing on first glance. "The neck is bent in a way that's physically impossible to achieve, with the structure of the vertebrae. And the equine leg structure wouldn't allow for a neck snap to be performed on oneself. If this was indeed a suicide, it would've required the guard to slam headfirst into the far wall, at the correct angle, with enough force to break his own neck, in a manner that would successfully lead to death, rather than quadriplegia. To do all of that, would require significant momentum to be built up beforehand; something that the short overall length of the room wouldn't have allowed for. The only way it could be achieved, would be if he galloped down the hallway, before slamming into the closet wall," he explained, laying out the details of why this couldn't be a simple case of suicide. From what he saw, he was holding Challons' attention as he absorbed the information that he was being given. Perhaps it was time to test the coroner's critical thinking abilities. "This leaves us with many questions that need to be answered. But one of these sticks out more than the others. Do you know what it is?" he asked. "If this was a suicide, then who closed the door behind him?" Challons asked. "Precisely," Ulquiorra replied. Challons had quickly picked up on the primary inconsistency of the notion of this entire thing being a suicide. Perhaps he could prove himself useful to this investigation after all. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the diarchy to take their leave. As Celestia looked down at the sight before her, she was left uncertain of how she should feel about what she was seeing, and about how she should react. Luna had said that she would be looking after Rainbow Dash, until it could be determined just what sort of threat they were facing, and how they could best to deal with it. And to Celestia, that sounded like the wisest course of action to engage in; because if even an alicorn was insufficient in terms of protection that could be provided, then they were all pretty much screwed no matter what. However, when she came to gather Luna so that they could depart, she was left wondering just what part of looking after Rainbow Dash, involved being fast asleep on her back, stretched out on the room's cloud bed. She understood that Luna was feeling exhausted like anypony else under these circumstances, but this was hardly the time to literally be laying down on the job, and snoring away like she didn't have a care in the world. All the more perplexing -even if it was technically adorable- was how Rainbow Dash was currently asleep on Luna's barrel, curled up into a tight little ball, rising and falling with the steady rhythm of Luna's own breathing and snoring away in much the same manner, her head resting right near her neck. Celestia was a bit torn right now, trying to decide just what she should do. It was one of those predicaments where she had to balance being a big sister, with being a ruler. And in all the times these situations arose, it was never easy. The very fact that she found them in their current positioning, suggested that last night's debacle had been adequately resolved. But regardless of that fact, they still needed to ensure that Ulquiorra could do his duty, to the best of his abilities; abilities that they were apparently inhibiting through the unconscious exerting of their respective influences on the palace area, due to their inability to be as emotionless as he was. Still, it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do, when both Rainbow Dash and Luna snored simultaneously. She really wished she had a camera available right now.... Regardless, however, duty was duty. "Luna, you need to wake up," she said as she reached out and shrugged her sister with her hoof. She was immediately met with a grunt, and Luna's right wing unfurling, and clocking her upside the head in response to the disturbance. After that, Luna grumbled, and wrapped both her forelegs, and her wings, around Rainbow Dash in a defensive manner. Rainbow Dash herself merely shifted slightly at the new contact, before settling back down again, as if nothing had happened. Rubbing her chin with her fetlock, Celestia pondered how to go about approaching this situation. Despite being asleep, Luna was still taking her duties quite seriously. Just the way she held onto Rainbow Dash as she shielded her, suggested that there would be much pain involved for anyone that tried to come in here, and harm the cyan pegasus in any manner. Regardless, however, there were other important matters that needed to be tended to. Much as she hated to, Luna was going to have to go without a good day's rest for a while longer. "Luna," Celestia said a she reached out and shrugged her sister again. "Come now, you need to wake up. This is important." "We doth not wish to go to the academy of this most foul day, Mother," Luna mumbled as she rolled over onto her side, facing away from Celestia, and rotating Rainbow Dash further away from her in the process. "We doth not feel well..." Celestia sighed. This was going to be neither easy, nor pleasant. But it had to be done. So, steeling her resolve, she began weaving her magic in several different directions at once, knowing that she would have to multitask to avoid a truly terrible outcome to what was about to happen. Along with that multitasking, would be the need to exert a significant amount of her magic, in order to deal with the conditions of the lock down, and still leave them in place. Summoning items from a distance for what was needed, would prove to be a difficult feat, due to the technical similarities it shared with teleportation. But with sufficient levels -and quantities- of magic, and concentration, it would prove possible. A large metal pail materialized in the room in front of Celestia. Next to occur was it being filled with a stream of water, summoned from the kitchen's sink. The third was to summon a large quantity of of ice cubes from the palace's freezer, and carefully deposit them into the pail alongside the water. When all was said and done, she had a five gallon wake-up call at her disposal. "Forgive me, Luna, but you leave me no other choice," Celestia stated softly. Before upending the pail's entire contents right on Luna's head. The response was immediate, with Luna bolting up and off the bed, with all the speed of a bolt being shot from a crossbow, and unleashing an ear-piercing, window-shattering shriek as she landed on her back hooves, from the cold water drenching her down to the skin. Or at least the shriek would've been such, had Celestia not prepared for such developments beforehoof, and erected a soundproofing field over Luna's mouth just before dumping the water on her. The last thing anypony needed right now was to go deaf. Celestia watched as Luna looked around in a frantic motion, head and eyes moving back and forth across the room with amazing speed, her mane clinging to her back from the unannounced drenching taking place. And yet, despite her excited state, as she sat up on her hind legs, Luna still maintained the same careful hold on Rainbow Dash, who remained unconscious -and dry, thanks to having wisely erected force field around her head and face beforehoof- throughout all the excitement. It was only a matter of seconds before Celestia finally caught Luna's eye, serving to help her sister calm down. But as she did calm down, her wide eyes became narrowed with anger, and she began yelling at her; all muffled by the same soundproofing field from earlier. But even though she couldn't hear what was being said, that didn't mean she didn't understand what Luna was saying to her; and if she was reading her little sister's lips right, some of what was being said was really quite vulgar. Some of what was being said might even be illegal in certain countries; she'd have to check later. "Apologies, dear sister," Celestia replied once Luna had stopped cursing her out, due to the need to take a breath. With a flick, the soundproofing field was cancelled out so they could actually have a conversation again. "I'm afraid the matter has become quite serious, and demanded such an approach for the sake of time." "... How serious do you speak of?" Luna asked, curious at what her sister would have to say, if she was trying to justify the drenching she'd been given. "In addition to Thrush being dead, Ready Stance has been murdered, and the assailant is still on the loose," Celestia stated bluntly. The look on Luna's face was enough to tell her all she needed to know, about how much of her sister's attention she was currently holding, and how much she understood. That meant she could continue undaunted. "Ulquiorra's trying to discern the killer's identity as we speak. But he needs us to be away from the palace in order to do so; he claims our presence is hindering his abilities, by making it impossible for him to sense anything besides us," she explained. "Such claims do not surprise me," Luna replied. In the late nights she'd spent talking with the Espada, she'd learned much about both him, and his abilities. It all made some degree of sense to her, so long as nopony asked her to explain it out loud. She moved to stand up, only to realize the predicament she was currently in when she looked down. "However that may prove to be more easily said than done. What are we to do with Rainbow Dash? It is not that I doubt our guards, but we cannot simply leave her behind, it is not yet safe here," she pointed out. Celestia frowned at this, and looked around the room in an effort to figure something out. But the sight of bare walls, dirty dishes from breakfast, and the two guards that were still present, was doing nothing to give her any ideas for how to respond. As best she could tell, there was only one option available to them right now. "Then we'll simply have to take her with us," she replied. If they couldn't leave her behind in the palace, then that was the only other thing they could really do under these circumstances. "But where will we go? To what distance do we depart, in order to allow Ulquiorra Cifer the freedom he needs, to locate the guilty party?" Luna asked. Wherever it was, it would have to be some location that took Rainbow Dash's presence into consideration. Some places where they could safely traverse, would be less than optimal for their pegasus companion being with them. "That's a very, very good question," Celestia admitted, rubbing her chin in thought as she looked for an answer. The sensation of the diarchy taking their leave from the palace, and the accompanying departure of their sweltering reiatsu from the range of his pesquisa, was not unlike being allowed to drop an exceedingly heavy unit of weight that had come to rest on his shoulders -and across his back- for far too long. It was almost enough to make him let his shoulders slouch, or even let out a breath of relief, from his senses actually feeling lighter. Almost, but not quite. The amount of time it had taken for Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, to finally depart from the palace, had been inordinate as far as he was concerned. At one point he actually wondered if they planned to leave, or simply move to one of the furthest points of the palace, and wait from there; as if such a tactic would work. But finally they had taken their leave, and left him unencumbered in the process. "They're away now," he stated simply. "Then we can proceed with our work," Challons replied, not liking how he'd been required to simply stand and wait, rather than do his job; simply leaving a body unattended didn't set right with him. Nor should it really set well with anypony. But that was another issue, and it was best reserved for another time. "Not just yet. I need a moment before my pesquisa can adequately adjust to their absence," Ulquiorra explained. Presently it was a lot like stepping into a dark room after being in the bright light for a long period of time; there was a necessary adjustment period of the eyes to adapt to the lack of light that was encountered. It was no different for his pesquisa in this case, considering what readings he'd been detecting earlier on. Fortunately the wait was short in duration, and it only took a few more moments before he could start tuning in to, and picking up on the reiatsu signatures that surrounded him. All of the signatures, of which there were many. Off to the side of the opened closet, Challons stood quietly, trying to figure out exactly what was going on before him. He, much like many other ponies in Canterlot, had heard a fair number of tales about this individual, and what he could supposedly do. But it was really hard to believe most of the rumors that were currently making their rounds like the seasonal cold and flu. And he'd heard a lot of them. He'd even heard the jokes about how he would be getting a lot more clients in need of his services now. "Strange," he heard Ulquiorra state. But with nothing else added, it was hard to figure out what the context was behind it. "Is there any particular part that's sticking out as strange to you? Or are you talking in general, nonspecific terms?" he asked in response, hoping for clarification. "In this case it's something specific. An anomaly that doesn't have any reason to be there," Ulquiorra replied, before turning around to face the assembled ponies. "You," he said as he directed his attention to one of the present guards, "stay and assist as necessary. As for you," he said as he directed his attention to the other guard, "come with me. We have work to do elsewhere," he instructed. Challons was left stammering at this sudden turn of events. What exactly had he missed here? "Do you mind at least telling me why you're convinced this guard was the original murderer?" he called after Ulquiorra as he started walking away from the area with one of the guards in tow. "In specifics you'd readily understand, his horn is covered in dried blood. An examination will reveal it to be the same blood type as Thrush, as well as matching the wound channel that destroyed his kidney," Ulquiorra replied, not even breaking his stride as he explained the matter. A goring. Challons winced at the very thought of it all. That was just... ugh... "Well then..." he paused, before turning to look at his newly acquired assistant. "Let's see what we can find out, shall we?" he asked rhetorically. He still had a job that needed to be done. And until the lock down was lifted, the bodies couldn't be released into his custody. So he might as well tend to what he could in the time being. The Castle of the Two Sisters. Of all the places that Celestia could suggest for them to come during their temporary exile from Canterlot palace, Luna had to ask herself just why did it have to be this location specifically? Surely her sister knew and understood just how many painful memories were attached to this location, right? Furthermore, out of all the places they could've occupied, why did it have to be the throne room, where so much horribleness had unfolded, so long ago? There were still so many scars present on the walls, and even the ceiling, that made her uncomfortable; and coupled with how her mane was still damp, it was an uncomfortableness that was doubled. She understood that the location had a strategic value to it. It was remote in location, a good portion of it was still structurally sound enough for their intended uses, and it could be defended with little difficulty from most threats. As a safe location far away from the palace, where they could keep Rainbow Dash, it would serve its purpose adequately. But she still didn't like it one bit. Just being here was making her heart beat faster than it should've been. There were too, too many bad memories of the old castle for her to be comfortable here. Even telling herself that it was for Rainbow Dash's sake, was doing little to quell her agitation. The only thing serving as some measure of comfort for her right now, was the fact that she wasn't alone right now. Her sister was here to provide her with the support that she needed, in order to keep the memories from becoming too vivid for her. There was also the fact that before coming here, Celestia had stopped by Doughnut Joe's business, and cleaned the baker out of what Luna guessed was his entire stock of chocolate cake doughnuts, to serve as their belated breakfast for the morning. There was also a picnic blanket laid out in the floor of the old throne room, but she had no idea where Celestia had actually procured it from. But she would gladly trade it all for a change of scenery. Part of it all, she supposed she could attribute to Celestia being shaken up by the murder of Ready Stance in the course of his duties. But that still didn't make it all that easy. Perhaps she should speak up, and ask if there was anything she could do to help. But before she could actually bring the issue up for consideration, she heard a groan coming from where Rainbow Dash currently rested, atop a large plush pillow to shield her from the hard flooring. Again, not a clue on Luna's part where Celestia had procured it from. But that wasn't relevant right now. What was relevant at the moment, was the fact that Rainbow Dash was in the process of slowly waking up. That would give them something else to focus on, besides what their current surroundings were, and what they had to deal with back at the palace. "What time is it?" Rainbow Dash asked, before pausing to yawn and extend her wings fully outward in a post-nap stretch. After that was tended to they were folded back up, and she absently scratched at her ribs as she looked around her. This... didn't look like Canterlot to her. What happened? "And where are we?" "A little after ten in the morning. Perhaps half past," Celestia replied, before levitating over one of the available cake doughnuts for consideration. Seeing the dishes in the room, she had some idea of how much breakfast Rainbow Dash had gotten. But simply because she'd had a sizable breakfast, didn't mean that she couldn't still be hungry for a little snack. "As to where we are, it's the old palace, far away from Canterlot." Rainbow Dash had been reaching for the offered doughnut as Celestia spoke, but stopped at the mention of their location. Curiosity was starting to outweigh her mild hunger. "Okay... and why?" she asked as she withdrew her extended hoof and set it back down on the pillow, slightly tilting her head to the side as she did. But as Celestia opened her mouth again, her hoof went back up and out. "And please, don't lie to me. I might not be the smartest, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here, if what's going on didn't involve me somehow," she stated, before setting her hoof back down again. Celestia paused and closed her mouth in thought. Rainbow Dash didn't give herself enough credit about her own intelligence. She looked over to Luna for guidance, to see what her sister thought on the matter. The look she was getting, however, was hard to properly decipher, and indicated that she was conflicted about how to proceed. Apparently it fell on her to be the decider. Just another day at the office, apparently. "There was an incident at the palace earlier today. Ulquiorra needed us to be away for a while, in order to investigate it properly," she replied, keeping the matter simple for the time being. More details would be provided as deemed necessary, but not all at once. Until such details actually were deemed necessary, there was no reason to be talking in an unprompted manner. "What sort of incident? What am I not being told about all of this?" Rainbow Dash asked as she stood up, and stepped off of the pillow. "You and Luna having to be so far away from the palace, I guess that I could understand that. I've heard him talk about stuff. But if you had to bring me out here with you, then that's gotta mean something big is brewing back in Canterlot, right? So I wanna know. What the hay is going on around here?" Celestia wasn't certain whether Rainbow Dash was making a good point on her own, or if her point simply sounded better because she was currently tired and stressed, but right now the argument sounded convincing enough to her. Looking to Luna again, she yet again received nothing that she would count as help. So she was on her own, as she tried to determine just how far into the whole mess that she briefed Rainbow Dash. She also had to stop, and consider the fact that if she didn't manage the briefing, Ulquiorra likely would if pressed for details. And while there was nothing specifically wrong with that, she'd rather address the matter herself, and control what the flow of information involved. "The matter involves Doctor Thrush," she started, and noted how Rainbow Dash's wings bristled at the mere mention of the stallion's name. "Sometime last night, he was murdered inside the cell we've been holding him in. And now we're trying to figure out just who's responsible," she explained as she set the doughnut back down in the box. "I didn't do it!" It was a sudden statement made by Rainbow Dash, as her agitation with Thrush quickly melted into surprise at hearing he was dead. Even after all that he'd done to her, Celestia doubted that she could be able to maintain that hostility after hearing about the unexpected loss of life that was encountered. And as she was witnessing now, she hadn't been able to. To her, that spoke a great deal about the nature of Rainbow Dash's character, and her current mindset. However that surprise was also quickly melting away, and being replaced with panic, as she went about denying responsibility for the act, even though neither of them had made an accusation about responsibility. It was a lot like how she'd reacted when it was pointed out how there were drugs in her system. "I didn't, I swear I didn't! On my career as a future Wonderbolt, I don't know a thing about what happened!" Rainbow Dash stated as she held her right foreleg up. "Rainbow Dash-" Luna spoke up, trying to get her attention. But her efforts yielded no results, as she just kept talking over them, not letting them get a single word in edgewise. "It couldn't have been me! I was with Ebony last night! I spent over an hour trying to convince her to get me some writing supplies, you can ask the guards that were there! They'll tell you!" "Calm yourself, Rainbow Dash," Celestia stated firmly, but softly, her horn glowing anew as she began working a calming spell to ease the excited pegasus; just as she had done in the infirmary, when they'd feared that she would be tearing out her stitches. "You're not a suspect in the investigation. We know that you had no part in what happened," she explained. "I'm... I'm not?" Rainbow Dash asked. Celestia simply shook her head, confirming that they didn't believe she'd done anything wrong. "Then... how come I'm all the way out here with you two? What aren't you two telling me?" "Rainbow Dash, please try and understand," Celestia began, mentally weighing just how to properly elaborate here. "The circumstances behind the murder are highly unusual. We don't yet know who, or what, is responsible for Thrush's death. And not wanting to leave it to chance, we believed it would be best to keep you close at hoof with us. And needing to be away from the palace, so Ulquiorra can do his job, there was really only one way we could think of, that would allow us to keep you safe in the process," she explained, giving a simple overview of everything. There were considerably more details than just that, but she really didn't think it would be appropriate to lay them all out right now. "Oh..." Rainbow Dash replied slowly. The more she thought on the answer she was given, the more sense it made to her. She really couldn't think of anywhere in Equestria that was safer, than right next to both Princesses at the same time. "Tell me, Rainbow Dash, why were you trying to get Nurse Ebony to procure you some writing supplies?" Luna asked, deciding to change the topic of discussion to something else. And right now this seemed like an appropriate subject change, as she couldn't help but wonder about the details involved. A part of the suicide watch that was currently in place, had been keeping anything that constituted as a weapon, or could be converted into a weapon, out of her reach, should she try and harm herself, or somepony else. Among the items prohibited were quills, and even pencils, as they could be used for stabbing implements; something Ulquiorra Cifer had mentioned being commonplace in correctional facilities. That also necessitated they keep a regular eye on her wings, and preen as necessary, should she attempt to weaponize her own feathers out of desperation. Or even worse, used them to try and suffocate herself. And knowing all of this, her curiosity was piqued, as to just what she hoped could be accomplished with the plea. She would also have to address Nurse Ebony later. The way Rainbow Dash was explaining things, it sounded like her requests had been refused, despite the level of insistence she'd been met with. That dedication was commendable. "Because I..." Rainbow Dash started to explain, but paused and closed her mouth as she sighed. Trying to explain this in terms that would make sense to the others wasn't going to be easy. She knew that she wasn't going to be making her best of sense right now, regardless of how much she tried to articulate herself. But they were waiting for an answer, so she had to say something, even if it wasn't exactly what she wanted to say. "Because I wanna write to the others, and know about what's going on. Ulquiorra said the situation in Ponyville is bad, but he wouldn't tell me squat about just how bad, and I can't take not knowing. And if what happened to me, is actually happening to them, then I wanna know," she explained. No. That didn't feel right. That didn't feel adequate to her. She wanted a lot more than to simply be kept in the loop of what was going on around her. And if she was going to stand any chance of actually getting what she wanted, then she was going to have to make her case as to why she should get it. She needed to hoof down, and stallion up. "No. No, screw that. I don't wanna just know about what's going on, I wanna go back to Ponyville. I wanna be there with the others, and see if there's anything that I can do to help them out. We're a team, that's what we do for each other," she stated firmly, thumping her right forehoof against the stone floor to emphasize the point she was trying to make. Whoever was screwing with them had gone and made a serious error as far as she saw it. If it was just screwing with her, that would've been one thing. But it'd gone and screwed with the others as well, putting them all in the same boat that she was in, and that changed everything. The whole dynamic thing had shifted. And knowing that the others were facing what she was facing, that was making it hard for her to bemoan her own experiences. "I'm not gonna beg, or grovel, or try to bargain, even plead for this. I'm just gonna state it outright. I want to go back to Ponyville, even if it means having walk all the way there on my own through the Everfree Forest. I wanna go back home again. I wanna see the others, I... I wanna see my friends again!" Now that felt far more accurate to her. Regardless of what beliefs she found herself wrestling with right now, there were still some things that no outside interference could take away from her. Whoever had decided to declare war against them might be able to cast doubt on certain sequences of events that had taken place, but some things went far too deep to ever be modified. There were some memories, and experiences, that were so deeply ingrained over the years, that they simply couldn't be tampered with. But beyond that, it was a very simple fact. She was fucking tired of being manipulated, like she was somepony's marionette. She was tired of it, and she refused to let it go on any further. There were no strings on her, and no voice in her head was going to be controlling her! She was going to put an end to this nonsense one way or another, even if she had to force it to happen. She was done being somepony's fool, and she was going to get her life back -no, fuck that, she was taking her life back- one way or another. From where she sat in front of Rainbow Dash, Celestia maintained the same neutral expression, that she often had to utilize during the more stressful parts of the day court. This was an unforeseen development, but it certainly wasn't an undesired development. Rainbow Dash actually expressing a strong desire to return to Ponyville, was something she hadn't realistically expected to occur for quite some time, and only after long periods of therapy to help her get through everything. But instead of weeks -or months- of working towards that goal, they were presented with what was more or less an overnight change. But it was the suddenness of it all, that was giving her reason to be concerned. While speedy recoveries weren't unheard of, it seemed far too sudden to be believable. Back when she'd banished Nightmare Moon -and consequently Luna as well- to the moon for a thousand years, it had taken her a very, very long time to get to where she considered herself functional again. Rainbow Dash, however, was displaying a complete one-eighty in position, in just the course of a single night. That was enough to leave her a little bit suspicious about the degree of sincerity that was behind her words. Looking past Rainbow Dash to where Luna currently sat -and currently fidgeted uneasily- Celestia could see that her sister was experiencing a degree of conflict similar to her own. They each had reason to want to believe Rainbow Dash's words, and rejoice at her being better. There was the urge to leap about and yell excitedly -and risk bringing down the old palace in the process if they weren't careful- at hearing this wondrous news. But to give into such urges could prove to be dangerous, as they had no way of verifying either her words, or her commitment to her own statements. For all they knew, this was just a trick to let her go back to Ponyville, so she could be used to wreak havoc. Not that they would actually suspect her of wanting to wreak havoc on her own. But if whatever was behind everything currently going on, was using her as a tool, then it was certainly possible that they had to give consideration to. How Ulquiorra managed to keep so many different things balanced all at the same time, she honestly had no idea. True she and Luna each managed the kingdom, and dealt with the various ins and outs that were involved with such. But that still didn't mean they were prepared for weighing countless hypotheticals throughout the day, for long-term periods. When just about anything and everything could be a possibility, it was enough to drive one crazy at times. "This is certainly an interesting turn of events since yesterday," she commented as she made an effort to feel everything out. Jumping to any snap decisions right now would certainly do them no favors. "What brought about this sudden change in perspective?" she asked. "I did," Rainbow Dash replied simply, not wanting to go into extensive detail about what happened last night. She didn't even want to acknowledge last night, for fear that if she did, it would lend that voice credibility, complicate everything, and give it license to come back and torment her; an unacceptable possibility. "Look. I don't know all the psychological terms and stuff. Can't we just say that I'm better, and get going?" she asked. "I'm afraid not, Rainbow Dash, not yet anyway. We're still waiting to find out what Ulquiorra's learned in his investigation. It would be a shame to go all the way to Ponyville, just to have to go back to Canterlot immediately after we get there," Celestia explained. In truth the matter was far more complicated than just that. But she didn't think the cyan pegasus would appreciate sitting through a lengthy explanation, of why letting her back in Ponyville might be a bad idea. "Oh..." Rainbow Dash replied slowly, having not considered that possibility before. She guessed that she could see the logic in that. But then a thought occurred to her. It was one of those thoughts that tended to come out of nowhere, but made sense regardless of how left field it might seem. "So how're we gonna know what he finds out? Is he gonna come here, or write us, or what?" Celestia was about to say something, but then she stopped and thought on it. That was certainly a good question, and one they hadn't given much consideration to. How exactly were they going to know what Ulquiorra had found? And how would they know when it was safe to return to the palace, and not complicate the investigation in the process. "I don't know exactly," she finally admitted. "It is a valid question," Luna agreed from where she sat. "Ulquiorra Cifer does not know where we departed to. And even though he may be on Spike's flame network, and able to receive correspondence from us, he has no way of sending correspondence on his own. However there are solutions available to us under these circumstances," she stated. "There are?" Celestia asked as Rainbow Dash turned around to face Luna. "Indeed. In my study, there are a number of blank scrolls available. I will simply summon them here, enchant them with an appropriate spell for correspondence purposes, and send them directly to the Espada, with a note explaining how as to return them with his findings," Luna explained as she smiled. To her it seemed like the simplest available option. And it was also the most practical option, seeing as it didn't involve a lot of tracking back and forth for any of them. "Wow. You can actually do that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It can most certainly be done. And it will take but a few minutes," Luna replied, before standing up. "But first I must tend to other matters that are becoming most pressing right now," she said as she turned around and trotted out of the room. "Hold it! What pressing matters?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused by what was going on. What had she missed while she was unconscious? "There are certain matters a mare does not discuss in the company of others; it is quite impolite!" Luna called back without bothering to even turn around. Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion, wondering what Luna was going on about. She turned back around and sat down as she looked at Celestia for clarification. "Potty break, most likely," Celestia elaborated. Considering how they had to depart from the palace so quickly, it wasn't all that hard to figure out from how antsy she'd been earlier. "Ah," Rainbow Dash replied and nodded. That made sense. The majority of ponies that made up the palace staff were all utterly useless to him. That was Ulquiorra's opinion, based on the results of his investigative efforts so far. Or more accurately, his lack of results. Out of all of them that he'd questioned so far, none of them had been able to present any beneficial information. Whether it was due to the late hours at the time of incident, the location of their assigned duty during that time period, or simply their own obliviousness to their surroundings at the time, none of them had been helpful to him. Making matters all the worse was the fact that they were being honest with him. He hadn't been able to detect any signs of them being deceitful in their answers, meaning he had no way of pressing them for further details. Unlike when he had questioned Thrush, the palace staff had nothing to hide about their actions. He was surrounded by honest ponies who either hadn't seen anything, or simply didn't believe that what they might've seen, was suspicious enough to warrant committing to memory. That was perhaps the most difficult part of his investigative efforts. Despite working in the most sensitive location in all of Canterlot, the palace staff simply didn't think enough to be suspicious of its fellow members. The second most difficult part of his investigative efforts, was the simple fact that he didn't have any way to adequately articulate just what he was looking for, in a way that these ponies would understand. They knew nothing about reiatsu textures and the like. Even if he could think of how to accurately describe what he was trying to find, it would only be in terms that he was readily familiar with; like trying to quantify gut instinct to a computer. It was yet another reminder that, even though he now spoke the same language as these ponies, there was still an insurmountable language barrier between them. Making matters worse was how there were still so many staff members that needed to be questioned. Challons had gotten him his best estimate of an accurate time frame for the guard's death, giving him confirmation of what hours to be inquiring about with each staff member interviewed. But there was only so much that he could actually do on his own. The guards had been doing their best to assist him in whatever manner they could, but that still left much to be desired. However they had been informative as to why there was no around the clock guard detail for the dungeons to prevent something like this from possibly occurring. According to their explanation, long-term holding of prisoners at the palace wasn't the norm, and the dungeons themselves were only used for unicorns who could otherwise escape the holding cells through magical means. And without any hard and fast rules on how to proceed, there was much to be desired. As best he could gather, prisoners and other detainees in this dimension, received about the same degree of consideration as they did in his own dimension. In some comparisons, they received even more. But regardless of such facts, the procedures in place had been wholly inadequate to prevent this homicide. There would likely be changes made in the future to reflect these developments. But that wasn't any of his concern right now. Right now the only concern he had was actually getting his job done. "That will be all," he said simply, dismissing the pegasus maid that he'd been questioning up to this point. She, much like the others he had questioned so far, had no useful information about suspicious, or otherwise out of the ordinary behavior. This was like playing the shell game, despite knowing full well that the ball was no longer on the table. As the maid took her leave from the room, something new came to his attention. Something in the form of a flash as a scroll appeared before him, before being snatched out of the air before it could fall to the floor. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that it wasn't simply one scroll, but rather multiple scrolls rolled together into one. Rather curious. He peeled the outer scroll away from the others, and tucked the rest under his left arm, in order to properly unroll it, and read whatever had been sent to him. Dear Ulquiorra Cifer, It has been brought to our attention that we have no effective way of back and forth communication with you from where we are. Because our presence risks complicating, or otherwise compromising the investigation that is underway, we are unable to actually return to the palace as of yet. Because of these facts, a solution has been worked out. The included scrolls have been enchanted with an older flame network spell, similar to that placed upon Spike, although it is not quite as effective. Simply cast the intended scroll into an open flame, and it will be delivered to us with whatever findings you have made. Signed, Princess Luna Ulquiorra silently considered the information he'd just received. He could certainly see the beneficial aspects that such a development would occur. One-way communication via the flame network left much to be desired, as any time he needed to send a response, he invariably had to either seek out Spike, or seek out the sender himself, and physically travel to their location. Now he was being presented with the option of effectively cutting out the middle man. Now all he needed to do was procure a lighter, and he was all set for back and forth communication. That is... assuming this world actually had lighters. That was something that had never occurred to him before now. He knew for certain that this world had matches, but lighters were another story. Another story, best saved for another time. For the time being, however, he had other matters to tend to. Correspondence could wait until later. Peering into the box, Celestia could see that the majority of their doughnut stock had been depleted. She supposed that she could've taken another for herself, but ultimately thought better of it. The idea behind the doughnuts had been so that she and Luna would both have something to run on, and hogging them all for herself was uncalled for, even if cake doughnuts were her favorite. Turning away from the box, she observed Rainbow Dash's paces away from her, pacing back and forth along the floor of what used to serve as the castle's throne room. Multiple times she'd observed Luna pacing in such a manner; even she had paced in that manner before. It was the type of pacing that was ultimately born from anxiousness and restlessness, done to occupy oneself when they were facing an undetermined amount of time, and didn't know what to do with themselves, because they didn't want to get too involved with something in case they had to drop what they were doing. Or when they were too anxious to think of anything better to do. "This is ridiculous, we've been waiting, what, twenty minutes? How long can one pony spend on takin' a piss anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked as she turned around to begin another round of pacing from east to west. Celestia wasn't quite sure how to respond to what she'd just heard, feeling torn between snorting in amusement from just how unexpected the question was, or just making Rainbow Dash sit down, and exercise a bit of patience. The way she was acting right now, was not unlike a foal anxiously waiting on their parents to get ready to go to the toy store. It wasn't like Luna's return would be hastening their arrival in Ponyville -which hadn't even been discussed yet- so her anxiousness was ultimately going to lead to nothing. But trying to explain that fact would likely yield nothing beneficial in her current state; she'd just as sooner be able to talk some sense into one of the castle's walls. But that didn't necessarily mean she shouldn't do something. "Rainbow Dash," she spoke up, trying to distract the cyan pegasus from her anxiousness. "I understand that you've got a lot on your mind. But Luna coming back isn't going to make things proceed any faster. We still have a lot of things to discuss, before we can even consider going to Ponyville," she explained. "I know, I know," Rainbow Dash replied and huffed as she sat down on her haunches. But not two seconds after sitting down, she was standing back up again, too restless to stay in one place for any length of time. Right now her legs were starting to feel really uncomfortable; like the muscles under the skin weren't right. The feeling was far too itchy, far too tight, and only pacing seemed to offer even mild relief to the unpleasant sensations going on just below the surface. "But we are gonna go to Ponyville, right?" she asked. But she never gave Celestia the chance of talking, before she continued on her own. "I need to do this. I need to see the others, even... even Rarity. It's just one of those things that I've gotta do," she explained. Or at least she tried to explain. This was making a lot more sense in her head, than it was when she was actually vocalizing it. It felt like she was losing something in the transition from one medium to another. She stopped to take a breath, and try to regather her thoughts. She already said that she wasn't going to be begging or pleading for this, but that didn't mean she could just expect it automatically. She needed to figure out how to put this into eloquent words... or whatever that fancy word was, that she couldn't recall right now. "Darling!" However all thoughts on expressing herself came to a sudden stop at hearing the voice behind them. She recognized that voice. In fact she didn't think that she could ever forget that voice if she tried. Slowly she turned around to look at the throne room's doorway arch, to see what Celestia was currently seeing from her own vantage point, and confirm for herself, what her suspicions were already telling her. Rarity had shown up.