//------------------------------//
// Crawl 
// Story: Through the Nether 
// by StormDancer 
//------------------------------//

Princess Celestia waited patiently. In the hall, there were few ponies out and about this late at night, but those that were had seen her brief exchange and thoughtfully averted their attentions.

That is, all but the everpresent Kibitz, who politely strolled up to his princess and wordlessly offered her a saucer bearing an ornate teacup. The scent of meadow blossoms and light citrus filled the air as Celestia waited.

"Your highness, with all due respect, I am rather shocked at that display." Kibitz offered without so much as looking at his employer.

Celestia's brow peaked slightly as she turned to address the unicorn. "Oh? And why would that be Kibitz?"

With as much grace as a finely tuned machine, the unicorn's head swept over to look her in the face, his expression professional but not a little concerned.

"Well, though I can understand your concerns for your former student, I would have thought that at this point your respect for her accomplishments, not to mention her own royal title, would have prevented you from accosting the dear."

His smile appeared just a moment before she had taken him seriously.

"Kibitz..." she frowned, earning herself a shocked though determined look, "You are an insufferable goof sometimes."

Before he had a second to react, a bright flash of gold had changed his manestyle from one of diligent care to something that the royal gardener would be sorely tempted to prune.

And for the first time in the last hours, two of the castle's long time residents found themselves laughing softly as they waited for the youngest princess of Equestria to return.





-~oOo~-


Mistral stomped passed the third set of Guards as she rounded the corner and finally beheld her destination.

There, on the balcony, stood Princess Luna in all her glory. Blue armor and helm, mane drifting in an otherworldly breeze, and gaze focused enough to cut the marble the castle had been hewn from.

As she strode forward, two more Guards moved to block her path before jolting back at the glare she, herself, leveled at them.

"Boys, I am NOT in the mood to play with you right now. I need to speak with Princess Luna and I will NOT put up with your little games."

Seeing her bristle would have been enough to give the guards pause, but hearing so many words from her in so little time made them flinch back and glance around as they readied their weapons. Mistral, as any of the Guard could tell you, was not talkative at the best of times. Hearing her speak had been a rare occurrence, and only the fact that she had been personally chosen to act as one of Princess Luna's favored guards had kept the speculations at bay.

After all, the Guard were supposed to be personable as well as professional.

When no immediate threat manifested, the two guards eventually settled, though they kept glancing at her as she approached.

"Princess," she whispered as she bowed, "I have news."

Princess Luna continued to survey the gardens though one of her ears pivoted back with interest. "Speak then, my vigil is not to be compromised lightly. What have you?"

So acknowledged, Mistral stood and saluted. "Highness, I believe I have a manner of tracking the thief... and I believe I know what it is."

A quiet moment passed before Luna slowly turned her gaze upon the young bat pony. "Pray, share your findings. I am attending to you at the moment."

Though Mistral had served her princess for some time now, seeing the cold focus of Luna's eyes fall upon her was an experience she found remarkably uncomfortable. For as long as she had known the princess, she had seen her as awkward, shy, and desperately lonely. Of course, she knew of Nightmare Moon and remembered the stories of Nightmare Night from Ponyville, but seeing the change in her princess was both remarkable and frightening.

Gone were the half-measured words. Gone were the wary glances. Gone were the muttered moments of self-assurances. And in their place was a creature entirely other, whose gaze cut through defenses and laid bare her intentions.

Swallowing involuntarily and taking a moment to wet her lips, Mistral steeled herself before nodding towards the garden behind the princess, far below.

"Princess, I believe the thief has been within the Castle all along. For the last month, the gardener has been replanting various flowers and bushes within the garden all around the plot. While I thought it was just respect before, I noticed, while flying overhead, the the entire area where the conflict occured has had its plants replaced. They weren't damaged.... they just withered."

Luna's eyebrow slowly rose as she considered the thought.

"And Princess? Just a moment ago, I saw a large number of plants all die at once... and a number of Guard simply fall over." She paused as Luna quickly glanced over the balcony but saw no such fallen Guard. "It was on the west side, near the fountains... and, there were a number of bushes that continued to wilt as I came to alert you.... they were following the west wall towards the city."





-~oOo~-


Gentry sat at the bar facing the reflection of a deserter.

Well, not a deserter per se but, rather, the reflection of a once proud Royal Guard who had abandoned his post and fled the castle after having come across the smoldering, still living, remains of some hapless creature.

A hapless creature which had been horribly and cruelly tortured, maimed, and then left to suffer until it's inevitable demise... at the hooves of his princesses.

Wincing at the thought, he ran a hoof over his face, pausing at the soft clink of glass on glass, before looking past his fetlock at the barkeep who was in the process of refilling his mug.

"So," rumbled the rotund earthpony, "what's got one of you hardliners down in my little hole?" The barkeep snorted, "Hope you're not just grumpy over some mare that brushed you off."

At Gentry's glare, the barkeep chuckled and added "or some stallion."

Gentry's growl was noncommittal enough for the barkeep to walk around the bar and plop himself down beside his customer.

"Look buddy, it's not my business or nothin', but experience tells me that when a stallion comes in looking like you do, ordering drinks like you have, and grumblin' and glarin' like you are, well... there's only so many things 'at might'a done it."

Gentry rolled his eyes before letting his head fall to the bar, intent on ignoring the barkeep.

"Yep. That nailed it. You..."

Dead silence hung in the air as the barkeep trailed off. What started as a few seconds, drifted off into ten, and then twenty before Gentry, as much as he didn't want to respond, finally couldn't stand the silence. "I what?"

"have a problem," the barkeep finished with mirth in his gravely voice.

"Ug.... look Chippy, or Smokey, or whatever your name is- you don't know me, you don't know what's wrong, and you certainly can't help to fix it, so just leave me alone will ya?"

"Nope. I'm a barkeep. Barkeepering and Bartendering is what I do."

"So go tend the bar then Sparky."

"I am tendin' to it you lazy bum."

Raising his head, fully intent on the idea of glaring down the bartender, Gentry blinked back as his face was nearly muzzle to muzzle with the portly stallion beside him. He opened his mouth to speak, only to find a large lump of salty pretzel shoved into it before he could form a word.

"Now that I've got your attention, how about you tell ol'Tankard all about it, 'afore I throw you out for being rowdy?

Despite the coarseness of his voice, the barkeep's smile seemed sincere.

After a moment to chew and then swallow the lump of pretzel, Gentry took a sip from his mug.

"Look, Tankard was it?" At the slight nod, he continued, "Right, well, I'm career Guard. Have been for years and didn't have any other plans really, but not too long ago, I came across... something that made me question if I could do the job. " He felt his face scowl at the memories of walking into that room to see that creature on the ground, to hear it's screams, and to see his princesses doing nothing but stare.

"I quit."

"Ah."

Gentry blinked. "Ah?"

"Yep, Ah.... funny sound, normally means 'I understand now' or lets folks know a doctor or dentist is about to begin work.... fancy word, I know, but effective."

Gentry reached for his mug again, taking a sip before turning to look at the barkeep. "You know, if you're going to nag me until I talk to you, you could at least take me seriously."

Tankard smiled before reaching across the bar to refill a bowl of pretzels and nuts. "Sure I could, but that would require me to think your problem was a serious one. So far, all you've said is that you didn't know if you could do the job you've already been doing for years. Kind of sounds like you're whining more than really coming across a problem Bucko."

"Now wait a minute! I'm not whining about something stupid like missing a shift or having to skip dinner because I've got rounds to make. I'm talking about a real problem here!" With a huff, Gentry snapped back at the barkeep before grabbing a hoof full of salty snacks from the proffered bowl.

"Now, that sounds more like a 'problem' than whining." Tankard looked him over slowly before nodding. "So, big problem, something that'll take a career Guard off his hooves and slap him down in my little hole-inna-wall tavern. Sounds serious there buddy."

"Dang right it's serious."

"Glad we agree on that.... peanut?"

"What did you call me?!"

"Buddy... I was offering you a peanut." Tankard gestured towards the bowl again as he pulled one of the aforementioned snacks and broke the shell with a gentle hoof tap. After a moment, he looked across the bar, pointedly ignoring Gentry grabbing a few more snacks, and popped the peanut into his mouth.

"Look, Tankard, It's nothing personal, but you just wouldn't understand."

"Riiight. Because I'm a barkeep?"

"No. Because you're not a Guard.... and you're a barkeep."

"Kid, no one's born to be a barkeep."

Gentry blinked as he glanced over at the heavy stallion beside him.

"When you start out, everything's new and anything's possible," Tankard began, "but you've never really hit anything that pushes back see? Then... then you grow some. You come across stuff that makes your eyes shine and things that make your heart ache. Both in good measure."

Gentry tipped his head as Tankard reached over and filled both mugs from a pitcher before tossing a few more snacks Gentry's way.

"Way I see it, no matter where you start, problems end up stickin' with you; it's the solutions 'at run away."

Gentry blinked as the barkeep stood back up, downed his mug, and then walked back around the counter... pointedly walking past him without a glance.

"Damn" he said to himself, before leaving a small pile of bits and grabbing a few pretzels for the road.





-~oOo~-