Memories Best Left Forgotten

by Valtyra

Chapter 4

Celestia turned to face Green, "We should look for a way to get to the Upper District."

Green nodded and looked around, "We can check to see if the gatehouse will let us through."

Celestia remembered what Quick had said about the sewers, ' “They are full of animals, ranging from harmless to, what could only be described as monsters.” ' She shook her head; she didn't need any distractions, "I think that's best, it's been a couple of days, they would have cleared the body up..."

Celestia and Green trotted across the road and down the alleyway that lead to the plaza. Entering the plaza, they were met with the scene that had brought the entire town out.

In the middle of the area was a large shoddily built wooden stage, threatening to topple. Her attention was captured by movement on top of the structure, where two Elks were held down by the same bulls that worked for Johnny.

Celestia gasped; the two same elks that had murdered Quick were being held down, their faces smashed into the wooden boards. Emerald was shaking as he shed tears and Sapphire was whispering words of support to him, trying to calm him down.

Celestia's first thought was, 'Hope they burn...' but soon found herself thinking about what was likely to happen to them. The bulls themselves said they were scared of what would happen if they were caught by Johnny.

'What should I do?' She asked herself. On one hoof, would love nothing more than to watch them burn in her sun; yet, another part of her insisted that all life was sacred. Even murderers.

These thoughts were going to rip her mind apart, mere hours after Quick's death, she would likely have to decide theirs. Celestia jumped off Green's back and walked over the imaginary line that separated the crowd from the execution.

She made her way up and held a hoof out to Green, "please, wait here."

Green hesitantly nodded, but complied. Feeling a swirl of chaos in her head that only Discord knew how to make, she walked up the ramshackle stairs and walked over to Johnny, who was sitting at a small table, drinking some sort of dark red liquid out of his glass.

"What do you want?" he asked after taking a sip. Johnny leaned forwards and shook his glass, prompting one of his bulls to pour some more liquid into it. "You have your information."

"I want to talk to them, they murdered Quick," Celestia replied, her voice breaking.

"I know, that's why I'm executing them. We can't have thieves and murderers running loose, can we?"

Celestia sighed, "You didn't answer me. Can I talk to them?"

"Oh go ahead, you have five minutes till show time."

Celestia walked over to the bulls and stood in front of them. She turned to Johnny's henchmen, "Can you bring their faces up, please."

The bulls turned to Johnny and he nodded. They reached down and pulled murderers faces up.

The two faces were beaten bloody to the point where they barely looked like elks. Parts of their scalps had been ripped out, leaving raw skull to show through.

Celestia looked down on them with a look that was somewhere between pity and indifference, even she didn't know which way to tip.

Making sure they were still conscious, Celestia looked the two in the eye and asked one simple question, "Why?"

Sapphire stopped his eyes from rolling about in a daze, "Why what? Why did we steal? Why did we kill?"

"Why did you kill?" Celestia asked, her voice low and threatening. "He would have forgotten if you had let him go!"

"We... we're scared..." Emerald spoke up.

"Scared?! You killed him!" She shouted, making the two bulls tense up. "I... I could have stopped him..."

Celestia broke down in front of them. These were the two Elks she did not want to show weakness to.

Her mind went through the memories they had. There weren't a whole lot of them, but what they had would never be forgotten. “You… You… I give up.”

Celestia walked around the bulls and over to the stairs. She looked back for a second before her emotions threatened to overtake her and rushed back to Green. ”What happened?” Green asked; wondering why Sure Fire wouldn’t want her to come along.

”I don’t want to talk about it.”

Green nodded and helped her up onto her back, ”Alright, just remember I’m here when you need me.”

Celestia wrapped her legs around Green’s neck. “Can we go?” She asked, trying very hard not to look at the bulls on stage. “I don’t want to see this.”

“Yeah, I think its best you don’t.”

The two of them turned towards the entrance to the underground. Following that along, they reached the bridge that separated the outside world from where they were.

Walking along the bridge, Celestia could just about see the stock room where Quick was found. She looked away and buried her face in Green’s mane, trembling. She felt as if her heart was bleeding from the trauma.

She felt the change from metal walkway to rock passage as Green stepped into the tunnel and looked about; feeling claustrophobic as they entered the dark, damp tunnel.

They made it past the guard, who smiled and nodded as they exited the underground, wishing them a good day. They quickly rushed through the claustrophobic tunnel, out of the screeching entrance and into the outside world.

Celestia jumped off Green’s back and turned to face the passage, “I hope we never have to come back…” She said. Green nodded. “Let’s check the gate house.”

She moved closer to Green and walked back onto the main road, looking about for which way to go. Looking over to the corner of the street, Green found a sign which pointed in the direction of the upper districts and they followed it down the road.

The sun was setting, giving the area a mystic appearance. there was something about the way the orange and yellow sky bounced off the tall buildings that seized her imagination, something that only Canterlot could do on a perfect sunset.

This caused her to think about Luna. ‘I wonder if she’s worried about me…’ She thought, before continuing, ’Maybe she’s happy I’m gone...’ She gave herself a mental slap and shook her head; she didn’t want to think that way.

This wasn't the first time Celestia had had these kinds of thoughts, but she would usually shrug them off but she was having trouble with that.

The duo passed a few shops that were selling food. Green sniffed the air, “Mmm.” She stopped and looked back, “How about we get some food before we carry on. I’m sure you’re hungry?”

Celestia thought for a moment. She was hungry but she also wanted to get to the upper district as fast as possible. Before she could reply, her stomach betrayed her and growled.

Green giggled, “Well, I guess that settles it…” She trailed off, pulling her saddlebag in front of her with her magic, “let’s see if I have enough.” She spent about five minutes counting coins before she found enough to pay for a small snack for Celestia.

She walked in and placed the coins on the counter. “One lettuce and cucumber sandwich please,” she asked the waitress. A few minutes later, she was given the food, “Thank you.”

Walking out, she sat down on a chair outside the shop and passed the food to Celestia. “You only got one?” Celestia asked, looking at the food and then to Green.

“Yeah, it’s for you.”

“But… you haven’t eaten either…” Celestia replied.

“I’ll be fine, plus you need your strength, you’re still growing.” Green looked around at the shops that were closing for the day. “Did I ever tell you what I wanted to be?” She asked, looking back at Celestia.

“No… what?” Celestia asked, taking a small nibble of the sandwich.

“I wanted to be a dancer. You know, professional.” Green looked up and sighed, “I guess that won’t happen now.”

“Who says it won’t?”

“Look at us… who would want to hire me. We ran away and are looking for ‘you know what’.” Green looked down and shook her head, “Never mind that, are you alright? I know it was horrible.”

“I’ll be fine, it’s not the first time.” Celestia took a bite out of the food and split it in half, passing one half to Green. “Eat, you need to carry me after all,” She grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

“If I must.” Green smiled and picked the food up and stuffed it in her mouth. She blushed as a small trail of mayonnaise made its way down her chin and wiped it away. She looked around to see if any elk saw and breathed a sigh of relief when none had.

“We should go soon, we don’t have anywhere to sleep…” Celestia piped up.

“Yeah, come on.” Green picked Celestia up in her magic and carefully placed her on her back.

As they neared the gatehouse, Celestia saw some of the same elks that were guarding before standing there. They were still as incompetent as before; some of them drinking and laughing.

They passed through without incident, but one or two of guards tried to hit on Green; they were shooed away by Celestia though. “Nub-horned orb suckers,” Green muttered under her breath. Green walked away from the gatehouse and let out a breath she forgot she was holding.

Celestia nuzzled the back of her head and wrapped her legs around Green’s neck. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m not used to bulls talking to me like that.”

“They were drunk.”

“I know, it’s still strange,” She replied, glancing back. “It makes me uncomfortable.”

Celestia nuzzled her again for support. She looked around, taking in the sights of the upper district. Even though elks were generally allowed into any district; they kept to their own. Celestia craned her neck and looked up at the tall buildings. The dark yellow structures, reflected the sunlight, making them glow with the radiance of the sun.

'I didn't know the city could look as good as Canterlot.' The design and architecture were incredible; much better than anything they would find in the lower or middle districts. The shops they passed sold high class furniture, foods and items.

Even the road they walked on was higher quality than the shabby dirt road that they were just on. The road was made of actual cobblestone, individually carved and placed, making a zigzag pattern that ran the entire way. Every few feet or so stood a tall lamppost, lighting the area around them, the glow just about touching the next.

Celestia raised an eyebrow, this was more like Canterlot and she felt slightly more at home than before. Not to say she wasn’t getting used to the lower class lifestyle, she was; but she felt more comfortable with this.

They walked for a few good minutes and passed a corner shop.

“We don’t know where we’re going, do we?”

“Not really,” Green replied, looking about. She saw a corner shop and nodded, “Let’s ask in there?”

“I think its best we do.”

The two of them walked up to the shop and were happy to discover that it was still open. Making her way to the counter, she saw the owner; a stocky, green coated, non-winged cow.

“Hi… We’re a bit lost,” Green said.

The owner turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “Clearly, shouldn’t you be in the lower district?”

“What, no. We’re looking for a bull called Rich… Do you know where he lives?” Green asked, frowning.

The owner sighed. “He lives down the street, biggest house on the block,” she pointed to the door, “now leave, you’re going to scare away any customers I might get.”

Green rolled her eyes and flicked her tail. She turned around and trotted out of the shop, annoyed. “The nerve of that cow,” she growled.

“Don’t worry about it, at least we know where Rich lives,” Celestia said, holding onto Green’s neck. She let go and jumped off, “I can walk, and you’ll need the rest.”

Green gave her a smile, “Thank you.”

They made their way down the street and saw the biggest house on the street. To say it looked grand would be an understatement; it was simply magnificent.

The front of the house looked like it was made out of granite. Pillars of solid stone ran across the front. The entrance was made out of two solid slabs of very dark brown hardwood that seemed to shine. The windows were extravagantly decorated with rosewood frames and silken curtains.

There was a pristinely cut lawn that was currently being maintained by two gardeners. The lawn was separated from the street by a tall iron fence that ran around the entire house, reaching just below the first floor.

Running up the fence were vines of unknown origin, yet looked something that would be found in the Everfree forest. Celestia watched as they moved and pulsated slowly, keeping an eye out in case they moved towards them.

Green and Celestia walked towards the gate and rang the attached bell. They watched as one of the gardeners trotted over with a smile. “How can I help you?” the bull asked.

“Ah yes… we’re looking for Mr Rich. Is he home?” Green asked as politely as she could manage.

"He is, who may I tell him is asking?”

"Tell him we are acquaintances of Quick Sell," Green replied.

The gardener nodded then turned and walked down the path to the front door. He opened the door, cleaned his hooves on the doormat and entered.

A few minutes later, the gardener exited and trotted down the path. "You may enter, please scrape your hooves." He bowed and then walked away over the grass, leaving the pair alone.

"That was easy..." Celestia mumbled, getting a nod from Green.

The two of them trotted up the path. Celestia felt the house looming over them and the closer it got, the more profound the effect.

Celestia moved closer to Green and the two of them walked up a set of steps that separated the porch from the path.

Green stopped and scraped her hooves on the mat, prompting Celestia to do the same. She waited till Celestia finished and then pushed the door open, taking care not to scratch the wood with her hoof.

They walked in and was greeted by a butler. "Hello ma'am, I'm Ymayla." The butler was wearing a tight fitting suit-front and knee high shoes. "Please, may I take your saddlebags?"

"Oh sure, here." Green levitated her and Celestia’s bag.

The cow took the saddle bags and laid them on her back, "If you'd follow me please." She turned to the left, opened a set of glass doors and walked into the living room.

The room was extravagantly furnished. The floor was made of royal hardwood, on top of that laid a large circular rug. There was a silver coffee table in the center of the room just in front of the fireplace, which was inlaid with several precious gems refracting the light from the fire back out into the room.

Facing the fireplace were two large faux leather high back chairs, each one paired with a side table. On each table laid a small pipe and tobacco.

"If you'd wait here, Mr. Rich will be down shortly." Ymayla bowed and briskly walked out and down the hall.

"This place is... Wow," Green said, looking around. Celestia nodded and took a seat on the chair closest to the window.

"Indeed, no wonder his name is Rich." Celestia replied as she was inspecting the tobacco pipe. She heard the squeaking of wheels on wood from behind and jumped out of the chair.

She moved closer to Green and waited for Mr Rich to show himself. Celestia covered her mouth with a hoof when she saw Mr Rich.

Walking in, Celestia saw he only had two legs. Two normal, yet heavily scarred legs and two small stumps. She tried not to stare, but couldn't help but glance out of the corner of her eye.

He walked with a very rudimentary prosthetic leg on the back leg; it looked like nothing Celestia had ever seen and she found herself mesmerised by it.

Rich hobbled up to the pair and held his head up, "Ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you. As you know, I am Cornelias Rich and welcome to my home." He looked down to Celestia, "Ah, yes. Madame, welcome."

Celestia tore herself away from looking at the prosthetic and gave a half hearted smile, "Hi."

Rich leaned back up. "Cute," he mumbled as he walked into the room. "You said you were acquaintances of Mr Sell?" he asked, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Yes sir," Green answered. "We were."

"Were? I take it something happened to him?"

"Unfortunately yes, he was..." Green looked down at Celestia and found her looking away.

"Say no more." Rich gave a knowing look at Celestia and sighed, "What are your names?"

"I'm Green and this is Sure Fire, it's a pleasure." Green replied.

"Alright, what brings you here?" Rich asked, looking between the two.

"Well, it's a long story." Green walked over to the second chair, "May I?"

"Please, go ahead."

"Thanks." She sat down and carried on, "Yeah, it's a long story. We are investigating a supposed trader called Fine Wares." The name made Rich frown. "Have you heard of him?"

"Yes, unfortunately. He's been a thorn in my flank for a long time." Rich shook his head, "He's been trying to force me out of business by any means possible. What has he done now?"

"He-"

"He killed our Sister," Celestia interrupted. She took a breath then spoke, "He hired an assassin to kill her."

"Your sister?" Rich asked, "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, but we intend to stop him." Celestia replied. "He's killed another; you should have heard about it, in the gatehouse."

"Yes, I did... But why would he go after them?"

"Beats me, we only found out it was him because of a scarf our Sister had." Green said, shrugging. "Can you bring it in?"

Rich nodded, "Ymayla, can you bring in the bags?"

Ymayla trotted into the room with both saddlebags on her back. She stood in front of Green and waited.
Green opened her bag and pulled out the scarf, "I put this in here when you were asleep, I couldn't bear to leave it behind."

She held it out to Rich and he took it in his magic. Shaking, he levitated it over to himself and after a small amount of hesitation, flipped it over to show a small tag. He turned the tag and let out a gasp.

"He... By the elders..." Rich dropped the scarf. It fluttered down onto the ground and sat unmoving.

Rich covered his face with his hooves and started sobbing. Celestia went over, picked up the scarf, and turned the tag over:

"To my darling Caring Heart, love Cornelias."

Celestia looked up at the crying bull; the pieces fit together. "He was after you..." she said backing up. "Fine Wares was out to hurt you... Not us..."

Green frowned, confused. "What do you mean?" She asked, taking hold of the scarf. She looked at the tag as well and glanced at Rich."What does this mean?"

"It means Sister was in love with Mr Rich and Fine Wares hired the assassin to hurt hurt him emotionally. Celestia shook her head at how dirty it was. "You said he was a thorn, why?" She asked, turning to Rich.

Rich sniffed and wiped his nose with a leg, "He thought I stole some designs off him; I didn't."

"Were they valuable?"

"I don't know, he didn't say what I supposedly stole, only that I did." Rich wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Alright... So Fine Wares will probably target you, based on what's happened..." Celestia reasoned and stood up, "We need to get you out of -"

She was cut off by a scream. The three of them turned to face the glass doors that led into the study.

"Too late I guess," Celestia whispered. "Come on, we have to go!"

All of them rushed to the hallway and were greeted with the lights being cut off, leaving them in darkness. Outside the last of the sunlight faded away, giving them no sanctuary.

Celestia and Green were sharing the same emotion- they were both terrified.. Celestia could only see a foot in front of herself at most, making her feel closed in.

The air turned cold. They heard the sound of hoof-steps on wood approach. The sound echoed throughout the large mansion.

Everything seemed very far away as Celestia tried to focus on where the sound was, but she was having a hard time due to Green's emotions bleeding through to her own.

"Green, calm down. We will stop him, ok?"

She received no reply, but felt Green calm a little, "Good, now make for the door..." Celestia felt around for Rich and gripped front leg, leading him with her.

As they were walking, they froze, hearing the front door's lock click. Celestia's heart raced. ”What should I do...”. There was no way out now.

She felt her tail tug violently and screamed out in pain as Rich was pulled from her. Green held onto her and pulled her into her embrace. "I got you..." she whispered as she looked around, trying to pick out Rick's form.

Celestia knew the assassin had killed Rich and from the lack of noise, he did it fast. Frantically, she scoured her mind for anything of value; she had faced assassins before, yet she was basically a newborn, no Alicorn powers now.

"He isn't going to let us go, we have to split up." Celestia thought to Green. She felt green shake her head and sighed, "We have to.

"But... He'll find me...

"No, he won't. Just trust me."

"I... I guess I have to... I want you to explain something after though..."

"Sure, anything.

The two of them counted to three and slowly rose from the floor. They heard floorboards creak somewhere to the right and quickly dashed over to the left and up she stairs. At the top they turned to each other, "I love you."

"I love you too," Celestia said. She ran down the hall, various tables with busts of what seemed famous historic figures passed her, the darkness making them seem larger than usual.

She could hear hoof-steps from behind, no matter how fast she ran they would always be there, just behind her, threatening to grab her.

She turned a corner and slid up against the wall, taking a breather. She poked her head out and looked about, the low visibility making it difficult to distinguish between furniture or a figure.

The moon was making its way across the sky, slowly bathing the hallway in much needed illumination. Moonbeams fell across the soft carpet and up the walls of white paint making the area seem still, the only thing giving it away were the flecks of dust that floated around in the air.

Celestia's heart thumped in her chest. She leaned back around the corner and sighed in relief. She was sure he was just behind her.

If he wasn't behind her, that meant that he was after Green. She couldn't let that happen, not again.

Celestia moved out from the corner and galloped down the hall, 'should never have split up!'

She reached the stairs where she saw blood, streaked up the stairs and onto the landing where a sizable amount pooled and soaked into the carpet. It was highlighted by the light from the upper windows. 'Probably Rich's...' she thought as she sidestepped it.

Running further on, Celestia peeked around a corner. She saw a tail go around the end of the hallway and slowly creep out of sight.

It’s the assassin! Celestia gulped. She stalked the figure as slow and carefully as she could. Her heart was pumping, she could hear it in her ears as it her hearing was all but drowned out.

"Green, where are you?" Celestia asked. She made it the end, took a deep breath and looked around the corner.

She saw stairs leaning down into darkness. She couldn't see the end and without Green responding soon would dread having to go down to see if she went down there. Celestia could only imagine what she must be feeling; if a multi-millennial year old Alicorn can get scared, how would it affect her.

Celestia waited for a few moments and not receiving any word back from Green made the decision to go down into the depths.

'I guess this would be the storage area..." Celestia thought as she made her way down the stairs as fast as her little legs could take her.

Reaching the bottom, Celestia scanned what little she could see of the room. 'Yeah, definitely a storage room...'

There were hundreds of items stacked about, left in piles or just thrown about. Celestia tip-hoofed forwards and passed a large stack of magazines then a bunch of old birdhouses, 'I guess he was a strange bull...' she thought, making her way round some old wheels.

She stopped and listened for any movement. A few seconds passed before she heard something close.

Tap.

Celestia's blood stopped, her head felt like it was cold and she looked about, scanning the room for the assassin.

Tap.

Again, closer. She backed up and made her way back out, quicker but still carefully. The assassin must have lured her down here, knowing she would go back got her friend.

Tap.

Even closer still. She was mere feet away from the stairs and could just about feel his breath in her neck.

She placed her hoof on the first step and felt her tail pull back. Her eyes shot open as she was dragged back down onto her back.

She looked up and saw the assassin staring down with a smirk, he held up a knife in one hoof and held her down with the other.

Scream. Every molecule in Celestia's body was telling her to scream, yet she didn't. She knew this could very well be the end and felt it necessary to die with some dignity. She had never felt the need to scream as an Alicorn, except charging into battle.

She looked the assassin in the eyes as his blade came down, slicing through the air, almost in slow motion.

A birdhouse shot out of nowhere and smashed against the assassins head, knocking him out cold. Celestia laid there, shock taking hold. She saw Green walk into her field of vision and pick up a crowbar. She watched as Green repeatedly smashed the bulls head in. Each strike was rewarded by a spurt of blood and the crack of shattering bone

"Don't!" smack "You!" crack "Hurt!" Crunch "Her!"

After about the third strike, Green levitated the bloodied crowbar away and slowly hobbled over to Celestia. She picked her up and hugged her tight, "I..."

"It's alright, you did what you had to do." Celestia replied, knowing that she would try and explain herself.

Green broke down in tears and nuzzled Celestia, "I love you..."

"I love you too," Celestia replied, kissing Green on the cheek. "We should get out of here someone might want to see Rich at some point..."

Green sat there, looking away from her, shaking. Celestia doubted that she would be able to handle this the same as she could; this was her first, and hopefully her last kill.

Celestia let out a sigh of relief and stroked Greens mane, "Come on, let's go to and get you cleaned up, there must be somewhere open tonight." She stood up and helped the shaking Green to her hooves. Using her tail, Celestia guided Green up the stairs and down the hall.

Celestia knew what it was like to kill, oh so well. She still remembered her first, the memory was burned into her mind, refusing to heal and fade away.

It was the first few days of the war between the Solar Empire and the Republic of Griffonia. Mere weeks after she and Luna had taken power, they seized the chance to take up arms and conquer Equestria.

She was sitting in camp, looking over some reports of the skirmishes on the western front when outside, chaos rose.

Celestia got up, walked over to the tent flaps and opened them. She saw a number of her own men fighting against griffin's, outnumbered by three to one.

Celestia saw her ponies being slaughtered and something clicked. At the time, she didn't have the same respect for life as she did now, she didn't experience the whole war to make her think that way.

She picked up one of the maces that were laying next to her in her magic and charged into the fray. She didn't have any experience with fighting, not properly, but a mace will still hurt even if swung shoddily.

She made contact and smashed the beak of the nearest griffin. It dropped like a sack of potatoes and hit the ground with a 'thud'. Laying there, holding his shattered beak with it's claw, it looked up and whimpered.

Celestia could remember the mud that was caked onto it's feathers, the noise as her troops moral rose and the feeling of the mace as it tore through bone and into the birds brain.

She shivered as she came back to reality, the feeling of two thousand years weighing down on her. Hiding her emotions from Green, Celestia let Green bleed her own emotions into her.

They were nearing the stairs down to the lobby as Celestia sighed, looking back at what some, at this point, would call her mom.

Celestia wouldn't, though; she couldn't remember her parents and didn't want to sully Green’s name by having her be the mother of such a messed up being.

Stopping, Celestia turned and hugged Green. "I'm sorry this happened..." she whispered, nuzzling her chest. "Everything will be alright."

"How do you know that?" Green replied, looking down at Celestia. "How can you calmly say that? I just killed a bull!"

"I know, I watched you do it."

"Then why..." she started crying again, "I hate myself for it."

Celestia gripped her tighter, "For what? Saving me?"

"That's not what I-"

"Then what? You did what you had to do. If you didn't, he would have killed us both, with no remorse." Celestia let go and backed up. She looked Green in the eyes, "Thank you."

Green gave a half-hearted smile and levitated Celestia onto her back. "Let's go," she muttered.

They walked down the stairs and looked around for a lightswitch. Green found one to their right and flicked it on. Turning around, they were greeted with Cornelius' body laying on the floor, his throat having been slit. He was laying in a pool of his own blood.

"Damn..." Celestia said.

Green didn't bother to check if he was alive as they both knew the answer.Unlocking the door and opening it as quietly as possible, to avoid waking the neighbours, they walked out and down the path towards the gate.

As they reached the road, Celestia asked, "Do we have any coins?" Celestia asked.

"Our saddlebags are still inside..." Green replied, a little apprehensive about going back in.

Celestia picked up on this. "Don't worry, I'll get them." She jumped off Green's back and ran up the path and back into the house.

She walked past Rich's body and down the hall. She entered where she remembered the first scream had come from and saw Ymayla's blood-soaked body propped up against the cupboards.

She had been stabbed repeatedly and was left to bleed to death. Celestia walked in and saw the saddlebags laying on the floor next to the body.

Walking over, she picked them up and slid them over her neck and onto her back. After she had the second one on tight, she exited the room and then the building, quickly trotting down the path.

"Here." Celestia pulled Green’s bag off and passed it to her.

Looking through, Green pulled out a few coins and placed them on the ground. Celestia did the same and soon had what they thought was enough for a room.

"Let's go, we should find an inn soon." Celestia said, putting the coins into her bag.

The two of them trotted down the road and saw an inn that was still open. Pushing the door open, they walked in and trotted up to the counter. "One room, please," Green asked.

"Hi there, welcome to 'The Bouncing Buck'. One room coming right up. That will be fifteen bits please." the receptionist replied, in an unusually cheery tone.

Green just placed the coins on the counter.

The receptionist's smile wavered, but stayed plastered on her face, "Long night huh, I can imagine. Your room is twenty three, it's just down the hall, to your right and then to your right again." she passed the keys over and watched as the pair walked down the hall. "Have a good night!"

Celestia and Green made it to their room and opened the door. Walking in, Green rushed to the bathroom and over to the toilet. She leaned down and vomited.

Celestia walked on and held her mane back, while rubbing her back. "Let it out..." she whispered.

After a couple minutes of throwing up, Green turned around and rinsed her mouth out. "I'm sorry you had to see that..." she said, looking at herself in the mirror.

Her light blue mane had frazzled strands and spots of blood throughout. Green looked into the sink and let out a sob. She hadn't intended to kill that elk, but something forced her to; forced her to protect Celestia at all costs.

She lifted her hoof up and inspected it. Her light green coat was growing long and needed a trim, with her hair becoming unkempt and curly around her hoof.

Sighing, Green turned around and picked Celestia up. She walked over to the bed and settled Celestia in before crawling in and wrapping her legs around Celestia, taking comfort in the closeness. She placed her head on top of Celestia’s and sighed, effortlessly falling asleep.

Celestia awoke to the sound of running water. She jumped out of bed and walked over to the bathroom door. Just as she was nearing it, the door opened and out came Green.

“You’re awake. How are you doing?” she asked, leaning down to nuzzle Celestia.

“I’m okay... more importantly, how are you holding up?” Celestia replied as she returned the nuzzle in force. “Last night-”

“I’m fine.”

“Really, because you can talk abo-”

“I said I’m fine, now drop it.” Green gave her a glare and sighed. “C’mon, it’s time for your bath .” Green walked over to the window and looked out to check if anyone had found the bodies yet.

Celestia shook her head and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She knew what was happening with Green, she could feel the emotion through their link. They consisted of fear; fear of herself, fear that she could hurt or kill another.

Celestia twisted the shower knobs and stepped in. She let the warm water cascade down her body and poured some shampoo on her head, balancing on her back legs so she could rub it in.

The door opened. "Do you need any help?" Green asked, poking her head around the corner.

"Um... Yes please."

Green walked inside and over to Celestia, pulling back the curtain, she spun Celestia around and used her hooves to massage the shampoo into Celestia's mane, turning it to lather.

"I'm sorry I snapped," Green said, "It's been a long week."

"I can't believe all of this happened over some stupid business feud..."

"Well, it's time to go back home, I'm done with all of this." Green moved the shower head with her magic and rinsed off the lather, "I just want to see my friends again and forget this ever happened."

Celestia turned her head and gave Green an encouraging smile, "I want that as well..." Green levitated Celestia out and pulled a towel over.

Green eased up and stared at her, "I miss Sister... why did this happen to us?"

"I don't know, but it's behind us now..." Celestia placed a hoof on Green's shoulder.

Green rose off the floor, "Let's go, the sun won't be up forever." She walked out of the bathroom and waited on the bed for Celestia.

Celestia finished towelling herself off, styling her mane so it was done up in a ponytail. She pulled back from the mirror and gave a sigh of relief: they were finally going home. Maybe this was what Sure Fire was talking about in his letter...

Celestia walked out of the bathroom and over to the door, "You ready?" Celestia asked, receiving a nod.

"Yeah, let's go," Green replied, opening the door wide open. Together, they walked into the hall, out into the lobby and exited the building.

The morning air was chilly, a small layer of frost could be seen on the ground from the night before. It seemed that more elks than usual were out and about.

Celestia noticed that the mansion didn’t have any elk snooping around and surmised that noelk had found the bodies and let out a sigh of relief hoping they wouldn't be found until they had left the district, at least.

They had decided to go back home rather than face Fine Wares. It was simply easier to try and forget than to find out what they already knew: all those elks died because Fine was greedy. Now, they were tired and just wanted to see their friends again. They would have a new career and things would settle back down.

As the pair walked through the gatehouse, the guards whistled. One bull, obviously a new recruit with the way he held himself, walked up, "Hey, hot stuff. Want some fun?"

Green stopped, looked him over, laughed and carried on walking. The bull stood there, his confidence shattered as the other guards laughed at him.

Celestia shook her head, "That was something..."

Green looked down and smiled, "It was, wasn't it."

The two of them followed the signs that pointed towards the entrance of the town and trotted towards it. The road dipped down slightly the closer they got to it. The frost on the ground had all but melted now and left the cobblestones glistening like diamonds

The entrance to the town loomed overhead as Celestia and Green walked through. The ordered houses of the town turned into countryside and farms.

As they walked down the path, Celestia turned to Green. "I'm sorry about dragging you into this, I guess I didn't realise how selfish I was before." Celestia couldn't bear to look Green in the eyes.

"It's alright... At least we’re alive." Green nuzzled the top of Celestia's hanging head. Green pulled Celestia's head up, "Don't hang your head, it's bad for you."

Celestia laughed and shook her head, "Yes, mother..."

Green pulled back and gave a small chuckle. "You know, when we get back we'll have a lot of chores to do."

"You will. I’ve still got my coupon for another day or two." Celestia grinned and playfully pushed Green to the side.