Chapter One - I didn't sign up for this!

Solar Guard Report.

Case Number: 04012016 Date: ANN 1002

Reporting Officer: CG SPC Midnight Song Prepared By: CG SPC Midnight Song

Incident: Criminal Activity in Tall Tale

DETAIL OF INCIDENT:

A deep rooted circle of corruption involving officers, key political figures up to and including the mayor. Foreign spy activity on Equestrian soil, rampant maltreatment of Equestrian citizens and dozens of smaller incidents and charges.

I, 1st Class Celestial Guard Specialist, Midnight Song. On a recommended vacation by order of Princess Celestia, stumbled across an unprecedented level of government corruption. Starting with suspicious activity based on a conversation with Captain of the Tall Tale Guard, Former Commander Green Lead. Not soon after, upon hearing at the time unfounded claims by several members of the Guard and a local pickpocket, I instigated an investigation. Some of the claims I received were founded upon visiting the aptly named ‘slums’ A destitute section of housing home to hundreds of ponies, most ex-civil employees.

Upon confronting Former Mayor Grumble, the insinuations he made only furthered my suspicions. He at first denied that the slums even existed, that I was mistaken despite visiting the very area not an hour prior. When I mentioned this, he quickly retracted his statement and claimed that he would ‘clean up’ the area...

The claims that my life was under threat made by Captain Diamond Cloud were later confirmed. When I returned to her hotel room to retrieve personal effects, an attempt was made on my life, as well as the life of a citizen. Another citizen, a reporter named True Story {See affixed references for further details} It is my recommendation that the investigation into the whereabouts of this mare is given top priority.

I was able to safely retrieve my Dragonflame candle and I sent word to Princess Luna. {See affixed record of letter and response} However, i had been drugged by a local, under the orders of the Former Mayor. My life however, was saved by a griffon known simply as Sphinx. {See affixed report on Subject: Sphinx}

From there, a plan was formulated to undermine the Former Mayor’s attempts to ‘house’ hundreds of criminals. A ‘cleansing’ of the slum population and subsequent housing and sale of the land. Another attempt was then made on my life and the life of that same citizen. {See attached report: dead Drop}

The scratching of the quill stopped as Midnight paused in her report to take a breath. Even thinking about that night caused her fur on her back to rise. She swallowed the building flurry of emotions and picked up the quill once more.

ACTIONS TAKEN:

The incident quickly got out of hoof. A local gang of hoodlums was… enthusiastic in creating a disturbance. Some large scale property damage was occurred. Upon being confronted by the Guard force protecting the Former Mayor, almost all were talked down by a citizen. Most had been cooperating due to fear and coercion. A lengthy investigation will need to be done to see just how many will retain their positions.

After a physical confrontation, Former Mayor Grumble, Head of Tourism, Angel Wings and Mercenary for hire, Dead Drop were all apprehended by myself and a helpful citizen. Princess Luna and the Night Guard arrived on the scene moments later and the chaos was subsequently quelled within minutes.

SUMMARY:

The Tall Tale Incident was chaotic and the roots of corruption ran deep. Bringing the city back to full functioning order may take months, even years. Many questions are still unanswered and the investigation is ongoing...

Midnight put her quill down and rolled her head around until her neck gave a satisfying crack. She still had to make three more copies of this report and…

“Crap, is that the time!?” She glanced at a wall-mounted clock and pushed herself away from her desk.She had to go and pick her up from school.

“…And so, in order to protect ponykind from the evils of this world, to aid, serve, and protect the Princesses and their subjects, to allow ponies to sleep safely without fear or worry. It was due to these reasons that the Royal Guard of Equestria was created. And it is our responsibility to keep the legacy that our founders bestowed upon us. Isn’t that right Miss Midnight?”

They all glanced at the sleeping unicorn, who had fallen asleep around the time the teacher had introduced himself, meaning, almost an hour and half ago.

“Miss Midnight!”

Yet said unicorn responded with a simple, loud, unlady-like snore. A young pegasus colt sitting next to her poked her with a hoof, doing so again and again when she remained deeply asleep.

“For Celestia’s glorious sake... MISS MIDNIGHT!” The old historian earth pony who was giving the class shouted with a voice louder than thunder, startling everyone and causing the small-sized unicorn to tumble in her chair and fall on her back, finally awake.

“Ouch…” Pockets groaned from the pain, her mind finally coming back to the real world. She looked around at the multitude looking back at her, and at the very angry old stallion looking at her from below, the wall behind him showcasing the projected slideshow that read ‘The End’. This… told her everything, “Oh boy....”

“Miss Midnight!” The teacher, Ancient Tome, said. A pale brown earth pony with way-too-many years and the thickest pair of glasses Pockets had ever seen, and way too many wrinkles for someone standing as straight as he was.

“I was totally paying attention I swear!” The unicorn quickly said in her defense, hiding behind the fallen chair.

“If that's the case, then you wouldn’t mind answering some questions, now would you?” Ancient quirked an eyebrow.

Pockets was silent, everyone staring at her with a few giggles coming from behind her, “Uhm… maybe? I mean yes! Yes of course.”

“Good. Then tell me Miss Midnight, who was the first Captain of the Royal Guard?” The teacher questioned.

Pockets glanced around, having no idea what he was talking about. But she needed to say something, she couldn’t look like a fool. Using all her brain-power, she focused on the previous classes, recalling everything she was supposed to learn, “He was called… Captain… Fluffy Buns? No! Captain Firetruck! No wait… Captain… Fudgesicles!”

“Captain Firefly.” Ancient deadpanned.

“I was close! Ok sure I didn’t know that one, but come on ask me something else!” Pockets said excitedly, a simple mistake not bringing her down.

“In what battle did Captain Ironhoof lead the Royal Guard to defend Equestria against the Bug Bear swarms that came from the Everfree?” The stallion asked with a very unamused expression on his face.

Pockets blinked, “Bug Bears? Huh, didn’t know that was a th— I MEAN! Of course it is a thing, how else would have Ironhoof fought against them am I right?” She chuckled. No one else chuckled with her. She sighed, and went over her lessons… and there was nothing about Bug Bears inside her little head. Well now she was sure she was going to fail that test, so much for being a Royal Guard.

But… not everything was lost. From the front row, a crimson earth pony colt barely younger than herself raised a piece of paper which read in some quite big letters, ‘The Great Hive Battle’.

“The Great Hive Battle!” Pockets quickly answered, murmurs coming from the multitude, everypony was actually impressed she knew that.

“That is… correct.” The teacher said in disbelief, thinking that perhaps it was just a lucky shot, “Well then Miss Midnight, why don’t you tell me who was the Captain that lead the Royal Guard in an attempt to tame the beasts that came from the Celestial Sea three hundred years ago?”

Pockets panicked again, her right eye quickly glancing at the colt from the first row who was writing something down rapidly, before showing her another piece of paper that read ‘Captain Wild Seas.’

“Captain Wild Seas! And… she stopped when she realized that the creatures were sentient and were only protecting their newborns!” Pockets answered, this time actually remembering half of the story from the lesson two days ago.

Ancient Tome deadpanned, before turning around and closing his briefcase, “That’s it for today class. I expect you all to read the third chapter about the history of the Guard for this Monday. We’ll have our first minor quiz next week and I hope you all get excellent grades… well most of you at least.” She quickly glanced at Pockets, who just gave him a cocky grin in return.

The class was dismissed, and everyone went their way to the outside of the classroom, Pockets looked around to find her hero getting his bag ready and leaving without anyone to accompany him. The former thief grinned and teleported to him, appearing barely a feet away from him and causing him to jump back in shock with a loud “Gah!”

“Hey there!” Pockets said immediately, not noticing how frightened the colt was.

The colt panted and took in some much needed air, relaxing before sighing, “Please don’t do that again. I’m easily frightened.”

“Oh… uhm sorry about that.” Pockets rubbed the back of her head with her tongue poking out, “Just wanted to tell ya that I’m really grateful for saving my ass back there.”

“It… was nothing really.” The colt said softly, placing his saddlebag on and accommodating his glasses, “I don’t really like it when Mister Tome picks on a student, especially on new ones.”

“Well, I kinda was sleeping in class… so eh. Still thanks for the save uhm… what was your name again?” She quirked an eyebrow, still having a hard time remembering everyone’s names.

“Steel Lance,” he replied, “This is my second time taking the advanced course so I know most of the contents from the history class by heart now.”

“Well this is my first time and I joined a month late, so go me!” Pockets chuckled, looking at the clock, “Oh hey, we’re done for today would you look at that. So hey, quick question, do you mind helping me catch up with all the things I don’t know because I sleep way too late? I really, really need to pass this whole thing and so far I’m doing terribly.”

“Uhm, sure I guess. It’s not like I’m doing much anyways.” Lance nodded, “You’re the special case aren’t you? Pickett Midnight I think.”

“Special… gah. Please don’t call me like that. Just call me Pockets!” The unicorn said happily, “Well then new friendo, I gotta go now, I got a very special date with a very special somepony who’s waiting for me right now.”

“Oh okay then.” Steel nodded, “Uhm... see you on Monday I guess.”

“See ya nerdy! Buh-bai!” She gave a lazy salute before flashing away, leaving a still somewhat confused colt alone who really started to question whether or not helping the unicorn had been a good idea.

Midnight paced around the entrance to West Hoof Academy. While not an ‘official’ student, Pockets had been sent here when she wasn’t working to get some form of education and whatnot. The guards themselves didn’t have the time to teach her everything after all.

Plus it was an order from Luna when the Princess found out that Pockets had ignored her education as a filly. Pickett had drawn the lucky straw that it was Luna that heard that and not Princess Twilight…

“I swear if she’s goofing off again,” Midnight muttered under her breath as she checked a pocket watch. “Where is she?”

Then, she heard the faint sound of someone walking towards her, sneakily, silently, not wanting to be found.

Midnight’s ear flicked and she smiled. Oh this was adorable. But hell, she was in a good mood today, so the thestral would let her have this.

This time anyway.

“Rawr!” Came the shout from behind her as Pockets teleported above her, nibbling on the thestral’s ear while making some extremely cute nomming noises.

“Ahh!” Midnight let out a totally not at all forced yelp of surprise. “Oh no, I’m being eated!”

“I am an evil small monster! Blarg!” Pockets said in a ridiculously raspy voice, before smirking and licking Midnight’s neck very slowly. “Hmm, delicious~”

Midnight let out a soft sigh and then shook her head, tossing the mare off of her back. “Alright, what did you do this time? Prank the teacher? Forget your homework… Sleep in class?”

The unicorn let out a dramatic gasp, looking around with a mouth wide open before pointing at herself, “Me!? How dare you insinuate that I of all ponies could ever possibly fall asleep in class!”

At that point, Ancient Tome happened to be passing by. “Ah, Miss Midnight. I do hope you can actually stay awake in my next class,” He reprimanded the unicorn before trotting off.

“...Couch, for the rest of the week,’ Midnight said as she started walking.

“Oh, come on!” Pockets groaned, standing up and walking next to her, “It wasn’t that bad, and I did answer most of the questions that old coot shot at me! ‘Sides, I already have a way to catch up with everything I’ve missed, so it’s not going to affect me in the long run! And—” she bumped Midnight’s flank with her own, “—You can’t sleep without me for an entire week and you know that.”

Midnight paused and frowned. Well buck, she had her there. “...I hate you sometimes,” Midnight sighed and with a fluid motion, put Pockets back on her back. “Now hold on, we’re late for a meeting.”

“First, no you don’t, you totes love me.” She chuckled, before sighing, “And second, Is it going to be a boring meeting with some boring higher up that will have me bored to death?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow.

“Guess you’ll have to wait and see,” Midnight replied as she spread her wings. “Now are you holding on? I’d ever so hate to drop you~”

Pockets snorted and surrounded the thestral’s neck with her hooves, hugging her tight, “Aye aye captain, and you speak like if this would be the first time you’ve dropped me. And because of that exact same reason… please promise me you won’t go too fast again.”

“...I cannot make that promise,” Midnight said solemnly as she raced into the bright blue sky like a rocket, the wind whipping around them as the ground fell away at tremendous speeds.

Pockets’ screams were drowned by the speedy winds around them, holding unto Midnight for her dear life, “I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW!”

A few minutes later, Midnight landed close to Canterlot castle’s main entrance. She pulled Pockets from her back and kissed her. “No you don’t, you totes love me~”

“I… do… and I hate you for it.” Pockets said between quick pants, falling to her knees and sighing in relief, “Why… you do realize we don’t have to get everywhere in under a minute right? There is this thing called ‘Going slow’? You should try that.”

“Going slow is for old ponies,” Midnight replied and shrugged. “Besides, this is somepony you don’t wanna keep waiting. Now, let’s go love. You have a date with destiny!”

“Half of my dates with destiny either end extremely exciting or extremely dangerous. The other half is both at the same time, so let’s do this.” Pockets grinned and stood up, following her marefriend, “And you won’t tell me who we’re meeting until we’re there just so you can see my face when we do, right?”

“Pretty much yeah,” Midnight replied as she led Pockets down a series of hallways until they reached a large set of wooden doors. She placed both hooves on them and pushed, allowing them entrance into a massive room. A long table that could seat around forty ponies dominated the center of the room. The walls were decorated by either floor to ceiling windows, paintings or fancy tapestries. And on the table itself sat an elaborate silver tray laden with sweet-smelling tea and a few cakes.

“Well this is totally not the fanciest thing I’ve seen forever.” Pockets mused as she stepped in, “Batty, what kind of noble are we meeting? Because this room would put Grumble’s old office to shame.”

“Not quite a noble,” a voice said from behind her. It was a gentle, motherly tone as Princess Celestia stepped into Pocket’s view. “Good afternoon my little pony.”

The thief’s jaw dropped, her eyes shot open as she stared at the much larger pony in awe. She had seen Luna a couple times now, and at some point she had gotten used to dealing with the Moon Princess even to the point of befriending her. But this was the first time she had ever seen Celestia face to face, and... well to say she was shocked was an understatement, “P-p-p-p-princess Clestiah.” She said nervously, clumsily kneeling down in respect like she had seen others do when dealing with royalty on movies and such.

Midnight put a hoof to her mouth to stifle the giggles, but failed when Pockets horribly mispronounced the Princess' name.

“Please, rise little one,” Celestia smiled and lifted Pockets up with her magic. Oooh~ her aura was sooo warm and comforting. Pockets just wanted to be wrapped in it forever. “And don’t be so nervous. Would you perhaps like some tea or cake?”

“I know what I’d want~” Midnight smiled and winked at the princess, Celestia rolling her eyes as she was long since used to this from the bat.

“Sure but… I would rather like to know what’s going on if that’s cool with you?” Pockets giggled awkwardly, blushing in embarrassment.

“Of course,” Celestia nodded as she sat at the table, motioning for Pockets and Midnight to sit as well. Once they had, the Princess poured them all tea and took a delicate sip of her own. “Now, I do apologise for not speaking to you sooner. The mess that transpired in Tall Tale has kept me quite busy until now. So, I’d like to start with you Miss Pickett. I want to hear things from your perspective.’

Pockets blinked, still awestruck by the radiance Celestia seemed to emanate. “I… oh right, Tall Tale,” she got her thoughts together and sighed. “Let’s see. It all started with Grumble getting elected as mayor, promising progress and all that usual kind of craaa—” she stopped herself before she said anything stupid, “—azy shenanigans. Yeah… that. Well anyways, he placed a bunch of his closest friends in positions of power, from the local police force to the town’s treasure and even the Tourism Department which he used to attract rich ponies and wanted criminals apparently. He had this crazy idea that Tall Tale was too dirty and antiquated, and that it could become the next Canterlot if he would just get rid of all the poor ponies and bring classy ones.” She frowned in annoyance, “Of course, at the same time he screwed those who didn’t agree with him by getting them fired or accusing them of crimes they didn’t commit, getting their butts on the streets or in the worst cases, in jail. Luckily, I was there to steal from him and his friends and help those innocent ponies out!” She grinned, taking a generous gulp of the tea and almost spitting it out when she realized it was too hot, her tongue now burning like crazy.

“I see,” Celestia replied and took a delicate sip of her own. “So your answer to dealing with this criminal, was not to contact the guard, but perform criminal acts yourself?”

Pockets looked at her, and chuckled awkwardly, “When you put it that way… that doesn’t sound too good. But with all due respect your majesty.” She stood up and raised her flank, pointing at her Cutie Mark, “Stealing is kind of my deal, and when Grumble has control over all sorts of communication it’s kinda hard to contact anyone. I was a wanted criminal myself anyways, so talking to the law was… not something I wanted to do.”

“I can see your apprehension,” Celestia nodded as Midnight sat the unicorn back down. “And Cutie Marks are funny things are they not, but that topic is for another day. Now, tell me how you came across this plan in the first place.”

“Oh… well that’s kind of a long story.” The thief sighed, humming in thought, “Well I found out he was a terrible mayor when I started talking with the poor ponies in town, they told me everything and I confirmed it myself when I tried stealing from his mansion. I overheard a conversation he had with some of his friends about cleansing the town and becoming even more powerful. Now the idea to kick all those poor ponies from their homes and selling that land to criminals? That was thanks to Sphinx, the griffon who helped us.”

“Ah yes, the griffon spy,” Celestia nodded. Luna had expressed interest in seeing if she could… sway the griffoness to their side. But Celestia had her doubts. One did not keep a stable rule for a thousand years by being careless. “Alright, I’d like to ask something personal to finish up,” the alicorn said and stared into Pocket’s eyes. The unicorn felt like her very soul was on display for her, that the Princess was reading her like a foal’s story. “What was it that made you start a relationship with Midnight Song of all ponies?”

“I feel like I should be offended by that,” Midnight deadpanned.

Pockets chuckled, before sighing as she ordered her thoughts, “Well your sunny majesty, I guess the true question is… what didn't? She is awesome in every way. She is fun to hang around with, I can never see myself getting bored around her, she's the sexiest mare I've ever met…” Soon, a smile appeared on her muzzle, “She… is also kind, caring, worries about me, listens to me and my nonsensical rants and breakdowns, comforts me… she risked her life for me when I was kidnapped by Dead Drop… whenever I'm with her I feel happy, I feel safe, I feel like I can trust her without second thought, and I feel how all my problems disappear. With her, I feel like no matter what happens, what brings me down, I can stand up and keep going. With her... I feel truly loved.” The former thief realized how cheesy she sounded, and decided to switch back to her usual self, “And then there's this really amazing thing she does with her tongue that drives me crazy.” She smirked, using her hooves to try and simulate what she meant by that.

And to Pocket’s immense pleasure, she actually got a small blush from the normally infallible Princess of the Sun.

“Well,” Celestia coughed delicately. “I can see you two have found a wonderful connection with each other.”

“Oh, we like to connect alright, in various positions and various places~” Midnight giggled as the Princess sighed.

“You are perfect for one another,” she deadpanned. “Regardless, thank you for your insights into what occurred Miss Pickett.”

“Insights? Really?” Pockets smirked, “Your majesty with all due respect, you’re making teasing you too easy.” She chuckled, before shrugging and leaning on Midnight, nuzzling her lovingly, “And it’s no problem, thanks to your sister I can be with this sexy, amazing mare instead of sleeping in a jail cell with a roommate called Burp or something like that. So I owe you and her a big deal.”

“Oh no, we moved Burp to maximum security after she ate her last cellmate,” Celestia replied.

"Oh my gods… I totally guessed that! Maybe I have some super awesome guessing powers or something…” She tilted her head, now imagining a bulky earth pony with tattoos all over her body and a terrible tolerance to beans.

“She’s messing with you,” Midnight rolled her eyes. “Okay Princess, will that be all for today?”

“Yes, I have a lot to attend to,” the alicorn sighed and stood up. “Thank you for joining me for tea though.”

“Sure, it was fun.” Pockets grinned as she stood up, quickly turning and walking towards the door.

“Miss Pickett?” Celestia said calmly. “The teacup?”

Pockets stopped and turned to her with a quirked eyebrow, “The what now?” She looked down and… saw the teacup floating there, held by her magic. “Oh… uhm… old habits never die I guess. This… is embarrassing.” She bit her lip while placing the teacup in its place, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Celestia smiled and looked at Midnight. “As her caretaker, it would have come out of your paycheck.”

“...What?” Midnight deadpanned as another Thestral flew up to them and saluted to Midnight before whispering something. “Huh? Right now!?” She sighed and looked at Pockets. “Sorry love, something’s come up and I gotta jet. Think you could handle yourself for a little while?”

Pockets pouted, “But can’t I go with you? You know I get bored without you around!”

“You need to go and see the Immigration Officer, to finalise your transfer to Canterlot,” Celestia commented. “I’ll escort you there.”

“To...WHAT?” Midnight exclaimed as the other Thestral dragged her off. “Nuuu, not him! Anypony but him! I hafta save Pockey! Noooooooo……..” her voice trailed off as she was hauled away.

The former thief quirked an eyebrow, “What was that about? And why do I feel scared all of the sudden?”

“She’s just being melodramatic,” Celestia replied as she led the mare down a hall. “Midnight personally knows the stallion we’re going to see. That’s all.”

“Huh… maybe. I mean, how bad can it really be?” The unicorn shrugged.

She would soon regret those words, oh she was going to regret saying that alright.

The princess had led her to an office, where a cute little unicorn mare was waiting behind a desk. She had a snow-white coat and light blue hair. A small pair of glasses here perched on the bridge of her nose and her Cutie mark was an open book.

“Hello Leaf,” Celestia nodded. “Is Gossamer in today?”

“O-Oh, yes your m-majesty,” she stuttered and smiled sweetly. “S-Shall I p-page you in?”

“Just this mare today,” Celestia nodded and nudged Pockets forward with a wing. “Her name is Pickett Midnight. Here to see Gossamer for citizen transfer forms.”

“O-Of course,” Leafy Pages nodded and pressed a buzzer. “H-H-He’ll s-see you s-soon.”

“Good luck,” Celestia whispered and turned, leaving Pockets alone in the room with the stuttering unicorn.

Pockets looked around the room, it was just your typical Canterlot reception. Nice yeah, but really not her style. “Huh… so, how’s it going?” She asked the unicorn secretary to try and break the extremely tense, stuttery ice.

“I-It’s nice,” she replied as she flicked through a ledger. “C-Canterlot is a n-nice p-p-place. A-And the P-Princess is sooo p-p-pretty.”

Pockets chuckled and walked closer to her, “Ohh, a fan of the sunny Princess huh? Yeah she is pretty damn impressive.” She nodded, giving Leafy Pages a warm smile, “Say, why are you stuttering so much? I don’t bite y’know? At least not those I still don’t know very well.”

“I-I’m s-s-sorry,” she murmured. She got this question a lot. “I-It’s a s-speech impediment…”

Pockets nodded in understanding and leaned on a wall, “Oh, I see. Yeah I had a friend who had something like that as well. He always said he sucked at making friends but, y’know? I think ponies like him and you are probably amazing friends. You seem like a really sweet gal and all. So cheer up and stop being so nervous, be more sure of yourself, it helps. Maybe with that you’ll even catch the attention of a certain sunny alicorn princess” She grinned to her.

Leafy Pages exploded into a blush at that thought. Herself… and the Princess!? “I-I-I-I-....” she just kind of kept going like that for a while.

Pockets covered her mouth with her hoof to not let the unicorn see her muffled laugh, taking a quick breath and going back into her smirking self, “Hey, they are not as mighty and divine as others think, they’re really just really chill mares and more down to earth than what you might think! And come on, I’m sure that after thousands and thousands of years alone, someone like her would like some cute company like you.” She winked.

It only served to break the poor mare harder as her glowing face hid behind her book, her head conjuring not at all unpleasant images.

“Are you quite done breaking my assistant?” a gravelly voice asked from behind her. She whirled around to see who had managed to sneak up on her. A male thestral, middle aged but still handsome. He had piercing golden eyes and a charcoal grey coat. His mane was a deep ebony black.

“Depends. Are ya ready to see me so we can get this whole citizen deal over with?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow with a smirk. He just snorted and headed back into his office.

“Follow me,” he replied.

As she did, waving good bye to Leafy, she stepped into his office and looked around.

That uh… that was a lot of bugs. Both alive and dead. Some were pinned to boards for display, while one wall had dozens of glass tanks, each holding different kinds of insects, arachnids and the like. One was a massive and fluffy white and red spider, which Pockets swore it waved at her when she entered.

“Uhm… well this is an interesting office.” Pockets gulped as she walked in, “I like the… theme? Anywho.” She saw a chair and immediately sat on it, not really caring for formalities, “So gramps, where do I have to sign and what do I have to pretend I’m reading?”

“I’d watch that tongue, thief!” he snapped as he sat down. “In the end, it is my decision that allows you to stay here in Canterlot, or have you shipped back to Tall Tale!”

Pockets blinked, grimacing at the thestral’s attitude, “Geez. Chill gramps I’m just messing around. Now I know why Middy didn’t want me to come here.”

His eye gave a small twitch as he opened a folder. “Let’s see here. Pickett Midnight. AKA Pockets AKA the Midnight Thief. You have… quite the colourful history don’t you? An orphan since birth and a street thief from a very early age.”

“Thaaat’s me. And I ain’t ashamed of it to be honest. Had to do what I had to do to survive. And hey, my thieving skills helped a lot of ponies so there’s that.” She nodded, “What about it? My record is now clean, and I am paying for my crimes by working with the Royal Guard. So you can’t use that against me.”

“I hadn’t planned on it,” the stallion replied as he looked over her record. “So, how great is your desire to stay here in Canterlot. I’m sure something could be arranged back in Tall Tale.”

“Well considering that I have so many friends back there, and that without Grumble it’d be really nice to see the town grow into a better place…” Pockets mused, “Naaah. I’m staying here without a doubt.”

“Oh? And why might that be?” the stallion raised an eyebrow, akin to a guillotine about to drop.

“Because this is where Middy lives, where she belongs.” Pockets smiled, “And no matter how much I miss home, nothing can possibly separate me from the mare I love.”

The stallion sighed and closed his folder. “Ahh, now there we have a slight problem. You see, I want you as far away from Midnight Song as possible.”

Pockets deadpanned, before jumping of the seat and snapping, “What… wait wait, what!? You can’t keep me away from her! I don’t care if you know her but you have no right to keep me away from her! Who the heck do you think you are!?”

“I am the one that decides if you stay here remember?” the stallion said. “Now, I can leave you in this city, in the comfort of the castle. As long as you agree to never see Midnight Song again.”

The thief slammed her hoof on his desk, “Listen pal. I don’t care what you say, I don’t care what you want or what you think. There is no way I’m leaving Midnight, you hear? I have lived my entire life running away from authorities, and believe me if I have to do that again just to stay with her, then so be bucking it, gramps!” She snarled, getting off the desk and walking towards the door, “Although, I doubt I really have to do that. I wonder if Princess Celestia will let me stay after I tell her just how well they’ve treated me here, hm?”

The stallion never got to reply, as the doors opened and Midnight Song strode in, placing herself between Pockets and the stallion, drawing back her upper lip and hissing like a feral cat at him. The stallion responded in kind, snarling at her as they started each other down like fighting Timberwolves.

Pockets went from angry, to very confused, “Ok… what is going on in here?”

“So…” Midnight growled as the two circled each other. “Has this guy been a complete ass to you yet?”

“I’m merely looking out for you,” the stallion replied. “Unless you want another Moondan—”

“DO NOT mention her name!” Midnight growled and tackled him, the two tussling around on the floor.

Pockets stared wide-eyed, not knowing what to do. “Uhm… guys.” No response, “Guys?” Still no response, “GUYS!” She stomped on the ground, her magic intensifying her voice and making the room itself shake.

They stopped and pulled themselves up.

“You… you have no right to meddle in my love life,” Midnight panted.

“Guh… haah…” the stallion… looked quite out of breath. “Just… gimme a sec here. Moon above…”

“You alright old man?” Midnight chuckled and rubbed his back. “You should no better than to mess with me at your age.”

“Buck you, I’m still young,” he muttered. “Don’t talk to your father like that.”

“Yes daddy,’ Midnight giggled and hugged him.

Pockets’ jaw dropped, “DAD!?”

“Yeah, this is Gossamer, my dad,” Midnight explained and punched his shoulder. “And he knows better than to mess with ponies I care about.”

“Most of those ponies were one night stands,” he replied. “I was making sure this mare wasn’t stalking you or taking advantage of you.”

The unicorn deadpanned, “Seriously? Do you have any idea of what we’ve been through? I would never freaking consider taking advantage of her! Come on, why can’t I just love a beautiful mare in peace dammit!” She groaned.

“Because my dad is a butt-headed idiot,” Midnight muttered and scowled at him.

“Well excuse me for looking out for you,” he replied. “And in any event, I approve of this mare… for now.”

“Woo!” Pockets smiled, “Wait, really? A few minutes ago you were threatening me with sending me back to Tall Tale unless I never saw Midnight again!”

“You… WHAT!?” Midnight roared and turned back to him. He blinked and then ushered the two out of the room.

“Oh look at the time, much work to do, have a good day Midnight, Pickett.’ And then quickly slammed the door closed.

“Tch! I’ll kill him later,” Midnight replied and then drew Pockets in for a heart melting kiss. The unicorn hummed and returned the kiss eagerly, her left eye opening to see Leafy who was still there, winking at the mare before focusing once more on the kiss.

Leafy blushed profusely and looked away as Midnight’s hoof wandered to a certain thief’s flank…

“Eep!” Pockets squeaked and broke the kiss, frowning cutely at the thestral, “No fair! I wasn’t expecting that you dirty butt!” She smacked her shoulder softly and playfully.

“Heehee, you should know by now that i don’t play fair,” Midnight giggled and saw Leafy. “Ohh, little Leafy, You look as ravishingly adorable as always~”

“S-Stop t-teasing,” Leafy blushed and Midnight smiled, trotting over to her.

“Oh come now, you know I love you too,” she giggled and blew her a kiss, making Leafy blush again. “Still, I’m no alicorn princess huh?”

“Y-You’re so mean,” Leafy pouted and pushed Midnight’s face away. The thestral just giggled and blew her another kiss.

“Midnight!” the door swung open and Gossamer poked his head back out. “Be sure to go home tonight. Your mother wishes to see you.”

“Huh? I thought Mom was in Neighpon?” Midnight blinked.

“She came home early and you know she’ll want to meet Pickett there. No use, you can’t run from her. She'll hunt you down otherwise.”

“Buck…” Midnight sighed. “No use Pockets. We’re going to have to fake our deaths.”

“As awesome as being a ghost sounds,” Pockets chuckled, “I’d rather not have a shit ton of ponies miss me y’know? Come on, how bad can it be? Your dad wasn’t that bad.”

Midnight just sighed and shook her head. This… might not end well.

Once they left the immigration offices, Midnight took Pockets out to the barracks, where the pair had been staying up until now.

“So, what’s the gameplan?” Pockets asked her as threw herself on the old sofa, thankful of finally getting some rest, “We just go to your parents’ house, I act like a normal pony to not screw things up, and hope for the best?”

Midnight leaned against a wall and sighed. “I… wanted to wait until later for you to meet them.” She brushed some of her mane out of her eyes, having been flying a lot lately, it had taken a natural windswept look. “And, we’ll need to go shopping.”

Pockets quirked an eyebrow, yet before asking anything, she did what she knew had to be done. Her horn flashed and she teleported in front of Midnight, before kissing her lovingly, calmly, in the most comforting of ways.

Once the kiss broke, Midnight smiled and booped her nose. “Well that was sudden, not that I’m complaining. Any particular reason for that though?”

“To show you there’s nothing to worry about. Even if your parents end up hating me, which I doubt because I’m awesome and cool, there is nothing that would ever, ever separate me from you.” The unicorn said softly.

“Nah, Mom’s going to love you,” Midnight replied. “Just… don’t freak out around her alright?”

“Freak out? I never freak out!” Pockets grinned, “I’m a perfectly collected unicorn who can handle any situation!”

Midnight raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to her. “Flying,” was the only word she uttered.

Pockets blinked, before sighing, “Why’d you gotta bring that up? Frigging fast crazy batty…” She muttered under her breath, looking away with a cute pout.

“You know you like it~” Midnight replied and kissed her forehead. “Anyway, we have a few hours at the very least. So we should-”

At that point, the barracks filled with thestrals, all back from morning training. Some even nodded to Pockets as they passed, already used to the unicorn being here.

“You were saying?” Pockets asked a bit loudly, trying to ignore the plethora of sounds around them.

“Huh?” Midnight squeezed past them and moved next to Pockets. “Oh, that my teacher is going to be in Canterlot tomorrow. So get prepared to be put through the wringer.”

“From one to a lot, how much am I going to suffer?” Pockets deadpanned.

“...I don’t want you to have nightmares, so I’ll say nothing,” Midnight replied. “Though…’ she looked at the other thestrals and smirked. “Aerial Ace!”

Several bats screeched and leapt to the rafters of the building, hiding in the shadows.

Pockets stared wide-eyed at the scene ahead, “Please don’t tell me that’s the name of your old teacher, please don’t tell me they are hiding because you said the name of your old teacher.” She looked at her in panic, “Please?”

“Okay, I won’t tell you,” Midnight nodded. “On the off chance, do you prefer open casket? Or cremation?”

Pockets deadpanned, “I prefer ‘life’ thank you very much.”

“Well… best of luck then,” Midnight nodded as the other thestrals started to come down from the ceiling, seeing that the teacher from Hell itself wasn’t here.

“Luna-dammit Midnight!” One yelled at her. “Don’t fucking scare us like that!”

“Heehee, my bad~” Midnight giggled and winked at them.

“Ok that just scares me even more.” Pockets gulped and began to shiver, “Can I bail out of this or is it too late?”

“Part of your parole remember?” Midnight chuckled and bumped her with her hip. “Don’t worry. Ace is a great guy, just… enthusiastic about his training is all.”

“Still not helping.” Pockets deadpanned, before remembering something, “Oh right! Before, you said we had to do some shopping. What for? Gonna buy some food for the dinner or something?”

“Something like that,” Midnight replied and moved behind her, pushing her towards the door.. “Now come on, you have afternoon drills to run through and I get to help~”

“Fineeee…” Pockets sighed, walking out, “But we gonna go eat some ice cream later. U’m kinda hungry and want something sweet and tasty, and today has been a stressful as heck day so yes, I want ice cream and won’t rest until I have some.”

“You’re such a foal,” Midnight shook her head and lead her out. “Now let’s go before the others get ideas.”

“Yes I am.” Pockets giggled, teleporting to Midnight’s back and enjoying the ride.

“COME ON!!” Midnight roared at the small unicorn as she ran. “MY GRANDMOTHER RUNS FASTER THAN YOU!! BACKWARDS!!!”

Pockets eeped and kept gasping and huffing for air, glancing at Midnight with an annoyed stare, “I’m trying my hardest dammit! This is not cool, not cool at all!”

“You wanted Guard training, you’re getting Guard training!” Midnight replied as she dropped another weighted pouch onto the pack that Pockets had to haul. “Now run faster or I up the level on you!” She patted the thundercloud next to her, which crackled ominously.

“Meep!” Pockets squeaked and picked up speed. She loved Midnight yes, yet she hated Drill Sergeant Middy with a burning passion. Her legs trembled, and her breath hitched, yet she knew she could only keep running, she had to.

Midnight had to admit, she was moving pretty quick despite carrying nearly her own body weight in sandbags. Still, with the right motivation, she knew ponies could do just about anything. She flew next to the running unicorn and smiled.

“Tell you what,” she said into her ear. “Do the next lap in under two minutes… and I’ll do—” Her voice dropped to a husky whisper. “—Whatever. You. Want~”

The unicorn didn’t need any other sort of motivation. Her eyes widened up, and a grin crawled up to her muzzle, before darting forwards at incredible speeds and trying her best to win her reward. She was exhausted, yes, she wanted to rest, yet. But more importantly, she wanted that mare.

“Wow…” Midnight whistled as she watched Pockets bolt like a bat outta Tartarus itself. “Well lookit that.”

And when she passed the finish line, Midnight looked at her stopwatch and nodded. “One minute, forty three seconds. Your new personal best love.”

“You...are… my personal best…” She said between pants, “Ok that was bad, body hurts, can’t think…. Jokes suck… ahhhh…” She let out a long sigh, dropping to the ground, “I hate you sometimes.”

“One, you love me,” Midnight said as she removed the pack, letting it fall to the ground with a heavy thud. “And this is my life every, single, day. What do you think so far love?”

“I’d much rather prefer being ran over by a stampede of buffaloes…” Pockets huffed, “The things I do for you batty.”

“I’m curious to see the things you’ll do to me,” she smirked as she reminded the unicorn of their bet. “Now, let’s get you in the showers and cleaned up before we go shopping.”

“Oh I will make you pay for this.” Pockets smirked, standing up and stretching her tired muscles, “Sweet Celestia, it hurts. You know… I doubt my legs are working properly, or that my magic can do much right now… maybe I’m going to need a little assistance in the shower.” She grinned.

“Of course you do,” Midnight replied as she picked the unicorn up and put her on her back. “Urgh, you’re all sweaty. Now I hafta shower as well.”

“Oh well, I guess we’ll have to shower together.” Pockets giggled, kissing Midnight’s head, “I love you. batty.”

Midnight rolled her eyes, but smiled fondly as the hook on her wing scratched behind Pocket’s ear. “I love you too, you smol thief.”

Chapter Two - Meet the parents

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Midnight hummed a small tune as she walked through Canterlot. She’d ditched her guard armour, opting for a simple cream-coloured dress and a wide brimmed sunhat. The smaller mare walking next to her wasn’t wearing anything, but then, that was the whole point of this little outing.

The section of Canterlot they strolled through held a lot of the high-end boutiques. Designers like Hoity Toity, Photo Finish and Rarity Belle were common names here.

“Hmm, I wonder where we should stop first darling?” Midnight had even adopted the snooty accent that Canterlot was famous for.

“Please don’t speak like that every again…” Pockets deadpanned. Midnight was yet to tell her what they were shopping for… but she had a really good idea. Still, there was a glimpse of hope in her mind, just a slight sense of hope that she was just assuming things and that they were gonna go for ice cream or something, “Batty, please tell me we’re just passing by. Please, oh please don’t tell me we’re actually going to shop for…” She shuddered at the thought of that, “Clothes…”

There was also the fact that there were more, as Pockets would put it, Canterlot snobbies per square hoof than she had ever seen. Her horn itched as she tried to quell the compulsion to rob the lot of them blind.

“Like I said, we're here shop dahling!” Midnight accentuated that last word to skin crawling levels, the unicorn cringing to unimaginable levels. They stopped in front of one boutique, a new one that recently opened and received an explosive boom in popularity due to a single dress. Now it sold much more and had made quite the name for itself. Midnight smiled and motioned to the store, “Here we go.”

“Carousel Boutique?” Pockets quirked a brow.

“Interesting name,” Midnight nodded. “I heard that the Element of Generosity herself owns this business.” She then all but dragged Pockets inside, only to be greeted by a slender unicorn mare with an orange mane.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything chic, unique and magnifique~” She smiled happily. “My name is Sassy Saddles. And how can I help you fine fillies today?”

“Good afternoon,” Midnight nodded her head. “This one needs a dress for a dinner date tonight.”

Sassy looked Pockets over and tilted her head. “Well isn't she a big filly. So, her Cutecenara party then?”

Midnight lasted all of about three seconds before she fell sideways, laughing her flank off.

Pockets deadpanned, she was done. So done. A bazillion times done, “I'm not a filly…” She mumbled.

“Oh my, I am very sorry,” Sassy bowed her head. “Please, I really am and… is she going to keep laughing?”

“Ahahahahahaha!!” Midnight cackled and waved her legs. “Oh Celestia, I can't… I can’t breatheaahahhahahaha!”

Pockets walked towards her and with the most unamused look, lifted her up with her magic, shaking her around, “Do ya want me to slap you? ‘Cuz I'll do it, I really will. “

“Ahaa, okay… I think, I'm done,” Midnight snorted as she got to her hooves. “And no, this absolutely beautiful marefriend whom I love with all my heart, she is more radiant than the sun itself. She needs a nice dress for dinner with my parents tonight.”

“Yes… more radiant than the sun itself…” Pockets said coldly, a vengeful glint in her eyes. She could probably freeze molten lava with that look. She hated wearing clothes, they were uncomfortable, snobbie, unnecessary, snobbie, and didn’t let anyone see her sexy as heck petite body, also it was too snobbie for her.

“Well, fret not dears,” Sassy smiled and led them into the shop. “Now, do you have something in mind for what you'd like, a preferred style maybe?”

“Naked and happy.” Pockets snorted.

Sassy paused and looked at the snarky little unicorn. “Hmm, I'm guessing you're not a fan of fashion then?”

“I’m a fan of her,” Pockets pointed at Midnight, “And that’s the only reason I’m doing this. So...”

“Hmm, well I think we can still arrange something for you,” Sassy smiled as she trotted over to one rack and started flicking through the articles there. “Hmm, taking your colours into account, eyeshape, build… ahah!” She took a short, a gorgeous maroon short-cut dress with beautiful white linings and a rather classic look, and held it out for her. “Would you be comfortable in this one?”

“Hmm… I dunno. I like it and all, but… it feels a bit too girly for me.” Pockets sighed.

“I think you'd look pretty in it,” Midnight spoke up.

“Yeah maybe, but I wouldn’t feel too comfy on it. Hmm… do you maybe have something more modern and urban?” She quirked an eyebrow, “Something that screams character and sexiness, you know what I mean?”

“Hmm…” Sassy looked around and tapped her chin. “I can see where you're coming from. Let’s see…” She poked around another rack, and floated out another dress. “How about this little ensemble?”

“Hmmm too big.” Pockets shook her head. The taller unicorn presented another dress, yet Pockets once again shook her head, “Too flashy.” And then came dress, after dress, after dress.

Sassy let out a weary sigh as she floated out the… well, she lost count. Midnight was napping on one of the couches as she floated out the last dress the store had. The dress in question, was… well it was something alright.

Pockets walked around Sassy and the dress, and eyed the dress carefully, looking at every detail, every color, every stitch every inch of dust on that fancy yet subtle and modern piece of clothing, everything, “Well… it isn’t exactly what I was looking for. But at the same time it kinda is. Strange… why do I feel like I could see myself wearing this and liking it? It feels so weird, I legit don’t dislike this dress at all…” A mental image formed inside her head, herself in that dress, catching the eyes of everypony as she walked by, could it be? “I… think I actually like that one.”

“...Seriously?” Sassy sighed . “Oh thank Celest—!”

Yet Pockets quickly silenced her, glancing at the still sleeping Midnight and grinning, “Ok, I have a plan~”

Midnight groaned as she opened her eyes. She must have been more tired than she thought if she drifted off like that. She let out a loud yawn and licked her lips…

Wait…

Something felt… off. She opened her eyes and looked around, seeing that Pockets wasn’t in the room.

“Hmm, did she run away while I was napping?” she said aloud as she got up and stretched her limbs. “Great… it’ll take all day to find her now.”

That is when she saw a small paper note on the floor. She quirked an eyebrow and picked up, reading it aloud, “Go to the stage area and get ready for the show.” She tilted her head and blinked. “Show, what show?”

Well, only one way to find out. She trotted from the room and soon found what the note described, seeing a stage against one wall with a heavy curtain surrounding it. As soon as she approached it, the curtains were closed and the lights turned off, the only source of luminosity being the two reflectors that pointed at the center of the stage. Sassy Saddles strode out and gave a small bow.

“Welcome to this one time presentation,” she smiled warmly. “May I present this lovely and radiant mare, the very vision of the twilight hour. Miss Midnight Pickett!”

The curtains opened, and revealed something that blew Midnight away. Pockets, for the first time in forever, was wearing a dress. The dress in question was slim and form fitting, sleeveless and shimmered softly in the light, highlighting her slim yet athletic build. It rose off of the rump and started in a bright gold, before transitioning into a deep purple, making her flank look a tad more generous than what it really was. The hem of the dress was dotted with black stars, the small golden details making the piece of clothing glimmer with the lights of the reflector. The unicorn simply posed with a mix of beauty and sensuality, glaring at Midnight with a ‘Hey Beauty’ look followed by a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Midnight stared with wide eyes as she swallowed hard. She wasn’t sure if she liked that dress… or the idea of ripping it off of Pockets so she could ravish her.

“Sweet mother of Luna,” she whispered. “You’re beautiful.”

Pockets giggled and blushed a bit, “I know, but thanks for reminding me. So I take it you like it?”

“Mmmm, more than like it,” Midnight purred and draped her forelegs around Pocket’s neck, drawing her in for a deep and passionate kiss. Pockets eagerly returned the kiss, humming into the thestral’s mouth and feeling rather relieved that Midnight liked the dress as much as she did. After a while, Pockets broke the kiss and shot her a smirk.

“Well, if you loved this dress, you’re gonna love what else I bought… turns out dresses are not the only sort of thing Sassy here sells.” She glanced at the taller unicorn, who blushed and looked away coyly.

Midnight quickly put two and two together. Ohhhh buck~

“Forget later, I wanna tear that dress off and ravage you right now~” The mare growled playfully and nipped her ear.

The unicorn giggled and pushed her away playfully, “Hey now, I’m not against the idea. But if you do that then I’ll have to wear the other outfit I bought to your parents’ place and… well let’s just say that it would be incredibly awkward.”

“Hmm, but I certainly don’t mind," Midnight wiggled her eyebrows before Sassy gave a delicate, but deliberate cough. Midnight blinked and realised they still had company. Ah well, there was always tonight. She trotted over to Sassy and they shared a few words that Pockets didn’t hear before they walked back over to her.

“Well Miss Pickett,” Sassy spoke up. “Will you be wearing that out? Or shall I wrap it for you for later?”

Pockets glanced at Midnight, “I dunno, it depends on two things. What time are we supposed to meet with your parents? And also, do you promise to not do anything to this dress at least until we are done with them?”

Midnight made an odd face. That second request was going to be hard to follow... still…

“Well, since you’ve been here for…” She checked a wall clock. “Two hours. We don’t have much time left to meet them. And I’ll promise the second if you promise me something.”

The thief quirked an eyebrow with a curious smile, already having an idea of what she was going to ask, yet still curious anyways. You could never be too sure with Midnight, “And what would that be, you crazy bat?”

“Try not to act like a spaz in front of my parents,” Midnight said dryly.

Well, she had to be honest with herself that was not the request she was hoping to get, “Welp… I don’t have much of a choice now do I?” She mused, tapping the floor with a hoof nervously and biting her lip. This was like asking a fish to not swim anymore, it was part of her D.N.A. at this point. She was weird and she loved it. “What you are asking of me is… well, a real big deal.” She murmured, before stopping all her body movement and looking at the thestral with a sigh, “Fine, it’s a deal. Gosh the things I have to do for you.” She smirked at her, booping the thestral’s nose.

“You’re such a weirdo,” Midnight giggled and shook her head. “Well, thank you for your help Miss Sassy. Sorry for taking up so much of your time.”

“Not a problem Lady Song, and do say hello to your mother for me.”

Midnight cringed at the use of her title, but nodded and ushered Pockets out of the store after that. “Okay, now that you’re all prettied up, do you want that ice-cream I promised?”

“Depends, can I share a big one with you and say cheesy things while we eat like a normal couple just to see you blush like crazy?” The thief grinned, bumping Midnight’s rump with her own.

“Hmm, I think we could share a big one if you like~” Midnight smiled salaciously and trotted ahead of her.

Pockets took a while, before finally getting the joke, “Oh you nasty motherbucker!”

A little later in the evening, Midnight was leading her date through the Cloud District, home of the aristocrats, nobles and other high-society members of the city. Seriously, some of the mansions here could have housed a small village in the same space.

Midnight saw Pockets’ eyes darting from house to house and she nudged her with a wingtip.

“Pockey, these houses aren’t for stealing from okay?”

“You sure? Because they look pretty stealable to me.” Pockets said in what Midnight hoped was a joking manner, “Damn… this place is so weird and flashy. I feel like I just walked into Grumble’s wet dream.”

“Ew, now there’s a mental image I did not need,” Midnight shuddered. “Just… ew…”

The unicorn giggled and nuzzled Midnight, kissing her cheek, “Oh I love making you cringe, you’re just the most adorable thing when you use that ‘Eeew’ face of yours.”

Midnight made the face again, just to hear Pockets giggle again. And soon, they stopped in front of a large mansion. The front gates were made of a black iron that made Pockets’ horn itch for some reason. When Midnight saw her scratching at it, she chuckled.

“Anti-magic wards, a small security measure,” she said as she opened the gates and led her along the path that led to the front door.

“Really? Why’d you install that sort of crap, not like a small unicorn thief was planning to teleport inside, get a bag full of valuable goodies, and then teleport out.” She said playfully, taking a good look at the house itself. It was big, fancy, and surprisingly different from your typical mansion. Well that was her summarized description anyways. The house itself was more like a small castle in size. There was some pegasi influence in the design, with the tall pillars and sloped, elegantly curved edges. But, there was also something else that Pocket’s didn’t recognise. The stonework for one sort of looked like cobblestone paving, only it seemed much more solid. There was also a lot of dark and heavy-looking timber. Two stone gargoyles stood above the doorway and Pockets could swear the damned things were watching her.

“Ok… a nice friendly and colorful household it seems, myyy favorite.” Pockets said sarcastically as she stepped closer to Midnight, keeping an eye on those gargoyles which she really hoped were no more than statues.

“Hah, yeah those things are creepy. Dad used to tease me that they were actually petrified monsters that would gobble me up if I wasn’t a good filly.” She eyed them carefully as they passed under them and into the entrance. She raised her hoof and pulled the chain for the doorbell.

And a few moments later, the familiar scowling face of her father greeted them. “Ah, Midnight… and guest.”

“Dad, be nice or I’ll kick your ass,” Midnight replied as she hugged him.

Meanwhile, Pockets had no idea of what to do. A part of her still didn’t trust the stallion because of what had happened earlier in the day, with him not wanting her to be near Midnight and all, and overall just generally being a dick. Yet another part told her she needed to act… normal, whatever that meant, “Uhm… hello Mister Gramp- I mean, Gossamer. It is nice to see you again.”

“It is?” Gossamer asked her. “I was a total ass to you.”

Pockets smiled awkwardly, “I guess you were just trying to protect your daughter. You still don’t know me too well, and you don’t want her to end with the wrong pony or thestral or being, so… “ She raised a hoof, “Why don’t we change that and get to know each other a bit better?”

“Okay…” Midnight held up a hoof. “I rescind my previous request, polite and decent Pockets is creeping me the hell out.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about my magnificent dear.” Pockets smiled innocently with a very forced Canterlot accent that would put Grumble’s to shame, the smile being the creepiest thing coming from her, “I always try to live by high society's social standards, didn't you know?” She was going to make Midnight pay for making her act normal.

“Oh Goddess! Make it stooop,” Midnight cried and ran inside the house. Gossamer snorted and held the door open for Pockets.

“Ladies first.”

“Why thank you.” Pockets giggled, and proudly stepped inside. Her job here was done. “You know, you seem quite chill and nice when you’re not trying to kick me out of the city, or the country for that matter.” She said without looking back to him, her eyes darting around from side to side and looking at every single detail and decoration in the room, whistling in awe. While the place looked expensive, it didn’t have that pretentious feel like Grumble’s office. Sure, it had the odd painting or item here and there. But there was also a lot of personal effects too, like photos and the like.

“Ahh, nooo!” Pockets heard Midnight call out from another room. “Ahhh, leeme go!”

Pockets blinked and looked at where the pleads for help came from, “What room is that and why do I feel like if checking it out will be my doom? “

“That’s the living room,” Gossamer chuckled. “And it looks like Midnight couldn’t escape her fate. You’d better get in there, or she’ll hunt you down too.”

“Judging from the cries of help, I am not tempting fate.” Pockets chuckled and made her way towards the open door that lead to the living room, poking her head into it to see what was going on.

The room itself was quite spacious, with a high ceiling that had heavy, wooden beams that crossed along it. A huge, roaring fireplace that staved off the chilly Fall night and a few chairs and couches. And in the middle of the room, Midnight was being snuggled to death by a unicorn mare. The former thief chuckled and knocked on the door frame, looking at Midnight with a very amused look.

The mare turned her head and saw Pockets, dropping Midnight instantly and getting to her hooves. It was then that Pockets got a good look at her. The first thing she noticed was that she was gorgeous! Like, absolutely stunning. Her white coat looked like freshly fallen snow and her mane and tail shone like woven gold. There was also her eyes, her deep, emerald eyes that looked far too familiar to Pockets for some reason.

“Is this her?” the mare said. Even her voice sounded familiar, and when she turned, Pockets noticed her Cutie Mark, a full moon with a trio of musical notes.

“Pockets,” Midnight gasped, finally released from the mare’s vice-like grip. “This… This is—”

“Moon… motherfreaking… Song…” Pockets said with a dropped jaw, “The main star and/or singer in some of Equestria’s greatest movies like ‘Lullaby for a Princess’ and ‘Past Sins’!”

Midnight just groaned and facehooved. Of course Pockets was a freaking fanfilly.

“Oh my gosh! My adoptive father used to take me to the movies all the time, and the ones you starred in were some of my freaking favorites! The Mare of the Killer Emerald Ey—” She blinked as realization hit her, looking at Midnight, and then at Moon, and then back to Midnight, and then at Moon, “Wait… a second…”

“Pockets… what’s my last name?” Midnight asked her calmly.

“Song…” Pockets muttered, before finally nailing it down, “Oh my sweet Celestia! You’re Moon Song’s daughter!?”

“That she is,” Moon giggled and dragged Midnight Song over with her magic, hugging her again. “My little Middy is just the cutest isn’t she?”

“Oh for crying out… Mom!” Midnight groaned and pushed her off. Moon just shrugged, then pulled Pockets into a hug.

“So, you’re the filly that has my little Middy all in a fluster. You’re just so cute~!”

With anyone else, Pockets would have been a bit pissed at being called a filly... Yet this was Moon motherbucking Song, famous actress and one of Pockets’ many idols. She could call her a 1-inch foal if she wanted to and the unicorn wouldn’t mind in the slightest, heck, she would thank her for the compliment! “H-hehe… thanks…” She blushed with a sheepish grin not able to believe she was actually having physical contact with freaking Moon Song of all ponies. Yet after a while, he usual instincts kicked in, and she found herself smirking at Midnight, “But I think it’s more of a mutual flustering kind of thing. She really is a cutie after all.”

“Mhm,” Moon nodded and pat her mane before releasing her. “Oh, and that dress is simply divine. You look amazing dear. But there really was no need to get dressed up like that. I told my dear Moonlight as such.”

Midnight was slowly tiphoofing out of the room.

“Middy…” Pockets said in a cold, dangerous tone, not looking towards her yet knowing the mare all too well to know her intentions, “I just want to know… why did you make me spend an entire afternoon looking for a dress…. IF I DIDN’T NEED ONE?”

Midnight flinched and chuckled nervously. Oh dear, she was a dead mare.

“Because I wanted to dress you up,” she admitted. Well, at least she could die knowing she was honest.

“I would kill you right now, but A, I love you too much to do that, and B, I am not getting blood on my dress.” Pockets sighed, looking at Moon Song with an apologetic smile, “Sorry for the shouting, Miss Song.”

“No, it’s quite alright,” Moon giggled as she dragged Midnight back to them. “But I will say this in my daughter’s defense, you do look quite stunning in it. My dear Moonlight has excellent taste in mares.”

“Aw… stop it, I’m not that big of a deal.” Pockets blushed and rubbed her left foreleg, “Actually don’t stop, I like being praised.” She smirked playfully.

“Yeah, any more and we’ll need to move out the back to make room for her head,” Midnight smirked, before her mother shot her a bemused look.

“Now now, like you’re much better Miss ‘I’m good at everything I do’.”

Midnight grumbled and folded her forelegs as she pouted.

“Ohhhh dat burn tho, and from your own mother! How does it feel?” Pockets snickered as she leaned closer to Midnight, pecking her cheek.

“Something like this,” Midnight replied, before using her favoured wake up method on the unicorn.

Pockets eeped and jumped away, holding a hoof to her bitten flank before shooting Midnight a death glare, “What happened with ‘Not acting like a spaz’!?”

“That promise vanished when you sicced my Mom against me,” Midnight shot back as Moon Song giggled at their antics.

“Ohhohoh, this is wonderful to see,” she smiled and hugged Pockets again. “Thank you dear. Truly.”

“For… what again?” Pockets blinked, not quite following along.

“For falling in love with her,” Moon smiled and let her go. “Now, who’s hungry. I feel like cooking someth—”

“And I already have dinner prepared,” Gossamer said, appearing out of nowhere. Eye colour wasn’t the only trait that Midnight had earned from her mother. “Don’t worry about it dear, you only just got back from Neighpon after all.”

“Fiiiine,” Moon sighed and rolled her eyes. “You never let me cook.”

“Because I didn’t feel like calling the fire brigade,” Gossamer mumbled under his breath.

“That’s alright Mom, he never lets me cook either,” Midnight replied and rubbed her back. “So, tell me all about Neighpon. How was it?” The two fell into a deep discussion after that, allowing Pockets a few minutes to look around.

Even though she was incredibly impressed by the furniture, she had to admit that it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be, it didn’t scream luxury like what she had first imagined, yes it was fancy but not overwhelming. And a few of those characteristics could even apply to Midnight’s parents as well, they were not quite as bad as Midnight had said they’d be, the father was a bit overprotective yet it was justified and it was obvious he really cared about his daughter. And the mother was freaking Moon Song, not only that but she seemed like a fun, enjoyable pony. She kind of felt like home there, well she couldn’t be sure considering the closest thing to a family she ever had was a street gang.

Then a thought occured. This was Midnight’s house.

Which meant she had a room. Which sent so many different ideas through her head, including… “Excuse me? Do you mind if I borrow your bathroom?”

“There’s one upstairs,” Moon replied, breaking the conversation for a moment. “Take the staircase there, third door on the left.”

Got it!” Pockets smiled innocently, too innocently in fact. And before anyone could ask or say anything else, she darted towards the stairs with a giggle. She reached the second floor, and hummed in thought. Sadly she couldn’t use her magic to check what was inside any of the rooms, yet that didn’t mean she couldn’t take a wild guess, “Eeny, mini, miny, moe!” She chanted before opening one of the doors, and finding nothing but a bunch of cleaning equipment, “Nope.” She kept going through the hall and checking random door after random door.

One room had more insects in it, like a bigger version of Gossamer’s office. Another was a bedroom, but it clearly didn’t belong to Midnight. Must have been him and Moon’s… Wait, ohmigosh! That was the dress she wore in… no. Pockets. Focus! You have a mission!

She kept checking a couple of rooms, wondering if perhaps she should just forget about it and move on… yet there was something about a particularly eye-catching wooden door that caught her attention. It was beautifully carved and seemed to be made of a material different from the other ones. Maybe… a quick peek wouldn't hurt.

She tried to open the door… and failed. It was locked. Well, that would be where any regular pony just gave up and stopped trying. But Pockets was no regular pony, she was a thief, and a simple door knob meant nothing for the mare!

Somehow, she did it. How she did it without magic was a secret the former thief would never reveal. She stepped inside, and her jaw dropped to the floor…

So. Much. Pink!

A massive four poster bed, complete with pink and white frilly bedspreads and drapes around it. Light pink walls and girlish furniture. There was a large vanity mirror with lights around it, along with a small bright pink book with a gold lock on it. A ponequinn in one corner had… what must have been the pinkest and frilliest dress Pockets had ever seen before. Complete with holes for wings and one of the cone-shaped hats with a veil on it. There was even an expensive-looking silver tiara.

The entire room just screamed filly princess.

At first, this all seemed too strange to Pockets. Maybe Middy had a little sister? No, she would have mentioned it. Maybe this was just a random room they had… for visits? No, that was just too dumb. Maybe… just maybe… Was this Midnight’s room when she was little?

The unicorn curiously looked around, trying to find any connection to the mare she knew and loved, and then she saw it. Sitting on the nightstand. A picture frame of a younger Moon and Gossamer, though they looked like they hadn’t changed much. Damn, how old were they?

And a little filly thestral. Quite possibly the most heart-wrenchingly cutest thing Pockets had ever seen. And those massive emerald eyes of hers… those eyes she would recognize anywhere.

“Sweet… Celestia…” Pockets whispered, before trying to hold in a laugh, and failing, her back on the floor as she let out an incredibly loud laugh.

“Laugh it up,” a voice said from the doorway as a very unamused Midnight stood there. “Cause you won’t be after I throw you out that window.”

Pockets cleared a tear, and looked at her. A while ago, that death stare would have sent shivers down the unicorn’s back, yet at this point she was pretty much used to it, “Ok…” She took quick breaths, trying to calm down, “First, you made me wear a dress, let me have this. Second… my goddess you were so freaking cute and girly and pink!”

“I’m going to beat you to death with your own legs,” Midnight replied as she stepped closer and then saw her diary on the desk… as did Pockets. “Don’t you even dare!”

“... I’ve lived a good life.” Pockets said before rushing towards the diary, grabbing it just in time before Midnight stopped her, and hopping belly down on the bed and placing the book down, opening it and clearing her throat to read a random entry, “Dear diary…

"Eeeee~ Today I learned that Prince Blueblood invited me to his birthday party. He’s the most handsome colt in Canterlot and he’s a Prince.” She gasped dramatically, “Ooh! Maybe I’ll get to meet the Princesses as well. Ahh, but who cares. He’s cute and he invited me~’

“Pockets… stop,” Midnight started.

Her survival instincts told her to leave the diary alone, and live to see another day… eh, it was a pretty nice night to die, “Dear diary…

‘I… I’m a monster. Freak! That’s… that’s what he said to me. He didn’t… know I was a thestral. H-he said… he wouldn’t have invited me. That, I should just go and live in a cave with the other dirty bats…’ the text trailed off as the rest of the page was stained.

“Happy now,” Midnight replied coldly.

Pockets closed the diary, and sighed, “Well that… took a dark tone. I’m sorry, not because of your diary,” She said with a small saddened grin, hopping off the bed and walking towards the thestral, locking eyes with her, “I’m sorry you had to meet such a stupid, blind, ignorant fuck like this Prince Blueblood. Because to say such things to a mare as incredible as you? You must be insane.” She said softly, nuzzling her marefriend.

“Read the next page,” Midnight replied, not putting any hints on her tone.

Pockets quirked an eyebrow, and walked back to the bed, picking up where she left off and reading the next entry, “Dear Diary…

‘Okay, so today I’m grounded. Mom’s really mad and Dad… well, I dunno. He yelled at me with Mom… then gave me cookies later and said not to tell her. Huh? Why am I grounded? Ohh. Well… so maybe I took a walk past Bluesnots house. And maybe he came out to tease me… and maybe I kicked him in a place where Daddy says hurts… a lot…well, Bluesnot squealed like a little filly at least.”

Pockets blinked, before bursting out in laughter, “My gosh! First a kick in the feels, and then a kick in the freaking nuts! Oh gosh filly Middy, you go girl!”

“Coincidentally, Blueblood has never insulted me since,” Midnight chuckled darkly. It hadn’t been the last time she’d kicked his ass either. “Still… you snooped through my stuff. I do hope you’re ready for the punishments that’ll follow such an act.”

Pockets froze. Well… she didn’t know whether to be afraid, really afraid, or incredibly afraid, “Please don’t…”

“You reap what you sow,” Midnight replied. “Now come on, dinner’s ready.” She turned and left the room as her wing caught the closet door and it opened.

That… was not the closet of a little filly. A little filly wouldn’t own so many whips and hoof cuffs and… was that a dragons—!?

“NOPE!” Pockets immediately closed the closet door, “My butt is not ready for this! I am so scared, Celestia or Luna if you’re hearing this… have mercy,” she whimpered, hoping she wouldn’t have to walk too much the next day.

Okay, so Pockets was experiencing a lot of new things tonight. One of which being dinnertime here. That… that was a lot of food. And expensive food at that. Salad with croutons. Potato and leek soup. Fresh bread that smelled divine. Boiled fish was also there for the more carnivorous fellows. And… was that pizza and pasta!?

There was a little known fact about Pockets. She had a ton of unaccomplished dreams she had always wanted to try out. One of them, was combining pizza and pasta, and make the ultimate “Prime Perfect Power Pasta Pizza” and add that to her alliteration-related meals list.

“Wow Mister Gossamer, this all looks amazing!” Pockets said with a hungry grin.

“Thank you,” he nodded his head. He had to learn since both females in his life could incite the apocalypse if they were to enter the kitchen. “It's been awhile since we've had the whole family at the table huh?”

“Yeah, and now we have this little weirdo as well,” Midnight smiled and kissed Pockets cheek.

“Midnight! Don't call your fillyfriend names,” Moon chided her daughter.

“Yeah batty, don’t call me names.” Pockets said in a sarcastically serious tone.

Midnight stared at her with wide eyes as Gossamer dropped his spoon, staring in abject horror.

Pockets realized what she had done, and quickly covered her mouth, “Uhm… oops?”

“That’s… how could you!?” Moon exclaimed, clearly distraught.

“I… I… I’m sorry! It’s just that I’m used to calling her like that and…” She panicked, eeping in fear, “I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”

The three sat there for a moment, Gossamer was the first to crack as he snorted, before his wife and daughter joined him, the three ponies laughing quite hard.

Pockets deadpanned, “Wut…?”

“Oh I'm sorry,” Moon Song wiped her eyes. “I just had to tease you.”

“And we just rolled with it,” Midnight giggled.”Seriously. If it offended us, don’t you think I would have told you?”

Pockets kept her deadpan, yet… after a while she couldn’t help but snort as well, giggling when she realized that Midnight was right, she had been played and she had been played good.

“Again, I'm sorry dear,” Moon giggled. “Now, let’s tuck into this meal before it gets cold hm?”

“No worries, it was a good one. And sure thing!” Pockets nodded, looking around the table expectantly, “So what about dessert? Hay, lilies? Ooh are we having tropical fruits? I can’t wait to see what Mister Gossamer has in store!”

“Actually, we have two desserts this evening,” Gossamer said. “A pony one for you and Moonie, and a more thestral one for me and Midnight.”

“Oh? A thestral dessert?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow, “What is it?”

“Not something you'd want dear, trust me on that one,” Moon Song said with a small nod as she piled some salad onto her plate.

Pockets did the same, yet couldn’t help but see that as a challenge, “Hmm… Mister Gossamer, what would you say if I wanted to try that thestral dessert?”

“Well, I'd say you’re a brave mare. Not many ponies would try that particular bit of thestral culture.”

“Well if I’m going to be living with one, I better start learning and getting involved on that sort of stuff!” Pockets nodded, prepared for whatever was coming, “So bring it on! Let’s see what this is all about!”

“Eat the dinner first,” Moon chuckled. “Regrets can come later.”

Pockets giggled and got down to eating, enjoying a bit of everything there was, even going for seconds and also using this opportunity to add some pasta to the pizza. The Power Pasta Pizza was absolutely delicious~

“This is soooo good!” Pockets grinned, cleaning her mouth with a napkin, “You are my new favorite chef ever Mister Gossamer!”

“Heh, you'll make an old stallion like me blush,” the thestral chuckled. Moon coughed and his wings twitched. “O-Of course, I love my darling wife and… you're screwing with me aren't you.”

“Not in front of the kids,” Moon giggled and Midnight facehooved.

Pockets couldn’t help but laugh softly, “Sweet Celestia, you two are awesome! I have no idea why Midnight was so nervous about me meeting you.”

“I have no idea either,” Moon replied and glanced at her daughter. “Though I have to ask, how serious is your relationship?”

“How... serious?” Pockets blinked, blushing a bit, “Well… I mean… I… I love her, and… well…” Soon, that small blush took over her face, not really knowing what to say. This question was hard, a false move and she could probably screw everything up. Could she just say that she hoped to one day marry that mare? Or was that too rushed and brash? Or should she say something less… extreme? But what if that meant disappointing or even angering her parents or worse, Midnight herself?

“We're taking things one step at a time Mom,” Midnight replied as she came to the rescue. “We've only know each other a couple of weeks after all. So no, we're not getting married just yet, nor will you get grandfoals to spoil.”

“Oh poop,” Moon Song pouted.

“Yeah... but hey! At least you might get a new daughter.” She grinned, pointing at herself before chuckling, “That is if you guys do accept me instead of, I dunno, threatening me with kicking me out of the city again.”

“One threat, and nopony lets you forget it,” Gossamer grumbled as he left the room to get dessert. In the meantime, Midnight moved so she was sitting beside Pocket’s chair and then bowed down.

“I accept your proposal. We shall get married in the morning.”

“Oh cool. But we at least need to get a cake or else it will be all for naught.” Pockets giggled and booped Midnight’s muzzle, making it scrunch up adorably. “You are crazy, ya know that?”

“Aww, she’s growing immune,” Midnight pouted.

“It’s fine, she gives up plenty of fuel for that fire,” Moon chuckled as Gossamer returned, and placed four covered trays on the table. Moon lifted hers to be greeted with a mango sorbet, to which Midnight gulped heavily and nearly drooled over. Still… she took hers off as she saw a variety of chocolate-coated items, as well as some shiny black things that Pockets didn’t recognise.

But dessert was dessert! Pockets picked one of the shiny black things and tossed it into her mouth, munching down on it with a hum, it was sweet, with just a hint of bitterness. Crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. “You know… this isn’t actually that bad… I could get used to eating these.”

“Wow, I didn’t think you’d jump right in like that,” Gossamer replied, rather impressed. “Most ponies can’t stomach the thought of eating them.”

“Mhm,” Midnight replied as she popped a few of the chocolate ones into her mouth. “Mmm, it’s been too long since I had these~”

“Really?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow, trying one of the chocolate snacks as well, the sweet taste of chocolate making the previous combination even more enjoyable, there was something else, a texture she didn’t recognise. “I mean, they’re just really crunchy snacks, I rather like ‘em. Why would you ever say no to these?”

“Heh, not a lot of ponies would eat chocolate and sugar coated insects,” Gossamer chuckled as Midnight bit one of the chocolates in half, showing that it was a chocolate-coated grasshopper.

Pockets froze, her munching slowing down while the gears inside her head turned. “Am I eating grasshoppers right now? Please be honest.”

“And sugar-coated black beetles,” Midnight nodded. “Tasty huh? I don’t get why ponies can’t stand ‘em.”

Pockets used a lot of her willpower to not puke right there and then, feeling very, very, very nauseous, her face getting greener by the second, “Heh...heh…. Yeaaah I don’t get it either! Heh… so… mind passing me some… water?”

“Oh dear,” Moon sighed as she floated a glass and the pitcher of water over to her. “Are you alright dear? I did try to warn you.”

“I… I’m fine,” She smiled awkwardly, gulping the whole thing down, “It was just the shock… yeah… nothing weird with eating bugs.”

“You’re really creeped out by it huh?” Midnight deadpanned and then chuckled. “It’s fine, really.”

“No! I’m not creeped out by it. Cultures are different, but different doesn’t mean bad, right? Heck, give me another one!” She said both confidently and somehow nervous as heck.

“Pockets, your hoof is shaking,” Midnight giggled, but passed her a rather large grasshopper. “Well?”

“Well.. I… ah…” Pockets stuttered as her hoof brought the covered insect closer, and closer… “Oh buck it!” She munched on it, her body trying to reject it yet her willpower keeping it inside her mouth. She munched, and munched, before giving them an awkward grin, remains of ooze and legs between her teeth.

“Aaand I am no longer hungry,” Moon resigned and pushed away her dessert. Midnight chuckled and then kissed Pockets, her long tongue cleaning out the remains quite happily.

A muffled “Worth it” was heard while Pockets returned the kiss, quite liking this new mouth-cleaning method.

“D’aww,” Moon cooed.

“Really? At the dinner table?” Gossamer sighed and shook his head.

Midnight broke the kiss and licked her lips. “Mmm, yummy~” she smiled and licked the tip of Pocket’s nose.

“Are you talking about the bugs, or me?” The thief smirked, not really caring about acting decent anymore.

“I can only pick one?” Midnight smiled lewdly, before her mother pulled her back with magic.

“Midnight, not on the dinner table. Though I doubt we’d see anything we already haven’t…”

“You get caught with twin dragon brothers once and nopony let’s you forget it,” the thestral mare sighed.

“I want to ask what happened, but I am not sure if I can laugh that much.” Pockets smirked, “Actually, I kind of do want to hear that story,”

“Later,” Midnight sighed and blushed slightly. “Anything else you’d like to embarrass me with Mom?”

“I’m sure I’ll think of something,” Moon said and then gasped. “Oh! I do have an idea actually. It’s been so long. Would you sing with me Middy?”

Midnight sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we can do that. Living room though, once dessert is finished.”

“Finished.” Pockets said with her muzzle full of bugs. Yeah it was still weird, but she’d do anything to hear her two favorite singers in Equestria, no, the world, sing together.

“Well, somepony’s excited,” Moon giggled.

“Nah, that'll come later… and so will she,” Midnight grinned as her mother gave an exasperated sigh.

Pockets rolled her eyes with a snort, making sure no bug would fall from her muzzle. She chewed and chewed with slight difficulty, looking at the two with wide eyes full of cheer excitement.

Once dessert was had and cleaned up. That was another thing Pockets noticed, they didn’t employ any servants. No maids, chefs or butlers. Moon’s reason was that none of them were home often to warrant it, and that why pay somepony to do what you could simply do yourself.

And now they moved to the warm living room as Midnight and Moon discussed what they should sing.

“Oh, how about that new song you did for your Neighpon tour?” Midnight asked. “I haven’t gotten to sing that before and I really like it.”

“You sure?” Moon asked. “It is in Neighponese. You think you actually can sing…” She trailed off when she saw Midnight’s deadpan stare. “Right. I forgot about that.”

Pockets meanwhile just looked at them with the eyes of the biggest fanfilly in the planet, unable to wait a second longer,

“You know, we better start before Pockets explodes,” Midnight chuckled and shook her head. Gossamer reclined on a couch, sipping at a glass of whiskey. Moon Song moved to the record player and placed one on there, lowering the needle as a tune started to play.

They started out just standing stationary, but quickly got into the swing of things as it practically turned into a professional performance. The two mares were perfectly in sync, like they’d rehearsed this a hundred times over, rather than this being the first time Midnight had even sung the song.

Pockets on her part just stared in complete awe, unable to say a word and even drooling a bit due to her wide open jaw. They were soooo goood! The two mares danced and sang, and even the normally stoic Gossamer tapped his hoof to the beat of the song.

Midnight’s eyes danced with joy as she sang, more than Pockets had even seen from her. It was quite something really. The small unicorn could watch this forever, hypnotized by the dance moves, their melodious voices, and the sheer happiness and joy the mares emanated. The crescent moon on Midnight's flank seemed to glow a little as she sang.

But many of the good things in life always have an end, and like any good song that end was around the four minutes mark. And even though for Pockets it was like a glorious eternity, she couldn’t help but feel rather sad that it had to end, a sadness she did not portray when she began to tap her hooves and clap for them. “Wooo, that was AWESOME! You two are so freaking amazing!”

“And you are such a fanfilly,” Midnight giggled as she and Moon Song both took a bow.

“I still didn’t understand a word of that,” Gossamer replied.

“It doesn’t matter, because music is deeper than words. Whether you understand them or not, music has a way of getting its message across,” Moon smiled and rubbed Pocket’s head. “And I’m guessing you’d like something.”

“I want many things right now, like seeing that performance a couple hundred more times, but… maybe an autograph if it isn’t much bother?” She smiled uncomfortably, not knowing if that was the sort of thing to ask your marefriend’s mother. But eh, the moment was as good as any.

“Hmm, are you perhaps talented in mind reading?” Moon smiled and floated something over. A first edition copy of one of her earlier records.

‘To my cute little fan Pockets. May you continue to bring love to the Moonlight~’

The unicorn squeaked in delight and held the vinyl disc close, “Oh my gosh! This is so awesome, Papa Spirit will be so freaking jealous!”

“I’m glad you like it dear,” Moon giggled as Midnight moved next to Pockets and hugged her close.

“How about an early night? We have to be up early tomorrow morning for training after all.” Midnight asked.

“Well if your parents don’t mind, I guess we could sleep here tonight. That is, if someone promises not to strangle me while I sleep.” She shot Gossamer a smirk.

“No promises,” he replied, showing his fangs as his golden eyes flashed.

“We’re double-locking the door tonight, aren’t we?” Pockets asked Midnight in an actually serious tone.

“It’ll be fine,” Midnight smiled as she lay her head on Pocket’s shoulder and her voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. “I still have to punish you remember~?”

The blush in Pockets’ face was way too strong, “Oh no…”

“As long as you clean up your mess,” Moon sighed, long used to her daughter’s antics. “Come along dear, let’s leave these lovebirds alone.”

“Yup,” Gossamer agreed and left Pockets to her fate.

“No! Don’t go, haaaalp! I am not ready, my butt is not ready!” She begged, trying to crawl out of this to no avail.

“Oh, we’re going to have so much fun~” Midnight giggled as she carried the unicorn mare off to her bedroom.

Pockets really hoped she didn’t have to walk much tomorrow. She was probably gonna be in bed for an eternity after that night “I’ve lived a good life...” She sighed.

Chapter Three - This home is not alone.

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As Luna's moon shone through the night sky, a lone figure stood over a small hill, looking at the group of mansions ahead with a wicked grin. Her long sunglow yellow mane with dark gray dyed details flowed with the night breeze, her wings fluttering ever so slightly. Her light blue coat contrasted with her devilish scarlet eyes. She took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the night and sighing in bliss and desire.

“Oh Cloud District... how much I’ve missed you.”

Suddenly, another figure rose from the darkness. Thin yet tall, towering over the pegasus even with his apparent young age. His rectangular face came out of the shadows, his deep set cold gray eyes glimmering faintly with the moonlight. He tilted his long and graceful neck and sighed in slight contempt at the cracks, “I take it this is it?” He said in his low, bored, cold reverberating voice. After a full on minute, his entire body was finally visible, the black and purple magical aura coming from his horn fading and retreating back into his cutie mark, a white skull surrounded by thick black smog, “Doesn’t look like much.”

“Oh you haven’t seen anything yet.” The mare chuckled, long used to the colt’s attitude, “This is the bird’s nest, some of the most disgustingly rich ponies in Canterlot live here. Perfect for your first job here in Canterlot.” She then arched a brow and turned to him with an unimpressed glare. He was all alone, again, “Where’s the rest?”

“You speak like if I cared.” The unicorn huffed in annoyance, casting a little shadow from his horn that moved and danced around for his unshown amusement.

“Whether you care or not is no reason to leave us behind, Dusk Skull,” Came a strongly accented female voice from behind the two. Her heavily muscled forelimbs and shoulders flexing with every step she made, her sturdily built toned muscled body being incredibly intimidating and showing her brute strength. She had several traditional zebra body paintings all over her body, and a prideful gleam in her eyes that accompanied her confident movement. Her cutie mark, a strange spiral symbol on her flank, meant strength and willpower from where she came from, she claimed, even if she had never even been in Zebrica.

“Azona, glad to see you as well.” The Pegasus smiled, “I hope you are ready to put those muscles of yours to test. We are going to need a lot of marepower tonight.”

“You always do, that’s why you keep me around isn’t it?” Azona snorted, “There’s no stronger equine than a zebra, and there’s no stronger zebra than Azona.” She put a hoof on her chest and smiled proudly, before blinking and looking around in confusion, “Now where's the rest?”

“That is exactly what I wanted to ask you. There is a reason why I make you go as a group.” The pegasus rolled her eyes, “Valiant will not be happy if we take too long. Most if not all of the big guys living here should be asleep by now and we should use that to our advantage. Remember that this is a timed trial, so wasting said time is not something you want to do right now.”

“Easy Sparkly Butt.” Came a rather annoying snicker from seemingly nowhere, “We can do that in two hours if needed. There’s no risk nor harm when Malachite is around.”

The pegasus snorted, before slamming her hoof on the ground, causing the voice to whimper and dig its way up, rubbing his head, “Hello Malachite, glad to see you joining us. And you didn't stay home sleeping for once. I was about to fly there and drag you here. “

“Geez Spark Cloud, you have no chill now do you?” The short, rather slim brown Diamond Dog said as he got out the hole on the ground, patting his red vest and blowing the cream-colored patch of hair that had fallen on his face, “And I don't sleep all the time… just most of it. “

“Can you please just stop calling me by my real name? I hate it!” The Pegasus groaned, “When we’re at work, it’s Thunderstorm for you all!”

“I think your real name is rather cute~” Came a soft, incredibly feminine voice that sent shivers down Malachite’s spine. A slim, well-proportioned female Capricorn drew closer. She resembled a pony of cream colored coat and salmon pink mane. Yet unlike a regular pony, two sheep-like horns came from the upper part of her head, and the lower part of her body consisted of a long multicolored fish-like tail, ending in a razor-sharp bladed fin. She bowed politely and smiled sweetly, a smile that hid an insatiable bloodlust contained by her chirpiness, “I hope I am not too late my dear friends.”

“Mystique, girl, you are always on time!” The diamond dog grinned with a wiggle of his eyebrows, causing a soft giggle to leave Mystique’s mouth.

Thunderstorm sighed, “Well that’s four… now where the buck is—”

“Where the buck is who?” a voice said from right behind her.

Thunderstorm’s face went flat. This group and its shenanigans. “You’ve been there all along, haven’t you Shadow Blade?”

“Maybe,” he chuckled. “At least the view back here is nice~”

He got slapped in the face by Thunderstorm’s tail, who turned around with an unamused expression, “I can’t believe you. Valiant assigned you to watch over these four barely-adults, no, bloody teenagers, no! Freaking foals! And you just leave them behind and hope they catch up. Is that how you think leadership works?”

“More or less,” he shrugged. “It’s good training if a mission goes south. If they can’t navigate on their own, it’s the dungeons for them. Or will you risk life and limb to go back for ‘em?”

“Sweet Princess you are just like Valiant.” Thunderstorm muttered, “I understand why he likes you so much now. Freaking using a thestral body these past weeks.”

“Ten minutes alone with me, and you’ll like me too,” he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

The Pegasus deadpanned, and turned to the others, “Ok everyone. Hope you’re all ready for what is coming. You have an angry pegasus mare who you have already disappointed, an entire building full of runts back home looking up to you, and a changeling who you owe your life to, one that will not be happy if you fail.” She explained, stepping to the side, “And of course, twenty mansions to rob, four hours tops. Do not dare fail the Orphanage.”

“Whatever…” Dusk Skull sighed, “Let’s get this over with.”

“Let’s kick some flank.” Azona grinned, flexing her muscles.

“Well, time to shine.” Malachite yawned, moving his fingers and flexing them, “By the way, if I find a pair of panties I’m keeping them.”

“Oh this is so exciting!” Mystique giggled, raising her tail in anticipation and making sure the blade was sharp enough to easily cut some throats if needed to.

“Tch, what a drag,” Blade sighed as he drew a dagger and observed it. “I could be at a bar, picking up mares that don’t have a stick up their plot,” He casted a glance at the pegasus.

“Oh how funny.” She snorted in return, before cracking her tail like a whip and taking off, “Four hours, no errors, go!”

Midnight stirred slightly and smacked her lips. She was feeling a bit thirsty after her… exercise, and slowly extracted herself from Pocket’s grip. She smiled at the mare and kissed her cheek, before moving silently from the room and downstairs towards the kitchen. Her steps were a little slow, she’d really exerted herself tonight.

She headed into the kitchen and moved to the sink, turning the tap and just drinking straight from that. Her ear gave a small twitch and her head snapped up. Something… was outside the house. There was a soft metallic rustle, was it perhaps a dog or some other creature messing with the gates? No… a regular dog wouldn’t make that much noise.

Midnight frowned and turned towards the front door. Probably the neighborhood brats again. They liked to come up every now and then to mess with the nobles.

How dare they not invite Midnight along?

But then why did the noises stop with a loud crack? One thing was messing with the gate, another thing was seemingly breaking it.

“Little brats, or some ballsy paparazzi?” Midnight replied and took one of the wingblades mounted above the mantle… just in case. She edged closer to the front door and peered through the peephole.

At first sight, she saw nothing. Everything seemed to be just in place, the guard’s outpost was still there, no alarms had gone off, and the gate seemed in perfect… wait… the anti-magic wards were tilted? And why were the green lights that usually accompanied them off?

Midnight’s ears swivelled around, trying to pick up any sounds. She could hear Pockets snoring upstairs, her parents… also asleep…

“What’s going on here?” she muttered to herself as she reached for the door handle. Yet she stopped when her ears picked up another sound, a sound any pony could recognize immediately. Something, or someone, had been teleported into the mansion, there was someone in the main hall. The telltale crack and the scent of burnt ozone… there was no mistaking it. Midnight turned and then walked up the wall and along the ceiling, moving silently she inched closer to the source of the disturbance.

Although the light was faint, she managed to see two strange silhouettes that seemed to be arguing about something. The first one was most likely a unicorn, yet the second one was far harder to identify, the only thing Midnight could make out being the two strange-looking horns it had.

“You do realize I was about to deactivate the wards, right? You didn’t have to break them. Someone could have heard that.” The first figure whispered, a whisper only Midnight’s incredible hearing could pick up.

‘So it’s some thieves… and a couple of amateurs by the looks of it.’ Midnight smiled to herself. She’d observe the situation a bit more first, then decide on an action.

The second figure just giggled and… slithered around? Looking at the decorations that the Living Room held, “Ohhh, this is pretty! Do you think I could keep it for myself if I asked nicely?”

“Maybe, Thunderstorm adores you so you can probably get away with anything.” The first figure sighed, using his magic to raise a bag and place a bunch of items in. Meanwhile, the second figure, one that even with more lighting Midnight still couldn’t recognize, began humming a tune as she kept checking the place out. She found a beautiful pearl necklace and tried it on, smiling when she saw just how pretty she looked on it

Let’s see how they liked mind games.

“That doesn’t belong to you!” a dark and echoed voice seemed to come from everywhere.

The two-horned figure eeped and hid behind the unicorn, shivering slighly and looking everywhere in search for the source, ”I… I think there are ghosts here!” She said a bit more loudly.

The unicorn sighed, “No there are not. It’s just what happens when you make too much noise during a robbery!” His horn began glowing, a dark aura surrounding his horn when he scanned the area, “If you are going to call the police, don’t bother. We cut all connections to the outer world. And I can sense dragon fire and stop it from reaching anywhere, so you can’t use that either.”

He was greeted with utter silence, save for a faint giggling and the odd rattle of something metallic.

“Do… you wanna play with me~?” came the filly-like voice.

Then came another eep from the capricorn, who trembled faster, “N-no! Please leave us alone creepy ghost!”

“I am not afraid of you.” The unicorn said plainly, “Just come out here so we can end this soon.”

“I just want to play a game,” the voice said. “But… I have a question.”

“W-w-what?” The capricorn asked, trying to become as small as possible and curl into a little ball.

Something dropped down as a pair of glowing crimson eyes and gleaming fangs stared only an inch from the unicorn’s face.

“ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?”

“YES!” The Capricorn squealed and ran up the stairs in fear, much to her companion’s annoyance.

“Oh look what you did! Now I have to make sure she doesn’t get into trouble!” He groaned, rubbing his eyes, “And to answer your question...”

Suddenly, Midnight felt very, very cold, a strange dark power surrounding her body and pulling her away from the unicorn, who showed no expression but an annoyed frown.

“I’m not afraid of the dark, I control it!” With a turn of his head, the thestral was pushed away into a wall, crashing into a glass table. “At this point, I don’t care if they hear us.” The unicorn grunted, slamming her into the roof, “If I have to, I’ll kill everyone in this house. Hopefully I don’t have to,I’d prefer not making more of a ruckus than Mystique already caused.” He slammed her into the door, and then dropped her injured body on the floor, “So please, stay down and let us finish what we came to do.”

Okay. So maybe Midnight had screwed this one up. Goddam. Fucking. Unicorns. Her absolutely everything ached after being used as a pingpong ball… yet…

“Heh… fucking pansy,” she muttered and spat out some blood. “My fillyfriend hits harder than that.” Thaaat’s right, keep him focused on you. Leave the others alone.

“Glad to know,” The unicorn said in the most cold, sarcastic way possible, scanning the area to see if he could find the missing capricorn, “Don’t even try, I can break your bones in an instant if I need to.”

“Is that all?” she replied and then kicked off with her hooves, rocketing towards him at blinding speeds.

“What else do yOU—” The unicorn huffed, not having expected her to keep moving after all that. And she kept moving alright, even as she tackled him through a door and into the study. Pinning him to the ground, she kept one hoof on his horn and pressed down.

“Now,” she panted and stared at him. “Start talking!”

“I’d rather not.” The unicorn said coldly, “And could you not do that? My horn is rather sensitive.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Midnight mocked gasped and pressed harder. “After all, it’s not like I’m the one dumb enough to break into my house.”

“Yeah… about that. You do realize that as soon as my companion realizes I’m not following her, she will come looking for me and… well, things will not be pretty.” The unicorn said without a flinch.

“The weird...seapony...thing?” Midnight glanced upstairs.

“Yes, the weird seapony thing.” The unicorn rolled his eyes, “And don’t call her like that if you want to at least live another day. She may not look like much but there’s a reason we keep her around, and I mean literally. If there’s someone upstairs you better pray she doesn’t find them.”

And then… Midnight heard the faint sound of a door opening on the second floor.

Midnight’s eyes widened as she drew a hoof back and struck the unicorn on the head to knock him out, before flying towards the staircase.

The first thing she noticed was the opened door, which much to her annoyance and distress was her own bedroom door. The second thing she noticed when she darted in was the hissing creature who had Pockets pinned to the wall, a long blade-like tail inches away from the unicorn’s neck. The third thing was that Pockets could have easily teleported out, yet for some strange reason she was just there, not using her magic at all. And the fourth thing, the mouthed ‘Help’ that the small unicorn left out.

Midnight let out a feral growl as she bared her fangs and hissed. “Let. Her. Go!” she warned and took a step forward. “Or so help me, I will be having fish fillet for a midnight snack!”

“FISH!?” The capricorn hissed back, turning around and revealing her own sharp fangs, “What is with everyone tonight calling me a damn fish or sea monster! I’m a capricorn! We live in rivers you uncultured dumb horses!!”

“Oh, okay,” Midnight nodded. “Allow me to retract. Let her go, or I’ll see what the insides of a capricorn look like on the outside!”

“Thank you!” The capricorn sighed, still keeping Pockets pinned on the wall and glaring at her with a death stare, “At least someone understands!”

“I said… I was sorry!” Pockets managed to say, struggling to break free.

“A simple sorry does not make up for you CALLING ME A SEA MONSTER!” She roared, her voice full of rage and despise, her blade making contact with Pockets’ neck yet not quite hurting her... yet.

“Okay, you need to calm down,” Midnight replied. Why hadn’t Pockets teleported away? “Look, you broke the wards around the house. Just… step away and I’ll give you a few things to take alright? Maybe some pretty jewelry?”

‘Wait… the wards aren’t working anymore?’ Pockets thought to herself, a wide smile forming on her muzzle.

“Jewerly will not do, not like I won’t take it all anyways. I can only be happy with blood.” The capricorn grinned maliciously, before stabbing the unicorn in the heart… or so she would have, if at the very last second she hadn’t just vanished. “WHAT!?”

“Haha! Foolish fool, you broke the wards meaning I can use my magic again!” Pockets grinned and posed dramatically, before glancing at Midnight, “Can we kick her ass now?”

“Oh yes,” Midnight said and drew her sword. “She’s going to pay for threatening you!” Her blood boiled as she glared at the Capricorn. “I’m going to enjoy tearing her scales off. One. By. One!”

“Oh I love it when you get protective.” Pockets giggled and kissed Midnight’s cheek, before smirking, her horn glowing strong as she locked eyes with the capricorn, “And you better scratch that, you’re not tearing her scales off, we are.”

“Oh don’t make me puke!” The capricorn snorted, her tail cracking like a whip, “I will eat you alive, both of you!” She darted forwards with amazing speed, slithering towards her prey with a jaw wide open and letting them see her many, many fangs.

Some of which flew threw the air when Midnight turned and delivered a powerful buck to the right side of her face, causing her to crash into the vanity.

“Gonna enjoy killing you,” Midnight growled as she whipped her wingblade around.

“Curious, I was about to say the same thing.” The capricorn grinned, dashing forwards once again and preparing her blade, parrying with Midnight’s own and hissing,

Yet she was blown once more into the broken table by a powerful blast of magic, a small trail of smoke coming from Pockets’ horn which she blew away with a smirk, “Forgot about me?”

“Dirty unicorn!” She snarled.

“Oh she is,” Midnight replied, the window of opportunity helping her snap back to normal. “You see, she does this little thing with her tongue that just—”

“Really?” Pockets stopped her with an amused grin, finding the look of the confused capricorn delightful, “There is someone trying to kill us, and you go for the dirty joke. Celestia I’m a terrible influence.”

“Oh no, I’m usually much, much worse,” Midnight replied with a cheeky wink. She was already feeling better, despite the murderous creature in the room.

“Oh I love you.” Pockets giggled and prepared another beam. “You are like the mos—”

She didn’t get to finish, the capricorn using the moment to ram towards Pockets and make her crash into the closet, earning a pained gasp from her. She looked right into Pockets eyes, her bloodthirsty gaze and terrifying giggle being quickly followed by a slash of her blade which was aimed to the neck. Time to see some annoying heads roll.

Yet the blade didn't connect. Instead, it crashed against a long, metallic tube that had been hiding in the closet and Pockets had picked up pretty much out of instinct.

“What kind of terrible sword is that!?” The capricorn questioned utterly shocked and confused at her weapon choice.

“Huh…?” Midnight looked past her. “Oh! That’s the case for my Mister Happy 9000.”

“Oh yes, it’s quite the innovation in weaponry.” Pockets snorted, “It’s blunt, but it has amazing penetrating power.” Then, her impromptu weapon was thrown off her magical grasp by the blade, the capricorn going once more for the slash… and jumping back with a shocked eep as she saw the new weapon that had been picked up, a weapon that could only be described as big, thick, and rubbery.

“WHAT IS THAT HORRID THING!?” The capricorn screeched in disbelief, horrified by the sheer size and obscenity of it. Every new detail she saw on it sent shivers down her spine, it was just so… wrong.

“I… honestly have no idea.” Pockets said in curiosity, turning it around and giving it a good look, “Damn, never seen one this big.”

“Ohh, that’s my dragon one,” Midnight replied. “Was gonna use that next actually.”

“…Well crap.” Pockets gulped, not knowing whether to look forwards to or fear that day. Well, a thought for another day. She grinned and returned to her battle stance, wiggling her weapon.

The capricorn on the other hoof, was still trembling, staying as far away from the rubber ‘sword’ as possible. Pockets wiggled it again, and the poor capricorn eeped in fear.

“Mm, that was expensive, but the real thing was better,” Midnight nodded. “Oh, if you hit that switch, it lights up and…”

“Stop!” The capricorn shouted, darting forwards and doing a rather erratic and poorly thought out slash directed at Midnight. Midnight parried the blow and swept her other wing, catching her on the back of her head and knocking her forward. Once she was on the ground, Midnight placed a hoof on the small of her back to hold her there.

“Right,” she sighed and sheathed her sword. “You are going to calm down, and explain why you are trying to kill us! Is this about Grumble? Did he somehow send you!?”

“I… wait what? Grumble?” The capricorn quirked an eyebrow, “Who’s that?”

“Then what about Angel Wings? Dead Drop?” Midnight pressed harder and Mystique could feel her bones protesting. “Answer me, or Pockets here will use that weapon on you… thoroughly.”

The unicorn wiggled it around with a snicker, causing the capricorn to squeak in fear, “I… I don’t know who they are! I promise! Please keep that monstrosity away from me!”

“Heeey, I’m not that bad.” Pockets frowned in faux indignation.

“You sort of are,” Midnight replied and looked back at the Capricorn. She got Pockets to get the cuffs and hornwarp, before tying her up, which were totally not the ones they used last night to do… things.

“Right, you’re under arrest by order of the Canterlot Guard,” she said as she stepped back. “Yes, that’s right. You just tried to rob the house of a Royal Guard. Now you stay here while I go and get your creepy friend.”

“Looking for me?” Came a cold, unamused voice.

Standing there in the door, the unicorn held up three different things at once. Midnight’s deeply asleep parents, and a kitchen knife. Midnight froze when she saw this, her eyes widened as her heart raced. There was… no way she’d reach him in time, not to save both of them.

“Now you listen to me carefully.” The unicorn colt said, keeping the two close, “These two were put under a hypnosis spell and won’t wake up no matter what, and if you try anything funny I will not think twice before stabbing them. So you better leave my companion alone, let us leave peacefully and without setting off any alarms, or else they will both be stuck on a deep sleep for the rest of eternity, and I’m not talking about the spell.” He pressed the tip of the knife against Gossamer’s neck, a diminute drop of blood leaving his neck and showing just how serious he was about his threats.

“Fine. Just… put them down, please,” Midnight said slowly as she released the Capricorn and pulled Pockets away from the pair.

“Middy,” Pockets whispered, “I have an idea.” The bat’s ear twitched to signal that she’d heard her, but her eyes never left the unicorn. “Well, it’s more of a do now, ask questions later deal.” The unicorn grinned awkwardly… before shooting two fast yet weak blast of magic at Midnight’s parents, pushing them back and out of the taller unicorn’s grip, right before slamming Midnight’s “special sword” into his face, slapping him quickly and repeatedly, before slamming it into his face once more.

He blinked in annoyance, looking to his sides and noticing the lack of hostages, “Well crap.” He teleported next to the capricorn and broke her free, the two getting ready to fight.

“You,” Midnight stepped forward, drawing her blade slowly. “You break into my house. You threaten my parents! The love of my LIFE!” She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t even pissed.

Oooh no, she was waaaay beyond pissed. The growl coming from her throat reminded everypony in the room of something akin to a monster from the Everfree.

Actually, that would have been less dangerous.

“Boo hoo cry me a river.” The unicorn said before firing off a powerful beam of sheer dark magic at the thestral.

Pockets stepped in and shot a beam of her own, her dark blue-colored magic keeping his power at bay, “Go! Deal with the fish, I’ll keep him distracted.”

“Did you just call me a fish!? The capricorn hissed and furiously darted towards Midnight.The thestral turned and grabbed her by the horns, twisting her and slamming her into the ground face first.

“Stay. DOWN!” she yelled, slamming her face into the ground again. “I don’t care how sexy you are, nopony threatens my family!”

“Wait… sexy?” The capricorn quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

Midnight nodded. “Well, if you hadn’t been a murderous thief… Hmm, I’d tap that.”

“Why thank YOU!” Mystique hissed and used the window of opportunity to shove her away, “But I don’t date targets… but you are pretty cute not going to lie. Still.”

“Hey! Flirting without m-me… gah, so rude!” Pockets huffed as she kept the beam going.

“Target?” Midnight lowered her stance. “So you are after me and Pockets then!?”

“No, you’re not so special.” The unicorn said calmly, the use of this amount of magic being nothing to him, “We’re after all of you rich ponies, and that includes you.” He yawned, and with the yawn came even more power from his horn, pushing Pockets’ beam back.

“Don’t let up Pockets!” Midnight called out. “You can’t let that two bit magician beat you. The mare I love is way stronger than that hack!”

Pockets smiled at the motivation, her magic getting back some ground yet still not enough to beat the dark mage.

“Ha, you fool!” The capricorn grinned as she launched herself forwards, knocking Midnight back. Her tail clashed against Midnight’s blade once more, pulling back to slash at a different angle yet parrying again, “No regular unicorn can beat Dusk, his dark arcane powers can easily overpower your dumb unicorn magic!”

“Then you underestimate her,” Midnight replied as she knocked the tail away and took a step forward, her blade blurred and the Capricorn felt a sharp sting on her cheek. “Pockets is… she’s my perfect song. One that I’ll sing about forever!”

Suddenly, Pickett’s magic grew stronger, her heart racing not because of the amount of stress all that magic was laying upon her head, but because of the sweet words being talked about her, the hope Midnight had, the way she believed in her.

The male unicorn felt this sudden shift in power, grunting and focusing his dark powers to their maximum power, which even then kept being pushed back by Pockets’ own beam, a beam that began to show small pink details, “I don’t know what’s going on, her magic is somehow becoming more powerful. Stop her!”

The capricorn nodded and darted towards Pockets with her blade ready to strike, only to have Midnight grab her tail in her mouth, her pointed fangs sinking into the soft flesh.

The capricorn screeched and pushed Midnight back, rubbing her injured skin and looking at her with a death stare, “You maniac!”

“Says the crazy river snake trying to kill us!” Midnight yelled back. “Here’s an idea. Why don’t you just—” she grabbed her tail. Get!—” She started to swing. “OUT!” and with a mighty toss, threw the Capricorn out of the second story window.

“Mystique!” Skull shouted. And Pockets used that window of opportunity to double her efforts, keeping her motivation in her mind, Midnight and the safety of her home and family, the safety of the two of them, their future, their love.

The beam doubled in size, quickly overpowering Skull’s own and pushing him into the wall, which soon gave up and broke due to the sheer power, blasting him out of the second floor as well and leaving a sizeable hole in the pink wall.

“Uhm… I can fix that?” Pockets blinked. She really hadn’t expected that much power, small sparks running around her horn. Midnight panted and rubbed her jaw, being flung off of her tail like that had hurt. Still… She rushed to her damaged closet and opened the back of it, revealing a hidden compartment filled with actual weapons. She grabbed to fresh blades and attached them, before leaping out of the hole in the wall and into the sky.

“Midnight, wait!” Pockets called out, rushing to the edge of the newly made exit. But her call was too late, Midnight was already out and high in the night sky, her emerald eyes scanning the area and searching for the two murderous thieves.

Dusk grunted as he stood up, his legs shaking from the pain. “What… was that? That wasn’t regular magic!”

“Does it matter?” Mystique hissed, her tail hurting like hell itself, “Thundercloud will be pissed that we’re failing so miserably, and ‘you-know-who’ will just cut our heads off!”

“I’m calling Blade for help.” Skull sighed, his horn glowing softly, “These mares mean trouble.”

“I found you!” Midnight screeched from high above them and dived towards them.

Skull stepped in front of the injured Mystique and prepared a bolt of magic, yet it was evident that he had exhausted his horn, the charging blast being weary and unstable.”Come on Blade, where are you?” He grunted under his breath, his eyes darting left and right.

Midnight landed on the lawn in front of them. “Okay, I’m glad you aren’t seriously hurt,” she said. “But, I’m going to have to arrest you now okay? So I’d appreciate it if you came along cooperatively and quietly.”

Skull stepped forwards, yet he was soon stopped by Mystique’s tail who stopped him.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Mystique sighed, finally returning to her former self, “There is no way around it, we lost.”

“B-But!” Skull grunted.

“It’s alright… he’ll fix this.” Mystique grinned mischievously, her keen eye having picked up something doing circles around them from above. Her wandering gaze didn’t go unnoticed by Midnight however, her own gaze drifting upwards…

Before being tackled out of the way by a dark figure who pinned her down. Two vibrant ruby eyes stared into her emerald own, a soft, sly grin across the thestral’s face

“Well now, and here I thought tonight would be a total bust,” he smiled. “Turns out I get a cute mare after all.”

Midnight was surprised, mostly that it was a thestral that got the drop on her. A really handsome one at that. “Mmm, not bad, not bad at all,” she purred. “I wouldn’t mind taking you on a pony ride sometime~”

“Ooh, you're speaking my language beautiful,” Blade smiled, flashing his trademark ladykiller smile. “You know, I was getting bored foalsitting these brats. How about you and me go find a nice cloud and make it rain~?”

“Tempting, as long as I can bring a friend. I just can’t leave her alone after all.”

“Two for one? My lucky night!” Blade grinned, utterly forgetting about the other two there.

Then before the female thestral could respond, Blade received a powerful blast to the side that pushed him back. Pockets had teleported down with an unamused expression across her face, turning to Midnight with a deadpan, “Really? Flirting with the enemy? Get your priorities straight darnit!”

“Oh come on, he’s cute!” Midnight argued as she rolled to her hooves. “Fine, I suppose we can come back to this later.”

“Whoa, feisty,” Blade smiled and bat his stunning ruby eyes at her, his voice like fine woven silk. “I like your friend even more now.”

“Ok Pockets, don’t think about how hot he is, don’t think about his smooth sexy voice. He’s the enemy, focus!” The unicorn told herself, “Ok this is hard, he’s really hot, I need an adult.”

“Getting jealous now,” Midnight said and turned to him. “Tell you what, why don't you go find that cloud while I arrest those two over there?”

“Well… damn,” Blade sighed. “Now I have a dilemma. I really wanna take you up on that, but I also gotta look out for these two. What to do… what to do…?”

“You bastard are really considering leaving us for them!?” Skull groaned.

“B-But Blade, I thought you liked me!” Mystique pouted.

“Aww, of course I like my little river princess,” he smiled. “Well, guess I got no choice. Sorry Skull, I’m not really into dudes. So you can run along while I have some fun with my lovely ladies here.”

“Do you really want me to call Thundercloud in here?” Skull scowled in annoyance. If there was one being who could get in his nerves, that was Blade.

Shadow Blade paused and looked at the shady unicorn. Heh, shady. “Aw come on now, no need to get all serious. You can play too then. No homo right?”

“If it wasn’t for the fact that you are his favorite, I would so kill you right now.” Skull scowled.

“What on Equestria is going on in here?” Came an accented voice as a zebra mare jumped over the freaking wall that separated the mansion from the outside with ease. “This is the only house left, what is taking you two so long?”

Dusk Skull simply pointed at the two thestrals. “The female bat kicked our asses, as did the little unicorn filly!”

“Heeey! Why does everyone take me for a filly dammit!” Pockets pouted and crossed her forearms, “I’m a grown up dammit!”

“Shh, the big ponies are talking right now,” Midnight replied, eyeing up the newcomer.

She stuck her tongue out and blew them all a raspberry, “Buck off.”

“I did that remember?” Midnight flashed a smile at her. “Six times already.”

“Oh dayum,” Blade whistled.

“That does not sound like a filly’s language.” The zebra quirked an eyebrow.

“I hate you all, ‘specially her.” Pockets deadpanned, pointing at Midnight. The thestral mare gave her a look of mock hurt before looking back at the group.

“Alright, so now it’s what? Four against two? Not very sporting is it?”

“Do we look like the sporty bunch?” Skull sighed, his horn glowing, “This useless charade has gone for far too long. Let’s finish them off and go home, shall we?”

“Sounds like a plan.” The zebra cracked her back, grinning maliciously as she prepared to tackle them.

“Uhm… Midnight?” Pockets glanced at her marefriend, her horn glowing as well.

“Hmm,” Midnight sized up the situation. One flyer, one magic user, a speed type and a heavy. “This could be… problematic. You guys sure are hardcore for thieves.”

“You have no idea Missy.” The Zebra grinned before rushing towards the two with a loud battlecry.

“Waaaait!” Mystique exclaimed, pointing at the sky with a hoof.

The group saw in shock, worry, and anger between other things how Celestia’s sun began rising, their time limit was over.

“Buck that! Killing them will be worth it.” Skull groaned.

“And how long before all the noise we make attracts the Guard?” Blade said. “We’re within pissing distance of the Castle, so let's bail while we got the chance.” Plus there was no way he could, in good conscience, mess up the face of such a sexy thestral mare.

“As much as I hate saying it..” The zebra huffed, relaxing her muscles, “Blade’s right. We have to get going.”

“You must be crazy if you think we’ll let you escape.” Pockets narrowed her eyes, “You are all coming with us. And for once, that is not an euphemism.”

“Pockets, stand down,” Midnight said and stepped back, holding her wing in front of her.

“Wait… are you really gonna let us go?” Mystique quirked an eyebrow.

MIdnight hated to admit it, but she was outnumbered here. That zebra mare seemed to have powerful earth pony magic and she couldn’t discount the dark magic the unicorn had. The Capricorn was a complete unknown and the thestral… was really distracting.

She could take them… if she used that, but without permission…

Maybe Celestia and Luna would forgive her? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she stood still. Something felt… off about the bat. Something that made Pockets and Skull’s horns itch uncomfortably. Something… wrong.

“Uhm… Middy?” Pockets stepped back.

“Guys… something is not right.” Skull grunted, stepping back as well. Blade narrowed his eyes. What the heck was she doing that could make Skull freak out?

A loud shout came from one of the neighbouring mansions. “H-Help! I’ve been robbed! Somepony call the guard!!”

The earth shook between them, and out of the blue, a capuchin colored diamond dog hopped out of the ground with a pair of pink, lacy panties in his mouth, “Guys, I’ve dun goof,”

“Oh for crying out loud Malachite!” Skull facehooved.

“Quick, into the hole!” Azona commanded.

“Well well well, what do we have here.” Malachite grinned and eyed the two mares, “Hey, name’s Ma—” His words turned into a whimper when Azona bucked him into the hole, hopping in as well, followed by Mystique.

“Blade, go in. I’ll seal the exit!” Skull said as he kept the two mares in check, his horn still glowing, Midnight opened her eyes and… Skull’s skin crawled. The look in her eyes. Was…

“Target… aquired,” she said flatly, devoid of emotion. “Beginning termination of target spellcaster.”

“Blade for buck’s sake!” Skull shouted, his legs trembling. The thestral nodded and dove in the hole. He hated being underground. Midnight raced at Dusk, her wingblade cutting the very air itself as she swung in a wide arc.

“Dirge of Death!”

Yet as this happened, a dark aura surrounded Pockets, and she felt her horn twitch and cast magic against her will… a teleportation spell.

“Goodnight.” Skull’s voice echoed through her head, before she and the dark mage switched places just as Midnight was inches away from him.

“Buck me…” Pockets’ eyes widened up as the terrifying image of a deadly Midnight approached her, closing her eyes and she felt a sharp pain on her neck, but…

She slowly opened one eye, to see that Midnight’s blade had stopped just in time, a thin line of blood oozing from the shallow cut on the side of her neck. It just occurred to Pockets, just how close she came to literally losing her head.

“Uhh… B-batty?” She gulped, a pained gulp due to the injury.

Midnight’s eyes blinked and they resumed their normal state… only to grow wide in horror as she slowly looked at her blade, and the subsequent injury it caused. “No…” she whispered as she stepped back. “No...no...nonono…” She tore the blades off and threw them aside as she became more and more hysterical.

“Midnight, chill, relax and breath.” Pockets said, trying her best to calm the thestral down, “I’m fine, it wasn’t anything big. Calm down—”

“Calm down! CALM DOWN!?” She screeched and moved away from her. “I did that… I nearly killed you… all because I…” She gave a choked sob as several Guard were already approaching from the castle.

“But you didn’t!” Pockets stomped on the ground and shouted with a spell that intensified her volume, sending several guards back and probably waking half the district up, “Now you are going to bucking shut up and listen to me, GOT IT!?”

“I… I hurt you… I hurt the one I love...again,” she sobbed curling into a ball and shaking badly. Several guards approached them after Pocket’s outburst.

“Ma’am? Is everypony okay?” one pegasus asked. “What happened here?” He saw her wound and pointed at another guard. “Get a Medic here!”

“No need. I told you, it’s not a big bucking deal.” Pockets sighed. Usually the shouting worked. Time for plan B. She walked towards Midnight and hugged her tight with all her strength, not allowing any complains or attempts at shoving her off. Midnight made no such attempt, her shaking was getting worse though. She just kept murmuring ‘I hurt her’ over and over.

Suddenly, the thestral felt… warm, both on the inside and outside. Both her body and Pockets’ own glowed with a faint, pink light, the hug tightening as a strange magical aura covered them. Time seemed to stop for a moment, and the world seemed to disappear around them, leaving them with no one but themselves. Pockets nuzzled her marefriend, held her close, comforted her. And in what seemed like a dream, she spoke without opening her mouth, her voice reverberating.

“You did no such thing,” She spoke, in a voice both commanding and comforting, strong yet soothing, a voice that would put Celestia’s own to shame, “I can sense just how much you love me. And it is because of that love that you stopped your attack, it is because of your strength that I am still alive. You are no monster,” The thestral’s head was raised, her emerald eyes locked with Pocket’s dark blue ones, the unicorn atop of her smiling softly, “You are my hero, my most beloved one. And I know you were just trying to protect me.”

“No… you’ll hate me…” Midnight shivered, not wanting to look her marefriend in the eyes

“Hate you?” Pockets giggled and softly ran a delicate, silk-like trail of magic over the thestral’s body, “How could I ever hate someone who’d risk her life for me without thinking it twice? How could I ever hate someone who would search for me from Cloudsdale to Tartarus itself? Midnight…” Her magic raised Midnight’s head, and gave it a deep, caring, loving kiss, half-breaking it to give her a soft smile and whisper, “I love you, and that will never change.”

“I… don’t deserve you,” Midnight whispered.

“And I don’t deserve you.” Pockets said with a grin, “Guess that makes us an even more perfect couple huh? Midnight, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, don’t let a simple mistake destroy that. I’m tough, I have to be if I want to keep being your marefriend. You do hit pretty hard in bed.” The unicorn smirked, nuzzling Midnight, “Now please, for me, stop crying, and become the cocky, sassy, fun and amazing mare I fell in love with.”

And as she said this, the world seemed to return to its usual colors, the strong, warm aura vanishing slowly and returning them to the real world. Yet before it did, Pockets whispered one final thing inside Midnight’s mind, “I love you…”

After that, everything seemed to fly by in a blur. Medics were seeing to the two of them as well as Midnight’s parents. Unicorn Guards were attempting tracing spells as dozens of Nobles were all launching various reports and complaints. Midnight and Pickett were ushered off to the castle, somepony there was waiting to speak with them. Yet just as they left, one quick glance at Pockets’ neck would have shown no injury, but a small, barely visible scar instead.

That certain somepony turned out to be Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. And both of them looked… unamused.

Pockets was forced to wait in the hall while they spoke to Midnight, but with the door ajar ever-so-slightly, she could hear the conversation after applying a hearing enhancement spell.

What? It saved lugging around a stethoscope when safecracking.

“So is this report correct?” Celestia stated in a neutral tone as Midnight stood before them.

“Yes your Highness,” the thestral replied.

“Because, if it is to be believed. Then not only did you engage in battle without summoning for any backup, you put several citizens in harm's way, including your own parents.”

Midnight remained silent for a moment. “Yes… your Highness.”

“Not only that,” Luna continued. “You used what we expressly forbade you from using without permission, nearly taking the life of an innocent in the process!”

That reminder was like an icicle stabbed through her heart. It took every ounce of willpower she had not to curl up again. “Y-yes… your Highness.”

“We have gone over your report for the Tall Tale incident as well,” Celestia continued. “MIdnight Song. We will ask you… Are you capable of doing your job?”

Midnight was silent for a moment again. Was she? She’d gotten so riled up over a bunch of thieves, and not to mention what had happened at Tall Tale. “I…” she started and paused. “Yes your Highness. I believe I am.”

Celestia and Luna looked at one another, before the latter left the room with a flash of light. Once she had left, the white alicorn leaned down to the thestral’s eye level. “I know, that these past few months have been… harrowing. But the fact remains that you used Blood Rage at least twice in Tall Tale, and then your Lyrica trance without permission. You know what that does—”

“I know!” Midnight snapped then closed her mouth and bowed her head. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“I’m worried about you,” Celestia said as she put a wing over her. “You’re an excellent guard, one of my very best.” She moved her wing and nodded. “Aerial Ace is here. He’s waiting in the training yards for you.”

If Midnight wasn’t nervous before, she sure as hell was now.

“Go on, you know he’ll come looking if you avoid him,” Celestia smiled and nuzzled her. “I need to have a few words with Pickett first though,”

“Yes, your High-” Midnight’s mouth was clamped with a golden aura and Celestia shook her head. Once she was released, Midnight tried again.

“Thank you… Tia.”

“Better,” Celestia smiled. “Go on now.”

Midnight nodded and turned, walking towards and out of the door, pausing to look at Pockets, but before she could say anything…

“Miss Pickett, a word?” Celestia called out to her.

“Coming.” Pockets called out, before pecking Midnight’s lips, “I love you, never forget that. Also wish me luck because I think they’re about to roast me real good, and getting roasted by the Sun Princess does not sound pretty.” She smirked, booping Midnight’s nose.

“Well, you’re hot enough as is,” Midnight retorted without thinking.

Pockets snorted and rolled her eyes, “There’s the batty I love.” She grinned, leaning in for a kiss. But fate would not have it, as a certain white alicorn called her again. She shot Midnight a wink and went going, having no idea of what to expect, “Sweet Sunbutt… royalty sure has no chill.”

Midnight watched her leave, before turning and heading towards the barracks, ignoring the small fire that burned at her own Princess. If she hurt Pockets then… Midnight paused in her step and shook her head, before resuming her trek to the barracks.

Once Pockets was in the study, Celestia closed the door behind her. “Thank you for joining me today,” she said politely. “Would you care for some tea?”

“No thanks.” Pockets said in a rather cold tone, her expression changing as soon as she made sure Midnight wasn’t hearing them, “So, what do you need me for? I’m fine, Midnight did nothing wrong. We just had trouble with some thieves, that’s all. Can we please forget this happened and move on? I have a marefriend to cheer up.”

“That bandage around your neck says otherwise,” Celestia replied, seemingly unfazed by the unicorn’s tone. “Accidental or not, the fact remains that you were injured by the recklessness of one of my Guards, who should have known better.’

“No. was injured because of the idiot who made me switch places with him! We were outmatched, by a lot, with no way to call for backup. She did it to protect me. And look!” Pockets’ magic removed the bandage to reveal a small scar where the injury was once at, seemingly having healed overnight, “Nothing! So please, just… don’t do anything to Midnight. She was only doing what she thought was right.”

“And her using a technique she knew she was forbidden from using?” Celestia replied calmly. “Or the fact you were kidnapped recently, just so that pony could get at Midnight?” Celestia moved to sit on one of her massive pillows on the floor. “Midnight Song’s recent performance has been worrisome.”

Pockets deadpanned and took a few moments, before looking at the Princess with a far calmer expression, “Okay your majesty. Let’s get a little creative for a minute here. Imagine that your sister has been kidnapped, unable to use her powers and about to be killed by a maniac who hates the night or something. Tell me, wouldn’t you do anything to help her?”

“You… are quite the shrewd mare,” Celestia chuckled. She hadn’t had somepony talk to her this brazenly in a long time. “Touché.” She lifted the cup of tea she had poured to her lips and took a delicate sip.

“Heck yeah bluntness!” Pockets said victoriously before leaving out a sigh, “Did I thank you enough for giving me a second chance? I have probably robbed a bazillion Canterlot snobbies back in the day and yet you somehow still trust me. That… is quite amazing.” Pockets nodded… sparks coming out of her horn? “You let me stay with the mare I love, instead of sending my flank straight into jail.” The sparking intensified. “I.. am really thankful for that.”

Then she noticed that the room was a golden colour… due to the fact that she was inside a magical bubble.

“Miss Pickett?” Celestia said, her horn glowing. “I’m going to ask that you cease casting whatever spell it is that you are.”

“Spell?” Pockets quirked a brow, utterly confused, “What are you talking about? I’m not casting any spells.”

“Then why is your horn glowing?” Celestia said, conjuring a mirror for her to look at.

Pockets blinked, and narrowed her eyes, “Wot?” She raised her hoof and tried poking the horn, just to hiss in pain as a strange burning sensation kept it at bay, “What… the heck is going on!?”

“I do not know,” Celestia said. “I… have never seen magic like this before. What kind of spell did you use to console Midnight earlier?”

“Spell?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow, “I just hugged her and hoped for the best!”

“My guards clearly reported a pink light coming from you,” Celestia said and then summoned several tomes and flicked through them rapidly, before scanning Pockets. Whatever this spell was, even the Princess of the Sun could not recognise it. It appeared to be some sort of empathic magic. “I may need to summon Cadenza. Until then, we need to stop whatever it is you’re casting. It could be dangerous.”

“Listen, your majesty I’m fine! It’s just a weird glow, maybe it had to do with that dark magic the unicorn used.” And then, her horn stopped glowing… only to fire a bright purple beam that bounced around in Celestia’s orb, the unicorn letting out a sharp eep and ducking, only for the beam to strike her right in the muzzle… and then Pockets instinctively swallowed the beam, burping purple smoke in the most unlady-like way.

“You…” Celestia’s calm facade fell as she stared wide-eyed at the mare. “You just… ate magic!?”

Pockets blinked in surprise, “I… think so? I… am as clueless as you are your Highness. I mean, I’ve always known that my magic was a bit different but… well this is new, all of this is new, and let me tell you I am starting to freak out real bad. Also that tasted way too sour for my liking.”

Celestia had to take a moment and process this. This was a pony that could eat magic. Well, first things first. “Midnight Pickett, I want you to be absolutely honest with me,” she said curtly. “Have you ever done this with somepony else’s magic?”

“Uhm… no. I don’t think so. I have been hit in the jaw with magic a few times before, but that has never happened… whatever that is.” Pockets shook her head, “Is this going to get me in trouble?”

Celestia paced in a small circle as she looked at the mare. “I’m going to release you from the shield now alright? Do you think you can rein in that magic of yours?”

The thief poked her horn, and felt nothing. “Yeah, I think it stopped.” Pockets mused as she was dropped gently onto the ground, still unable to believe what was going on, “You… seriously have no idea of what is going on with me?”

“No, which is both worrisome and intriguing,” Celestia said. She had an idea, probably a stupid one. She summoned a small sphere of light, about the size of a tennis ball. “Can you… eat that?”

Pockets stared at the orb in slight fear, “I have… no idea. I guess there’s no harm in trying, right?” She grinned awkwardly, every part of her body telling her how stupid this was, yet opening her mouth wide anyways. The orb disappeared in her mouth… then out the back of her head, utterly unharmed in the slightest. It did make her head feel warm though.

“Interesting,” Celestia mused, looking visibly relieved. “So you might not be an Arcanivore…”

“An Arca-what now? Arcanine?” She had absolutely no idea of what Celestia was talking about.

“Arcanivore, creatures who gain power from consuming magic,” Celestia explained as she pulled out another book. “There have been a few recorded throughout history.” She offered Pockets a cup of tea and some cake as she flipped through the book. “So either my magic was too much, or you can only consume your own magic… with is rather odd.”

“Well I am an odd pony.” Pockets pointed out, absentmindedly taking a sip of the tea, “Huh… maybe it’s another type of magic? Like… I dunno, weird magic or something?”

Celestia snorted in amusement over the term weird magic. If Twilight had heard that… she’d have likely had a breakdown. “I can find nothing here. Perhaps the Archives will have something. For now…” she looked at Pockets. “I want you to stay close to Midnight. Whatever this is, she seems to be the trigger for it.”

“I can do that.” Pockets nodded, still having no idea of what is going on, “And… should I tell her what’s going on or…?”

“No, keep to us for now. Midnight is… well we don’t want to worry her unnecessarily.” Celestia looked out of the window, a pensive expression on her face. “Miss Pickett, can I trust you with something? Something very important?”

“Uhm… sure? I’m rather good at keeping secrets.” Pockets nodded rather awkwardly, this day was getting weirder and weirder.

“Just a little magic spell, in case you get into trouble like that again okay?” Celestia smiled. “It’s a very special spell, in fact, only Luna and I know it.”

All her worries, confusions and fears were replaced by sheer excitement, “Real!y? A super duper secret spell only the royal sisters now!? Oh hell yes, this is awesome!” She jumped in place like a filly.

“But,” Celestia said with a small smile. “It will only work with Midnight Song.”

“A super secret spell that only works with the love of my life!? Oh count me in sister!” Pockets giggled with an ear-to-ear grin.

“You’re a tad too young to be my sister,” Celestia giggled, before her expression turned serious. “Now, if you ever find yourself in danger. If there is no way out and lives are on the line. That is the only time I will deem this permissible, understood?”

Pockets put her serious-face on, or as serious as her face could get, “Ma’am yes ma’am!” She saluted like they had taught her in the guard, it wasn’t a perfect salute, but it was decent enough.

Celestia leaned down so her mouth was next to Pocket’s ear. “Remember these words. Cântă cântecul de luptă.”

Pockets wanted to comment on the strange spell… yet decided to remain shut and to repeat it over and over inside her head. “Huh… what is that for anyways?”

“Midnight knows, we’ll leave it at that,” Celestia said and winked. “Now, why don’t you go and find her. She might need some hugs soon… And possibly medical attention.”

“Oh boy.” Pockets gulped, recalling hearing something about that guy Aerial Ace being here, “Yeah… I’ll go for now. Thanks for the cake and the tea and the talk and shoving an orb of magic through my skull! You are quite possibly my second coolest friend ever, but... don’t tell Luna that because that’s what I told her before meeting you.” She chuckled, her horn glowing… and stopping as Pockets realized that perhaps using magic right now was not a good idea, “I’ll… walk I guess.”

Celestia giggled and waved her off with a wing. Once the door closed behind her, the alicorn let out a sigh as she pulled out a scroll. She’d need somepony to help with this new development, and had just the pony in mind.

Chapter Four - Old Faces, New Tricks

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By the time Pockets arrived to the yard, she could see a large gathering of both Lunar and Solar guards hollering and cheering and passing around bits.

“Yo, watch it. Small unicorn guard coming through, let me- HEY! No butt touching without my permission!” She huffed, using her small size to easily squeeze her way to the front lines. By the time she made it through though… it was just in time to see a large male griffon punch Midnight right in the face, sending her flying from the massive force of the blow and tumbling across the ground.

“Come on!” the griffon yelled, pulling up his tattered red scarf. “You’re fighting like a little foal!”

“Oh fuck you!” Midnight groaned as she rolled to her hooves and then shot forward, flying barely an inch off of the ground as she screeched. The griffon merely stepped to one side and grabbed her back leg as she flew by, before lifting her and slamming her into the ground.

“Ohhhh,” the crowd moaned and winced.

“What… the buck is going on?” Pockets said, a frown starting to grow on her face.

A yellow pegasus stallion who was next to her looked over as Midnight struggled to get up. “Huh? Oh, it’s Midnight versus Aerial Ace. Though, nopony’s ever seen Midnight get beaten so badly before…”

“What happened to my student?” Ace sighed. “You’re fighting like a rookie. No, scratch that. A rookie could fight better than you.”

“Shut up!” Midnight yelled and flew high, before taking a sharp dive right at him.

“So angry,” he sighed and crouched slightly, once she was in reach, he delivered a brutal uppercut, the resulting crack made the crowd wince again as Midnight once again hit the dirt. “Your technique is sloppy, you’re telegraphing your moves so obviously that even an illiterate could read them and-”

“I said. SHUT UP!” Midnight rolled to her hooves and drew her wingblades, racing at him again. The griffon sighed and narrowed his eyes.

What happened next was almost a blur to everyone. He fist shot forward and impacted her chest. There was a brief pause, a moment that passed in the blink of an eye before the single punch exploded! The sheer force behind it caused ponies in the front row to tumble as Midnight was shot back like she had been fired from a cannon, landing well over two dozen feet away.

“Hey, you brute!” Came a voice from behind Ace, a very angry voice growling at him. Ace turned and saw a rather short-statured navy blue unicorn stomp towards him. His eyes widened slightly. Her magical aura was… Well wasn’t that interesting.

“Oh damn, what the hell is she doing?”

“She’s toast.”

“Ten bits on the tiny hornhead.”

“Twenty on Ace.”

Ace chuckled as he adjusted his scarf. “Can I help you little one?”

“Yes, as it turns out, I do not like how you’re treating my marefriend.” She huffed, scuffing her hoof on the ground, “So now I’m going to have to beat your sorry little ass, is that cool with you? Cool.”

“Heh, I am merely sparring with my student,” Ace replied. “And she was beaten because of poor form. She usually fights much better than this. Something heavy is weighing on her heart and a good fight is just the cure.”

“Oh yes, what an excellent cure, breaking her bones and leaving her unconscious.” Pockets snorted in disgust, her tone intensifying ever so slightly with each word “You said a rookie could do better than her? Let’s test that out. You and me, first one to either get knocked out or surrender, loses.”

“Interesting,” Ace mused and clicked his beak. “Wait, marefr—” That was all he got out before a hoof connected with the side of his face, slamming it into the dirt as Midnight perfectly executed the rest of her flip kick…

By face planting the dirt as well. Still, she held up the one leg that wasn't broken and cheered. “Hah! Eat that bird brain!”

Pockets blinked, and looked at Midnight utterly confused and shocked, some slight frustration sneaking in there due to the fact she wanted to kick him herself, “Uhm… you’re still… unconscious… well that is definitely not weird.”

Midnight didn't move… or respond…

“Well, can't say I expected that,” Ace replied as he picked himself up.

“You and me both pal.” Pockets sighed, poking the mare to see if she got any sort of response, “Damn, today's been pretty bucking weird. One minute I’m having a cup of tea with the Princess, the next minute Midnight is getting her flank royally kicked!”

“We were sparring, only Midnight seems to have forgotten a significant portion of her training,” Ace replied as he picked her unconscious form up. “But let us make for the medic. She’s going to require treatment.”

“I'd ask how the heck is that sparing, buuut… yeah, let’s do that, sounds like the best idea right now.” Pockets began to pick the mare up with her head, grunting when she realized this wasn't going to be easy, “You ok there batty?”

Unconscious Midnight’s response was oddly silent. Seems Unconscious Midnight wasn't much of a talker.

“Glad to know.” Pockets grinned with a half-aired chuckle. She managed to get Midnight on her back, and soon realized her body wasn't made for carrying cargo, “Okay…. no more bugs for you Missy, getting kinda heavy there… I’m already starting to miss using my magic.” She sighed, making her way towards the medical wing with the most wobbly of legs.

“Yo, batty.”

Pockets wasn't a very patient mare. It was because of that -poke- that for the last half an hour -poke- she had been poking Midnight's -poke- face nonstop.

‘Nrrgh, go’way….’

“Nope, won’t do it.” Pockets poked her face once more. Hey at least it seemed to get results.

“Buzzoff,” she mumbled and rolled over. Celestia, everything hurt.

“I’m no fly nor a Pegasus, so can’t do that.” Pockets poked once more, “If you don’t wake up I’ll poke in places you do not want me to poke.”

“Ten minutes… or hours…” she mumbled again, her wings twitching.

It was then… that she got poked in the tip of her muzzle, Pockets’ hoof staying there and doing circles with it while making weird wub-wub noises, “Waaaake uuuuup.”

Then she got the end of her hoof bitten.

Pockets’ hoof jerked back and a single, pained tear left her right eye, “Don’t scream ‘buck’… don’t scream ‘buck’…” She whispered to herself, kissing her injury. She took a few quick breaths, before sighing and deciding to ignore the small stinging sensation, “Seriously if you don’t wake up I’ll do something in front of everyone and… let’s just say you will not be happy with me.”

Ace stood by, then flexed his talons… and sharply pinched Midnight’s rump.

“Eeeeeaaahhhhh!?!?” Midnight leapt up and screamed at the sharp and unexpected attack. Once she landed, she turned and glared hard at Ace. “That HURT you son of a—”

“Boop.” Pockets said with a smile, booping Midnight's muzzle with a cute tilt of her head, “About time you woke up.”

Midnight winced, realising most of her body was still in a good deal of pain. “...ow.”

“You'd not be so bad off if it wasn’t for that pitiful performance,” Ace replied with a small nod, before leaning down and hugging the thestral, one she returned. “It's good to see you again.”

“Geez, lucky you pulled some of those punches,” Midnight winced as they broke the hug. “How long have I been out?”

“Only two hours,” the unicorn nurse replied. “Healing you was no easy effort by the way. You'll be tender for a day or two.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you!” Pockets grinned from ear to ear, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

The nurse, Midnight and Ace all sighed applied hooves/talons to the faces.

“Well great, so now that Pockets has incited the apocalypse,” Midnight groaned. “What brings you to Canterlot Acey?”

“To see you, amongst other things,” he replied and then looked to the smallest unicorn in the room. “So, who might this be?”

“This,” Midnight said and ruffled her mane. “Is my adorable little marefriend. You know, an actual one.”

Aerial Ace fell very silent as he moved around the bed and now the massive, scarred griffon loomed over Pockets.

“Uhm…” Pockets gulped, trying her best to give him an innocent, trustworthy grin, which came more of a ‘Holy-shit-he’s-scary’ kind of grin, “Hi? I’m… Pockets.” She raised her now shaky hoof to him.

He took her hoof, his single hand almost encompassing half her leg… before pulling her into a tight, feathery hug that caused her lungs to call it quits.

“I'm so happy Midnight has found someone again!” he cried rather loudly. “Tis a most joyous day indeed!”

“Y-yes… joy… air… need it, help!.” Pockets’ almost inaudible squeaks came out, her face going red real fast.

“Ace, I kinda like that one, so could you please not kill her?” Midnight deadpanned. The griffon blinked and looked down, before releasing her.

“Ah, so sorry tiny unicorn. I forget not all ponies are as tough as Midnight.”

“I feel like I should take offense to that.” The unicorn breathed in, glaring at the griffon, “So… Aerial Ace huh? Middy said a lot of things about you, scary things mind you. Nice to meet you I guess, even though I still kinda want to beat your butt for what you did to Middy.”

“Scary?” Ace tilted his head and looked at Midnight, who just whistled innocently. “Ah, well perhaps my training can be a little… eh, scary,” he chuckled and ruffled Pocket’s mane. “But the results speak for themselves no? Or, have you not witnessed Midnight fight at all?”

“Oh I’ve seen her alright, and she’s just as scary as her trainer.” Pockets smirked at the thestral with a wink.

“Nah, I’m a lot scarier and a lot sexier,” Midnight winked back and winced again. “Ahh owowowow...”

“My dear student,” Ace sighed and shook his head. “What was with that performance? Your heart wasn’t in it and your emotions were all over the place. What has happened recently that has made you so?”

“Nothing!” Midnight snapped back a little too loudly. “Nothing happened alright! Just drop it!”

“It’s just been some rough weeks, that’s all.” Pockets sighed. Yet she knew better, and because of that, she knew the topic had to be dropped one way or another, “Ya know, saving a town, a few guys attacked us, eh the usual.”

“Sounds like something Midnight usually deals with,” Ace turned and looked at the bat. “Midnight. Tell me the truth.”

“Buzz off,” she muttered and folded her arms.

“Did you fail a mission?”

“No.”

“Is your family alright?”

“Never better.”

Ace paused and then looked at Pockets… specifically her neck, “You hurt her…”

“I DIDN’T MEAN TO!” Midnight snapped and jumped up, ignoring the burning pain.

“Nope,” Pockets gently pushed Midnight back down, “None of that, you’re crazy injured and need to rest. So calm yo teats and let me.” She glanced at the griffin and sighed, “She didn’t mean to. We got tricked, one of the attackers switched places with me at the last possible second. Only goes to show how awesome Midnight is, stopping her attack like a true pro.”

“You were able to stay your blade? Even while in a Lyrica Trance?” Ace looked, rather impressed actually. “Well, I thought as much, seeing as how the little pony here still has a head.”

Midnight just remained silent, she still felt terrible about it.

“Oh for… look, Mister Ace right? Look pal, I know she shouldn’t have gone into that Leggings Trance or however it’s called. I know she almost cut my head off, and she almost went all murdery or something.” Pockets said, not helping Midnight in the slightest, “But that’s the key word, ‘Almost’. She stopped, and from what I can tell because so far I know as much as a bucking brick, that is a good thing. So you!” She pointed at Midnight, “Stop acting all depressed and stuff, you are amazing and did nothing wrong, deal with it. And you!” She turned to Ace, “Please stop rubbing it on her face please? She don’t need any of that crap.”

“I am not ‘rubbing it in’ as you so put it,” Ace replied. “Midnight just has a terrible habit of not seeing her flaws unless someone slaps her in the face with them.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Midnight sighed and rolled her eyes. “And first, it’s called Lyrica. ‘Li-Ri-Ca’ and…” she paused and shook her head. “I guess, I have no idea where you get all that faith in me from. But, thanks Pickett.”

“Hey, I’m your marefriend, kinda comes with the contract.” Pockets giggled, kissing her cheek, “And… sorry if I’m still a bit stressed and… well more ‘me’ than usual. I just really don’t like seeing Midnight sad, or beaten the bat out of her for that matter.” She gave Ace an apologetic smile, and shrugged, “You seem to know her even better than me, I’m still in the process of understanding the rare specimen that is the ‘Midnight Song’, so yeah…”

“Ah, I wish you luck in your endeavours,” Ace nodded solemnly. “I have studied that species for fifteen years, and am no closer to completing it.”

“I hate you both,” Midnight muttered and folded her forelegs. “And… what about you Pockets? What about that weird magic you did to me?”

Pockets froze, and chuckled awkwardly, “Ooooh, look at that time! I have… things… yes. I have to go do some important stuff, like… feeding the fish?”

“We don’t have fish, or any other pet for that matter,” Midnight replied as she sat up and leaned closer. “What aren’t you telling me? You know I’ll get it out of you. So save us the time and slightly pleasurable effort of me doing so.”

“Heheh… uhm, it’s my brand new… illusion spell!” Pockets said dubiously, yet deciding this was her best shot at anything, “Yes! You know me, I like to do things in big, flashy ways. So I added some lights and some echoey voice changers and then did… illusiony things…”

“So that’s how it’s going to be huh?’ Midnight closed her eyes and sat back. “Well… guess I’ll have to cancel our date tonight then. I’m feeling just a little too sore now.”

The thief’s eyes widened up, “No… no that’s just straight up playing dirty!” She huffed and in the most ridiculously haughty way possible, raised her head, “It will not work with me, Missy. My lips are sealed!”

“Mm, too bad I guess. If those lips are sealed, I suppose that means we can’t go eat at Paradiso. You know, that fancy restaurant that has a waiting list of over a year?” Midnight shrugged and shook her head. “Guess I could always take somepony else… Maybe Ace here?”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Pockets narrowed her eyes in defiance.

“Try me,” Midnight shot back. “It’s really too bad. I hear their ice-cream is the best in Equestria.”

And now she was using ice-cream against her, oh Pockets hated how much this mare knew her, “I…” Pockets had no idea of what to do. The mare who would usually just pick the coolest-sounding option without thinking twice, had no way of choosing easily now. There was no cool option! On one hoof, freaking Princess Celestia had told her to keep her muzzle shut, on the other hoof her marefriend was bribing her with fancy ice-cream. Royalty, or ice-cream. A promise made to Celestia herself, or Middy and ice-cream. Huh… well this was harder than what she thought it’d be.

But then… Pockets had an idea. An idea she should have thought way sooner because both Middy and Ace had been staring at her blank expression for like a minute now. Why not tell half the truth! That way she could keep Midnight happy, and not reveal anything that would break her promise to Celestia! Genius! There’s no way this could go wrong.

“You… see. That is actually a brand new spell me and… Princess Celestia have been working on. Yes. That. It’s actually a top secret experimental spell so yeah I can’t really tell it to you?” Pockets raised her shoulders, “It’s complicated. And I’m only telling you this because I care about you, I love you, and you wont freaking stop until you at least heard that.”

Midnight narrowed her eyes, before sighing lightly and sitting back in her bed. “Fine. I get it. You can’t trust me with it. Everypony is entitled to a secret or two yeah?”

Pockets lowered her head and whimpered, her ears falling flat. She really didn’t like keeping secrets to Midnight, and her guilt-tripping was not helping at all.

“She won’t say because I asked her to,” a voice said as Princess Celestia entered the room. “Playing like that is not fair Miss Song.”

Midnight’s eyes widened and she flattened her ears as well. “I’m sorry. That was really crappy of me. I… I don’t even know why I said it.” She looked over at Pockets and lowered her head. “I really am sorry.” First she hurt her physically, now emotionally, she really was the worst marefriend ever...

“I will forgive you… with one condition.” Pockets grinned maliciously, already feeling way better and making a mental note, ‘Thank Sunbutt later’.

“A… condition?’ Midnight said and blinked slowly. Ohhh stars, she had a bad feeling about this.

“Yes, a condition.” Pockets giggled like a little devil, “But this condition is special, you have to go with it or say no-no before I give the terms.”

“Why do I feel like making a deal with Discord is safer?” Midnight moaned to herself and nodded her head. “No, I’ll accept it. I’ve been a crappy marefriend.”

Pockets giggled, then chuckled, and that chuckle turned into a laugh which in turn turned into an evil cackle, “In our date… you, Midnight Song! Will…”

“Will?” Midnight gulped. She suddenly felt really cold for some reason. Dear Celestia, she’d unleashed Nightmare Pockets.

“Let me…” Pockets’ figure loomed over Midnight with a bright, white, incredibly creepy and startling grin.

“L-Let you?” Midnight shivered slightly. Even Ace and Celestia had taken a step back, wondering what the demonic mare had conjured for the poor thestral.

“Have…” Suddenly the room felt as if darkness itself had filled it, a sense of dread and death and demise taking over Midnight. Ace and Celestia leaned closer as the thestral tried shrinking back into her pillow

“Oh just get on with it!” The nurse exclaimed from across the room as she sorted some files.

“Four scoops of ice-cream!” The unicorn then grinned like a filly.

Ace and Celestia fell forward, groaning at the utterly anti-climactic request.

“.......wut?” Midnight blinked.

“You heard me. Four scoops of ice-cream for me and me alone! You, you butt, didn’t let me eat too much last time because ‘Oh you have to watch your weight. A Royal Guard shouldn’t be overweight’ Well who’s laughing now, huh!?”

Ace just chuckled as Celestia actually laughed out loud. Gods, even her laugh was perfect. Midnight sighed and then reached up, pulling the unicorn into a hug.

“You… you smol, weirdo thief. You can have as much ice-cream as you like.”

“Yay~!” Pockets giggled, nuzzling Midnight. Then she got another idea. She smirked and whispered into her ear, “And I also have another much more special request I will tell you about later~”

“Mm, I have one right now,” Midnight purred and motioned at a nearby rack that had a nurse’s outfit on it. “Once Ace and Celestia leaves, I might need some… special attention~”

The unicorn blinked, doing the two plus two, turning a few gears in her head, before finally getting what she meant by that, “Ohhh! Well, I guess if it can’t be helped, little nurse Pockey can help you~” She mused, before trapping Midnight's lips in her own in a deep, passionate kiss.

“Hmhmhm, I see my student hasn’t changed a bit,” Ace chuckled and looked at Celestia. “Well, I’m also happy to see you’re still kicking. Shall we leave these two and have our usual?”

“Mm, sounds like a plan you crazy old bird,” Celestia tittered. “Midnight, Pickett, we’ll see you later. Oh, and Pickett? Could you meet me at the Royal Archives when you’re done?”

Celestia only got what seemed like a mix between a hum and a ‘got it’ as a response. The alicorn just shook her head in amusement and left the two lovers be. The nurse paused and watched for a bit, before a golden glow surrounded her and dragged her out as well.

Midnight broke the kiss and stroked Pocket’s cheek with a hoof. “Sorry I’ve been such a dumb butt lately.”

“Please, you are talking to the queen of dumb butts.” Pockets snorted and gave Midnight a soft nuzzle, “I love all of you, both the good and the bad, just remember that ‘kay?”

“Fine, and I guess I owe you a little explanation later. But right now…” She glanced at the nurse uniforms that were on a nearby shelf. “Oh no, I’m feeling a little cold. I do hope my pretty nurse knows how to warm me up~”

Pockets vanished with a flash of her horn, only to return with a white nurse uniform and a smirk across her face, “Is that so? Well we can’t have that now can we?” She mused, crawling up the bed and slowly making her way up until her muzzle was inches away from Midnight’s.

“Now this is grade A healthcare~” Midnight giggled and kissed her. For the first time in a while, Midnight felt… better.

Pockets was following a castle worker to the Archives, a slight limp in her gait. Midnight lied when she said how much energy she had… dirty cheater.

She soon reached the room, the entrance guarded by some stoic looking stallions with very pointy spears. It was a bit weird to guard a buncha books and scrolls wasn’t it?

Still, she was shown inside and found Celestia in the centre of the first room, along with another unicorn.

“Ah, and she arrives,” Celestia smiled at her. “Hello Miss Pickett. Good of you to join us finally.”

“Oh hey, sorry about that. Was a bit… busy.” She chuckled, taking a good luck at the place, “So, why am I here again?”

“We’re going to see if we can find a record of the magic you have,” Celestia said and motioned to her other guest. “Oh, allow me to introduce you. This is Moondancer, she graduated from my school with top marks, second only to Twilight Sparkle.”

Moondancer… Moon...dancer… why was that name oddly familiar? Huh, she’d think about that later. She shot the unicorn a smile and a lazy salute, and… couldn’t help but feel she had seen that face before. Eh, her mind was probably playing tricks on her, “Sup! Nice to meet ya.”

Moondancer looked up from her book at her, studying her form. “So, this is the unicorn with the empathic magic?”

“We think that’s what it might be,” Celestia nodded. “The spell she performed with Midnight Song is leaning towards that conclusion, but that fact she consumed her own magic makes me think otherwise.”

“...Interesting,” Moondancer replied. As she turned, Pockets spied a necklace she wore, her thieving habits naturally attracted her to shiny things. It was an oval-shaped silver pendant with a musical stave. A familiar one.

Well it looked familiar, given that she’d just spent a nice portion of her time staring at something with that exact marking.

“No, Pockets, focus dammit! You are in an important meeting and crap!” She thought to herself, getting rid of those thoughts so she could return her attention to Celestia and Moondancer.

“—And so, have you considered that option?” Moondancer said to the Princess, neither having noticed Pocket’s little moment.

“Yes, we tried with mine, but it didn’t work,” Celestia said. “Now, aside from the Forbidden Section, you two have unlimited access to our records here. I need to take care of a few things so I’ll return in a few hours alright?”

“Of course, thank you for giving me this chance Princess.” Moondancer bowed her head.

“That’s quite alright,” Celestia smiled. She turned and looked at Pockets. “Best of luck… and don’t steal anything.”

“Not even one book?” Pockets pouted, “I really like reading adventure stories during my free time.”

“You may borrow,” Celestia said and nuzzled her. “And remember to play nice. Moondancer is here to help you after all.” She turned and nodded at said unicorn before taking her leave. The two unicorns now alone in the massive library.

“Sooo… Moondancer, right?” Pockets grinned, leaning against a bookshelf, “I have the best idea of where to start looking.”

“Is that so?” Moondancer replied. “Then do enlighten me.”

“Why the Forbidden Section of course!” Pockets said with her hoof in the air, “What better way to search for weird-ass magic than there!”

“Oh I don’t know,” Moondancer said with no small amount of sarcasm. “Maybe because it’s called the Forbidden Section. You know, the section Princess Celestia just told us NOT to go in!?”

“Come on! I really have a feeling that our answers are in there.” Pockets nudged her after teleporting right next to the taller unicorn, much to her annoyance, “It will be our little secret, you and me, sisters in crime!”

“No. Definitely no and ABSOLUTELY NO!” Moondancer replied. “I will start in Foreign Magicks and you can go over to Empathic magicks in that section,” the mare replied. She turned and then paused. “...What did you do to Midnight Song by the way? The, information might be helpful.”

“You mean that night? I… honestly have no idea.” Pockets shrugged, “I hugged her, hoped for the best, and tried to keep all my emotions in check. And things apparently went weird, but I felt nothing different going on.”

Moondancer paused as she went over that, and what Celestia had told her that Midnight felt. She was already getting a small clue, but lacked the major pieces of this puzzle. “Hmm, is it possible that she enforced her will upon her? But… that would hint at mind control…”

“Hey hey now, even if I have no idea of what I did, I would never, in a million years, cast a mind controlling spell of her!” Pockets exclaimed, scanning the room with her eyes, “Anyways... if you really don’t wanna go to the Forbidden Area, I guess I’ll go check the Empathetic Magicks area or whatever it’s called.”

“Empathic,” Moondancer sighed. “But if you have no idea what you did, looking for it will be difficult.” The unicorn walked off to the section she wished to examine, leaving Pockets on her own in the massive library.

Pockets looked at the other unicorn as she left, before turning around and realizing that… she had no idea where to look, what to look for, or even where exactly she was standing, “... Well, time to work I guess.” She sighed and ventured into the unknown depths of the Royal Library.

Moondancer floated around a half dozen tomes in front of her, her eyes scanning the pages but nothing seemed to even remotely related to this odd magic. Was it possible that the thief somehow scammed Celestia? Was this all a ploy to get to Midnight’s rather wealthy family!? The unicorn snorted and shook her head. No, neither of them would be that foolish.

She placed several of the books back and looked though the titles on the shelf before taking a small stack of scrolls… and once she took a heavy enciclopedia, she saw the most ridiculous, silliest grimace she had ever seen. All courtesy of the small navy blue unicorn at the other side.

“Kyyyaaaa!” Moondancer screamed and backpedalled, falling onto her rump. “W-W-Wha? You!?”

“Booooo, I’m the spoooopy ghost of the deceased fun times brutally murdered by these books!” Pockets said as she waved her hooves around.

Moondancer took a moment to get her racing heart under control. She sighed and placed a hoof to her chest. “We are supposed to be studying,” she said flatly and put the book back in the shelf, blocking Pocket’s face.

The smaller unicorn teleported right next to her and let out a loud groan, “But I’m boooored! Those books were just… ehg.”

“Uneducated pony,” Moondancer shook her head. “The foal’s section is near the front if you want something more at your level.”

“Haha, very funny.” Pockets rolled her eyes, “It’s not that I’m uneducated. But that reading more about Apathic Magick would be useless.”

“Oh for the love of… go find a dictionary and read that, please!”

“Wow, rude much?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow, before walking around and looking up to the beautiful ceiling, “Look, I don’t have Love Magic, Clover the Clever himself said that this kind of magic was rare and exclusive to those descendant of the Crystal Empire’s legitimate rulers. And it was Arcane Discovery who said that Love Magic is only present when there is love involved. Back when I was with Celestia I didn’t feel much of that, more like… frustration.”

Moondancer’s jaw could not have dropped any further. “I… uh… what!? You… you’re smart!?”

“I feel like I should be offended by that.” Pockets deadpanned, before shrugging, “And it’s simple really, just had to read. In fact I went ahead and found a tome from this guy… what was his name? Starbutt the Mustachioed? Well he wrote about different kinds of rare magic. None fit the glove, the closest thing is Love Magic. Meaning that whatever sort of magic my horn is farting, Stardust never heard of it.”

“Starswirl,” Moondancer corrected, losing any respect she’d just gained for the petite mare. “And if you know all that, then why are we here?”

“Because it means we have to dig deeper!” Pockets grinned, “Not even Celestia or Stargaze know about my weird magic, meaning it either is a brand new type of magic which I doubt, or an incredibly old one. And where do we read about legends from before Equestria was a thing?”

“I… don’t know,” Moondancer sighed, giving up on correcting her as she looked around. “I don’t know if there is anything like that here. Maybe in the Crystal Empire…”

“Maybe. But we’re in Canterlot and we have to make do with what we can,” Pockets walked towards a certain area Moondancer would have never thought looking at in a million years, “We have to look in our most basic of legends. You gave me quite the idea ya know? Because there’s no better place for that than…”

“The foals section!?” Moondancer exclaimed. “You have got to be kidding?”

“Nope, I’m serious.” Pockets smirked, immediately taking hold of a random book and opening it, “Every legend, every myth has a base of truth. Dunno about you, but I’ll do my research here. You can either join me or waste the rest of your day looking for something you won’t find.”

Moondancer frowned, but decided to humor her at least. She hadn't found anything all day, so… why the buck not? She looked at one shelf and a small gasp escaped her lips.

“Found something interesting?” Pockets asked from nearby, reading a story about an earth pony, a cow, beans, a goose, and giants.

“Kind of,” Moondancer sighed as she took a book out titled ‘The Fox and the Rabbit’ “It’s a book I haven’t seen since…” She paused and sighed, putting the book back. “Never mind.”

“Nope!” Pockets pushed the book she was reading back on its place and walked towards Moondancer, “I wanna hear it, there’s no ‘Nevermind’ with me!”

“It’s just a book that… that me and an old marefriend used to read is all. She used to joke that I was the Fox and she was the Rabbit.”

“Sounds like a nice memory.” Pockets giggled and nudged Moondancer, “Good memories ain’t anything to be ashamed of, they are made to be remembered fondly. Also I can so see you in a fox outfit.”

“Goddess above, you are just like her,” Moondancer sighed and sat on her rump. “So… how is Midnight? Is… she doing okay?”

“Hmm? Middy? Oh yeah she’s doing great. Well considering someone tried to kill us and then somepony else tried robbing her parents’ place, she’s doing rather well.” Pockets nodded, “Tonight we’ll celebrate our first month together. Why do you ask?”

So, the rumors Moondancer heard were true, that Midnight was seeing this mare. “No reason, just curious,” Moondancer brushed Pockets’ question off and turned back to the shelf. “I’m still waiting to see why we’re looking through foals books.”

“Two reasons.” Pockets said as her gaze traveled from title to title, “So we can take a break from all the super complicated stuff, and because you never know what wonders they hold.” Her magic took hold of a thin green and gold book with a gorgeously painted magical forest as a cover, the title of the book was written in gorgeous corsiva-styled writing which read ‘The Legend of Tall Tale’, a book Pockets knew all too well, “Have ya ever read this one?”

Moondancer read the title and shook her head. “No, I can’t say that I have actually.”

“It’s actually a pretty cool story, a local myth from the city I used to live in. Though I haven't read it in forever, what with me being banned from the library because I was a bit… overenthusiastic when reading. Here, give it a read, you’ll see why I like it so much.” Pockets smiled and passed the book to her.

Still dubious, Moondancer took the book regardless as she stared at the cover for a moment. She’d certainly never heard of the title, and despite being a foal’s storybook, the joy of reading something new still sparked in her eyes. She set the book down, opened the cover and started to read...

Hear o’ hear, fillies and colts of all ages, the story of the tiniest one between all mages. The story of a breezie who was quite bold, yet in the inside held a heart of pure gold.

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, back when the world used to be a much simpler place. Ponies back then were quite different from what they are now, Breezies have remained the same from then to the ages to come.

For to the Breezies, even before Equestria was founded, one and one thing only has always commanded. Just like their name dares to suggest, on the breeze and the currents their whole life depends. And that was the only thing they ever cared, their survival in this world far bigger than theirs.

And some would say this would never change, that Breezies would forever on the breeze depend. Yet those who believe that have never ever met, the greatest, the mightiest, the small-sized Tall Tale. A hero who stood up against nature itself, and claimed victory against the northern cold days.

It all began in one fateful day, when from the North a powerful, chilling breeze suddenly came. Grass turned white, and birds stopped singing, the air turned cold, and snow froze the little breezies. And oh my little reader, the worst part was yet to come, for the tiny fairy ponies began to run out of apples, strawberries and even plums!

But Tall Tale, our hero, determined to fight this dreadful cold, grabbed his things, got to think, and then did something, quite very bold. He took some of his potions and began to mix them up, putting them together in a cauldron so big, it was as big as a little teacup.

“With five spider eyes, and the tail of a scaredy mouse, When fear shall come, and I must protect myself and run, it shall aid me in my task. With a bottled gloom day, and the tear of a clown, Sorrow and sadness shall my weakness forever drown. And with the petal of a sunflower and the drawing of a little colt, Happiness and glee will strengthen my power and appease my soul.” The Breezie mixed and mixed, and then he stirred and stirred, the pot glowing hot with the powers he brewed. And once he was done with his magical mystery soup, he grinned, then cheered, and with confidence gulped all he could.

“What’s this? What’s this!? I feel the power coursing through me! The magic that I held inside me, it is finally being set free!”

Tall Tale wooed and laughed and all of his things grabbed, for he knew he had a mission, he couldn't lose time.

And so our bold little Breezie took on the challenge, to beat the mighty Windigos, he knew he could manage. For he knew that his size may make his trip difficult, but he had no fear in his heart, for he was no longer a regular bree, no sir no, he was magical!

His fury gave him strength, his joy kept him warm, as he flew through the harsh cold winds that tried to freeze him up. And not even winter was match against the fae, for he was determined to travel north and his tribe finally save.

But the further he traveled, the worse the weather became. And soon not even his magic could save him from his fate. Wings frozen, body shivering, everything was lost. His magic of emotions grew weaker, and he could do nothing but keep him breathing, at most.

Soon, it seemed like everything was lost. But... if it had really ended that way, then why... is there more?

It came as a surprise, but it sure did happen, a white, angel of love, came down from the skies flapping. She took him to safety, to a nearby warm cave, where the mighty and powerful angel healed him up and kept him safe. She fixed his broken wings, and warmed his little heart, and gave the tiny Breezie a brand new start in life. He awoke, and he saw, the majestic creature that saved him. A winged pony unlike any other whose kindness to the brim filled him. He kneeled and he sighed, for he owed this mare his life. Yet with a graceful giggle and a respectful nod, she comforted the quite being, noting he was quite odd.

He believed himself unworthy, but the winged one knew better, for he had traveled so much and survived for so long, he was a warrior, he should not fretter. “You are brave and you’re smart, but you have also forgotten, the reason why your magic failed you and almost left you to rotten. For the greatest and most powerful of emotions you’ve left out, and your heart you have filled with nothing but doubt.”

“What emotion is this, oh great powerful savior? Tell me the reason behind my failure!”

“Love, my dear Breezie, is the one emotion that you are missing.”

“Oh silly me, that was what was missing! I’ve been a fool all along, love is the secret!” Tall Tale, now armed with newfound conviction, gave his savior his thank you, and returned to his mission.

“Wait, sir Tall Tale! A gift I want to give thee. A blessing of love, a bit of my own magic, so stronger you can be! For I know you want to defeat the ancient windigos, to save from this winter the ones you love most.”

Tall Tale kneeled down and the angel his forehead kissed. And soon he felt how a newfound power boosted through him. He left the small cave, and that gorgeous friendly angel and traveled back down South, his magic stronger than ever, he was ready to kick some flank!

And much to his surprise and still increasing glee, he began to see some signs of the now returning spring. For he was not the only one who fought the snow evil creatures, for ponies joined in the fight of all sizes types and even ages. He aided everypony who he encountered in his way, fighting Windigo after Windigo disguised as one of them. Yes he was now able to disguise as a colt, in fact he was more capable of many things, he was finally truly strong. The ground below heard his pleas, and the winds kneeled down to him, and the powers of nature itself were now the servants of the little bree. The magic of a Breezie, with the power of love itself, and the brew of other emotions that had added in Tall Tale, his magic was too powerful, too dangerous he knew. And so he decided that this magic was one he needed to keep safe.

For he knew once the war against the Windigos was over, many ponies would try and copy his feats and use them wrongly. And he did not wish for the powers of nature to be misused, so he found his tribe, flew away and hid somewhere where he could never be seen.

He kept on fighting wrong and evil to protect every living being, and soon even a pony settlement was born in the honors of him. The warrior, the adventurer, the mage and the lecturer. Who would ever imagine he was once just a tiny fairy?

So remember little ones, whenever you’re feeling gloomy. Size matters little, it is all about your inner beauty. It is about who you are, and who you want to be, and how hard you will work in order to become that which you wish. For if a breezie the size of an orange was able to do this all, you, my brave little warrior, will be able to do anything, no matter how small.

And what happened with Tall Tale? You might be asking yourself. Well rumor has it that if you’re lost in the Tall Tale woods, if you’re brave and kind just like he was, to your aid will come the greatest of all faes.

The End.

“Well…” Moondancer closed the book and sighed. “I suppose… that on the off chance that the contents of this story has even a remote grain of truth, then this would hint to an entirely new branch of Empathic Magic.”

“Can I say it?” Pockets grinned cheekily, with a wide, way too excited grin.

“Only if you want to be turned into a toad,” Moondancer said back. “There is absolutely no proof that this book is factual in the slightest. Most ponies still believe that the battle between Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia was little worse than a strongly worded argument after all.”

“Oh but there is.” Pockets bopped the mare’s nose, sure of her words, “Or at least, if there is evidence we can easily get it.”

“I’m calling horseapples,” Moondancer snorted. “Really now? A Breezie beating Windigos? That’s just plain ridiculous.”

Pockets began to hum in thought, tapping her chin with her hoof, “I don’t know… One would think that someone eating her own magic without being a magic-eater would be ridiculous.”

“Oh, I already know you are ridiculous,” Moondancer shot back. “Fine, I will bring it up with the Princess, so can we please get back to the real research?”

Pockets laughed and teleported on top of a rather small bookshelf and rolling onto her back, looking at her upside-down, “We don’t have to do more research! This is it! I got a feeling it is. And we can’t keep researching because we don’t have more info. The rest of the story is somewhere else.”

“You are impossible,” Moondancer sighed and shook her head. “If you aren’t going to be productive, then I will just do the research myself.”

Pockets sighed, and teleported right next to her, “Look, I know this may sound like horsecrap, but I really got a good feeling about this! Maybe I’m right, maybe I just want to be right. I... really admire Tall Tale. And the sheer thought of me and him being connected somehow drives me crazy happy! But either way, if we could focus on this just for a few minutes, just give it a bit more attention… it would mean the world to me.” She sighed again, rubbing her leg as a small, saddened pout formed on her lips. She really wanted this, but she knew Moondancer just didn’t like her, “I know I may be a bit annoying and all, but I really want this. And hey, I promise that if this leads nowhere, I’ll just shut up and help look somewhere else with you. How does that sound?”

Moondancer winced at the look on her face, she felt like she’d just kicked a puppy and set fire to an orphanage for good measure. She mumbled something under her breath and turned around.

“What was that?” Pockets asked, a grin growing on her muzzle.

“I said I’ll help alright,” Moondancer said at a more normal tone. She blushed and looked at Pockets. “And I’m only doing this because of Midnight and because the Princess asked me alright!?”

“Yay!” Pockets then glomped the unicorn and trapped her in a bone-crushing hug, shaking her around as a bright yellow aura surrounded them both, “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”

“Can’t… breathe...tell Midnight… she’s a butt…” Moondancer groaned.

“Oh, sorry.” The smaller unicorn let go and chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head in slight embarassment. She then stomped on the ground and stood firm, her happy magic vanishing to give place to her ‘focused-face’, which looked kinda ridiculous really, “Ok Pockets! act professional. Let’s see… Where. Can. We. Start?”

“Professional… riiight,” Moondancer opened the book and flicked through it. “Now, the book says that he got his power from an ‘Angel of Love’. Angels obviously don’t exist, so it might be referring to a winged species. Maybe an alicorn… except that the only two back then were Princesses Celestia and Luna. This was set before the Unification after all.”

“A winged creature who could do magic?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow, “Is that even a thing?”

“Well all ponies can do magic,” Moondancer said as she floated another book over and opened it. “All species have an innate magic of some kind. How do you think pegasi fly and manipulate weather? Or how earth ponies are able to work crops and possess immense physical strength?”

“Oh I know that. I’m not that much of an air-head ya know?” Pockets said with a smirk, before humming and taking a look at the book as well, leaning her elbow on the taller mare’s head much to Moondancer’s annoyance,, “But from the looks of it, somehow this ‘angel’ gave Tall Tale a blessing. And as far as I know, Pegasus can’t give blessings with just a kiss to the forehead, heck, not even unicorns can do that.”

“No, which is why I think this story is rubbish,” Moondancer said. “This is more akin to something religious. As far as i am aware, not even Princess Celestia could ‘bestow’ power like that. Magical transference is possible, but…” She sighed and looked at the book. “The method is pointless. For all we know, it was a Transference and the writer simply took some… creative liberties.”

“I guess…” Pockets sighed. Well, there went their lead. Except… “Wait… quick question. Which came first, Equestria or the Crystal Empire?”

“The Crystal Empire,” Moondancer replied. “It’s been around far longer than Equestria.”

“Then…” Pockets’ eyes widened up, she had an idea. Using her magic, she pulled out a board that was hidden behind some shelves and a small chalk, writing as she spoke out what she thought could be the key to it all, “Ok so. Tall Tale traveled to the north to defeat the windigos and end the eternal winter. He failed, and was lost in the middle of the snow, only to be rescued by an ‘angel with the power of love’. Up north from what today is Equestria, is the Crystal Empire, home to the crystal ponies and the crystal heart. So, let’s put two and two together. A flying creature with empathic magic from the north, who gave him a blessing through a kiss on the head. As I read not long ago, empathic magic is reserved only to the members of the Crystal Empire’s royal family-” As she talked, she listed it all out as if it was a mathematical problem, adding element and element, until she equaled it all into the drawing of a heart, “-which means, the angel he saw could have been…”

“Princess Amore, the previous ruler of the Empire,” Moondancer concluded.

“Exactly!” Pockets grinned from ear to ear, It all checks out! Princess Amore would totally be able to bless him with love power! It’s so obvious now that I think about it… And guess what descendant of Princess Amore Celestia is planning to bring over to check on my magic?”

“Princess Cadence is coming?” Moondancer asked

“From the looks of it, eyup!” Pockets replied with a smug grin, “Things are starting to work out for us!”

“So it would seem,” Moondancer replied as she headed for the Archives entrance. “Well come on then. Let’s report what we’ve found to Princess Celestia.”

“Aye aye captain!” Pockets gave a clumsy guard salute, before following Moondancer… and noticing something incredibly important. How could have she been so blind? “You know… you have a cute butt… huh, didn’t notice how cute it is.”

Moondancer blushed and covered her flank with her tail. “Pervert! You’re just as bad as Moonbutt!” Her hoof found her mouth, preventing her from saying any more.

“First, I am no pervert… well I am but that’s besides the point. I am a flank mare, I see a cute butt, I point it out.” Pockets explained, before grinning with a quirked eyebrow, “And… Moonbutt? Oh Moonie hun, are you hiding something from me?”

“N-No!” Moondancer flushed red again and started walking faster. Pockets teleported next to her and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Moonie, you can’t escape the Pockets. Ya gotta tell me!” The smaller unicorn grinned.

With a small crack, Moondancer teleported further down the hall and broke out into a run. Yet Pockets quickly caught up, her grin still there.

“I can teleport as well ya know? The difference, I’m a former thief and now a Royal Guard! You can’t escape, resistance is futile!” She exclaimed with an evil gallop.

Moondancer now went into a full gallop, but the nerdy unicorn was not built for stamina and quickly wore out. When Pockets trotted up to her, she was panting heavily as she doubled over.

“Aww book-pone is tired?” Pockets pouted, patting her back, “There there, take a break. Also you do realize I can’t force you to tell me. Up to you really. Buuut, you’d make a mare, me, very happy if you did.”

“Urrrgghhh,” Moondancer groaned, curse her poor physical abilities. “Fine, what do you want to know, you annoying foal.”

“Who is Moonbutt?” Pockets began asking.

“Who do you know that has a moon on her butt, and that would address so casually?” Moondancer deadpanned.

Pockets blinked, and tilted her head, “Luna?”

“Yes, I would give one of our revered Princesses such a crass nickname,” Moondancer deadpanned harder. “You get two more.”

“Well, I call her Moonmoon from time to time… and Moonflank… and I did once call her ‘you dirty cheater you!’ during game of Monopony... eh, still don’t see the problem. But oh well…” She hummed, “Is… it… let’s see, moon in the butt, a pervert… yeah I got nothing.” She shrugged, “Just say it darnet!””

“It’s Midnight Song, you Breezie-brain,” Moondancer sighed as she got her breath back and kept walking.

“Oooh!” Pockets nodded, that made— “Wait just a minute…” Finally, her brain got to work. The familiar-sounding name, the shape of the locket, the interest in Midnight… and her face, she has seen that face before in “The locket… Oh. My. Goddess. You are Middy’s ex!”

“Wow!” Moondancer deadpanned. “Thank you oh so much for pointing that out!”

“Wow I am slow.” Pockets whistled, “Geez, sorry dudette. My brain sucks sometimes. But I can’t believe I actually got to meet you! I thought you were like gone or something. I didn’t know you were still alive and here in Canterlot!”

“Well I am, are you disappointed?” Moondancer frowned deeper. Her opinion of the petite unicorn was dropping like a Pegasus with Lockwing.

“Heck no!” Pockets chuckled, “Just that, I always hear about you, but Middy doesn’t like talking about it because she goes all emotional. I just imagined you were killed or something like those cliche stories.” She increased her pace and caught up, “Glad to see I was wrong. You seem like a smart and awesome pony, it would have been a bummer not getting to meet ya.”

“Why?” Moondancer snorted. “So you can rub in my face that you succeeded where I failed? Yeah, thanks for that too.”

Pockets stopped and looked at Moondancer with a frown, “Ok, listen dudette. I don’t know what it is but I can’t stop thinking that either you have something against me, or you think I have something against you. But either way, I ain’t happy with that.”

Moondancer sighed and sat down, wincing at the cold floor. “It's not you,” she finally said. “I'm just… I'm jealous I guess. That somepony could get Midnight to truly open her heart other than me.”

Pockets’ frown turned into a sigh, oh she knew that feeling all too well, “Look, I… don’t know what happened between you and Midnight. She gets pretty damn emotional when anyone bring the subject up so I’m yet to hear the full story. But believe me, whatever happened, it pains her to this day. You’ve had quite the impression on that little bat head, on everyone around her. Heck, I can’t meet anyone from Middy’s circle of friends without your name popping up. That’s the reason I was so happy to meet you. Because whoever left such a mark on Middy, must have been one heck of a gal.” The unicorn walked closer and trapped Moondancer into a soft hug, “She really appreciates you, I know that, and she hates what happened. I don’t know how a crazy bastard like me won over her heart, probably never will. But what I do know, is that you can’t give yourself so little credit.”

Moondancer paused, caught off guard by the sudden hug, but soon returned it after a few moments. She didn’t know what it was, but something about this mare just made her… feel at ease. “Thank you,” she whispered. “And, if you ask Midnight again, tell I said to give you the full story okay?”

“I will.” Pockets chuckled, booping Moondancer’s muzzle playfully before breaking the hug, “Now let’s go! We got thingies to talk with the Princess!”

“Thingies?” Moondancer sighed and pushed the mare away. “No more hugs, your stupidity might be contagious.” She flashed a cheeky smirk and trotted down the hall, her tail wagging left and right slowly.

Pockets didn't want to, she really didn't want to… but she couldn't help but look at the unicorn´s cute flank, “Damn sexy nerd…” She muttered, before following… with her eyes locked into the flank at all times.

Many different creatures have passed through the Canterlot gates, from the occasional griffin to the rare minotaur and even some diamond dogs from time to time. Needless to say, the guards working there have seen pretty much everything.

Or so they thought. For one particular, seemingly normal day, a new visitor like none other before asked for permission to enter the city.

A short, slender, deer-like creature made its way towards the gate. She walked both proudly yet with a sense of class, her long, slim legs that ended in pointy pink hooves letting out a soft clop sound that echoed through the nearby area. A short fluffy tail perked up as she walked with a slight side-to-side hip-movement, her delicate yet clear curves making themselves known with every step. Her asymmetrical, pink, long hair covered her left eye, a thick, yet perfectly taken care of cream-colored mane surrounding her neck. On top of her refined, queenly face, two short diagonal antlers shoot up, their shape akin to the half of an oak leaf with a pinkish brown color similar to that of her underbelly. And she was gorgeous.

“Uhm excuse me?” Her voice was lilting, almost as if singing instead of talking, a small yet precious grin on her delicate muzzle, “May I enter this city, please?”

The guards said nothing, their jaws dropped to ground level while the only response they were able to give, was the sound of their drooling mouths.

A yellow pegasus mare with black mane facehooved and walked towards the strange creature, her fiery orange eyes eyeing the strange creature carefully while she held her weapon up ready to strike if necessary.

“Who are you and what is your business here?” She asked with a demanding tone that would intimidate many, but not the visitor.

“My name is Sweet Aroma, and I came here looking for my cousin.” She grinned softly, “My grandfather told me she’d be here.”

“Alright…” The guard quirked an eyebrow, “And what’s the name of this cousin of yours?”

“Penumbra, but I’m sure she doesn’t know that.” Sweet replied, before tip-toeing her way towards the gate. Yet she was soon stopped by the war lance of the guard, who was not amused in the slightest.

“Now listen missy, if you want to go in you’ll have to tell me the truth, else I’ll have to call my supervisor and believe me, it won’t be pretty.” The guard grunted.

Sweet blinked, before tilting her head in confusion, “But I need to go in and find my cousin, I can’t waste time.”

“Well too bad, now follow me to the guardpost, I’ll call my supervisor so we can figure out what to do with you.” The guard said flatly, turning towards the gate and signaling the stranger to follow. Yet Sweet Aroma did not move in the slightest.

“See, the problem is that I can’t afford losing time.” The deer-like creature hummed, her antlers glowing with a soft pink glow that began spreading throughout the area like a cloud. Suddenly, the males around them dropped their weapons and their eyes were opened wide, their mouths finally shutting close before glaring at the visitor with a blank expression.

The pegasus noticed this, and brought out a small stone that glowed immediately, “This is Secure Lines of the Royal Guard! I demand backup at the gate, I repeat I dema—”

The rock was blown off her wing by a blast of magic that came from one of the male guards, who alongside the others, were now slowly walking towards the lone female pegasus.

“I’m so sorry it had to come to this.” Sweet sighed, “But I really have no time to lose. It’s nothing personal really.” She raised one of her slim hooves and pointed at the mare, “Get rid of her, pretty please~?” She pouted.

Secure narrowed her eyes, looking at the upcoming zombie-like co-workers that were mindlessly making their way towards her. She knew them all well enough to know that they wouldn’t mind waking up with a good headache and a bump in their foreheads, or bruises all over their bodies really. And this is why she bashed the side of her lance on the head of two of the guards, the rest growling before jumping at her, only to be pushed back by another slam from the long weapon.

Yet the stallions did not give up, not like they had an option. One darted towards her from the front, another one flanking from the side while a pegasus took into the air before diving down.

The pegasus mare narrowed her sight and locked eyes with the first one, dashing to the side before delivering two consecutive powerful kicks to her opponent’s ribcage. She turned around and grabbed the second one by the collarbone, before taking off into the sky and slamming him into the third stallion’s face, sending both of them crashing into the ground.

“Ha! Is that all you got?” Secure Lines chuckled, doing a flip in the air and pointing at the deer “Now it’s time for you to go down as well.”

The remaining hypnotized guards stepped forwards with a growl, yet were soon stopped by Sweet who giggled at the antics, “Down my powerful stallions, you’re too weak and pathetic to deal with her. I guess my grandfather was right, if you want something done right…. do it yourself.”

With a calm expression yet bloodthirsty gleam in her pink eyes, her antlers began glowing a strong pitch black color, a thin semi-transparent beam of magic striking the pegasus in an instant. But this wasn’t regular magic that had struck her, regular unicorn magic would have hurt, push her back, heck this wasn't even dark magic. This… was different. For what the pegasus felt wasn’t pain, but a growing sense of irrational fear and anxiety, a sensation that caused her body to tremble.

“W-what… are you doing!?” She scowled, her hoof raising shakingly, “Y-you won’t get away with th-this!” And without waiting for her situation to get worse, she threw the lance with all her might, before falling to the ground as her wings failed her.

The landing was brutal, hurting several of her limbs and bones. With shivers and trembles, Secure looked up and glanced at the enemy who she hopped the lance had killed, or at least injured.

Yet Sweet Aroma was completely unharmed. Did she fail the throw? No… that could not be.

Did… the lance phase through the intruder? Secure Lines’ body went numb, her mind finally succumbing to the fear. This was no regular creature, this was a monster. She began to whimper in fear as the hypnotized stallions approached her, one of them pressing his hoof against Secure’s head, tears falling from the pegasus’ eyes.

Seeing this, Sweet Aroma grinned maliciously and walked closer, her antlers glowing a stronger shade of black, “Hmmm I wonder what’d happen if I fill every inch of your being with fear…” She mused, before turning away and walking towards the gate. A pair of large, ethereal, butterfly-like wings appeared on Aroma’s back, taking her off the ground, “Get rid of her. Forget everything that happened here.” She ordered to her small army of stallions.

“Over here!” Came a new voice from the other side of the gate, much to Aroma’s annoyance.

“Change of plans, I order you to forget everything that happened here and then knock yourselves out. The fear will keep our little mare shut.” She growled, before taking off as the stallions below her simply fainted, leaving Secure Lines trembling and whimpering, completely and utterly terrified. And with a happy tune, Sweet Aroma’s body simply vanished from sight. She couldn’t lose time... she had a cousin to get rid of.

Chapter Five - Emotions

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“N-no… get away, get away! STAY AWAY FROM ME!”

“She’s been like that for the past half an hour. Never before have I seen something like this.” A maroon earth pony guard sighed while looking trough some papers. “Ever since the attack at the gate, Secure Lines had been trembling and speaking nonsense. Apparently she seems to think something frightening is following her. We've brought experts on the topic, scholars with experience in several kinds of magic. Nopony can safely say what's going on.”

Midnight winced slightly, having been dragged out of her comfy medbay bed for this. And for good reason too.

“Could it be changelings?” Midnight asked the stallion as she looked at the poor mare. She’d had to be restrained, just to avoid injuring herself.

“Negative.” The stallion shook his head, “With changelings the victims are devoid of love and in more extreme cases other emotions, this looks like the complete opposite case. She has too much fear, irrational fear, like if some sort of curse was laid upon her.”

“I am well aware of what a changeling does!” Midnight clicked her teeth, making him flinch. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. She could see the magical ley line that ran through the mare’s body. Her wings and hooftips shone the brightest, the Aero magic of a pegasi showing there.

What made Midnight gasp, was the darkness that clutched her heart and head, just looking at it make Midnight Song sick to her stomach. She shook her head and turned off her Magic Sight.

“Okay, I think I have an idea. Do you think you can keep her safe here?”

“Affirmative. We still have to run a check on the fallen stallions anyways. It’s like if their minds forced their bodies shut, like if they went unconscious at their own will.” The guard said in extreme worry. He knew these colts, they were good colts.

Midnight sighed again. “Poor Secure, nopony deserves this. I’ll find who did this… and show them real fear!” She turned and left the medbay, she had a unicorn to find and a best friend to save!

Moondancer strode through the expansive halls of the castle. Something had happened a while ago, sending the guards into quite a tizzy. But none of them would explain it, saying it wasn’t for a civilian to know.

“Just what is going on here?” she muttered, Pockets trailing a little behind her. “And stop staring at my flank, or at least make it less obvious.”

Pockets kept staring, before blinking and looking up, “Oh, sorry. I’m not the most stealthy pony around which is kinda ironic considering my talent.” Pockets snorted before humming in thought, “I dunno… usually when things get this hectic it’s because some sort of crazy monster is attacking the city. But hey, if there’s someone who can tells us what’s going on, she’s in that room.” She grinned, pointing at Celestia’s office with her muzzle.

“Provided she’s in there,” Moondancer sighed as they approached. The two guards crossed their spears and stared flatly at the mares.

“Nopony gets inside,” the one on the left said.

Pockets groaned, she hated it when they did that, “Princess Celestia herself sent us guys, I’m a guard as well and this mare right here is her trusted student. So unless you want me to tell Celestia herself that you’re bothering us, you’re gonna let us in.”

They simply looked at one another, before Moondancer’s ear flicked. She got a prickling sensation on the back of her neck. She… knew this feeling…

She took a casual step to one side as something dropped from the ceiling, nailing Pockets in a tackling hug.

“Eep!” The unicorn squeaked and rolled all over the floor with her attacker, her fuzzy, sexy attacker, “Ouch, you could give me a heads up ya know?”

“Why would I do that~” Midnight purred as she trailed her mouth along her neck, nipping in a few places before licking her horn. “Mmm, tasty mare~”

Pockets hummed and purred in response really liking the sudden attentions.

Moondancer coughed and Midnight turned her head to look at the unicorn. “MOONIE!” she yelled and leapt off of Pockets before she tackled her, hugging the unicorn tightly. Moondancer simply teleported, leaving Midnight to hug air.

“Aren’t you injured?” she deadpanned and Midnight scoffed, brushing a hoof on her chest.

“Naw, I’m gooOW!” she winced as Moondancer poked her shoulder. “Mmrr, fine, so I’m still a little tender. But! This is important. I need to steal Pockets for a bit.”

“Well usually I’m the one stealing stuff.” Pockets snorted, “But what for?”

“Serious business,” Midnight said, actually looking quite serious. She motioned for the pair to follow as she led them towards the medbay. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that all the guards are on edge right now?”

“Yes,” Moondancer replied. “Why is that?”

“Because the guards at the city gate were attacked, and they’re in pretty bad shape,” Midnight said, clenching her jaw.

Pockets’ eyes widened, “Well… I know I’m pretty badass and all, but if the guards at the gate couldn’t deal with whatever attacked, I assure you I can’t do crap against whatever we’re dealing with.”

“Not that,” Midnight said with a shake of her head. “I need to employ your other talent.”

“Midnight… I know I’m a kinky mare and all but I doubt that is gonna help them.” Pockets blushed brightly.

Midnight actually paused as Moondancer blushed at the insinuation. The thestral sighed and shook her head. “Just… follow me alright?”

A short walk later, Midnight had returned to the medbay and Pockets got a look at the pegasus mare strapped to the bed.

“Ok… Midnight seriously I need an explanation because this is freaking weird.” Pockets quirked an eyebrow.

“We don't know,” Midnight said tersely. “We found her like this near the castle gates, along with a saturation of a weird type of unidentifiable magic.” She looked at the guard with a pained expression. “Something has gripped her heart with fear. I was hoping you could do with her, what you did with me when I was freaking out.”

Pockets looked at the mare in confusion, walking closer and feeling something… odd, a strange familiar aura, she couldn’t put her hoof down on it, “But I have no idea how I did that. I can’t even remember doing it.”

“Can you at least try?” Midnight asked her. “She’s my best friend and she’s suffering. Please? I'm begging you.”

Pockets looked at Midnight, and then glanced at the trembling mare. There was only one thing to do really, “I’ll do it. I don’t promise it’ll work… but I’ll do it.”

Midnight gave the little mare a loving kiss. “Thank you love.”

The small unicorn gulped and walked closer, the pegasus mare’s eyes widening in shock as she saw Pockets not like the small unicorn she was, but as a beast coming to eat her.

“N-no! Get away! Don’t touch me!” She shouted, trying to run as far as possible yet unable to do so due to the bindings.

“Don’t worry, I’m just here to help… I hope.” Pockets said nervously, extending her hoof towards the trembling mare. What’s the worst that could happen?

Her answer arrived when the hoof made contact, Pockets’ eyes widening as she felt a strong, unseeable force take over her body. It was nerve-wrecking, and utterly terrifying, as if thousands of screams filled her head,followed by laughter, terrifying laughter that made her ears buzz.

“Help… me…”

“GAH!” Pockets screamed, stepping back as searing pain took over her body, “Make it stop!”

“Pickett!” Midnight dashed forward and hugged her. “What happened? Are you alright!?”

Pockets panted, the strange sensations disappearing, “I… I heard her.”

“Heard her?” Moondancer questioned. “What do you mean? We didn't hear anything beyond your scream just now.”

“She, the guard!” Pockets exclaimed, “She’s in there and she needs my help. Midnight, let me go. I’ll free that mare even if it’s the last thing I’ll do.”

“Please don’t push yourself,” Midnight said as she let her go. “I don’t want to lose you too.”

She didn’t say it, but if the situation demanded it, Pockets would definitely push herself to the very limit.

The thief once more made her way towards the terrified pegasus and took a deep breath, “Here goes nothing.” She pushed her own hoof forwards against all warnings her mind gave out. And then… she placed her hoof on the tied up pegasus’ forehead and took a deep breath.

Once more, the sensation of sheer terror and the burning pain took over her mind, yet she used all her will to stay there, to find something to do. Pockets’ horn began glowing a strong black color. She let out a scream, a mix between fear, pain, and determination. Suddenly, Secure Lines’ body began glowing a similar color, letting a screech of her own as her eyes went black.

Midnight went to pull her away, but Moondancer shook her head as she held the Thestral back.

Pockets narrowed her eyes, the black glow of her horn slowly shifting to a light pink. But the terror in her body was getting to her, her front legs trembling, before the unicorn fell to her knees

“No… I’ll do this! I can feel her in there!” She stood up, and focused on her horn, on the reason she was doing this. This was Midnight’s friend, and she was going to do everything she could to fix this.

Midnight grit her teeth. “Stupid stubborn idiot. Don't you dare give up Pickett. Don't let some weirdo magic beat you. You're the one that stole my heart after all!”

Pockets’ ears perked up, that small piece of encouragement reaching the bottom of her heart and giving her strength. With a grunt, the soft pink gleam of her horn grew stronger, a small orb of pink light forming on the tip of her horn.

“How interesting,” Moondancer mused with a small smile. “Your words seem to have an effect. Keep going Moonlight.”

“Of course,” Midnight nodded. “I'll never give up on her. Go Pickett. I know you can save her! Kick that dark magic’s butt!!”

“Oh… I’ll kick it alright!” She grunted with a grin, the orb on the tip of her horn growing stronger, before firing a thin thread that landed on the mare’s chest, a thread that grew in size. The dark aura that surrounded Secure Lines’ began disappearing, turning into a pink light that gave the now static pegasus mare her usual vibrant colors once more.

“Woow…” Midnight breathed in awe. “You're beautiful. Keep going love!”

Pockets huffed, closing her eyes and focusing on not only her magic, but Midnight’s words. It gave her strength, it gave her the desire to give her best… it gave her the push she needed to completely overtake the darkness that surrounded the pegasus, a strong pink aura surrounding her entire being.

The pegasus gasped, and took fast breaths, seemingly levitating in the air.

“What… is happening?” Pockets asked with a grunt, unable to open her eyes.

“I… have no idea,” Moondancer gasped, raising a shield to surround the pair… in case they exploded.

“Keep pushing!” A voice said as Princess Cadenza Mi Amore stepped into the room. “You’re almost there!”

Pockets, although she didn’t recognize the voice, gave one final push and growled as her magic shot wild, a bright flash taking over the room and momentarily blinding everyone inside it.

After a few seconds, Midnight was the first to regain her vision, a slurping sound catching her attention… before seeing with wide eyes how Secure Lines hastily and erratically kissed Pockets’ muzzle like a mare in her heat, the unicorn trying to break free from what was going on.

“What. The. FUCK!?!” Midnight screeched and launched herself, only to be held back by Cadance and Moondancer. “Lemme go. That’s my mare she’s kissing!!”

Cadance rolled her eyes and her horn flashed, draining the excess magic from the Pegasus, said guard becoming acutely aware of what she was doing.

Secure Lines blinked as she saw the blushing unicorn mare beneath her, before eeping and jumping back, crashing into the wall while panting heavily. “What. The. FUCK!? What… What is going on!?”

“Hun I am as confused as you are.” Pockets blinked, this went from zero to a hundred real fast.

“Secuurreee!” Midnight growled and bared her fangs. “I'm glad you’re better. I'd have felt real bad about killing a sick mare.”

The pegasus looked at Midnight and jumped behind the bed, holding a pillow as her shield, “Ok… Midnight, I swear to Celestia I… whatever happened I didn’t mean to do it, well at least not this time. So please, calm your teats and let me live.”

“Midnight, I seriously think she didn’t mean it.” Pockets sighed as she stood up, “I… may have gone a bit overboard with the spell-thingy I did.”

“The… what now?” Secure frowned.

Midnight sighed and closed her mouth. “Fine. But only because Secure is cute and I haven't banged her yet.”

“You know I’m not into mares.” The pegasus deadpanned, “We discussed this multiple times already you maniac.”

“I mean… you just kissed me so.” Pockets smirked tauntingly.

“I had no idea of what I was doing dammit!” Secure huffed, “And can someone please explain me what the heck is going on, my head is hazy and I feel like I want to throw up… and for some reason catch butterflies and put them in a jar forever… what the heck is wrong with me?”

“Silly Cure, everypony is Songsexual~” Midnight smiled and bat her eyes at her. “As for what happened, we were hoping you could tell us. We found you and six meatheads passed out at the front gate. And you were crying like a foal that saw the boogeymare.”

“I… was?” Secure asked in confusion, trying to recall everything that had happened, “I… wait. Wait. I think I remember something now. There was this strange mare at the gate, she was… weird. Like a deer, but more magical-looking. She just walked in and somehow… hypnotized all the guys.” She was really trying her best, and from the winces and groans of pain her muzzle let out, this was obvious. She was fighting the headache of the century just to remember.

“Hmm,” Cadance hummed to herself as she walked over to the Pegasus and her horn shone, letting a wave of soothing magic wash over her. “Don’t worry about it for now. Rest up and you can make your report later okay?”

“Yeah…” Lines sighed, laying back and cooing at the warming sensation of the calming magic, “Oh… before that, the mare that attacked was looking for someone called ‘Primavera’ I think? I… can’t remember much. Maybe run a check through that.”

“We will look into it,” Cadance nodded and smiled warmly. “Now get some rest. You’ve been through quite the ordeal.”

Lines nodded and closed her eyes, “Oh and Midnight. We need to catch up later, also buck you.”

“Gladly. My bed is always open~” Midnight winked at her and blew her a kiss.

As they left the room to leave the mare have a well deserved nap, Pockets couldn’t help but look at the pink monarch that had appeared not long ago with a smirk, “So you’re the famous Princess Cadance huh? Gotta say, you look sexier live than in those old black and white newspaper pictures.”

“Thank you,” Cadance smiled as Moondancer facehooved over Pocket’s total lack of respect. “To be honest, the camera always adds ten pounds.” She rubbed her belly, which seemed a little rounder than normal. “And I’m big enough as is.”

“Nah, you look fine! There’s nothing wrong with a chubby lady.” Pockets grinned.

“Like a small unicorn when she eats like a loon,” Midnight poked her ribs with a wingtip.

“Heeey.” Pockets frowned, before poking her back, “I don’t get that pudgy, just a teeny tiny bit.” She chuckled, before taking a quick breath and dropping the bomb, “So, are we gonna talk about what the heck happened back there? Because I am honestly still freaked out by that.”

“All in good time,” Cadance smiled and looked at Midnight. “So, how have you been Songbutt?”

“Not bad Heartbutt,” Midnight grinned back as they bumped flanks. “You and Shining still good? Want to add some spice to the relationship~?”

Cadance pondered that for a moment. “Hmm… not yet.”

“Drat, so close,” Midnight sighed as the alicorn giggled.

“You haven’t changed a bit,” she said as the two shared a winghug.

“Why would I? I’m perfect,” Midnight replied back.

Pockets quirked an eyebrow at the shenanigans, “You know Princess Cadance as well? Is there a member of royalty you don’t know?”

“I don’t know Twilight all that well,” Midnight replied honestly. “I hit on her once and I think I scarred her for life, so she doesn’t talk to me now. But she’s just so darned adorkable!”

“Midnight and I met when Shiny ran home one evening, scared about the ‘lusty succubus mare’ that was chasing him.”

“Ahh, good times,” Midnight nodded and smiled fondly.

“You—” Pockets booped Midnight’s muzzle, “—Have a problem.”

“I do?” Midnight asked, looking confused.

“And yet you fell for her,” Moondancer pointed out.

“Well that’s because I’m just as crazy.” Pockets grinned and bumped Midnight’s flank with her own, thus causing the thestral’s butt to bump Cadance’s as well.

“Yes, well I was aware of that already,” Moondancer sighed and rolled her eyes. This was quickly becoming her default reaction to Pockets.

“Reminiscing aside,” Cadance said. “This situation is quite serious. So I believe we should—” A golden flash surrounded them and the scenery shifted, the foursome now finding themselves inside Celestia’s private chambers.

“—Find my aunt,” Cadance finished and sighed. “Really auntie?”

“My apologies, I was unaware that you were already on your way,” Celestia replied. She gestured to a pile of large cushions. “Have a seat. I’ll prepare some tea.”

“Tia!” Pockets squeaked and teleported onto Celestia’s back, “You would not believe what I just did! I just broke some freaky curse and rescued a mare and stuff! There were bright lights everywhere and she kinda kissed me which was awkward, but it was awesome!”

Celestia blinked, more from the sudden hug and the barrage of words that came from the unicorn. She chuckled softly as she lifted Pockets off of her and onto a cushion. “So I heard. It’s one of the reasons you’re here right now.”

“Wow, the news sure travels fast.” Pockets mused, getting comfy, “So, what are the other reasons?”

“Hmm, what indeed?” Celestia mused as she poured five cups of tea and one coffee. “We shall wait for—”

“Friend Pickett!” the unicorn was pulled into a tight, lung-crushing hug by Princess Luna as she teleported in. “How fare you?”

“I-I fare good Lu, lungs… need ‘em.” She gasped, her navy blue face soon becoming red.

“Oh.” Luna blushed sheepishly as she released the unicorn, who coughed and gasped as she sought to refill her lungs. “My apologies. I had heard what had happened and became worried.”

“Right, settle down everypony,” Celestia said as she floated the drinks over to everyone. “Now, to start with. Pickett Midnight, can you tell us what just transpired in the medical wing?”

“Ok…” Pockets gulped. She needed to be calm, she needed to relax and give the best explanation possible, “I… have no idea.”

Everypony just stared at her, ranging from disbelief, disappointment, to just general deadpan.

“Pockets? Seriously?” Midnight said. “You’ve done it twice now. And I want to know why Secure woke up and freaking kissed you!”

The former thief groaned at her own incompetence, “I’m know and I hate it! I’m sorry Middy… I’m so freaking useless.” She sighed sadly, a soft blue glow suddenly surrounding her horn.

Everyone fell silent as they stared at her horn.

“Sorry that I—” She blinked when her gaze turned up, noticing everyone’s gaze upon her, “What? Do I have something between my teeth or something? I knew I shouldn’t have eaten that hay sandwich!”

“Your horn is glowing blue,” Midnight stated rather bluntly.

Pockets blinked, and looked up, yet before she could see anything, the glow was gone, “Ok then horn, yeah thanks for not letting me see that.”

Cadance moved closer and then touched her horn to Pocket’s one. “As I live and breathe,” the alicorn whispered. “The legend was true.”

“The… legend?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow. And then, an idea came to mind, her eyes widening up, “No… no, you can’t be talking about—”

“The Legend of Tall Tale,” Cadance nodded as Moondancer’s jaw dropped.

“Seriously?” the unicorn exclaimed. “That foal’s story is real!?”

“Oh yes, quite real,” Cadance nodded.

“WHOOO!” Pockets shouted in excitement, rushing to Moondancer and hugging her, even lifting her from the ground with bone-crushing strength, “Oh I knew it! I knew my hunch was right, freaking… I am somehow connected to Tall Tale…” She dropped the other unicorn and her already big grin widened, “I am somehow related to one of my all-time inspirations… freaking… I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! So that explains all the crazy dangerous crap my horn has been doing!”

“Whoawhoawhoa!” Midnight held up a hoof. “Back up a minute. Can somepony please explain this, and what my marefriend has to do with some foal’s story?” She was seriously confused right now.

“Alright,” Cadance reached into a bag and pulled out a book.

“Ohhh storytime~” Pockets said excitedly, hopping up and down.

“This right here is an old text that has been kept safe in the Crystal Empire’s Records. A legend that many believed was nothing but a myth.” Cadance showed them the cover before opening the ancient tome. “The Legend of Tall Tale, as told by the Breezie himself. A copy of his very own journal, a gift to my ancestor, Princess Amore.” Pockets’ eyes widened in awe and amazement at what she was hearing, quickly leaning closer as Cadance opened the book, the dust flying off and releasing an oddly charming scent.

The book seemed to be completely hoofwritten, or rather… whatever Breezies had for hooves. And on the front page there was nothing but Tall Tale’s signature.

“Can… I?” Pockets asked, motioning towards the tome with her muzzle. Cadance nodded, and the unicorn cleared her throat, turning the page and reading the first entry out loud.

Entry #1

Twenty days since winter began.

My family is starving. The whole tribe has been trapped in this cave. Nobody knows what happened. We weren't expecting winter to come for at least two hundred more moons. We weren't ready, we barely have any resources left. We need help.

Those strong enough to fly in the unforgivable cold and reckless winter breezes have gone out to search for anything that can be of help. None have returned.

But I won't lose hope. I know there is a way. There must be. I've seen the ponies, the horned ones, use their magic to aid them and to defend themselves from the dangers of this world. That got me thinking… could we use the magic inside us to protect ourselves as well?

This is why for the sake of helping my family, my dear wife and children, to protect my tribe and get us out of this misery, I shall use my limited knowledge of the arcane to bring the magic inside me to the outside. I shall make us strong, we shall not depend on the breeze to live, we shall survive… on our own.

Entry #2

Thirty four days since winter began.

I have gotten nowhere. There seems to be no way for a Breezy to generate any source of heat, or any sort of defensive mechanism. Our magic seems to be purely aesthetical. But not everything is lost.

Two days ago, an explorer sent to scout the area came back nearly frozen to death. He claims he found a creature as white as snow resting not far from where we are. After a more detailed description, I was able to identify the creature as a mighty Windigo, the Bringers of Winter. They seem to be the ones responsible for this deadly weather.

Luckily, a certain tome my father passed down to me, “Fantastic Creatures and Where To Find Them” was the name, shows that Windigos have one rather simple weakness. They are terrified by love and friendship and the strange magic they emanate.

So perhaps if I can somehow find a way to emulate the strange patterns, replicate what the horned ponies do. Then perhaps I can defeat the Windigo and end this winter.

Entry #3

Sixty seven days since winter began.

It has been more than three months since we've been stuck in this cave. We barely have any resources left, the tribe is desperate. And yet...I can't help them. I’m so close, yet so far. I have managed, after several hours of meditation, potion-making, and countless hours without sleep, to transforms a plethora of emotions into small working spells of several kinds. Yet the magic us Breezies hold isn’t nearly enough to use this in combat.

Yet my time is running out. I must try and test this magic to fight the Windigos, end this eternal winter once and for all. I really hope my work wasn’t for naught.

Entry #4

Seventy days since winter began.

I failed. My magic wasn't nearly strong enough to defeat the creature. And now I've lost my way back home. I've kept flying in a straight line to try and find something, someone… there's only snow, snow, and more snow.

Entry #5

??? days

I'm cold, lost. I have nothing. My wings barely work, my magic is barely functional. I am alone. I am Tall Tale, must find help. Must end winter.

Entry #8

???

Never give up.

Entry #9

I should be dead. Winter should have taken my life back then in the empty, white fields of cold despair. But it didn't.

When I thought everything was lost, I was rescued by an angel. A winged creature with a heart full of kindness and mercy, an angel, yes, an angel of love.

She introduced herself as Princess Amora of the Crystal Empire. A civilization of ponies unlike any I've seen before, where the horned ones, the strong ones, and the winged ones all lived together in harmony, protected by the power of an ancient crystal artifact from the unforgiving cold.

She treated me, a strange creatures from a faraway land, like royalty. Celebrations were made in my honor, feasts made to commemorate my bravery. But deep inside, I knew that I still had a mission, that my tribe still needed my help. While on the outside I showed glee and excitement, on the inside I felt regret and frustration.

After a long night rest, I gave Princess Amora my gratitude and deepest apologies, for I had to go back home. She understood and wished me farewell, but not before blessing me we with a magic-filled kiss on my diminutive head.

Entry #10

I have begun my way back home. I have begun my journey through the white cold living Tartarus that are the northern lands. My magic… my magic has changed, it has become stronger, more efficient, more abundant! Princess Amore’s blessing was the final ingredient, the missing link to bring the full potential of my magic out.

Using the power of love, thinking about my family and friends, those who I want to protect, it has kept me warm. Using the anger and courage, the will of beating these creatures, I have boosted my flight and now travel at speeds never before matched by a Breezie. Using my gratitude and joy of fulfilling my mission, my destiny, I have kept myself strong. Finally… I can save my village, no, the world itself.

Entry #11

My newfound powers have allowed me to perform feats none other, nor breezie nor pony, has ever accomplished. I have traveled to the most inhospitable of places, fought the mightiest of creatures, all in preparation for my final goal. Although the ponies have fought the Windigos with reckless abandon, pushing them back to the Frozen North, several of those deadly demons still roam around, and now more than ever, death follows closely behind.

The cave my kin had resided in for the last few months has been blocked off entirely by the magical ice that covered the mountain. If I want to save them before it is too late…

I must first get rid of the Windigo. Tomorrow… I'm ending this.

Pockets kept reading, reacting with every bit of the story. She gasped when Tall Tale mentioned his now stump leg, and cheered when he announced he beat the Windigo and freed the village. She was simply marveled by this, by the legit actual story of the one who against all odds, against the mockery and underestimations, did the impossible. Finally she reached the last entry of the Journal, the final page.

Entry #15

Many things have happened since the last time I recorded my adventure. I have grown as a breezie and so has my magic. I have a family of my own now, a beautiful wife and three beautiful children. Two inherited a fraction of my powers, my two youngest daughters. Yet it was my firstborn son who shows the most promise.

Because of my brave actions and wisdom, my village has named me as their Elder, their leader and guide. And I plan to follow along with my first plan, the plan I had since I was young. To be independent of the breeze, to explore and travel this world, to find our paradise, a land where we'll be forever happy.

Tomorrow we're moving to the Crystal Empire once more, to visit my old friend, she who made this all possible. I shall give her a copy of these journals, the story of my struggle. So hopefully she alongside her faithful subjects, will learn that no matter what others may think of you, no matter your size or your experience, no matter who you are… with enough effort and determination, anyone can be a hero.

My name is Tall Tale, and soon, me and my tribe will disappear forever, to never be seen again, to create my own tribe, my own kingdom inside this still young kingdom of Equestria. I will make the breezies respected, powerful creatures.

Pockets closed the book, lacking words. This was… amazing, kinda confusing, but amazing.

“So, the magic Miss Pickett has,” Moondancer slowly pieced together the evidence. “Is some sort of hybrid between Pony and Breezie magic?”

“That’s the short version,” Cadance nodded. “To be perfectly honest, I only found this book next to its foal’s story counterpart a few days ago when I was searching for something to read to some of the foals I was watching. It’s pure luck that Aunt Celestia contacted me when she did and this book was still in my mind.”

“Wait… lemme get something straight. “ Pockets raised a hoof, “So this magic I apparently have somehow uses my emotions to do all sorts of crazy things? Is that how this works?”

“Yes, your magic is emotion based,” Cadance nodded. “At least from what that book tells anyway. At the very least, to have this power. That would make you a direct descendant of Tall Tale.”

Pockets blinked, “Can. . you repeat that? I… think my ears ain't working properly. “

“I believe you heard me just fine,” Cadance giggled. “That book states that Tall’s power was passed down his line, but only to direct descendants. So yes, he was likely your many times great grandfather.”

“Oh. My. Gosh…” Pockets’ eyes widened, a gigantic grin forming on her muzzle, “I am a descendant of one of the most badass small guys ever… I… can't freaking believe this. “ Suddenly, the small unicorn began hopping like a maniac all over the room,hops that would make Pinkie proud, letting the world know of this massive discovery, “I COME FROM AN AWESOME FAMILY! I AM FREAKING AWESOME. No, wait… I was awesome already… I AM EVEN AWESOMER THEN!”

“Okay, one…” Midnight said as she thought over what was read. “The book said that Tall tale and his tribe disappeared forever. And two? I’ve seen a Breezie. How the heck does one of those and a pony have a foal? There’s a small matter of massive size difference.”

Pockets stopped, and shot Midnight a deadpan expression, “Really? Did you really have to ruin my fun? You are such a party pooper.”

I’m just pointing out facts,” Midnight said. “There is no such thing as coincidence, only inevitability.”

“Well there must be a reason behind that, right?” Pockets asked the other mares in the room, suddenly seeing her bond with Tall Tale fade away into nothingness.

“There very well might be,” Cadance nodded in response. “And while Middy raises some valid points, history has a way of distorting things. he may very well have come back at some point.”

“And the second could easily be solved with a Transmogrification spell,” Luna added. “I can think of a half dozen different ways a child could be conceived. But without solid proof.”

“What about the intruder?” Midnight suddenly spoke. “That spell she cast on Secure. It looked an awful lot like a twisted version of Pockets’ magic.”

“Yeah.. . isn't fear an emotion as well?” Pockets hummed, “Whoever did that could also have Tall Tale’s magic! Maybe a sibling… an evil twin! Oh my gosh that is awesome!”

“So this intruder may very well have the answers we seek?’ Luna said and tapped her chin. “Very well, we shall make apprehending them our top priority!”

“I want to know who this ‘Primavera’ is that Secure said she was looking for,” Midnight spoke up. “Plus there’s those thieves to worry about.”

“So many problems,” Celestia sighed. “I may very well have to call in a favour. Though that favour will likely come with a high price tag.”

“Princess Celestia!” Came a sudden shout from the door as a guard broke in, “We have a problem!”

“That appears to be the flavour of the day,” the regal alicorn sighed and looked at the guard. “And that door was locked… with a lock that was three hundred years old. So now you’ve broken that priceless antique. What problem would demand this interruption?”

“M-my deepest apologies your Majesty. But I was sent to give you a message of the utmost importance.” The guard said nervously, “The high-security dungeon was compromised, a prisoner has escaped!”

Celestia’s eye gave an imperceptible twitch. “Which one?”

“D-Dead Drop, your Majesty. The killer for hire. “ The guard responded.

Midnight fell very silent as Moondancer moved next to her, leaning against the suddenly shivering mare.

“It’s one thing after another,” Celestia frowned and got to her hooves. “Form a contingent of Guards. I want at least two Alpha battlemages and two Specialists. His capture is now your highest priority!” She turned to Pockets and Midnight. “The two of you will remain here in the palace. With that accursed stallion free, he will likely target the ones that put him away.”

“Hey, we kicked his butt once, we can totally do it again! “ Pockets stepped forwards.

Midnight just remained silent, though her hoof idly rubbed the scar under her wing.

“Nay, you must stay here where you'll be protected. If he managed to get out it was most likely with somepony’s help.” Luna shook her head, before glancing at Celestia with a frown, “Sister, I know you do not agree with their philosophy, but we must call them. We need their help.”

“So, we counter chaos with chaos,” Celestia frowned and took a golden ribbon from her desk. “Very well, I shall make arrangements. Midnight Song? I trust you know where the guest rooms are?”

Midnight was silent until Moondancer poked her. “Huh? Oh, um… yeah. I guess…”

Pockets noticed this, yet decided to remain silent… for now. “Fine, but if something goes wrong we're going in. If Dead Drop wants revenge, he'll have it. He still has to pay for the things he did back in Tall Tale, after all.”

Cadance was rather silent, rather… she was observing Midnight Song. And her expression wasn’t a happy one. “Midnight?” she said softly. “Would you mind taking a little walk with me?”

“What for?” the bat said, before Cadance’s horn shone.

“You know why,” she simply said and the pair teleported from the room.

“Wait!” Pockets called, but it was too late, “Oh for crying out… gah! Of course this day had to be ruined one way or another! Freaking Dead… And we have an evil Breeze-thing going around causing chaos and, freaking… a gang of weird ass thieves and-” she kept going and going, her horn suddenly glowing red with vibrant sparks coming from the tip, the room even feeling a bit… heated.

“Pickett, calm down,” Celestia said sternly. “Everything will be fine. And Cadance has a good reason for borrowing your marefriend.”

“Oh I bet she does!” Pockets scowled, her body leaving a soft glow, “Everyone has a reason! Everyone knows what's wrong with her but me. Oh but I have to respect her privacy right!?” She growled, her ethereal fangs showing?

“Pickett Midnight!” Celestia was standing over her, her horn glowing a vibrant gold. “Sit. Down!”

“No!” Pockets shouted in a voice that barely resembled her own, a strong red aura taking over her limbs. She stomped on the ground, leaving cracks on the marble floor due to her newfound strength, “I am tired of sitting down while everything happens around me, I'm tired of not knowing what the heck is going on with Midnight! I am tired of this a-” Her words were suddenly cut short, her eyes closing as she stumbled in her place, ready to fall at any minute. The exhaustion of all that sudden burst of magic taking its toll.

She was caught by Celestia’s magic before she fell, the alicorn levitating her over to a pillow. “Yes, perhaps some things should be explained to you. Do you know much about Midnight’s past?”

“I-I… don't know anything but the fact that she once dated her.” Pockets responded while pointing at Moondancer with a hoof, her other hoof rubbing the back of her pained and confused head as she finally came back to the real world, “But… with all due respect your Majesty. I… feel like Midnight should be the one telling me that story.”

“And knowing Midnight, she’d give you a rather… half-flanked explanation at that,” Celestia chuckled. “Besides, she was asleep for the important part. Now, I trust you heard about the Changeling Invasion a few months back?”

“Did I?” Pockets snorted, “It was all over the news.”

“Well, that was the start of it,” the alicorn said, taking a seat next to her and draping a wing over her. “Midnight was inside the palace at the time, guarding Luna’s room from intruders while she rested for the day. She… none of us expected an attack of that scale so quickly.”

“Let me guess, Middy kicked those Changeling’s flanks back into their hives, right?” Pockets grinned.

“It was true she beat back a fair number of them,” Celestia nodded. “However, my guards numbers at the time ranged in the hundreds… theirs in the tens of thousands. Midnight was… overwhelmed. And… I’m sure you know what a Changeling does to it’s victims.”

“Drains and feeds on… their love.” Pockets blinked, she didn't like where this story was going.

“Yes,” Celestia nodded. “If only I had known… If only I could have…”

“They took her love,” Moondancer said with a flat tone. “Magically… and physically.”

Pockets’ eyes widened. She couldn't believe it, she didn’t want to believe it, “N-no, they… but she… why didn't she tell me before!?”

“Because she doesn’t know,” Celestia said. “A memory like that. Would you want to remember it? No, I used my magic and… I erased that memory. At her request I might add.”

“But… that can't be right. If what you're saying is true then how is it that she loves me!?” Pockets’ heart was racing several miles per hour, only able to imagine the worst case scenario, “D-does she really love me? Or is that just another spell? Was… it all because of my magic?”

“I doubt your magic works like that,” Celestia said, hugging her closer. “Do not worry about it.”

“It gets worse though,” Moondancer continued the story. “They really drained her good. So much that… that her heart was near dead inside. That’s… what happened between me and her.” The unicorn looked down. “The mare that you love… do you know how hard it was… to hear that she didn’t love you anymore. That she felt absolutely nothing?”

“I… I just…” She knew that feeling all too well. Memories of a past she didn't want to remember flooding back, her body twitching anxiously.

“I didn’t know what to do honestly,” Celestia said, sounding… disappointed really. “But that’s when Cadance came to me with an idea. And using her magic, we… instilled new emotions into her.”

“Installed!?” Pockets thought to herself, tears forming in her eyes, “W-what do you mean?“

“She had none of her own,” Moondancer said. “Princess Cadance’s magic can remind a pony of what is truly in their heart. Namely, the ability to draw the love from it. It… seemed to have worked… but…”

“But what?” Pockets asked in what seemed like a mix between anger and worry.

“You’ve seen her lately,” Celestia said. “She’s… wild, prone to great anger with little provocation. Whatever it was that Cadance did… is… for the lack of a better word. Breaking.”

“So she's emotional, so what!? So am I!” Pockets shouted with a pained scowl, “There is nothing wrong with her! She's a perfect mare dammit!”

“Pickett!” Moondancer yelled and got in her face. “Not once did we say we blamed Midnight for this! And you think I don’t know that about her. I still…” She bit her tongue and looked away. “Look. You wanted to know what happened alright? So there you have it. My greatest failure all wrapped up in one neat little package!”

Pockets opened her mouth, ready to shout with all her might… yet she didn't, the only thing that came out was a faint whimper, before she teleported out of Celestia’s grasp and tackle-hugged Moondancer, keeping her close as she whispered quietly, “Sorry… I’m so sorry you had to live through that. I… had no idea, I really didn't. And I feel so bad, because I feel like I've taken something precious from you.”

“Idiot,” Moondancer said and pushed her back with a hoof as she turned her head away to wipe her eyes. “You make her happy. Incredibly so. When she got back from Tall Tale. She spent half the damn day talking about you. It was both good to hear and really really annoying. But…” She turned back and hugged the smaller unicorn. “I’m really glad somepony could open her heart again. You hurt her though… and I will do the most unspeakable things to you.”

Pockets giggled, finally relaxing enough to think clearly once more, “I’ll keep that in mind you bookworm. And hey, you seem like a great gal, so after this is over, if you ever want to just hang out and like have tea or whatever normal ponies do, I’d be more than glad to do that. How does that sound?”

“I’d like that,” Moondancer smiled as the doors opened and Cadance re-entered, minus Midnight Song.

“Miss Pickett, a moment of your time please?”

Pockets blinked and looked at Cadance in confusion, “I’ll be there in a sec I guess.” She turned to Celestia and sighed, “Hey, Tia, about what happened earlier with me getting all angry and everything…”

“It’s alright, I’d have stopped you if you did anything… regrettable,” the alicorn smiled. “Now, go and see what Cadance wants.”

“Will do!” Pockets nodded and trotted towards the pink princess, “Don't do anything fun while I'm gone you two, and if you do at least tell me all about it!” And so, the usual Pockets was finally back, looking back at the two mares and shooting them a wink, “Wish me luck, not like I'll need it but still, it makes me feel like you guys care.”

“Oh, you might need it still,” Cadance said as she led the unicorn from the room.

“Sooo…” Pockets began with a tap of her hoof, “What's the dealio?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” Cadance said as she led her down the hall. “But, do not get angry alright? What I need you to be is the exact opposite. Only love will help here.”

“OK… explanations, I need those.” Pockets was getting really tired of having no idea of what was going on.

“Sorry,” Cadance giggled and leaned down to nuzzle her. “When you live with Auntie Celestia for so long, some of her… quirks start rubbing off on you…” She frowned and looked at Pockets, whose mouth was already open. “And not like that, perverted mare.’

Pockets closed her mouth and shrugged, “What can I say, same thing happens with me and Middy. Blame that bat-butt.”

“Seems we’re both hopeless,” Cadance smiled. “Now, how much did Celestia tell you about Midnight?”

“From the changeling attack to you… installing new emotions into her.” Pockets said with a rather saddened tone.

“Ah.” Cadance made a note to scold her aunt for her choice of words. “Well, close enough I guess. The magic I used is somewhat similar to yours, but, nowhere near as potent or refined. This, my dear, is where you step in. With you here, and the feeling you have for Midnight. I can finally cure her properly.”

“Wait, you want to use me to fix Midnight!? I can barely understand what’s going on!” Pockets panicked. It was one thing to try and break a spell on a pony she barely knew, it was another thing altogether to fix whatever was wrong with her marefriend, “What if I screw up?”

“It’s very simple,” Cadance reassured her. “But, I do have one question. And, I need you to answer it truthfully. There cannot be any doubt in you heart okay?”

“Ok… sure, go ahead and ask away.” Pockets nodded.

“Do you love Midnight Song?”

Pockets blinked in surprise, before smiling, “Do I love Midnight Song? The mare who risked her life for me, who somehow keeps up with my randomness and who I know loves me with all her heart? The mare who risked getting in serious problems with the Princesses herself only to protect me and her family? The freaking sexy batmare who I adore because of how kind, how patient, how fun, and how in just about a month, has cared more about me than anyone else ever has?” The thief chuckled and gave a nod, “I love her to no end, and I couldn’t possibly be happier to have someone like that at my side.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Cadance smiled warmly as she opened a door. Inside the plain room, Midnight was resting on a bed, her body surrounded with a pink glow. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was so quiet it was hard to not mistake her for a corpse.

The unicorn slowly walked up to Midnight, staring in shock and confusion, “What… what happened?”

“Right now? I have her in a state of magical stasis,” Cadance said. “Now, we should begin as soon as possible. What I want you to do is activate your magic and focus on your feelings for Midnight. I will act as a conduit for your magic and add my own. Together… we can restore her heart to the way it should be.”

“Wait… for real? I-I mean, we can do that?” Pockets’ eyes widened, suddenly having a completely different look at this whole deal.

“Indeed… in theory,” Cadance nodded as she moved Pockets closer to Midnight. “Now let’s get started… and please know that I’m not entirely sure what will happen. Be prepared for anything alright?”

“Got it! If it’s to help Midnight with whatever problem she has, I’ll freaking do my best.” She took a deep breath, and focused on her horn, the long appendage glowing a strong, pink glow, “I’m ready!”

Cadance’s own horn glowed as a trail of light emerged from Pocket’s chest, and linked with Midnight Song’s. “Okay… your hearts are connected. Now, focus on those feelings you have!”

Images of all the great times they had flashed in Pockets’ mind, the first day they met, the fun they had at the beach, their first night together, the night when they took down Grumble, and every other happy moment after that, it all came back to the thief whose magic shot a massive wave that fled towards Midnight’s body, who began levitating off the bed while surrounded by a strong, vibrant pink aura.

“That’s it!” Cadance said, a little surprised by the sudden burst. “I think it’s working.”

“There you are.”

Pockets’ magic weakened for a second when she suddenly heard a strange voice coming from the back of her head, yet decided to ignore it to keep working on Midnight’s heart, reaching out to the core of it.

“I was wondering when you’d use the full potential of your magic.”

“Cadance… is that you talking?” Pockets asked with a grunt.

“What?” Cadance called out over the sound of the magic. It was taking most of her strength to hold back the flow as a steady stream, rather than a flood.

“Oh, are you perhaps ignoring me, dearie? Well isn’t that a little rude.Perhaps I should force your attention unto me.”

Pockets’ eyes widened when her horn began casting even more magic against her will. Yet unlike before, the pink beam of magic began to darken, slowly turning into a deep black.

“Hmm, I hope whatever you’re doing isn’t important. It’d be a shame if something bad happened to anyone you care for.”

“N-No!” Pockets shouted, trying to cut the flow of magic yet unable to do so. Suddenly, a searing, nerve-wracking pain took over her body, as a burst of magic shot out of her horn, a burst of pure blackness, full of fear itself. She grunted and tried to focus, to gain control once more, recalling why she was doing this for. The black beam began to change colors once more, becoming a faint pink that struggled to win the battle, “H-Help!”

“What are you doing!?” Cadance tried to separate her from Midnight, but the flow of magic was too powerful. “Pickett! Stop. You… You’ll kill her at this rate!”

“I… I can’t! Something… someone’s doing this!” Pockets shouted in fear and anxiety.

“Oh I can feel it, your power is going crazy isn’t it? Soon I’ll be able to find you~”

“NO!” Pockets shouted, “I will not let you take her away from me, I will not let you control me you… you monster!” She stepped back and gave it her all, focusing on what her heart wanted, “I… I won’t let you kill the one I love the most!” The unstable beam of magic straightened up, the black and pink colors fading away as a vibrant, blinding golden tone began taking over, an abundant amount of energy filling the room.

“Oh… well now this is interesting.” The voice said with a slight hint of anger.

“I… I!” Pockets tried to say, yet her body soon began trembling, her legs growing weak, her head hurting like if Tartarus itself burned inside it, this was too much for her. The golden beam started to fade away, the unicorn struggling to stay on her hooves, “N-no…”

And the world faded to black.

Chapter Six - Desperate Times, Peaceful Times

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When Pockets awoke, it wasn’t in the castle. And… it was an odd feeling. Because she couldn’t feel anything. The trees moved with a wind she could not feel at all. And ponies walking by didn’t seem to notice her at all.

Oh, and she happened to be lying right in the middle of a street in Canterlot.

“Wh-what… what happened?” The unicorn whispered, groaning in pain as she felt her entire body ache.

“Midnight! Slow down young filly,” she heard a voice call out… as a little thestral filly stopped next to her and turned. She knew that chocolate brown coat and that platinum blonde mane and tail.

“Aww, do I hafta?” Filly Midnight whined. “You’re so slow Pops!”

“What… how is this-?” Pockets winced as she tried to make sense of the world deciding to just lay down and follow with her view. This was so weird, she needed answers, she needed to know what was going on.

“Yes you do,” a much younger and waay hotter Gossamer replied. Those firm flanks, that chiseled jaw. “The ice-cream isn’t going anywhere.”

“But it might,” Filly Midnight replied with a cute look.

“Talk about cute mares and hot DILFs…” Pockets chuckled softly, managing to find a way to stand up and waddle towards the little mare, “I wonder… Hey! Mister Gossamer!”

She got no response, as Midnight rolled her green eyes. “Come oooon! Maybe I’ll get a Cutie Mark in ice-cream eating!”

Gossamer just rolled his eyes and followed the blank-flanked filly.

“These… were better days,” a voice echoed softly.

“Who… said that?” Pockets looked around, that was most definitely not the voice she heard before. The world melted around her, like paint mixing with water before it took a new form. She saw little Midnight again, now surrounded by a bunch of unicorn foals.

“What’s the freak doing here?” one colt spat.

“I certainly didn’t invite it,” another stated.

One didn’t say anything, instead zapping Midnight’s flank with a weak bolt of magic that made her yelp, tears forming in her eyes from the stinging sensation.

“No!” Pockets stepped in, yet phased right through the group of fillies, “Gah, what is going on!?”

“Stop it!’ Midnight cried as other foals joined in, causing Midnight to run away, their jeering laughter filling the air. Pockets scowled at the untouchable foals and followed after Midnight.

“They were untouchable… Noble foals that could get away with anything…”

“No they can’t!” Pockets growled, “I’ll make them all pay!”

But like before, the world melted away…

The scene now was vastly different. She appeared to be in a building of some kind and there were Guards everywhere.

“I’m not even going to ask anymore…” Pockets sighed, calming herself down as she glanced around to look for wherever Midnight was. She soon found her. Her long and luxurious mane was buzzcut short, and her tail was just a small tuft. She grunted as she was doing wingups with a large pack on her back.

“Hey!’ one stallion said. “Shouldn’t you bats be in the Night Guard? What are you doing in the Solar Wing.”

“What does it look like?” Midnight snarked. “I’m not here for the food moron.’

“What did you say!?” the stallion stepped forward, before he found his world inverted. In the blink of an eye, Midnight had gotten up, and dropped and flipped him with a single motion.

Pockets whistled, now that was more like the Midnight she knew and loved, not like the others weren’t incredibly adorable, “Well he earned that. Good job Middy.”

“I said,” Midnight said. “That I’m sick of being pushed around. If I want something, I’ll take it with my own Celestia-damned hooves.” She frowned and let him go as his friends snickered at him for being trounced so easily. He beat a hasty retreat as Midnight got back to her exercises.

“It wasn’t just them though…”

A shift later, and Midnight was strolling through the Night Halls. Aesthetically similar to the previous building, only it was filled with Thestrals.

“Oh look, it’s the sun-lover,” one said as everyone turned their heads. “What do you want… outsider?”

“Even my own species… all because I wanted something for myself…”

Pockets simply stared in sheer anger and disgust, Midnight never deserved any of that.

The scene shifted again, and Pockets recognised this place. It was the living room of Midnight’s house. Her parents were there along with a Thestral stallion. Pockets… hated him. There was no other word. The smug look on his face, the confident posture. And the way he sized Midnight up like a piece of meat.

“I refuse!” Midnight yelled. “I will not go through with this arranged marriage bullshit!”

“Midnight,” Gossamer started, before Midnight ran out and Pockets found herself following against her will.

“And that… led to what was possibly my greatest mistake.”

Pockets was trying incredibly hard to not burst out in anger and lose control of herself again, this whole experience was killing her on the inside.

What she was greeted with next, was seeing the emotional self destruction of the mare she loved. Solely and utterly to ruin herself for a marriage she did not want, she found the nearest bar and drunk herself stupid, going home with the first stallion that offered.

Luckily, Pockets didn’t have to directly view the moment the thestral lost her innocence in such a way. But the after effects were something else. The stallion she’d been engaged to was furious, calling Midnight names that even Papa Spirit would think were offensive.

“Since then, love was just… not something that should be cared for or sought after. It didn’t exist after all.”

“No, that’s not true!” Pockets shouted from the top of her lungs, tears of anger forming in her eyes, “I love you! Stop this, stop feeling this way!”

Another shift… and Pockets saw something she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Midnight Song and Moondancer, the thestral bugging the unicorn as she tried to study.

“And then I met her, and… everything changed. I felt, as though I’d found somepony I could love. She loved me for who I was. All my quirks, my insecurities. She had her own after all. We were… happy.”

Pockets wanted to be happy for Midnight, she really wanted to… but she already knew what would happen next.

“Then they came…”

Pockets had only read about the Changeling attack. But to see it up close like this was… something else entirely. Even though she couldn’t be hurt by the illusions, she still shrieked and ducked whenever one dropped from the sky.

And then she saw her mare fight. It was a beautiful dance of death and destruction. She swept across them like the Reaper herself.

But she knew it wouldn’t last. Pockets watched as her love was overpowered by sheer numbers. She watched as the Changelings drained the valiant thestral of everything she had and worse… before the pink light washed them from the city… just minutes too late.

“It’s hard to remember what came after… for some time, everything is blank. Deep down I knew. But… I didn’t want to admit it I suppose. And once again, I lost everything. I pushed away the one that loved me…”

Midnight sat in the hospital bed, her expression a blank slate and her voice had no emotion to it. Time and time again Moondancer would come, and time and time again, Midnight wouldn’t even acknowledge her presence.

Then… Moondancer stopped coming.

“I don’t blame her. If you tell somepony something enough times, they’ll believe it…”

The smaller unicorn who had been seeing this all happened, just remained silent. She hated this, she hated seeing Midnight suffer, she hated it all. She just wanted to somehow jump in and intervene, fix it all up. But she couldn't, she could only watch.

“And then…”

Another shift. Pockets knew this place… she recognised the mare sitting at a cafe table with a cute dress and a wide brimmed hat as a purple blur pinched her purse.

“I met her…”

“Stop that thief!”

Pockets blinked in surprise, “I remember those guys… and that guy, and…” She saw herself passing by with a wink that although was shot at Midnight, seemed to be directed to her own self, a purse in her grasp.

This was last month… in Tall Tale.

Midnight gave chase, looking like a deamon from Tartarus. But this time, Pockets was seeing her side of things.

“That little scamp, taking my purse and running off with it. I’ll admit, letting her go like that wasn’t my best idea. But it turned out well in the end.”

Pockets was treated to an abridged version of their adventures, seeing what Midnight had gone through when Drop Dead kidnapped her, the bats resolve, her Papa’s love…

“And when she said… when she said that she loved me…”

The world around Pockets seemed to grow brighter. She could feel the cool breeze against her coat, the warm sunshine washing over her.

“She saved me. Even when I thought I didn’t deserve it. Or couldn’t accept it. She stubbornly stuck to me.”

And she felt the Thestral that was hugging her.

“I never… ever want to let her go. Not again.”

“M-Midnight…” Pockets whispered, before quickly returning the hug, her body leaving a soft glow as one single, golden-colored tear fell from her cheek.

“Stupid, you’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Midnight smiled and wiped away her tear. She kissed her gently on the lips and pulled back. “And it’s not your fault. I heard her…” She looked past the unicorn, at a shadow darkness that she hadn’t noticed behind her. “And I see her…” Midnight stepped forward. It wasn’t the blind fury that Pockets had seen when she fought Dead. Or the playful anger… this was a calm, controlled rage. And that made it so much more terrifying.

“I know you’re there,” Midnight said, her voice colder than the frozen tundra. “You hurt my little Pockets. You made her cry…” She drew close to the shadow, seemingly staring into it. “I will return the favour. And when I’m done…” She smiled sweetly. “You will all but beg for death you little bitch.”

The world seemed to froze around them, and a soft giggle could be heard, a devilish, mischievous giggle, “Oh, well would you look at this. I didn’t think you’d have enough mental strength to see me dearie. When I felt something wrong happening with my dear cousin’s spell, something I did not expect, I just had to follow. I must say, your life story is quite… depressing. All the sadness, the anger, the frustration, it’s like a fairy tale for me. I wonder… if I can bring all those feelings to their full potential.” The shadow approached with a laugh, enlarging with every inch it moved.

“No!” Pockets growled, the shadow screeching in pain as it crashed into a golden force field, stopping her from advancing, “Whoever you are, you will not lay another dirty hoof on Midnight ever again!”

“Oh my little cousin wants to play, so that is how things are.” The shadow hissed, circling around them, “But it is obvious I can’t win here. Let’s make a deal, shall we? Two days from here, when the full moon is out, we shall meet on the old abandoned park in the south part of the city, you will find me, I trust you will.”

“And why would we ever do that!?” Pockets scowled.

“Because… if not, your little pegasus friend from the gate will begin to see the full extent of my curse.” She grinned, “You really thought that with your undeveloped, uncontrolled, pitiful powers you’d be able to fully break it? Please. At my command, she will experience fear like never before, enough fear to make her run from every living being she sees, enough to drive her to insanity and who knows what else! If you fail to appear, you will see that stupid little pony perish. Is that clear?” The voice said calmly, with an incredibly innocent-sounding voice for someone of that nature.

Midnight didn’t waver. A small smile crossed her muzzle.

“Oh. And here i thought you could not get any stupider,” she sighed. “I trust Pickett with my life. I have before and I will again. And Secure is a guard through and through. After all the crap she’s gone through in her life, you little scare is nothing! She’ll bend, but breaking her is impossible.” Midnight’s eyes narrowed as they flashed a deep crimson. “We’ll be at your little meeting place. But I have one request… enjoy the night sky while you can. When I find you… It’ll be your last!’ She slashed with her wing, destroying the shadow as she sighed. “Seriously Pockets, you have the weirdest bucking friends.”

“Well I mean, just look at my marefriend.,” Pockets snorted, before turning and tackle-hugging Middy, “I’m so sorry, so very sorry for what happened to you… I… I had no idea you had such a hard life. If I had, I would have tried way harder to be the best bucking marefriend ever, I—”

Midnight rolled her eyes and shushed her with a kiss. One the unicorn was surprised at, before leaning into it. Once it broke, Midnight cupped her cheek with a hoof. “Is that what you saw? That my life was hard? Depressing?”

“I saw you crying so many times, angry even more, and… I saw how everyone treated you, what your life was.” Pockets looked away, “I honestly couldn’t take it, I wanted to get in there and tell you it was alright, to tell you I was here and fix it all… I couldn’t stand watching you be so sad.”

Midnight smiled and kissed her lips again. “Okay, I’ve never… been inside my own head before. So forgive me if I can’t steer it straight.”

The world shifted.

It was the scene with those foals again, the ones that teased and beat her up. The stallion that led the mob last time, a smug little white unicorn with a foppish blonde mane and tail. He was now picking on one of the other foals, a chubby little filly that looked familiar for some reason, simply for being of a larger size.

And that was when filly Midnight had walked right up to him.

“Oh, it’s the fre—”

*smack*

That buck made him arc beautifully. A full ten point landing right into the fountain.

“Now that you’re done being a jerk,” Midnight said as she helped him out. “I have ice-cream and board games at my house. Do you all wanna come play?”

The mob was silent from the sudden attack. But some scenes flashed to show they’d remained friends.

“Hurry up Cure!” Midnight giggled as she tagged her and ran away, the little winged pony laughing and giving chase.

Another scene, this time at the Guard academy. Midnight Song laughing with a mix of Thestral and Solar Guards as they pranked one of the commanding officers. Pink dye in the shower’s water supply was always great.

“See,’ Midnight smiled to her marefriend. “My life’s had it’s downs. Sure. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m the mare I am today because of all of it.”

“Well if you put it that way… I guess it makes sense. “ Pockets chuckled, “Gosh, look at me, ever since I started dating you I've become way more emotional and cheesy… is this what being an actual girl is like?“

“Yup, soon I will have you wearing pretty dresses and drinking tea,” Midnight giggled. “Now… how do we get outta here?”

“I have no idea.” Pockets blinked, before shrugging it off, “But hey, we're in your head, how bad can it b— never mind where's the exit, my sanity is in danger.”

Midnight gave her a flat stare. “I’m going to remember that and punish you later. They do sell dragon-sized versions of that toy…” She leaned in and kissed her again. Maybe her powers were key to their escape.

Pockets giggled into the kiss, before returning it with passion and oh so much love. A small thread of golden magic left the unicorn's horn as the two mares melted into the kiss, the world fading around them… but they didn't really care. Right now, they simply focused on the tender kiss.

The first thing Pockets noticed when she woke up, was that her head hurt like crazy. The second thing was that she was in what seemed like a hospital bed with Midnight so it didn't matter.

And Cadence was standing next to them, a look of worry and yet at the same time, relief on her face.

“You finally woke up,” she said and leaned down to nuzzle Pockets. “I was so worried. After that flash and you both collapsed…”

“Yeah… apparently my ‘cousin’ whoever that is, was the one making my magic go all crazy and unstable. But that doesn't matter,“ Pockets groaned in pain and looked at Midnight, “She does. She hasn't woken up yet.”

Cadence smiled as she fixed Pocket’s blanket. “Actually…”

Midnight stretched and yawned. She rolled over and looked the unicorn right in the eye. “About time you got up. I was gonna bite your butt again if I had to wait much longer.” She smiled and licked her fangs. “Maybe I’ll bite it anyway~”

“Oh you bastard.” Pockets laughed and pushed Midnight away on a playful manner, before hugging her and nuzzling the taller mare, “We did it. We got out of it, who knew all we needed was a joke and a kiss. But… I'm sorry I failed, couldn't fix your emotions.“

Midnight blinked and then turned to Cadence, both mares smiling widely.

“What? What did I miss?” Pockets looked at both mares in confusion.

“Pickett,” Cadence smiled and nuzzled the unicorn. “You didn’t mess anything up.”

“I haven’t felt this great since… forever!” Midnight cheered and flew up into the air, doing a small loop and smiling brightly. “Seriously Pockets. I don’t think i could ever repay you for this.”

“Eh it was no biggie really.” Pockets shrugged… before tackling Midnight into a hug with a vibrant laugh, “WOO! I DID IT! Heck yeah Breezie powers!”

Wait… how did she get up there? And…. where those magical butterfly wings?

“Pockets…” Midnight said slowly and then pushed the mare away as she floated in the air. “Hoowwwww are you flying?”

“What are you talking about?” Pockets chuckled… before noticing the golden magical appendages. First, a scream of shock, then a thump as the wings disappeared and the unicorn fell into the ground, and then another scream, “What is happening!?”

“I… have no idea to be honest,” Cadence said as Midnight flew down to nuzzle her marefriend. “It could be another aspect of your powers.”

“Well I hope not, I know she’ll freaking convince me to take flying lessons or something” Pockets said flatly, before hugging Midnight, “But can’t lie, the idea of having awesome magical wings does sound pretty badass.”

“I have a flying buddy!” Midnight said with gleaming eyes. “Oh my gosh, and I can totally teach you about mid air sex and—”

“Easy there batty, first of all those things barely lasted right now so let me learn how to control them first.” Pockets chuckled, gently placing a hoof over her lips, “Second, we have company ya shameless dingus.”

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Cadence said with a small nod. “Would you like some tips? having your wings lock up mid air is kinda dangerous.”

“Oh sweet Celestia… you’re awesome!” Pockets laughed, “Now how the heck am I supposed to decide who best princess is though?”

“You are,” Midnight hummed and nuzzled the unicorn. “My cute, tiny fairy princess is Best Princess.”

“Geez Midnight, that’s way too cheesy for me. I have a reputation to keep.” Pockets taunted with a smirk, before nuzzling her back, “I love you my sexy, valiant bat-knight.”

“I am the Batknight!” Midnight rasped in a low voice and then vanished into the shadows… quite effectively actually. Cadence and Pockets looked around, before Cadence was tackle-hugged by the thestral from another part of the room.

“And you helped, so you get hugs too,” Midnight beamed. “I don’t think Shiny-heiny would like my usual methods of thanking ponies~”

“Are we having a four-way with royalty? Because I’m totally up for that!” Pockets asked with a grin, a part of her just joking… while a part of her really meant it.

Midnight looked expectantly at Cadence.

“No Midnight.”

“Awww,” Pockets and Midnight whined. The alicorn just shook her head and sighed. As long as Midnight never got it in her head to visit the Crystal Empire…

Celestia’s jaw was set into a terse expression as she stared at the leader of the enigmatic group she’d requested assistance from. A group said to have began as an elite group of knights from Griffonstone back when it was an empire of its own, later developing into an international agency of spies and mercenaries of different kinds and talents. They were known by many as the Golden Swords, and their leader, a slim, pure-white griffin who everyone knew only as Golden Quill, had fame of being both brash, blunt, and incredibly deadly.

“So, let me get this clear your Majesty.” Said the griffon as he circled the small spoon on the still full teacup. It wasn’t really because he didn’t like tea, but rather due to his philosophy of never drinking any tea that wasn’t prepared by him and him alone. The number of deaths caused by poisoned tea was quite impressive. He held a flashy silver and red military outfit with an old griffin insignia accompanied by the agency’s own, a golden sword and feather crossed in front of a silver background. On his belt rested his signature golden-coated battle long sword, which held legends of its own, “You want to hire our services to deal with the problems your army is too incompetent to deal with, isn’t that right?”

“Not incompetent,” Celestia replied as she sipped her tea. Benefits of being an alicorn, immune to poisons. She could always tell when her tea was poisoned. It added a nice kick to it. “They are dealing with a still unknown magic, a group of species varied thieves and an escaped mass murderer. I’d rather not reduce my own city to glass dealing with them myself. And, you owe me for that lovely operative in Tall Tale. You remember her yes? female griffon? Fond of explosions and sleeping with one of my guards?”

Golden Quill took a deep breath, the memory still fresh, “You do not need to remind me of her little stunts, no. But what Rose Quill did back then is in the past, and in the end it did help your guard take down Grumble, who mind you, we knew was involved in deep corruption far before you did. Of course if you were more focused on the smaller towns than in the progress of your prodigy student, or the safety of this city where you reside, you would have known that as well.” He cleared his throat and gave Celestia a most definitely fake, yet still convincing smile, “But we are not here to judge each other’s methods now are we? We’re here to do business.”

“Oh of course,” Celestia replied with a small smile. “After all, it’s not like you’re to blame for the civil war that has plagued the Griffon lands for the last three decades. Or the destitute state of half your towns. Methods aside, I do hope this might help our two races grow a little closer. Why, if my guards weren’t dealing with such nonsense, they could assist you after all.’

“Oh I assure you Princess.” Golden shook his head, “The agents I have prepared for this will need no help. When the news of the intruder who attacked the gate arrived to us, they were the firsts to offer to help, even without payment. Of course, now that you’ve requested our aid, they are more than ready to come here… that is, if you’re willing to pay the price.”

“And, what will the price be this time?” Celestia said, agreeing to nothing so far.

“For once, we do not need more money.” He said in a calm, seemingly unbreakable demeanor, “We only want one thing that will help us both, to keep the prisoner, the intruder of the strange, long lost magic, in our own dungeons.”

“And if I may ask, why would you want that?” Celestia said, rather than asked.

Golden chuckled, “Why isn’t it obvious your Majesty? Imagine having such mysterious power in our side, the power to form armies with nothing but a simple spell. Of course, it would require some convincing and some… training. But with enough time, we could use her talents. After all, we have years of experience turning wanted criminals into valuable members of society.”

“So, you want her as a weapon?” Celestia said with a raised eyebrow. “You know I cannot possibly allow that.”

“Well, ‘weapon’ is quite the… ‘strong’ term is it not?” Golden chuckled softly, unfazed by the decision, “But you see, my organization needs new members, we are lacking agents in other nations, and she could be very useful to us. But oh well, if that is the case I guess the deal is off… and I can’t share the information we have gathered on the group of thieves anymore.” He said with a sigh.

“It is a strong term, but it is the correct one,” Celestia said. She floated out a piece of paper and looked it over. “How curious. Did you know a griffon matching the description of the one in Tall tale was spotted in Las Pegasus? She is still wanted for crimes of arson, assault and murder. I wonder Golden. What would it take of you to make those charges… get lost in red tape?”

The griffon remained silent, “Well, well, well. Someone is learning from our last encounter.” He let out a soft grin and took a look at the cup of tea, his claw once more playing with the small spoon, “So we’re in an impasse here it seems. I want the intruder on my lines, yet I also have to keep Rose Quill safe… hmm, what could I possibly do.” He took a few seconds to think, before a grin formed on his beak, a devilish grin, “Then let us change the terms, shall we? Make this a bit more… exciting.”

“I’m listening,” Celestia replied, sipping her tea once more. “Oh, arsenic. You haven’t used that in a while dear Golden.”

“I try my dear.” The griffon chuckled, before deciding to lay the cards on the table, “I need this intruder, I lied about the shortage of agents, we have more than enough really. But this power… this power is something we have never seen before. You already have the unicorn, we know she holds that power as well. But to make this… more reasonable, and to save my dear Rose Quill… then this is my proposal…” He spoke calmly, like a true businesscolt, giving it all into this agreement with the hopes of getting somewhere.

“So, you want the other side of the coin,” Celestia said. That… was a point. They did have a user of that power, which would deter them from using it against Equestria. And she might not be an Equestrian citizen either. “I think I have a few requests of my own. Now to start…”

“Unbelievable!”

To say that Sweet Aroma was not happy was an understatement. She was pissed furious, annoyed to an unholy extent.

“One day, one day has passed and she can already control the Golden Magic! Stupid old spell, it was supposed to let me find her, to let me set her emotions wild, but it ended up stabilizing them! Tsk, should have expected less from a spell created by my foolish mother.” She mumbled something under her breath. Every step she made left a trail of red magic, the ground beneath her cracking slightly with each rage-filled stomp. She had work to do, she had to get ready for the great meetup, the moment of truth… the moment where she’d end the life of the one who could ruin everything she worked for. She took a few moments, breathing in and out slowly until she managed to calm herself down.

“OK sweetie, you have to be strong. You only have three days left until the polymorph potion runs out, more than enough time to find that annoying cousin of yours and destroy her.” She said to herself with a devilish grin and a cold chuckle, she walked out of the old office and into the rest of the factory, the legions of stallions turning to her with cold, seemingly dead stares and wide excited grins, “Dearies, I have work for you~” She sang, flying up to a tall platform, “I have to deal with my cousin, yet to do so, I first must get rid of that pesky bat! If the bat is taken care of, Primavera’s powers will grow unstable and her anger and grief will take over, weakening her. So, in order to bring her out of that castle, we will have to cause enough trouble so they will run out of available guards and have no other choice but call her.” Her magical wings sprouted from her back, taking her further into the air. “Two days from here, we will cause chaos, two days from here you will bring me that mare, two days from here… my cousin will fall! “

“Yes, Lord Aroma!” The stallions all said in perfect unison.

“Oh that never gets old.” The deer giggled. It was time for some chaos!

As Luna’s moon shone above Canterlot, two incredibly well dressed mares walked through the busy streets of one of Canterlot’s finest areas. Yet much to the smaller mare’s annoyance, they were not alone. Behind them four Royal Guards, two mares and two colts, all of them thestrals, kept an eye out for anything suspicious.

“Do they really have to follow us in our date?” Pockets quirked a brow. This was supposed to be special, now it was just weird.

“Unfortunately,” Midnight replied and leaned across to nuzzle her.”Don’t worry, they’ll be waiting outside, so we can dine in peace okay?”

“Ok…” Pockets replied, still a bit annoyed. Yet she soon shoved all those feelings away, looking at Midnight with a wide grin, “Oh this will be so freaking cool! I’ve been looking forwards to this day for freaking forever… well not really just like a week or two, but you get the point.”

“Yes I do,” Midnight giggled. “Also, that dress looks amazing on you by the way. Did Cadence help you pick it out?”

“Oh this old piece of cloth?” Pockets chuckled, doing a quick spin, and showcasing the beautiful piece of garment. It was a long purple nightdress with detailed white lining across its upper part. As she walked, the dress trailed behind her giving an exquisite feel of class to the atmosphere, a gorgeous large violet ribbon that rested behind her head catching the eye of many passerbyers, “She picked it up from some of her old clothes when she lived here, says it’s a special dress for a special night and for a special mare.”

“So one of Cadence’s old dresses?’ Midnight looked her over. “Huh, who’d have thought she’d still have her Cute’Ceanera dress.”

“Oh you asshole.” Pockets rolled her eyes and bumped Midnight’s flank with her own, giving her a playful grin, “There is shrinking magic ya know? Not everything my size is made for teens… well most is, but that’s irrelevant!”

“For now,” Midnight chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Okay, so we remember the rules yes? No stealing the fancy silverware. And if you don’t know what it is you’re ordering, ask me okay?”

“Got it! Also, try to act like a somewhat normal pony in fronts of others, and doesn’t matter how shiny it is, I have to keep my hooves or my magic off it.” The unicorn nodded. She wouldn’t let her thief instincts screw this up.

“And thirdly and most importantly,” Midnight replied with a sly smile. “If you must, don’t let me catch you~”

“Oh this is why I love you.” Pockets giggled., before turning that giggle into a look of sheer awe and amazement. The restaurant lay ahead of them, it looked, not like a place that should be in Canterlot. The building was made of wood, and looked kind of like a giant doll’s house. Some displays of large, red-capped mushrooms and beautiful flowers made Pockets think the place was run by fairies or something. The outside was lit by two iron-cast oil lanterns.

“This is the Meadow’s Song,” Midnight said. “A place that I knew I just had to bring you to.”

“Daaaamn.” Pockets whistled. “Don’t you think it’s a bit too much though? I don’t want you spending all that money on little ol’ me.”

“Like you aren’t worth it,” Midnight smiled and nuzzled her behind the ear. She wasn’t going to tell her that Celestia had given her a nice hazard pay bonus. It’d ruin the magic. “So, ladies first?” And with that, walked ahead of her.

Pockets narrowed her eyes. But in reality, the joke was on Midnight because from back there she could get a really nice view of that good ol’ bat booty. And what a booty! She’d taken a lot of time brushing and getting her tail styled. She was wearing a small, silver chain that clipped to her tail hair, a thin, shimmering veil of crimson fabric connected to it. She wore a matching chain around her neck, devoid of the book-shaped locket that used to be there.

Pockets smiled. Yes the thestral was sexy, she always was. But… this time, she just admired her attention to details, the effort she probably put on that outfit, on getting a reservation in such a fancy place, on just planning this whole thing up. She just wanted to admire the beauty of her marefriend, and she was going to make sure this was a great day not only for herself, but for both of them.

The restaurant itself, it was beautiful. Though the outside was impressive in design, the inside was just outright magical. The walls were a light cream, with detailed, intricately carved wooden beams along the ceiling. Large curved windows overlooked the edge of the city, spreading out into a panoramic view of Harmony Valley below.

But that wasn’t the greatest detail. What was, were the countless white flowers that wove in and around almost every inch of the walls and ceiling. Little fairy lights were strung up, like shimmering vines that laced the ceiling. It was like stepping into a magical grove, and the best part?

They had the entire restaurant to themselves. Only a single table sat in the center of the room, and instead of a chandelier, it was lit by a bouquet of luminescent flowers, Ones that chimed softly when you touched them.

“Woah…” Was the only thing Pockets managed to say when she walked in. The place was just truly magnificent, the scent of the flowers, the dim romantic lighting, the calm background music. Usually, it wasn’t her cup of tea. But right now, here with Midnight? It was the best thing ever, “Please, tell me this is not going to cost me my next salary, and the one after that, and the ones following until the end of time.” She quipped, yet her jaw was still pretty much on the floor.

“No, it’s all paid for but don’t worry about that,” Midnight replied as she moved to one chair and pulled it out. “Cost is meaningless when it comes to you, because you’re always worth it. Now, take a seat.”

Pockets almost shed a tear from that, a vibrant happy blush now taking her muzzle, “Come on Middy, you’re being cheesy and making me enjoy it. I have a reputation to keep.” She giggled and sat down, “This is… just… wow. You! You are… just… wow! I can’t believe this is happening. And for once, I don’t want to go around stealing everything in sight. That, coming from me, is saying a lot.”

“I’ll bet it is,” Midnight giggled and kissed the top of her head before pushing her chair in and making her way around to her own. Once she sat down, their waitress approached. She was a tall, slender unicorn mare with large eyes. her deep purple iris’ almost took up the whole eye as she looked at the two of them. She had a long, straight black mane and tail, and wore a dress with wide sleeves. Her Cutie Mark was… a pair of fairy wings?

“Welcome, most esteemed guests,” her voice was like a light summer breeze. gentle and oddly relaxing. “I trust that our establishment is to your liking?”

“Let’s see. Amazing decoration? Check. Nice soothing music? Check. Beautiful thestral mare in front of me, looking at me with the most beautiful emerald eyes in the world, which are now rooolling around because I’m a silly butt? Check. And the service is not that bad either from the look of it.” Pockets grinned at the waitress, “Yes, I love it!”

“Then we are most glad to hear so,” the waitress smiled. “And am Fairy Wind, your hostess for this evening. Are you ready to begin, or do you require some more time?”

“We’ll start with the usual,” Midnight replied and winked at her. Fairy nodded and made her way towards the back so smoothly, she looked like she was floating.

“The usual?” Pockets couldn’t help but ask.

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see,” Midnight flashed her a sweet smile and tapped the flowers, letting off a small chime. “Everything is planned, you just gotta trust me okay?”

“Alright. Damn…” She leaned back and raised a hoof to touch one of the flowers, a small petal falling on it, “This place just… damn. Didn’t take you for the romantic kind of mare to be honest, even if filly you would have totally loved this.” She couldn’t help but tease, “But I’m glad I was wrong. This… just means so much for me.”

“Not the romantic kind?” Midnight pretended to be offended, but shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I can see that. I don’t exactly go for the whole ‘fancy dinner’ and the like.” She smiled and took Pocket’s hoof, kissing it. “But as I said, you’re worth it and then some.”

“Hey, you know me. I’m not one for romantic candle-lit dinners or fancy restaurants either, but… being here with you, just changes everything.” Pockets smiled, “Last time I had a romantic dinner was at a fast food restaurant’s parking lot. At least the hay burgers were decent, and the hobo nearby was kinda funny. So yeah, this is quite the change for me.”

Midnight swiftly decided she was going to use tonight to bury that memory in the core of the planet. Luckily for her, Fairy Wind returned, a tray in her magical grip. She placed to wine flutes on the table. Pockets expert eyes going to work right away. the base was made of pure gold with some silver inlay. And the glass itself was fine, Northern Crystal. This single glass alone could go for…

“You okay?” Midnight said. “You’re staring pretty intensely at that glass. Did it insult your mother or something?”

“No but it sure as hell is insulting my self control.” Pockets bit her lip, and shook her head. Nope, bad Pockets! Bad! “Nevermind that. This…” She gave the wine a good look, “Looks like either a very fancy juice, or a very fancy alcoholic drink…”

“This,” Fairy explained. Is a bottle of Grande note, cultivé sous la Lune Rouge, à partir de Prance.”

What...

“What…” Was the only thing Pockets managed to say, followed by another “”What….”

“It’s Prench for ‘tasty wine’,” Midnight giggled. “What she actually said is the wine’s full name.Grand rating, grown under the Red Moon, from Prance.” She poured two glasses, the rich, crimson-hued liquid filling the glass.

“You had me at wine, and lost me at the rest. But wine is wine so...” Pockets lifted the glass and smiled, “Cheers, for the two sexiest, craziest, most amazing mares in the universe.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Midnight smirked. “Though, why am I toasting for myself and Fairy here?”

Pockets quirked a brow, “Huh… I thought we were toasting in me and Quick Step’s honor? We do look hella nice on a maid outfit. You… eh, you’re ok I guess.” She smirked tauntingly, blowing her a raspberry.

“Cute,” Midnight retorted. Dang, Pockets got her good there. She couldn’t argue that they did indeed look good in those outfits.

“I also bring you these, to whet your appetite,” Fairy Wind said and placed some divine-scented breadsticks on the table, before bowing politely and taking her leave.

Pockets’ gleeful smile was soon cut by the long breadstick she quickly began to devour, humming in delight as the explosion of garlic flavors partied inside her mouth, “Sooo good! You have to try these!” She picked up another one and moved it towards Midnight.

Midnight took it and smiled at her. There was that mischievous glint in her eyes as Pockets realised the shape of the breadstick. But to her surprise… and somewhat disappointing, Midnight ate the bread like a normal pony. She was really going all out to make this night more romantic than sexual.

“Now this, this I didn’t expect. Midnight Song acting like a normal pony? Damn!” The unicorn whistled and tossed half a breadstick into her muzzle, “So, what shall we talk about in this lovely evening batty?”

“Anything you’d like,” Midnight replied as she finished eating. That had taken some effort not to do something perverse. “Hmm, who in their right mind thought a backalley burger joint would make a good date? I’ve seen Diamond Dogs with more class.”

“Ouch! That totally hurt.” Pockets grimaced, a way too forced grimace, “At least I don’t smell my own butt… anymore.” The mixed expression of horror and, slight disgust on Midnight’s face quickly shifted things to a well deserved explanation, which was far more simple than one would expect, “I was a filly, I was kinda dumb, I had a little pup, and he always did that. I wanted to know why, regretted it immediately, and end of story.”

“Only you…” Midnight sighed and facehooved, but Pockets could see a wicked smirk behind that hoof. “Well… at least you didn’t take up licking your crotch~”

“Aaaand that’s a mental picture I did not need!” Pockets groaned and threw her a breadstick which landed in the bat’s waiting mouth, “Middy, I think we may or may not be kinda weird.”

“Only the best are weird,” Midnight agreed and licked her lips. She took a sip of her wine and sighed. “Mmm, this is nice. I want more nights like this one.”

“You mean without crazy corrupt old guys, dangerous mercenaries, and weird-ass thieves? Yeah, it’s pretty nice.” Pockets hummed and held Midnight’s hoof, “But want to know something funny?”

“Oh, do tell,” Midnight said, batting her eyelashes at her.

“I honestly am no longer scared about what might happen.” She said and drinked a sip of wine, “Because I know that no matter what sort of trouble I might get myself into, I can always count on my amazing guardian angel, or demon depending on how you see it. And that together, we can kick anyone’s butt! Because… no matter what happens, no matter if I have to go to Tartarus itself just to find you, to rescue you. I will do it, I will always be there for you… and I know you’d do the same... “ She trailed off with a soft smile, before blinking and shaking her head, “Gosh that was so cheesy! What are you doing to me!?”

“Oh, your street cred just dove off the side of Canterlot,” Midnight chuckled and took Pockets hoof with her own. “And yeah, I feel the same. No matter what, I’ll always be here.”

Any further sap was prevented by the arrival of Windy again. She presented two plates of food and it looked good.

Your entrée,” she smiled and placed them on the table. “Tomato and caper linguine.”

Pockets clapped her hooves and took a good bite of it… and squeaked in pain because it was too hot! And now her tongue was slightly swollen, she was probably looking like such a fool in front of Midnight....

Midnight just smiled and motioned to her glass of wine. Pockets took the glass and gulped it down, sighing in bliss as the feeling went away. She blinked, and quickly regained her ‘mature’ composure, this was a formal dinner after all, “S-so… how’s the investigation going?” Really? Did she really bring up work in the middle of a romantic date!? God dammit Pockets.

“Not as well as I’d like,” Midnight sighed as she started eating her own food. “I still don’t know who those thieves are, it’s just… there’s a ton of questions and for every answer, there’s another twenty questions.” She groaned and put a hoof to her head. “Sorry, this is supposed to be about you, and I’m bitching about work.”

“No, no. I‘m the one who brought it up.” Pockets sighed as well. Well this was going fantastically! Couldn’t they just talk about… well… I mean… what did couples talk about during dinner time, “Uhm… you know, I once helped kick a giant monster out of Tall Tale. With big boulders”

Midnight’s eyebrow slowly arched. “Um… wat?”

“Big guy, a cyclops. They have catapults that they use for stuff like that, and well this mare!” She pointed at herself, “Hit him right in the eye! And the rest was history. Except for the fact that I’m skipping over the guy I saved, the building that almost fell on me, and the cheers followed by the cops trying to catch me.”

“Un-freaking-believable,” Midnight replied and drained her wine glass. This mare… she prayed she never got ahold of siege weaponry again. She’d likely take over the world. “Only you Pockets. Only you…”

“The one and only.” Pockets smirked and hummed in thought, “You know, I have a question I’ve been meaning to ask. Dunno if I should though…”

“Oh? What kind?” Midnight asked as she took another bite of her food.

“Well… of the name variety?” The unicorn grinned awkwardly, “Most precisely, why do some ponies call you Moonlight. I… I know I said I would try and not go too much into your past and stuff but… I really want to know. If you don’t want to, or can’t tell me, then that’s fine. Still, I needed to ask.”

“Oohh,” Midnight nodded twice and closed her eyes. “Yeah, i can see that getting confusing for you. It’s not that big a deal really. It’s just my other name. The name I’d use if I was back in Roamania.” Seeing that Pockets was still confused, she explained further. “Okay, you promise not to freak out?”

“Promise!” Pockets raised her hoof excitedly, already dying to know the rest.

“My other name… is Lady Moonlight Silent Sonata. My uncle is… well he’s kind of the Baron in Roamania, that being the highest point of authority. So, as the oldest daughter of his brother… it also sort kinda puts me in place as the next ruler. In Equestrian terms, I’d be closer to a Princess…”

Pockets would have replied. She would have said something about it. But it would seem like Pockets’ mind had stopped working.

“You promised you wouldn't freak,” Midnight replied, looking down as her ears flattened. She hated bringing that up, now the unicorn would treat her like a little porcelain doll, just like everypony else that knew...

“You…” Pockets’ brain finally went back to work, “You are the most badass Princess ever!” The smile on the unicorn’s muzzle couldn’t have been wider, “Just think about it! You could live a life of like richness and luxury, but instead you chose the super awesome life of a super soldier bat and… and… it’s like a frigging superhero! You are a frigging superhero! Gods I love you so much my awesome princess of awesomeness!”

“You… are such a dork,” Midnight giggled and wiped her eye. “I love you Pickett.”

“I love you too batty,” Pockets chuckled. And then her ‘This may sound bad but…’ face was on. And when that face was on it probably meant that Midnight was about to get really, really upset. “But I have a question. Just how close would you say that you are to your uncle?“

“Well, we don’t exactly exchange letters every week,” Midnight replied. “I haven’t seen him in years really. Roamania isn’t exactly close. nearly a week by airship.”

“So that means…” Pockets motioned her to continue.

“Distance doesn't matter, if he dies or steps down, they’d come for me even if I was on the other side of Equestria.”

Pockets sighed, “Yeah we'll get to that later… as in probably a couple of minutes or so. What I want to know is if you and him are close, like, on a personal level. Because depending on that I may feel better or worse about stealing around twelve thousand bits worth of merch from Royal Roamania ships…” She bit her lips, and tried her best at an apologetic smile.

Midnight blinked… and then broke out into loud laughter. “O-Oh my gosh… that… that was you? He was pissed at that! Ahahaha, oh Sweet Celestia’s Sunny butt. I thought he tasted a rainbow with the colours he turnedaahahahahaha!”

Yeah Pockets was confused again, “First of all, thank you I'm very proud of that one. Second of all, the buck did I miss? I thought you were family and stuff… then why do I feel like if I just brought Grumble down a second time and didn't even realize?”

Midnight finally calmed down and refilled her wineglass, taking a sip. “Oh no, it’s just. I offered to guard that shipment. So yeah, in another life, you’d have met me much sooner. But his words were, ‘A Princess doesn’t swing a sword around. That’s a stallion’s job’. Soo, yeah. I laughed my flank off when he got robbed. By a tiny mare of all things. Oh, the irony is delicious~” She looked at Pockets and smiled. “Uncle’s nice, but he’s a bit of a misogynist.”

Pockets couldn't help but chuckle at that. Midnight was right, the irony was quite tasteful that night, “Well I’d love to see his face now. The Princess Moonlight Sonata, now Specialist of the Royal Guard and all around total badass mare, Midnight Song. Swords? Please,” Pockets smirked and held Midnight’s hooves, “She only needs these to mess your day up. Isn't that right, my awesome princess?”

Midnight groaned, seems she had a new nickname now. “Well, you’re not wrong. Especially with what I’ve learned from Ace.”

During this point, their second entree arrived. “Hello again Esteemed Guests,” Fairy Wind greeted them. “Your next entree, Griddled vegetable and feta with tabbouleh.”

“Ohh, this looks delish,” Midnight cooed, her ears wiggling cutely.

Pockets giggled, and took a good look at the dish as well. A warm smile resting on her muzzle. Yet… she couldn't help but sigh in slight worry. There was one final thing she had been wanting to ask, but that was probably for another day. Tonight, it was all about making each other happy. And happy did she feel when the first spoonful of salad went in. It… was… “Woah!”

“Yeah, this place is pretty amazing alright,” Midnight nodded and giggled when Pockets looked up. Midnight leaned forwards and licked the bit of fetta cheese off of the unicorn’s nose.

Pockets squeaked in surprise and almost fell on her back. Her angry blush was just the cutest thing. Midnight just giggled and kept eating her meal.

And then she got a piece of fetta cheese fired right at the tip of her muzzle. The thestral blinked and looked at Pockets. “Oh, you did not just throw food at me.”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Whatcha gonna do about it?” The unicorn smirked.

Midnight shrugged. “Nothing right now. Just know that I will get my revenge. Anytime… anywhere. You will never see it coming either~”

Pockets eyes widened. Oh this was bad. She giggled awkwardly and tried tossing another piece of cheese, yet failed miserably, “A-are you sure you don’t wanna get your revenge right now? B-Because that sounds pretty frigging scary.” One thing was revenge, that, she could deal with. Another completely different thing was a Middy-revenge, or as she liked to call them Middivenges. Now those were frightening.

“I’m sure, tonight is for romance, not revenge,” Midnight nodded as she finished her plate. Once Pockets had finished hers, Windy appeared to taken them away, saying she’d be back soon with their main course.

“Time for some more quirk questions!” Pockets sighed and tapped the table in thought, before coming up with a rather simple one, “I already know you’re pretty freaking awesome and all, but I have to ask… what is the craziest thing you’ve defeated?”

“The craziest?” Midnight tapped her chin and hummed. “Well, let’s see here. I guess… Princess Luna?”

Pockets’ jaw dropped… she raised her hoof to signal Midnight to wait, took the glass of wine… and then she made a rather impressive spittake, her jaw once more on the floor, “WHAT!?”

“Yeah, I was the one that helped when her body was getting used to not being controlled by Nightmare Moon. She’d have these wild surges of magic and strength, so I was the one that was called on to give her some combat training, as a way to help her body regulate. She’d have moments where she couldn’t outmagic a regular unicorn, so I beat her into the dirt more than a few times.” Midnight wiped her face with a napkin. “Also, don’t spit the wine, it’s expensive.”

“I thought it was necessary to get the point across.” Pockets shrugged, “Don’t worry about it I’ll steal a new one for you later. And yes that was a joke, if I came across one of these I’d drink it alone.” She smirked playfully and blew her a raspberry. She took another sip and actually drunk it, before going back into the conversation “But for realsies. I can’t state enough how badass you are! Like, not only are you a super powerful god-like princess from a faraway land… but you’re also a super secret super guard bat who kicks major ass on a regular basis!”

“Nah, Luna gave as good as she got, and one round left me in hospital for a week,” Midnight replied. “And she cheats. trust me, do not fight Luna. She is a rotten cheater.” Midnight did not want to tell of some of the dreams she had. One sexy one turned into… well…

It involved Midnight and a cave full of Diamond Dogs. Then Luna got… inventive. The thestral let out a shudder and shook her head.

“Ok, question. She invited me to play the Mokepon trading card game next week. If I win, from one to a ‘It was nice knowing you’... how screwed am I?”

“Aww, that’s cute,” Midnight chuckled and ruffled her mane. “You think you’re gonna win. She loves that freaking game. Still, if by chance you do win… well…” She tapped her chin. “How do you feel about Diamond Dogs?”

“Judging from that face, something tells me it doesn’t matter anyways because she’ll traumatize me with them anyways.” Pockets said nervously, before smirking, “I’ll still kick her ass though. Just wait and see!”

“Well, your funeral,” Midnight shrugged as Fairy Wind brought out the main course. It was an Eggplant Parmesan. The scent was just as divine as the previous dishes.

“Ohhh, this looks so frigging good~” Pockets giggled and immediately took a bite.

Her eyes shot open, her heart stopped, her mind ascended to the heavens… she was in culinary paradise now.

“Midnight…”

“Mm, yes dear?”

“Can I do something illegal?”

“You cannot kidnap the chef,” Midnight pre-empted her. “I’d have to arrest you and I won’t use the funtime hoofcuffs.”

“What if it’s not a kidnaping, just a friendly borrowing without telling anyone?” The thief questioned, her face still froze in the ecstatic trance.

“No, Pockets,” Midnight rolled her eyes as she ate. She had to admit, it was pretty damned good though. She really wished kitchens didn’t burn down around her. She’d love to make a homemade meal for Pickett sometime.

Pockets happily ate the dish down with an excited wiggle of her tail and the most gleeful of hums, munching on a good portion of the dish and gulped it down, sighing competently before waving the wine glass in circles like she’d seen fancy ponies do and just waiting there, looking at Midnight, seemingly waiting for something to happen.

The thestral was oddly silent though, her eyes occasionally shifting to the kitchens.

“You know,” Pockets quirked a brow with a playful smile, “I’m not the only one that should be starting the conversations during a date. I’m starting to think you’re not enjoying this.”

“What?” Midnight flinched and looked at her. “What, No! I’m having the time of my life here!” she put on a wide smile and nodded. It was around then that Fairy Wind brought out their desserts. Both were covered by a silver tray as she set them down in front of each mare. She removed Midnight’s first, a mango parfait.

Pockets giggled and shook her head, that was so incredibly cute, “I’m just playing around you dingdong. I’m having the time of my life as well. Then again.” She narrowed her eyes and lips and the most faked, forced, and amusing soap-opera-like romantic voice came from her mouth, “Every moment I spend with you is the time of my life.” She whispered with a terrible Colta Rican accent.

Midnight just shook her head and chuckled. But that breath was suddenly held as fairy removed Pockets’ dessert cover. Well, it was now or never. Either this would go wonderfully… or Pockets would back away from her… advances.

The dessert itself looked delicious, a decadent chocolate lava cake. But, it wasn’t the dessert that caught her attention. On top of the dessert, sat a tiny little parcel wrapped in gold ribbon.

The unicorn blinked in surprise and levitated the parcel with her magic, “Uhm… Midnight, what’s this?” She shook it slightly, it seemed to be quite light, and heard absolutely nothing. She didn’t wait for an answer, and simply undid the ribbon carefully. Wow that was some tight wrapping. The ribbon fell off to dish’s side, and now the only thing left was to open the parcel… and her eyes widened at what was inside.

It was a silver horn-ring, two musical notes adorned the top of it, an octave and a quaver to be exact. Inside the circular parts of the ring, sat gleaming blue topaz.

“It’s… a promise ring,” Midnight replied said in a quiet tone. “A promise that no matter what, I’ll always be here for you. No matter what. And that someday, once our lives are a little more settled. I’ll… give you another kind of ring.”

Pockets was stunned, shocked, tears began forming on her eyes.

And then the most beautiful smile Midnight had ever seen, a smile that was soon covered by the unicorn’s hooves. She giggled, and grabbed the thestral’s hoof, “M-Midnight… I can only accept this if you let me promise you something as well. That I’ll always be there for you as well… and that I won’t let anyone get in our way. That… I will do my freaking best to make you happy. Ok?”

“You already make me the happiest mare in Equestria,” Midnight smiled and kissed her hoof. “Just by being you. I love you so much, my cute little thief.”

Pockets vanished in a flash, just to appear right on top of Midnight’s lap, tackling her to the ground and kissing her tenderly. Right now, she was quite possible one, if not the happiest mares on Equus. Once the kiss broke, she held Midnight’s hoof which moved up to clear her tears of joy, and the unicorn only mouthed a honest, heartfelt “Thank you…” The ring was engulfed by her magic, and it slowly levitated in the air, hovering above her horn and gracefully falling down. Pockets’ muzzle mouthed another “Thank you…” before nuzzling the mare of her life’s neck, the source of her happiness, the one she loved the most, her beautiful, brave knight.

“Never thank me for loving you, because I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” Midnight said, returning her hug.

The thief sighed and raised her head, her muzzle inches away from Midnight’s. After that? She had no fear of asking anything anymore, she had no doubts about asking her what had been in her mind all day long, “Midnight…” She whispered, taking a small breath before offering a warm, loving smile to the thestral, “After all of this is over, after we’re done fighting weird deer creatures with a bad attitude and thieve groups that come out of nowhere and smell bad. Would… would you want to move to a house, an actual house together?”

Midnight blinked and looked at her. “Well… that’s annoying.”

And now Pockets’ heart was shattered into a million pieces, “W-what…? B-But… oh gods I’m totally rushing this aren’t I?”

“Tch! You steal my thunder in fights, now you totally stole the question I was going to ask you,” Midnight replied and folded her forelegs.

Pockets’ deadpanned, hard. She could probably freeze the sun with that glare. “You have no idea… of how freaking scared… I WAS RIGHT NOW!” She punched Midnight's shoulder, albeit not a strong punch by any means, and huffed, “You’re mean, you know that? Great job breaking the romantic mood by the way.”

Midnight rubbed her shoulder, before pulling Pockets into a hug. “You’re right, that was thoughtless of me.” She kissed the top of her head and stroked her mane in that way she liked. “And yes my love, I would love to live with you.”

The thief giggled and gave Midnight’s cheek a kiss, “Glad to hear that batty. This… has to be one of the best nights ever.”

“The first of many, I promise you,” Midnight smiled back and gave her a tender kiss, her lips meeting hers gently. “But, our night is far from over, so let’s eat our dessert. There’s still a place I want to take you.”

Pockets took a bite of her yummy dessert and hummed in delight. She was really looking forwards to what was coming now, not only the rest of the night, but the rest of her life as well. With this mare around? She was happy. And that on itself was an amazing thing.

Once dessert was eaten and laughs were had, the duo of mares, followed by the thestral guards, walked once more through the dark streets of Canterlot. Except this time… Pockets was for some reason completely blindfolded.

“You know… this is way harder that what the movies make it look.” She grunted as she clumsily followed Midnight.

Midnight rolled her eyes and Pockets found her hooves leaving the ground as she was placed on Midnight’s back.

“Better?” Midnight asked with a small smirk as Pockets heard one of the guards chuckle.

“Not by much. You know just how much I love flying.” Pockets gulped, hugging her marefriend tight and shaking slightly.

“I’m not flying you dingus,” Midnight retorted, tapping her hooves on the cobblestone. “Just chill. We're almost there.”

“Sure.” Pockets sighed in relief, trusting Midnight and whatever she had planned. What could go wrong? After all, the thestral did say Pockets was gonna love whatever was coming.

When Midnight stopped, she set Pockets on the ground and removed her blindfold. In front of her was an old church, from the days when Celestia was worshipped as a deity. An old wooden sign hung over the door.

‘The Belfry’

“And here we are,” Midnight smiled.

Pockets blinked to clear her vision, her eyes slowly widening at the sight ahead, “Well now isn’t this a romantic place?” She snorted. Truth be told, it was freaking creepy, but at the same time kinda cool, “What is this place? Didn't really take you for the religious type.”

“Mmm, not quite,” Midnight said. “I’ll tell you later, but now’s not the time for a history lesson.” She walked up and knocked on the door, a panel slid open.

“Password.”

“Let me in or I’ll break your Luna-damned balls,” Midnight said. The voice on the other side paused and Pockets could almost hear the pony sweat.

“Aha, right, of course. Welcome back Middy.”

The door creaked open and Midnight led Pockets inside. What the unicorn saw… was not what she was expecting at all. The entire building had been converted into a bar, and it was filled with batponies. A few normal ponies and a griffon or two… but mostly thestrals.

“Holy… butts…” A whistle came out of the unicorn’s muzzle as she checked the place out, “Now this is more my style. You come here a lot?” She asked Midnight yet kept her gaze on the different tables, checking all the customers.

“Not for a while,” Midnight admitted as she nodded to a few stallions. “Well, not since returning from Tall Tale anyway.”

“Yeah, we missed you Songbutt!” One stallion called out.

“Indeed we did,” another mare replied as she glided up next to Pockets. She had a smokey black mane with a charcoal grey coat. Her eyes shone like gold as she looked Pockets over. “And pray tell Little Song, who is this delicious little morsel?”

“Ap!” Midnight pushed her back with a hoof. “Mine. Go get your own.”

“Aw, you don’t want to share?” the thestral mare said and then drew Pockets in for a deep kiss with a lot of tongue. The unicorn could taste the sweet alcohol on her before the mare released her and licked her lips. “Mmm, chocolatey~”

“I have no idea what just happened but I’m not complaining.” Pockets said in extreme confusion. She had a lot of different experiences with places like this, so a drunk kiss wasn’t anything new.

“Ember, I am about to murder you,” Midnight growled and the flirty mare just giggled and flew back to her table. Midnight sighed and looked at Pockets. “You okay?”

“No…” Pockets sighed, before giving a wide ear-to-ear smirk, “I’m better than okay! This place brings back so many freaking memories. Oh you should have seen me when I was living in Manehattan, these kind of places were home to me. Now show me around you sexy batmare, let’s have some freaking old school pub-fun!”

“Hoo boy,” Midnight sighed and led her to the bar, where a rather voluptuous thestral mare was cleaning a glass. She looked older than Midnight, but still had ample curves in aalll the right places. She glanced up and the two and once they reached the bar, she leaned across to hug Midnight.

“Middy, it’s been way too long. Where have you been?” she exclaimed, having an accent that Pockets couldn’t quite place.

“She’s been with the most awesome smol unicorn ever, just that.” Pockets smirked and gave Midnight a good kiss on the cheek.

“Ooh, somepony has a marefriend?” The thestral then yanked Midnight over the bar and down behind it. “Okay Song, spill it. I want all the details!”

“Not much to tell,” Midnight said. “We’re together, as in, I see her exclusively on a regular basis. What else is there?”

The mare sighed and placed Midnight back next to her marefriend. “Well… if that’s the case…” She stood up on the bar. “Oi! Everypony!”

She was met with total ignorance. Some fool was dancing on a table and hogging the attention.

He was no longer doing so after a barstool was thrown at his head by the barkeep.

Ascultați cei care te bădărani la beție!<Listen up you drunken louts!> she yelled out in an odd language that Pockets didn’t recognise. “Midnight Song here has a marefriend. A permanent one! So pay up!”

A round of cheers and grumbles echoed through the bar as bits were exchanged. Midnight blinked and looked up at the barkeep. “Tappy! What the hay?”

“Huh, oh there’s been a bet riding on whether you could be tamed or not for ages,” Chilled Tap replied and winked at Pockets.

“Oh she can’t be tamed really.” Pockets chuckled, “I’m just surprised she hasn’t bitten me… that much.”

“Can I?” Midnight said and leaned in close, her fangs combing through the fur on Pocket’s neck.

“Middy, you know the rules,” Tap said. “You wanna do that, use the back room.”

“Mmm, but you know I like an audience~” Midnight purred as she nibbled Pockets again.

“Midnight, no. Even though a part of me kinda wants to say yes. I don't wanna get in trouble again.” The unicorn gasped as Midnight's fangs sent shivers down her spine. She managed to break free of the fang-attack. “Save it for later batty. Oh by the way, name’s Pockets, didn't get to say it. “

“And I am Chilled Tap, best barkeep in the best bar in Canterlot,” the curvaceous mare smiled back. “Nice to meet you dear.”

“Same! So, got any juicy embarrassing stories ‘bout a certain sexy thestral mare ya think you could share?” Pockets smirked and wiggled her brows, glancing at Midnight.

“Oh do I ever,” Tap grinned back. “I should mention the time she and some drago-mmph?”

“Aaaand that's enough story time,” Midnight blushed profusely as she gagged the mare with a hoof.

“Awww, come on! It was getting good!”Pockets pouted, “Fineee, but what’s up with you and dragons? This is the third time I’ve freaking heard about one.”

Midnight sighed as she released Tap to tell the story.

“Okay,” the mare giggled. “So It's like this. Middy here comes in after a rough day at work, and decides to get blind drunk. And well, we had some young drakes visiting… to make a long story short. She took both of them. At the same time.”

“Whaaaa!” Pockets’ jaw dropped, looking at Midnight with a ‘Really!?’ expression. Now that's talent right there.

“Oh come on, I've done way better stuff,” Midnight pouted.

“True, the bucket of ice water above our dear Princess Celestia’s door was a good one,” Tap nodded in agreement. Several more thestrals had come to listen to the stories. And the flirty one from before was already snuggling up next to Pockets.

She didn't really care though, as the small thief gave the bartender mare every single bit of her attention. Her smile widened with every passing minute and every new story, gasping at the suspenseful parts, laughing at the shenanigans, and smirking as her collection of embarrassing Midnight moments grew.

She managed to break free of the now doozy mare that was snuggling her and pulled Midnight into a hug, nuzzling her, “Ya know, these stories are only confirming what I already knew. Wanna know what?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Midnight sighed as the bar laughed at another tale of her escapades.

“That my marefriend is the most amazing mare on the world.“ Pockets nuzzled her… before a wide smirk grew on her muzzle, “Well, second best.”

“Second huh?” Midnight smirked at her. “So I guess you're a glutton for punishment, huh sweetie?”

“Hey, this mare has to keep her status as best pony. “ Pockets chuckled, rubbing her shoulder with a smug grin, “After all, all those stories are cool and everything. But you're talking to the prank master, the most devilish of mares. I've had some legendary stunts myself.”

“Hmm, we’ll see,” Midnight mused as she took a large wooden mug of ale and chugged the contents down, exhaling loudly once she had. “Ahh, that’s the stuff!”

“Hey I thought this was a date. Aren't you going to get your mare a drink as well?” Pockets asked the thestral.

Midnight moved in in front of her, holding her with one hoof as the other held the metal tankard. “Oh but of course. Would you like a mug…” She licked her lips and leaned in close. “Or drink from the source perhaps~”

Several mares and stallions blushed and gulped heavily.

“Hmmm, I don't know. I'm not sure there's enough to quench my thirst…” Pockets smirked. Midnight smirked back and took a mouthful of ale before pressing her lips against Pocket’s ones. The unicorn happily returned the kiss and drank up, humming in delight and even giggling a bit from the expression of the thestrals around them, even shooting a wink at the flirty mare from before.

“Oi, what have I said about that?” Tap scolded Midnight as the thestral shrugged and broke the kiss. “Honestly, kids these days…”

“Oh fie, we’ve had some crap days recently,” Midnight replied and hoofed over a mug to Pockets. “Between racially diverse thieves, vengeful relatives and weird-flank magic... “ She groaned and downed another mug. “Fuck our life. Seriously.”

“Hey don't say that. At least you got this little unicorn at your side. “ Pockets grinned, nudging Midnight, “Me, and this wonderful booze. So let's have a cheer for the fact that it could be worse!”

“And now it will because you said that,” Midnight sighed as she refilled the unicorn’s mug. “Now this is called Dusky Cloud. It’s a thestral spirit and has a little bit of a kick. Not the strongest, but just take it carefully hm?”

“Oh please, I'm from Manehattan remember? I can take a couple of drinks.” Pockets snorted and slowly yet surely gulped the drink down. Once over, she slammed the mug on the table and with a happy sighed, she asked… “Another!”

“So there I was. Me, versus Green Lead and fifteen of his colts right behind my tail with nothing but my wits, my speed, and a warehouse full of containers which were filled to the brim with fresh, stinky fish that was going to be exported to the griffons...” After the sixth story, and the third jug of Dusky Cloud, Pockets had decided to start telling stories of her own, most of which were pranks that she had made to Grumble and his friends over the years. And whether it was because of her talent or because of her drunkenness, her storytelling was on point. With every intense part she raised her voice, with every shocking moment she shouted and teleported to a table, and with every punchline she leaned on a wall, going all over the place to tell the story at the best of her abilities, even making some fairly good imitations on the voices.

“So, I let the bastards follow me all over the place, making sure to keep a good distance between us, right? And it looks like the bastard Green Lead is going to get to me… but then, I teleport!” And with a flash, she was on top of another table, earning some gasps from the audience, “And wanna guess where I was at? Why on top of the freaking container of course. And so with one quick PEW the door of the container is open and boom! Fish begins raining over the cops, oh so much freaking fish… and the glorious smell they had. Let me tell ya some of those cops smelled like raw fishie for freaking weeks! Oh… but that’s not all.” She grinned and walked down the table and towards the counter, “They decided to keep following me… and because I knew the city so well, I knew that there was a pet shop filled to the brim with hungry dogs and cats a few blocks away. One flick of magic, and whoops, who let the dogs out? Why this mare. Oh… and do you wanna know what the cherry on the cake was?” Pockets quirked a brow with a smug grin, leaning on the counter next to Midnight and chuckling, gripping another jug of Ale, “One of the dogs? Well… let’s just say he had an appetite for meat, and that since that day Green Lead started to be known as the… ‘Compensator’.” And with a smug grin, she chugged the ale down in one go, and sighed, waiting for the reaction.

All the stallions in the room whimpered and placed their hooves over their legs as the mares cackled with laughter.

“Oh dear,” Midnight chuckled as she watched her marefriend. “She’s so wasted right now.”

“I’m no wasted love, I’m just…. wasted.” Pockets snorted with a half-laugh and leaned against her, “This place is fuuuun~ Why didn’t you tell me about this place before? Didcha want all the fun for yourself or sumthin?”

“Because I knew this would happen,” Midnight rolled her eyes. “You’re going to hate tomorrow. PT is no fun when you’re hungover.”

“Ehhh, I’ve had hangovers before. But no worries, I’m actually not that drunk… I think. I can still recognize my beautiful sexy batty between all these thestrals.” Pockets grinned and pecked Midnight’s cheek, “Hey, can I ask ya something?”

“Always” Midnight said and kissed her back.

“Have you ever thought about the future and where you see yourself in like, ten years or so?” Pockets asked with a slight drunk tone, playing with her glass of ale.

“More than once,” Midnight said as she sat back down. “The outcome tends to change depending on where my life is at the time. So… I guess I’ve never really had a clear answer.” She put her wing around Pockets. “And you, my drunken little pony?”

“Same. If you had asked me a year ago where I’d be in ten years or so, I’d tell you either in jail or in the streets doing what I do best. Who’d known I would end up with someone who would take me out of that life and turn me into an awesome law-enforcer?” Pockets chuckled and nudged Midnight playfully, “But… ya wanna know my new answer?”

“Do enlighten me,” Midnight nodded.

“I see myself, married to a beautiful, beautiful thestral mare, getting ready to kick some criminal ass together. Who knows, maybe a nice lil’ adopted filly, I’ve always wanted to adopt a filly and spare her from the hell orphanages are.” Pockets mused with a smile, “Or maybe a bunch of cats and stuff… I want another drink.”

“Marriage? Adoption?” Midnight… did not want to admit that she panicked slightly at those words. How fast was this mare wanting to move?

And that was when Tappy pulled Pockets aside and behind the counter. “Hello there,” she said. “You and I are going to have words.”

“Why hello there, where’d you come from?” Drunk Pockets grinned, booping Tappy’s muzzle, “What’s up?”

“Are you serious about that?” she asked the mare. “About marriage and all that junk about foals and cats?”

“Is this a trick question?” Pockets snorted, before shrugging, “Dunno, would be nice. Of course I ain’t saying right now, like, there’s still someone trying to kill me apparently. But like come on, with a mare like Midnight who wouldn’t want to spend a life with her?”

“A mare that had her last engagement ruined by those damnable bugs,” Tap said seriously. “She used to be engaged to this nerdy little unicorn. But that was utterly ruined.” She looked at Pockets and smiled. “I’m telling you that you shouldn’t do it. Just… tread carefully alright. You have all of us to count on for help as well. Middy deserves at least that much.”

Pockets actually was silent for a few seconds, before nodding, “Alright. Don’t worry! Imma take good care of her, and do my besty best, alright?”

“Good girl,” Tappy nodded and booped her nose. “Don’t forget, you have us to help you too.” She stood up and placed Pockets on the bar counter. “Let’s hear it for Pockets, our new honorary Thestral!”

The bar erupted into cheers as another round of drinks was passed around. One was given to the unicorn, a dark liquid that looked like death itself.

“The Nightmare,” Tap explained much to Midnight’s horror. “One sip, if you stay standing, you’re one of us.”

Pockets narrowed her eyes and looked at the drink with a furious, determined gleam in her eyes, “Bring it on!” Pockets grinned before grabbing the drink, and without hesitation gulping it all down.

And then it hit her like a mini-truck. Her throat burned like Tartarus itself and her head became foggy, her muscles shaking and trembling before sending her world into a frenzy. That drink sure lived up to its name. The world shook, and her head spinned… yet much to everyone’s surprise, with a loud unladylike burp, Pockets remained in place… barely.

Everybat just stared, wondering if the mare was still conscious, or had fainted sitting up.

“You… okay little mare?” Midnight asked and gingerly poked her with a hoof.

Pockets mumbled something under her breath, before burping again and looking at Midnight with a quirked eyebrow, “Have...you ever thought about how beds are shelves for our bodies when we’re not using them?” She asked her, before smirking and pushing her away playfully, “Oh pleaaase. I am from motherbucking Manehattan! You’re gonna need far more than that to knock me down!” She laughed and spinned in place, before grabbing Midnight and giving her a sloppy wet kiss…

Except that wasn’t Midnight at all.

Midnight raised an eyebrow as her marefriend made out with the flirty thestral from earlier, Ember Skies. Somepony hoofed over a camera and Midnight took a photo. That’d be great blackmail for later.

Pockets broke the kiss and looked at the mare, narrowing her eyes before chuckling, “You ain’t Midnight… my batty is a waaaay better kisser.”

“I feel as though I should resent that,” Ember frowned as Midnight pulled Pockets away.

“What can I say?” Midnight shrugged and nibbled the unicorn’s neck again. “Everypony is Songsexual~”

“Sorry love, you weren’t bad, just not as good.” Pockets chuckled and nuzzled Midnight with a giggle, “Hehe, did you see that save? Pretty good huh?” She asked her favorite thestral mare.

“Uhuh, you still kissed her,” Midnight replied and booped her nose. “And it wasn’t a bad save. You’re just lucky you're drunk and seeing you make out with another mare is pretty hot… aww, I miss Sphinx.”

“She was a pretty damn good kisser. Who knew beaks were so frigging hot.” Pockets sighed, before smiling, “But hey, I got you. And you’re far better than any sexy deadly spy gal.”

“Damn right,” Midnight nodded. “Now come on, let’s get you home. We have a long day tomorrow and you’re gonna feel like death warmed up as is.”

“Awww. But Middy!” Pockets pouted. She was having some serious fun in there.

Midnight sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, we’ll stay and you can play with your new friends some more ya brat.”

“Yay~” Pockets giggled and hugged Midnight… only to sigh and fall asleep with her head on Midnight’s back. The thestral snorted and shook her head lightly.

“Who needs foals when I have her,” she said with a slight smirk. “Well, it’s been fun. Thanks for making her feel welcome guys.”

“Our pleasure,” Chilled Tap nodded and gave Midnight a nuzzle. “Take care on your way home.”

“Of course,” Midnight said. “Later guys.” She left the bar, still carrying Pockets as she started heading back to the palace and the barracks there. She wanted to put an end to this crap that was going on in the city right now. So Pockets could get that future she wanted.

Chapter Seven - Old and Older Friends

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Click….

Click…

“Can you not do that? It’s infuriating.” To say Dusk Skull was annoyed, was an understatement. He was irritated to no extent. This guy, this… cowcolt, had been reloading his crossbolt over, and over, and over again. And he would not stop.

“I told ya already. I ain’t gonna stop ‘til ya tell me why you broke me out of prison.” Dead Drop chuckled, and reloaded once more, adjusting his brand new hat, “Son, just tell me who your boss is so ah can get this over with.”

“Fine then! Keep annoying me why won’t you.” Dusk gave up and sat on his flank, forcing his brain to try and ignore that annoying sound, “And I can’t tell you who he is yet, that's the one thing he told me not to do. He was supposed to be here an hour ago, anyways.”

“Oh I’m here,” Shadow Blade said from behind Dead Drop. “Just enjoying the view is all~”

“For Sombra’s horn… finally! I’m out.” Skull huffed before vanishing in a cloud of smoke

“So, you the boss? The one responsible fer gettin’ me outta jail?” Dead asked with a quirked eyebrow, “You ain’t but a kiddo.”

“I’d watch that tongue if I were you,” Shadow replied. “You’re cute, but I’ll not hesitate to tear it out with my bare hooves.”

“And ah’d watch yours.” Dead grinned, raising his loaded crossbow, “You and I both know the kind of stallion I am. That’s why ya wanted me here in tha first place, ain't that right?”

“More for your personal history actually,” Shadow replied, unfazed by the weapon. “We have… a little bat problem. I’d like you to distract her for a while. Do as you will, but try not to kill her. She’ll be useful later down the track.”

“A bat?” Dead quirked a brow, “Are we talkin’ ‘bout tha same darn batmare who got my flank into jail?”

“That we are,” Shadow nodded. “She’s a pretty little thing. Too bad I had a job that night or I’d have taken her and her cute friend for a pony ride. But alas, our love is not meant to be. At least not yet…” He turned and looked at Dead. “Now, I know that is asking a lot of somepony of your… cognitive abilities. But is this simple task within your skillset?”

“That depends…” He hummed, “What about the unicorn gal? The one who drove that damn stupid pigeon-colt into my face?”

“Hmm…” Shadow tapped his chin in thought. There was that interesting magic she displayed after the battle. “Leave her be. She’s harmless.”

Dead narrowed his eyes, “Alright, but I’m gonna be doin’ things my way. Consider that I’m lettin’ ya put the terms boy, this ain't how I usually do business.”

“Oh yes, because that worked out marvelously for you last time,” Shadow smirked. “Were you to fail, boss won’t bail you out again. You’re on your own.”

Dead Drop shot Shadow a death glare, grumbling under his breath before looking away with a click of his tongue, “Fine! Ah’ll get that darn bat for ya. But ya better have some resources cuz ah have nothin’ but this ol’ dusty crossbow here, and to catch Midnight Song ya need way more than that.”

“You will have whatever you need, simply request it from our resident Capricorn.”

“Alright then, expect her down soon enough.” Dead grinned softly and accommodated his hat, “Will I then finally get to meet yer boss?”

“Complete the mission,” Shadow said and walked towards the door. “The boss has no time for washed up has been’s after all.” With a loud laugh, he left the room. This idiot cowpoke wasn’t going to accomplish anything. But there was always the chance he’d get lucky and at least weaken Midnight for the coming events.

“Hmmm… somepony… somepony turn the lights off.”

Pockets had failed to see that what was illuminating the room weren’t the lights… but the sun itself that filtered through the curtains of the castle room Celestia had provided the two mares. She mumbled something about flying pizza slices and a butt-filled paradise under her breath and kicked a pillow off, squirming in bed as she tried to ignore the pain that all her muscles, particularly her brain, were enduring.

Then Midnight grabbed the blanket and pulled it off, before opening the curtain widely.

“RISE AND SHINE SOLDIER!” she yelled loudly.

“AHHH! IT WASN’T ME I SWEAR!” Pockets eeped and rolled off the bed, landing on the cold wooden floor and panting heavily… before leaving out a mighty groan when she felt her head suddenly burn like if Tartarus itself was having a party there, “Buuuuck… I feel like shit.”

“I SAID UP AND AT ‘EM!!” Midnight shouted in her drill sergeant's voice. “You can sleep when your dead soldier. Training started fifteen minutes ago. Move Move Move!!”

Pockets’ eyes widened slightly, and with incredible amounts of effort she got on her hooves and waddled up to the door… and crashed into the door… repeatedly… that was most definitely not the door but a wall, her brain didn’t care it would still try until it somehow turned into one, “I’m going! Staaahp shoutin’”

Midnight was wondering how long it would it would take the mare to realise they had a day off. It was the whole reason Midnight allowed her to drink last night. But this was just too much fun.

“I… will get there!” Pockets mumbled, still trying to go out the ‘door’, “Training… can’t miss it! Today we got—” And then she realized, she had nothing to do that day, “—a day off…” She turned to Midnight with eyes half-closed and an unamused expression on her face, “Really?”

“Ahahah, oh you are just too precious,” Midnight giggled and kissed her nose. “Consider that payback for kissing another mare last night lovey.”

“Waitwat?” Pockets blinked, before giving herself the facehoof of a lifetime, “My gosh… what did I do now?”

Midnight couldn’t help herself. She pulled out the photo of Pockets taste-testing Ember’s tonsils.

Pockets narrowed her eyes at the picture, “I regret life itself… Midnight, I am so sorry. I swear that was drunk Pockets acting and I can barely control what drunk Pockets is doing. Tell me all I did, wait no that’d probs take all morning, just... the worst parts.”

“Well,” Midnight put the picture away. “You did… say stuff about, marriage and foals…”

Pockets’ eyes widened once again, “Oh Celestia… Midnight I-I my mouth just craps stuff out without thinking when drunk. I promise, I’m don’t wanna rush things through like that, I’m oh so fucking sorry if I made you feel awkward with that. Gosh me and my huge horse mouth!”

“It’s… okay,” Midnight said. “I love you to bits hon. But… that’s a little fast for me. Ever since…” She paused, but decided that Pockets should know. “I used to be engaged to Moonie you know.’

Pockets scratched the back of her head, “Somehow… I can remember somepony saying something like that. And I know that’s hard for you. And it’s the exact reason why I hate myself for saying it, because I like fast, don’t get me wrong. But not that fast, especially with all the crap that happened to you. So… can we just forget I said that and just imagine I said something else entirely?”

“I won’t forget it,” Midnight said with a shake of her head. “It was very sweet and… well I didn’t say no now, did I? Not right now… but maybe someday?”

The unicorn blinked twice at this, before a small smile began to crawl up her face, “S-Sure… that’d be ni-OW that’s a hangover headache, buck me…” She groaned, falling on her butt and rubbing her head, “Thank you alcohol, for ruining this moment.”

“And that’s what you get for drinking with us bats,” Midnight smirked. “Be thankful Stella wasn’t there. She’d have drunk you under the table in ten seconds flat.”

“Stella? Now there’s someone you gotta introduce me to.” Pockets smirked and simply lay herself on the floor, “Could you do me a favor and bringing insta-anti-hangover magical liquid?”

“If only it existed,” Midnight chuckled. “But yes, I will fetch some water and painkillers. Be riiight back okay?” With a light click, she left the room.

“Alrighty.” Pockets nodded, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Minutes passed, a minute seeming like an entire hour for the unicorn. Dry lips, world shaking, sweat falling over her body, small instances of nausea, the headache of a lifetime, an irrational anxiety…. gosh it had been a while since one of these hit her.

“Please mighty alcohol god, if you exist and are out there, take this burden away from me!” Pockets begged to the immobile roof, which in her head seemed to be bending and stretching ever so slightly

“Here you go.” Came a rather cold feminine voice from nearby, who placed a large cup of fresh water and a couple of pills.

“Thanks alcohol god.” Pockets muttered, shoving the pills down her throat and aiding their journey down with the water. Had she been in a better state, she would have recognized the voice… but considering her entire world was blurry, and her head was spinning, she really just focused on getting those painkillers into her system.

“How are you feeling? Any strange side effects?” The voice asked as it seemingly sat down next to her. That question would have been considered as off and strange by sane Pockets, but to hangover Pockets? It was as normal as asking about the weather.

“Nope. Still feel the same.” The unicorn replied.

“Good. Those are experimental drugs we use when someone gets poisoned. They’re supposed to act in an instant, yet sometimes they come with side effects ranging from more nausea, to even fainting… there was that one stallion who had a heart attack, albeit it was never found out whether it was due to the pills or not.”

“Fun.” Pockets snorted… before realizing what she had just heard. Her eyes cracked open, and she glanced at whoever was next to her, and oh boy did she not expect that.

Sitting right there with a wide smirk was a rather short, slim vanilla-colored Pegasus mare, “Q-Q-Q-Quick Step!?”

“Why morning Miss Pickett.” The mare nodded, “And don’t worry, the heart attack story was a joke. He actually died of dysentery.”

“What the fuck!?” Pockets shouted in shock.

“I know, that was a strange evening, poor guy.” Quick sighed, “So how have you been?”

Pockets had so many questions, ranging from the reason behind the short, yet still incredibly good-looking new haircut the Pegasus was sporting, to the fact that she was sitting right there next to her. “I… ah…”

Then the door burst open, Midnight’s acute hearing had heard multiple voices and assumed that Pockets was being attacked. She blitzed across the room at lightning speeds, tackling the assailant and pinning her to the floor, one hoof on her neck as she bared her fangs…

Only to be flipped in an instant and finding herself pinned to the ground by the smiling Pegasus, “Why hello Miss Midnight. Glad to see you are looking swell as well.”

“Quick Step?” Midnight blinked. There were only three individuals that could flip her like that. She smirked as she put her hooves around her neck and re-introduced her to her long and flexible tongue~

Quick’s expression didn’t change much, at this point not really surprised by things like that. Yet… she didn’t really want to stop Midnight either, and she may or may not have returned the kiss with just as much intensity, but just to play along, totally not because she enjoyed it or anything.

“And she complains when I kiss another mare.” Pockets sighed and closed her eyes once more, the pills actually doing wonders for her head.

Quick Step broke the kiss and quirked a brow, trying her best to look as professional as always, “Was that really necessary?”

“Mhm, I missed you… OH! Does that mean that Sphinxy is here too?” Midnight asked hopefully, picking herself up.

“I’m afraid Agent ‘Sphinx’ is no longer with us.” Quick sighed, causing Pockets to gasp in shock.

“Oh no! Did something happen?” Midnight gasped and grasped Quick Step. “What happened!?”

“Sphinx died several seconds after you dropped off the train… but there’s a griffon mare with pink-tinted feathers and a liking for collars and maids that came with me, her name being… Specialist Rose Quill.” She smirked devilishly, “And you two are in fact now talking with Assistant Specialist Quick Step, her partner.”

Midnight blinked. She took a step back and rubbed her ear. She had but a single word to sum up her thoughts.

“Bullshit.”

That is when Quick Step raised a little badge similar to the one Midnight herself had, albeit with rather obvious differences, mainly the rank that it read and the slightly different more brownish coloration.

Pockets’ eyes widened at the sight, before letting out the mother of all groans, “Come on! Really!? You two just come here and get your badges before I do? That’s bullshit!”

Quick Step tittered and shrugged, “What can I say? Perhaps I’m just better than you, oh wait, I am. And do not worry Miss Midnight, we’ll explain later when the time is right.”

“Princess Celestia has some ‘splainin’ to do,” Midnight huffed. “Okay, so where is ‘Rose Quill’? whom I bet is a certain familiar sexy catbird.”

“I’d tell you… if I knew myself.” The pegasus huffed back, “So much for her being the responsible partner. She simply vanished on the barracks while we were looking for you. She did mention that something was bothering her so she’s most likely dealing with that. At this point really, I don’t care.”

“Aww,” Midnight hugged the pegasus. “You know, I still have that collar to try on you, Pet~”

Quick blushed a vibrant red and shivered slightly, before quickly looking away with forced indignation, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh I think she does.” Pockets mused and walked up to her, “Come on now Quickie, you don’t have to hide that side of yours to us. You and I both know how fun being the ‘maid’ can be, why hide it?”

“Because I know I will never hear the end of it.” Quickie pushed Pockets away with a deadpan that was hopelessly betrayed by yet another blush.

“Too bad, that maid outfit looked so cute on you,” Midnight hummed. “Now, let’s see if we can find our wayward griffon. I have a feeling today is going to be a good day.”

The trio of mares made its way outside and towards the barracks, beginning the hunt for the sneaky griffin spy. Luckily… they didn’t have to look very far. Shouts and cheers from a hollering, excited crowd was heard all over the building, coming from the crowded training field.

“Ace, Ace, Ace!” Some shouted.

“Go, go Griffoness!” Others shouted back.

“What is going on?” Quick quirked a brow.

“Ace is being stupid again,” Midnight deadpanned as she parted the crowd and made her way through. Her eyes widened when she saw who he was up against.

“Sphinx!?”

“What… the actual... hell.” Pockets said in pure and utter confusion as she saw the two griffons brawl it up in the skies. And even though she didn’t say anything, Quick Step was just as confused. This was not something Sphinx would do, not without a reason.

“You’re getting rusty, old coot.” The griffoness grinned between pants as she flapped in the air, waiting patiently for him to make one single mistake that could give her a window of opportunity to take him down.

“As have you,” the male responded as he caught a thrown knife and used it to pick some food from his beak before tossing it aside. “I’d be dead by now if you were serious.”

“Now where would the fun be in killing you, dear? Letting such a fine specimen go to waste? That’s not really my style.” She grinned and flapped a bit higher, “And judging by how our injuries don’t seem to be anything serious… I’d say you’re holding back as well.”

“Ah, seems I’ve been caught out,” Ace chuckled as he clenched a talon. “Well, I would feel pretty bad about messing up those gorgeous feathers. At least before nightfall anyway~”

“Ah, as flirtatious as always I see. No wonder your student came out as she did.” Sphinx gave him a small sly grin, before pointing at the crowd with her extended wing, “Speaking of which… why don’t we give these sweet little darlings a show of what we’re truly capable of?”

“Perhaps, but believe it or not, it was she that taught me far more than you might remember,” Ace chuckled, remembering some of those awkward attempts to try and get a nestmate for the evening. “But as always, you make a prominent point. Oh, it seems my student is here to watch.”

“Indeed, I saw her coming when I tossed the knife at you. Now imagine how embarrassing it’s going to be for you when you lose against the new gal of the force.” And with a smirk, she darted forwards and prepared two knives that were hidden underneath her wings, her agility and control in the skies being more than admirable.

Ace simply relaxed his body as he caught her, his arm snaking around and stroking a rather sensitive spot between her wing joints… Sphinx flinched and let out a loud moan that made more than a few stallions from the audience blush deeply, before finding herself on the griffin’s arms, their eyes inches away from each other.

“Now… that was a bit uncalled for you devilish perv.” Sphinx said softly, before some sharp metallic object pressed against his back, “It was also a mistake.”

Then she found herself flipped in mid air, her now stiffened wings offered little resistance as he struck with both palms against her chest.

Oh, so that’s what impacting the ground at near terminal velocity felt like. It was painful. she was pretty sure… nope, certain that she’d cracked a few ribs there.

“You’re opponents will rarely fight fair,” Ace said to his students. “While admirable, chivalry will also get you killed. Fight to win.”

“Oh for crying out…” Quick mumbled and flew down to the field, rushing to help her griffon companion.

“Dirty cheater…” Sphinx whispered with a small grin as Quick helped her up.

“Look who’s talking. Didn’t you sleep with a Mafia boss only to literally stab him in the back?” Quick quirked a brow, causing the griffoness to chuckle softly and look up at Midnight and Pockets, who had so many freaking questions.

“Hello dearies, it’s been a while.” She smiled at them, before grunting softly from the pain.

“Yup,” Midnight said and looked at her chest. “Ooh, that looks painful.” She poked at the rib as the griffon hissed in pain. “Yep. hey Medic!!”

A medical unicorn made her way through the crowd as Ace landed, but she was soon told to leave by Sphinx who was doing just fine. Something the nurse didn’t buy as she got down to start working.

“Terribly sorry dear,” the griffon said. “I didn’t mean to strike quite that hard.”

“Oh please, I’ve taken bigger hits from Quick Step here.” Sphinx smirked, flapping her wings a couple of times to make sure nothing serious had happened and ignoring the pain, making things difficult for the nurse, “And it helped remind me just how amusing and entertaining fighting you is. It’s been a while, my dear Ace.”

“Ah, that it is dear Cereza,” Ace chuckled as Midnight’s jaw hit the floor.

“I… what… HOW!?” Midnight looked at the pair. “I’ve known Ace for years! How… could I not know about this?”

“Ah,” Ace nodded and smiled. “The reason is simple. I forgot.” It was said with such a carefree tone too.

“I believe it was a cover ops… no, it was a mission to kill a diplomat… or was it back in my days at the Griffonstone army before it disbanded?” Sphinx, or rather Cereza, hummed in thought, “Also please do not say my real name out loud, here I’m currently known as ‘Rose Quill’ for security purposes. “ She whispered to him.

“Your real name!?” Quick exclaimed in shock, her jaw dropping to the floor, “W-What is going on!?”

“It’s too long a story dear.” Cereza shrugged it off, before turning to Midnight, “But yes, I really can’t quite remember how I met my dear Ace here.”

“Either that, or you don’t want to tell us.” Pockets deadpanned.

“Hmm, I do believe it was when I saved you from those Diamond Dog slavers,” Ace chuckled. “Someone was fresh on the scene and honestly had no idea what she was getting herself into. Words were exchanged. Then fists… then bedsheets were involved~”

“Oh that’s right… one of my first missions actually.” Cereza sighed, that was a memory she did not want to remember, “He saved my flank, I have to admit. How did you work out my name again?”

“It wasn’t hard,” Ace chuckled. “You dropped your Griffonstone Army badge remember?”

“Really?” Quick deadpanned, “Just… really?”

“I was younger and far less careful…” Cereza shrugged again before giving Ace a sly smile and slowly walking up to him,“Oh he just irritated me so much. He was just far too smart, too ingenious, to strong and too… irresistibly good looking.” She mused, her claw trailing around his cheek, “And then the poor bastard went into my room and chewed me out. Then again… that wasn’t the only thing he did in my room~”

“I believe you called me out… loudly and repeatedly,” Ace chuckled and looked at Quick Step. “And, quite the cute marefriend you have there. Congratulations.”

“Oh Quickie here? She’s quite the delightful—” Cereza purred and eyed the pegasus.

“Partner.” Quick quickly said, not trusting this Ace guy one bit.

“Partner.” Cereza sighed with a roll of her eyes, “We then destroyed every bit of that filthy operation, sadly their leader left before we could catch him but at least the mission was mostly a success. And… left.” She said in a deep, saddened tone.

“Indeed, I searched the city and beyond for months,” Ace sighed, having not told her that before. “It wasn’t long after that, that I got the job offer from little Tia. And here I’ve been ever since.” He turned and looked at the guards present. “Oh, and anypony that repeats this will be getting some one-on-one training with me.”

Nopony would dare breathe a word of this talk. Ever.

Cereza looked at him with a quirked eyebrow… did he actually search for her for that long? That was… no, she was in a mission and that was far too long ago to think back to it. Shaking her head, she simply smiled at him with a small shrug, “Well apologies dear, but you know how my life is. I can never really stay still in one place. In any case now that we told our little story, do you have any questions?” Pockets opened her mouth to say something, before being rudely interrupted by Cereza, “Good. We have work to do.”

“After I fix your ribs,” the nurse grumbled. “Seriously Ace, would it kill you to lighten my workload on occasion?”

“Ahaha, I am quite sorry about that,” Ace replied and looked at his thestral student. “And you my dear. You look… better.”

“I feel better,” Midnight sighed as she hugged her mentor. “Better than I have in a long, long time.”

Ace looked her over. Before, the leylines of magic that ran through all creatures of Equus were… disjointed. There, but… wrong.

Now, Midnight shone brightly. Her Inner spirit shone as brightly as she did on the outside.

“I am so very glad to see it,” Ace said and wiped his eye, before grabbing Pockets and pulling her into a feathery embrace. “Thank you,” he whispered to her. “Thank you for bringing my student back to me at long last.”

Pockets couldn’t help but smile and return the hug, “It’s nothing really. After all she’s been through? She deserves it.”

“If there is anything I can ever do to repay you,” Ace said as he let her down. “Just let me know.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Pockets said with a little titter, before turning to Midnight and pointing at Cereza and Quick Step, who were arguing about not letting a male sucker punch you to the ground just because he’s hot and feels you up midair, “Now this is unexpected. How long do you think it’ll be until something blows up?”

One of the throwing knives Cereza had tossed then exploded, the enchantment wearing off and leaving a rather large hole in the ground.

Everyone turned and looked at the Griffoness. Ace raised an eyebrow.

“What can I say dearies? I do love a good explosion.” Cereza smiled innocently.

“Nevermind then. Thank you world for answering for me. At least we know things are going to become far more entertaining.” Pockets sighed and and nuzzled Midnight.

“True that,” Midnight nodded. With Ace, and now Quickie and Sphi—Cereza with them. These stupid thieves and whatever else was here didn’t stand a bloody chance.

Royal guards. The force in charge of protecting the Princesses themselves. Strong, agile, smart, and loyal to the crowns, they were the top of the top on Equestria’s military forces.

Such a responsible task can of course stress anypony. And it was because of this that it wasn’t uncommon to see the barracks filled with small parties and fun times. From the occasional drinks to the more daring games, when not in duty the guards would party as hard as the rules would allow them.

And of course, most of them being young colts and mares, would sometimes invite a friend or two who lived in the area. It was because of this that when a seemingly random, expressionless stallion walked up to the East barracks accompanied by a strange-looking creature, the ones in charge of checking who went in and out didn’t mind letting the strange couple into the party.

“Yooo, Hazel! I can’t believe you came buddy. We got worried bout you when you didn’t show up for training today!”

The stallion remained unmoved… and as soon as his friend approached him he delivered a powerful punch right into the pony’s maw. Immediately, every pony in the room stiffened up and prepared to fight. Yet little by little, their minds became blank, their hearts began beating faster, and an unwanted sensation of love coursed through their very being.

They turned to the other females in the room with a growl, slowly approaching them with weapons in their grasp.

“Capture them.” Aroma ordered.

And only one scream made it out before everything went silent...

“So, let me get this straight dear. You have a thief problem, a mercenary problem, and an evil magical creature problem. Isn’t that right?” Cereza asked the two mares after she heard what was going on.

“That about sums it up,” Midnight replied. “First we have the thieves, which consists of a Dark Mage, a Capricorn, a Diamond Dog, a hunky Thestral and a Zebra. Then we have the fact that somepony busted Dead Drop out of prison, I’m sure you remember that charmer?”

“Oh very much so.” Cereza said in disdain, frowning at the name, "His base was quite...... blowupable."

“I don’t think that’s a word…” Midnight started. “But yeah, we also have some… thing. We dunno yet. But she appears to have the same weirdo-yet-awesometacular magic that Pockets here does.”

“Hmm… Quick Step dear. Doesn’t the group of thieves sound familiar to you?” The
griffoness hummed in thought.

Quick tapped her hoof on the ground, thinking hard to remember… until an idea came to mind, “A group of thieves consisting of several different species, each one filling up a role… could they be related to the Seven Deadly Sins?” She asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Wait… the Seven? I thought they were a myth.” Pockets asked both confused and surprised.

Midnight stared at the three blankly. “What the Tartarus are you talking about?”

“The Seven Deadly Sins, an urban legend from Manehattan. A practically demonic band of criminals whose magical powers were unmatched, one of the most dangerous groups on Equestria. But they never caught a single one of them until they disbanded, and supposedly no one ever dared to report them due to fear of what they could do.” Pockets explained, “And seeing as I lived in the Manehattan streets most of my life, I can safely say they’re a myth and not more than that. Nobody has ever seen them. They just… disappeared.”

“Oh believe me dear. They’re not a myth, they are very much real.” Cereza chuckled and walked up to Quickie, before nudging her, “You’re looking at their Pegasus.”

“No… way…” Pockets’ eyes widened up.

“I call horseapples,” Midnight agreed.

“Yeah, yeah. I used to belong to the Sins before joining the organization. It was a long time ago, too long really. Most of us were either caught, reformed, or just hid to live a new life..” Quick nodded.

“I believe Ace here has some experience with one of their members. A minotaur known as ‘Wrath’.” Cereza smirked and looked at Ace.

“Had,” Ace nodded grimly as he rubbed the scar on his neck. “He wasn’t so lucky when it came to that dragon attack. His brother is alive and well, and closer than you might think.”

“Oh that must have hurt. But in any case, yes they are very much real. Now the problem is… there’s only five of them this time, meaning either our deductions are wrong, or something’s missing.” Sphinx hummed, “And besides… if the Sins splitted up, who’d ever think of bringing them back?”

“Pride… or rather, Chitin would.” Quick pointed out, “He was always against us separating, and before I left he shouted something about not needing us and getting an ever better group.”

“And who the buck is that?” Midnight exclaimed. “This story has enough characters already.”

“He’s one of the most dangerous, deadliest changelings that I have ever met.” Quick growled in anger, the name bringing several memories back, “He’s cold, annoying, high-headed and utterly disgusting. If he’s the one behind this I swear I will finish what I started years ago and cut his head open”

Pockets and Cereza were the first to notice Midnight freeze when the word Changeling was mention, but only Ace and Pockets knew why…

“Midnight… calm down, it’s just a possibility. We don’t even know if that’s what’s going on.” Pockets slowly said, walking towards the thestral. She flinched at first, when Pockets hoof touched her and her wing twitched.

‘No, calm down Middy. It’s just Pockets. And decapitating your marefriend is bad for the relationship.’

Midnight Song took a deep breath, extending her hoof out from her chest in a sweeping motion. What? Candy taught her that and it was stupid effective for some reason. “Sorry, I’m good. You were saying beautiful?”

“Which beautiful exactly? There’s like way too many sexy mares in this room.” Pockets pointed out, “Well not too many, there’s never too many sexy mares. But still.”

“I think she’s referring to me.” Cereza chuckled, before looking at Ace with a rather serious expression, “From the looks of it, you’re also thinking the same as I am. If Chitin, or anyone else for that matter, is rebuilding the Seven Sins… we’re in trouble.”

“Just a bit,” Ace sighed. “One problem after another…”

“Then we take them as they come,” Midnight said with a nod. “I don’t care who it is. Thieves, Changelings or fucking Sombra. I’ll take ‘em all down. But first, is that bitch messing with my Pickett. She’s at the tippy top of my shitlist.”

“Aww, I love it when you do that.” Pockets giggled and pecked Midnight’s cheek, “But you’re wrong, Midnight. You aren’t taking anyone down… we are.”

“All of us.” Cereza nodded and pulled Quick into a hug.

“Aw, I have no-one to embrace,” Ace pouted and then grabbed a passing guardstallion, hugging him tightly. “Huzzah!”

“Uhm… sir?” The stallion said nervously. This was totally not awkward, “I… am kind of in a rush…”

“Then you little equines should not be so huggable,” Ace nodded but set him down regardless. “Also, it may just be me, but has anyone else noticed a… drop in guard activity around the castle?”

“Huh… no. I haven’t noticed anything.” Pockets shrugged, “Then again I barely pay attention to what happens around me most of the time.”

“I can believe that,” Midnight nodded. But Ace did make a point, was the flu going around again or something? “I’ll go and speak to Celestia. Meet up with you guys later?”

“Sure thing deary. Oh, and Ace dear, if I may have some words with you… in private.” Cereza grinned softly.

“But of course my dear,” Ace nodded and followed the lithe griffoness, leaving Pockets alone with Quick Step.

“So…” Pockets grinned mischievously at Quick, “A Deadly Sin huh? So what was your sin, I doubt it was Gluttony because a body like that you can’t get by eating a crap ton… Ohhh, were you Lust? You were totally Lust weren’t you.” She said with a wiggle of her brows.

Quick Step turned with a raised eyebrow. “Did… you just call me fat?” A slow, wicked grin was crossing her muzzle.

“Oh boy….” Pockets gulped. This... was not gonna end well.

“You know,” Quick Step moved closer. “I always have wondered what being on the other end of the whip is like~”

“Yeah my butt is not ready for that, OhheylookatthatsomethingIdunno!” Pockets eeped, before teleporting away and leaving Quick alone, who just giggled.

“Oh I missed messing with that mare.” She sighed and walked towards Pockets and Midnight’s room. The maid-part of herself had been demanding her to go there after seeing the mess that place was, and do some serious cleaning.

Cereza had to admit, she expected Ace to be living in the barracks or a guest room in the palace. Maybe a hotel room?

But a loft room in one of the castle’s towers? Not what she was expecting. It was decorated with all sorts of things from the homeland, it made her feel rather nostalgic and homesick actually. Ace moved to one side of the room and placed a record on, a low, slow waltz of the griffon variety started playing.

“Hmm, I remember that song. My father used to play it back home all the time…” Cereza mused before humming along melodically, looking at the room with a quirked eyebrow and a soft smile, “You have quite the place my dear, the decorations, the mood, the motive... . almost makes me want to go back to Griffonstone.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Ace sighed as he offered her a seat. “That place… is not the home we once knew. It’s getting better… slowly. But you know our kind. All that glitters is gold. We’re little better than the Diamond Dogs…”

“You don’t have to remind me of that.” Cereza sighed as well as she sat down, “First the fall of the king, and then the multiple civil wars… I actually participated in one of them, you know? Back when the Griffonstone Guard still held some weight. But that’s an old story now. We’ve both made it out of the misery, and have nice, comfortable lives between these lovely ponies.”

“That we do,” Ace chuckled as he poured a pair of drinks. “When I was but a hatchling, you’d have never convinced me that I’d cherish a little batpony more than anything. Funny how the world works.” He offered her the shotglass. “Careful, this might be too much drink for a delicate flower like yourself~”

Cereza giggled and grabbed the shotglass, siping a small bit and humming in delight, it was good~ “Oh I haven’t had one of these since I left Griffonstone. I take it it’s homebrewed?”

“That is is,” Ace nodded and held up a flask. “Though I have some that little Lulu gave me. This stuff’s been outlawed for five centuries… she still whips it up from time to time though.”

“My oh my Ace, you, bending the rules, and with a Princess as your partner in crime? “ Cereza gasped in faux shock, “I am both disappointed and jealous.”

“I tend to make the most of life,” Ace shrugged. “Whether fortune finds me or not.”

“Well from the looks of it, it sure has found you.” The spy quipped and motioned at the room, “Quite the lovely place you have here. And I’ll take a wild guess and say a handsome, refined gentlecolt like yourself probably has a beautiful griffoness or pony mare to share this with? After all, I know rules aren’t the only things you tend to bend~”

Ace paused and shook his head. “Not in a good long while actually. Between my travels and my training, it has left little time for nesting practises.”

Cereza hummed softly, “Yes I know that feel… even if my job, my actual job, sometimes requires me to share bed with someone else it… doesn’t feel like anything but short pleasure really.” She said and played with her flask, “The closest thing to a steady nesting partner I have is my dear Quick Step, and as delightful as she might be, I doubt she’s interested in anything of the sort. But oh well, c’est la vie, and we must make the best out of it, don’t you think?”

“Indeed, besides, Midnight has brought constant excitement to my life thus far,” Ace chuckled and ran a talon through his feathers. “Still… I do miss spending time with my kinsman.”

“You and me both, old coot.” Cereza nodded before taking another sip of the drink, “By my dear life, I have something to discuss with you yet I just can’t get around to talking about business… these past days have been so stressful, it’s doing horrors to my feathers.”

“Well, we certainly can’t have that,” he chuckled as he moved next to her and started kneading her shoulders.

Cereza cooed and relaxed, letting his talons work their magic, “Oh my dear Ace, I almost forgot about your magic claws… that’s it, that’s the spot dear…”

Ace chuckled as he moved to his wings and paused… before dropping a few hidden knives next to her with a small frown.

“My rose has a few thorns left over.”

Cereza sighed and flapped her wings, twirling them ever so slightly to let all the knives fall down to the floor, “Part of the job’s uniform. Don’t worry, those won’t blow up any time soon. And something tells me that with a powerful male like you, I won’t be needing those. Poor be the soul who would even think of attacking me here.” She grinned devilishly.

“They would be most unfortunate,” Ace nodded. “It is a long way down after all.” he cracked his knuckles as he resumed his massage, before lowering his beak and started preening her wings.

Cereza gasped and squirmed under his touch, letting him take complete an utter care of her. As a spy, she knew that was a terrible idea and that she shouldn’t let anyone get this close to her… but as a griffoness, she was at his complete mercy, “I… am pretty sure I came here for something other than being treated like royalty…” She mused, “But I can’t really remember why… oh goodness that feels good.”

“You really should take better care of yourself,” he chided her as he straightened feathers and pulled loose ones, his claws kneading the space between her wings. “So, why are you here? Why are you employed by Celestia?”

The griffoness purred for a bit, loving the sensation, the feels of his expert attention... before getting her head back into the conversation, “That my dear is classified information. You’ll have to work a tad harder if you want to know~”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he mused as he moved along her wing and his caresses moved lower, now just above her flank on her lower back as he pressed a few pleasurable pressure points.

Cereza sighed in sheer delight and softly ran her tail over his claw, “Alright then dear, you’ve won your piece of information with that wonderful performance. What exactly do you wish to know?” She asked and turned to him, fluttering her gorgeous rose red eyes.

“Why did Celestia bring you in particular?” he questioned. “And what on Equus made your brother agree?”

“Almost forgot you knew about my brother.” Cereza sighed and closed her eyes, focusing part of her mind on the pleasure his attentions were giving her, “Well in regards to your first question, Celestia didn’t bring me in particular, per say. She simply hired the Golden Swords’ services and due to my past experiences with those two troublemakers, me and Quickie were chosen and sent here. Not much more than that really.” She explained, “Now in regards to the second question, you ask like if I knew what Sky, or rather Golden Quill, is planning. Whatever he has in mind. He’s almost the same as my father, and we know how my father’s train of thought was… it was thanks to him that we lost our homeland after all. A heritage I am not proud of in the slightest. One would think serving the army to defend the country from the civilians trying to take the already fallen king down would clean my head from guilt, but...” She trailed off and soon realized she was probably saying too much, “Forgive me dear, didn’t mean to trail off like that and go there.”

“We all have our penances,” Ace replied with a small shake of his head. Do not worry dear Cereza, I live for the present, as the past is gone and the future isn’t here yet.”

“Words to live by.” Cereza hummed and simply relaxed, “I almost forgot dear, I need to ask you a favor. Something to help me with my mission.”

“A favour from you is akin to dealing with something from Tartarus,” Ace said with a good natured chuckle. “However, I am crazy. So let us hear your request.’

“I need a search warrant dear, to go and sneaking into a rather new orphanage in town. We believe they might be tied to this whole ordeal.” Cereza explained, “I know that what I am asking is sort of ridiculous, but I assure you I have my reasons.”

“An orphanage?” Ace paused in his ministrations and qave the griffoness a questioning look. “Cereza, you know I will need a little more detail than that. Especially if children are involved.”

“We believe the whole place is a cover up. The one in charge of it seems to have some sort of connection with Chitin it’d seem, hence why me and Quickie quickly jumped into the assumption of the ‘Seven Sins’ being involved somehow. We already have plenty of proof to connect that orphanage and the thieves, the problem is… that amount of proof isn’t enough for the court, not like the court would trust us anyways. But you my dear,” She murred as her claw ran through his chest, “I know you’d believe me, and that you would help a delicate flower like myself, isn’t that right?”

Ace stared at her with a blank expression. “You? Delicate? I’m sorry, who are you again?”

Cereza sighed in defeat and gave his beak a friendly poke, “I knew that’d fail with you. You know me far too well already. Ace dear, I really need your help with this. I’m both happy and afraid that this might be my last job, and I wish to do it right. Not for me… but for the girls. They deserve better than this Ace, and I believe you know that perfectly well.”

Ace frowned and sighed. “Well,” he finally said after a moment’s pause. “What would you have me do? I’m a fighter, not one made for your kind of approach with stealth and—” he shuddered. “—Subtlety.”

“I know dear! But I still need your help in case things go awry. Not only would you be able to help me defend myself if I’m right, but most importantly take me out of any tight spot if I’m wrong and the guard is somehow involved.” She explained, “Besides, I’d much rather enjoy having a little secret adventure with you~”

“This is going to end badly, I just know it,” Ace sighed. So they needed to sneak into an orphanage, but the problem was that as far as he remembered, Cereza was terrible with children.

Then he got an idea, a wonderful, terrible idea.

“Cereza darling,” he purred and smiled. “How would you like to have children?”

Cereza blushed and almost choked on her own saliva, “E-Excuse me? Ace dear do not get me wrong. You’re incredibly handsome and a true gentle’fon but… wait…” And then, she caught up, “Ace my dear, you truly are a genius sometimes… oh sweet gods that is absolutely brilliant! I swear I could kiss you for that!”

“What’s stopping you?” he purred and stroked her cheek with a talon.

Cereza cooed in delight and closed her eyes, letting his nimble talon do its magic, “Well so far, the fact that this is far too enjoyable to stop it… maybe you’re the one that has to advance first and break this wonderful trance you’ve put me into. Go on then, show me what your student has taught you.”

“With all of my pleasure,” he hummed as he moved over her and dimmed the lights next to the bed...

Midnight Song nudged the door to Celestia’s study open and stepped inside. The mare herself was sitting at her desk, sorting over some papers before a scroll winked into existence above her head.

“Oh, that one of Starbutt’s Friendship Reports?” Midnight asked, Celestia not wanting to admit she’d jumped slightly. She’d been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed her enter.

“Unfortunately not, she doesn’t send them much anymore,” Celestia sighed with just a hint of sadness. She really did miss those. “Just a report mostly, on recent events and the like.”

“Bummer,” Midnight replied as she took a seat on the cushion. “So, care to explain how I got two new co-workers? One’s given a position I had to bust my flank to earn?”

“That… is a special situation,” Celestia said. “A good deal of politics were played to obtain those two. A small token to appease the griffons.”

“Well, don’t get me wrong,” Midnight said as she adjusted her position. “I love Quickie and Sph—Rose—Cereza. Gah! I am NEVER going to get used to that!”

“Says the mare with two names herself, Lady Moonlight…” Celestia smirked as Midnight’s muzzle scrunched up in annoyance.

“Yeah yeah,” the bat sighed. “So, what position did the catbird get?”

“Well, the role of Assassin hasn’t been filled,” Celestia informed her as she set the scroll aside and poured the bat some tea. “But nothing’s official until I can contact Caster.”

“Good luck, haven’t seen her in over a year,” Midnight chuckled and sipped at the cup delicately. Only in Celestia’s presence would the thestral actually act refined. “Still, that’s not the main reason I’m here. I’m sure you’ve noticed we’re missing a lot of Guards.”

“I know,” the alicorn “And i believe I know the reason. It’s, something we need to keep quiet about or we’re going to incite a panic.”

“Still, what’s going on then?” Midnight asked her, sounding even more concerned. “Why are our guards vacating like nobles at a surprise charity auction?”

“I fear,” Celestia said with a disheartened tone. “That our latest problem is at work here?”

“The one related to Pockets?” Midnight asked, Celestia nodding in confirmation. “Wonderful. But… why?”

“Perhaps to get them out of the way? After what she did to poor Secure…”

Midnight closed her eyes in thought.

“There is something… odd though,” celestia added. “Only stallions are going missing. All our female guards are accounted for.”

“Only stallions?” Midnight’s brown knitted into a frown. “Cure said something about the stallions on duty with her attacking her, like they were possessed.”

“So that’s what her game is,” the alicorn sighed. “Use our own guard against us. Hard to fight back with numbers when the enemy is our own forces.”

“Grrreat,” Midnight groaned. “So more get’s dumped on our plate, when we haven’t even gotten to the main course yet. Those thieves. Dead Drop. This mystery bitch. Missing guards. Griffons… You know, why don’t the Changelings invade again with a few demons from Tartarus?”

“Don’t jinx it,” Celestia said, only half-serious. “Not with the Elements unavailable.”

“Isn’t that why you have us Specialists?” Midnight smirked. “We’re Plan B yes?”

“In the worst case scenario, yes,” Celestia agreed, sipping her tea. Deciding to change the conversation to a lighter tone. Celestia smiled softly at her friend. “So… tell me about Miss Pickett. Don’t think I didn’t notice that ring around her horn.”

“W-Well… I…” Midnight’s face heated up with a slight blush. While she was one of the most shameless mares Celestia had known in centuries, overly romantic gestures often made her turn the most delightful shade of pink. “I… really like her you know.”

“I’ve noticed,” the alicorn chuckled. “So, tell me all about your date~”

“W-Well, it’s like this…”

Meanwhile, somewhere in a recently remodeled hotel in the middle of the city, from the top floor, some old opera song was heard, all sang in changeling language. Valiant Heart truly loved this city, so beautiful, so full of potential, so many things he could do here.

A knock on the door called his attention, Spark Cloud’s voice calling for him, “Valiant, it’s feeding time.”

“Come on in Spark.” Came the changeling-turned-thestral’s voice from the other side. And once the Pegasus walked in… she was caught into a deep, passionate kiss as Valiant sucked the love out of her. The pegasus did seem a little apprehensive though.

After a while, the kiss broke though, and without saying anything Valiant simply walked back to his seat, picking his book up.

“You know, sometimes I feel like I should be offended that you just use me to feed yourself.” Spark said with a sigh and leaned on a nearby wall, “Can’t you get another female for that?”

“I could… but you’re too special to let you go like that.” Valiant smirked flirtatiously, his eyes going over the book to meet Spark’s own. “You know what?” He placed the book down and pointed at the seat nearby, “Let’s talk, you seem stressed about something dear.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” Spark snorted, yet took the seat nonetheless, “It’s just been some rather tiring days. Seems like someone’s been messing with both the guard and the criminals, and it’s been making business rather difficult.”

Valiant hummed in thought, going over a few ideas that were already forming inside his head, “Is that so? Maybe we should try and see who this troublemaker is, perhaps get some sort of alliance, we could truly use some more help after all. And we still need an eight member.” .

“An… eight?” The pegasus blinked in surprise.

“I’ll explain in due time, but for now, we must focus on completing the team. Our time is running out after all.” The changeling explained as he dismissed the pegasus with a wave, “Now mind fetching Shadow Blade for me, please?”

“Alright, I’ll go get him.” The pegasus muttered, flapping her way out the door…

“Wait.” The changeling called, halting her movement as she turned to him with a quirked eyebrow,.

“Do you mind if… I ask you something rather personal?” He said, practically whispering his words.

Spark was surprised to say the least, this… wasn’t something the changeling would usually do, “Yes…?”

“Do you ever feel like… you’re not yourself?” He said with a sigh, his gaze saddening, “Like you don’t belong?”

Spark’s eyes widened slightly at this… no, he couldn’t know, he didn’t have to know, “It’s probably just the stress. Don’t think too much about it.” She waved him off and flew out, entering the lower floor through a window until she found who she was looking for. Blade was in his room, and much to nobody’s surprise, so was a giggling Mystique, “Blade. Valiant wants to talk to you, now.”

“I’m a little busy right now,” the thestral said as he stroked the Capricorn’s cheek. “Have I mentioned how divine your scales are tonight? Did you polish them, just for little ol’ me~?”

“Oh Blade, stop that, you’re making me blush!” Mystique giggled and melted in his touch.

“Blade! Valiant’s office, now! You know what happens if you make him wait.” Spark scolded him, “And Mystique, you know the rules!”

“But Miss Thunderstorm I—”

“No ‘buts’! Gosh you two, I’m too young to be acting like your mother. Now Blade, go!” She pointed to the window.

“Sorry Blade, maybe we can keep talking later?” Mystique said with a disappointed and saddened sigh.

“I was this close too,” Blade sighed and looked at the mare. “Or could it be that my little Cloudy is jealous~?”

“Blade I swear to the gods, I will slap you.” Cloud huffed, “Now go on! No losing time now.”

“Bye Blade, good luuck~” Mystique sang as she left… but not before letting out an anger-filled shout that was heard all over the Orphanage, cursing Cloud before returning to her usual self. At this point, they were all used to her random outbursts of rage.

“Blade?” Spark quirked a brow, “Are you going to keep looking at Mystique’s tail or are you going to come with me now?”

“Well, it’s a very nice tail,” Blade nodded with small smile. “Prehensile too, ohh, the things I bet she could do with—”

“BLADE!” The Pegasus shouted, tired of his shenanigans.

“What, you were thinking it too… or were you busy thinking of the boss?” Blade smirked back at her. “Oh, is it true what they say about them laying eggs inside your—”

And then he saw himself pinned to the wall with Spark’s hoof keeping his muzzle shut, “Another word that isn’t ‘I’m going now’ or anything of that alley, and I’ll make your morning training hell itself, understood?”

“So is that a yes?’ Blade smirked, before flying off down the hall.

“It’s certainly not a ‘no’.” A far too familiar voice came from the shadows, Skull’s glowing eyes appearing from seemingly nowhere.

“Skull I get that you’re excited about your brand new spell, but if you dare to fucking spy on me one more time, I will cut your horn in half.” Cloud deadpanned. She didn’t get payed enough for this.

Soon after, Blade reached Valiant’s office in a matter of seconds, finding the changeling reading his crime novel with a soft hum, that horrid and strange changeling opera still playing.

“You know, usually when someone comes into my office, they ask for permission first.” Valiant said, not turning away from the book.

“You called me Bossbug,” Blade replied with a small shrug. “So what’s up? Did that Drop Dead reject fail already?”

“No, no. He’s getting everything prepared for his little trap. Something about an ambush. It’s not the reason I called you here.” He shook his head before placing the book down, his unseen horn levitating a large scroll from a nearby shelf, “I have a special job for you, my most brilliant student. Something only you, and you alone can accomplish.”

“Hmm, and I get the feeling it doesn’t involve a pretty mare,” Blade sighed. “Alright Boss, watcha got for me?”

The changeling extended the map and placed it on the table, a large map of Equus as a whole, “Tell me Blade, have you noticed that something’s… missing? A vital part of my plan.”

“Thaaaat, you haven’t bothered to tell even me what that plan is?” Blade pointed out. “Seriously Boss, you can’t just ask weird rhetorical questions like that. Even if the whole villain thing demands it.”

“Oh, right, right. I forgot about that little detail.” Valiant nodded, “Let’s get straight into the point then. You, my dear student, will be in charge of…’ ‘recruiting’ the last member of your team. And with that, I mean that you have to travel to a far away land… and get a certain item for me.”

“Hmm, travel is always fun. Okay, so where am I going and what am I getting?” the thestral asked. Exotic mares were the best~

He pointed at a small island not far away from the east coast of Equestria, “You’re going here. The place is filled with dangerous creatures, all of them which would make great candidates. But I only need one specific egg....” And making sure nobody would hear, he began to explain what exactly he was looking for.

“Wait… they’re real?” Blade looked to the map. Well, this could be fun in its own way. “Well sure, I’ll get it done for you.”

“Good.” The changeling nodded and placed the scroll back into its place, “Any questions before you get ready to leave?”

Blade paused as he headed for the door. “One actually, I asked Cloudy but she’s wouldn’t say. Is it true about changelings and putting their eggs in—”

“BLADE I CAN HEAR YOU!” Spark’s shout came from out of nowhere.

“It is, I don’t see a problem with it really.” Valiant chuckled, “I’m sure she’d love that.”

“I DON’T GET PAID ENOUGH FOR THIS CRAP!” Spark shouted again.

Chapter Eight - Foals and Griffons and Zombies! Oh my!

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Pockets did not like waking up early.

She was Manehattan thief, sleeping early was just not in her genes. She liked going to bed way past midnight doing all sorts of nocturnal fun stuff, and waking up near midday only to go back to napping. That was her lifestyle.

Well… not anymore it wasn’t.

Chomp!

Right. On. The butt.

Pockets’ eyes were shot open, and just like a frightened cat, she found herself clinging to the roof for her dear life after the most adorable of squeaks had left her mouth. She looked at the bed below… and fell down with a thud, “I hate you…” She mumbled, and then groaned, and then sighed, and then tried real hard to go back to sleep.

“Hmm, I’m still feeling hungry,” Midnight smiled and licked her lips. “I have a real hankering for

rump roast~”

“NOPE!” Pockets stood up immediately and shook her head, “No butt-eating! I’d much rather keep my butt in one piece thank you very much, I
need it for sitting down and stuff between other things.”

“Mhm,” Midnight nodded with a knowing smirk. “Well if you don’t want your butt punished, then get up. You have school ya dingdong.”

“Do I have to go?” Pockets pouted, “I have a meeting with a dangerous creature who wants me deaded at night… is that good enough of an excuse to not go?”

“Nope!” Midnight nodded. “Get that lazy flank out of bed, or I’ll get Quickie in here to wake you up. And you know she isn’t as gentle as me.’

That was all the motivation Pockets needed, flashbacks of those nights at Tall Tale sending shivers down her spine, “Fine… but can you carry me there? I don’t wanna use my legs just yet…” She pouted with a yawn.

“You’re so spoiled,” Midnight sighed and rolled her eyes as she picked up the unicorn and put her on her back. “I swear, I feel like your mother instead of your marefriend. And given what we do to each other at night, that’s just plain creepy.”

“Aww, don’t be like that.” Pockets pouted and kissed Midnight’s cheek, “You love spoiling me and you know it.”

“Tch!” Midnight clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes again. “One of these days Pockets… one of these days…” She trotted downstairs and towards the dining hall. She would still have to escort the mare to and from school, now essentially her personal bodyguard until this mess was sorted out. The missing guards were also a matter of concern, and given what had happened to Secure, it left little doubt as to what had happened to them.

That bitch was building an army, and using Celestia’s own guard to do it. She hadn’t gone after any of the Night Guard yet, but who knows. She had until tonight to prepare… and no matter what, she’d keep Pockets safe.

Midnight hadn’t even noticed the feral growl building in her throat.

“Hey, batty, you alright?” Pockets asked her with a bit of concern, poking Midnight’s cheek.

“Oh yes~” Midnight said with a wicked glint in her eyes. “Just thinking of a bitch I’m gonna skin alive and wear her coat as a cloak.”

“Which of all the bitches we’re dealing? There are plenty as far as I can tell.” Pockets smirked and nuzzled her bat-mobile, “Don’t worry. We’ve kicked the butts of wanted mercenaries, stupidly corrupt and untouchable politicians and we’ve even kicked Luna’s butt on Monopony! We’ll be fineeee.”

“Well of course we are,” Midnight replied. “Because you are going to be safe here in the palace while I kick her ass.”

Pockets frowned and hopped off Midnight, “Nope, there is no way I’m letting you deal with my bitchy cousin on your own. I’m the one with the crazy fairy magic! I have to go!”

“No, because that would put you right in harm’s way!” Midnight argued back. “You will be here where I know you’ll be safe while I go and do my job.”

“Our jobs.” Pockets reminded her, “We’re partners, remember? I’m legally obliged to be with you at all times. Listen Midnight, I did not put my magic to the limit to help you get your emotions back only for that bitch to fuck ‘em up like she did with your friend. I’m not letting her magic touch you, I’m going with you.” And surprisingly enough, Pockets’ tone and expression was pretty damn serious, something unusual coming from the crazy-flank mare.

Midnight frowned, but she knew there’d be no arguing with her. Even if she did stay here, she’d likely just sneak out anyway.

“You’re impossible,” Midnight sighed.

“Heck yeah I am! Now let’s go eat so I can go to school alright?” Pockets smiled and turned her head towards the dining area, happily swinging her hips as she prepared for yet another day of class.

“Speaking off, you need a school uniform,” Midnight smirked as she watched that flank. “I need to… educate you soon~”

Pockets stopped, blushed, and gulped, slowly turning around to face Midnight with a nervous grin and sweat running down her spine, “Uhm… should I be scared?”

“You should never be scared around me,” Midnight said as she nuzzled her, “I promise only good things okay? I love you Pickett.”

“Oh I know, just messin’ around. Love you too batty.” The small-sized unicorn giggled, nuzzling her back.

“Alright, you do remember our roles now don’t you dear Ace?” Cereza asked as she and said griffon walked down the busy streets of downtown Canterlot.

“Oh how could I ever forget my love,” he replied. “My dearest wife Rose Quill, we are simply going shopping for children no?”

“Oh you make it sound so wrong Ace.” Cereza rolled her eyes, “Adopting dear, we’re going to go adopt a child because little old me can’t get pregnant. Understood? And what was your name again?”

Ace sighed and rolled his eyes. “I am... ‘ he paused and looked at her. “I forgot.”

“You are an important metallurgy manufacturer, and former soldier… Steel Talon.” Cereza chuckled, “A tad childish don’t you think?”

“A little, but it is cool. The children will like it!” Ace said with a firm nod. “At least, that is what Midnight said.”

Cereza chuckled again and nuzzled his neck. After last night, she had grown to… appreciate him in more ways than one. “A cool name for a cool male I suppose. Now, we’re almost there, are you ready for this dear?”

“This covert mission will be new to me,” Ace nodded. “So in summary, I am to distract the matron and children, while you do your sexy spy business?”

“Exactly. And if you do well… I might consider rewarding you later~ But for now. Let’s get to it dear.” She walked up to the orphanage’s door, her tail swinging from side to side and teasing the male griffon.

“The things I do for that tail,” Ace shook his head as he followed her.

The orphanage itself was brand new and looked the part. Large, polished iron gates and a building of freshly cut stone. The door was made of a dark oak wood and after knocking on it, a mare answered the door.

The light blue pegasus mare smiled at them with the warmest and sweetest of smiles, “Why hello! Welcome to Miss Wide Heart’s Canterlot Orphanage. My name is Spark Cloud, how can I help you?”

“Why yes dear. My dear and beloved husband Steel Talon and I have decided to look for… a filly of our own to take care of. We were hoping you could help us find a poor, innocent youngling seeking for a loving home which we could possibly look after?” Cereza asked with a way different-sounding voice, having a slight prench accent to her words and a higher, more casual pitched tone, “Isn’t that right my dear Talon?”

“Quite,” Ace replied. Oh feathers, when could he put on a Canterlot accent like that? It was plucking flawless. “As sad as it is, we are… unable to conceive. But luckily for us, there are some wanting foals needing a very large home no?”

Spark nodded with an even wider smile and opened the doors for them, “Always. Welcome then! Hope we can find someone of your liking. We have all sorts of fillies and colts here in the orphanage, of different ages and sizes. We take care of them with the utmost love and passion, and teach them how to be the best they can ever be!”

“Is that so? Interesting…” Cereza hummed, before blinking in surprise, “Oh, why this is unexpected. I… seem to have the need of going to the restroom for a bit. This is quite embarrassing…”

Spark chuckled and shook her head, “It’s alright. The bathrooms are on the second floor, you’re free to go.”

“Marvelous, Talon dear, you don’t mind going with Miss Spark here and taking the tour for me until I’m back, now do you?” She asked her ‘husband’ with a soft smile.

“Of course not my love,” Ace smiled and nuzzled her. “I’ll be sure to take my time. No sense in rushing something so important.”

“This is why I love him.” Cereza giggled and pecked his cheek, before slowly taking off towards the stairs.

“You look like quite the nice couple.” Spark grinned and took the lead once more, walking towards the main room. Ace followed her as he looked around.

“It is quite the establishment you have here Miss Spark, very lovely.”

“Well we just opened about two months ago really, less actually. The kind soul that built this orphanage has plenty of experience with them. He has another one back in Manehattan from where we come from. Yet when he came here for the first time… he saw the poor state of the fillies on the street, of those without parents to guide them and lead them. He wanted to help them get a new life.” Spark explained, “He’s quite the brave, kind, and respectable soul.”

Ace was giving her a discerning look. Whomever she was talking about, she genuinely believed what she was saying at least. That was either troublesome, or worrisome.

“Well, I for one am glad someone is so caring about the current state of things,” he nodded. “As a soldier, I have seen many things that would chill you to the bone. I… look forward to something far brighter.”

Spark smirked, “Well Mister Talon, you’ll be surprised. You know, I once heard that to be a soldier you must have a cold-heart unable to feel mercy or compassion. Whether that is true or not well… it won’t matter because…” She bucked the doors open and revealed the main hall, filled to the brim with fillies of all ages, playing and giggling, laughing and drawing. All of them, with wide, heart-warming smiles, “Any heart would be warmed by this.”

Indeed it was. Ace loved children and had always wanted one of his own. It was one of the reasons he could play this role so well. He stepped inside as the foals all turned to see the imposing griffon…

“Children, gather around! We have a visitor.” Spark called out.

The fillies looked at each other, questioning what to do…

And then came the little squeaky shout, “He looks awesome!”

The fillies all cheered in excitement and rushed to meet Ace, giggling and laughing as they playfully bumped each other.

“Hello children,’ Ace smiled brightly as he leaned down to their level. “And how are you all doing?”

The children all began to reply to his question with a variety of answers… at the same time. Spark rolled her eyes with a giggle and stepped forwards, “Alright, alright. I want you all to make a straight line and introduce yourself to our visitor.”

“Me first” Came the squeaky voice from before as a little magenta earth pony mare with thick glasses stepped forwards, the rest of orphans doing a line behind her, “My name is Bluegrass Prancer!”

“Strong Hooves!”

“Velvet Chaser!”

“Fire Comet!”

“Moonshadow!”

One by one, the fillies introduced themselves. Each and every one of them with a brighter smile than the last one. In the mere seconds each introduction lasted, Ace could easily pick up their personalities, their way of being, and their excitement for having such an awesome-looking visitor.

The final filly in the line finished introducing himself and went with the others, smiling at Ace.

“That’s all of you, right?” Spark asked.

“I haven’t seen Moonlight around.” Bluegrass commented.

Spark sighed, “You know how he is. He’s not very sociable really. I doubt he even wants to come here.”

“He’s weird.” One filly commented.

“Very.” Another one said.

“He’s way too weird.” A third one said.

“He sounds interesting,” Ace nodded. “Where is this… Moonlight by chance?”

“Hey, didja see the buckball game last night?”

“Duuude, that Buck guy is a legend!”

Stealth. Quite possibly the most important aspect of a spy’s life. The ability to remain unnoticed, hidden in the shadows, it made the difference between failure and success. And Cereza knew this. Now if these stallions would stop taking their sweet time walking… even Cereza’s patience had its limits.

“So dude, ya goin to the movies with the rest of the guys tonight?”

“Nah bud, boss told me to stay and guard storage. And no matter how hard I tried to talk him out of it… he still wouldn’t listen. Guy has changed a lot since we moved here to Canterlot, must be the altitude or something.”

Storage… maybe these air-head stallions could actually lead her somewhere…

Cereza decided to follow them, using the ceiling’s shadows to keep herself hidden, her latex catsuit and black leathered mask providing her camouflage that she knew, would take her far. She kept on following them until they reached the elevator… why would an three stories orphanage have an elevator? Yes there were some lazy ponies out there but it still looked a little odd.

The elevator doors opened and… Cereza was met with quite the sight. Two other ponies stood there on each side of the door with some sort of military uniform covering their bodies. “Where to?” The one on the left asked.

“Storage for me.” One of the other colts said as he moved in.

“Staff room. Gonna grab my things before returning to Manehattan in the morning.” The other one replied as well, and as soon as the two went in, the elevator closed and down they went, leaving an intrigued Cereza behind. She looked around and found, half-hidden by a nearby painting, a vent. Making sure nopony was coming, she flew up to the grid and used her claws to expertly unscrew it off, the vent was small but… Cereza knew she was flexible enough to go in.

She smirked and grabbed hold of a small tube of glue that was attached to her belt, rubbing the glue around the grid’s borders and then holding it from the central bar with her tail. Taking a deep breath, she squirmed and crawled her way through the vent, her tail putting the grid back on its place with extreme precision. Nobody would even notice the screws were missing. She crawled and crawled her way through the tight vent system, and from the sides of it she was able to see through other grids that lead to the kitchen, to the study room, the main offices, the showers… but there was nothing wrong with this place.

No, that couldn’t be it. She kept on moving through the vents, making sure to keep her claws to herself as to avoid making any noise, her eyes fixed on the path ahead. She was going to uncover the truth even if it was the last thing she ever did…

“What’s this?” She hummed, one of the connecting vents lead down. It was a tad too tight for her to dive down with her wings, and using her claws may end up making far too much sound. Plan C it was. She searched underneath her wing where a row of different pouches were stored, and grabbed hold of a long sturdy rope that she tied to the bars of a nearby grid. Making sure it was stable, she began to slide down the vent, her ears and eyes attentive to her surroundings, making sure nothing could catch her by surprise.

“You know, you shouldn’t be here.”

She looked up and her eyes widened, a shadowy figure smiling down at her, his voice echoed and reverberating

“Here, let me help you get down~”

“Oh you bloody—” The rope was cut, and the griffon began to fall through the vent. No longer caring for stealth, she extended her claws and grabbed onto the metallic walls that surrounded her to slow down her fall.Yet the fall had become the least of her problems for the shadowy pony was following after her with a maniacal laughter. Cereza knew she couldn’t do much about the dark mage like this, she had to reach more solid grounds first.

She then realized she wouldn’t have to wait long, because she was reaching the end of the vent, and a grid awaited for her leading to who knew where. With enough luck the grid would break and she’d go through, getting hurt on the process yes but not more than that. Worst case scenario? She’d land butt-first on said grid before being grabbed by the shadow-colt.

Yeah she wasn’t risking it.

Slash!

The grid was sliced open by the spy’s sharp claws, and as soon as she made it out of that vent she reached for her bags and pulled a small metallic cylinder from it. And without a second to waste, she threw it against the incoming floor, clenching her eyes closed as hard as she could.

Bang!

A bright flash overtook the room, and the dark being shrieked in pain, Cereza herself groaning as her ears ringed painfully. Yes her vision hadn’t been affected that much, yet her balance was completely set off.

“You… bloody pigeon!” The dark-coated unicorn groaned, his magic lunging towards Cereza with a shadow claw, which luckily missed by a long shot. Still, Cereza couldn’t risk it. She spread her wings and looked around, a light emanating from what seemed to be a metal door, bingo!

She rushed towards it and tried to punch it open, yet even though she did manage to get a dent in there, the door still didn’t budge. She kept on trying, slashing, punching, kicking, yet the metallic door did not give in.

“Get over here!” Dusk shot another claw forwards, and Cereza’s eyes widened. Shifting her weight to the right, she let the claw fly by her and grab hold of the door, piercing it without any difficulty and clenching down on it. “Gah! I’ll KILL YOU!” He pulled his claw back… without realizing the consequences of his actions. And with the claw, came the metal door.

This was going to hurt. “Oh fuck me…”

CLANK!

The door slammed against Dusk’s face, turning the whole thing a rather lovely shade of red, the unicorn now laying unconscious on the ground. Cereza smirked, truth be told she hadn’t expected to be that lucky, but then again, she wasn’t complaining.

Carefully, she looked around the corner, narrowing her eyes in search for any possible enemies. Two… changelings? There were changelings in here as well? Well at least she had some evidence to link this place to changeling activity now, but that was still far from enough. She was who-knew-how-many hooves underground and little to no options. Her best move was probably to return to a more stealthy approach.

She searched for a particular bag she held under her left wing, one with four thin metallic flasks that held a different potion each. Grabbing the larger one, she got rid of the lid and drank it all up in one go, cleaning her beak afterwards…

Time to blend in!

“Sir, I honestly doubt you’d be interested in Moonlight Silver. He’s not the most sociable of children you see. He has a small… disability, which has made him quite the rebellious and stubborn colt.” Spark explained uncomfortably as she lead Ace through the halls and towards the yard.

“Disability?” Ace asked, now even more curious.

“It’s hard to explain.” Spark sighed and opened the door to the yard, “Just see by yourself.”

On said yard a young, lonesome colt stood firm on his hooves. His ash gray coat shone with the sunlight, and his spiked blue mane covered the upper part of his head like an angry storm cloud. What caught Ace’s attention though, was the dark purple leathery wings, though the right one seemed to be heavily injured, seemingly cut from the very edge to around the midsection of the wing. There was no healing that, it seemed.

“Ah,” he nodded. “Now I see. Yes, for us with wings that is quite the troubling circumstance. Perhaps I could speak with him?”

“Wait just a few minutes… he’s about to do it again.” Spark said, holding him back.

The small colt took a deep breath… before looking straight ahead and rushing towards the wall at quite the impressive speed for someone his age. He jumped over a bunch of impromptu obstacles he himself had placed beforehoof and dodged the taller ones with amazing precision. After what would be around 8 obstacles, he finally reached the wall and hopped on it. He went for the backflip…

And with a sharp yelp and a loud grunt, he found his own face planted on the ground. Mumbling in annoyance, he stomped on the floor and flipped onto his back, staring at the blue sky above.

“Hmm…” Ace hummed. Now this was more his speed. Time to educate this young one. “That wasn't too bad,” he suddenly said aloud, enough for the colt to hear. “However, you need to put a little more strength into your kick as you leave the wall, that will give you a bit more height to flip from.”

The small thestral didn’t look at him, he just kept looking at the skies. Finally, after a few seconds, he got on his hooves and moved back to the start of the track, “I know what I’m doing, and I know what I did wrong. I don’t need help.” He muttered, reaching the starting line and getting in a running position once more.

“Your first mistake, is not asking for help,” Ace replied gently. “It’s alright to do so, you can only get stronger for it.” he walked up to a large, decorative rock. “But then, you could be right lad. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m an old griffon after all…” He drew back his fist and punched the boulder, the massive stone exploding outwards as he reduced it to pebbles and dust.

The small thestral’s jaw couldn’t have dropped lower. He looked at the chiseled rock and… well he had no idea how to react, his mind had completely shut down. He bit down his lower lip, jealousy filling his little heart. He shouted, an anger-filled shout, and without saying anything else ran away from everything. And before Ace could follow along, he was surrounded by the other orphans who had seen what happened.

“You’re sooo cool!”

“So strong!”

“I want to be like you when I grow up!”

“Tell us a story!”

And so came the adulations and awestruck praises, not letting him move anywhere. And Ace loved it. The happy smiles of foals were one of the greatest treasures he could imagine.

“I suppose i could tell you a tale or two,” he chuckled as he sat down. “Now…” he took off his scarf and showed his wide scar across his neck. “Who wants to hear about the time I fought a dragon?”

“You fought a dragon!?” Came the gasps from the kids, before a variety of ‘yes!’, ‘I do’, and ‘That’s sooo coool!’ were mixed together into one Ace-praising sound mess, the fillies jumping around excitedly.

Miss Wide Heart’s Orphanage. On the surface, a friendly little establishment where loving couples could adopt a lonesome filly or colt for themselves to take care of. But several hooves underground? A growing criminal empire ready to take over Canterlot. Training these seemingly innocent fillies to act as spies for them, getting into the homes of anyone of interest, and leech as much information from said ponies as possible.

Trained from birth to be the ultimate soldiers, these younglings were the Orphanage’s greatest asset, used as mere tools for the benefit of these… sickos.

Cereza hated it.

Still, she couldn’t break character. She was but another staff member, a cherry red pegasus with pink-dyed wingtips. She barely had ten minutes before the polymorph potion’s effect ended, her main objective was to go as deep into this rabbit hole as she could and get enough info to close this place down forever.

Then her eyes widened when she saw… a zebra? She seemed to have walked out of a door that read ‘Storage’.

Cereza kept on walking by, ears perked to try and hear as much of her conversation with the stallion that accompanied her as possible.

“Tell Mister Valiant that I retrieved the amulet. The prior owner sold it to a collectionist in Las Pegasus. It was a bother getting it back, but in the end I succeeded.”

“Yes Miss Azona.” The stallion nodded and trotted off. The Zebra made sure he was gone… before sighing in relief and yawning, stretching her legs and… crack.

“Oooh~ That’s the stuff.” Azona cooed, smiling happily and humming a little tune. There was nobody around, so it meant she could be her actual self! Leaving her Zebrican Warrior persona to the side, she started to hum the latest single of Countess Coloratura like the fanfilly she was. And this made it very, very hard for Cereza to not giggle at as the Zebra struck some rather dramatic poses.

“Azona!” Came a rather familiar shout from a nearby room, “Get your flank in here right now, we have a problem!”

“Dusk?” Azona blinked, before rushing away. Cereza panicked, hard. If the voice was who she thought it was, it meant she had no time left to grab any sort of information and leave the hell out of that place.

She lunged towards the room, breaking through the door. Six changeling guards protected the large room, all of them immediately turning their attention to her. She grinned and darted towards the first one, tackling the drone off his hooves and then delivering a powerful kick to his gut, sending the poor changeling flying off into a wall.

The other five growled, grabbing hold of their weapons and carefully approaching the griffoness.

Cereza extended her wings, showcasing the thin metallic blade that covered their edges and grinning widely, a bloodthirsty gleam in her eyes, “Let’s dance, boys!”

“...And that was when I punched him right between the eyes,” Ace decaled and pointed at the ruined boulder. “Well, something like that. It was the most spectacular fight I’d had… well, until I fought the Hydra… then that herd of Manticore… and a swarm of Changelings…”

“Woah!” The fillies’ eyes couldn’t have been wider. Every single one of them had listened with the utmost attention and admiration, gasping at the suspenseful parts, cheering at the victories and action-filled portions of the tale, and giggling at the comedy bits that Ace spread throughout his story. Once Ace finished telling his story, they all looked at each other and soon… they were facing each other in faked combat.

“Down you dragon fiend! I will defeat you with nothing but my bare fists!” One Pegasus colt said bravely as he flapped his wings.

“Rawr!” A little unicorn filly said and pretended to spew out fire, “I’m a dwagon!”

“Soon, you will be defeated!” The pegasus said bravely before gasping in horror, “Oh no! A Manticore swarm! How will I ever defeat these foes… I know! With my braveness and bare fists of course, hya!” And with giggles and laughs, he began to chase his fellow orphans, all of them having a good time pretending to be either a monster or a brave badass griffon.

Ace chuckled, this was adorable. He looked around to see if he could find that Thestral colt from earlier…

And there he was, two golden eyes flashing from the stairs nearby, quickly hiding himself by climbing the stairway up.

“Mister Talon, you have no idea how grateful I am that you could split some of your time to tell these fillies these fantastical stories.” Spark quickly caught his attention, giving him an honest, warm smile, “It really means a lot to them, you’re quite the role model. Now, do you want to continue the tour?”

“Why is that colt leaving?” Ace asked. “Does he not wish to play with the others?”

“Who? Oh… Moonlight.” She bit her lower lip with an awkward grin that was forced onto her muzzle, “He’s not very sociable you see. He and the other fillies fight all the time over the fact that he can’t really fly, you know how fillies are. Sometimes they say some things that, well… they don’t really know how hurtful those comments can be. We try to convince them not to say anything about it, but you know how fillies can be.”

With a flap of his wings, Ace glided over to Moonlight, blocking his path to the stairs. “Young one,” he said with a calm tone. “Do you not wish to have fun with the others?”

The thestral said nothing, simply looking away with the cutest angry pout.

“Because of your wing?” Ace continued. “Do they tease you that you cannot fly?”

The thestral looked down, and gave a simple, pained nod.

Ace sighed and lowered himself down to his level. “And what of those unicorns there? Or the Earth Ponies? They cannot fly either.”

“But they can do other cool stuff.” Moonlight replied quietly, “I can’t do anything, not yet at least.”

“Which is why you’re running,” Ace said. “But, I’ll ask you this. Are you running towards a goal?” he leaned closer. “Or are you just running away?”

This caught the young thestral by surprise, “I… of course I have a goal! I have to become strong to show those kids they’re wrong!”

“And then what?” Ace asked him. “Say you do that. Say that each and every foal admit that they were wrong. Then what will you do?”

Moonlight opened his mouth to answer, yet quickly shut it. He thought for a couple of seconds,trying to find a reason, an answer to not look like a fool. But he was unable to find one, “I… I don’t k-know… prove it to everyone else?”

“What you seek is strength,” Ace pointed out. “You cannot fly, and to be honest, I do not know if you ever will…” he sat down and pointed at the sky. “That sky is a limit. A distant one, but the limit nonetheless. Do you want to know a secret? The one that made me as strong as I am?”

He looked up to him with both a confused and intrigued expression, “Uhm… sure?”

“When you reach your limit. You keep going. You take that limit and punch it as hard as you can.” He looked down. “Tell me, what is a hero?”

“Someone strong who can do awesome things and has super powers?” The thestral asked innocently.

“Perhaps,” the griffon chuckled. “To me? A hero is someone who fights, even if not a single creature knows their name. They fight, not for glory or fame, but simply because they can, they fight for what is right.” he lifted the colt and showed him the mountain that Canterlot resided on. “Even the greatest mountain once started as a little pebble.”

Moonlight looked out the window in silence, the words of the griffon echoing throughout his head. He thought about it for a few seconds, before smiling softly and nodding, “I… I have a new goal then, Mister.”

“Oh?” Ace asked him. “And what’s that young Moonlight?”

He turned to him with a determined look on his face, eyes glimmering, “I will become a hero, someone who fights for what’s right. Just like you!”

Ace paused and looked at him, before he let out a loud laugh that carried across the courtyard. “That is truly an impressive goal little one.” he stood up and held out his fist. “Then, on the promise of my fist. I’ll await the day that you can challenge me!”

The thestral narrowed his eyes and nodded, “I will! I’ll become the strongest thestral ever, and I will destroy anything with my bare hooves!” He announced and began punching the air. He looked at Ace and smiled, the most valiant yet somehow cute smile the griffon had ever seen, “You just wait and see!”

“And so I shall,” the griffon nodded. “Would you like your first lesson right now?”

“W-wait… first lesson? What do you mean?” He asked in confusion.

Ace turned him around and pointed to the playing foals. “Make some friends,” he said gently. “In order to become stronger, you must first defeat the weakness inside yourself.” he leaned down and ruffled his mane. “No matter how strong you get, knowing a good friend has your back? It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”

Moonlight looked at the fillies that happily played and ran around, and shook his head, stepping back, “N-No, they won’t accept me. They made fun of me because I couldn’t fly and… I overreacted and shouted at them. They think I’m a freak.”

“And do you think you’re a freak?” Ace asked plain and simply.

“I… they told me I am.” Moonlight replied nervously, “I… I don’t know. I’ve seen others like me before, the night guard when they fly around the castle. But… I’ve only seen them there, and I’ve only seen them flying… a flightless bat i-is—”

“Nothing to be ashamed of,” Ace replied. “You’re all ponies. I’m a griffon and I don’t think I’m a freak. I’ve met unicorns that can’t use magic, and earth ponies that can’t walk…” he sighed and rubbed his mane again. “And besides, I don’t see any bats here, only a Thestral that’s gonna challenge me one day… but right now, he’s too scared to make even a single friend.”

Moonlight blinked, before growling at the griffon, “I’m not scared! I am brave and strong!”

Ace leaned down and smirked. “Prove it.”

Moonlight growls reached a halt, replaced by an annoyed huff. He walked down the stairs and reached the group of fillies… before tackling the pegasus colt from before into the ground and hissing at him.

“I am the king of the evil thestral tribes here to destroy you!” He exclaimed.

The fillies turned silent, looking at him in shock, confusion, fear, and slight amusement.

Moonlight kept hissing, yet realized nobody was doing anything, “Uhm… you’re supposed to ‘fight’ me now.”

The Pegasus colt remained silent for a few more seconds before raising his hoof and dubiously giving Moonlight a slight smack.

“Oh noes! I have been struck by the powerful griffon knight! The pain, the paaaaaain!” He said dramatically before falling on his back, tongue sticking out and everything. “Blehg.”

The pegasus looked at the thestral, and then at his hoof… before shouting victoriously, “Nobody, not even the mighty thestrals, can fight the awesomeness that is Steel Talon!”

“Hurray!” The fillies shouted in glee and picked Moonlight up, helping him get on his hooves.

Ace smiled broadly, his chest filled with warmth. This… this was what he’d wanted. And a thought occurred to him. It was a crazy one, but then all his ideas were crazy to one extent or another.

“Miss Spark?” he said as he watched the foals play. “I think I’ve decided.’

“Decided?” The pegasus asked in confusion, her mind focused on the cuteness that the colts and fillies were emanating.

“And which foal I’d like to adopt.” Ace responded.

A wide smile grew up on Spark’s muzzle, “Really!? Oh Mister Talon that’s amazing! So which of these beautiful fillies caught your heart?”

“Moonlight,” he nodded.

Spark’s smile went from a heartfelt, beautiful smile, to an obviously forced one, “M-Moonlight? W-wow, I would have never expected him to get a-adopted really. I mean it’s amazing you’d adopt such a problematic colt li-like him! Are you sure you don’t want somepony else instead?”

Ace… was not amused by her sudden shift in attitude. “Do I look like I am jesting?’ he replied with a sharp tone. “Or is the young one not up for adoption?”

“No! I mean, yes! But… yes he is up for adoption! B-But…” She seemingly panicked for some strange reason, a reason Ace couldn’t quite figure out, “I… I… I’ll g-get the papers ready…” She sighed in defeat. A part of her really wanted to tell him that Moonlight wasn’t up for adoption, but another part… knew he’d have a nice home.

Still, she secretly hoped another certain thestral wouldn’t cut her head off.

“R-Right this way Mister Talon.” She gulped, walking towards the office. Ace’s frown only deepened though. Something was wrong here…

Very wrong.

Cereza quickly hopped off the small hatch and onto the main floor, her feathers covered in dust and a slight hint of blood. She looked around and found nobody… good. Quickly, she moved to the restroom and applied a little trick Quick Step had taught her.

The magical 5-step Total Feather Groom, patent pending.

In five minutes flat, she was as shining as ever. Gods bless that smart sassy pegasus for knowing such wonderful, useful tricks.

With a happy hum to disguise the nervousness inside her and the need to fly away fast as possible, she found her handsome ‘husband’ standing near the open doors of the orphanage, “Steel Talon, my dear! Glad to see you’re here.” She said from afar, making sure nobody else was around. Once she verified it was unlikely they were being watched or heard, she darted forwards and dragged him towards the outside world, “We must leave, now!”

“Ah, just a moment dear Cereza,” he replied with a gentle tone, not seeming to notice her current mood. “I ah, have to wait for just a moment.”

The griffoness blinked in confusion, “Dear I don’t know what you might be waiting for, but if we do not hurry, we might be in trouble.”

As she rambled and tried with all her all to move Ace off his place, she failed to notice the two bright azure eyes looking at her, a small backpack being dragged by the little thestral’s muzzle.

“Uhm… whatsh goin on?” Moonlight asked before dropping the bag on the floor, “Who’s that?”

Cereza froze, and looked behind her to notice the little thestral colt. D-Did Ace… No, no way he did that… right?

“This,” Ace said as he motioned to Cereza. “Is a very dear friend of mine. In fact, think of her as your mother for now okay?”

Both Cereza and Moonlight shared an awkward wave of paw and hoof respectively.

“Ace dear… please tell me you did not do what I think you did…” The griffoness whispered to him.

“And my dearest Cereza, I’d like for you to meet my son. Moonlight.” Ace gave a firm nod. The look in his eyes said he was quite serious about this too.

The griffon on the other hand had a look in her eyes that only said one thing ‘You are insane’ and the fact that it came from the insane spy gave it quite the weight, “You adopted a- oh buck it, fine. Can we go now?”

“Cereza, watch your language,” Ace scolded her as he picked Moonlight up and put him on his back. “Well Moon, have you said goodbye to all your friends?”

“Yup!” He nodded, “I… I feel like I’ll actually miss them a bit, you know? Even if they were kind of rude… they are nice when you get to know the—”

“Good good. We’ll talk on our way to your place Ace!” Cereza quickly interrupted and took off, not wanting to look back at the orphanage.

“What’s up with her?” The little thestral asked him, getting more and more confused about this whole ordeal.

“Ah, I get to offer my first piece of fatherly advice,” Ace chuckled as he started walking after her. “Females are… unique. Taming them in nigh impossible and understanding them is even more difficult.”

“In other words, they’re complicated.” Moonlight sighed with a roll of his eyes, “I think that’s kind of universal knowledge, but thanks for the advice Mister Talon.”

“Ah, feel free to call me Ace,” the griffon chuckled and ruffled his mane with a wingtip. “It’s the name I prefer and all my friends use.”

Moonlight nodded and firmly held himself onto his back before… having an idea, “Uhm… excuse me Mister Ace, can… can I ask you something?”

“Of course you can,” Ace nodded. “Never be afraid to ask me anything young Moonlight.”

“Uhm…” He shifted nervously before gulping down and going for it, “Do you m-mind if we… fly to your home?”

“You wish to fly?” Ace chuckled as he tucked the bag under his arm. “Well, who am I to turn down such a request. Do you have a good grip there? Flying delicately is not a strong suit of mine.”

The young colt hugged his neck tightly and nodded, “I’m ready.”

“Then,” Ace spread his large wings and grinned. “Away we GO!” and on that last word, rocketed into the wide open sky. Once he’d reached the peak of his flight, the rush of wind lessened and Moonlight was able to open his eyes…

And for the first time, saw Canterlot from a pegasi point of view…

And he loved it. His eyes couldn’t have gone any wider, his smile any bigger, and the excitement in his heart… it was just the most amazing thing the little colt had ever experienced, everything he had dreamed off and more. “This… this is… so cool!” He exclaimed happily, extending his wings and pretending he was the one soaring through the air by his own, flying freely in the skies. At that point, he didn’t care if his wing was broken, he didn’t care if it wasn’t him but Ace that was flying. In his little colt mind, he was soaring through the skies faster than a wonderbolt, more majestically than a phoenix, and more happy than anyone in the entirety of Equus. Even a small tear of joy left his eye and disappeared into the clouds. Moonlight Steel, or rather, Moonlight Ace felt the true joy of flying for the very first time.

Ace smiled and reached onto his back, plucking the colt off and holding him up with a single talon, letting the wind rush all around him as he truly felt as though he was flying. He could see Canterlot Castle from here… and it seemed that it was getting closer.

“Uhm, Mister Ace? Not to be a party pooper but… that’s the castle, and I would really hate crashing into it!” Moonlight said as he started to panic, squirming slightly under his hold.

“We won’t crash into it,” Ace chuckled as he held the colt closer. Time… to make an entrance. He spied an open window, one that led directly into the throne room. With a loud cry, he dove quickly, flying inside and landing with a heavy thud on the tiled floor… and Moonlight found himself staring right at Princess Celestia herself.

He… was frozen. The only times he had ever seen Celestia was in parades and posters, but that was about it. He knew she was important though, the Princess, the ruler of this land...and she was standing right in front of him.

The alicorn blinked, before getting up from her throne and walking down the flight of stairs towards them. “Aerial Ace,’ she replied calmly. “Why… did you just fly in through the window?”

“It was there, and it was faster than the doors,” the griffon shrugged as he set the colt down on the floor. Celestia leaned her neck down, staring quite closely at him.

“And who might this be?”

“U-Uhm… I… ah… “ He began trembling, stepping back and turning to glance at Ace as if to beg for some help.

“This is Moonlight Steel,” Ace said as he picked the colt up. “And he happens to be my new adopted son.”

“…” Celestia’s usual calm facade fell, as she stared incredulously at the griffon. “I’m sorry… I think I misheard you. I thought you said he was your son.”

Moonlight gulped down… no! He had to be brave! He had to be strong just like his new caretaker. He stepped forwards and with a determined look that did almost nothing to hide his nervousness, he gave the most clumsy, yet adorable of salutes, “I… I am Moonlight Ace! And I’m going to become a h-hero! J-Just like my newly ado-adoptive father Ace!” He announced.

And before Celestia could say anything…

Crash

And that was the fourth broken window this week, “Ace!” Came Cereza’s screech as she landed between him and Celestia, not noticing the alicorn, “What on Celestia’s bloody sunny flank’s sake were you thinking!? We have to find Pickett and Midnight and tell them they’re in daaaaaand... The Princess is right behind me isn’t she?”

Ace and Moonlight both nodded as a golden glow surrounded the Griffoness as she was turned to face the alicorn, said alicorn that had a slightly twitching right eye.

“So,” she said in a chillingly calm voice. “Care to explain why griffons are breaking my windows today?”

For the first time in forever, Cereza… was scared. Yes she was a deadly assassin, and yes she had faced incredibly dangerous threats before. But… this mare could turn her into mere dust with a flick of her horn, or turn her into a frog, or just straight up send her to the moon. Celestia… was a very scary mare.

“I… I assure you your majesty that I can explain…. It was his fault!” She said and pointed at the other griffon in the room.

“…I have the feeling that she will not be a good role model,” Moonlight deadpanned. Ace snorted and let out a bellowing laugh at that one as Celestia sighed and released Cereza from her magical grip.

“That window is coming out of your paycheck,” she said.

“I don’t have a payche- oh… well I guess Quick Step won’t appreciate that I can’t take her out to eat tonight.” Cereza bit her beak, “Alright your majesty in order to not get obliterated by your godly power… what do you need me to explain again?”

“I’m not going to obliterate you,” Celestia sighed. “But what I’d like to know right now, is why Ace here called this young colt his son.”

“Oh that’s all on him. I’d like to know the same thing. We were on a mission, an undercover mission, and he just risked it.” The sphinx narrowed her eyes.

Ace sighed as he picked Moonlight up and put him on his head. “Yes, perhaps it was a rash decision on my part. But…” he looked up at the colt and smiled. “I’m not getting any younger. For a while now, I’ve felt like something was missing. A family to call my own. I have no wife and… well I felt as though this little colt could deserve a real home. I want to settle down, make a permanent nest.”

“You know… you could have visited other orphanages besides the one we were investigating.” Cereza pointed out, “Why him precisely?”

“Because… I believe he needed me,” Ace replied and pet the colt. “And truth be told, maybe I needed him as well.”

The colt blinked in surprise, a small smile growing up his little muzzle.

Cereza sighed, how could you get mad at that? She turned to Celestia and shrugged, “I guess that answers our questions, don’t you think?”

“I believe so,” Celestia smiled. “But the idea of Ace raising an impressionable colt scares me just a little. The world cannot handle two of them.”

“Should I feel insulted?” Ace asked aloud. “I feel insulted.”

“Nah, don’t worry dear we’re just playing.” Cereza said in a totally-not-sarcastic way, “You are totally a top notch example.”

Ace and Moonlight looked at one another. “Mares,” they said in unison.

Cereza giggled and relaxed her muscles, “I’m far more tense than I should be. This is doing no favors for my complexion. Well, your majesty, we have bad news. Although knowing your luck, the bad news will come to you in 3…2… aaand—”

“Your Highness!” a Solar Guard burst into the room. “We’ve located the missing guards!!”

Celestia’s head snapped up. “Explain.”

“They’re…” the stallion paused. “They’re attacking the populace all over the city. It’s like… they’re zombies or something. And they’re not alone, even civilians have gone violent! We’re having a hard time trying to contain them all.”

Celestia frowned. “Round up every guard you can, leave the minimum here as a standing guard… and for the love of the sun, do not let Midnight Song out there. I have the sinking feeling that something bad will happen if she gets out there!”

The Solar guard saluted and ran out of the door as Celestia turned to Ace. “Can I count on you to assist in this matter?”

“Of course,” Ace nodded and looked at Moonlight. “I’m sorry kiddo. But I’ve got to go to work. Would you like to spend some time with your Auntie Tia while I’m out saving the world?”

“But I can help!” Moonlight exclaimed as he jumped up and down, “Come on! You saw me, I’m quick and powerful, I want to be a hero too.”

“Moonlight,” Ace kneeled down. “These are trained Guards. While I agree that you are skilled for a colt of your age, you must also recognise when you are outclassed. Please remain here okay? I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

The colt sighed and nodded, “Alright. Good luck sir!” He saluted with that clumsy salute.

“Good colt,’ Ace smiled and then winked at him. “Besides, I can fight easy knowing you're protecting the Princess for me eh?”

“Yes sir!” He nodded, “The Princess will be safer than ever!” This caused the alicorn to chuckle.

“You know, I could help as well.” Cereza reminded the Princess.

“I know you could,” Celestia replied. “I want you to head to the School. Make sure the situation there is under control alright? Take Quick Step with you.”

“Works for me.” Cereza sang and extended her wings, “Good luck dearie, from the looks of it… you’ll need it.”

“I think I’ll be fine,” Celestia chuckled as the two griffons left, leaving her alone in the room with the batpony colt. The alicorn stared down at him and smiled. “Would you like some morning tea?”

“Tea?” The thestral tilted his head, “I’ve never had tea…”

“Well, then let Auntie Tia educate you,” the alicorn smiled as she called for a maid.

Midnight paced around her room in the barracks. Apparently something was happening in town, but she had explicit orders not to go anywhere. This irritated her greatly. She’d wanted to go to the school, but apparently Sphinx… or whatever her name was now, she was doing that.

So the batmare paced up and down the barracks irritably, her armoured hooves clicking on the floor as her tail flicked. She more resembled a caged Manticore than a pony right now.

“You should really calm yourself down. Getting all stressed will not help at all.” Secure Lines said as she just looked at the frustrated mare.

“I can’t calm down,” Midnight frowned as she continued pacing… until she bumped into somepony, a thestral clad in the blue and silver Night Guard armour. She had a grey coat, though it seemed to shine a deep blue if the light hit it just so. Her Cutie Mark was a pair of crossed swords in front of a full moon. Her eyes shone a rich gold as she brushed a lock of cobalt-hued mane from her face.

“Well,” she said in a rich Highlander accent. “Fancy meetin’ you here. The whole city’s gone to hell and you two just sit here with yer heads up yer cunts huh?”

“Why look what the night stink brought in.” Secure smirked, “It’s been a while since I saw your butt around, Stella!”

“An’ what nice butt it is huh?” Stella shook her rump at the mare. “Also, fuck off. Now…” She looked at Midnight Song. “So what’s got you wound up tighter than Secure’s tailhole?”

“Annoyed I have standing orders while everypony else is out actually ‘doing’ something,” the thestral sighed. “And that Secure here has to play foalsitter and I don’t even get to play with her.”

“Hah, Secure? Fun?” Stella cackled. “Yeh’d have better luck teachin’ an Earth pony ta fly.”

“Awww, that’s mean Stelly.” She pouted, "I’d be more butthurt buuut... you and Midnight took the last of the ‘Open for Business’ butt stickers.”

The two thestral’s turned and looked at the pegasus, before shrugging and smiling.

“Not bad for a Sol,” Stella chuckled. “Yer still a fuckin’ cunt. But not bad. Still swear like a fuckin’ filly fresh outta diapers though.”

“So… what brings the mighty Captain Stella Sabre here?” Midnight asked her.

“Got ordered to stop you from doin’t anything stupid… so yeh, the impossible as always,” Stella smirked. “Still, knowin’ our fuckin’ luck. Trouble will find us. You ready to pull your hooves outta yer snatches and kick some ass?”

“As always Miss Stella, you’re doing a terrible job.” Secure grinned tauntingly and raised her lance, “This’ll be hella interesting.”

“Oh lookit that, you finally worked that stick outta yer ass,” Stella smirked and unsheathed her wingblades.

“I am something of a trouble magnet lately,” Midnight agreed as she reached for the door handle. “Still, I’m gonna open this door and be very disappointed aren’t I?” With a small click, she pulled the handle down and flung the door open, looking around.

“Aaaaand, nothing,” Midnight sighed as she stared at an empty courtyard. “Figures…”

“What on Equus where you expecting?” Secure asked.

“I dunno!” Midnight threw up her hooves in frustration. ‘Something? Anything! I’ll take a stampede of BUNNIES at this rate!”

“Calm yer tits,” Stella sighed as she followed the mare out. “I’ve had a bad feeling about this shit since it started going down. And I’m almost never wrong…”

“Yeah…I’ve seen way too many zombie movies to know how this’ll probably end.” Secure sighed, “For example, I know that a zombie pegasus will break right through that window and attack us…” Yet while she pointed at the window… nothing happened.

Midnight blinked in confusion, “Uhm… I—”

A crash, and a hiss. That was all they heard before from behind them, a pegasus guard who broke through the other window darted towards them.

“Hah! Fuckin’ called it!” Stella laughed as she drew her swords. “Aww, lookit that. The widdle zombie Sol thinks he can tussle eh?” She flipped backwards as he got close, her hindhooves giving him a vicious uppercut before Secure’s buck sent him hurtling down the length of the barracks, slamming into the far back wall.

“Ah dinnae know why ya joined the Sol’s,” Stella sighed. “Yeh’d make a feckin’ great Night guard.”

“Because you’re in the Night Guard.” Secure smirked and extended her wings, “Alright, so we know the zombie guards are out there, you guys feel like going out there and clean the area up?”

Midnight’s smile widened as she drew her blades from their sheathes. “Oh, I like that plan. I like that plan very much~”

“I get to pound a bunch’a Sol’s without gettin’ in shit over it?” Stella looked… almost murderous. “Fuck! Sign me up! I’m gettin’ moist jus’ thinkin’ about it.”

Secure Lines pointed at the now broken window with her spear and a very excited grin, “Mares, let’s go kick some flanks!”

“Twelve…” Smack, “Thirteen…” Smack, “Fourteen! Gonna win this crap, you just wait and see.” Secure laughed as she flew above some guards, before diving down and taking three more zombie guards with her, “Seven-bucking-teen!”

“Hah, typical fuckin’ Sol,” Stella cackled as she stood atop a small mountain of unconscious bodies. “No match for a real guard.”

They glanced upwards and saw a few pegasi diving at them. There was a high pitched screech and a blur… and the pegasi dropped, Midnight landing on the ground and sheathing her blades.

“And of course the show-off appears.” Secure chucked and got two guards off their hooves with one powerful low swing of her spear, and kicked them away into a wall, “Also, watch that blade Midnight, these air-heads may be trying to attack us, but they're still guards, zombie guards. So try and not kill any, unlike another crazy thestral who is way too happy to be kicking sun-guard-flank!”

“Oh please,” Midnight shrugged as she dropped another pegasus with the flat of her blade. “I know how to fight Cure.”

“An’ why wouldn’t I be happy?” Stella cackled. “This is amazin’ly cathartic!”

“Bloody hell Stella, you have issues!” Secure grunted as she spun in place and got rid of the six guards swarming her.

“Help! Somepony help me! My poor filly!” Came a faint shout from afar that only the two thestrals’ sense of hearing was able to catch.

“Midnight,” Stella nodded as the other thestral took off, she was already in the air so it was easier for her to break away from combat.

‘Going after foals? This bitch has officially triggered me,’ Midnight growled to herself as she looked around for the source of the shout.

She spotted the source, a light green earth pony mare with a dandelion as a cutie mark, trying to shove the two zombie colts who were approaching her away, once more calling for help for herself and her filly who wasn't in sight.

Midnight groaned and dropped from the sky like a rock, a swift movement later, she’d painlessly knocked out the two colts.

“Beating up kids is so uncool,” she sighed and looked at the mare. “You alright Ma’am? What about your filly?”

The mare looked at Midnight with tears on her eyes, before tackle-hugging the thestral and sobbing into her shoulder, “My filly, you have to help her! A stallion, h-he has her in the apartment building, we... we tried to run away when the chaos started but she… he didn’t let her run! He has hostage her on the third floor!”

Oh you have got to be kidding!

“I’ll get her back, I promise,” Midnight replied as she held the mare back. “Get to the castle where it’s safe, tell the Guards that Specialist Midnight sent you.”

“P-Please, please bring her back home safely!” The mare begged and took off, making her way to safety.

Midnight took a good look at the building ahead where the filly was held captive, and prepared to leave… but not before bucking the hell out of a zombie stallion that tried to sneak behind her. “I’m gonna find the bitch responsible for this and spank her so hard she won’t walk for a month…”

The apartment building was… eerily quiet. Midnight walked silently along the floor, her ears swiveling around, trying to pick up any sounds of the distressed filly.

“P-please… please let me g-go…. I want to see my mommy.” Came a very low, almost muffled whimper from the third room ahead, the one right at the end of the hallway. Midnight’s eyes narrowed, before she ducked out of the nearest window. Whoever had her was likely expecting an assault from the front door, or from the windows.

Midnight had other plans…

Inside the room, the only thing that could be seen was the small, tied up a dark pink filly. Tears fell down her eyes as she looked around the seemingly empty room, not knowing what to do, “Pplease mister, please let me go.” She begged.

And the only response… was a loud click.

There was an odd sound, some kind of… scraping noise? It was difficult to tell where it was coming from though.

“W-Who’s there. Please, please don’t h-hurt me. I just want to see my mommy!” The filly whimpered, “P-Please… somepony help me.”

The filly blinked, feeling an odd sense of… weightlessness, as the floor under her was removed and she fell through, Midnight having carved a circle through it with her blades. She wasted no time in slashing the rops away and shoving her out into the hall.

“Run!” She yelled. “To the castle! You need to be a brave filly and run okay?”

But before the filly could respond, another click caught their attention…

Before dozens of bolts began to break through the roof and fall into the room, inches away from Midnight and the filly and getting closer by the second. Midnight grabbed the pony and rocketed down the hall, weaving and dodging the dangerous projectiles as a few more than she liked scraped her armour. The filly was crying with fear, the high pitched noise making precision flying a tad difficult.

Midnight crashed through one door and into a room. “Dead Drop… why did it have to be Dead Drop of all bucking ponies?” she muttered. She looked down at the frightened pegasus filly. She needed to put her somewhere safe, but Dead Drop would shoot her out of the sky.

Then she saw a refrigerator… pegasi had natural cold resistance +20 right?

“Sweetie,” she said gently. “I need you to hide for me okay? I’m gonna smack the bad pony, so can you hide in that fridge and be really quiet for me?”

The filly looked up at her with teary eyes and fear in her heart, yet nodded nonetheless. She flew through the shadows and quickly opened the fridge, hiding inside it just in time to close the door and block the bolts that were fired at her.

The bat slid to one side, her wings moving like blurs as her blades deflected more bolts. “Oh come on Deaddy, we’ve danced to this tune before. You know how it ended last time!”

A cold chuckle confirmed her suspicion, “Sure missy, let’s ah… remember what done happened last time eh? Yer annoying marefriend took me out, got me off yer back. But oh would y’all look at that, that annoyin’ munchkin an’ that crazy griffon ain’t around to save ya. It’s a darn good ol’ fashioned one on one. So why don’t ya come out here and show yerself.”

She was at a disadvantage here. Trying to dodge those bolts in a narrow hallway would be almost impossible. He likely wouldn’t fall for any intimidation tricks again and she had a refrigerated foal to watch out for…

Well, this was bad. Could be worse, but it was pretty bad.

If she didn’t come back, Secure and Stella would come looking. Keep him talking for now. She pushed a couch against the door and chuckled.

“So how was prison?” she called out. “They tell me that the food is terrible.”

“Well it sure ain’t mowm’s cookin’ I’ll tell ya that. the worst part was dealin’ with them annoying bastards they had as mah cellmates. The old buckin’ mayor and his annoyin’ friend. They would never buckin’ shut up.” He sighed before firing off another barrage of bolts at a random spot, breaking all sorts of furniture, “But hey, ah least I learned one thang or two on the killin’ department. Hangin' out with other lovers of the art was one hell of an experience I tell ya.”

“Aww, Droppy made some friends,” Midnight cooed. Dammit, she was bucked, so utterly bucking bucked. A few bolts had punctured through the wall and one hit the fridge but hadn’t left a scratch. Well, the filly was safe at least. “But you really need some new hobbies. Like knitting.”

“Ah don’t worry Missy, ah done learn a hobby or two. Ah discovered that I’m pretty darn good at carpentry. Wanna know what ah learned to build?” Suddenly, the stallion hopped off the upper floor and landed on the middle of the heavily damaged living room, his eyes glancing around with his weapon all charged up, “Coffins.” He began firing, slowly turning around to shoot at every inch of the room, a bloodthirsty grin planted on his muzzle as he kept firing.

“I. Bucking. Hate. You!” Midnight yelled as she dove behind the other couch, before turning and bucking it in his direction. Dead shot it a few times before turning and bucking it to pieces, the two halves flying off in different directions. One was shot out the window and hopefully didn’t land on any innocent civilian, the other one knocked the fridge over, yet didn’t do much more damage.

The filly was quite possibly the bravest filly in Equestria if she wasn’t making any sounds after that.

“And ya think I ain’t mad at you as well? You buckin’ ended me! Ya ended mah life, mah career, mah dreams of murder and fame!” He growled as he reloaded his weapon, getting another patch of bolts on while keeping an eye out for the thestral, “This ain’t anythin’ but revenge, that… and mah new boss told me to get rid yer pesky thestral flank.”

“Oh, what a good little puppy you are,’ Midnight replied with a snide tone. “Typical, always obeying orders like a good little pet. You know, there’s a shop on Bridle Avenue that sells the most delightful collars—”

The following shots almost pierced her body, missing by mere inches when Midnight dodged just in time, “Ah don’ follow orders from nobody ya pesky flyin’ rat! Ah’m buckin’ Dead Drop! The sheer mention of mah name makes the bravest stallions tremble in fear! So shut yer bucking horse bazoo Midnight Song!”

“Aww, you really like me huh?” Midnight teased. Get him mad, throw off his concentration and strike when an opening presented itself. “I’m sorry Droppy, but I already have a special somepony.”

“Ah, don’t worry missy, Imma pay that special somepony a visit as well. Maybe we can get to a happy lil agreement when you both die!” He growled before firing off at the direction from where Middy’s voice came from.

“Aww, missed again,” Midnight teased him as she zipped to another part of the destroyed room. “And I mean, really? This is what? Your third attempt on the same two mares? Ouch, that has got to be embarrassing for you.”

“Ah’ve learned to deal with it.” Dead growled, before having… a little idea, “Y’know, I’ve just realized. I saw a lil’ somethin trying to get into the fridge earlier. Ah thought it was you chickenin’ it up, but now I’ve realized…” He moved to the fridge with a cold chuckle, “Ya wouldn’t put yer safety first, ya’d put the lil filly’s!”

Midnight’s eyes widened, she leapt over the couch to charge at him, before she realised she’d made the most absolute rookie mistake ever…

Dead turned to her in an instant, and fired!

And fired!

He... fired?

But the only thing Dead managed to get out of his weapon were little clicks that seemed to have no end. He looked next to him, and spotted a grunting filly pulling at some cables from it with her mouth. The bolts were now on the floor, and the machine kept trying to fire even though the whole system was jammed up to Tartarus and back.

“Oh buck me right in da craphole.”

“That’s the idea!” Midnight yelled as she flipped in midair and slammed him with her hind hooves, punting the stallion right out of the window of the third floor they were on.

“Buck you Midnight Song!” The stallion shouted as he fell, before he noticed the bat following him? What was she…?

“This is for kidnapping an innocent filly!” she screeched as she punched him in midair, sending him into a spiral. “This is for shooting at me. Again!” She punched him from the opposite side, reversing his spinning. And this… this is because I really, really hate you!!” She flipped forwards and smashed his chest with a downwards kick of her hooves, the stallion impacting the ground hard enough to leave a small impact crater.

Yet unluckily for both Midnight and Dead Drop himself, he was still breathing, his sturdy earth pony body keeping him alive even after that. Unconscious, yet still breathing. With more than a few broken ribs and a leg that was bending at an unnatural angle, but breathing nonetheless.

“Bastard,” Midnight spat and flew back up to the room to find the filly. “Little one? Are you here?”

A pair of bright eyes poked out from behind a fallen desk, “Is the mean pony gone?”

“Yeah, I beat him up good,” Midnight nodded as she sat down, pulling a bolt that was stuck in her armour. “And you, you saved my life. I don’t know if you’re crazy or brave. But I owe you kiddo.”

“I couldn’t just stay there and see how the mean pony tried to hurt you.” She hopped out of her hiding spot and walked towards Midnight with a worried look, a look that intensified when she noticed the somewhat small, bleeding cut that had been made by a passing by bolt on her unarmored left hind leg, “You… you’re hurt!”

“Ah?” Midnight looked at the cut. “It’s just a scratch,” she said. “Besides, we gotta get you back to your Momma. Does that sound good?”

“No, wait! I have an idea!” The filly said before flapping up to the next floor with all her might, grunting cutely as she flapped harder and harder until she made it up, “Come here!” She called.

“Where are we going?” Midnight said as she followed her. “Hey kid, we really should get you back to your Mom. She’s worried sick about you.”

“Just a minute!” The filly responded while she looked through some drawers, until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed an odd-looking leaf with her muzzle and brought it to Midnight. She placed the leaves on the floor and took a good look at the cut, “I saw how that mean pony coated the strange arrows with nightshade. Now I’m about to do something kinda gross, but I need you to trust me, okay?” She asked in a rather serious tone, one that coming from the cute filly’s face made her even more adorable, “And before you ask, nightshade is a poisonous plant.”

Midnight blinked. Between the smart filly being smart, and the words ‘Poisoned arrows’, her brain clocked out.

“Am… I gonna die?” Midnight gulped. This would officially be the suckiest way to die ever.

“Not if you let me patch it up with this plant. My mom got it from Ponyville, straight from the Everfree! There are tons of mysterious plants with amazing properties!” The filly said excitedly, “For example there’s this flower that when you eat it—” She then saw Midnight’s incredibly worried face and the still dripping wound, and with an awkward giggle picked the leaf back up, “Sorry, I almost got carried away. Now… close your eyes, this is something I don’t think you want to see.”

“Um… are you sure?” Midnight blinked. “I mean, I appreciate it and all but we should get a doc…” her eyes suddenly felt very heavy and her body felt warm, her stomach seemingly twisting and burning inside her. “Ooh… that, that doesn’t feel too good…”

“No time!” The filly said before munching on the leaf with vigor and determination, using her own saliva to create a weird, sticky cream-like substance that she spit on the wound.

And it may or may not have burned like nothing Midnight had ever felt before...

“SWEET SUN-BUCKING CELESTIA!” the thestral swore as she bit down on her hoof to muffle any further screams.

“Yay, it’s working!” The filly clapped excitedly before quickly getting her ‘professional attitude’ up and just waiting for her to finish swearing into her hoof. Eh, it usually burned for around ten seconds or so, or… twenty, was it a minute? Nah… oh wait it was a minute.

A long minute that seemed like an eternity for the thestral.

Once the minute passed, the filly patted Midnight’s side and gave her a comforting shush, “It’s alright, it’s all good now, just let it out.”

“What… was… that?” Midnight panted. The twisty-stomach feeling had gone, but she still felt like utter rubbish.

“I only know that it’s kind of like jewelweed, but not really?” The filly said nervously, “I have no idea how to cure nightshade poisoning but I knew jewelweed was good for that kind of thing, so I just took a wild guess and used the weird plant my mom brought. But hey! It worked so, hurray!” The filly said with a cute smile and a tilt of her head.

What she failed to notice, was the faint glow that came from her flank…

Midnight smiled, but decided not to tell her just yet. This was something she should share with her Mom. She stood up, wobbling slightly. “Okay, let’s go to the palace okay? It’s not safe here right now.”

“Alright.” The filly nodded, before humming in thought, “Uhm, excuse me but… what’s your name?”

“I’m Midnight Song,” the thestral replied as they started walking. “What’s yours?”

“Red Clover!” The filly greeted with a wide smile, “Nice meeting you Miss Song, and… thank you for saving me from that mean pony.”

“Well, you’ve saved my life twice now,” she replied with a small smile. “Guess I owe ya kid.”

At the palace, it wasn’t too hard for Midnight to locate Clover’s mother. She walked up to her and deposited the filly in front of her.

“I believe you lost this ma’am?” Midnight said with a soft smile.

The mare turned to Midnight, and tears of relief immediately took over her eyes. And in a matter of a second, just one second to make sure it was her daughter and not a cruel illusion, she grabbed the filly and hugged her tight, keeping her close to promise her without words that she would never let anyone take her away again, “C-Clover… oh my sweet Clover.” She whispered before looking at Midnight with an appreciative smile, “Thank you, thank you so much for bringing my filly back to me.”

“Yeah well… it’s what I do,” the thestral smiled. “She’s very brave and actually saved my life. You should be incredibly proud of her.”

“Oh, I am. I very much am.” The mare laughed softly and kissed Clover’s forehead… and then she realized.

A beautiful red clover flower which’s stalk coiled around a red cross had been printed on the filly’s flank, a picture that hadn’t been there when the day began.

“C-Clover… your… you got your Cutie Mark!” The mare said in shock and excitement, her smile getting even wider.

“My… my Cutie Mark?” The filly blinked in surprise and turned to see… and all her “professionalism” was gone when she let out the cutest “Yay!” and jumped in place, hugging her mother and then hugging the thestral, “I got my Cutie Mark! I got my Cutie Mark!”

“I noticed,” Midnight smiled and rubbed her head. “Thanks for saving me Clover. I’d be in a lot of trouble without you.”

“You’re welcome!” The filly nodded with a giggle.

Even in such moments of chaos, ponies like Clover made it all worth it.

“Excuse me, excuse me get the buck away from my way, royal guard passing by! Midnight Song, I need to find Specialist Midnight Song!” Came a far too familiar voice from the crowd, Quick Step’s voice.

Midnight sighed as she turned around. Why couldn’t she catch a break? “I’m over here Quicky. And keep the language down, there’s a filly here.”

The pegasus mare squeezed herself out of the crowd and landed in front of Midnight with heavy pants, “Finally, we need to go now! Sphinx, I mean Rose Qu- I mean Cereza or however the heck she’s called! She and Pockets they… they were kidnapped.”

Midnight was awfully quiet about that. But Quick Step saw the look on her face.

It was a very… stabby look.

“Where are they?’ she asked calmly.

“South part of the city.” Quick responded with a growl and revealed her custom dented wing-blades, “Ready to kick some tail?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Midnight replied. She informed some Guards of Dead’s location, and the fact he had poisoned weapons before followed Quick Step.

It was time to end this.

Chapter Nine - Just an Average day...

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“Styled Mane?”

“Here ma’am!”

“Leafy Meadow?”

“Here I am!”

“Pickett Midnight?”

Nobody said anything.

“Miss Midnight?”

And still not a single word was said. Everypony began to search around for the troublesome small unicorn. Perhaps she had already fallen asleep? No, the snores would be far too evident.

The old earth pony mare sighed and looked at the clock in the wall, tapping her hoof with every passing second, “Three… two… one…”

Slam

“Welcome Miss Midnight. Glad to see you’re joining us.” The teacher sighed and turned to the panting navy blue mare with an unamused, unsurprised, disappointed gaze in her deep black eyes, “What's your excuse this time?”

“So listen, there was this dude in the cafeteria who—”

“Don't care. Now mind sitting down so we can start the class Miss Midnight?” The mare interrupted with that incredibly thick and annoying Canterlot accent of hers.

Pockets mumbled something about a prehistoric ass and looked around to see most of the seats in the back taken. Well buck. She slowly shifted her gaze to the other seats, moving closer and closer to the front row until realizing two things. First, the only seats available were the ones next to the class nerd. And second, luckily enough that nerd was the same crimson red earth pony that had helped her the other day, Steel Lance.

“Lancey! Buddy!” Pockets said chipperly and hopped onto the chair next to his own, “Guess who's sitting next to you today~”

“Oh hey.” He replied nonchalantly, looking down at his notebook and quickly writing something down, his mind seemingly in something else entirely. Pockets looked down at the book intrigued by whatever he was doing, tilting her head to have a better look. Scribbled all around were different formulas and lists, all seemingly of arcane nature.

Yet before she could see anything else, the notebook was abruptly closed on her.

“Uhm…” Pickett blinked twice, very much confused and slowly turning to Lance.

“Sorry, but… that's kind of a private project of mine right now.” He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. Yet his expression was changed to that of utter fear when he saw Pockets’ face.

“Lemme see!” She squeaked out and snatched the notebook from Lance’s hooves, much to the poor stallion’s shock and horror. She opened the little notebook and cleared her throat, extending her hoof to stop Lance from getting closer, “Let’s see…”

“Stop that!” The stallion squeaked, his arms flailing around.

“We have the drawing of… a stallion. Alright I don’t judge. Hmmm...”

“Stop it! Pickett come on!”

“What’s this… high levels of emotional energy? Uncontrollable love?”

“Gaaah!” The poor Lance groaned and gave up, just laying there with his body leaning against Pockets’ extended hoof.

Yet much to his surprise… Pockets was frowning? She kept on reading silently, her magic turning page after page… before widening her gaze and dropping the book. Turning to Lance, she had but one thing to say, “You… how did you?”

“We found him outside of my house. My family and I have… experience with emotion-related magic.” The stallion muttered, his face still looking down in defeat.

And then Pockets pulled her hoof back and let the stallion fall on her lap.

“Ouch…” He muttered and raised his gaze, accommodating his now foggy glasses, “We’ve been studying him, trying to find a cure.”

“And have you found one yet?” The unicorn mare whispered as she leaned her head closer, to an almost terrifying extent.

“U-Uhm… we're getting somewhere?” He shrugged, what the heck was wrong with this mare!? “But why do you even care? Why are you acting like if this is so freaking important?”

“Because…” Pockets’ ears flattened, biting down on her lower lip. “Because I—”

“Miss Midnight! If you could please stop corrupting our star student and pay attention to class?” The teacher huffed, eyes narrowed in annoyance. The entire classroom was looking at them both, making Lance squeak and squirms in embarrassment as he hid his face behind a book.

“Uhm… sure, sure. “ Pockets gulped and sat down on her butt, her gaze shifting awkwardly from side to side.

“Well then as I was saying…” The teacher mare began once more, only to be interrupted by… screams and furious knocking on the door? “Students…” She sighed and kicked her table, a rapier falling from a hidden compartment beneath it, “Hold still… “

But of course, nobody listened. And the sound of everypony taking their respective weapons out echoed throughout.

“... Of course. But no fighting unless you got no other choice.” The teacher muttered and walked up to the door, slowly… opening it…

To see a female guard staring into the room with blank, wide eyes.

The teacher blinked and slowly raised her rapier, the expression on the armored mare making it very much obvious something was wrong, “Uhm, pardon me? Anything I can help you with Miss?”

The guard just remained silent… before tumbling down and falling to the floor. And the teacher had a clear view of the stallion that was growling at her, a massive warhammer on his grasp.

“I don't get paid enough for this…” The teacher mused, before stepping back just in time to dodge the hammer that slammed into the floor. “Attack!”

Every single one of the students cried out and stormed outside, striking the hammer-wielding stallion down and then going after the rest. Oh they messed with the wrong school!

Pockets smirked as she dodged two spears that barely grazed her coat

“We’re almost there.” Quick commented as she flew above the rather less populated part of the city, the southern suburbs, “And just as I expected, look at all those zombie stallions. What in Celestia’s name kind of enemy did you girls make?”

“The short version is that Pockets has some weird ‘Emotion magic’,” Midnight explained as they flew. “And whoever this bitch is, she has the same power.”

“Emotion magic? Well… that’s something you don’t hear every day.” The pegasus sighed and kept an eye out, “It’ll take hours and hours trying to find those three… if only we had some freaking clue or something.”

Then Midnight’s eyes widened. “A park!” she said suddenly. “An abandoned one somewhere around here. She mentioned one last time we spoke.”

“Abandoned… Union Park!” Quick said quickly before turning left and then diving down, barely above the buildings, “Union Park! Wasn’t that an old abandoned park on this side of Canterlot? Let’s see… there!” She quickly flew forwards and then dove down again, swiftly dodging all sorts of obstacles that got in her way like stop signs, posts, trees, and even the zombie ponies were no match for her quick flight and sharp reflexes, that and she did knock them out cold as she flew by.

“Whoa,” Midnight whistled as she continued to fly higher up. “Not bad for a maid. Not bad at all~”

“Yeah we can talk about my speed later when all this is sorted out.” Quick said before finally spotting the old park and landing in front of the stone statue, three ponies of different races hugging and smiling in harmony, that stood in the middle of the vine ridden park, which was more vegetation than anything after years of little to no maintenance. After all, the southern outskirts of Canterlot had been almost completely abandoned due to its unstable grounding and was home mostly to small fabrics and lower class housings. The perfect place to get as far away from the castle and the guard as possible. “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t see anyone here.”

Midnight landed and looked around the empty park. “No… nononono! Where are they? She said… she said she’d be here!” This was bad. Pockets was going to die because Midnight believed the words of a lunatic.

“We better keep looking.” Quick said and began to investigate the area with her eyes, trying to pick on every detail, “Maybe there’s a secret hatch, or some sort of note… we have to check every corner.” She flew up to the statue and took a good look at it.

And there it was… on the unicorn’s horn rested an impaled flyer. “Onyx and Steely’s Iron. Iron-based products for your every need. If it’s sturdy and hard, we can make it!” Well someone needed to fire their marketing department, “Midnight, wasn’t there a bunch of missing stallion reports two days ago? Some factory workers.”

“I...I don’t know,” Midnight replied, looking at the desolate park. She stomped her hoof as her frown deepened. “I hate this! I hate not being able to protect anyone! I had a filly… A Celestia. Damned. Filly save my bucking life. TWICE!” Even kids were better bloody guards than her…

“Yup. You’re right.” The Pegasus said with a sigh before picking up the flyer, “A kid is better than you, you should give your badge to her.”

Midnight stared at her, her expression was an interesting mix between shock and stabby...

“She’s better than you because even though she’s just a kid, a filly, she wanted to help. She stopped crying over the fact that she was in trouble, that she was weak, and armed herself with more courage than you and bucking did something.” She turned to Midnight with a rather pissed expression, “Are you seriously going to rest easy knowing a kid did better than you? Or are you going to stop getting mad at your fucking self, whining like a baby, and go out there to get your marefriend back!? You want to prove you can protect her? Then go protect her!” She tossed Midnight the flyer, “I can’t believe this, a Royal Guard wasting time like this. I know you’re better than this, the question is… do you know it?”

Midnight looked at the pegasus mare before she sighed. She was being so un-awesome right now. “You’re right. I’m Midnight-bucking-Song, and I’m very good at what I do.” She flapped her wings and took to the sky. “Now, let’s go and find my marefriend and your griffonfriend okay?”

“She’s not my ‘griffonfriend’, she’s my partner.” Quick huffed with a rather vibrant blush that betrayed her attempts at professionality, following behind. The two exchanged a knowing nod, before taking off in search for the old factory…

Where someone eagerly waited for them to arrive.

“Protect… factory… don’t let intruders get in… Mistress Aroma commanded me to…” Those were the words that the buffy stallions who roamed the surrounding area of Onyx and Steely’s Iron Factory kept repeating over and over again in the most monotone voice possible. Looking below, hidden in a cloud, Quick tried to find any blind spots that could get them to easily sneak into the place without being caught, unfortunately…

“Blast!” She grunted, “Whoever has them is no fool, that’s one tight formation. It’d be almost impossible for us to just sneak in. And I see some Pegasus guards as well, we can’t dive in without letting everyone down there and their grandmothers know we’re here.”

“Fine by me,” Midnight replied as she decided to take a page out of Cereza’s book. “Subtlety had it’s chance, and she knows we’re coming anyway…”

“It’ll be hard getting rid of all those ponies without knocking them dead.” Quick reminded her, “We’d be walking right into the wasp’s nest, you sure you want to do this?”

“Here’s the plan,” she replied. “I’m the target here, I don’t know why. But we’ll get inside. You get Pockets and Sphinx outta there, while I distract the bitch and her guards. Think you can do that for me?”

“Deal.” She nodded.

The two got ready to dive in, fearless, with just one task in mind.

“Ready?” Quick asked the thestral.

“I was born ready,” Midnight nodded as she unsheathed her blades.

The two nodded, before diving down… just in time to see the massive explosion that got rid of half the building, the mushroom of smoke almost reaching their height.

Midnight grabbed Quick’s tail before she could fly right into the explosion. They hovered there for a second before the thestral looked at the pegasus.

“Your girlfriend is weird. You know this right?”

“First of all, not my girlfriend. Second of all, right back at ya.” She chuckled, “Now let’s make sure our crazy idiots didn’t get themselves killed alright?”

“Banzaaiiii!” Midnight screeched and dove towards the building.

The building… was chaos.

The zombie thugs growled and barked at the two females on the middle of the room, who tried to fight their way out of this horror movie scene.

“Dear, something tells me we’ll be in quite some trouble soon. These lovely brain-washed ponies will just keep coming, and I’m starting to get a tad exhausted after what happened before.” Cereza said before grabbing a stallion’s throat and throwing him into a steel beam.

“Don’t worry, Midnight will come, I know it!” Pockets said between pants as she blasted two ponies away with her shock spell, only for four more to come at her, “I know it…”

“Yes, hope, we really need that right now.” Cereza sighed as she crashed two ponies’ heads against each other.

The the ceiling exploded as Midnight landed on the ground with a heavy thud, using her hindlegs and one forehoof, the concrete cracked slightly as she made an entrance much like a comic book superhero.

“Who’s ready for a beating?” she asked as she looked up and drew her blades.

“Whoo! Superhero landing! Terrible for your knees but damn it looks badass!” Pockets chuckled before nuzzling the thestral, “I knew you'd come.”

“Aaaand you totally ruined my moment,” Midnight rolled her eyes but returned the nuzzle. “And of course I would. Like I’d leave you and Quickie’s ‘Not-Girlfriend’ here by yourselves.”

“Aww and here I thought you loved me.” Cereza pouted at Quick Step, who groaned with a deep blush, “We’ll discuss our relationship status later dearies. We have a zombie army to take down!”

“Epic back-on-back butt-kicking time?” Pockets asked with an eager grin.

“Nope, Quick Step is going to get you and Sphinxy outta here while I hold ‘em off,” Midnight replied. “Then we’ll get some reinforcements.”

“Really?” Pockets groaned, “You always do this! I'm not a weak damsel in distress you know? I can kick some serious flank!”

“Uhm girls?” Cereza tried, and failed, to catch their attention as more hordes of brain-washed stallions approached.

“I know you can, can you let me look after you just once!” Midnight yelled back. “I almost lost you again! This time, I’m protecting you!”

“Uhm, you can have a couple’s fight later. We should really do something about those guys. “ Quick pointed at the stallions.

“By putting yourself in danger!?” Pockets yelled as well, ignoring Quick Step, “No bucking way! Do you really think I can just leave happily knowing my marefriend is risking her life for me? I want to look after you as well but you never let me!”

“That's sweet dearies but—”

“Yes, do you really think these brain-dead idiots are a match for me?” Midnight exclaimed. “I mean, I just took down Dead Drop… again! I think a few zombies should be pretty damned easy.”

“We are screwed…” Quick sighed.

Pockets rolled her eyes with an even louder groan, “Zombies? Zombies!? I'm not worried about the bucking zombies you stubborn mare! I'm worried about—”

“Who… dares… INTERRUPT THE RITUAL!?” Came an earth-shaking shout of sheer, unadulterated anger that echoed throughout the factory.

“Was worried about that bitch.” Pickett sighed, “Midnight… meet my cousin.”

“You!” Sweet Aroma snapped and pointed at the four mares, “How dare you!?”

Midnight stared at the deer with a raised eyebrow. “That’s your cousin? I was… not expecting something so… cute.”

The deer blushed and looked away with an annoyed Huff, “I'm not cute, I'm elegant.” She mumbled under her breath, “Irrelevant! You idiotic mare just interrupted one of Equus’ most important, ground-breaking events! Sooo, I'll give you an offer. Give me my cousin back so I can extract her powers, and I'll let you four go, deal? “

“Hmm…’ Midnight tapped her chin. “Let’s see. Hand my marefriend over to a lunatic. A cute one, but a loony nonetheless. Oooor, kick your sorry flank from here to Appleloosa…” She pointed her blade at Aroma and smirked. “It’s a no brainer. get ready for a spanking you little brat.”

“And believe me, she spanks hard~” Pockets smirked and lit up her horn, “You want my powers? I'll give them to you… in the shape of a blast to the face!“

Aroma growled in annoyance, a pair of ethereal, vibrant red butterfly wings extended from her back, taking her off the floor, “Ohhh my lovely servants~? Take them out!” She ordered. The zombie stallions growled as well, before jumping at the mares.

Quick took five down in one sweep, Cereza took out six with just one wing. The dream team was back together and ready to kick some Zombie flank.

“Go get our terrible host dearies.” Cereza hummed as she easily took care of the incoming hordes.

“We’ll keep them at bay! “ Quick added.

“Seriously?” Midnight stared at the pair as they mulched through the horde. “W-Well, fine!’ She spread her wings and looked at the deer. She’d just attack, hard and fast. With a loud screech, she took off at blinding speeds, racing straight towards Sweet Aroma…

"And of course she had to fly up there. For Celestia’s sake… up the stairs it is.” Pockets sighed as she started to sneak past the incoming zombies.

Meanwhile up on the balcony of the heavily damaged office that debated between staying still and falling apart from the second floor, Aroma simply sighed and allowed her body to shine a strong dark red.

Midnight got closer… and closer… and closer… and, did she just phase right through the deer?

Yup she did, and if it wasn’t for her quick reflexes she’d have crashed into the office’s wall.

“You can’t win, night pony. Your kind has no way of harming me, as simple as that!” Aroma said with a cold giggle, “I on the other hand… can easily hurt you, and after all the trouble you all have caused me? You better believe I'll hurt you and I'll hurt you bad!”

“Pockets, you have really annoying imaginary friends,” Midnight commented as she flipped herself around to stare at the doe. Well this was going to be annoying to say the least.

“You’re… telling me?” Pockets said between pants. Those were some unnecessarily tall stairs, “So… how are we going to deal with this, any ideas batty?”

“Well my go to plan of ‘punch her til she gives up’ is out,” Midnight frowned. Then she got an idea. While intangibility spells were something she hadn’t encountered often… she did know how to deal with them. “She likely has to ‘phase in’ in order to use another spell or to actually hit us. That’s our chance.”

“Got it!” The unicorn nodded and charged up her magic, “I hit her a lot, you kick her butt out of Canterlot. Time to shine!”

“Oh shut up already!” Aroma growled. Her horns began emitting a thick red fog, which slowly began materializing into several tentacles of anger-powered magic that were soon fired at them at amazing speeds.

“Yeah sorry, not really into hentai!” Pockets said with a taunting smirk before firing off a barrage of small, yet quick beams of magic at the incoming tentacles, pushing them back and keeping them at bay, “Go, go, go!”

“You know, they do feel kinda nice,” Midnight said as she flew forward, extending her wingblades. “I found a book and showed it to Moonie, and well~” She left that idea hanging as she lashed out with her blades, aiming for the doe’s horns.

Two more horns sprouted from Aroma’s back, which quickly grabbed Midnight’s legs before flailing her into a wall with a whip-like sound, creating a thestral-shaped hole on it “Pathetic, and you call yourself fast!”

And then she jumped with a rather cute squeak when a beam of magic stung her butt.

“Oopsie~ My aim is kinda bad.” Pockets said with an innocent pout before blowing the deer a raspberry.

Aroma was not amused one bit. She stomped into the floor with a rageful growl, glaring at her with sheer anger, “Why you little piece of—”

Then a hoof connected with her face with a loud crack. Midnight using the momentum from her being thrown to come back and deal a powerful buck. Aroma was sent spiralling across the room and into a pile of crates, the old boxes shattering on impact.

“Who’s slow now?” she smirked.

“You… annoying... FOOLS!” She screeched and flew forwards, the tentacles taking hold of the crates. A rather large scratch spread across the right side of her face, what looked like orange trails of smoke coming out of it, “I will squash you like the flying rat you are!” And then, she began throwing crates at them, crate after crate filled with small iron bars flying across the room.

Midnight rolled her eyes as she dodged the crates easily, she was literally dancing around them.

“Ohh, so close. Nope. Missed again. Are you even aiming? Whoo, I felt the breeze from that one.”

“Breeze?” The deer smirked and dropped the remaining crates, “Oh I’ll make you feel the breeze alright! DIE YOU FLY!” The wings on the deer’s back suddenly grew to incredible size, every flap sending a powerful breeze that nearly pushed the two mares back.

“Oh come on! Why can’t I freaking do that!?” Pockets groaned.

Aroma smirked… and began flapping faster. Winds that rivaled a small hurricane began pushing them back into the wall, keeping their backs pinned to the cold metal, “Try to fly out of that, FLY!” She cackled.

Midnight grabbed Pockets as they were sent flying out of the window and back into the warehouse, the bat-shaped wrecking ball wiping out a Solar Guard about to stab Quick Step.

“Evil cackle… saying ‘fool’ a lot, evil henchmen,” Midnight groaned as she got up and released Pockets from her hug. “Lookit that, I win the badguy bingo.”

“Nope, I still need ‘Gets her ass kicked by two sexy mares’ to win it myself.” Pockets smirked and quickly hid behind a crate.

“So, how is the final showdown going?” Quickie asked as she bucked two pegasus’ head into unconsciousness, “You’re winning, right?”

“Um, yeah, totes,” Midnight said as she dusted herself off. In the meantime, more guards had walked inside, and the four girls were finding themselves rather outnumbered. “Well, this… is probably bad.” They knocked aside a few of the zombies and found a pile of crates to use as cover.

“Oh Primavera, where are you~? I just want to crunch your bones and feed on your magic!” Aroma growled, a powerful blast of air sending several zombie guards flying into the sky, “Come on, come on, I don’t have much time left!”

“Midnight, I have an idea. It’s crazy, stupid, and I may or may not regret it later. But I think it might work.” Pockets said quietly to avoid being heard. She was already getting pretty damn tired of this relative.

“You have an idea?” Midnight raised an eyebrow. But at this point, she was open to suggestion. “Okay love, let’s hear it.”

While Pockets explained her totally reasonable and awesome plan, Sweet Aroma was blasting crate after crate in search of the two mares. She was infuriated, irritated, incredibly annoyed and tired of this charade, “Why is being evil so difficult these days!? Bloody die will ya!” She screamed before blowing another chunk of crates away.

“OK… that's the plan. And I know what you're about to say, and that you probably won't agree with it. But… I really think this could work, and I want you to trust me, trust that I can do it. Please, trust me.” Pockets begged pleadingly, her eyes showing the thestral she couldn't be more sure about this.

“No, N. O. NO!” Midnight replied with a shake of her head. “That is a really stupid plan. If something goes wrong, she will seriously hurt or kill you,” The thestral drew her blades and nodded. “Look, I still think I should distract her while you lot escape. Come back with reinforcements.”

But before Pockets could complain, their cover was blown into pieces by a blast of magic. And there she was, a grinning Sweet Aroma ready to capture the two ponies and torture them for all the trouble they made her go through.

Pockets was taking no chances, “Sorry batty.” She focused her magic and then released it into a harmless explosion that sent Midnight back, before looking straight into her cousin's hatred-filled eyes, “Here I am you bitch, now come and get me! “

“Arrgh, POCKETS!” Midnight shook her head, trying to clear her vision from the unicorns flashbang spell. “That does it. Spankings for everypony!”

“Guess I'll have something to look forwards to tonight “ Pockets smirked as the pair of tentacles lifted her up. The magic soon engulfed the unicorn, protecting her in a cocoon of anger,

“Ha! Is this really the descendant of Tall Tale?” Aroma said with a condescending tone. “Please… how pathetic! You are pathetic and a shame! I will put this magic to good use. Better pray you survive the extracting process!”

Then a shadow was cast over her and she glanced up, to see Midnight Song dropping an entire crate on her from above.

The deer screeched and sent the crate flying away with the aid of a tentacle, “Ha! You fool! I can already feel her power… her strength… Tall Tale’s magic runs through m—”

She was frozen solid…

“Eyuup… a power I control.” Pockets whispered from inside the cocoon, before a vibrant golden hue surrounded both herself and Aroma, “Prepare to eat my marefriend’s hooves you bitch.”

Midnight let out a window-shattering screech as she dove on the doe, flipping in midair as she dropped down with a brutal axe-kick.

The deer screamed as she crashed into the metallic floor, looking up at Midnight with a nervous growl that hid her fear. Her face had seemingly split in two, abundant fog sprouting from the crack.

“Aww, did the widdle bitch get a booboo?” Midnight said as she picked herself up. “Now drop Pockets, cause after today, I’m starting to feel really stabby…” she drew her sharp wingblades and held one up. “You have three seconds to comply.”

The deer simply chuckled, a cold, annoying chuckle that made her even more stabable, “She got herself into that mess. Such poor thinking, she really thought she could get in my head and get away with it. Hope you're ready to say goodbye to your marefriend, because you're going to need Tall Tale himself to get her out of that mess.” As she spoke, she looked at Pockets floating, immobile body, whose eyes shone with the brightest golden glow, a glow that slowly faded, “I’d like to help. But I should probably head back to my village and tell everyone the terrible news… My dear cousin has died… sad.”

“I’m warning you!” Midnight screamed. “Let her go, or I’ll see what happens when you dissect a deer with a three foot mythril sword!”

“Oh let me help you with that. This body was pretty, but it’s time to look for another one!” Her cackle was heard all over the factory, as the injuries in her face began spreading all over her body. Soon, Midnight’s vision was limited by the abundant fog that left her body.

Once it died down, the only thing below her where thick threads of smoke that vanished into the air… and an immobile floating unicorn a mere twelve hooves away. Midnight screamed in rage as she slammed her hooves into the motes of smoke. The zombie guards that were still conscious fainted, much to Cereza and Quick’s surprise. The thestral turned to Pockets, looking at her. This was bad. She was no unicorn and had no idea what to do, and if that crazy bitch was to be believed, then Pockets was going to die soon.

“Dammit!” Midnight yelled and grabbed her. “Come on! Fight it! Don’t let that cliché bitch beat you!!”

But the only effect her yelling caused, was for Pockets’ eyes to close.

“Midnight dear, let her go. We'll take her to the princesses and see what they can do.” Cereza said as she approached her, a few bruises spreading across her body.

The thestral felt a comforting hoof pull her into a hug, a vanilla scented hug, “Don't worry, we'll solve this, together.” Quick said softly.

“If Pockets dies,” Midnight muttered. “Then that bitch’s life is forfeit.”

“She won't die, we'll make sure to do everything in our power to make sure she makes it.” Cereza said and grabbed the immobile unicorn, “Come, we must hurry”

“Just you wait,” Midnight whispered in her mind. “We’ll fix you up Pockets. No doubt about it.”

“Ahoy me hearties! Raise the sails, aim the cannons, let Davy Pones meet these landlubbers!”

The wind howled and the seas roared, the eye of the storm right above the two ships that sailed side to side mere hooves away from the border of the giant maelstrom. The two ships knew where they were headed, they knew that if they kept course, the next thing they’d know would be the depths of the ocean. They also knew that if they dared to turn, their opponent would get a clear, game-ending shot on them.

It had turned into a race against the clock, the first one to sunk their opponent would be the first one to escape the strength of the gigantic whirlpool, but if they took too long both ships would find its doom.

“Fire in the hole!” The captain ordered. Even with her short stature, she stood valiantly with a confident grin that boosted the morale of the entire crew. She wouldn’t give up, she would never fall back, she would always face danger no matter what, Even if they were facing two of their more fearsome adversaries yet, mother nature herself, and the legendary pirate… Din Drako.

“We won't let that nasty oversized lizard take us below, keep firin' me buckos, break their defenses 'n their skulls. this day be not our final day, this day be just t' day we become legends! So take aim and keep firin’!” She ordered. Her body unmoved by the debri that flew inches away from her face.

And then she got an idea… a wickedly dangerous idea that if done right, might save their lives. But if done wrong, my doom them all. “Master Song, turn port, let’s ram these band ‘o pirates!”

“But captain, the ship might not survive if we do that!” The incredibly sexily dressed thestral warned, doing her best to keep the ship stable even if the enemy’s cannons were making that task almost impossible.

The unicorn in charge chuckled with a smirk, unsheathing her scimitar as she turned to the drake’s ship, “Oh me beautiful deep sea pearl, it'll survive, I be knowin'. 'tis ship has gone through hell 'n back, a lil’ bumper cars action won't do it harm. Now be off and do as I say!”

“Aye aye cap’n!” She saluted before going crazy with the wheel, turning it all the way to the right, which of course, made the ship drift to the left and towards the nearby ship.

The captain expected Drako and his crew to be shocked, to be stunned at her sudden and utterly ridiculous action… she didn’t expect them to do exactly the same thing. The draconic screeches were heard on her own ship even with the sound of the storm in the background, and she knew that she had made a mistake.

Several large and slim scaly figures began to swing on ropes, going back and forth and getting closer to her own ship. She narrowed her eyes with an angry growl. Drako was no joke, that much was certain, “Prepare t' bows 'n redirect t' canons. Take these landlubbers below 'n whatever ye do, do not let them board t' ship!”

The archers took aim, and began firing. A few enemy bodies fell to the depths of the ocean, yet several others managed to jump in and strike her forces down. This was bad, she had to take action! She prepared her scimitar and focused, her horn flashing and taking her away from her ship’s dock. And then, she reappeared and slashed, sending four of the drakes away. “Knock knock ye nasty lizard, come here and face me like a drake!” She shouted before slashing two other drakes. She dashed left and avoided the dozens of arrows that were fired at her, blocking the claws of two drakes three times her size with ease, her scimitar giving her an opening to strike back and injure their legs, immobilizing them.

She stepped back as another drake tried to pierce her unbreakable defense, and saw with a grin how one of her ship’s cannonballs just blew him and several other enemy pirates away. She continued advancing and, taking down pirate after pirate, hopping over their heads and then stabbing them with perfect precision., made her way to the room of the big guy himself, the captain’s quarters. She bucked the door open and pointed with a victorious “Haha! Yer done fer Drako, kneel down to the mighty capt’n, Pickett Midnight!”

Yet there was no giant dragon pirate captain monster in there. Instead, a creature Pockets had never seen before was just standing there reading a book with a pristine white cover and nothing else. No title, no picture, nothing, it was just a book. And the one reading it was just as mysterious. It was tall and slim, his coat of a cedar brown coloration, and he almost looked like a pegasus, that is of course if pegasus had two massive antenna hanging from the upper part of his head and two sets of giant transparent butterfly-like wings.

Machines beeped softly in the castle’s medical room. Every single bed was filled, mostly by the Guards recovered at the castle and iron works factory. The private room, usually reserved for infectious cases was home to a different patient.

Pickett Midnight lay there, still in the same state that Aroma had left her in. Midnight Song sat by the bed, utterly exhausted, but she had refused to leave the unicorn’s side since their return. How could she?

The door opened softly, as Princesses Celestia and Cadence entered, Luna was holding a special Court to explain what had happened today.

“Your majesty!” A doctor saluted alongside several nurses, “We've run all sorts of checks. So far the only thing we've been able to deduce is that she is in some sort of magical comma. We're sorry but… that's all we got so far.“

“Alright, we shall take over from here,” Celestia smiled. “Go and attend to our Guards.”

The doctor and nurses nodded, leaving the room. Once they had, Celestia closed the door as her usual facade dropped, giving Midnight a concerned look. “How are you holding up Midnight?”

“Oh gee,” Midnight replied with a dry tone. “I don’t know. My marefriend is in a coma. I couldn’t save her. Again! And the… the thing that did this is still out there. So yes Princess, I’m just fucking peachy.”

Celestia decided to let the attitude slide, given the stress and concern that Midnight was under. Cadance moved to embrace the mare as the older alicorn looked over Pockets. “Alright then Miss Pickett, you have some very worried ponies waiting for you. Let’s see if we can wake you up hm?”

The beeps of the machines attached to the unicorn were her response, the faint sound of her breathing being the only noise that left her body. Celestia lit up her horn as she started a basic scanning spell, perhaps sever the link that was transferring her magic to this ‘Aroma’. Yet she found nothing, no link, no trace of a curse, it was as if the coma had been self-induced, as if her own magic had locked her mind down.

“Why would you do that?” Celestia muttered to herself. Some kind of self-preservation perhaps? In order to stop her life-force being drained? Speaking of, Celestia scanned her again, this time checking to see if her condition was worsening. Yet just like she had guessed, nothing seemed to change.

“Her life doesn’t appear to be in any danger,” Celestia spoke gently. “But, I do not know why she sleeps. It’s as if she’s done this to herself. Luna might be able to forcefully wake her… but that may just cause more harm than good.”

“She… did it herself?” Midnight echoed. her emerald eyes were red and bloodshot, yet she still seemed to have tears to spare. “Why? Why is she doing that?”

“I do not know,” Celestia replied. “I only wish I could do something…”

Suddenly, the sound of a small ruckus was heard outside. A ruckus that seemed to be getting closer and closer.

Slam!

A young crimson red earth pony with one hell of a pair of thick glasses broke into the room, shouts of “Stop that colt!” and “Intruder!” Echoed behind him, yet he completely ignored them.

“Pickett! I need to help her!” He said quickly, ignoring the ponies in the room and rushing to her body before emptying a flask of green liquid into her muzzle.

Midnight screeched as she tore across the room, knocking Cadence aside as she grabbed the colt and slammed him against the wall.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” she yelled, her hooves pressed against his throat.

“G-Gah! Hel-help, fr-friend.” He gasped and stuttered before pointing at Pockets with a hoof.

Her body was… glowing again? The colt found himself tossed aside as Midnight flew back to Pocket’s side.

“Princess! What did he do to her?!” she said in a panicked tone.

“I don’t know,” she said as he was caught in a golden bubble while she started to scan Pockets again. If it was a poison, she had to act fast to remove it.

But it was far from being poison. In fact the unicorn suddenly began to show a stronger magical outburst, slowly raising to normal levels.

“You have to listen to me!” The colt said from inside the bubble, “I need to finish the procedure!”

“What? Do you think I’m going to let you kill her!?’ Midnight yelled as she slammed the shield with her hooves he was lucky it was there, the force she put into that blow would have reduced his head to paste.

“Listen, my name is Ex—I mean… Steel Lance, I'm a royal guard trainee just like her! Me and my family analyzed the magic, and we managed to break one of the guards free of the love curse! “ He began explaining, “Right now Pickett’s body is growing unstable, but the… how do I explain this, safety lock has been broken! You need to let me finish. She saved my life, I want to do the same for her.“

Everypony turned to give the colt a rather incredulous stare.

“If I may ask, how does your family know about an ancient and lost magic?” Cadance asked him. “I mean, even Celestia and Luna didn’t know anything about it.”

The colt bit his lip, struggling to answer, “I-If I… answer this, would you promise n-not to expel me from the academy? P-please, that's all I'm asking.”

Celestia said nothing, but made a gesture for him to go on.

He nodded and closed his eyes. Suddenly, her soft furred crimson coat was changed into a black carapace exterior, his eyes turned into crimson reflection-less ones, with several holes across his legs and insect-like wings, all topped by a pointy horn that shone as the transformation ended, “That type of magic is familiar enough for us to understand. M-my name is Exo, and me and my family we… we are deserters of Queen Chrysalis’ cause.“

Then Midnight slammed the barrier with enough force to actually make it ripple. “If a monster like you goes anywhere near Pickett, I will tear that shell from your living body!” she screeched, slamming the barrier again and baring her fangs with a feral hiss. he could feel pure, unadlterage hatred and rage pouring from her like a fountain.

“Listen! I know the harm my kind has caused, I know the pain Queen Chrysalis has brought upon you. But I'm not like them! I… I want to help. Princess please,” He turned to Celestia, his expression showing nothing but sincerity and worry, “You have to let me help her. I need to save her before it is too late. Look into my heart and see that I do not lie.”

“You cannot be serious!” Midnight yelled. “Come on Princess, their kind cannot be trusted!”

Celestia looked from Midnight to Exo. This was… a problematic situation. Yet…

“Midnight Song,” she said. “As it stands, Miss Pickett is suffering from an unknown cause. and Emotive magic is something of a specialty of theirs…”

“No!” Midnight stomped a hoof. “I will not let him anywhere near my Pickett! I will not let that thing ruin her like they ruined me!!”

“Midnight Song!’ Celestia said sharply, but her authority carried a powerful weight, one that made even Midnight stop dead in her tracks. “I will be here the entire time. trust in me, and if he tries anything beyond saving her, you have my permission to act. But not beforehoof.”

The thestral glared at the Changeling, and he could feel the rage, hate and… fear washing off of her in waves. It made his stomach turn. “Fine,” she replied. She took a step back and into Cadance’s hug, her magic trying to calm the thestral.

“You heard my warning, do not waste it,” Celestia said as she released Exo from the shield.

“I will not let you down Princess!” He nodded and ran up to the bed. Taking a deep breath, he focused on what he had to work with. Emotions… so many different emotions all condensed into one pony. He had to do this, he had to find her…

“Come on… I know you’re there Pickett, we have a study session in two days and you do not want to be late.” He muttered under his breath.He had to… he needed to do this for the one who mere hours ago saved his life.

At first silence…

And then a wave of magic erupted in the room, a wave that soon concentrated into a beautiful golden trail that surrounded Exo’s horn, dancing around him with grace and beauty. “Oh gods… I feel kinda full already! Guess I’ll have to make room for des-dessert!” He grunted and with a mighty growl absorbed as much of her magic as possible. Pockets’ body began to levitate once more, her eyes fully open and glowing that same strong golden hue like they did in the factory, magic shooting out of her horn in both a rapid, yet elegant manner. “I… I can’t! It’s too mu-much! I can’t do this without help!”

Cadance’s horn shone as he started to feel the magic seeping out of him. The mare drew all that she could, redirecting the flow harmlessly into the air.

The magic began to stabilize little by little, slowly fading away as it went from Pockets to Exo, and from Exo to the Princess who in turn began to fill the air with that magical floral aroma. And after what seemed like an eternity… it faded, and Pockets fell to the bed with a small groan, her vital signs fully going back to normal. Exo fell to his knees and panted heavily, unable to believe he managed to do that, and also unable to believe he hadn’t puked yet.

Then he was pushed aside as Midnight rushed up to Pockets. “Hey, are you okay?’ she asked gently, and Exo could feel all her rage and hatred vanish like a candle being extinguished. Her love was… it was beautiful.

On another situation, he’d just smile and see it as cute. But after such a meal… such levels of love almost made him puke right there and then.

“I… where am I? Th-the village is… is gone.” Pockets muttered and slowly opened her eyes, recognizing the chocolate-colored blur, “M-Midnight? Is that really you?”

The bonecrushing hug might have been evidence enough, as Midnight held the small unicorn tightly, fresh tears soaking her coat as she cried with happiness and relief, the stress falling away, freeing a great weight from her.

“Y-yup, that’s Midnight.” The unicorn said between gasps and grunts, “Gods I’ve missed you. An entire year without you is… kinda depressing.”

Midnight sniffled and looked up. “W-what? It’s… only been a few hours…” Then she frowned and smacked her on the shoulder. Hard. “You bucking idiot! Do you have… have any idea… how scared I… I…”

And now the bat was crying again.

Pockets chuckled and hugged her back, shushing her gently, “It’s alright, it’s alright. Sorry to keep you waiting but I have quite the story to tell you. Besides, I had to keep that bitch out of my mind one way or another now didn’t I?” She said with a hidden grimace. Buck her shoulder hurt like hell!

“If you’d… just run like I said…” Midnight sniffled. “Stupid smol hornhead. I hate you...”

“No you don’t.” Pockets giggled and gave her cheek a gentle kiss, before hugging her again and noticing the two Princesses standing right there, “Aww, did you two come visit this poor helpless mare?” She faux-pouted before giggling, “By the way, Tall Tale says hi.”

“Tall Tale?” Cadance echoed a she looked at Celestia, the elder alicorn equally as confused.

“Oh sure, leave me to panic while you take a bloody vacation in your head,” Midnight muttered. “Just you wait, I’m going to be in charge of your next training session. And I have a lot of stress to work out.”

“I’ll help you get some steam off later you scary, sexy beast.” Pockets giggled before gently pushing her away with a devilish smirk, “But first, lemme show you the new trick my good ol ancestor helped me master! Super badass butterfly wings GO!” And with a quick flash of her horn, the unicorn was airborn, two gorgeous golden wings flapping in the air and keeping her there, “I can keep them for up to like half an hour now, well… kinda, depends on how well I focus and I’m terrible at that.”
Midnight just stared at her, her mouth open slightly as her mind battled to decide if this was hot, or just another way for her to get into trouble.

“W-what the heck is going on?” Came a very, very confused voice at the sight of these massive magical wings.

Pockets looked at the jaw-on-the-floor changeling with a confused blink, “And… who’s that?”

“I...I’m Exo-I mean Steel Lance, well… Exo. Remember when I said that I had a secret nopony else could find out? Yeah…” He sighed.

Then Midnight was looking at him, but that wasn’t the terrifying part. For some reason, he couldn’t feel her. If he was relying on his Emotion Sense, she’d be invisible to him. And that… that shouldn’t be possible!

“Okay… well. I… guess my job here is done.” He said nervously and stood up. He was too tired to even figure out what was going on, “Now that you know I’m a changeling I guess I should probably go back to the academy and grab my stuff huh? And don’t worry, I won’t try to apply with another name again, I’ll just see if I can find some sort of cleaning-boy job or something.”

Midnight took a step forward. “You,” she said quietly and he saw those fangs of hers. Those draconic eyes that shone softly in the barely lit room. “I’m not done with you yet.”

Shivers ran down his spine when she said that, feeling scared, in danger, his instincts telling him to run into the crowd, disguise himself, and get as far away from that mare as possible.Yet he wasn’t the kind of colt to follow those, “Y-yes? I… I’ll get as far away from Pickett as possible if you w-want, there’s no need to… to be violent, so please.”

“You saved Pockets,” Midnight said and then held out a hoof. “For that, I owe you. Pockets has told me about you, her first friend in Canterlot. So…” She blushed slightly and looked away. “She’d be upset with me if I sent one of her friends away.”

“Indeed,” Celestia replied with an enigmatic smile. “I’m glad Steel Lance is alright. I look forward to seeing him at my academy again soon. Would you pass that message along to him, my little Changeling?”

The changeling’s eyes suddenly flashed with a light of hope, “I… I guess I can do that.” He nodded softly, “I…” He wanted to do it… he needed to do it… he knew it was probably a bad idea but he just had to.

So he hugged Princess Celestia.

“T-thank you! My parents will be so proud of me, I…. I promise I won’t let you down Princess Celestia!” He said in happy relief.

Celestia was a little taken back by the sudden affection, but smiled and pet him on the head. “Very good. Tell your parents I’d like to meet them at their earliest convenience. Now, disguise yourself and head home okay?”

“I will, I sure will.” He nodded and quickly went back into his crimson disguise before heading towards the door with a wide smile across his muzzle, “They will be so proud! I have to tell my mom and dad! See you at school Pickett!”

“Bye you crazy nerd.” Pockets chuckled and waved him goodbye, before turning to Midnight with a very proud smile.

“What?” Midnight said as Celestia and Cadance took their leave. Luna would need to be informed of this development.

“I’m proud of you.” She simply said.

Midnight blushed and spluttered. “Pfft, what? What for? What are you talking about? Idiot.”

“Oh you know perfectly what I’m talking about miss ‘She’d be upset with me if I sent one of her friends away’. The fact that Lance is still breathing means a lot to me.” She giggled and booped Midnight’s muzzle. The thestral folded her forelegs and pouted, blushing cutely.

“Yeah well… Like I said, you’d be mad if I cracked your friend like an egg. He’s the exception, got it?”

“Got it!” She smirked and pulled Midnight into a nice ol’ fashioned cuddle with her magic, “Oh I’m so happy to see you again. You wouldn’t believe the kind of crap Tall Tale made me go through. I am so very thankful that I’m here with you and not eating moss in the wilderness.”

“I don’t think I wanna know,” Midnight sighed. Today had been… too much. She was exhausted and annoyed and stressed and thankful and happy and… She looked up at Pockets and then a smile crossed her face.

Uh oh, that was her, ‘I’m hungry and you look like lunch’ smile.

“So, you’re feeling better huh?” the thestral said as she jumped up onto the bed, pinning the unicorn to it. “Being a pain in my butt all day… Time I returned the favour.”

Whyyyy was she licking her fangs… oh.

“Midnight… please. I am not edible, well, technically I am but I assure you that my butt does not taste that good.” Pockets squeaked out, “I am frightened.”

“You should be~” Midnight smirked. “Remember what I promised in the factory?” A hoof started circling Pocket’s flank.

“My butt is not ready… my butt is not ready! Middy please!”

And then, after the squeal of a lifetime, things went back to normal once more.

The sun rose once more over the Canterlot Castle, the calm, peaceful, warming morning sun that Princess Celestia had raised for all her ponies to enjoy and start a brand new day. This same sun filtered through the curtains of one of the main suites in the castle, where two mares were staying at.

The unicorn mumbled something under her breath and began to push against the sheets as she giggled, “Butts, yes… more butts, bring me all da booty…. nice thestral booties.”

Her hooves moved against the sheets. Cold sheets. Hmm?

Pockets reached out, trying to hug somepony that simply wasn’t there. And when she finally will one of her eyes to open slightly, her suspicions were confirmed. She was all alone in the bed. Her marefriend was nowhere to be seen.

“Middy?” She muttered, glancing around the room with half-lid eyes, before calling out for her, “Batty? You here?” Yet there was no answer still. Glancing at the clock that hung from the wall, she realized she still had a couple more hours before her first class of the day.

With an unhappy grunt and an annoyed sigh, she rolled off the bed and began to crawl all over the room’s cold flooring in search for clues that could tell her where her favorite thestral was at.

She couldn’t really find anything. The room was still dark, due to the sun not being up yet. Maybe she was in the bathroom?

After a quick check and using the facilities herself, she concluded that her batfriend wasn’t there. Then she spied the ponnequin that held Midnight’s armour. The plate that covered her body was still there, scuffed and bent from the previous battle. But her shoes and blades were missing…

“Alright… think about this Pockets Doo, connect the dots, follow the clue, unmask the bat… wait nevermind.” She hummed, trying to find anything else to lead her to the sneaky batmare. And then she saw it… the ultimate clue, the one thing that would solve all her problems. The Sun!

Or rather, the one who was currently raising it.

So with a rather happy hum and a bit of a shortcut, which involved sneaking through ventilation systems, climbing up walls and hiding in suits of armour, she made her way up to Celestia’s office window! Because doors were overrated.

She knocked on the window, hid under the frame, and waited…

She didn't have to wait too long thankfully. The large glass doors opened as the regal white alicorn stepped out onto the balcony. Her mane and tail hung limp, a solid pastel pink instead of the usual prismatic hue. She yawned and rubbed her eye with a hoof before looking up at the night sky.

“Booo!” Came a spooky yet adorable squeak as Pockets flew up with her butterfly wings in a matter of seconds, inches away from Celestia.

There was a slight pause. Sleepy Celestia’s eyes widened and there was a gold flash of light.

Pockets then found herself very, very cold as she'd been teleported to the snowcapped peak of Mt. Canterlot…

“I… regret everything!” She squeaked while her body shivered from the sheer cold, “Halp!”

With another flash, she found herself somewhere much warmer.

Namely in the winged embrace of the Princess that just froze her.

“I'm sorry,” she chuckled. “You startled me. Are you alright my dear?”

“Y-Yes… I am fine just… just chillin’.” She giggled awkwardly at her own terrible joke, her body still trembling. Yet soon all that cold vanished when she began to feel the warmth that only the Princess of the Sun could provide, and the shivering stopped when a relieved sigh came out of her muzzle, “Good morning Tia, slept well?”

“Up until a cheeky unicorn thought it'd be a good idea to spook me,” Celestia chuckled and booped her muzzle with a hoof.

“Yeah… I didn’t think that one through.” Pockets chuckled as well, “But I have to ask you something super duper important! I woke up real early for once, maybe has to do with the fact that in the first time since forever the first thing Middy and I did when we went to bed was sleep, and when I did, I find out that my batmare is missing!” She explained in an incredibly over dramatic, yet amusing tone.

“Oh my,” Celestia gasped, matching her tone. “That is quite the conundrum. What do you suppose might have happened?” Her eyes widened. “Do you think she ran away?”

“I hope not! Then who am I supposed to mess around with on a regular basis!?” Pockets said with a loud groan before dropping her head on Celestia’s neck, “I dunno where she is and I wanna find her, but I’m too lazy to look all over the castle!” She lifted her head and gave Celestia the most adorable set of puppy eyes that would even make a puppy melt from the cuteness, “Do you think you can help me find her?”

“I could,” Celestia tapped her chin. “However, I have another idea~”

Pockets looked at her with a quirked brow, “Oh? What is it?”

“Midnight has run away, but you needn't worry.” Her wings closed around her and the alicorn gave her bedroom eyes that put Midnight to shame. “I'll take good care of you sweetie~”

Pockets’ blush couldn’t have been brighter. Was the Princess of the Sun herself flirting with her!? “U-Uhm… I don’t really follow.” She gulped nervously.

“Such a cute little thing,” Celestia cooed as she leaned closer. Oh wow, her breath was cake-scented. “I could just eat you up. Mmm, maybe I might~”

Scratch that, that blush most definitely got brighter. A part of her told her to stop this, this was wrong, this was Celestia for crying out loud! She knew how jealous Middy would be if she found out she and Celestia got frisky and didn’t invite her over. Another part of her told her to pick this up a notch and go ‘Flirty mode’ as well… but then again, her mind had been completely obliterated by the sheer sexiness that was Celestia. “I... wouldn’t mind.” She said with a really cute, sheepy smile.

Then the alicorn pulled back and giggled as she looked at Pockets’ blushing face. “Midnight was right, you are simply adorable when you're teased.”

Pockets’ blush vanished in an instant. Of course she was just teasing, gosh she should have seen it coming! “You’re cruel.” She huffed and crossed her arms.

“I'm sorry, I had to see that face at least once,” the alicorn chuckled. “Also, Midnight is likely at the barracks training around now.”

“You could have told me that from the get go ya know?” Pockets sighed yet couldn’t help but chuckle as well, “Also, shouldn’t you be up there raising the sun or something?”

“Yes,” Celestia smiled and looked at her. “Would you like to watch?”

Pockets’ jaw dropped, “Really?”

Celestia nodded as she released Pockets and stepped up to the edge of the balcony. Her horn started to pulse with a rich golden aura as her mane flared, filling with solar energy as it took its usual appearance. She lifted off of the ground slightly as the dark skies made way for her glorious sun, the blacks and deep blues changing to a brilliant array of red and orange, the golden orb starting to peek over the horizon as the moon fell on the opposite side of the sky.

With her daily task done, she floated back down to the ground as the aura around her horn dimmed.

“ That… was awesome!” Pockets immediately said, “You… are awesome! Holy mother of butts you are freaking awesome!” She rushed to Celestia and hopped onto her back, “Can you pleaaase teach me to do that? Pwetty please?”

“Well I could,” Celestia replied. “A normal unicorn could learn how to raise the sun. They used to before I did. Except… after a few times, you'd lose your magic. Permanently.”

Pockets bit her lip, before pointing out what was truly important, “But imagine all the booty I'd get for being the awesome sun-raising Pockets! That's sooo worth it in my book.” She said jokingly, well mostly joking.

“Hmm, so Midnight’s isn’t enough for you?” Celestia hummed.

“I am immune to your loaded question! That's why Imma answer with another question.” She smirked, “As amazing as Middy’s booty is, and believe me I can't get enough of it, is there ever such thing as ‘too much booty’?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Celestia shrugged. “It's been… hmm, five hundred years?”

“Wait wait wait… five years!? Five years since you rocked the house, five freaking years since your last hanky panky? You can't be serious.” Pockets said in genuine surprise.

“Not five, five hundred,” Celestia corrected her, seemingly unoffended.

“Hoooly butts, I can't even go five days without it…” Pockets whistled, “How do you do it? Like, it’s not even me being a pervert right now, just really surprised. How do you go five freaking hundred years without getting funky? Are you immune to lust or do you just ignore it whenever you're feeling feisty?”

Celestia smiled and leaned closer. “You want to know my secret?”

“Heck yeah I do!” Pockets nodded.

Celestia grinned and leaned closer. “Well, my secret is…”

Pockets’ vision was filled with golden light and she found herself close to the barracks.

Pockets blinked in surprise… and then the scream, “DAMMIT CELESTIA!” She swore she could hear the alicorn chuckling. Mumbling something about never trusting the sunbutt every again, she began to walk towards the training field to see if she could catch the wild Midnight Song on her natural habitat.

Midnight panted as her legs worked faster and faster. She knew she could go harder than this. This was far from her limit.

“I have… to be stronger… faster…” she muttered to herself. She'd woken up early when Pockets had kicked her out of bed, so rather than go back, she decided to train.

With a loud screech, she bucked the training dummy into the air as she drew her blades. Ace was watching over her training, and decided to bring Moonlight along as well.

Midnight drew her wingblades and as the dummy fell, she shot forward, little more than a blur as her blades neatly sliced the dummy in half.

“Wow…” Moonlight whispered in awe, “She's incredible… will I ever get to be like that Mister Ace?”

“Hmm, perhaps,” Ace mused. “Midnight is something of a special case however.”

“A special case?” The colt quirked an eyebrow, before raising his damaged wing up, “Something like this?”

“No, her wings are just fine,” Ace chuckled and tousled his mane. “Midnight has a… special ability. One that is dangerous if misused.”

The colt looked back to Midnight, unable to believe that such a heroic mare could ever be dangerous, dangerous for those who aren't evil-doers that is. “Well… then I'll have to try even harder to become like her! “ He nodded firmly, “I will become strong and fast and then challenge you to a fight! I'll be the most heroic colt ever, and defend the weak and abused from evil!” With a firmly raised hoof that pointed forwards, and a determined and excited gleam in his eyes, it was obvious he was being serious, or as serious as a colt his age could be.

“Hah! An admirable goal!” Ace nodded proudly and looked at Midnight as she charged at another dummy. “Midnight! Partial Release!”

Midnight blinked once… then vanished in an instant. Reappearing in front of the dummy as she kicked it.

The dummy was completely torn from its stand and was sent rocketing across the field. It impacted a wall over a fifty feet away with such force, that the simple wooden dummy actually cracked the reinforced concrete. The dummy itself ceased to be, exploding in a shower or straw and wood.

And, missed Pockets by mere inches…

“Score!” She exclaimed and raised her front hooves in the air, before hastily running up to Midnight and tackle-hugging the thestral into the ground, “Middy! Here you are! You won't believe the crap I've gone thro—”

She never got to finish before the bat flipped her over her shoulder and pinned her to the ground, her blades against her throat before she blinked and shook her head.

“Dammit,” she muttered and helped her up. “Sorry love, I was still in my Trance.”

“And that’s what I meant by dangerous,” Ace pointed out. “As Pockets very nearly died there.”

“Hey, I'd have felt super bad about it,” Midnight defended herself.

“Oh yeah, that would have been the worst part, you feeling super bad about it. The fact that I could have exploded into a bazillion pieces is not a big deal.” Pockets taunted, before booping Midnight’s muzzle, “You should take better care of me, I hear new marefriends are pretty expensive.”

“They can be,” Midnight nodded and kissed her. “I like my mini-marefriend as she is.” She stood up and looked at Ace. “Speaking of mini… who’s the rugrat?”

Said rugrat was too busy bringing a plate with a water glass for the sweating mare, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he got closer.

“Awww, he's like a mini-you!” Pockets giggled, “So cute.”

Midnight took the water and downed it. “P’waahhh! Ahh, that hits the spot,” she sighed and rubbed his head. “Thanks kiddo.”

The spark on his eyes was then replaced with a ‘Sempai noticed me’ look and a grin that spread from ear to ear. He quickly took a more serious stance and nodded at her, “My name’s Moonlight Steel, future hero and son of the mighty Aerial Ace!”

Midnight paused in her drink… the following spittake was rather impressive. Though Pockets would disagree seeing as it was her face that wore it.

“Not even midday and I'm already done with these shenanigans.” Pockets mumbled and snatched the glass of water from Midnight to have a drink of her own.

“I'm also technically the son of Miss Cereza.”

Pockets’ spittake put Midnight's own to shame, and of course all that water had to end on the thestral’s face.

“I adopted him,” Ace said proudly. “And sort of put Cereza down as his mother. We're still hiding from her.”

“I. What. You….” Midnight stammered as water dripped off of her frozen expression.

“I… I just give up. I've gone from the top of a mountain to being non-stop teased by a Princess, and then almost killed by my marefriend. Yeah, I'm skipping this one.” Pockets grunted and walked up to a nearby bench, “You're on your own Middy!”

Then she had a bat pounce on her, hugging her tightly. “NO!” Midnight said as Pockets felt something wet fall on her coat. “You… you can’t leave me… not again…”

Pockets blinked in surprise, before chuckling softly and nuzzling the batmare, “Hey now, I’m not ‘leaving’ for realsies, I’m just going to sit down and relax a bit. You don’t have to worry about me, the bench monster ain’t gonna have a bit of me anytime soon.”

Midnight wasn’t letting go anytime soon it seemed, her hug only got tighter.

“Alright, cuddle time I guess.” Pockets chuckled and returned the hug, “My mare, there are many mares around but this is my mare, and my mare’s special.”

“Damn right I am,” Midnight mumbled before reluctantly letting go of her. As much as she wanted to snuggle Pockets for the rest of her life, she needed to get answers from that griffon. “Alright Ace. You get once chance to explain.”

“Right,” Ace nodded. “Um… let’s see here…”

“Well… he adopted me.” Moonlight began, realizing that was a good point to start, “He walked into the orphanage looking for someone to take care of. And when no other pony had really wanted me because of my… defect.” His gaze lowered when he mentioned that little detail, “But he still picked me up.”

Midnight noticed his wing, and her own twitched in sympathy. Still, Ace adopting a kid out of nowhere? That was random, even for him.

“I needed this as much as he,’ Ace continued. “Ever since I graduated you as my student, my life has lacked… direction. I had no-one waiting for me at home, and no student to teach. No significant other to love…” The griffon sighed. “I’m not getting any younger Midnight. And yes, it was a spur of the moment decision, one that even i admit could have used a little more thought.” He leaned down and picked up Moonlight. “But I do not regret it, and I’d do the same again and again if I had to.”

Yet before Midnight could say anything, a loud, frustrated groan caught their attention. A claw grabbed Ace’s shoulder and turned him around violently, “Alright, I’ve had enough of this feel-bad nonsense. We’re starting all over again Ace, you, me, the colt if you wish to, tonight, the Swan’s Nest. Dare to not appear and I will slash the masculinity out of you.” Cereza quickly said with an incredibly vibrant, and rather cute blush, “Don’t make me regret this dear.” And without waiting for an answer, she took off into the skies, leaving a sweet rose perfume aroma behind.

Aerial Ace blinked slowly and tilted his head. “What… just happened?”

“You just scored a date with a sexy griffon lady~” Midnight cooed and poked him in the ribs. “Nice going. Though I’d watch out. Quickie’s gonna get seriously jelly.”

“She’s gonna be super duper pissed. You better watch your flank.” Pockets chuckled, “Oh this is gonna be goood~”

Meanwhile, Midnight was looking at Moonlight Steel. “So kid,” she said as she looked him over. “What do you wanna do when you grow up?”

The little thestral stood up firm and straight, and with a determined grin looked at Midnight straight in the eyes, “When I grow up, I will be a hero, I will fight for those who can’t fight, protect those who need protection, and make Equestria a better place!” He said with a nod, “I will become strong, and fast, and super duper awesome just like you, Midnight Ma’am!” He raised his little hoof and did a clumsy army salute, almost falling over from it.

Oh, that was just about the cutest thing ever. Midnight wanted to hug the stuffing out of him. But no, she had to remain cool. She had an image after all.

“Okay, so if this birdbrain is your dad, that makes me your auntie Middy okay? And over there is Big Sis Pockets.”

“Wait… does that mean she and Mister Ace are…” He quirked a brow, “I didn’t know he had a filly, how old is she?”

Aaaaand now Midnight was rolling around on the ground laughing.

“I heard that!” Pockets shouted, “Low blow, Midnight, low blow!”

“Well it has to be low to hit a shorty like you,” Midnight cackled.

“Oh for buck’s…That was way too easy! Shame on you, shame on your cow, and shame on your butt!!” The small mare shouted before sitting on her butt with a cute angry pout.

“I have a cow?” Midnight blinked. Well, whatever. Pouty Pockets was adorable. She turned back to Moonlight. “Now, I gotta get back to training. You gonna stick around and watch munchkin?”

“Yes ma’am!” He nodded and sat down with attentive eyes that did not leave Midnight, “I will try and learn as much as possible from you!”

“Good lad, you won’t learn squat from your dad. he’s old and useless.”

“That’s rather harsh,” Ace frowned, as student and teacher shared a smirk.

“Now… how shall I dazzle you?” Midnight hummed. After a day like yesterday, this was just what she needed to unwind.

Well that, and a role only Pockets could fulfill~

The colt nodded and looked at her with glimmering eyes full of excitement and wonder. She was all he wished to be and more, strong, powerful, heroic… a thestral like no other.

Chapter Ten - Date Night, Ladies Night

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“And because of the past events regarding the attacks in the city, we have decided to postpone classes until further notice… we wish you all a good day and hope the best for all of our beloved students. Best Wishes… staff.” Pockets could not believe it. She had honestly expected yet another boring day in school, another day of listening to boring classes and doing boring homework… but this? Oh, this was just the freaking best! “So…” She hummed and turned to Midnight with a devilish grin that went from ear to ear, “Guess I have the day off, I wonder who I could spend it with…”

“Beats me,” Midnight shrugged as she looked around the classroom. It’d been years since she’d been here… oh hey, the crack in the roof where she put a colt that had been teasing her was still there. She sat up and waved at an old professor that was passing by, wondering if he still remembered her.

Ancient Tome looked at her with panicked eyes, before quickly hiding from sight. Yup, he still remembered her. Midnight sighed wistfully, those were good times...

“Free day!” Pockets chirped with a giggle and hopped onto Middy’s back, hugging her batmare tightly, “So! Where are we going?”

“You have free time huh?” Midnight’s smile grew wider. “Well, I was thinking of restarting your training regime. You’ve been slacking off, but I’ll whip you back into shape soon enough~”

“This will either end in the training field or in bed… either way I doubt my butt will be thankful.” Pockets gulped, Midnight and whips were a terrifyingly sexy combination. "Yeaaah… what’s plan B?”

“Oh, you don’t wanna be a guard anymore?” Midnight said and poked the mare’s belly.

“Yes I do… but I don’t wanna traaain. Middy come on, we could rather be doing something else ya know, something really fun~” Pockets wiggled her eyebrows and winked several times to drive the point across.

“Define, ‘fun’,” Midnight said as they walked towards the school’s entrance.

“Fun as in… you, sexy me in sexy lingerie, a bed as far away from the training field as possible, some alone time for at least a few hours… y’know, fun~”

Midnight paused, mulling that thought over in her head. Hmm, that was an awfully tempting offer… And Pockets still had something she bought last week from the Boutique that she hadn’t shown the bat.

“Well, I suppose,” Midnight said, surprised at the words that left her mouth. “But isn’t there something else we could do? I’d rather not waste the day like that.”

“Waste? And here I thought I was a fun mare in bed.” Pockets smirked tauntingly before going over their options, “Hmm… well there’s the annual Canterlot. Y’know, we could have a good ol’ cheesy fair date! I’d be up for that.”

“A date huh?” Midnight had to admit, that sounded pretty nice. A nice, normal couple’s thing to do. “Well, it’s a date then~”

“And then we buck?” Pockets asked bluntly with a grin akin to an excited puppy.

“Stars dammit Pockets,” Midnight sighed and facehooved.

The navy blue unicorn giggled as she hugged her little batty bat close, nuzzling her neck before kissing the thestral’s cheek, “You know you love me~”

“Somepony has to,” Midnight sighed dramatically. “It’s a sacrifice for Equestria that I am willing to make.”

Pickett rolled her eyes with a snort at this. Midnight could be such a dramaqueen... “Truly a misunderstood hero. Now let’s go! Let us part onwards to adventure!” She exclaimed and pointed ahead with a hoof.

As far as Fair’s go. This was pretty standard. Lots of stands with all kinds of carnival food like candied apples and fritters, fairy floss cups of soda big enough to house a seapony. There were stands filled with rigged games and rides of all kinds for ponies of all ages.

“Well, this looks… interesting,” Midnight said. She’d never actually been to a Fair before, so this was something pretty new for her.

“Heck yeah! I used to go to Manehattan’s annual fair all the time, it was a blast!” Pockets exclaimed excitedly as she wondered where they could go to first, “So what’s your favorite fair game batty? I swear if you say Bobbing for Mangoes…”

“They have mango games?” Midnight asked, her ears perking up and her tail wagging slightly. “I’ve never been to a Fair before.”

Pockets’ jaw dropped, “You’re kidding, you’re totally kidding?” Midnight’s face said it all, “Oh you have NO idea what you’ve missed batty! No worries, Momma Pockets is gonna show you the time of your life! Go left, let’s start with a classic.”

“Why am I suddenly afraid?” Midnight chuckled as she followed her foalish marefriend. “And you know you’re just feeding those jokes I have about you right? Well, as long as we aren’t up past your bedtime.”

“You will never get over the small jokes now will you?” The unicorn deadpanned in response as they got near a rather small stand with a bunch of plushies hanging from the side. On the back of the stand stood a pyramid of perfectly stacked apples, and several balls of different colors just resting on the stand’s. A tall, slim, cream colored stallion was reading up a newspaper next to it, seemingly the one in charge of the game.

“So… what’s the point of this one?” Midnight asked Pockets.

“Well you see—”

“Why glad you asked!” Came a chipper voice as the stallion just tossed the newspaper away and grinned at her, flashing his red moustache and motioning to his stand, “Welcome, welcome you beautiful mares to Flam’s Apple Tower Extraodinare! Do you think you have the strength, the accuracy, the will power of beating this game and earning some incredibly cute, state of the art, limited edition stuffed animals? Just knock the apple pyramid down and it’s yours!” He announced and squeezed one of the plushies with a hug, an incredibly cute brown bear that made a squeaky sound when hugged.

“Awww, so cute! I want it!” Pockets said with a determined grin and placed a few bits on the table, “Let’s give this a shot!”

“Three tries sweetheart, good luck!” The stallion announced and stepped back.

Pockets hummed in thought with tongue-out and everything, narrowing her eyes to focus on the target. She drew her hoof back and prepared to toss, before launching the ball as hard as she could. Yet sadly, the ball was off by a few inches and just crashed against the back side of the tent.

“Aww shucks! Come on, you have two more shots!” Flim announced and tossed her another ball.

“Oh please, I was just warming up.” Pockets chuckled and grabbed the second one. She focused… she focused real hard… she had never focused so much in her life… and then she threw the ball aaand, out of the field. “Well buck…”

“Final try?” Flim offered and gave her another ball.

“Give me that!” Pockets huffed and picked it up.

“Control your breathing,” Midnight said from next to her. “Visualize your weapon hitting the target. Remain calm and look at where you want to throw. Breathe in as you wind up, and release that breath when you throw.”

Pockets nodded and followed her instructions very closely, relaxing, keeping her mind in check, locking unto her target, and breathing in… And then, she released the ball with a mighty battlecry, the wind whistling against the projectile as it flew by.

And it hit… it hit the pyramid’s very center with force.

And the pyramid did not fall down. “WHAT!?” Pockets shouted, “I… I totally hit it! Come ooon!”

“Sorry missy, you didn’t knock it over, no prize.” Flam shrugged.

“She’s right, she did hit it,” Midnight replied as she slammed her bits down on the counter. “Alright, give me a go then.”

“Suit yourself!” Flam chuckled and picked up the payment, “Three tries, you better use them well!”

Midnight pitched her hoof as the ball streaked at the pile of apples, striking them dead center. And once more… the pyramid barely moved? What was going on?

“There’s one. Try adding a bit more strength into your pitch.” Flam grinned and threw her another ball. She caught it and pitched again, putting far more force behind it.

And now the apples sported a… crack? Why would apples crack?

Flam chuckled nervously and quickly hid the apples behind him, “That’s one heck of a throw Miss! You must be quite the sporstmare! The pyramid was totally knocked over, you win, hurray!”

Midnight narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to the stallion, before he found her holding a Guard’s badge in front of his face.

“My dear stallion,” Midnight said all too sweetly. “You wouldn’t be running a scam here would you? I mean, I have heard the dungeons are lovely this time of year~”

Flam’s grin couldn’t have been more forced, it almost looked painful, “M-me? Oh please! I… I’m a completely honorable stallion, this isn’t even my stand! I… I must go. Thanks for playing!” He raised his hat before dashing away in an instant. Damn, he was fast when he feared for his life.

“Oh look, I won,” Midnight chuckled as she handed Pockets the teddy bear. “For you my love.”

“Don’t you think that was a bit too much?” Pockets asked with an amused grin as she took the gift and snuggled it, enjoying the face of sheer horror on the scammer’s face.

“Was I not supposed to?” Midnight asked her, coming out of her Trance state. “I mean, they were wooden apples glued together. How was anypony supposed to knock them down?”

One thing was clear now, one thing that made Pockets grin like a shark, “Oh this will be fuuun~” She giggled and grabbed the teddy, dragging Midnight along as well, “Now time for some more fun games with my supermare!”

Up next, the strength test… which Midnight nearly broke. And then there was the ‘Shoot the ducks with water guns’ game, which Midnight somehow also nearly broke, setting a new record on the way. And up next, the legendary Apple Bobbing contest, Midnight’s final test.

“Remember Middy, no cheating!” Pockets warned, “This game is tradition, legendary, it deserves respect.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Midnight waved a hoof and looked at the mare in charge, a cute earth pony mare with a yellow coat and a green mane and tail. Midnight gasped and suddenly hugged her. “Fritter? Aww, I missed you!”

“Lil’ bat?” Fritter blinked and hugged her back. “Well ah’ll be durned.”

“Uhm… Midnight, hugging the one in charge of the game won’t give you a free win.” Pockets blinked in surprise. Did Midnight know every freaking pony in Canterlot or something?

“Aww, I still remember bobbing for her apples~” Midnight cooed as Fritter turned a deep shade of scarlet.

“Yup, that explains it.” Pockets chuckled and blew a strand of hair away from her face, before shooting Fritter a warm grin, “Sup? Name’s Pockets, former thief, guard in training, and bat whisperer at your service!”

“Bat whisperer?” Fritter echoed with a small tilt of her head.

“Y’know, like the dog whisperer, the guy who… nevermind the reference was just brutally murdered.” Pockets shrugged, “Anywho, besides being one of Midnight’s many former bed companions, who might you be?”

“Well,” Fritter coughed into her hoof. This wasn’t awkward, nope, not at all. “Mah name is Apple Fritter. Ah run a small farm here in Canterlot, but mostly ah’m in charge of distributing the shipments from Sweet Apple Acres. And yeh, ah reckon ah know Middy a lil… intimately.” She held out a hoof to Pockets, and the unicorn saw Midnight rapidly shaking her head.

Pockets chuckled and grabbed her hoof, shaking it with a shrug, “It’s okay. I’m the—” That was all she could get out before Fritter shook her hoof back.

By the time the surprisingly strong mare released her, Pockets’ leg was still waving in the air

“Strong mare… alrighty… totally didn’t need my bones.” Pockets said quietly before holding all the pain in and smiling once more, “Y-yeah… as I was saying, I’m the unfortunate soul who’s in charge of dating this crazy batmare. Nice to meet ya!”

“Ahh, so y’all finally got a proper marefriend?” Fritter smiled and thumped Midnight on the back, the thestrals’ legs nearly buckling under the blow. “Well, good fer you Middy. Bout time really.”

“W-What can I say,” Midnight groaned, Fritter was as crazy strong as ever. “I am who I am. Now, about this game…”

“Easy, stick yer head in the water and try to grab and apple,” Fritter smiled and nodded. “Y’all get three tries.”

“Ohhh, can I go first?” Pockets asked excitedly, “I’ll show ya how it’s done that way.”

Midnight rolled her eyes and gestured towards the wooden tub. “By all means, do enlighten me.”

Pockets gave her a cocky, confident grin and walked up to the tub. She took a look at it and hummed in thought, before closing her eyes and diving in. After what were like two seconds, she went back up and took a deep breath, spitting some water out, “Nope! Second try.” She went back in, her tail wiggling from side to side, before she went out for air once more, “Almost! Now observe me and my victorious victory!” And she dived back in…

A second, two seconds, three seconds…

And she went back out looking like a complete champ, a rather small yet shining apple on her maw which she held victoriously, water going everywhere and soaking Midnight’s mane slightly, “Got et!” She mumbled before placing the apple down, “Told you I could do it!”

“Congratulations,” Fritter smiled as she tossed a fresh apple into the tub and allowed Pockets to eat the one she obtained. “Yer prize is a free treat from mah food stand.”

“Woo! Free apple!” Pockets giggled and gave it a good bite, “Now your turn batty, I’m really looking forwards to this one.”

“So, grab as many apples as I can?” Midnight asked and Fritter nodded, before the thestral doven her head into the bucket. Where it remained for almost a solid minute…

“Uhm… should… should we pull her back? I don’t think we ever told her that it was just a quick dive.” Pockets said nervously and got a closer look, really hoping her marefriend hadn’t drowned in a tub of water, because that’d be really sad and kinda embarrassing.

Then Midnight pulled her head up…

And her long tongue had coiled around no less than five apples.

The unicorn’s jaw dropped yet once again that day, and something told her that with this mare around, she should better get used to it, “Holy shit… I… is that even allowed?”

Midnight dropped the apples as Fritter rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Ah knew you’d do that,” she chuckled. “Rotten cheater.”

“You never complained when I used it on your apple~” the bat chuckled, making the earth mare turn a pleasant-looking crimson.

“Argh, jus’... Fine, y’all can have some treats from mah stand,” Fritter sighed.

Midnight smiled and looked at Pockets. “Hmm, what’s wrong babe?”

“I’m just doubting whether I’m dating a mare or a superhero, that’s all.” Pockets sighed and gave Midnight’s muzzle a boop, a playful smile across her muzzle, “You’re incredible, have I told you that yet?”

“I believe so, but I do like hearing it,” Midnight smiled and kissed her cheek. “Promise me one thing?”

“Anything.” Pockets nodded.

“Try not to fall in love with Apple Fritter once you taste her cooking.”

“Pffft!” Pockets snorted and waved a hoff, “I’m not that weak-willed, I doubt her cooking is that good.”

“Famous last words,” Midnight sighed as they headed for the mare’s food stand.

Said stand was filled with every apple-related item one could imagine. Apples. Apple pie. Apple fritters. Apple cobbler. Apple smoothies. Apple tarts… the list just went on.

“This looks like every apple lover’s wet dream.” Pockets whistled and took a better look at the pies, “These all look hella nice.”

Fritter raised an eyebrow at the mare’s choice in vocabulary, to which Midnight just offered a helpless shrug.

“You two are made fer eachother,” Fritter sighed. “Well, what can ah get fer ya?”

Pockets hummed in thought, looking the products over, “Hmmm, well let’s see if you live up to your name! I’ll have an apple fritter.”

“Well, y’all are kinda cute, so ah guess ah don’t mind,” Fritter chuckled as she leaned closer, only to be pushed back by Midnight’s hoof. “Ah’m jus’ kiddin’.... sorta. Anyway, two fritters comin’ up.”

She soon handed two of the deep-fried items to Pockets, the mouth-watering aroma wafting to her nose.

“Hmm, alrighty, smells good so far. Time to see what all the fuzz is about.” She took the fried apple with her magic and gave it a good bite…

One second she was munching on it… the next her eyes were sparking… the next she was drooling… and the next she was on Fritter’s knees looking at her with eyes wide open, “You… are a kitchen goddess…”

Midnight groaned and facehooved. Apple Fritter’s cooking had enthralled another pony. at this rate, she could enslave all of Equestria.

“Well thank you kindly,” Fritter giggled. “Ah take it y’all like mah food then?”

“I love it!” Pockets groaned and quickly grabbed another bite, seemingly melting due to how good it was, “You got to teach Middy how to cook like this! This is a bajillion times better than the barracks kitchen’s food!”

Apple Fritter paused and looked at the unicorn mare with a look of horror. “Has… Midnight cooked for you before?”

“Nope! Usually when there’s no food on the barracks we go out to eat.” Pockets shook her head before quirking a brow, “Why?”

Apple Fritter shuddered. “Don’t ever let her cook. It will only bring chaos, ruin and death.”

“Please, she can’t be that bad.” Pockets chuckled and turned to Midnight, “Ain’t that right batty?”

“Exactly!” Midnight scoffed. “It’s not my fault kitchens are so flammable. I mean, so I blew up one… or two… or ten…”

“Eh don’t worry batty, we all blow up a kitchen or two… or ten. It’s normal!” Pockets giggled before turning to Fritter, “I’ll take enough of these for a lifetime, and also a life insurance if you have that.”

“Hmm, well ah can’t offer ya the latter, but fer a few bits ah can give ya all the treats ya can eat,” Fritter giggled as Midnight folded her forelegs and pouted.

“Wooo! I’ll take it.” Pockets said and brought up a rather large bag of bits, “Time to get wasted on apples!”

“Y’all can’t get drunk on apples… unless you wanna try some of my sister’s cider,” she said and pointed at some bottles. “That stuff’ll get ya blinder than a bat in a blindfold.”

Pockets hummed in thought and looked at Midnight with a cheeky smirk, “I betcha I can drink more of those bottles than you without getting drunk.”

“Oh no, the last time we drunk, we got fillynapped by your former friend,” Midnight shook her head. “Sorry smolcorn. I’m not getting drunk in public for a good long while. Not with that butterfly bitch and those thieves still out there.”

“Oh please, your friend’s gonna watch over us.” Pockets said and pulled Fritter into a hug, “Just imagine what all that strength would do if she bucked that bitch’s face!”

“Ah… don’t like violence,’ Fritter said quietly. “Ah know I’m strong… but ah don’t wanna hurt nopony…”

“Aww, that’s kinda sweet! Alright, no drinking then. At least that means we get to enjoy your incredible apple-based products!” Pockets said with an excited giggle as she already began to think on what she was going to devour next.

“That we do,” Midnight nodded as she bought a candied apple and a small pie. She licked the apple and sighed. “Oooh, how I’ve missed your cooking Fritts.”

“Well, now ah know why y’all haven’t come around lately,” Fritter chuckled. She looked at Pockets and smiled. “Still, y’all should swing by fer dinner sometime. And maybe… some dessert~?”

Pockets blinked in surprise and quickly leaned down to whisper in Midnight’s ear, “Is she talking about what she think she’s talking?”

“She’s talking about a great meal, then a lot of exactly what you’re thinking, yes,’ Midnight sighed.

“Well you can count me in on the dinner then!” Pockets said with a wide grin and took a good bite of the pie, “Chu are mah new favorite earth pone mare!” She said without stopping her munching for a second.

Fritter just giggled again as Midnight shook her head.

“I can’t take you anywhere, I swear,” the thestral sighed.

“So, Fritter, what’s you two girls’ story?” Pockets asked as she gulped down the meal, “How did you two meet?”

“Ah caught her napping in one of my apple trees… and a ground littered with apple cores,” the earth pony said as Midnight blushed and looked away.

“They were tasty and that tree was comfy,” she pouted.

“So ah made her help around the farm all day as punishment,” Fritter chuckled. “Gave her some dinner… and learned y’all shouldn’t feed Midnight, cause you’ll never get rid of her afterwards.”

“Are you implying that the respectable, admirable, exemplary Royal Guard, Midnight Song, invaded your property and ate your produce without your permission?” Pockets faux gasped, “Midnight would never do such things!”

“No, I totes did,” Midnight nodded. “No regrets either. Those apples were delicious and I got to meet a cute mare.”

“Yer impossible,” Fritter sighed and shook her head.

Pockets chuckled and nuzzled her thestral, “She is, and that’s what makes her so amazing in my opinion. Say, Fritter,” She turned to the apple mare and hugged Midnight close, sporting her widest smile, “Do we make a good couple? Or should I just replace this stinky bat and buy a new one at the nearest market?”

“Pockets…” Midnight said slowly, drawing back her lip to reveal her glistening fangs. “Have those bitemarks on your flanks healed yet? I have the sudden urge to replace them~”

Pockets gulped and with a nervous giggle moved away a bit, “E-Eyup, that’s my totally innocent and harmless marefriend alright… please don’t. I couldn’t even sit right for like a week.”

“Ah, I remember those,” Fritter chuckled. “Near bucked her teeth out the first time she did that.”

Midnight rubbed her jaw. She was lucky to escape that with all her teeth intact.

Pockets simply giggled and looked at Fritter, grabbing one final bite of her pie, “Well, this has been a blast Fritter! The food was incredible, the ambience was fun, and the service was ten outta ten, sexiest servicemare around. You know, you could totally tag along for the rest of the day and play some fair games with us.”

“As much as ah’d love to, ah gotta watch mah stall,” Fritter nodded. “Sides, you two look like yer on a cute date, so ah won’t interrupt.”

“Still, see you later?” Midnight asked and the earth mare nodded. “Cool. Come on Pockets, let’s see what other games I can break.”

“Aww. alrighty. See ya later apple mare!” Pockets said as she followed after Midnight, waving her hoof happily. Fritter returned the wave before turning back to some fillies that approached her wagon to buy some treats.

“Well that was fun! Ready to enjoy some more fair games?” Pockets asked the thestral as an excited grin stretched across her muzzle

“I guess so,” Midnight shrugged. “What else can I break around here?”

Pockets hummed in thought and looked around, “Well besides everypony in sight? I dunno… what about that one?” She pointed at a small stand near the fair’s fencing, it was a simple game of ring toss. Several metal pegs sat on a table and you had to flick a metal ring over them. “Ring toss! That should be pretty damn easy.” Pockets said and dragged the bat along with a playful giggle, “Hope your aim is on point batty!”

“When is it not?” Midnight said, recalling the watergun game from earlier. “Well let's give it a… hey, does the guy running that stand look familiar?”

The stallion in question was just seeing off some foals that failed to win anything, before seeing Pockets and Midnight. “Ahh, my dear ladies. Step right up and try your luck.” He looked at Pockets and grinned. “Wanna win your marefriend a prize little lady?”

“Oh heck yeah I do!” Pockets nodded with a confident smirk and tossed some bits to the guy, “Let’s do this!”

“Well the rules are simple,” Flim said with a smirk. “You get three rings. Toss ‘em, and if you get it around a peg, you win a prize.”

“Easy peasy, now gimme.” Pockets said and grabbed the first ring, turning to the metallic rods and taking aim. She quickly remembered Midnight’s lessons, relax, breath in, look at your target and…

*ping*

The ring bounced off of the peg and onto the floor.

“Oh, so close,” Flim said with an exaggerated tone.

The unicorn narrowed her eyes and took another ring, “I was just warming up, come on Pockets, you can do this!” She took aim and relaxed once more, before tossing the ring with the mightiest, bravest of battlecries that would make a valkyrie proud.

And failed once more.

“What!?” She exclaimed in sheer rageful and frustrated shock, “Come on, not again!”

“Aww, almost,” Flim chuckled.

Pockets sighed before taking deep, calming breaths. “Ok Pockets, just focus and stay calm… you can do this, you can do this…” She grabbed the ring and focused all her might on it, before doing what could only be called a perfect shot.

And still bucking failed.

“I… but… I thought….” Pockets stuttered, before dropping to the ground and cursing herself for this.

“Well kid, you tried. But hey, you still get a consolation prize,” Flim said and handed her a plastic guard’s badge.

Pockets looked at the badge with the most unamused expression, taking the badge grudgingly and looking at Midnight with a disappointed sigh, “Let’s go batty, we can find another game I can be decent at.”

“Hang on,” the thestral replied and stepped up to the counter. “Okay, let’s see if I can’t win at this game too.”

“Well, best of luck little lady,” the unicorn stallion chuckled and floated her three rings. Midnight looked at them for a moment and her eye twitched. “Interesting,” she mused and tossed one. It hit the lip of a peg, before bouncing away and hitting the floor.

“Uhm, do you need me to explain how this game works?” Pockets quirked a brow, “I thought it was pretty straight forwards.”

Midnight said nothing as she tossed the second ring. It spun around the peg, before flicking up and bouncing off, hitting the dirt.

“That… wasn’t supposed to happen.” Pockets pointed out and leaned down to have a better look at the pegs, kicking one of them lightly “Why did it just… uhm… I’m so confused.”

“So tell me,” Midnight said as she looked at the stallion. “How is somepony supposed to win this game?”

“Um, I’m sorry what?” Flim said with a slight chuckle. “This game requires some skill Miss. If you cannot win…”

“Not what I meant,” Midnight replied and held the ring near Pocket’s neck. The thin chain necklace she wore started to rise of it’s own accord.

Pockets blinked in surprise, opening her mouth to say something yet immediately closing it… actions were better than words after all, she had learned that from Midnight. Her horn flashed as a devilish smirk stretched from ear to ear, and in an instant… the stallion’s clothes vanished to reveal the cream colored unicorn’s true appearance, one that was almost exactly the same as the scammer they encountered before, “So… are you going around pretending to be different ponies just to trick as many as possible? Or is there something else going on like twins or some crap like that?”

“I say twin,” Midnight said. “One has a mustache. Now…” She took out her guard badge, her very real guard badge. “We gonna do this the easy way… or the hard way. Please say the hard way, I haven’t broken any bones all day and I’m feeling… sadistic~”

The stallion let out a very filly-esque squeal of terror and dropped a weak flashbang spell before running for the hills…

Or the train station.

“Oh look at him run! Now that’s a world record.” Pockets giggled and leaned on Midnight with a cheeky smirk, “You’re so hot when you’re being scary, ya know that?”

“Oh am I?” Midnight turned and smiled. “Well now. I think I see something else I wanna play with~”

Pockets eyes widened up and she turned around, looking at the fair with an excited filly-like grin, “Oh, oh! Is it the dart tossing? The milk bottle one? Rope Ladder climbing? Whack-A-Breezie?”

Midnight’s smile widened and she licked her fangs. “No, I’m think something more… ‘Pocket-sized’~”

The thief blushed and finally picked up on what was going on, “Oh… hehe w-well, I guess we could also do that.” She said with a cute nervous smirk that tried too hard to make her look cool. Yet both her and MIdnight knew that when it came to the thestral, the thief became a cute ball of nervousness, “I guess we could do that if you want.” She muttered with a sheepish grin, her blush only intensifying. She knew Midnight liked it when she was cute, and truth be told she liked being cute for her as well. Only with her though, she had a street cred to keep.

“Excellent,” the bat chuckled and drew closer, wrapping her wings around her. “As much as I’d love to take you right here, there are foals present. So…” She wrapped her hooves around her waist and flapped her wings, lifting her into the air. “Now, let’s find somewhere, private~”

“Well, didn’t Fritter say she had this farm here in Canterlot?” Pockets suggested, fiddling with her hooves, “Maybe we could—”

“Say no more,” Midnight chuckled. “We’ll give Fritter something to come home to~” And with another flap of her wings, they were off.

Honor…

What was honor worth? A few smiles, faux respect, and not being seen as a complete and utter asshole. Heh…

What good was honor when you could have power and respect?

Heroes are always remembered, but legends? Legends never die.

This was the philosophy of Sweet Aroma. She who was born with quite the particular magical prowess. Against all laws of order and nature, she had been born with enough magic to get most breezies jealous, even without being a direct descendant of the main Tall Tale mages line. Something that had never happened before.

Still, both her mother and herself had always lived in the shadows of the bloody main branch. Mocked, ridiculed, frowned upon by the very same townsfolk that they swore to protect. With the main branch long gone, only her mother could keep the village safe. And yet…

Those ungrateful little bastards…

The plan was simple, find her cousin, she who held the power of Tall Tale in her blood. Steal her magic, kill the damn hornhead in the process… and make the entire village tremble beneath her feet!

But then her damned cousin had to fight back. She and all her stupid friends!

And now she had nothing. The magical amplification potion had run off and she barely had any magic to keep herself protected from the rain. She cursed her family, from her weakling mother who refused to use her magic to put the breezies in place, to her grandfather who refused to teach her the arts of the arcana, and her aunt and cousin, they who left the tribe behind, who let them all to die and yet are still seen as missing, misunderstood heroes!

“GAH!” She shrieked, stomping on the mud with her tiny feet, creating no more than a nearly unnoticeable splash. Tears began to drip down her cheeks, her knees trembling as she fell to the mud, stagnant water around her, trying to break through her magical bubble which wavered as tears fell from her cheeks.

“You know, a lady of your caliber just doesn’t fit in a place like this one.” A deep, smooth voice said from behind her as a large shadow loomed over her body, thunder hiding his figure from sight, “What I mean is, the one responsible for infecting dozens of stallions with a never before seen curse. Laying on a puddle of her own tears…”

“Who are you and what the hell do you want!?” She shrieked, looking back to him with big, reddened eyes, “Get out of here before I turn you into a bloody frog!”

“Oh but you can’t, now can you?” The stallion spoke, his vibrant red coat and white mane catching her eye. Yet she knew… this was no regular stallion. This was no pony even!

“Bug…” She hissed, stepping back as her bubble shone brighter, “If you think you can feed on me you bloody brute then you are very much wrong!”

“Oh, trust me little morsel, as delectable as you may be… I’d rather keep my brand new ally alive and on my side.” The changeling chuckled, kneeling down and lowering his head, “I am known as Valiant Heart, milady, leader of the Seven Deadly Sins and your new mean to he revenge.“

“Seven Deadly Sins… why you actually believe that old legend?“ the breezy snorted, a smirk growing oh her lips, “The Seven Demon Generals are gone. The amulets are— !“

Clink…

“... lies.“ Aroma’s eyes widened, her gaze fixed upon the piece of jewelry Valiant had taken from his pouch, hanging from the tip of his hoof. Green in color, shaped like a diamond with multiple spikes surrounding it, a slitted, snake like eye testing on its center. She had seen that symbol before, in old history books from her tribe…

The emblem of Naag, the great serpent of Envy. And this was no mere fake trinket either. The sheer power that it emanated, the dark energy that flowed through its core, Aroma could feel it I all. It was real.

“I'm listening… “ Aroma growled out, narrowing her gaze in distrust, eyes fixed on the strange pendant. That pendant… it had enough power to take over her village, to annihilate the damned elder, to put those who mocked her on their knees!

To end her cousin.

“You see my dear. I still need two amulets, before the final part of my plan can be put in motion.” He spoke, grabbing hold of her attention with his smooth, almost hypnotic voice as his body seemingly flickered and his wings vanished from place, now replaced by a long, graceful horn that glowed a dark green hue, a hue that surrounded Aroma as he carefully lifted her to eye-level, “Help me, so I can help you. Bring your chaos and mischief to my side, and together? All of Equestria will kneel before us.”

Aroma looked into his gaze with big, almost teary eyes, a devilish smirk, a grin of pride and revenge-filled desire arching her lips, “Tell me what to do and where to go, and those amulets will be yours~”

They looked into each other eyes for a while, a soft chuckle escaping their lips, a chuckle that turned into a laugh, and in turn into a loud, devilish cackle. It was time to bring some madness into these foolish little ponies’ lives.

After spending some time with their new favourite earth pony, Midnight and Pockets decided to stop by the bar for a quick drink. It was still early evening, and Midnight needed to rehydrate after having Fritter’s ‘apple pie’ for dessert.

“Ah, Celestia damned I sure need a drink.” Pockets giggled as they made their way to The Belfry. “Just promise you’ll kick my butt if I go overboard again.”

“I believe I have some more spanking stored in these hooves,” Midnight said and waved a forehoof at her.

“Aaaand that’s my butt telling my brain to stay the fuck away from alcohol” The small unicorn grimaced as memories flashed through her eyes, very, very nice yet painful memories.

The bar itself wasn’t as crowded as last time, most of the Night Guard pulling double shifts to cover for the injured Solar Guard. There were still a few present, including one thestral mare drinking with a familiar pegasus.

“Well, if it ain’t mah favourite fuck buddies!” Stella called out from her table with Secure Lines sitting next to her. “What are you cunts doing here? Slackin’ off while we actually do shit?”

“Don’t tell me you’re sleeping with them?” Secure deadpanned.

“Shit no,” Stella shook her head. “They’re my buddies, and they fuck all the time. So, Fuck Buddies!”

“That… was terrible, just like you!” Secure chuckled and gave Midnight and Pockets a lazy salute, clearly a little bit drunk yet not quite overboard, "So, how are the latest heroes of Canterlot doing? Enjoying the peace after the storm?”

“Ergh, I just know the shit’s gonna hit the fan soon,” Midnight sighed as she slumped to the table. “I mean, just a little break. That’s all I ask for… well that and five minutes in a sealed room with that butterfly-winged skank.”

“Knowing what you'll probably do to her once you find her… I almost feel bad for the tiny fucker.” Secure snorted and took a good sip of her drink, “Call me when you do, I wanna give her a good beating as well for what she did to me.”

“So, you two dating or something?” Pockets’ cheeky, out of nowhere question came, her narrowed eyes and taunting smirk fired at the two mares, “Cuz I don’t know about you, but you have a bar full of friendly ponies and you two are all alone? And as far as I know this is mainly a thestral place, so unless Secure here has an amazing disguise just laying around, Imma take the bet and say Stella brought ya here.”

“Well you’re right about the last part.” Secure nodded and raised her bottle. “But if you say we’re dating one more time, this is going straight into your ovaries.”

“Agreed, I jus’ felt bad cause she’s one of the only Sol left. Their bar would be a lil lonely, and drinkin’ alone’s jus’ sad,” Stella nodded.

“Ohh, so you still wanna have some fun with me and Pockets then?” Midnight cooed, drawing closer to Secure. “I saw the way you worked that shaft during battle~”

Said shaft smacked Midnight’s head with a bonk, “Yeah, and I only work with shafts.” Secure huffed, “You mares are killing me, I swear. You’re almost as bad as that drunk pegasus who was trying to hit on us both.” She pointed her spear at the bar’s corner, where a rather familiar vanilla-colored pegasus mare was seemingly passed out, mumbling unintengible nothings loudly before her head dropped to the table with a loud thump.

“Quickie?” Midnight blinked in surprise and got up, moving over to the corner. She looked at the barmaid and was hoofed a glass of ice-water.

Ice water that was soon splashed in the pegasi’s face.

“W-What th’ buck’s goin on in here!? I know karate, tae-kwon-do, jujitsu, and fifty other dangerous words!” She mumbled out while her eyes blinked rapidly, sore and tired and with a little bit of tears hanging from their base. She picked up on the two mares in front of her and narrowed her eyes, before chuckling and leaning back, puffing out her chest-fluff and doing a far-too-ridiculous eyebrow jiggle, “Oh why hello pweeties, com’ here often?”

Goodness she was so incredibly drunk.

“What the buck Quickie?” Midnight sighed and knelt down in front of the mare. “Why are you here, more plastered than the walls of a cheap apartment?”

“Quickie? Oh buck… Midplan Wong? I mea… Midair Stunt… no… that ain’t right... Who are you again? You look buckin’ hot!” She chuckled… and then her face was planted on the table again.

“And you said I drank too much,” Pockets snorted and shook her head.

“Unbelievable,” Midnight sighed. “Look, let’s get a few bottles to go and bring this one back to the palace. In her condition, she’s likely to fly off the side of the mountain or something.” Or do something she’d really regret, with somepony that wouldn’t take care of her…

“Buck off!” Quick Step grunted as she raised her head, “I’m perfectly fine… fuckin’, I don’t wanna go back to that stupid place. The assssstupid bird guy is in there! Buck him… buck him and that other bird, fuck birds! Fuck ‘m…” She grunted.

Midnight paused, and she started to piece together this puzzle. “Okay, I think I see now. Pockets? can you help me here? We’re gonna go to my place instead.”

Pockets nodded and smacked and tried to grab hold of Quick Step’s leg. Only to have her swat her hoof again. She tried grabbing her from the back. And she got a wing-smack. So… what did Pockets do? She created a large, ethereal bat… and hit the pegasus into unconsciousness with her magic. Smiling proudly, she turned to Midnight and chuckled… before noticing her face, and then shrugging, “What? You do know that she probably has some sort of deadly self-destruct weapon right?”

“Oh for crying… does it look like she strapped explosives to herself?” Midnight sighed and smacked her marefriend with a wing.

“Let’s just take her to your place.” Pockets mumbled and rubbed the sore spot, “We have a crap ton of work to do with this girl, don’t we?”

“Unfortunately so,” Midnight sighed and looked at Pockets. “Sorry babe, looks like I’ll have to seduce you another night. So rejoice, your purity and innocence is maintained once again.”

“Purity? Innocence? What are those, do you eat them or somethin?” Pockets smirked and kissed Midnight’s cheek, “It’s alright love, besides, you’re always seducing me with that body of yours.”

“Is that your friend?” Secure called out as she walked up to them, Stella not far behind, “Oh damn, she looks even more wasted than before.”

Midnight frowned at her greatness being ignored. “Yeah, her name’s Quick Step. And I think she might be a tad depressed over getting shot down by somepony she has a crush on.”

The pegasus mare sighed and rubbed Quick’s back, huh, she was surprisingly soft, “Ohhh boy, hate it when that happens. So you’re taking her home?”

“Yeah, she’s my pal and workmate. So I’ll look after her. Maybe even play wingpony if she wants to get back into the game…’ She turned and smirked at Secure. “And I know just who to come after first~”

“First of all, buck off.” The guardsmare rolled her eyes in annoyance. This thestral had no off switch, did she? “Second, please tell me you’re taking her to her place and not yours. You of all mares should know that that’s a terrible idea. With like a dozen bastards after your tail and all.”

Midnight paused. Oh yeah… there was that.

“I… have no idea where she lives though,” the thestral commented. “And I can’t ask her, because some idiot knocked her out!”

Everypony just turned to Pockets and glared at her, the unicorn just whistling innocently and looking away.

“Ok, buck it. You’re coming with me tonight.” Secure nodded and signaled Stella to bring her bag for her, “I have plenty of spare space anyways, and it’s heavily protected so no worrying about idiots. What do you say?”

“Your place?” Midnight blinked, genuinely surprised. “Well, sure. if you want to.”

“Not a big deal you idiot.” Secure chuckled and grabbed the bag, smacking Stella’s shoulder with it, “We’re apparently having an impromptu sleepover at my place you bat bastard, wanna come?”

“Yeh wanna have some fuckin’ filly sleepover?” Stella groaned and rubbed her head. “Fuck… there’d better be booze involved.”

“You’ve been there before you knucklehead, you know very well my house is alcohol-free!” Secure poked Stella’s chest, “All that craps’ in the basement, you can sleep there if you want to.”

“Is that an insult tae me bein’ a thestral?” Stella said and poked her back. “Go fuck a cloud Liney!”

“Not drunk enough for doing that again.” Secure snarked back and flicked Stella’s muzzle, “Let’s go then you airheads, my place isn't that far away from Midnight’s old house. Wanted to stay on the same neighborhood.”

“Wait, what was that about a cloud?” Midnight said, suddenly interested… but got swiftly ignored. “Oh come on!!’

Secure’s place was…

Well for starters, it was freaking amazing.

The whole place was incredibly modern-looking. Three floors high, made of sleek square shapes. large windows took up the front of the building, and Secure explained they were made of magically reinforced glass, capable of stopping a ballista bolt.

She tried once. Or twice… or several times.

The yard also had a nice above-ground swimming pool, lit by underwater lamps. the whole house was surrounded by a high fence, with the same enchantments that Midnight’s parents place had if not a tad more powerful.

“Holy…” Midnight looked around and whistled. “How does a rank and file guard have a place like this!?”

“My dad’s a weapons manufacturer, remember?” Secure reminded the thestral, unlocking the main gate and opening them up, “The business kinda boomed since Nightmare Moon’s return. With all these world-ending apocalypse events happening every damn week, the guard and licensed civilians began buying weapons like crazy. Oh! You girls want to see the latest in Ward Technology?” She quirked a brow with a small smirk.

“Oh great, now the nerd comes out to play,” Stella rolled her eyes. “Seriously, get her started on her toys and she’ll never shut up.”

“I have a few toys myself~” Midnight waggled her eyebrows. “Pockets really likes the dra—”

“Wards! Yes sure, fun stuff!” Pockets quickly shut Midnight’s muzzle up with her hooves. No need for everyone and their mothers to know that:

Secure chuckled and just looked at the gates. She cleared her throat, and… “Ward System, up. Level Threat, 4. Return fire only.”

The pillars that surrounded the gates shone, and two large ruby-like gems hovered above them, glimmering with the moonlight. Secure picked up a rock, and taking aim, she threw it at one of the enchanted stones…

Which quickly shot a beam of pure burning magic that vaporized the rock into smithereens.

“Yeah… I doubt those pesky thieves will mess with you here.” She giggled, “And that’s just level four. Now let’s go inside to get you settled down.”

“I think I just came,” Midnight shuddered as she watched the impressive display. “Please Miss, can I have another?”

“Maybe for your birthday Middy.” Secure snorted and smacked the thestral with her tail.

“Ladies and gentlecolts, my marefriend.” Pockets sighed dramatically and dragged Midnight along.

The inside of the house was just as luxurious as the outside. With synthetic soft leather seats and paintings signed by some of the most famous artists around, it was obvious that Secure’s family was more than a little wealthy. “Try to not break anything. I have a few wards around that can easily clean the room up, but try to not overuse them alright? Oh, and feel free to grab anything from the kitchen. My place’s your place.”

“Don’t steal anything,” Midnight said to Pockets.

“But everything’s so pretty and cool!” Pockets pouted.

“Found the booze,” Stella called out from somewhere in the house. “Holy shit! You got Griffon Ale?”

Secure rolled her eyes. Well, it was good knowing her hundreds year old wines. “Get up here you alcoholic butt! And bring the freaking booze if you want, I don’t care at this point.”

“You know you love me~’ Stella hummed as she brought up some Apple Family Cider and the stuff Midnight had brought from The Belfry. “And don’t worry, ah don’t intend to get as wasted as much as last time.”

Secure blushed brightly and shot Stella a glare that could freeze up a dragon, “We do not talk about last time!”

But the damage was done. When Midnight had placed Quick Step on the couch, she was now muzzle to muzzle with Secure.

“Ooohhhh really~” she said with a wide, toothy grin.

“I can set the wards to fry your ass, you know?” Secure huffed and shoved her off, “Alright mares. This house has one main bedroom, and two guest rooms. Midnight and Pockets, just because something tells me you might break the smaller beds tonight, you’ll sleep in the main room. The drunk girl can take one of the guest rooms, because making her sleep on the couch would be just straight up mean. And…” She blinked when she realized a major flaw in her plan, “Ooh boy…”

“Hehehe, good job,” Stella chuckled. “Sorry love, but I bite~” She gnashed her teeth together for good measure.

“Oh for Celestia’s sake… fine! I guess I’ll sleep with Stella if I have to.” Secure grunted, “But if your hoof dares to touch a place it shouldn’t, to the couch with you!”

“I could just take the couch,” Stella replied. “Still comfier than the cots in the barracks. But I guess if you really wanna sleep with me…”

“Oh buck off! I’m just being a good host.” She scuffed and threw herself on the sofa, “I slept with Midnight once at the barracks and you better believe I kept her on place. I’m immune to teasing.”

“I was too tired from training and honestly didn’t realise she was there,” Midnight admitted. “That said… seems she didn’t realise I felt her up during the night. Dem flanks are just… muurrrr~”

Oh that was a delightfully cute blush Secure was sporting.

Pockets chuckled and glanced at Midnight and Stella, “You two together on the same house seems like a terrible idea. I like it!”

Yep. Secure Lines just accepted her fate and shook her head, “I fear for my home… Anyways. I heard you two stopped that bastard mare, the one with the weird magic. I know you Midnight, and I know that when you’re angry you never let anything escape unless something happened. So… what happened?”

Midnight frowned, her mood souring almost instantly. “She…” The bat growled and looked away. “Just forget about it.”

“Alright, mood-killer, sorry.” Secure said and grabbed a bottle of cider, taking a good sip, “She kicked my flank too, you know? The lance, it went right through her and I just… froze. The whole zombie ordeal was my fault, and I bucking hate it.”

“She took us all by surprise.” Pockets pointed out and grabbed a bottle of her own, throwing herself on a chair, “Nobody’s to blame. We’ll get her next time, I’m sure of it.”

“Well, she didn’t do shit to me,” Stella beamed as she cracked open a bottle of cider. “Hell, I got to beat the shit out of a ton of Sol’s. It was fuckin fantastic!”

The trio of mares just looked at her with a shared ‘For real?’ expression.

“What?” Stella shrugged as she took a swig from the bottle. “M’glad ah got the day off tomorrow though. Shit’s been hectic since then. So ah guess ah’m pissed at her fer givin’ me too much work. Bitch.”

“That’s the spirit.” Pockets chuckled.

Secure looked at the bottle of booze and moved it in small circles, “Yeah… it’s been hard as hell lately. But it’s not like this is our first rodeo. You guys remember that one time when some random Diamond Dog tribe decided to dig their way into Canterlot and kidnap ponies? Damn Stella, as much of an asshole as you are, you sure did kick some major tail that day.”

“Fuck yeah ah did,” Stella said with that rich Highlander accent of hers. “Fuckin’ mutts. Thinkin’ they could get away with shit like that.”

“And of course, that one time when dark mages plotted to kill the Princesses, only for a certain solar thestral guard to stop them and kick those asses right into Tartarus.” Secure remembered with an amused chuckle.

“Oh wow, you remembered that?” Midnight sighed wistfully. “I wish I’d gotten to keep those wingblades they’d let me use for that. I’d have kicked Butterfly Bitch’s ass all the way to Tartarus and back.”

“And let’s not ferget,” Stella drawled and looped a forehoof around Secure. “I remember a certain cloudfucker here takin on a dozen of those love-suckin bugs when Queen Bitchalis attacked.”

“Oh please. It was nothing really.” Secure waved her off. She knew that was kind of a sore spot for Midnight so she quickly changed the topic “ Oh! Remember that giant cockatrice attack? That was the last time we three worked together actually…”

“Oh yeah… even Tia was helping out with that one,” Midnight said, glad for Secure’s topic change. Even now, her wings twitched repeatedly. “Ahh, good times. ‘Cure got the eyes, Stella here knocked ‘em out of the sky and I had the killing blow. Still, seeing Celestia fuckin’ vapourise one was hella cool.”

“Damn right!” Secure chuckled.

Pockets was just staying in place, trying to not look completely freaked out over all the things they had faced, and over what she would probably face at some point… She couldn’t freaking wait.

“So yeah! One butterfly-sized mare? Come on girls, why are we even worrying?” Secure rose her drink and grinned, “We’re going to shove that thing back into whatever hole she crawled from!”

“Mmm, I am good at putting things in holes~” Midnight purred as she hugged the pegasus mare. “Pockets can attest to that~”

“Oh, she’s good. Better than a freaking stallion even.” Pockets sighed dreamily and hugged Secure as well, “You would totally enjoy it, ya know?”

“Yeh know, ah reckon she just wanted us all here fer a big ol’ orgy~” Stella hummed as she copped a feel of those flanks.

Secure’s deadpan was betrayed by her vibrant blush, “I fear for my sanity, for I have brought madness itself into my home.”

The other three mares just laughed… somewhat evilly.

Midnight sat on the couch, running a hoof through Quick Step’s mane. “Well now, what on Equus drove you to drink like that Quickie?”

The pegasus sighed. Her head had somehow managed to work well enough to remember where she had left her anti-poisoning pills, the ones she had given Pockets the other day. Now, she was finally coming back to her senses. “It’s not important. I just… felt like drinking ok?” Yet her tone betrayed her words, her pained, angry sounding words.

“Uhuh,” Midnight rolled her eyes. “And cursing out some very specific griffons was pure coincidence?”

A blush took over Quick Step’s face, “I… oh gods how much did I freaking say?” She really hated it when she went overboard with the drinking, “Do you know how hard it is? To work alongside the mare of your dreams for five straight years, and yet not being able to be more than co-workers? We already broke the rules by bucking all the freaking time but... oh forget about it, I don’t need to worry you about my problems. You got plenty of those already.”

“Yep, so worrying about somepony else’s is a nice distraction,” Midnight said with a small smile. “Look, remember when you flew off to save Pockets? I was attacked by Dead Drop again… And if it wasn’t for the insanely lucky fact that the filly I saved had freaky botany skills, I’d have died from a poison arrow, in the middle of a ruined apartment. I nearly died and nopony would have known…” That memory… it terrified her. “I… haven’t even told Pockets that. Nopony except that filly knows.”

“That’s not true, you know?” Quick chuckled and looked up at her, “I’m sure Pickett would have rushed to help you as soon as we freed her, and if not, your guard friends would have gone looking for you. Me? I’m a spy… Cereza, or Sphinx, or however she’s called nowadays, she would have assumed I was dead, accept it, and move on. That’s how the business works. Yes, she would be sad, but that’s about it.”

“That’s bullshit,” Midnight said. “I don’t know her all that well. But, you’re her best friend. At the very least, whoever killed you would have met a very slow, revenge-filled death, followed by a lot of crying and junk.” Midnight sighed and shook her head. “Look, be straight with me. Is this because of Ace?”

Quick frowned, and simply nodded her response.

“Thought so,” Midnight sighed and held Quick’s hoof. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between them. they have a history that even I know nothing about. And now Ace adopts some kid randomly? I think his midlife crisis is hitting hard. I think your best bet is to talk to them…” She reached over and ruffled the mare’s mane gently. “Look, Pockets and I like you, and we’ll be here for you okay?”

Quick sighed and nodded, closing her eyes and keeping herself close to Midnight, “So much for the cold, ruthless killer Quick Step huh?”

“Well to be fair,” Midnight giggled and waggled her eyebrows. “I know you as ‘Cute little maid’ Quick Step… one with a love of collars and being punished~”

“Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve been punished by Mistress Midnight.” She grinned maliciously, before kissing Midnight’s cheek and hopping off, “But I seriously need to get some sleep, and even with the pill my head’s hurting way too much so… thank you Midnight, Miss. Pickett sure is a fortunate mare.”

“Yeah… and you should be too,” Midnight said to herself as the pegasus left. She hated this, she hated seeing ponies she cared about upset, and not being able to do anything about it. Stella had gone to bed, tired after the day’s work and Midnight had no idea where Pockets had gotten too. “Dammit… what can I do?”

“Be your best, and save us all.” Quickie said with a rather warm smile coming from the mare, having heard her little whispers, “I’ll get over it at some point, but I can’t if that Breezie idiot kills us all.”

Midnight paused, totally not having a heart attack for realising that the pegasus was still there. Then she paused.

“Wait… Breezie?”

“Uhm… yes. That’s what the reports said. That deer you saw? It was an illusion, an elaborate one. That’s how the attacks just phased through her, and why she got away. It was smoke and plant fibre, plus a lot of illusionary magic.” Quick explained, “Something tells me fire would be incredibly effective, but… eh. We’ll talk later, alright?”

“Yeah… sure,” Midnight said and waved her off. She still wished she could have cheered Quick up a little more. But the bat only knew one way and she doubted that Quick was in the mood. Hell, Midnight was barely in the mood.

“I can help you out, you know?” Midnight blinked and turned ot the origin of the voice, only to find Secure leaning on a closed door, hidden in plain sight, and she heard it all, “Get rid of the breezie, take your revenge on her, our revenge.”

“Wow… that doesn’t sound ominous in the slightest,” Midnight replied, putting a hoof to her chest. These damned mares were gonna give her a heart attack.

“What can I say? I’m a little drunk, really frustrated, and I hate seeing you like that, always had.” Secure sighed and walked in, “Do you want to hear me out or what?”

Midnight’s eyes widened. This… okay, this was new. had all her teasing finally broken the pegasi’s brain?

“I could do that,” the thestral said and patted the space next to her on the couch. “Careful, I’m pretty irresistible with enough exposure~”

Secure chuckled and pushed Midnight’s muzzle away, “Not that, I’m not that drunk. I’m talking about taking the Breezie down. I have something that could help you.”

“Ah, so if I could get you drunk enough…” Midnight giggled and ducked the swing the pegasus threw at her. “Kidding. Okay, so tell me the plan Oh Drunken One!”

“The plan! Is this.” She showed Midnight a small black leather bag with her father’s company’s logo on it. Inside was a small gray orb, seemingly divided in two parts by the middle. The orb was rather light, even if it seemed to be metallic, and easy to grasp by pony hooves.

“That’s a magic bomb, a special kind. The Overcharging Magical Pulse, or OMP. Dad made it when I told him what happened. You get it close enough to her, and her magic goes numb for a minute or so. Works with unicorn magic, earth pony magic, pegasus magic, and thanks to dad’s contacts we even tested it on a breezie and you better bucking believe it worked.” Secure explained, “I want you to have it, it’s the only one we were able to make. But I have one condition.”

Midnight looked at the weapon. taking something like this… it would probably get her in a lot of trouble with her higher ups… that being Celestia and Luna. And she was shocked such a straight arrow like Secure was even doing this. She could lose her job.

Still…

“What condition?” Midnight asked slowly.

“It stays between us, and when you use it… you’ll make sure it’s worth it, you’ll make sure you kick her ass for me as well.” Secure said, “And that you’re as far away from it as possible. I care far too much about you to risk losing you, alright?”

“Well, it only affects magic users right?” Midnight tapped her hornless forehead. “No need to worry about it then.”

“Midnight, you of all ponies should know what I’m fucking talking about. Heck, of all of us you’re one of the most magically charged ones. Just… just listen to me on this one alright? Stay away, as far as you can.” Secure sighed and closed her eyes, “Dear Celestia all this stress is killing me.”

“I know those feels,” Midnight said with a sigh. “And look… sorry for teasing you all the time. I know… I can be kind of annoying.”

Secure quirked her gaze in confusion for a few seconds, before chuckling and shaking her head, “It’s alright. I… kinda like it in a way. It’s hard to explain but… your teasing has grown on me. You’re one of my closest friends, because Celestia knows that us dorks needed one another when we were fillies, so at this point I just look at it as natural, fun and… kinda sexy…” Her voice trailed off at that last part, to the point a normal pony wouldn’t have been able to hear it.

Midnight was not a normal pony.

But she also wasn’t sure if she should tease her about it…

“Oh really~” the bat purred and drew closer. “You think… I’m sexy huh~?”

The pegasus blushed and looked away, “N-No… yes… a little. I can say a mare’s sexy without being attracted to her alright? It’s n-not a big deal… even if I am… a little… attracted… damn is it hot in here or is that the alcohol speaking?”

“Oh… I think it’s a rather cute pegasus speaking,” Midnight replied in a husky tone and drew closer, now straddling the mare as her lips drew closer to Cure’s. “I wonder what other noises I can get her to make~?”

“Eep!” Secure squeaked out, sweating nervously, “Midnight… you’re a tad close there. I… I don’t know if…” She wanted to say it, she wanted to say she wasn’t comfortable like this. She knew all that was needed to stop Midnight was a ‘No’ but… why didn’t she say it?

Then she found a hoof booping her nose as Midnight pulled back and smiled.

“Have a good night… thanks for the gift~” And with that, she vanished down the hall.

Secure just blinked, that blush still present on her face… and more vibrant than ever.

It was little past midnight and things seem rather peaceful on Secure Line’s house. To be expected really, the place was as heavily guarded as Canterlot Castle itself! Yet… that didn’t stop a certain thief to try her hoof at it. The worst part?

She didn’t even know what she was doing,

As it turns out, once every full moon, or half moon, or every moon really it didn’t matter; every once in a while Pockets would just stand up and aimlessly walk around without any actual purpose other than for her body to play along with her dream. Sometimes she dreamt of cookies, so she’d go walk up to the cookie jar and eat some. Other times she dreamt with a certain bat, and would start mumbling cute compliments while hugging her sleeping form.

Other times?

Other times she dreamt of stealing some goodies from a fancy house. This… was one of those times.

And so, the unicorn stimply moved out of the bed and mumbled, her horn flaring… and grabbing a painting with her magic. Because that? That’s how the Pockets do.

Secure stormed into the room and grunted under her breath, her face red as a tomato. She looked at the bed, and threw her body onto it without a care in the world.

She was bloody frustrated.

“Okay, you have one fucking chance to explain why you just bodyslammed me,” Stella growled from under the covers. “Or I’m gonna rip yer fuckin’ wings off.”

“Listen buddy, I am pissed, confused, and sexually frustrated like you have no idea!” Secure snapped and rolled over, her back facing Stella, “I don’t need this right now… bucking... “

Stella groaned and rubbed the bridge of her muzzle. “Awright, what the fuck did Midnight do this time?”

“Made me doubt my sexuality. Again.” Secure huffed, turning around to avoid the thestral’s gaze, “She.. that bastard! Something inside me just wanted to kiss her and buck the heck out of her! I… does that mean I’m gay now? I’ve never been attracted to a mare before! I… what is going on!?”

Stella stared flatly at her. “Drunk night. Cloud. Secure, have you even bucked a stallion before?”

The pegasus opened her mouth, then closed it. She raised her hoof, then moved it back. Mumbling and blushing she looked away, before shaking her head, “N-no… you… you were kind of my first…”

“Of-fuckin’-course I was,” Stella sighed and facehooved. “Well, unless you buck a stallion and like it. Then yeh, you’re pretty gay.”

Secure stayed silent, before sighing, “I should really be more frustrated than I am right now… I should be screaming, I should be hollering in anger! Why… why am I so ok with this? I’m not even sure if I’d enjoy having sex with a mare, the only time I did I was drunk and had no idea of what was going on!”

“Well, yeh know I prefer stallions,” Stella said with a sly smile. “But ah ain’t above… helpin’ ya figure out where you stand~”

Secure blushed, her wings shifting slightly at that, “I… I mean. Don’t get me wrong you’re pretty damn attractive b-but… are you sure about this? It’d be just to see if I’m r-really into mares, right? J-just for science.”

Stella rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Yer a featherbrain ya know that? Now, where would ya like to start?”

She gulped and turned a bit to have a better look at Stella. Well… if she had to do this with anyone Stella wasn’t a bad choice, even with their mutual teasing and taunting, they always had this weird friendship going on… a friendship that was going somewhere Secure had no expected in the slightest, “I… I don’t really know. I was drunk last time remember?”

“Didn’t stop ya from goin’ at it like a rabbit in heat though,” Stella chuckled. “Ah still recall a few things ya liked though. Jus’... promise ya won’t get all weird on me eh?”

The pegasus couldn’t help but chuckle at that, before nodding, “Alright. This will be just like friends, right? Friends helping each other. Nothing weird on that… at all...” Yeah she couldn’t lie to herself this got her pretty damn nervous, and it showed all over her cute face, “Let’s just get this over with.”

Stella remained silent, a smirk growing on her face, a smirk Secure knew very, very well. Slowly, Stella began to crawl up towards her with the widest of predatory smiles, making the pegasus gulp as she moved back, her blush only becoming brighter, and brighter, and brighter…

And she had but one thing to say as Stella finally reached her.

“Meep!”

“Ouch, ouch… ouch. You know you could be- ouch- a bit more gentle.”

Pockets’ list of things she hated was pretty damn short. Ponies who threatened her life or the life of the ones she loved? She hated those. Pineapple on a pizza? She hated that. Ghosts and anything too spooky for her? She hated those with a burning passion.

Being fried on the butt and having to go through a cleaning and healing session?

It sucked. Even if Midnight was the one helping her with it, it still sucked.

“So…” Midnight sighed as she rubbed a fur-regrowth potion. She wasn’t going to question why Secure had a small stockpile of the stuff. “Can you explain to me why you have no fur on your butt?”

“Two words, dream-thieving.” Pockets muttered, blushing in embarassment, “I may… or may not have been dreaming with robbing this place, and while sleeping it… kinda happened.”

“...Oh Stars,” Midnight shook her head. “I’m surprised I didn’t hear you…” she paused until she heard hoofsteps outside the hall. Another moment and she ascertained it was Secure. “Maybe if two ponies hadn’t kept me up half the night with their lovemaking…” she said loudly. “And didn’t even invite me!”

“Buck off!” Secure grunted and with a mighty groan, just fell on the sofa. She did not expect her legs to hurt as much as they did.

“Well she sure sounds happy.” Pockets giggled before hissing when Midnight applied the final drops of rubbing alcohol on the injury, “Buck my life… please tell me that’s it.”

“Yeah, I think you’ll live, my sleepy little klepto.” Midnight raised a hoof and rubbed her head… before smiling wickedly. “Now I have a reason to tie you up in bed~”

“I regret every decision I ever made.” Pockets sighed dramatically before getting up and stretching her back, “Ready to start another day batty? Something tells me school’s opening again today, so there’s that. Still, I think we had fun yesterday, don't cha think?”

“It was pretty fun, especially that Apple dessert,” the thestral hummed. “Still, I really should get back to the castle. The guards are likely horribly understaffed, and that bitch is still out there.”

“Aaand we’re back to our regular schedule. Yay…” Pockets said ‘enthusiastically’, before giving Midnight the cutest puppy pout and whimpering, “Can’t we just ignore the world and cuddle all day long?”

“Nope, you have school,” Midnight hummed and then got a delightful idea. “Tell you what, let’s make a bet.”

“This has bad idea written all over it, but sure. What is it?” She questioned, her hoof poking Midnight’s nose playfully.

“If you ace your next test…” Midnight leaned in close. “I’ll get a schoolfilly’s outfit and you can be the teacher~”

Pockets froze, unable to believe what she was hearing, “For real?”

“Promise,” Midnight said and smiled. “But, you have to be in the top five of your class okay?”

“Top five!? Please, I’ll be the best frigging student that academy has ever seen!” Pockets nodded before smirking devilishly, pulling Midnight close and rubbing Midnight’s Cutie Mark, “So you better prepare that cute butt of yours, love~”

“If you get first place,” Midnight snorted. “I’ll even let you use my favourite toy.”

Pockets’ eyes widened, “Oh you better bucking believe I’ll get number one now! That academy better gets ready, nothing’s gonna stop me now!”

“We’ll see,’ Midnight mused and got up. “Well, your butt is bandaged, so now you get to put back everything you took.”

“Already did right before I came back to bed.” Pockets said and pecked Midnight’s lips, “No time to lose. Gotta get breakfast and then study my flank off!”

“Well, then I have some ponies to tease, if you’ll excuse me~” she kissed Pockets on the cheek and then glided out into the living room, and effectively pinned Secure to the couch before she knew what was happening.

“Hello poppet~” she purred and licked her fangs.

Secure eeped and blushed in surprise, before realizing what was going on and hitting Midnight’s shoulder and pushing her away, “You idiot! My bloody body hurts like Tartarus and you come here nearly breaking my bones… geez.”

“Hmm, it hurts huh?” Midnight didn’t move though. “You see these?” she gave her ears a wiggle. “They’re very sensitive. So… guess what I heard last night~?”

Secure’s eyes widened up. She knew exactly what Midnight heard. But there was no way she was going to admit having done that. “I… I don’t know. Your marefriend’s snores? Kinda heard them as well, they get pretty loud.”

“Hmm, well Pockets’ snores can get pretty loud,” Midnight agreed. “But… I’m thinking… oh what was it again?” She cleared her throat and out came a surprisingly good impersonation of Secure’s voice. “Please Stella… spank me, spank me hard—”

The pegasus couldn’t have been more pissed off at that, her raging blush and growling scowl shutting Midnight up, “One word, one word about this to anyone else and I’ll bucking shove my lance up your butt!”

“Oooh kinky~” Midnight purred, her lips moving closer. “I like a mare that plays rough~”

Secure groaned and facehooved, “You’re incorrigible. Don’t you have a marefriend to bother?”

“Nope, she’s busy… besides,” Midnight mused and leaned closer, Secure could feel her breath on her muzzle. “My tongue is waaay more… experienced~”

Secure could feel her heart skip a beat, “Midnight… I swear to Celestia… if you do this to me again...”

“Oh?” Midnight smiled. “So, you really want me to kiss you hmm~ Well, maybe if you beg for it…”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Stella huffed from the doorway.

Secure squeaked and quickly pushed Midnight away, covering her own muzzle, “Uhm… I can explain?”

Midnight smirked. “Aww, Stell’s jealous~”

“Whut, now look here yeh fuckin’...mmph!?” she was cut off when Midnight kissed her, before Stella flipped her over her shoulder. “Bah, fuckin’ ‘ell Midnight. Go take a cold bath in Tartarus!” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Besides, it was a joke. It’s not like we’re marefriends or anythin’.”

Secure felt so frigging stupid for acting like that. Then again, Stella took her by surprise with that comment, “Bucking hate you both… well, enough madness.” She hopped onto her hooves and dusted off her coat with her feathers, returning to her usual demeanor, “Hopefully we can make a decent breakfast fast enough to go to work.”

Midnight picked herself up and the two bats moved either side of the pegasus mare. “You know…” Stella hummed.

“…We don’t mind sharing,” Midnight finished.

Secure gulped and tensed up, the idea being just ridiculous… and pretty damn arou— “NOPE!” She darted away and into the dining room.”

Stella and Midnight stood there for a moment, before chuckling and bumping hooves. When they teamed up, nopony survived.

Author's Notes:

Dear reader

TOV here, just wanting to apologize for how long it took to post this chapter. Lately I’ve been having a lot of trouble writing, insecurities filling my head with each word I type in, the idea that I’ve just been doing a terrible job all along. Then at one point, I just couldn’t write a simple paragraph without deleting it, thinking it was useless, and just leaving altogether from the site. But now, thanks to Ausbrony and many, many other friends, I’ve managed to get a lot more confident on my writing. And now I’m going to try my hardest to constantly deliver you guys more and more awesome content for you to enjoy. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and remember, stay awesome~

TLDR: I am sorry for the delay and hiatus. I’ll try and do better. Enjoy the chapter. Wear your seatbelts. Celestia Bless.

Ausbrony - He's a tad dramatic, it was just as much my fault. But yeh, things are about to get real. I hope your butts are ready for this rollee coaster.

Chapter Eleven - Specialists.

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“Breakfast is served!”

When Midnight entered the dinning area, she… had to be honest. She wasn’t expecting the sweet smell of pancakes and syrup in the air, hot water boiling as the teapot whistled loudly. She was also not expecting a vanilla white-coated mare to be singing happily, her hips swaying left and right with the beat as her tidy maid outfit flowed with each movement. In fact, she hadn’t even expected Quick Step to be up and so chirpy after last night.

Also the towers of pancakes looked simply mouth-watering.

“Huh?” Midnight looked around and saw her other favourite pegasus. “Quicky! I forgot you were here!”

“I feel like I should be offended Miss Midnight, and here I poured all of my love into these pancakes here.” The mare giggled and placed a special set of pancakes for the thestral, syrup oozing as the small square of butter melted with them. Pockets was also there, happily eating her own meal at the other side of the table, “But I suppose I can’t blame you. I was rather silent last night after my little… ‘moment’. And with all the moaning and zapping going around, well I don’t blame you.”

“Hey, I actually had nothing to do with that!” Midnight replied in an offended tone. “It was those two moaning like the undead and Pocket’s sleep-stealing and getting fried. I was innocent all night… long…” She stared at the pancakes, noting that they were topped with mango slices and rick syrup.

And like that, Quick Step had the thestral mare embracing her. “Marry me?”

“Hey!” Pockets protested with a mouthful of the bakery goodness, “I was gonna do that!”

“Why a minute ago you didn’t even know I was here! And now you’re proposing to me?” Quick quirked a brow, a playful smirk stretching across her muzzle. She pushed Midnight away and slapped the thestrals cheek with her tail, shaking her lovely curves enticingly, “Sorry Miss Song, but I’d much rather marry someone more attentive and less forgetful~”

“Hmm, like Cereza?” Midnight purred.

Quick froze… she just stayed there in silence and her gaze darkened.

“Uhm… Quickie?” Pockets poked the mare with her fork, “You alright?”

“Oh?” The mare lifted her head and looked around, before giggling, “Sorry, I just trailed off for a moment. Do you want more syrup Miss Pickett?”

“Oh yes please~” Pockets grinned and extended her plate, watching with an excited giggle as the gooey goodness coated the pancakes whole.

“In any case, I’m no longer interested in my partner.” Quick Step said with a hum, not looking at Midnight as her smile wavered, “So let’s just drop the topic, alright?”

Her world spun, and she found herself in the living room with Midnight.

“Okay,” the thestral said with a flat stare. “Start talking. What happened Quick Step?”

“Whatever are you talking about Miss Song?” Quick tilted her head curiously, “Nothing happened. Just a mare who got over a childish crush, nothing else. I assure you that the fact that I went and spied on my partner’s date yesterday had nothing to do with it.”

“You spied on them?” Midnight asked her. “So, instead of, I don’t know, talking to her. You simply watched from afar and made your own conclusions. Yup, great plan Featherbrain.”

“Oh believe me Miss Song, that was the best plan I’ve ever had! Seeing them smile, laugh, enjoy themselves in more than one way… it opened my eyes. There is no way me and my partner could ever be in a relationship, and I must learn to live with that.” Quick explained calmly and motioned towards the door that lead to the kitchen, “Your pancakes are waiting for you, you know? Made them specially for you, had to go out and buy some mangoes and that’s nearly impossible here in Canterlot this time of the year.”

“I’m aware,” Midnight nodded. “But right now, one of my best friends needs me, which is way more important.”

“I assure you Midnight, I’m perfectly fine.” Quick sighed and looked away, her voice full of both pain and peace. “If Cereza wants to settle down, if she wants to enjoy the rest of her life like this, then who am I to stop that? Her connection with this griffon is so strong that I... I stand no chance. I have to accept it. I’m learning to accept it. But trust me, I’m fine. So stop worrying so much about me.”

Midnight sighed and then pulled her into a hug. “Alright… I guess if you insist, then I’ll follow your wishes.” She held the hug and then pulled back. “But I meant what I said last night. No matter what, Pockets and I are here for you okay?”

“I know, and I appreciate that.” Quick nodded… before slapping Midnight’s flank with her tail, “Now get off me, I have things to clean!”

“Ever the dutiful maid,” Midnight hummed. “Well, you’re damned sexy in that maid outfit, so it’s not so bad~” They headed back into the kitchen and Midnight started her assault on her pancakes. Oh wow, now she wanted to marry the Pegasus all over again.

“So, what’s your problem?” Stella asked Quick Step. “Mopin’ around like that.”

Quick shrugged and kept on dusting off the shelves now, seemed like it had been a while since somepony had cleaned them “I enjoy doing this, and well it’s the least I could do for my host. Why?” As she spoke, the pegasus’ bountiful flank kept on moving from side to side, her curves in full display.

“No reason,” Stella shrugged. “I just think yer bitchin’ over nothing is all.”

That’s when Stella noticed another certain pegasus looking their direction. And her eyes were totally not stuck on the maid’s flank. Nope. No sir. The thestral mare rolled her eyes and continued.

“I mean, yer whinin’ because some mare stiffed you right? Or some shit like that?”

“Yes, but that was yesterday.” Quick said and leaned down to clean some more, raising her flank higher and only making Secure’s blush thicken, “Today’s a new day, and I intend to start it with a smile.”

Stella shrugged and looked at Midnight. “She does know about herd marriages yeah?”

“Apparently not,” Midnight replied in between bites.

Quick Step blinked and tilted her head to the side, thinking over that for a few seconds before realizing she had no idea of what they were talking about, “Excuse me? Her-what now?”

“Herd… bloody twatminded featherbrain,’ Stella sighed. “It’s when you and as many fuckbuddies as yeh want all get married. I believe it’s also called polygamy.”

“Huh… I… no that’d be just ridiculous.” She chuckled and went back to dusting, “That’d imply me also being in a relationship with the griffon and I barely even know him.”

“Ah, so yer a marefucker as well?” Stella shrugged. “Well, Secure here can’t peel her eyes off of yer ass. So date her.”

Secure almost choked on the tea she had been drinking, shooting Stella the mother of all glares, “WHAT!?”

“As attractive as she might be, I didn’t mean it like that.” The maid chuckled calmly, moving over to a new shelf and working on it just as swiftly at the other two before it, “I don’t care about gender when it comes to the more… carnal activities, nor if I know the one I’m sleeping with well. But when it comes to relationships, I’m quite the picker, and I barely know anything about him.”

“Wait, attractive?” Secure asked outloud, yet got ignored.

“Well, fuck mare, quit yer damned bitchin’ and jus’ fuck ‘em both,” Stella sighed. “Ya know, as much as I love playing foalsitter to you cockwarmers, I have work to do.” She got up from her seat and wiped her mouth. “Thanks for the breakfast…” She looked at Secure and winked. “And the dessert~”

Secure Lines blushed and mumbled under her breath, not daring to look at Stella in the eyes“Just go to work you idiot, You can fly out the window if you want, they’re easy to open.”

“I’m civilised enough to use the door ya wang,” Stella replied as she opened the front door. “I guess this wasn’t as boring as I thought. Later!” And with a flap of her wings, she soared off into the sky.

“I’m leaving too! Thanks Quickie, and thanks Cure! it’s been a blast.” Pockets chirped as she got her bag ready and kissed Midnight’s lips, “Take care my favorite bat, and don’t do anything I would do, alright?”

“Hmm, well…” Midnight shrugged and looked at Secure and Quick Step. “I see two little pets that need punishing~”

“Oh butts…” Secure gulped and sank down on the sofa.

“Hmm, is that so?” Quick murred in a far more sensual tone, yet continued dusting the shelves, with a waggle of her brows and a side-to-side flank movement added to it, “And pray tell, how are you planning to do that?”

Midnight paused. Well crap, all her usual gear was at home. “Bah, you get off easy this time,” she muttered. “Guess I should head for the castle as well.”

Secure sighed in relief and chuckled, that was close.

“Don’t worry Miss Song.” Quickie smiled and put the duster away… and now, her hooves were surrounding Secure’s neck, “I’m pretty sure I could find somepony else to punish me~”

And that’s when Secure’s face became a red Hearth's Warming light and her wings sprung wide open.

“As much as I’d love to see that, I think we all have to go to work,’ the thestral chuckled. She walked over to the two devilish pegasi and nuzzled them each, before moving back…

Just as a golden arrow punctured the glass and embedded itself in the table, a few inches from Secure’s muzzle.

The three mares froze.

And without wasting a second the two pegasi were behind cover, the assassin maid with knives already in her grasp while the guard activated the defense mechanisms, wards of all sorts and colors appearing in each corner of the house and glowing brightly.

Midnight just stared at the arrow. She knew that type of arrow. the way it hummed with solar magic.

And she was more confused by the fact that all three of them were still breathing.

“We’re… in a good deal of trouble,” she said.

“Midnight? Tell me that’s a present from one of your thief friends.” Secure asked as she hid behind a sofa, “Because that shit just broke through my magically reinforced glass like if it was nothing!”

“No…” Midnight said, and Secure saw that… was she actually afraid? “This is much, much worse. This arrow… is from one of our own.”

The pegasus guard narrowed her gaze, poking her head from behind the couch to take a better look at the projectile. And soon, she shared the same expression of shock and confusion, and overall, pure fear, “No… nonono it can’t be! B-but why!?”

“I seem to be lost here.” Quick grunted as she prepared her knives, the kitchen’s counter working as cover, “Who is attacking us again?”

“He goes by the name Archer. His real name is Artemis,” Midnight explained as her ears flicked around, trying to hear anything. “He’s also a Specialist, like myself.”

“We need to take better cover and find why the heck Artemis is attacking my freaking home!” Secure grunted and tried to peek towards where the arrow came from…

Midnight pulled her back as an arrow shattered the window and whizzed past where her head just was.

“Are you insane!?” Midnight yelled at her. “He could be several kilometers away. With his skills, we’re sitting ducks for him!”

“We have two speedy mares here, and the area is full of manors and trees.” Secure whispered and pointed at the stairs, “We have three options. One, go downstairs and risk grabbing some shields. Two, go out there with nothing on us and try to grab his flank. Or three, stay here and pray Celestia herself decides to for some reason pay me a bucking visit and save our asses!”

Midnight’s mind raced. She would have little choice, but she was bloodbound not to do that with vocal permission. Dammit all. Why was Archer out there shooting at them…?

“That fucking bitch!” Midnight slammed her hoof into the ground. “How did she sway a bloody Specialist?”

“Oh don’t tell me this is all because of the fairy bastard. Yeah… we won’t be able to do crap unless we get our hooves on him. Midnight, we have to do something, choice’s on you!” Secure called out, eyes fixed on the mirror that pointed outside.

Midnight frowned. Well, time to do what she did best. “Sorry girls, I’m gonna do something stupid. Stay here and take cover…” She looked at Quick and smiled. “Take care of Pockets okay?” And with that, she flared her wings and flew like lightning out of the now open window.

“Midnight!” Secure shouted and tried to grab the thestral’s hooves, yet failed.

“Stay here!” Quick ordered Secure before taking off behind Midnight, her speed easily matching Midnight’s own, “What the buck are you doing!?”

“Distracting him hopefully,” Midnight said and pushed Quick to one side as another golden arrow streaked by, impacting the floor near Secure. “I’m used to dealing with him. Now go hide. That’s an order!”

“Sorry, but I don’t follow orders from you.” Quick smirked and in the blink of an eye did roll in the air, the incoming arrow barely scratching her fur, “I won’t let one of my best friends die!”

“Dammit, if you’re in the guard, you do take orders from me,” she groaned and then blinked as something flashed in her eyes, before an arrow grazed her rump, right along her Cutie mark. A thin stream of blood arced from the wound and she gave a pained shout.

“Midnight!” Quick exclaimed and tackled the thestral out of the sky, just in time to dodge the follow up shot. They crashed into a window and earned a scream of horror from a mare covered in towels, “Royal guard business! Get out of the area immediately!”

She didn’t have to be told twice as she ran the fuck away.

Midnight hissed in pain as she held the wound. “Ahh, buck… he’s still good, even as a zombie.”

“This is bad.” Quick sighed and looked around, thankfully this house did have walls. Still, she knew this wouldn’t last much with arrows like those, “Midnight, I have an idea but you have to trust me, alright?”

“Quick Step, you will not get yourself killed on my watch,” Midnight said.

“Killed?” Quick smirked, “Do you even know me? Go down the stairs and walk there, stay under cover at all times. I’ll keep him distracted.”

“And do what?” Midnight said, wincing from the injury.

“Wait for my signal.” Quick extended her wings, “On ground level you have plenty of cover, so take it, understood?”

Midnight frowned, but nodded.

Without wasting a second, Quick Step took a deep breath, before flapping her wings and taking off. An arrow immediately came towards her, yet with amazing reflexes managed to deviate the arrow with her knives, the small sharp weapon bending slightly due to the power of the projectile.

She still couldn’t see the archer though. Was Midnight not exaggerating when she said he could be several thousand hooves away? But, such accurate shots at that range were impossible… not to mention a bow simply cannot fire that far away. So how was he doing it? Were Specialists really that overpowered?

Meanwhile, Midnight ducked downstairs and behind some furniture. Just what was Quick Step up to?

Said pegasus was having a hard time dodging the fired off projectiles. She was really starting to doubt where or not this was a good idea. “Where the heck are you Mister Specialist?”

Several kilometers away, inside a tower structure. A lone stallion silently drew back his bow string, a golden arrow taking form in his grip. He aimed at the pegasus mare in the maid dress. This arrow would go through her heart. With a look of utter indifference, he released…

The arrow, remained static. And he could feel a strange sense of dread filling the room.

He blinked slowly. This… should not happen. The arrow was meant to kill the mare…

“Hey buddy.” Came a very angry scowl, “You hurt my marefriend, I hurt you. We cool? We cool.” And then, an incredibly powerful wave of red magic struck the stallion and knocked him back. A short statured mare with gorgeous ethereal wings was now in front of him, a strange aura surrounding her.

Ah, the enemy. Artemis flipped in mid air and drew his bow, magically constructed arrows appeared, firing a volley of shots at her. The golden arrows streaked through the sky at Pockets, speeds faster than any eye could see.

Pockets let out an almost bestial screech as her magic surrounded the arrows, slowing them down as they approached. With a flap of her powerful wings, an incredibly strong current of wind deviated the arrows.

“Cute, but that shit ain’t going to work on me!” Her horn glowed, and from beneath the stallion a large red circle formed… and the floor beneath cracked loudly, before it shattered and the poor stallion fell from the roof and into the room beneath. Before he could figure out what just happened, something broke through the window behind him and tackled him to the wall, a vanilla-colored mare punching the hell out of him. His arrows had ruined her knives, but her hooves were intact.

He grunted and fell back, just as Midnight caught up to them… her eyes staring wide at Pockets.

“Again… you can never let me have my moment of badassery can you?” the thestral pouted.

The unicorn blinked… and her wings disappeared. She fell to the floor with an eep and landed headfirst, the only thing leaving her mouth being a rather comical “Ouchie…”

“Pockets? Didja run out of juice?” Midnight said and moved down to pick her up. When she did and Pockets returned the hug, she pulled her hooves back to see a red liquid stuck to one of them.

“Oh shit… I knew something was wrong! I knew something happened to you! Fuck! I should have stayed with you!” The unicorn muttered angrily, “We need to get you patched up.”

“It’s just a scratch,” Midnight rolled her eyes. “I’m fine… but seriously, what was with that glowy red, ‘Imma kill you’ aura just now?”

“Anger I… guess?” Pockets shrugged, “Honestly don’t ask much, still getting used to this whole emotional magic deal. But are you sure you’re ok?”

“I’m fine, he’s packing far less of a sting than normal… maybe cause he’s a zombie.” She sighed and looked down the hole. “I wonder if he’s…” She jerked back as an arrow flew up past her nose. “Nope, still there.”

“I could use some help you know!?” Quick shouted from below.

Midnight dove into the hole, landing right on top of Artemis and throwing him against a wall. He separated his bow in half and flew at her, slashing away with what were now twin swords.

“Dammit, I could really use a weapon!” Midnight shouted as she dodged.

“Did somebody say… weapon?”

A blast of magic flew inches away from Midnight and struck Artemis right on the chest. A pegasus mare broke through the window, shining black and golden armor adorning her figure. She held a large crystalline lance with a glimmering purple gem on its tip, which glowed brightly. She dropped a bag on the floor which contained a variety of different weapons, from wingblades to daggers and even armor pieces, “Sorry for the delay, had to get my birthday presents first. Thank youuu dad!” She grinned.

Midnight stared at the pile, enough to equip a small army. “What… the… buck?”

Artemis growled… before flying out a window and off into the horizon. He was outclassed, and his Mistress was summoning him back for now.

“Oh come on! I brought the good toys out just for you, you bloody ungrateful bird!” Secure shouted at him as he left, throwing her spear to the ground. Midnight was just staring at the weapons, drooling somewhat, before shaking her head.

“No, we got lucky that he wasn’t, or can’t fight at full strength,” the thestral said. “Come on, we need to head back to the castle and inform the Princesses.”

“Alright.” Secure sighed and looked at Midnight, noticing the cut, “Oh geez, that looks bad. At least you can say your flank is… bloody amazing.” She snickered at her own terrible joke, before taking off towards the castle, “Catch you there!”

“That… was freaking terrible you flying tin can,” Midnight sighed. Dammit, her flank was really stinging now. Those holy arrows bucking hurt. “Are you okay Quickie?”

“I’m fine.” Quick said nonchalantly, flapping her wings and letting Midnight have a glimpse of a rather deep injury on her ribcage, blood oozing out of it. Midnight’s eyes widened as she held the mare’s wing.

“Pockets!’ she shouted. “Get a first aid kit. Hurry!!”

“No!” Quick exclaimed, “I’m fine. I’ve received far worse blows, heck, I got stabbed in the chest once and survived without medical aid for an entire hour. I’m a professional. Let’s just go to the castle and we can worry about this there.”

“Quick Step. You sit right. Bucking. There!” Midnight barked. “Pockets. I want that kit yesterday! Move it!”

“On it!” Pockets nodded and teleported away.

Quick rolled her eyes and lay down, holding back a hiss of pain, “You’re overreacting.”

“The hell I am, bucking moron…” Midnight looked away, wiping away a few tears with a subtle motion. “Stop… making me worry about you…”

Quick chuckled to herself and cupped Midnight’s cheek with a hoof, rubbing some more tears off of her gorgeous chocolate coat, “Said the one that tried to face the Archer by herself. I worry too, you know? And protecting your life is my priority both as the one in charge of guarding you, and your friend.”

Midnight paused and looked at the mare. “Wait, you wanna run that whole ‘guarding me’ part by me again? Under whose orders are you to guard me?”

Quick’s eyes widened up slightly. On one hoof, she could use her incredible lying skills to easily get off the hook, on the other hoof… this was Midnight, and she appreciated the thestral far too much to lie to her. Then again… “I’d tell you, but I know you’ll overreact and make a scene. So yeah, no.”

“Oh really?” Midnight narrowed her eyes. “I have ways of making you talk. If I promise not to overreact, will you tell me?”

“If you promise that, yes, I will.” Quick nodded, “And it stays between us, I have a spy reputation to keep.”

“Fine, so tell me,” Midnight said as she tapped her hoof. What was taking Pockets so long?

“Our agency, the Golden Swords, was hired due to the recent amount of enemies the crown has been facing, by Pr-”

“Medkit!” Pockets’ startling exclamation completely caught the two mares off guard, teleporting right into the room and dropping a heavy metallic container on the floor.

“Dammit Pockets!” Midnight sighed and looked at Quick. “You were saying?”

Quick chuckled and nodded, “Me and Cereza were hired by the crown, meaning, Princess Celestia herself, to accompany you and protect you against all these crazy enemies you’ve been making.”

“Celestia…” Midnight said quietly as she took out some gauze and bandages. She cleaned the wound, before applying the dressing. She was going to have words with that alicorn. “There, that should last you until we can get to the castle. Are you able to fly?”

“Faster than you ever will.” Quick Step quipped and flapped her wings, “Thank you, by the way, for caring so much for this crazy, hopeless mare.”

“It’s what I do,” Midnight replied as she tossed Pockets onto her back. “Alright midget, you ready to fly?”

“Eyup. And on the way, you missy are going to tell me what the buck is going on and who the heck that is!” Pockets huffed and poked Midnight’s cheek.

“Later,” Midnight nodded as she spread her wings and the three took off for the palace.

A short while later, Midnight was walking into the throne room with a rather grim expression. One petitioner turned to tell her off for interrupting his discussion with Princess Celestia, but one fang-bearing hiss from the thestral had the noble tripping over his own hooves to escape from her.

“Midnight Song,” Celestia sighed and descended from her throne. “I trust you have a very good reason for that.”

“Aroma has some of the Specialists under her control,” Midnight said, Pockets and Quick Step seeing the alicorn’s eyes widen. “Archer, and possibly the other male members. We barely escaped with our lives from Archer.”

“That… is not good news,” she said and noted Midnight’s and Quick’s injuries. “Are you alright?”

“We’ve had worse,” Midnight said and narrowed her eyes. “Also, I’d like to ask. Why did you bring Quick and Cereza into this? Why do I and Pockets need protection? Do you not trust me anymore? Do you doubt my abilities as your guard!?”

“Midnight!” Quick exclaimed and stomped on the ground, “You promised me to not overreact and not tell anyone! Bloody… No it’s not that she doesn’t bloody trust you you bonehead, but that she wants to make sure you’re not overwhelmed by the sheer amount of problems you have! You can’t do everything by yourself you know?”

“She speaks the truth,” Celestia said with a small nod. “And Miss Step, do not be upset with Midnight. She is a rather earnest mare, and I should have discussed this with her much sooner. Will both of you forgive me?”

Midnight rolled her eyes. “I’m not mad. Just… I dunno. Stressed I guess.”

“You act like if this is all new for you: The stress; the danger; the risks of fighting against evil,” Quick huffed, “You’re a Royal Guard specialist for crying out loud, you should be used to these kind of things by now. If anything, Miss Pickett should be the one freaking out, yet look at her.”

Said unicorn had stayed near the entrance, now playing swords against a piece of armor that was outside. She blinked at the mention of her name, and turned to the mares before waving happily and then returning to her duel.

“See?” Quick chuckled, “Yes, this may be unnerving, it may be risky and even frustrating. But this is your job, isn’t it? To deal with all the stress so others can rest at ease, so others don’t have to worry about a bloody overpowered fairy ruining everything.”

Midnight had nothing to say. She was right. Completely and utterly. She was a joke of a guard. She might as well hand her badge back now and leave it to somepony that can…

“Midnight Song,” Celestia said as her horn shone. “I should have done this earlier as well. In light of recent events, I permit you to access your armoury. I no longer require Midnight Song. I need the Conductor.”

Midnight paused and looked up… and Quick Step could feel… something change.

“As you wish, Your Highness,” Midnight saluted. “As Leader of the Specialists, I will see to it that this evil is dragged into the light.”

“Wait… the what now?” Pockets couldn’t help but ask from the doorframe, “Oh, that’s something I’ve been meaning to ask for a while. Who or what the buck are the specialists?”

“There are always Seven Specialists,” Celestia explained as Midnight left the room. “No more, no less. They are… well, I suppose you could call them my last resort. When all other options are no long valid or have been exhausted, they will accomplish the task.”

Quick Step chuckled, “Ah yes,I still remember the last group. You sent them to hunt us Sins down, didn’t you?”

“I did,” Celestia nodded. “That would have been… hm, ten years ago now.” She sighed and looked at the pegasus mare. “And now, it seems I have to do it all over again.”

“Well your highness, if Midnight’s their new leader then let me assure you, that those knockoff copies can’t possibly win.” The pegasus mare said with a confident grin before doing a reverence, “I know I’m not an actual specialist, but I’m under your commands Princess Celestia.”

“And I’m counting on you,” Celestia nodded. “Midnight is… very proud and stubborn.” She lit up her horn and floated Pockets over to them. “I’m counting on you too to keep her safe okay?”

“I’ll do my best Princess.” Quick gave a nod of her own before standing straight up and chuckling, “Look at me. Fifteen years ago I was one of the most wanted criminals in Manehattan, heck, even Equestria, and now I’m standing in front of the big mare herself in hopes of saving the day. Life sure is strange, isn’t it?”

“It is indeed,” Celestia chuckled. “Still, we have quite the pressing matter at the moment. If Aroma was able to sway the male members of the Specialists. That means Archer, Berserker and Lancer could all be compromised.”

“Lancer… Lancer....” Quick hummed in thought, “I’ll see if some contacts of mine can pinpoint him for you, hopefully we can save him before Aroma gets to him.”

Knock knock!

“Princess Celestia?” A guard called from outside the door, “”Your next appointment is here!”

Celestia groaned. She really didn’t have time for this. “Well, sorry girls, that’s all the time I have. We’ll discuss this more at length later alright?”

“Awww, alright.” Pockets said and waved her goodbye, “Off to school it is then! See ya Tia!”

“And I guess I should probably help Officer Lines with her house cleaning, I’ll keep in touch your majesty.” Quick waved her goodbye as well and the two made their way towards the door, which opened for them.

On the other side, stood a sight Pockets was not expecting, “Lancey!?”

The disguised changeling blinked in surprise, before sighing and giving a soft chuckle, “Hello Pickett, funny seeing you here.”

“Dude!” The stallion suddenly saw himself on the floor as Pockets tackle-hugged him with a loud laugh, “I haven’t seen you since you freaking kinda-saved my life! What are you doing here?”

A loud faked cough called her attention, and she looked at the origin of it… to find a rather tall, toned light orange pegasus stallion, accompanied by a slender, beautiful light pink unicorn mare who was covering a giggle with her hoof.

“Uhm…” The small unicorn trailed off, clearly lost on what was going on.

“Pickett, these are my parents.” Lance said and squirmed his way out of the hug, “Celestia said she wanted to meet them, and they want to meet her as well. So we got an appointment and well… here we are.”

The stallion chuckled and ruffled his son’s hair, before doing a small reverence and greeting the ones present, “Morning Miss Pickett, morning your majesty, mornin—” He was cut off as his eyes stopped on Quck Step, struggling to get his words out, “M-Morning Miss…”

“Step.” The mare said with untrustful eyes, giving the stallion a good look.

“Ah, just the individuals I was waiting for,’ Celestia smiled as she let them inside. She looked at Quick. “Miss Step, if you would be so kind as to locate Midnight Song and not let her into the throneroom. We don’t need any… incidents.”

“Sure…” Quick nodded reluctantly and motioned Pockets to follow. The unicorn complied without complaint, giving Lance a hoof-bump before trotting out of the room.

And then, she was pushed behind a corner.

“What the wha-HMPF!” The unicorn’s muffled complaints were ignored by the pegasus mare, who quickly got several looks from the confused guards.She raised her other hoof, the one that wasn’t on Pockets’ muzzle, and leaned closer to have a peek inside, shooting the guards a death stare if they even dared to close the doors on her.

“Your majesty.” The stallion began as he did another reverence, “We’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity you’ve given our son.”

“Oh yes,” The mare followed with a happy smile, “Considering all the hardships he has gone through for being a changeling… the fact that that has helped him save somepony’s life, well… it fills us with pride.”

Lance blushed and with an embarrassed giggle waved the topic off, “I didn’t save her life per say, just brought it back to her.”

“And we are quite grateful for that,” Celestia chuckled. “That was probably the reason Midnight Song didn’t eat you.”

The family of changelings froze, a semi-disguised look of shock taking both the parents' faces.

“She… has poor experiences from that fiasco at the wedding,” Celestia explained to them. “She was almost drained completely dry by several Changeling Hunters.”

“Oh goodness.” The mare gasped.

“We’re so sorry to hear that.” The stallion nodded with a shameful sigh, “Our powers can be so… dangerous. Those brutes…”

“But we’re different!” Lance quickly said and without doubting it for a second, got rid of his disguise, “We are the good guys right?”

“Lance!” His mother scolded him and pulled him from the ear, ”What have I told about just transforming like that? It’s dangerous!”

“Ouch, ouch, hurts, mom please, mom stahp.” The young colt begged with a rather flat tone. He was used to it, the pain was nothing at this point… still, it was kind of annoying.

Celestia chuckled again and raised a hoof. “It’s quite alright, i just wanted you to understand her trepidation to your kind. Still, I’m glad you have come. As we can now begin.”

The two parents looked at each other and sighed, “Well… I guess.” The mare sighed. She flashed a vibrant shade of green and revealed her true form, a taller changeling drone with pink-tinted wings, her wings buzzing slightly, “Oh geez, it’s been a while since I used these.” She giggled.

The stallion did the same. A now muscular, rather smooth-skinned changeling now stood on his place, a large scar spreading from the right side of his forehead to his muzzle on an almost perfectly vertical direction.

Celestia blinked in surprise. They, looked somewhat different to the Changelings she saw on that fateful wedding day. “If I may ask,” she said, gesturing to the pink wings and scar.

“Oh?” The mare quirked a brow, “Oh, I’m quite good with natural pigments, so with a few petals and a bit of oil, I just tinted the wings so they’d look pretty, even if only my family ever sees them. But oh well, they’re what matters to me the most so it’s worth it.” She said and pulled her son for a hug.

“And I got the scar when I rebelled against the drones that attacked the city.” The stallion explained, “It’s nothing too big, and it remains hidden most of the time really. But it’s a sign of my pride as an independent changel—”

“Stop lying to her, you bucking bastard!” Came a very, very angry scowl from the door.

They all turned to look in shock and surprise, except for the stallion, who sported an expression of both fear, and worry… with a slight hint of anger.

Quick Step walked into the room with two knives ready, her growls filling the room and her eyes shining with rage.

“Miss Quick Step!” Celestia narrowed her gaze. “You’d best have a good reason for disobeying my orders and interrupting this meeting!”

“Uhm… dad?” Lance began trembling in fear at the sight of the furious knife-wielding pegasus, “What is going on.”

“Stand behind me.” He replied flatly, yet when neither his wife nor son did so, stomped on the ground and scared the heck out of them, “Now!” The two obeyed and took cover behind the stallion, who took a deep breath and looked at Quick firmly, “Listen, we don’t need to do this. We can sit this one down and—”

And now, he was being tackled at max speed by the pegasus, who tried to pin him on the ground… only to be flipped mid-air and tossed into a wall with expert precision, an extra punch in the maw being delivered for good measure.

The mare grunted as she crashed against a pillar, yet quickly got on her hooves and snared at the changeling, “Your majesty! Get behind cover, right now!”

“We don’t need to do this Step, I’m not the same I used to be, alright?” The changeling said with a narrowed gaze, circling around the mare.

“Likely story, Pride!”

The stallion froze, and his gaze darkened, “That’s not my name..” He muttered.

“What was that you scum?” Quick gnarled.

“I said…” The changeling’s body flashed with a vibrant green hue, a powerful magical aura circling around him, “That’s not my name! You come here and try to ruin my already harsh life, try to humiliate me in front of the Princess and my son, and bloody attempt to stab me!? What is WRONG with you Lust! Just move on alrea—”

“ENOUGH!!!”

The thunderous boom of Celestia’s Royal Canterlot Voice blew everypony off of their hooves. The massive throne room doors were blown open like leaves in a windstorm. Quick Step was ensnared in a golden aura and dragged over to Celestia, her eyes burning white as her mane and tail ignited a deep orange, flickering like a roaring flame.

“Explain! NOW!”

For the first time in her entire life… Quick Step, was scared. She was frightened, she feared for her life and knew she had fucked up. But… she did it for a reason, a good one, “I… I’d recognize that face anywhere, that scar… I’m the one that made that scar. He’s not a Changeling drone, he left the hive decades ago. He… he’s my former leader and fellow sin, and the one we suspect is behind the group of thieves. He… is Pride.”

“Excuse me?” He quirked a brow, “First of all, my name’s Chitin, you know that. Second of all, I am not responsible for anything! I work at a convenience store earning the minimum wage for Celestia’s sake! I have nothing to do with… thieves! I left that life long ago!”

“You left me to die!” Quick snarled.

“And I’m sorry!” Chitin replied with just as much intensity before sighing, “I really am. But I’m a changed stallion now… please, I know I hurt you, I know I did. And I’m sorry… but don’t ruin a reputation I don’t even have, and don’t let my son keep hearing that his father was a bloody wanted thief and murderer…”

“For somepony named Pride, you seem to have quite a lack of it now…” Celestia looked at Quick Step and her mane returned to normal, along with her eyes. But she still looked very angry. “I expected far better of somepony with your training and discipline. We will discuss this later. Right now. Return to Miss Secure’s domicile. Take Pockets and Midnight with you. Disobey me a second time, and you’ll be cleaning the inside of a cell. Am. I. Clear?”

Quick sighed and looked down in shame. She really had acted like a complete and utter fool, “Yes your highness… I’m sorry your highness.” She turned to Chitin and gave an apologetic reverence, before taking off, a trail of tears full of frustration and disappointment, mainly on herself, staying behind.

Chitin bit his lip, and looked up to the still trembling Lance, opening his mouth to say something before closing it down and looking away in shame, “I… I guess that’s it then.” He said coldly, “All this work for nothing… my son saves a life and soon afterwards I get thrown in prison, bringing shame to a family that already had no bloody respect from anyone. “ He kneeled down and extended his hooves, his aura disappearing completely as he just awaited the handcuffs, “Please end this quickly, your highness.”

“Very well,’ Celestia said and rose to her hooves, her horn shining brightly. “For you sins, I cast upon you, the harshest sentence that crime deserves!” She stepped closer, and the three changelings could feel the power she was radiating. “Are you prepared?”

She leaned down and that power vanished with a small smirk. “Prepared for community service?”

The changeling literally lost balance and he fell on his face.

“W-what… but… but I did all those horrible things.” Chitin stuttered as he struggled to get up, “I… I’m Pride, former leader of one of the most dangerous groups in Equus’ recent history. I… I’m so confused… I—”

“Former,” Celestia pointed out. “I’d like to think there is good in all my little ponies, no matter how far down it is.” She leaned down, then pulled the three Changeling’s into an embrace. “The past is a memory, the future is a mystery. But today? That’s when you make them smile. That’s why it’s called the present.’

Chitin blinked, yet he soon closed his eyes and gave an understanding nod. It was true, that was his past, a very shameful past, but one he had to leave behind, “Son.” He opened his eyes and looked at Lance, an honest, ashamed, yet determined face calming his nerves, “I want you to know that whatever I was before, I no longer am. I am proud of you, incredibly so, and I know since the day you were born, heck, since the day I met your mother, that I would easily leave a life full of richness and vices, a life of fame and danger… I’d leave it without thinking twice just to be with you, to be with this family.”

“Dad… I don’t care who you were before. I know you’re a loving drone and that now, you wouldn’t hurt a soul. But… please tell me there won’t be more crazy ponies trying to kill us.” He grinned awkwardly, fiddling with his hooves.

Chitin chuckled and ruffled his mane, “Promise.” He turned to Celestia and gave her a thankful smile, eyes getting watery form the overwhelming emotions that filled his body, “Your highness… I can’t fully express just how much I owe you, how much we owe you. I will fulfil any duty you give me, no matter what it is… I’m at your service.”

“You don’t owe me anything, just make sure your family is happy and safe,” she smiled. “Now of course, what I am about to ask might make you a tad uncomfortable…”

He quirked a brow. Yet before he could ask what she meant by that…

“Yes, he puts eggs in the female.” His wife said with all the ease of the world.

“Mom!” Lance’s jaw dropped, “What the heck!?”

“Oh get used to it hunnie, everyone asks that at some point or another.” She chuckled.

Chitin facehooved, “Sometimes Rehy… sometimes I wonder how you ended up being the smartest of us all.”

“You love me.” Rehy giggled with a cute smile, pecking his cheek.

“Apologies your highness.” Chitin shook his head and turned back to Celestia, “What is it that you need to know?”

They got to witness a sight almost none had seen. The infallible Princess of the Sun, was standing there with her eyes wide and a fierce blush adorning her muzzle.

“Oh would you look at that. Chrysalis struggled so much to take over, yet the only thing she needed to break Celestia was an innuendo.” Rehy smirked, before sighing, “Ok I’m sorry. I’ll shut up now.”

“Good gods…” Chitin sighed, “Are you alright your highness?”

“I um… eggs?” the princess blinked and then shook her head. “R-Right. Moving on. First, I’d like a little information from you.”

Rehy opened her mouth, yet Chitin’s glare quickly shut it down. She still giggled at her own joke though.

“And what would that be?” The changeling questioned.

Celestia pulled out a report, specifically, the one Cereza had made after her investigation of Miss Wide Heart’s Orphanage. “Take a look at this please.”

He raised a brow and took a look at the report, flipping page after page…

His face went white. His legs trembled and he almost fell to the floor, breath hitching and eyes widened. Rehy rushed to help him and helped him stabilize, worry quickly taking over her face and Lance’s own as they looked at the frightened stallion.

“So, it’s as bad as i thought,’ Celestia sighed. “And this is happening right here in Canterlot.”

He shook his head and grabbed the report, taking one of the pictures and giving a look at it, making sure his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. He sighed and nervously placed the picture down, showing it to Celestia. A large shelf with glass doors, where four strange-looking amulets hung calmly. Their emblems, they would be just odd symbols to any pony, but for Chitin… it meant trouble, “W-Whoever is behind this… they’re dangerous, very much so. Those amulets… those are the cursed amulets of Aka Manah… they are powerful artifacts able to turn any regular being into a killing machine. Enhancing the body, strengthening their magic, and most importantly, corrupting their mind. I know because I… I have one of my own. We all did.”

“You have one of these Amulets still?” Celestia asked in a worried tone, and wondered if Quick Step still possessed one.

“Hidden somewhere safe, yes.” He nodded, “But from the looks of it, they already got their hands on four if not more, meaning they somehow found the other Sins and stole from them, which is already quite the feat. From the looks of it… they are missing Pride, Lust and… Wrath if I’m correct. Wrath… if we could find him, we could possibly lure the thieves into an ambush.”

“Well, so that confirms that Miss Step likely still has hers,” Celestia clicked her tongue as she took back the report. “And for Wrath… well I know exactly where he is.”

“You do?” Chitin’s eyes widened, “Wait… was he jailed? We must find him and the amulet, now!”

“Jailed, of course not,” Celestia tittered. “Why, we had tea together just this morning. He’s likely out in the courtyard training… young… Moonlight…” Her eyes widened. If Aroma was going after the Specialists… “We have to move. NOW!”

This.. was going to get ugly.

“Oh, oh, watch this!” Moonlight Steel focused and pulled his hind hoof back, before swiftly albeit clumsily striking a hay dummy that spinned around.

“Mmm, that was most excellent Young Master Moonlight,” the massive Minotaur nodded, sipping delicately from a dainty little teacup. “However, you must adjust your stance, fix your center of gravity and your kicks will have much more power.”

“Yes sir!” He nodded and tried, as clumsy as he was still, to follow the orders. He managed to keep a rather good stance up… before falling on his butt. “Ouch... Sorry!” He called out.

“Too much adjustment,” the Minotaur chuckled and stood up. “Now… observe.” he moved up to a dummy and crouched low, before surging forward and striking out with a massive fist. The dummy was torn completely off of it’s post and sent sailing over the roof of the distant barracks.

“Woah!” The colt gasped in awe, before hopping up and down excitedly, “I want to do that, please teach me more Mister Titan!”

“But of course lad, ahh, if only the youth of today were as exuberant as you.” He wiped some manly tears from his eyes. “I am so proud of you lad! Let us achieve the pinnacle of strength together!!”

“Sir yes sir!” He nodded and went back to kicking. Titan watched him and turned around to make some more tea… as an odd-coloured pink smoke covered his head.

“W-What is this?’ he gasped and put a hand to his head. “No… not now. NO!” He fell forward, both hands on his head.

Moonlight Steel paused and turned to him, “Uhm… Mister Titan? Are you alright?”

“Get rid of him… get rid of anyone who dares to get on your way, and come home to your Mistress.”

“Yes… Mistress…” he grunted as he stood up and pulled up his ridiculously huge hammer. The head of the thing was bigger than a full grown stallion.

“Uhm… I don’t think I’m ready to use that sort of weapon Mister T.” Moonlight gulped and stepped back, “And that face is scaring me. A-are you alright? If… If you try anything funny I… I will fight you!” He tried to stand valiantly, yet his instincts made him walk back.

“SMAAASSHHH!” The Minotaur roared, his body coated in a black shadow and his eyes burned a hateful red as his Berserker state took over. While Moonlight dodged the first blow, it struck the ground with such force that the shockwave alone sent him tumbling across the ground.

And yet, the massive ragebeast moved faster that he ever could have expected as the shadow of the massive hammer loomed over him…

But it never struck, when the colt opened his eye, Aerial Ace was standing over him, both arms raised as he caught the hammer mid-swing.

“You… okay…?” he grunted.

The colt just froze, trembling at the sight. “L… L… L-Leave him alone!” He squeaked out before kicking the minotaur’s leg… that did nothing.

“Run lad!” Ace said and tossed the hammer to one side, before a punch sent the Minotaur stumbling back. He looked at his son and smiled. “I’ve got this. Trust me okay?”

He looked at Ace, and then turned to see at Titan. He knew this was out of his league, and as much as he wanted to help… He nodded, and quickly ran for it. The least he could do is find help.

Then he heard a sound that made his blood run cold, a sickening crack as Berserker used the distraction to slam Ace with his hammer. The griffon was sent rocketing across the ground, bouncing multiple times before hitting a stone wall so hard he went through it.

Moonlight closed his eyes when his father flew past him, knowing that a glimpse at the afterstrike would probably make him stay and fight, which would end poorly. He had to find help, someone more capable, more powerful and agile. He had to help his dad.

Ace coughed as he pulled himself up from the rubble and rubbed his chin. “Now that was a cheap shot Titan. Allow me to return the favour!” he let out a loud screech and raced forwards as Titan turned to Moonlight. He never reached him though, as the Griffon’s fist collided with his face, sending him sprawling across the ground. Ace didn’t let up, letting loose a barrage of punches to keep him down.

Then his fists stopped, Berserker grabbed both arms and swung him like a hoofball bat, sending him flying upwards, before jumping up to meet him and slammed him back down, Ace hitting the ground so hard it left an impact crater.

The minotaur’s figure loomed over Ace’s now injured body, his hammer in hand and ready to smash every single bone in the griffon's body. He raised his weapon, and prepared to strike…

And then he felt a strong breeze of air, the scent of blood… and the sharp pain caused by the deep cut of a dagger on his cheek as a light brown blur dashed past him, landing behind the minotaur.

“Now someone has been acting naughty.” Came a taunting, sensual hum, as a slim female griffon stood up and looked at him with a cocky grin plastered on her beak. She flapped her wings and hovered in the air, her claw holding a pitch-black colored dagger, a large red gem encrusted on the handle. “Time to teach this little bull some manners.”

Steam rose from the wound she inflicted, healing up near instantly as Berserker snorted and looked at the new meat that had come for the slaughter. Aroma’s control had left, he had nothing but his Rage now. Rage that wouldn't be sated until all his enemies were smashed.

Moonlight had stopped, something inside told him he needed to see this.

“Now dear… usually, I would hold back. What with you being a fellow guard and whatnot. But… you look like you lost all control, and most importantly, you hurt my potential mate. And I do not take kindly to those who hurt the ones I care about.” She expertly circled the dagger in her claw as her grin widened, this looked like a fun challenge alright, “So I’ll give you one final chance before striking you down. Drop the weapon, and we can all sing together and celebrate the magic of friendship, alright?”

He moved…

Ah…

So that’s what being hit by a train must have felt like.

His punch had sent the griffoness into the ground like Luna had just dropped the moon itself on her.

The griffoness’ breath hitched and she screeched in pain, feeling a couple of her ribs break. No biggie. “So… that’s how it’s going to be then..” She panted. And suddenly, she was gone.

She was literally gone.

Berserker looked around. Where did the little birdy go?

“Looking for me dearie?” Came a cold giggle, the tingling sensation of a claw rubbing against his skin ran through his back… and then a sense of dread. The mare was now cloaked in dark smoke that emanated from the magical gem of her knife’s handle, using his own shadow to hide. This gave her a good chance to stab the minotaur’s back, a wound Cereza knew would heal soon. Not wanting to give him a break, she used the window of opportunity to push-kick the heck out of Titan, using just the perfect angle to do so without the slightest of difficulty.

And as she predicted, the wounds started healing. And then Berserker got mad. He picked up his hammer and slammed it into the ground. The resulting shockwave was…

Oh you have got to be bucking kidding! His hammer was made of Etherite? The shockwave scrambled all magic in the area…

Cereza grunted in pain, using the momentum to take off and out of the blast radius, she knew getting close was a stupid idea, and that she was not even close of wearing him down. This… was bad. If only a long ranged expert like a certain vanilla pegasus was around….

The ragebeast swung his hammer, the movement left her slightly visible, and he saw her! He swung his hammer right for hr head, shadow or not, the Etherite would cancel it…

“MOM!” Moonlight screamed.

Then… a scent tingled her nose. The hammer never struck. There was a loud ‘THOOOOM’ though… was she dead? Well, that was painless and boring.

“Dear,” Ace said calmly, holding the hammer at bay with a single claw. He used the other to remove his tattered red scarf. “Hold this for me would you?”

“The scarf or the hammer?” She quipped and did as said, “Need any help love?”

“Just one thing,” he replied as she saw his muscles ripple and bulge. “Stand back.” he shoved the hammer aside and narrowed his eyes. “Now Titan. Attacking a lady like that is rather rude. I know you aren’t yourself, but don’t worry. I’ll bring you back around with a good beating.

Titan roared as Ace stepped forward, undeterred. The Minotaur swung his massive fist and the griffon grabbed it with his talon, before drawing back his own and the punch connected, sounding like a crack of thunder, the shockwave could be felt all over the courtyard. And the fact that the griffon knocked him clean off his cloven hooves?

“It’s been a while since I’ve gone all out,” he mused and chuckled. “Do try and keep up~”

“Really now Ace?” Cereza giggled and placed the scarf on her neck, it felt quite warm really, “Taking the thunder from me like that, kind of rude wouldn’t you think?”

Moonlight just saw in awe and worry what was going on, fighting the urge to go and help.

“Now promise me you’ll give me some time to shine next time, alright dear?” Cereza pecked his cheek and flew back, “Now go get them.”

“Of course,” Ace cracked his neck as Berserker got back up, his black aura intensifying, his wounds healing. “Yes yes, you can heal from physical injuries… which is why I have to just hit you faster than you can heal!”

Cereza and Moonlight blinked as Ace vanished, the ground under him exploding from the force he used to push off as he slammed into Berserker, his fists raining down like lightning as he struck blow after blow.

“I have to exercise so much control,” Ace said as he struck. “I have to be so careful that I don’t break something…” he looked at his family. “Or someone… But you,” he smirked and looked at Berserker. “You can take it, can’t you big guy?”

“SSMMAASSHHH!!” Berserker howled again, and the two clashed fists, the shockwaves were like an earthquake, enough to make Moonlight fall and even Cereza stumbled back from it. She was stopped as Celestia appeared, steadying the two with her magic.

“Oh why hello your highness.” Cereza grunted, that was quite the wave, “Here to help?”

“I dare not get between that,” Celestia said with a shake of her head. “Even I might not survive it.”

Ace grunted, then smirked as the two started trading blows, each hammering down with the force of a meteor strike. Cereza and Moonlight could only look on as their fists became little more than blurs, and the pair could swear that the entire castle trembled with each furious blow.

“Hrrm, I’m getting old,” Ace muttered. He’d have wrapped this up by now. Though, not much of the castle would be left if both he and Berserker were in their prime. Still, his regeneration was starting to get annoying. Steam rose like a blanket of fog as the pair clashed fists again, the ground around them exploding from the force of the collision.

Then Berserker got a lucky hit in as he delivered a vicious right hook, sending Ace spiralling across the ground, bouncing a few times and landing close to the group observing.

“Your Highness,” he said and gave a small nod to Celestia as he got back up.

“Aerial Ace,” she replied, returning the nod. “Would you…”

“It’s fine… a good opportunity really.” he looked down at his son and smiled. “Boy. Would you like to see something interesting?”

“Uhm…” To be honest with himself, he was frightened, yet at the same time, pretty damn excited. This battle was just epic in every sense of the word! “Sure.” He nodded dubiously.

“Excellent. Now, magic and physical blows aren’t too effective against him when he’s like this, so what do you think we should use?”

“Mental attacks?” He tilted his head curiously.

“Mm, not quite. The correct answer…” Berserker rushed at him, the ground shaking with each step as he charged. Ace took a new stance, standing upright as his left hind leg lowered, while the right extended out in front of him. He moved his arms into a position, one raised, the other curled in the opposite direction underneath, making a circle shape.

And when when Berserker was in striking range? He lashed out with an open palmed strike. When it connected, it was like time stopped for a moment, it was… so blissfully silent.

Then was a small flash of light, Berserker was blown backwards like he’d been shot out of a cannon, tumbling across the ground and skidding to a stop some thirty feet away.

“This my son,” he said as he inhaled, then exhaled. “Is the power of Chi.”

Then it was Ace’s turn to attack. He raced forwards as Berserker was getting up…

‘Beat Rush’

The attacks flew at impossible speeds, countless blows rained down in the blink of an eye as Berserker was reduced to nothing but defense, all his strength was put into just remaining upright.

‘Infinite Beat Rush’

And again, only the blows rained harder and faster, steam rose, not from Berserker’s regeneration, but from the air heating up due to friction. There was a series of small, rapid pops, and Cereza realised that Ace’s attacks were breaking the soundbarrier.

“Now my boy… observe!” Ace flapped his wings and flew back. Berserker wobbled in place, the shadows around him flickered and waned, his regeneration couldn’t keep up with the speed at which he was injured.

Ace drew back his hands, cupping them together as light started to build between his palms. Then as Berserker finally recovered and turned to Ace, his glowing eyes widened. Light spilled forth from the Griffon, swirling like water as Ace smiled.

“BRAVE SHINE!”

He flung his fists forward as the beam of energy tore up the earth, striking Berserker head on with a tremendous explosion that all of Canterlot felt. Celestia erected a magical barrier, just as dust and debris struck it. After a few moments, the shockwave passed and she dropped the barrier. The smoke and dust cleared, revealing a clearly unconscious and severely injured Titan.

Ace looked rather haggard, taking deep breaths as he dropped to the ground.

“Baah, exhausted… already,” he groaned. “I really am… getting old.”

“Just a tad bit.” Cereza said calmly as she and Moonlight approached. She tossed the scarf to him and gave him a rather impressed smile, which she soon played off with a shrug, “I would have dealt with it in a far more effective way, but to each their own. Now while I’m not that blown off by your over-dramatic display, something tells me somepony else is…”

“That… Was… AWESOME!” Ace suddenly found his neck being tightly hugged by a giggling Moonlight, who had never seen something quite as epic as that, and was pretty sure he never would, “You are awesome! So freaking awesome! You’re the awesomest dad in the universe!”

Ace smiled, not because of his son’s praise but…

“You, called me dad,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye.

Moonlight’s eyes widened, and he stepped back with an embarrassed blush, “Oh! I… I’m sorry MIster Ace! I don’t know if you’re comfortable with that yet and… we were told on the orphanage that we had to give you some time to get used to that and—”

“It’s fine my boy, better than fine,” Ace pulled the colt into a hug and smirked. “And don’t think I didn’t hear what you called Cereza either.”

His embarrassed blush deepened, “Uhm… I… I’m sorry Miss Cereza. I know you and my… dad, aren’t, you know, married.” He was about to say ‘yet’, but held it back. “And… I messed up again didn’t I?”

Cereza looked at him with a quite surprised expression, before sighing, “Yes, yes you did.” She said plainly, before pulling him over with a wing until her forehead was in contact with his own, “A true hero never doubts, never stutters. A true hero is firm in stance, and words. So stop hesitating child.” She gave the now confused colt a kiss on the forehead and patted his back, “Now let’s go dear, me and your father have a lot to talk about.”

“Uhm… alright.” The griffon’s quirked gaze sent shivers down his spine, and he quickly nodded with a firm, “Yes ma’a- I mean mom!”

“Good boy.” She giggled and draped a wing over the injured Ace, “So, I guess I’m a mother now. I should probably be far more angry at you right now.”

“Perhaps, but I am far too handsome for you to stay mad long,” he chuckled and nuzzled her. Celestia was seeing to Titan, relieved that the possession seemed to be no longer present. But his amulet… it was missing. That, did not bode well.

“Cereza?” she spoke up. “I have a job for you.”

Cereza quirked a brow, an interested hum leaving her beak, “Yes my dear Princess? What can I do for you?”

“I need you to head to a certain home, I have a bad feeling about something…”

The grffoness narrowed her eyes. This... sounded like trouble.

The Pie rock farm was quiet. It was always quiet really, save for when Pinkie Pie visited.

In front of the roaring fireplace, three mares sat. One was a stoic-looking earth pony with a grey coat and a plum-coloured mane and tail. She wore a teal dress and closed her eyes in content as she nuzzled the mare next to her.

“Ah! Not in front of mother,” she gasped, though she didn’t entirely dislike it. “Trixie’s mother does not want to see us canoodling.”

“Actually, I don’t mind at all,” the older mare smiled and nuzzled her as well. “I'm glad you found somepony dependable to love.” She nickered softly and pulled back. Her silver mane hanging loosely against her midnight-blue coat.

“You’re welcome,” Maud Pie said in her usual monotone voice. “She makes me very happy. Sorry I can’t contain myself.”

“So I see,” Ultima Lulamoon chuckled and her ear flicked, her horn shining gently. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and stood up.

“Is something wrong Momma?” Trixie asked her, her ears flattening.

“I'm afraid so my Little Star,” Ultima sighed. “Mommy has to go to work. But I'll be back soon.”

Trixie looked dejected, but another nuzzle from Maud cheered her up a little. “Okay…”

Ultima nodded and bid her farewells, trotting out of the farmhouse and heading towards the station.

“What trouble is that Sun-flanked moron in now?” she muttered irritably.

Chapter Twelve - Sins

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Quick Step stormed through the streets of Cloud District with raging, twitching eyes. Chitin’s face flashed through her head. His devilish smirk. His wicked, fanged smile. His piercing dark green eyes. His… wife and son…

No! He was a treacherous, thieving scum who cared for none but himself. He made her believe they were partners, friends, lovers!

And then he stabbed her in the bloody back when she most needed it. All to protect his stupid pride!

And yet… why was she still feeling like this?

Not only had she most likely ruined a reformed stallion’s life, but she had made a fool of herself in front of the Princess. No. She needed to calm down and relax, wait and see, soothe her raging nerves. And she knew just the mansion for that~

She walked up to the gates of Secure Lines’ house and rang the doorbell, which played a rather joyful tune for such a dangerous place.

She waited, and waited, and waited...

Who was she kidding, Secure was probably at work. Perhaps Celestia would forgive her if she started cleaning the whole Castle…

“Yes?” A head popped out from… inside a bush. Well that was something you don't see everyday, “Oh, it's you. Hey, did you forget anything? I can go grab it for you if you want.”

Quick took a few seconds to respond, still shocked by the fact that the pegasus’ body was nowhere to be seen. Yet after a few seconds of pointless pondering, she shook her head and got her mind where it belonged, “No... not really. I just wanted to know if I could help with the cleaning.” She raised a large bag and offered a smile, “I brought my own equipment to make it easier.”

“Huh… you sure like cleaning don't you?” Secure chuckled and hopped off the bush, flapping her wings to get a few leaves out of her feathers, “Sure. I was planning to do that soon anyways. Damn Archer better pay for the damage once we get him back.” The mare moved to a nearby pillar and just pulled a lever, thing that opened the gates on a very slow fashion, “Usually it's voice activated, but I deactivated almost every system to work in peace. Come on in Miss…”

“Step, Quick Step.” The vanilla Pegasus greeted her with a nod, and made her way inside, “And if I may ask, what were your working on inside that… bush? It's quite the odd place to be.”

“Oh, I wasn't in the bush, I was below it.” When Secure noticed the even more perplexed expression on Quick’s face, she rolled her eyes and waved her off, “It's a secret hatchet that leads directly to the basement, the house’s full of those. Well then, my place is your place. Feel free to do whatever you want to do.”

“Thank you.” Quick nodded as Secure walked back to the bush, “If I need to find you?”

“Just call for me.” And not wanting to lose more time, the yellow coated pegasus jumped back into her hole.

Quick sighed and took another look at the house, now noticing the extent of the damage done. Piles of glass shards were everywhere, from the garden to the pool and even on the stone path that lead to the main door. It'd seem Secure hadn't even bothered with them yet. Well… might as well start now. She grabbed her small broom with her muzzle and leaned down, sweeping the shards away with a small hum.

She kept at it for several minutes, her technique and prowess with the broom, her expertise with the mop, the delicacy with which she used the duster, it would put most maids to shame. Yet as she dusted and swept, she realized that her thoughts would not leave her alone, her afflictions being far stronger than what she had expected. At least she had managed to clean the entrance so it looked like an actual home now. You know, without taking in mind the huge holes in the walls where the windows once stood.

She stepped in to continue her little maid adventure. Luckily the first floor wasn't really affected as the battling took place on the second half of the manor.

But it was the second floor that proved to be a struggle. Flashes of a life long gone passed through her mind. The voices of those she harmed screaming into her troubled soul with every movement of her brush. The pain. The anger. The darkness that had plagued her being for oh so many years.

With a furious roar she slammed her hoof on the wall, eyes dilated, wide open with a raging flame deep inside them. Her chest was breathing heavily, her gaze drifting to the floor were here knees fell. Tears built up on her sky blue eyes, trailing down her reddened vanilla cheeks.

“So… sad.”

Quick froze. That voice… she knew that snarky, mocking tone far too well...

It was her own.

“So pathetic!”

“No, get out!” The pegasus panicked, eyes widening and dilating in horror and anger as her wings flared defensively, even though she knew none was in that room but her.

And yet still… an ear shattering cackle echoed around the house, heard by none but the vanilla-coated pegasus as smoke only she could see spewed from her chest, taking the shape of a three-horned, two legged creature, a set of leathery wings growing from her back and almost taking half the size of the room. And those blood red eyes, slitted like a snake’s with a golden hue surrounding them, they drifted around the room as the massless smoke took form. And then they found Quick Step, a white, toothless grin spreading from ear to ear across the demon’s face.

With another cackle the smoke beast began to change forms once more, four long, slim legs resting on the ceramic floor, her demonic wings stretching and flapping as her coat became a darker shade of white than Quick Step’s, gorgeous golden armor covering her hooves, torso, and neck. And in almost every aspect but the three horns that protruded from her forehead, she was identical to the awestruck maid. From eye color to height, from mane to even rump side.

It was herself.

No… this wasn’t her! This was but a pesky demon so powerful it could destroy the entire district with a wave of her hoof. A demon so evil it had to be sealed into a small, metallic pendant she had thrown away several years ago...

A pendant that now somehow was resting on her neck.

Quick Step gasped, stepping back with a look of pure horror on her stiffened face. The mare ahead laughed as it struck a cocky, yet sensual pose, wings casting a shadow over the maid who struggled to even stand. The spirit of Lust, the heartbreaker from Tartarus, leader of the succubi tribes of old. Lilith, the Queen of the Succubi.

“Now my dear Step, isn’t that a rather rude way of welcoming an old friend?” The succubi mused, circling the pegasi with a haughty giggle, “Now look at you… even after all these years you still look delicious~ And that amulet? It really does suit you well…”

“H-How… I got rid of it! I… I buried it! W-What… no!” Shaking, Quick Step grabbed hold of the pendant’s chain and tried to tug the damned thing off. Yet all she managed to get was a loud laugh from Lilith, the demon forcing the amulet to tighten around her neck nearly choking the stunned mare.

“Once a sin, always a sin my dear.” The demon ran a wing down the mare’s spine with the wisest of smirks, “You really think you can escape that easily? You owe me! I gave you so, so much. We had a deal! And you will pay me. You can’t keep ignoring me any longer, love~”

She could feel it, the necklace taking over her mind, her soul, her being. She had to take it off, she had to fight her! “Fuck… your… deal!” She roared, slashing at the golden chains with a knife. Blood was drawn from the scruff of her neck, training the emblem red. Yet she did not care, she just watched the pendant fall with a metallic clink. With a magical glow, the chains were sealed together once more. Step did not care, a cocky grin stretching across her lips as her thoughts cleared up once more.

The demon on the other hoof didn't look quite as thrilled, her long hairless tail waving calmly as her body took a far more demonic look, “And here I thought you missed me... After all the things we did together. All the beautiful treasure we gathered, all the adventures we we went through... all the stallions we had at our hooves~”

“You mean all the things we stole, all the rampages were went through, and all the stallions we hypnotized?” Quick snorted, stomping down on the amulet with a smirk, “Yeah... I think you and I have a very different idea of what we went through dear. Now fuck off before I bury you again!“

“Silly, silly Secure. You’ve become so… nice. It’s saddening really. But do not fret my dear. I can easily help you—”

A red light flashed in Quick’s eyes, and she felt her heart stop, her breath hitch, and her soul… it felt like if her soul had been ripped out of her body. No. Nonono! This...couldn’t happen! She didn’t have the amulet!

“—remember~”

Quick gasped for breath as she landed on the floor, a surge of pain storming through her body the moment she crashed into the cement streets. She could barely feel her legs and wings, her head aching as if a thousand tons of weight had been slammed into it. Slowly, and painfully, she began to open her eyes, the cold of the night air sending shivers down her spine.

She was most definitely no longer in Secure’s house. Heck, she wasn’t even in Canterlot if the smell of saltwater and the sound of waves crashing against the coast was any indication.

Ahead, a tall white brick building stood. The symbol of the Two Sisters’ was painted on a glass mosaic that rested beautifully above the two large white doors, golden details decorating the seemingly hoof crafted entrance.

A tall tower rose from the roof as well, the powerful breeze creating a rather calming chimed ringing as the several small bells were pushed around by the powerful breeze

Quick Step's eyes widened to the side of platter at the sight. She knew this place. She recognized it immediately. This was Manehattan, the heat coastal city of Equestria. Fourteen years ago to be precise. And she knew she was in one of the very last remaining places of worship of Celestia. A church. A place of peace and faith, of good.

Tears formed in her eyes when they glanced at the glass Mosaic. She knew what would happen. She knew that in mere minutes if not less it would be destroyed into nothing.

Crash!

Just like expected, the glass shattered into several million pieces, and a rather old looking stallion was sent flying into a nearby apple tree, the darkened skies above and the tree’s own shadow hiding his bloody body from view. Quick wanted to believe he had survived that. She wanted to rush to him and help him. She knew better.

The faint sound of waves crashing against the cliff where the church rested, the dim light that gave the area a grim, dark feel, the scent of blood, dread, and chaos in the air. It all felt so… real. It only made her tears flow more freely.

A powerful shiver ran down her spine and she felt her body tremble slightly. Her eyes widened when something seemingly phazed through her body. Another pony altogether.

She was teal earth pony mare with muscular yet still feminine complexion. Her long, wavy pink mane dancing slowly behind her to the wind’s pained balad. Her stunning golden eyes shone with determination, with valor and courage. Her body, protected by heavy silver armor with slim metallic blue and pink details, rested firmly against her body as she gazed at the church ahead, sensing the power that emanated from it, power that caused her hoof to instinctively move to one of the two scabbards on her belt.

A second pony, a unicorn stallion who shared the same coloration as the mare, followed behind. He wore a light chainmail golden-colored armor instead. Several flasks containing a variety of potions of different colors and sizes hung from his own belt, next to a small knife and bag of bits that were yet to find a use, and still he carried around everywhere just in case. A large odd-looking staff rested on his back, and tied to said staff a large book with a pristine blue cover and a green faint aura surrounding it. Majere’s Staff and the Polynomicon. Items of legend only a wizard of his calibre could ever hope to wield.

She knew those two, an unwanted feel of hatred filling her gut at the sight of the two ponies she thought she’d never see again. Two ponies said to have come from a long-forgotten island far east from the Celestial Sea, an island filled with ponies whose magical and physical prowess was far greater than most, legends and rumors speaking even of god-like powers. The Aesir. Twins, warriors, members of Celestia’s royal guard and most importantly two of the most renowned Specialists of modern history. Andraste, the Slayer of Beasts, Celestia’s Saber. And Gwydion, the Magnificent Mage, Celestia’s Caster.

“This is the place?” Gwydion asked calmly, taking in the sights of both the eerie place of worship and the body laying under the tree.

“If the fact that there's smoke coming from a church isn't a good enough giveaway, the reports say that yes, she's here.” Andraste’s eyes drifted to the side, noticing the body that was lying on the tree’s exposed root as well, “And most likely with enough bodies to fill a morgue room.”

“As expected.” The stallion sighed deeply, taking a quick breath before brandishing his silver staff, a pure white crystal orb resting on its dragon-like claw, “It's time to end this. For Celestia, and the kingdom.”

The mare also brandished her own weapons, two beautiful black-colored long swords which glowed with an eerie light, “For Celestia, and the kingdom.”

Quick Step observed the two ponies with wide eyes, a part of her wanted to scream, to tell them to get out of there and call for backup. She wanted to stop them, she wanted to stop what was about to happen, but she knew she was powerless, she was but a spectator of one of her past’s most dreadful moments.

The two ponies looked at each other as they advanced, they knew that what awaited them was not going to be easy, pretty, or joyful. This was no regular threat, no silly little monster creating some chaos for the fun of it. No…

They could die. And they knew it very well.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

The twins let out a mighty cry as they bucked the doors open, stepping forwards with weapons ready for action. But… what they saw? It was shocking. Horrifying. Gut-wrenching. Truly the work of a monster.

Thick crimson blood oozed from the cracked walls, the scent of death and destruction filling their being. Remains of the ancient church were scattered across the smoking, dust-filled room, from benches to statues and emblems, all now nothing but dust and rubbish. Vibrant red vines spread across the walls and floors, ethereal, magical, filled with dark energy as they pulsed very much like veins, seemingly draining the color out of everything it managed to reach. And at least a couple dozen bodies could be spotted between the remains, ponies all of them of various ages and types. Some religious leaders. Others mere followers. Not a single twitch or jerk to signal they were still alive.

And in the middle of it all, a vanilla colored Pegasus mare hovered in the air surrounded by a powerful dark aura that kept her there, her wings don’t even needing to move. Her blood red snake-like eyes admired her brand new treasure, a golden scepter with beautiful rubies encrusted on its handle, an historical item used for the most sacred of ceremonies. Around her, the same kind of vines bound those ponies still conscious. One of them wore a long white and pink tunic staind with the blood of its followers and friends, an earth pony that struggled to break free, mixture of anger and fear tormenting his soul.

“Hmmm, such a shame. Keeping such a beautiful little thing hidden in these miserable, dusty old churches should be a sin of its own. Does this thing actually hold any power? Or is it all just a giant ruse you use for attention?” The demon hummed and tilted her head curiously, before turning it around and using the flat head to keep herself steady, “I wonder… I’ve always wanted to see what makes these tick...” The sage’s eyes widened when he saw the mare hitting the staff against a fractured bronze statue of Celestia. With a grunt, he tried to break free again, adding more and more strength even with his elderly body.

But the binds just became tighter and far more painful to his body.

“Oh? What’s this? My brand new little pet wants to play~!” Lilith giggled and pulled him closer, eyes locked onto each other, her hot breath washing over him, “Actually… breaking this would be such a waste… Maybe I could use it as a brand new, fancy toy. One for my… ‘special collection’ if you know what I mean~”

“You… bloody, atrocious being! You shan’t get away with this… I… I won’t let you disrespect the sacred treasures… of our Princess!” The sage grunted, looking around to try and find a way out yet finding nothing but death and despair, the sight of his follower’s bodies spread across the flooring crushing his heart.

Noticing this, Lust couldn’t help but cackle maniacally, the vibrations of her laughter making the whole building shake rapidly, making the already heavily damaged building crack and drop several more heavy pieces of debris over everything around them, “You!? Oh but you are nothing but a puny old stallion! The only reason I still have you alive and breathing is because your squirming is simply delightful. So learn your place, pet. Or else... I’ll split your body in bloody half!”

The stallion chuckled, a faint, breathless chuckle. And then, without a hint of fear, without a hint of shame or regret... he spit on Lust’s face.

The pegasus was speechless. He… he just disrespected her, he just bloody disrespected her! The aura around them intensified and a demonic hiss filled his ears, so high pitched and filled with energy that it made them bleed. She would not stand for disrespectful pets, those were useful for one thing and one thing only. To be killed and fed to the crows!

The chains lifted him up and strangled his body, his breath hitching and his eyes near ready to pop out of his sockets. Lust just watched him with a bloodthirsty grin, waiting to see when the poor stallion would give in, when his body would just give up and break!

She was barely able to see the slash that cut the chains in half, nor the aura that pulled the stallion away. And she barely got to notice the sulfur-heavy trail the aura had left behind…

Before it blew up in her face, causing more and more parts of the roof to fall on her until the sky was clearly visible from inside. Lust screeched in pain and covered her blinded eyes, her vines rising like snakes in the air and snapping like whips. The rage inside her grew stronger, alongside the creepy, startling bloodthirsty grin as her magic intensified.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here? It seems like Princess Celestia finally sent in the cavalry, huh loves? Are you here to pick up the remains of these pagan followers, hmm? Or are you here to get yourself punished?” Once Lust’s eyes recovered, she eyed the two with a hungry gaze, wondering if they would be good enough to entertain her for a bit. The magical aura that they emanated was powerful yes, far more than all of these idiotic religious bastard. But in her opinion? They were still nothing but pests.

Andraste stepped up, the two black swords levitating around her even without the aid of unicorn magic. They pointed at Lust, their sharp blades glimmering with the moonlight that filtered through the broken windows. “Succubus Queen Lilith, in the name of the Crown, Equestria, and Celestia herself, you are under arrest for murder, thievery, hypnotism, and illegal usage of the dark arts. Deliver yourself to us immediately and you shan't be harmed!”

Lust blinked, was… was she being serious? Her cackle made the cliff itself tremble, the chains snapping and wiggling in the air and dropping all the ponies they held to the floor, striking them once to make sure they were knocked out and out of the way. “You… want me to surrender to the crown? To the filthy glorified mare? Please, do you even know who I am?”

“Lust. One of the seven demonic generals, the Seven Deadly Sins. You and the other six worked under the command of Aka Manah, the Demon Lord millennias ago. He was slain, you were sealed inside seven powerful amulets. Anything else you want to know about yourself?” Gwydion snarked and pointed at Lust’s neck with his staff, his expression unchanged as he gave the shining necklace an eyeful, “That, is what we’re after. We would rather not hurt the mare you're controlling, hence why we’re giving you one final chance to surrender before we do something we’ll probably regret later.”

Lust smirked, now this was getting interesting, “So what? You’ve done your research, good on you. But knowing my past means nothing little pet. It only shows that you should be far more scared than what you are right now.”

“Scared?” Andraste chuckled, “I don’t feel scared, I feel sorry, sorry for the mare who you’ve put under your curse.” Her blades flew forwards and in a blink of an eye darted past her, two fresh cuts now on her cheeks, “And I plan to end that!”

Lust remained silent for a while, static, frozen solid as a wing gently grazed her cheek. Blood… nobody had managed to make her bleed before.

Oh, it was on! The demon mare laughed maniacally and raised her hoof, a crimson red whip materializing from thin air and circling around it, “Then it is time to educate some pesky little brats! Time to show you your place, and make you kneel before your mistress!” She cracked the whip and plunged it forwards, a powerful wave of magic shooting from it. Andraste deviated the wave with her two shining blades as they returned just in time, the magical blast now shooting upwards and crashing against the roof.

The resulting explosion was massive, the whole church trembling and even more debri falling down on everypony still there. Luckily, Gwydion was around to cast shields and protect those who needed it.

“One of those hits could easily kill us.” Andraste hummed.

“Luckily, she won’t be able to hit us.” The stallion dashed back as his horn glowed a deep purple light, forming a similarly colored circle that floated in the air. He swung the tip of the cane inside the ethereal ring, creating a strange, ancient symbol that pulsed with power… before firing a storm of small pebble-sized projectiles at the demon at speeds none could match.

Lust grinned and cracked her whip, dozen of vines firing from its base and whipping the air, blocking every single projectile with expert precision. Her eyes darted to the left where the mare rapidly approached. Huh, seemed like she could somehow run on walls. Eh it didn't matter anyways. She pulled her whip back and mused a thought, letting the rest of the projectiles approach her…

They all hit, they all pierced through her body and left bloody drops behind as they kept their way, finally halting when they reached the wall. But she seemed unphased by this, unaffected by the several holes that were now in her body.

“Pathethic.” She lifted her whip and blocked the incoming attack from the side, the whip coiling around the blades and then around the mare, before throwing her away, “Simply pathetic.” She cracked the whip once more, and it began to vibrate, morphing into dozens of little knives that floated around her, “Are these really the mighty Specialists? The most powerful members of the Royal Guard? And the worst of it all, they dare to send only the two most worthless, pathetic meat sacks instead of the entire pack!” The twin’s eyes widened when they noticed how the wounds made by the projectiles began to close down, healing in an instant, “I’ll show that pathetic mare not to underestimate the powers of the Sins. I'll show her who I truly am! With your deaths!” She released the knives, and each and every one of them stormed towards the two ponies. The mage called for a shield with his magic, giving the two time to think on their next move as the magical blades bounced off the shield, still managing to crack the arcane barrier.

“You remember now, don’t you? All that power, the power to make the world kneel down before you, the power to get anything and everything you want. The power I gave you. It was beautiful, don’t you think?”

Quick just watched silently as the battle kept going. The shield had just been broken and the two twins had jumped their separate ways to dodge the barrage of knives. The thorned vines quickly grabbed hold of them, binding their legs, and limited their movement. With a quick swing of her sword, Andraste slashed the vins into several little pieces that faded away into nothing, freeing herself and then doing the same for her brother, who fired off several dozen Magic Missiles that flew at her from several directions, only to be blown into smithereens by the demon’s agile whips.

Yet the twins dared not to give up their relentless attack. Andraste swung and parried at the rampaging vines, her moves swift like a coursing river, her attacks with all the force of a great typhoon, the blasts of energy that came from her blades holding all the strength of a raging fire, and her moves, unpredictable, swift, and deadly, as mysterious as the dark side of the moon.

Gwydion on the other hoof was simply untouchable, teleporting left and right to avoid the barrage of attacks that came his way. And everytime his magic flicked a knife away, he fired a projectile right back at the cackling demoness.

Quick Step just observed the battle with pained eyes. She had failed to notice when her hooves had started to move on their own, walking through the battlefield as dozens and dozens of dangerous projectiles phazed through her. Quick looked at the hissing demoness with horrified fascination, drawn by the power, by the corruption. With every step she took, she could feel her old past come closer and closer.

Lust slowly drove her gaze away from the two Specialists, turning to her direction as if the pegasi was there herself. And with the widest of smirks, fangs glimmering with the moonlight that pierced through the roofless building, she extended her hoof to her.

Quick Step stared at it for what felt like an eternity. She… she had to touch her, she needed to reach her, to reach her power. Her… power.

But her attention was soon taken away from Lust by a powerful, ear-shattering boom that caused the ground to tremble violently. The two specialists seemed unfazed by this, ignoring it altogether as they kept on fighting. But both the demoness and the pegasus looked at the sky with wide open eyes.

“No!” Lust screeched out, her body growing red and bursting in flames. Her whip cracked and dove for the pegasi, coiling around her body and binding her still before slowly pulling her closer and closer, Lilith’s eyes flaring up with hellish flames, “You won’t get away again, I won’t let you! We will be reunited my dear, we will conquer this world and everyone in it. We… WE WILL-”

“We will do nothing but part ways, dear.” Quick said softly as the vines fell apart, her gaze dark, her head down, rage and frustration filling her heart, “ have a life now, friends and allies who would stop at nothing to bring me back. But I won’t let you hurt them. Any of them!” She stomped on the floor and the whole church cracked in half, the two specialists freezing mid-air, as time seemed to just stop, “Golden Swords Agent Oh four two! Specialist Assistant of the Royal Guard! Honorary Soldier of the Griffonstone Army! Friend of Midnight Song, Pickett Midnight, Cereza Blume, and many, many others I will forever fight for!”

Another boom was heard, followed by a mighty current of wind stronger than any hurricane could ever hope to be, everything from the church to the cliff itself vanishing from sight in a matter of seconds. And so, Lilith and Quick were face to face, the demoness staring into the maid’s eyes with a hissing scowl, wings spread wide open as her shadow loomed over her.

But Quick knew, this was her mind, and she had all the power of the universe here!

“So you better get your slutty demon ass away from here, and never come back!” Quick growled, the shadow vanishing into nothing as her entire body glowed with a bright, golden hue, ”Or else, I shall take that stupid amulet, travel to Tartarus, and feed it to bloody Cerberus. And you and I both know pet, I will do it!” She smirked, her aura quickly drowning Lust’s own, “So, without further to do. Get wrecked, scum.”

And then, the final boom…

And the two mares were gone.

“Gasp!”

Quick Step awoke with ragged breath, a racing heart, and a body that felt a million times heavier than it really was. Her eyes burned like fire as they darted left and right uncontrollably.

“Shhh, easy there.”

Quick’s eyes closed as she felt the tender, caring ministrations of a claw running through her mane and coat, her breath becoming steady and the storm of emotions inside her head turning as peaceful as a forest glade.

Her head was slowly raised to meet Cereza’s gaze, the griffon’s amber eyes soothing Quick’s troubled soul. She held the pegasus close, hugging her tightly from behind, several small cuts spread across her face, “Now that was quite intense my dear, I almost feared you wouldn’t make it.”

The pegasi’s eyes widened at the sight, lips quivering as her hoof slowly moved to graze the injuries, “Your… your face.” But her hoof was quickly pushed away by Cereza who just shook her head with a comforting smile.

“Don’t worry love. It’s nothing a good hour of makeup can’t fix eh?”

“Cheesiness aside, I sure as hell I’m glad that’s over“ Came a relieved sigh from the house’s owner. Several cuts were also present throughout Secure Lines’ body, and she seemed to be limping slightly. But otherwise, the mare seemed to be alright, “Cleaning girl? You and I have two very different definitions of cleaning.”

That’s when Quick Step finally noticed the mess she had made. walls had been shredded, glass shards spread across the floor while several of her very own knives rested all over the place. And her doubts were confirmed. She had harmed them. This chaos around them? It was her doing.

She… she did all of this.

Cereza shushed her thoughts and pressed the pegasus’ head against her feathery chest, letting the warmth and softness do their magic on the frightened dear, “Shhhh, it wasn’t you and you know it. Lust forced you to wear it and well, let’s just say I’m lucky I checked on you when I heard what happened with Celestia. That and Miss Lines here managed to cut the pendant with a perfectly executed spear shot. Quite a task considering all the points she had to avoid.” She chuckled as her claw ran across Quick’s now bare neck, following it by a kiss on the cheek while Secure just shrugged nonchalantly.

“I… I'm… so sorry. “ Quick whispered and sunk her head on Cereza’s fur, “I was weak, she easily took control of me. I… could have killed you two.”

“But you didn't.” Both Cereza and Secure said in unison.

The griffon ran her claw through Quick’s mane once more and down her cheek, before grabbing the mare’s chin and lifting it up, her gaze falling on the griffon's eyes once more, “Lust could have given a far more terrifying fight, my darling. But you stopped her from fully linking your souls. You stopped her from killing us, you didn't hurt us… “

“You saved us. I don’t know what the fuck is going on to be honest. But that sounds like quite the feat.” Secure nodded, laying down besides the other two and draping a wing over the maid.

Yet Quick still felt terribly guilty. If only she had stopped Lust as soon as she appeared... Curled up into a ball, she clenched her eyes shut to avoid their peaceful eyes, to hide the tears that slowly rolled down the size of her face. She was far too exhausted. And if she was being honest with herself, she really didn't want to look at neither of them right now.

The griffon easily picked up on this and just kept petting the mare’s head until Quick’s breath slowed down, finally falling asleep after a while. With a quick nod, she carefully removed herself from around the mare and shook her wings, a few drips of blood falling to the floor as several large cuts spread across her torso came to view. She didn’t want to say it but Secure’s spear had failed… the griffon had to get close and personal to get rid of the amulet, “Please take care of her. I'll pay everything that must be payed. Once she wakes up, make sure she eats something.”

“No need for the money, got plenty of that.” The guardsmare chuckled as she stood up as well, glancing at Quick with a puzzled look. Finding her guest in the middle of her second floor chanting some weird demonic bullshit while glowing red was not something she expected, but even she who knew almost nothing about these so called demons, could notice how much Quick was struggling to break free. She was truly admirable, “I’ll take care of her, it’s the least I can do after seeing the amazing work she did on the front lawn.”

“I’ll come back for her later. There’s something I must do first.” And just like that, Cereza took off, soaring out the giant hole in the window with a burst of wind.

Secure didn’t question it. She just grabbed the sleeping mare and took her to the main room. Rebuilding that house… well that was a pain for another day.

The soft night breeze of Manehattan, the calmness of the waves crashing against the cliff. It seemed like a completely normal and peaceful night, if it wasn’t for the remains of an obliterated church, and the piles of bodies that were spread all around it.

One of those bodies was a rather young teal earth pony mare, one black short sword laying right beside her.

The other sword? It was currently pressing against a vanilla pegasus’ throat, held in the grasp of a crying unicorn stallion, his body shaking, the injuries on his body oozing red, his now broken staff on the floor mere inches away from him. He looked at the demonic pegasus’ eyes and growled, the blade doing a small cut yet nothing that could be considered deadly.

“Do it then, kill me, take revenge for your sister’s death and end with me once and for all.” Lust hissed and cracked her tail like a whip. She had been defeated, yet even then she felt proud of everything she had accomplished, and the annoying bloodthirsty grin she wore caused the stallion’s nerves to intensify. “I’ve killed dozens, robbed from dozens more. Just look at the life I stole from that so called specialist. She was so pretty, so noble, soー”

“Quiet!” Gwydion commanded, gritting his teeth in rage, “Y-You monster… you scum! I shall get rid of you once and for all!”

“Then kill me boy! Just one slash and it is all over! Cut the head of a demoness and her spirit will fade away, you know that don’t you? I’d like to think the one who defeated me isn’t that dumb.” Lust scowled, before chuckling and stretching her neck, pressing it closer to the blade, “Or perhaps you just lack the balls to do so.”

“Kill you?” He snorted in rageful amusement, “I’m no fool Lust. I know that if I kill her you will just vanish, and give yourself to someone else. No. I will get rid of you, by saving the mare who you have under your control. That was my mission all along, not to get rid of the amulet, but to free this poor mare who you’ve corrupted. I can sense her, her faint aura begging for help. Once a courtesan, a mare who gave herself to anyone just to feed her upcoming child. Now a thief, a criminal, a murderer. You were forced to leave your child by the very same who gave it to you, and abandon all your equinity for the sake of power.”

Lust’s eyes narrowed, “Are you really trying to reach up to her? Hah… fool. She’s gone, forever! So just kill me and get this over with, you cowardly pet.”

“No, she’s not gone… she’s far stronger than you will ever give her credit for.” Gwydion raised the golden scepter that Lust had stolen and focused on it, gathering its power, connecting his soul with it. He raised it and pointed at Lust’s heart, a single tear falling from his eye, “In the name of Celestia, I seal you inside this mare’s heart, who shall be your master for here until the day she dies, and you die with her. You shall no longer control her, but service her! And you will then see the pain you’ve made her gone through, suffer when she suffers, cry when she cries, and forever be one with her. And she shall never falter, her soul shall never linger. No… she will forever fight you, and keep us all safe.”

Lust screeched and tried to move away, yet the scepter kept her still. The magic it emanated was far too bright, far too strong for her to fight it, and already could she sense her powers be drained and sucked back into the abyss. Yet this time, her powers were split, a part going back to the amulet, while the rest stood inside the mare, inside the deepest parts of her mind and soul.

“N-No… you can’t… you can’t do this!” Lust roared, yet Gwydion just turned around and left the demon mare to be, grabbing his sister’s body and carrying it into the city, “N-No! I… I can not die, I am Lust, the Queen of Succubus, the most powerful of the sins, the one who shall rule it all!”

Her screams were completely ignored, her voice fading with every passing minute, until they became inaudible whispers. And the mare, was put to rest.

School.. was boring. Without Lancey here to help her with answers, Pockets couldn’t afford to fall asleep in class. Her eyelids were heavy and she was still feeling drained from using her magic earlier.

“MISS MIDNIGHT!” the elderly mare called out.

“Popcorn! I mean, HERE!” She called out, raising her hoof, “Uhm… yes?”

“Midnight…” the mare sighed and shook her head. “You look like the end results of a necromancy summoning. Why don’t you go to the nurse’s office? I’ll have the class notes delivered to you later.”

Oh how much she loved this mare right now. If only every teacher could be like her and not like… shudder, Ancient Tome, “Uhm… sure! Thank you, and real sorry for this Miss Lecture, I promise to be super duper awake next time!”

“Yes, well we are aware of your… situation. Now run along. Oh and Midnight?”

The unicorn mare paused.

“You’ll be getting a pop quiz on this subject during your next class.”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll study my butt off for that, expect an A+++ for that one Miss Lecture, because you better believe I’ll blow it out of the-” And then she fell on the floor with a loud pomf, her snoring filling the room.

The class chuckled as her teacher offered a slow clap at her performance. She looked around the room and spied one mare in particular, a new student? “Uh, hmm. Sweet Aroma was it? Would you mind taking her to the office?”

“Yes ma’am,” the unicorn mare said with a small smirk and lifted Pockets with her magic, carrying her off. This was almost too easy~

“Hhmm, now my dear cousin. What shall we do first? We could start by hypnotizing every single one of your male classmates, make them fall to my knees and do my bidding just like those guards.. oh that was such a wonderful day. Or, I could just take you with me right now and finish the ceremony, get your powers, and begin my rule over this pitiful land.” Oh the dilemma, the two options just sounded far too delightful.

But… she had a duty to fulfill first. There was a reason she was there, after all. And for once, it wasn’t because of her cousin.

Aroma made her way towards the school’s gym area, humming a happy tune. If she wanted to take over Equestria, she needed an army. Not a huge army of brainless zombies like the ones she had used so far, but a small yet effective army of powerful individuals, who would do anything for her. And what groups were more powerful than the legendary Seven Sins, and of course…the Specialists.

And standing right there, working as a substitute teacher for the old mare in charge of the physical education class, was a tan-coated pegasus stallion. He watched as several mares and stallions ran around the obstacle course, a long red lance tucked under his wing. His cutie Mark was of a boar’s head?

Ehg, these ponies and their strange flank symbols.

Still, it mattered little. The Cutie Mark would mean nothing once he was under her spell. She all but tossed Pockets to the side, making sure to leave some pheromones on her nostril that’d keep her on a heavy sleep, and walked towards the stallion with a wide grin.

“Substitute teacher Gungnir!” She called out cutely, her ponytail swinging from side to side, “A minute please?”

He looked up and that piercing gaze met with hers. a small smile crossed his muzzle and he strode over to meet her. “For a beautiful young mare like yourself?” he asked, his voice was a smooth as silk. “I have all the time in the world.”

Aroma giggled and got closer to him, her hoof trailing along his chest, that lean, muscular chest, “You see… I’ve been having some problems lately with a friend of mine. I was hoping…” A strange pink fog surrounded the two, almost invisible to the untrained eye. It quickly climbed up Gungnir’s body, and filled his every orifice, “You could help me with that, isn’t that right my dear professor?”

“Hmm, perhaps a little extra-curricular study?” he purred, the smoke… hadn’t taken effect yet? “Well, I could help with that. Mind you, my classes tend to be hard and vigorous~”

What… why was he acting so natural? He was under her control now, right? What… what was going on?

She giggled a tad nervously and shook her head, yet her hoof kept doing circles on his chest, “No, not that kind of help. I need another kind, one more direct and aggressive.” Come on, she was using half of her hypnotic powers now, this was bound to work… right?

“Ahh, I can do that,” he mused. “It’s been a while since I hunted my prey. Though… I do tend to take my time devouring it~” His eyes looked deep into hers, their crystal-blue orbs seeming staring straight through her.

“Y-You… you’re not feeling weird about this? Nothing?” Aroma asked nervously. This was ridiculous, there was no way any regular stallion could stand her powers, especially not one as amorous as this one!

“Oh, don’t worry my dear, I’m quite experienced in my spear-techniques~” he said as he trailed a wingtip down her spine.

Aroma shuddered and gasped. This was bad, this was real bad. First the minotaur had broken out of her control, and now this guy wasn’t even affected in the slightest! She needed to fix this… one final push, one final push and he should be hers forever.

“Hmm, I don’t know about forever,” he mused. Oh fairy wings, did she say that outloud? “But, I don’t mind giving you a night you shan’t soon forget~”

That’s it. She was moving on to plan B. Her scaredy, nervous college student look vanished and turned into a smirk, a creepy giggle sending the most unsettling of vibes through Gungnir's body, “Oh, believe me. You will be giving me something alright…your will, your control, your soul itself.” Suddenly the mare grabbed something from her bag, a knife, a small silver knife. She slashed, and the pegasus managed to dodge just in time, only leaving a minor cut on his neck.

“Well, my little kitten has some claws,” he mused. “Sorry love, but it seems you’re not quite my… type…?” He uh… he didn’t feel so good.

Aroma giggled and raised her knife, and it was now that Gungnir could see the liquid that dripped from it, a strong pink liquid that emanated a powerful scent of laurels, which she just licked away with a playful, devilish giggle. Her plan B, a very strong aphrodisiac, a potion with effects similar to her curse, but far, far stronger.

“I uh…” the stallion wobbled, trying to clear his clouded mind, but it only seemed to make it worse. A moment later, he just stood there still, staring blankly ahead.

“Now my dear slave, I want you to get every pony in this gym out of here. Class’ dismissed it seems.” She needed to test the waters with something simple, something easy to make sure the spell had worked.

Then his spear lashed out, missing her by inches as he struck the shadows behind her. From the darkened hall, a light glinted and metal crashed against metal, a pair of emerald eyes glaring from the shadows.

“Tch! I was too late,” Midnight muttered as Lancer pulled his spear back.

Aroma mused and looked back, oh now this was rather convenient, “Well what do we have here. So you finally picked up with my little game? Took you long enough. Tell me Midnight Song, what kind of leader leaves her group unattended, just out there without any sort of supervision, and doesn’t realize when one of their members suddenly disappear?”

“Admittedly, I dropped the ball this time,” Midnight said as she emerged from the shadows. Her armour glinted in the sunlight, the deep blacks and purples shone like the night sky. “But you were easy enough to track. The rotten stench of your magic was easy to follow.”

“And yet you were unable to follow me when I escaped last time.” Aroma chuckled and just waved her off, “Anyways. It was nice seeing you, not, but I have more important things to do. I know Pride is here, in the castle, under the Princess’ protection. The… academy, this place has a pathway leading to the south entrance doesn’t it?” She hummed, but shrugged, “Not like it matters, my brand new strong, powerful, handsome knight will be able to find it. Now Lancer dear, I have two missions for you today. First, and most importantly, find Pride.” She turned to Midnight and smirked, “Second, grab my cousin and kill anyone who gets in your way.”

Lancer hadn’t broken eye contact with Midnight. Nor had she with him.

The students that were in the gym fled, weapons were out and they were getting out!

“Lancer. Stand down,” she commanded as the pegasus trembled. Midnight stepped closer and in a flash, he raised his lance at her face, the tip millimeters from her eyes.

“Lancer…’ Midnight replied. There was… something about her voice. Something that shook Aroma to her very core. “Prin comanda mea! Am spus, stau jos!” Midnight’s eyes flickered red, as did Lancer’s and he took to his knees, bowing to Midnight Song as his spear clattered to the ground.

Aroma stepped back, her legs trembling, her eyes widened, “What… h-how. That potion, that potion was meant to curse him forever, to keep him under my control no matter what. Y-yet you... who… no, what are you?”

Midnight turned and drew her blades, the rich deep-purple swords hummed as she felt her disguise weakening. “I am the Conductor. You have committed crimes against Equestria. Stand down or I will take you down.”

Aroma whimpered, and… her whimpers faded. They were soon replaced by a confident smirk, “Right… in my trap.”

Midnight’s ears picked up a slight sound, far, far away from their position. The sound of a bow being fired… Aroma hadn’t blinked, she wanted to see the bat become a pincushion.

That was the only reason she hadn’t missed that blur of motion, as Midnight brought her wingblade down, the two halves of what was a golden arrow striking the ground on either side of her.

“Archer,” he said in that creepy flat tone she’d been using. Then her wings blurred, a flurry of motion as she batted aside the barrage of arrows, they struck the walls, ceiling and floor, but she remained unharmed.

“Tsk, you filthy flying rat.” Aroma grunted. Time for plan C. She jumped into the line of fire, and allowed the arrows to pierce her body. Strands of grass and roots became visible, and the insides of her gassy disguise were fred…

And they smelled of sulfur.

The resulting explosion got rid of the entirety of the now empty gym. Nothing, not even the toughest of beings, could have been left unharmed by that.

Well, this is if Midnight hadn’t collapsed part of the ceiling to use as a shield.

And then she remembered… Pockets! She cleared through the wreckage and started looking around. “Pickett? Where are you?”

There was no response.

“Pickett, answer me!”

There was still no response.

“Pickett!”

Snoooore!

Resting there, right below two broken metal beams, their sharp ends inches away from her head…. was a still heavily asleep unicorn. If it wasn’t for the fact that Midnight Song was a little different at the moment, somepony would be getting a bitten butt. She flew over to her and carefully extracted the beams enough to pull her free. “Well, she got away… again. But at least she failed to get you and Lancer…” She blinked and looked around. Wait, where was…

Stars dammit.

Long ago, a group of seven dangerous bandits terrorized the streets of Manehattan. Bandits who were said to hold the power of ancient demonic beings, with powers said to rival the Princesses themselves. Yes, corrupted, evil beings who would stop at nothing until they got what they wanted, even taking as many lives as necessary in the process. They all were monsters in their own right, each with their own sins and horrific crimes.

Three of them now calmly waited on Princess Celestia’s throne room. One of them a pacifistic changeling stallion trying to find success in a world against him to feed his loving family. The other one a grumpy secret pegasus spy with a strange fascination for cleaning. And the third was a calm classy Minotaur, covered from head to hoof in bandages.

“Titan, Chitin.” Quick Step said quietly and just kept looking ahead. Two days ago she would have tried to stay as far away as possible from anything that had to do with the Sins. But now? She just didn’t want to say anything that could make her feel more guilty than she already felt, what with her attacking Chitin not too long ago, “You two… are looking good, not a day older.”

“Thank you.” Chitin nodded, this was just as awkward for him as it was for Quick Step. Yet unlike her, he did want to try and get a conversation going, to get rid of all the bad vibes, “You… seem to have been in quite the battle, Titan.”

“Astute observation Master Chitin,” the Minotaur said with a small wince. “Outside, I have little to worry about. But when one is punched three hundred times in the span of an eyeblink, it doesn’t do wonders for one’s organs.”

“Heh… yeah, you were always the toughest cookie to bite.” Quick chuckled, “A hundred stabs in under five minutes and you were like if nothing had happened. Yet one of your punches straight to my face and I was done for.”

Chitin chuckled and shook his head, “Those were quite the amusing battles to watch.”

“I do apologies Miss Step,” Titan bowed his head. “You gave as good as you got however. It was a solid month before I was able to please a female again.”

Chitin actually laughed out loud at that and this made the cutest of blushes appear on Quick’s face, “Oh shut up you two. Geez, you may speak like a noble knight, but deep inside you’re still the same old Titan I met, aren’t you?”

“Shh, not so loud, I have most of these ponies buying it,” Titan whispered.

Quick just pushed him away playfully with a laugh of her own. Even after all that had happened, she had to admit, it was good seeing her old friends. It kind of reminded her of the times before they found those stupid amulets.

“Now look at you two. Members of Celestia’s Royal Guard, truly honorable members of society.” Chitin smiled as he looked at the two just messing around, “Sure things have changed. And then you have Volk working as one of the most well known international chefs on Equus.”

“Volk?” Quick quirked a brow, “You mean the dragon who would cook us feasts just to eat half of it by himself and then cook himself some more? Damn…”

“He was always a rather good cook.” Chitin nodded and smirked at Titan, “And I believe Mister ‘I can eat five of these boars by myself in under an hour!’ can attest to that.”

“Don’t you mean Mister ‘Oh gods the pain! My stomach, it hurts!’?” Quick smirked as well, “He was known as the Brown Terror for an entire month.”

“I’m not too weak to squash a bug and swat a fly,” he rumbled at the two of them.

“There’s the Titan I know and love.” Chitin chuckled.

Yet before any more old memories could come up, the doors were open and Princess Celestia walked in, followed closely by Midnight, and a yawning Pickett. Even after about two hours of deep sleep, she was still pretty sleepy.

“Your majesty.” The trio said almost in unison and did a respectful reverence as the alicorn approached. Titan visibly stiffened when he saw Midnight in her armour, her emerald eyes locking onto his and he flinched again, saluting.

Then she looked at Quick and… the mood Quick was feeling was far different. Midnight was playful, sneaky and rather reprehensible. This Midnight? Quick felt the urge to salute, lest she lose a hoof or her head. Chitin narrowed his eyes, not because he didn’t trust her, not because he feared her… but because that mare, in his trained changeling eyes, could have might as well be dead. She held no emotion, her heartbeat was almost mechanical, and her eyes were cold and soulless. That mare… she terrified him.

“Is everything alright?” Celestia asked Chitin, then realised he was undisguised and Midnight was standing right there. ‘I hate foresight,’ the mare thought to herself. But Midnight was needed, she couldn’t send her off just yet. “Just um, pretend she’s a statute.”

Chitin slowly nodded, and stepped back just in case, his eyes never moving away from the thestral.

“I take it you called us here due to the fact that the thieves already have five of the seven amulets, isn’t that right?” Quick questioned, breaking the silence. She still felt a tad nervous due to what had happened earlier in the morning, but right now this was more important than her shame.

“Yes, and the fact that Archer is still under their sway,” Celestia sighed. “Conductor? Your report?”

“The female known as Sweet Aroma attacked Westhoof Academy, presumably to retrieve Pickett Midnight again. She also tried to sway Specialist Lancer, but had to resort to a direct method of a poisoned dagger, when her smoke spell failed. I had to resort to a Command Seal to free him.”

In that brief moment, a flicker of emotion broke through her shell and Chitin caught it. Intense regret.

“With that done, her methods will not work again, but Lancer is still missing. I can only assume they took him, or he has launched independently. Our next concern should be to free Archer. Saber and I will do so shortly.”

“Saber is back?” Celestia herself sounded surprised. “Well, some good news finally. What of Caster?”

Midnight paused for a moment. “Caster is still outside the city. Exact location is unknown.”

“Your highness, if I may.” Pockets spoke up, rubbing her eyes clean, “I hate to say this… but I have to correct something my lovely currently-a-super-soldier bat said. She wasn’t after me this time, I don’t know why, but I know that she wasn’t after me. I was just an added bonus she failed to get. Her target was Lancer.” She stretched her back and sighed, that felt good, “Think ‘bout it, why did she leave me behind yet took Lancer with her? She needs them for some weird ass reason.”

“As it stands, she has Lancer and Archer. And her ability does not seem to work on females, or she’d have targeted Pickett or myself,” Midnight added. “Simply give the word, I will locate and purge her existence.”

“I do not believe that to be necessary, your highness.” Chitin spoke up, “Killing her is a rather extreme way of solving things. And while yes, it’s the most effective way to free those under her control, it is not the only one.” He levitated a couple of flasks he had kept in a small bag, a strange golden liquid shining dimly, “This is what I like to call, Changeling Amber. A mixture of different plants indigenous of a changeling hive, which when enchanted, are able to absorb a specific emotion to a certain extent. In this case, love.”

“We believe that’s how she controls her followers.” Quick added, “They develop an unhealthy obsession with her and do as they command. Meaning, they believe they love Aroma, and would do anything, anything for her.”

Midnight looked at Chitin, and the vial he held. “With all due respect Your Highness. Why should we trust the words of a liar.”

Chitin’s eyes widened, “Excuse me? With all due respect Specialist Midnight, but this ambar already freed a guard, it works. I’m not lying when I say this could save us the trouble of doing something we will later regret.”

Midnight opened her mouth, but Celestia raised a hoof. “Conductor. Nightmare Ponies.”

Whatever that meant to her, she shut her mouth and took a formal stance, staring straight ahead.

“Apologies,” Celestia said. “We are done blaming the whole for the actions of a few. Now, we have a cure for her magicks. But it doesn’t solve the main problem. She’s gathering strength, and those Amulets. And somepony is rebuilding the Sins.”

Then, Quick Step tossed a small ball of red cloth, a faint glow coming from it, “They can’t rebuild them. Not without all the seven amulets. The souls inside them must be summoned together, or else nothing will happen.”

“Wait… Aroma’s gathering the amulets too? Why?” Pockets quirked a brow, “I mean, you need seven to use them, and she’s alone. And I doubt a zombie can do much to help. So why would she be after them?”

Then Midnight exhaled. “Seven amulets. Seven Specialists.”

Celestia’s eyes slowly widened. “She wouldn’t…”

“No, that’s… that’s impossible.” Chitin said and looked at the Princess nervously, “The amulets only work when you accept the demons inside them. And if she can’t mind control females, then it’s of no use.”

Quick narrowed her eyes. Chitin was right… but there was something he did not know, something none of them knew, “Unless…”

“Unless what Miss Quick?” Celestia said. “Now is not the time to withhold information.”

“Four years ago, me and Cereza were doing a small job on the Badlands, south of Equestria. We had to pick up some valuable cargo, some ancient treasures a stallion named Doctor Caballeron had salvaged.” She began explaining, doing circles around the cloth-covered amulet as she recalled what had happened all those years ago, “One of these artifacts was an amulet, just like the one we held as Sins… but at the same time, completely different. The head of a stallion, horns of a goat, an upside down five-cornered star on its forehead.”

Both Chitin and Titan’s eyes widened, they knew what that symbol meant, and a sense of dread and even fear began growing on their hearts, “Aka Manah…” The changeling whispered.

“Before he died, it was said that he kept his powers sealed so he could one day be fred and come back to rule Equestria. If someone were to find that amulet and use its powers… they would have complete control over the Sins.” Quick added with a solemn nod.

“And the spirits of the seven demon lords would take the body of whoever their king commanded. And their conquest would begin all over again.” Chitin said nervously, before turning to Celestia with a frustrated, angry, and frightened tone in his voice, “We must find whoever holds the amulets and stop them. We must find Aka’s amulet and hide it. We must stop this before it is too late.”

“Caballeron?” Pockets quirked a brow. Apparently that was the only part of this whole deal that had stuck on her, “Is this a Daring Do book? Are we inside a Daring Do book because that’d be hella cool. Wait… does this mean Daring Do is real!?”

“Nooo?” Celestia whistled innocently.

“She is,” Midnight nodded in her usual flat tone. “She lives in the woods of the Tenochtitlan Basin.”

Celestia facehooved.

Pockets’ excited giggle and glimmering eyes told Celestia that she would probably have to take Pockets on a field trip soon.

“In any case.” Quick cleared her throat to call their attention, “The amulet is perfectly safe, so we don’t have to worry about it. The Golden Swords have one of the most secure headquarters in Equus, and you’d need an army to break in.”

“Or two Specialists,” Midnight simply stated.

Quick’s eyes widened… no, she couldn’t possibly…

“Princess, permission to leave the room immediately!” She quickly exclaimed and spread her wings. She had to get there before it was too late, she needed to stop this.

“Take Midnight and Cereza with you,” Celestia nodded.

“Negative, I can’t take Specialist Midnight with me. Orders of Golden. No outsider is allowed in.” She shook her head and took off, turning to Celestia one more time and sighing, “If I do not come back, find Golden and tell him to start the Order Protocol. That should help us out.”

“Quick Step, you are part of my guard now, that makes you and Cereza outsiders as well,” Celestia pointed out.

The pegasus smirked, “We have our ways, and our IDs. Plus, he can’t say no to family.” And with that, she took off at unbelievable speed… breaking the window on the process.

“That’s coming out of her paycheck,” Celestia muttered. “Midnight, follow her. If Archer and Lancer are there, I need you to recover them.”

Midnight nodded and looked at Pockets, before stepping back into the shadows and vanishing.

“Wait!” Pockets called out and tried to stop her, but she wasn’t nearly quick enough. The unicorn mare sighed and sat down. She had been acting normal for a while now yeah, but it was just to avoid showing how stressed, how frustrated, and how worried she was. Seeing Midnight like that… it hurt her for some reason. She already missed the happy, sneaky, and fun Midnight.

“What’s wrong?” Celestia said, moving up next to her and taking the unicorn under her wing.

“Nothing.. it’s just that I know this is necessary, I know Midnight has to be on her top game for this. But… I still can’t help but worry, she seems so cold and emotionless. I don’t even know if she sees me as her marefriend in that state or just as a fellow guard.” The unicorn’s pained words were almost whispered, looking down at the marble floor and doing circles with her hooves, “The worst part is… I can’t help at all. I can barely control what my Breezie magic does, and my regular magic is just slightly above average, meaning I can’t do crap about this whole deal.”

“Hmm, is that what you truly believe?” Celestia said as she hugged her closer. “You know, Midnight is not overly fond of it as well. But you know, she has something now she’s never had before.”

“A brand new set of armor?” Pockets half-joked. Yet her expression spoke for itself, she had no idea.

“That armour is quite old actually,” Celestia chuckled. “No my little pony. What she has—” The alicorn beeped her nose with a wingtip. “—Is you.”

“Me?” Pockets chuckled and shook her head, “Yeah, she has me but… does that really change anything right now? I mean, you saw how she didn’t even say goodbye or anything, she just magically disappeared into the shadows and was gone.”

“Because she wants to save her friends,” Celestia explained. “Can you trust her to come back?”

“Yeah… she’ll come back, I know she will.” Pockets sighed and leaned on the alicorn, “She’s too awesome not to. Still, you can’t blame me for feeling bad.”

“I can understand. But this is another part of Midnight Song.” The alicorn settled down and looked at her. “Let me ask you this. Do you love her any less now you’ve seen this side?”

“For real?” Pockets said with a smirk, “Hell no! I will always love her, no matter how she acts, no matter what she says…” She moved her hair aside and showcased the silver horn ring that rested there, “This, this means that no matter what happens, she will always be there for me. And I promised the same thing to her. So no, I do not love her any less, and I highly doubt I ever will.”

“Then you have your answer,” Celestia chuckled and let her go. “Midnight is the same. She just has a job to do right now okay?”

“Alright…” The unicorn nodded, damn Celestia was good at that, she already felt way calmer now, “Thanks, by the way, I needed that.”

“You’re very welcome,” Celestia said. “But I have to ask. How do you feel about all of this. Aroma is your family after all. She likely has answers to a lot of questions you’ve had your whole life.”

Pockets’ expression changed altogether to a far darker, more frustrated one, “I… I hate it. I hate her and all she’s done to me. Tall Tale told me that I needed to stop her, that I had to save his tribe from her. But now? Now it’s personal. She’s hurting those around me, and I can’t stand that. If I get answers then good, but if I have to sacrifice those answers for anyone’s sake… I’ll do it no questions asked.” She turned to Celestia and her eyes.. they were fierce, dangerous, resolute, “Something tells me I’m the only one who can stop Aroma, and I promise, for everyone’s sake, that I will, even if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do.”

“Then I have a plan,” Celestia said. “It’s risky, but should it work, we can end things sooner rather than later.”

“Really? What is it!?” Pockets immediately asked, giving the alicorn every bit of her attention, something she never did with anyone but Midnight.

“It’s simple,” Celestia said and looked at Pockets. “Tell me my dear, how would you like to be bait?”

Pockets blinked… well now that was something you didn’t hear everyday, specially not from a Princess, “Well… unless I’m going to be used to fish a giant fish, then I guess I’m fine with it?” She shrugged. She had no prior experience in the bait business and knew nothing about how it worked. Buuut if Celestia wanted to go fishing, then eh who was she to stop the freaking Princess of the Sun.

“Our fish is rather tiny I’m afraid,” celestia smiled and Pockets saw it coming too late to stop her. “Good thing I’m using little bait~”

“OH COME ON!” Pockets groaned. Really? Did she have to use the size joke? “You friggin oversized swan…” She mumbled with the most adorable angry pout Celestia had ever seen. She was like a penguin, even when angry she was adorable.

Chitin just stared in horror. Had… had that unicorn just insulted Celestia? Oh wow, he wondered what the weather on the sun was like this time of year.

“A swan? well, I’m glad you think I’m so lovely,” Celestia chuckled and ruffled her mane. “Now, let’s get you outfitted shall we?”

Horrible flashbacks of her shopping for clothes with Midnight came back to the unicorn. And now… she had to go through the same hell with Celestia herself…

She feared for her soul, for her sanity, and for her long gone Street Cred.

There was a blinding flash of light, and when Pocket’s vision cleared…

That… that was a lot of weapons and armour. This was the Solar Guard Armoury!

“I’m thinking gold and silver myself,” Celestia mused.

“W-Wha… just… what…” And now Pockets was broken. This? This was bucking incredible!

“Gold and Silver? Oh Celestia you’re so predictable sometimes.” Came a deep, smooth voice from behind them, followed by the sound of a small, hopefully controlled explosion. They turned to the source, and found a muscular red pegasus with golden mane and balbo beard. And for Celestia’s nonexistent beard, for someone his age, he was hot! Chiseled jaw, flawless skin, and a hairstyle so well done not even a typhoon could ruin it. He held a black lean helmet on his hoof and a blowtorch on the other, a variety of tools spread messily on a table he had just set up there in the middle of the armory, “For that mare? Darker colors, lighter armor, her size is perfect for poking your opponent with a stick. The kid’s gonna be as powerful and effective as a goddamn viking warrior when I’m done with her.”

“Uhm… who’s that?” Pockets couldn’t help but ask.

“This is Front Lines. Secure’s father and head of weapons research and development.” Celestia introduced him. “Front, this is Pickett Midnight and Chitin.”

“A pleasu—”

Chitin’s words were practically shoved down his throat when Pockets all but dashed past him to lean on a shelf full of an assortment of different helmets, a confident pose and sly smile, a gleam in her eyes that could captivate any stallion. That was the secret of flirting, that and a good ol’ pick-up line that never failed, “Oh honey, you can research my weapons, if ya know what I mean~”

Front Lines looked at her utterly confused, before chuckling and shaking her head, “Oh kids these days and their hormones. Sorry sweetheart but pedophilia is a crime I am not planning to mess with.”

And now Pockets’ face was on the floor, she was done, completely and utterly done with life. “B-But I’m an adult…” She whimpered, and dragged her body towards the only alicorn princess who could give her a back rub.

“So my dear Celestia, what can I possibly help you with in this fine morning?” He questioned while going back to the helmet at hoof.

“Isn’t it like six in the afternoon?” Pockets’ mumbled, yet was completely ignored.

“We have something coming up, and my newest Guard here needs a refit,” Celestia chuckled, ignoring the mare’s comment and pointed at the dejected Pockets. “She is an adult despite her size. But she needs some protection.”

“Physical or magical?” He asked, still not deviating from the helmet which was now far thinner than before, and far more aerodynamic.

“If she really is going after the amulets, then both.” Chitin replied.

“Give her the Front Lines special,” Celestia nodded.

The stallion hummed, and looked around the armory, “Well, usually for someone her size we use chainmail. But that’s barely going to protect her against anything. Light armor that is resistant against physical and magical attacks… you’re asking for something quite difficult my dear, specially if we go with that kind of armor. Not sure if…” He looked to Princess and smirked, “My resources are enough.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “What do you need?”

He grabbed a large notebook from the table and tossed it to the floor, “Look around the final pages. Project Valkyrie. Was meant for you my dear but I could do the arrangements to create a different, more darker and lighter version.”

Celestia opened the notebook and searched for said page. Both her eyes and Pockets’ widened at both the design, and the materials needed for it.

“It’s either that or chainmail that will completely kill her stealth.” Front Lines sang, still working on the helmet.

“You know Tia, as much as I’d freaking love having a suit like that… I don’t think it’s worth the effort.” Pockets sighed and shook her head, “Not gonna make you go through the bother of finding all that crazy stuff.”

“Nonsense,” Celestia shook her head. “Now Front. I know you and you better believe I saw that suit your daughter had. You know, that one you gave to her without my permission?”

Front froze and the helmet fell to the floor. He giggled nervously and responded with a simple shrug.

“Mhm, I thought as much,” Celestia chuckled. “Now, I will assign you a stock of Etherite. As well as Dragon Scale and Boltweave kevlar.”

“And something tells me that unless I want to be sued by the crown, I have to provide all the remaining materials.” He sighed and kicked the helmet away, “Fine. I’ll make the suit. But don’t expect me to get you that automatic cake slicer for your birthday now.”

Then Celestia floated him a key. A gold key

The key to the Warehouse. Where they kept all of their raw materials.

“Use what you need. The Conductor needs an updated outfit as well. “You have total reign over the design choices.”

A playful grin began to grown on Front Line’s lips, now this was going to be fun, “I’m going to need access to the case’s files. If you want me to make the perfect armor, I’ll need to know the enemy.”

Celestia nodded. “They’ll be in your office waiting for you.”

“Good. Now you better leave, because I’m about to test the castle’s new defense wards and I don’t want to see your beautiful face turned to stone Celestia.” He said as he absent-mindedly just bounced a small ball on a shelf.

“You assume it’d be enough to stop me?” Celestia mused. “Very well, we’ll talk again soon. Pockets? Are… put that down Miss Pickett!”

The thief pouted and whimpered like a sad puppy, hugging the huge flail that easily tripled her size.

“Don’t hug that! That’s a—”

There was a sharp crack of lightning.

“Storm Flail…” Celestia sighed.

“Now that’s quite shocking.” Front Lines chuckled.

The thief coughed some smoke, and then raised a hoof, “First of all, that was terrible. Second of all, ouch. Third of all, ouch.”

Celestia shook her head as she floated the weapon away and healed her wounds with a spell. “Well, now that Pockets had proven her ill talent for weather magic. We shall leave you be Front. Best of luck.” With another application of magic, she teleported out, the stallion alone in the armoury.

He sighed and stood up, throwing and catching the key he was given without the slightest of interest on it. He didn’t really need much for what he was planning to do, he just wanted to play with Celestia for a bit.

He moved through the endless halls of the armory in search for something that had come to his mind ever since he saw that unicorn…. something about her, it made him think back to one of his first, and biggest projects yet.

On a silver pedestal stood a seemingly regular short sword. Nothing stood out about it, but the rainbow colored gem on the upper middle section of its handle. He tossed the ball he had been playing with away and picked up a small gem, a simple magically infused gem he had managed to get Celestia to bless with her powers.

He moved the gem closer to the short sword…

And it erupted it a bright white and golden light. The handle began to change its appearance, becoming more detailed, more regal, more heroic. It now sported a beautiful mixture of white, gold, and pink, and Celestia’s Cutie Mark now decorated the sword’s pommel. The blade itself was now surrounded by a powerful flaming magical white aura, now looking more like a beautiful, Celestia-themed longsword.

Front Lines admired his work of art with a smile, before tossing the gem away and thus causing the sword to return to normal. “Maybe one day I’ll find somepony worthy of using you, my dear Arcana. Maybe tomorrow, depends on how things go.” He shrugged and picked up a chestplate. Silver and gold, ergh, how generic. Time to make it more fashionable!

“No, no, and a hundred times no!”

Quick Step landed with force on a large clearing not so far from Las Pegasus, a beautiful lake fed by a tall waterfall meeting her with the singing of birds going back to their nests after a long day of work.

“You are not going in with me. It’s far too dangerous! Who knows what kind of agents Aroma has gotten her dirty breezie legs onto?” Quick groaned as she walked through the rocky path that surrounded the lake, followed by a silent Midnight. Cereza was missing, most likely already on the base, and even after several attempts to lose the thestral on the skies, the batmare was her only companion.

Yes it was a stupidly bad idea to go in there alone.

But in Quick Step’s opinion, it was an even dumber idea to go with Midnight.

“Then you would like to handle Lancer and Archer on your own then?” Midnight finally spoke. “You’re either overly confident or overly stupid.”

“I miss the regular Midnight.” Quick grunted as they reached the waterfall, yet she kept going, letting the water wash over her body, “Hope you don’t mind getting wet, the entrance is over here.” The cave that greeted them didn’t seem like anything special. It was just a cave behind a waterfall underneath a mountain.

“You know I don’t mind getting wet, as long as it’s with somepony as cute as you,” she replied in a rather familiar tone before walking ahead, her flank swaying rhythmically.

Quick Step froze, trying to reply yet only managing to splurt out random babbles. She built up some mental strength and gave a gentle shout, a shout so gentle it even made the cave itself shake gently, “WHAT!?”

“Hmm, I also love it when they shout, though last time it was my name you shouted like that,” she smirked.

Quick looked at Midnight with her jaw on the floor, then back to the waterfall to make sure this wasn’t a crazy serious-twin, crazy-twin plot twist or something like that, and then back to Midnight. Nope, that was definitely the same mare that was being as cold as a robot a few minutes ago. “I… you… I… gah! Let’s just get this over with.” She mumbled and took the lead once more, before bucking a rock that, for the regular eye, would have seemed like any other rock in the massive cave.

The rock was actually pushed away by the buck, and Midnight could hear gears turning and mechanisms activating, and the rock that had been moving just sank into the floor, revealing a large hallway that lead to a small metallic door. The lights flickered a couple of times, glowing a strange vibrant red instead of the usual white, “We’re kind of late to the party it’d seem. The alarms are already off, are you ready?” Quick asked Midnight, deciding to ignore her sudden mood switch.

“Well, at least we have the climax to look forward to,” she said as she walked in, drawing her swords, “So, who can I look forward to punishing in there?”

“Eh, nothing special.” Quick shrugged and walked after the thestral, the rock moving once more into its place behind them, “Former wanted criminals, war heroes, illustrious creatures from all sorts of countries, ruthless killers wanted for arrest in all sorts of countries. Your usual patch. Hopefully some of them have been able to fight back instead of immediately falling for Aroma’s pheromones.” When they reached the door, Quick pressed a code she did not let Midnight see, as hard as she tried, into a panel nearby.

The door was unlocked, and the two walked into a fairly large fancy-looking room. It seemed like some sort of lounge, with a couple of leather sofas, decorative plants, mugs with coffee resting on a crystal table, large paintings depicting famous spies hanging in the wall, a large round carpet on the floor greeting them to the Golden Swords HQ, red lights that flickered while illuminating the room, and absolutely no soul in sight.

“Uh…” Midnight looked around. “Are we early?”

“On the contrary.” Quick kept walking towards the next door, extending her wings and letting Midnight have a glimpse at a weapons he had never seen Quick Step use, a curved, slender, single edged blade with a circular guard, a long grip made specifically for a pegasus’ wings. An ancient, golden colored katana, “We’re far too late. The vault is not far from here, let’s hurry!” She called out and opened the door, diving into the next room.

Yet before Midnight could go in as well, Quick returned and tackled Midnight out of the way, a powerful blast of magic flying inches away from the two mares and crashing into the chandelier, which fell down and shattered into a million pieces, “Hide, now!” Quick ordered and darted away, taking cover behind a pillar.

Midnight vanished into the shadows. Just… how did she do that?

A unicorn walked into the room and looked around, his gaze devoid of any emotion, his eyes lacking any soul. He was like a walking corpse. Behind him were a heavily armored buffalo, who squeezed through the door and began to sniff the place out, trying to find a trail that could lead him towards the intruders.

“In the name of our Mistress, we command you to surrender and come with us.” The unicorn said in an incredibly creepy monotone voice, his horn glowing and charging up another attack, “Else we will be forced to terminate you.”

Midnight was nowhere to be seen, having melded with the shadows.

Quick prepared her katana, yet waited for them to get close enough. One false move, and she was done for. Still, she peeked around the pillar’s corner and kept searching for Midnight to try and come up with a plan. She had to be somewhere around here…

The movement… from the approaching Unicorn’s own shadow? A hoof shot out and clocked him in the jaw before retreating.

The unicorn hissed and fired his beam at Midnight, yet hit nothing, “Show yourself heathen! Surrender to our queen!”

“Oh, I’m so scared,” Midnight cooed from the shadows. “You know, I think my some of the bugs in my dad’s collection are bigger than her. Exactly why should I be afraid of that? Will she cute me to death?”

The buffalo scowled and tried to slam against the shadow, only managing to hit the wall and injuring himself, “D-Do not speak ill of our queen, heathen!” He stuttered, shaking his head to get rid of the dizzyness.

“Does she really think she’s a Queen?” Midnight snickered. “You know, she should get laid. I know a few flowers she can pollinate.”

“Silence!” The unicorn scowled and fired another beam, creating a sizeable hole in the wall. Meanwhile, Quick had moved behind a large sofa, thanking Midnight for her distractions, yet hoping she would really stop with the puns at the same time.

“I tried that, but my friends hate it when I’m all serious, so I’ve decided not to be,” Midnight giggled from everywhere and nowhere. “Plus, I’ve figured you all out anyway. You want the medals to summon that demon right?”

“You heathen shall fall!” The buffalo roared and stomped on the ground, causing the room to shake before slamming against another wall, cracking it, “Stop talking or I will show no mercy when I catch you!”

Quick had used that moment to hid beneath another sofa, she was so close… just one more distraction and she could take those two down.

“Ooh, I tried Mercy once, she tasted divine~” Midnight cooed. “She made the most adorable squeaking sounds when I nibbled her—”

“Silence!” The two males shouted and attacked the wall from where they thought the voice came from. Yet failed once more.

“The only one that’s about to be silenced, is you two.” Quick grinned and then the unicorn received the bucking of a lifetime, his bones cracking audibly and his mind turning black. The now unconscious unicorn fell to the floor, and the buffalo that was with him just stared in shock and horror.

“You heathens!” He roared and tried to slam Quick Step. Buuuut…

The shadows surged, and a pair of hooves grabbed his hind legs. No way… she couldn’t be…

Midnight flipped the buffalo, a creature thrice her size was just slammed like a ragdoll against the floor, his head making a spiderweb-shaped crack in the marble flooring.

“Weird,” Midnight said as she dusted off her hooves. “The zombiepones haven’t spoken before, not with clarity like that.”

“I noticed that too. Something’s clearly not right… let’s go, we can think about that little detail later.” Quick kicked the buffalo to make sure he was completely knocked out, and kept going her way, but of course not before asking the truly important question, “What the actual heck was that back there by the way? I’ve only ever seen dark mages do that, not thestrals.”

“Uhh, well…” Midnight grinned and shrugged. “Classified?”

“I will find out sooner or later.” Quick grunted and bucked the door open, walking into the next room… her eyes widened, and her legs stepped back in fear.

Around thirty different males of all sorts of different species were standing there in the trashed main hall, weapons ready, horns glowing, wings flapping, and teeth gritting. Quick drew her katana and stood firm, this… was going to be ugly. “Midnight, it was a pleasure knowing you.”

Midnight cracked her neck and smiled. “Oh, this is gonna be fun!”

Chapter Thirteen - Special Reprise

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“Three tangos at seven o’clock, minotaur, earth pony, zebra!”

Midnight nodded and grinned as she minced her way through the forces. She was like a furry blender, chaos and destruction. Quick had never seen her fight like this. She moved like water, each step was placed perfectly, each stroke of her blade designed to incapacitate, but not kill. It was both terrifying and beautiful.

Honestly, the pegasus mare was impressed, and glad that she had followed along even after all her complaints. She roundhouse kicked two other guys mid-air and grabbed hold of a third one, using him as a living shield to stop the magical stun bolts that were fired at the two, and then throwing the now unconscious shield at the one that fired, “We’re almost there!”

“Roger,” Midnight said as she dove into a shadow. Now the zombies own shadows stabbed out at them. The blades narrowly missing in gelding one stallion as she knocked out another half dozen.

“Come out, come out wherever you aarree~” Midnight sang out from everywhere and nowhere. “Come on you little ButterBitch. Come and fight like a bug… pony… thing.”

The collective scowls of anger from the remaining males were quickly followed by a combined attack on the two, all jumping at the same time at her with a variety of deadly weapons.

“No you don’t!” Quick grinned and sped up by a lot, doing circles around Midnight and catching the males in a whirlwind of punches and kicks delivered at max speed. After half a minute, Quick had eight different stallions laying unconscious in a circle, chuckling in amusement, “Now this is fun. Just two friends kicking the hell out of heavily armoured zombies, good times don’t you think Midnight?”

“Oh, you really know how to show a mare a good time,” Midnight said with a rather lusty moan as she punched a stallion so hard he collided with another one, knocking out the both of them.

Quick Step laughed and took hold of quite possibly the final conscious male in the room, and with a mighty buck sent him crashing against a large, iron door: The pegasus landed right in front of said door and sighed, not even needing to enter any passwords due to how broken it was. One push, and it fell down, giving them easy access into the largest room yet. Rows after rows of shelves and crates greeted them, and not only that but they found themselves in the middle of a battlefield.

Two pegasi were fending off against a minotaur, who threw his hammer at the two mares and knocked them out cold. Yet it wasn’t long until a diamond dog climbed on top of the minotaur’s head head and knocked him out. On the distance, a unicorn mare used a large quarterstaff to knock four stallions out of their hooves, yet her victorious grin was interrupted by a zebra who jumped on top of her.

And was quickly lifted up into the air and then thrown from several hooves above by a very familiar-looking griffon who with a mighty screech, dived back down to knock out eight different males that had lined up just perfectly in one go, her movements swift yet deadly, her punches quick yet jaw-breakingly powerful, and her style graceful and efficient at the same time.

“What the— Oh come on!?” Midnight blinked and sighed. “First Pockets, now her? What is it with everypony stealing my thunder? I'm the main character dammit!”

“You want your thunder, earn it.” Quick said as she kicked an incoming stallion, before flying up towards the griffon, “Cover my back, if anyone can tell us what to do, it’s Cereza!” And of course, four male pegasi took off behind her, swords and pikes at ready in their hooves.

“Celestia dammit!” Midnight swore. She flicked her wings as her blades detached from their grips, thin wires still held them to her as she flicked her wings, the wired blades neatly slicing through the primary feathers of their wings and sent them spiralling into the floor. One more flick saw her swords return. “Tch! Where’s Aroma? I have a hamster ball with her name on it.”

Cereza turned to them, and then back to kicking the hell out of a fellow griffon which she sent pummelling down the floor, “Dear, I’d list a hundred different reasons why you being here is a terrible idea, but there’s no time. My brother is in the vault, the actual one, trying to hold Aroma and her two new friends back. There’s a hatch right beneath those three zombie earth ponies, go down there and keep moving until you find the sealed door. The code is Liberate, Protect, Serve, Eliminate. Go, now!” She ordered and kicked two more incoming males.

Quick grabbed Midnight’s hoof and dived down, throwing her at the growling stallions that tried, and failed, to open the hatchet.

“I am not a weapon!” Midnight yelled as she collided with them, the armoured bat was akin to a bowling ball as she knocked them aside. “Ohhh, pwetty birdie~” she sang, her head rolling dizzily.

“No time to be dizzy.” Quick kicked the hatchet open and jumped in, dragging Midnight along with her, “Now, we’ll be facing your two Specialist friends in very close quarters. Tell me you have an idea to avoid getting killed by them.”

“Yup, leave them to me,” Midnight nodded. “I’ll…” Her jubilant mood died off and she sighed. “I’ll use a Command Seal on them. It’s the only way…”

“If that’s the only way then so be it.” Quick sighed and stopped when they finally reached the huge, round sealed door, “They’re probably behind this already, hopefully we don’t find her going batshit insane with the demon’s powers. Ready?”

“Quick, before you do,” Midnight stopped and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I have a favour to ask.”

“What is it?” Quick quirked a brow, getting her katana ready.

“If they have summoned the demon, leave it to me okay? I can deal with it… just, promise me… that you’ll take care of Pockets okay?”

Quick stood silent for a while. She wanted to complain and tell her everything was going to be alright… but even she knew better, “I promise.” She nodded and walked up to the door, “But only if you promise me something back.”

“What?” Midnight said.

“You will go back home safely, marry that mare one day, and have a happy family, the happy family you deserve.” Quick grinned, “And I’ll do everything in my power to see that.”

Midnight nodded, but didn’t verbally promise anything.

“Liberate, Protect, Serve, Eliminate!” The doors were unlocked, and slowly but surely the vault’s door opened, letting them see the labyrinth that was the inside. The groans of unconscious mares was heard, and a trail of blood drops just screamed that something was wrong. Quick followed the trail with her eyes looking everywhere, her ears perked up to try and catch up any suspicious noise.

“I can smell something,” Midnight said and her far more sensitive ears flicked. “Goddess above… what is that?”

“It smells like if someone took a box of cheeze-its and hid it in a coffin, just to open it ten years later.” Quick huffed and kept walking. To be honest, the smell was way too horrid for her liking. They turned corner after corner, until their ears finally caught something.

“Just move out of the way dear, and I won’t hurt you too much.” Came a squeaky, incredibly annoying growl, one they easily identified as Aroma herself.

Yet the following chuckle was what caught Midnight off guard, a modulated, smoky, yet dangerous male voice, “Now now, Miss Aroma. Let us calm down and talk things through before someone does something they might regret. Free my agents, and stay down, and I shall offer you freedom and protection from the crown, who mind you you have pissed to incredible extents. Else, the only thing I’ll be able to offer you is a painful defeat.”

Quick narrowed her eyes at this, signalling Midnight to stay put.

“Ha! Like if I cared what that Princess wants with me. As soon as I get rid of you, I’ll have enough power to make her beg for mercy! Now step aside, or you’ll suffer the same fate as your army of weaklings!”

“You mean those who you were forced to inject? Your powers, they are growing weak, and you’re resulting to potions to keep them stable. After all, you’re not your cousin now are you? In reality you have almost no power.”

“Silence!” Aroma screeched, “Enough games, get him!”

Quick signalled Midnight to advance, and the two turned to corner. And when Midnight saw the Breezie in her true form and… well the thestral just laughed.

“Oh sweet Stars! You are just the most adorable thing ever!” she cackled.

The four figures ahead of them froze, Archer and Lancer all just glared at her with narrowed eyes, while Aroma’s already angered glare just intensified even further. The fourth figure, a griffon Midnight had never seen before, just chuckled and shook his head.

“Well you had your chance Miss Aroma. Evening Agent Step, Specialist Midnight.” He greeted.

“Midnight,” Quick nudged the thestral with a flat tone, “Stop it.” She kept nudging the mare rolling on the ground, “That’s incredibly unprofessional and you’re making a fool of herself.” Nudge, nudge, and another nudge. Midnight just continued to laugh.

“And her voice, she sounds like she’s been sucking helium balloons for an hour. Oh Sweet Celestia, how am I supposed to take her seriouseeeeeeaaaahahahahaha!!!”

Aroma just deadpanned, facehooving hard, “I hate you so much right now.” She squeaked out before pointing at them with a sigh. Suddenly, the ground began shaking violently, and the sound of metal shrieking echoed throughout the hall, it was enough to get Midnight to stop, her ears flat against her head to try and block the noise.

And it was then when she was the origin of the horrifying sound, as what could only be described as thick roots broke through the metal floor and pierced the roof, creating a sturdy, thick, organic wall between the two mares and the breezy.

“Heey, I made her get her wood out,” Midnight smirked. “Aw come on baby, I don’t bite…. Too hard. Don’t tell me you’re scared of me?”

Quick was debating whether having normal Midnight back was a good or a terrible idea, “She probably can’t hear you, that’s most likely why she summoned the wall. Then again, she wouldn’t have summoned the wall if somepony hadn’t been laughing at her.”

“Meh, so we have to do a little gardening… orrrr, I have a crazier idea~”

Quick sighed, looking at Midnight with the flattest of expressions, “I do not like the sound of that. But considering my boss is inside there with two super soldiers and a crazy butterfly… sure, let’s hear it.”

“Meh, I’m more of a dooer,” Midnight smirked and grabbed the mare. “Um, maybe hold your breath?” And with that, she dove into the shadows.

Yeah… Quick Step immediately regretted everything. It was dark… and cold, really cold. She was a pegasus, so she was more tolerant to this but… If there was a time when Filly Quick Step was afraid of the dark, then this brought all that fear back. And yet, she found herself wondering just how Midnight spent all that time in this….

LIGHT!

Midnight emerged from right under Aroma, her hoof pinning her to a wall.

“Surprise, you little fairy bitch,” she smirked, licking her fangs.

Aroma’s eyes were shot open. Just… where did that bloody bat come from?

“Attack her!” Aroma screamed in panic, trying to flap her way out of this one. Yet before Lancer could do anything, Quick Step swooped beneath him and kicked his stomach, cutting his breath. She hugged him, oh wow he was quite soft, and then slammed him down suplex style.

Yet there was still Archer to deal with, and he was already taking aim.

“Stand down,” Midnight said as two large swords pressed against Aroma’s wings. “You know, my dad collects bugs. And as a filly, I once pulled the wings off of some of his butterflies. I wonder… they didn’t scream. Will you~?” That smile she wore… it promised nothing good.

Yet Aroma’s face showed no fear. No, it only showed annoyance, disgust, and malice. “No, but hopefully you will.” The ground shook again, and in less than half a second strange purple vines broke through the floor and took hold of Midnight’s hooves, pulling her back and thus letting Aroma just flap in the air with a sigh. She moved her hoof in the air, and the vines coiled around Midnight, binding her entire body in a quick motion.

‘Dammit, squash first, then monologue.’ Midnight looked at the vines with wide eyes, then to Quick Step. “Steppy? I’ve seen enough Neighpon comics to know where this is going. Help please?”

Quick rolled her eyes and threw a knife at the vines. Yet just before it could reach the vines, it was pushed away by one of Archer’s light arrows. She threw another one, and another one, and yet another one, but no matter how fast her throws were the stallion seemed to have no problem picking up, “Oh… you gotta be bucki―” She ducked as an arrow flew past her, almost scorching her carefully made mane. “Midnight, do you mind if I beat the heck out of your friend?”

Midnight flinched when a vine touched her flank. “Oh hay NO! Archer, you sarcastic, snarky shitstain! By my Command Seals! I ORDER you to stand down and assist me!” he looked at her as her eyes flashed red, and his followed suit.

“Oh no you don’t, not again!” Aroma growled and called for even more vines, creating a green cocoon which enveloped Midnight on her entirety, not a single noise able to get out, “Slave! I command you to get rid of these two pesky idiots NOW!”

“I only see one,” Archer hummed as he aimed his bow at Quick Step, and drew back a shining golden arrow made of light. He fired.

Quick Step turned as the arrow struck her chest and… oohh, tingly~

It also passed right through her, the magic arrow striking the little Breezie with Celestia’s holy might. Aroma screeched in pain and was sent flying into a wall, grunting in pain. She tried flapping her wings, she tried summoning a breeze, she tried doing anything to get her out of there…

Well crap, nothing worked.

“Well that was rather anti-climatic.” The griffon chuckled and calmly walked up to her, his imposing figure’s shadow engulfing Aroma, “You have amazing powers Miss Aroma, and so much potential. But it is all sadly wasted on such a pathetic excuse for a villain. And to believe I traded one of my best agents for you.” He took out a sword, and pointed at the defeated breezy, “Oh, and by the way, you’re under arrest.”

Aroma squeaked and tried to turn herself into a little ball, this was not how she wanted things to end.

Archer sighed and drew back his bow strings, an arrow fired and expanded into a net, pinning Lancer under it as he looked at the cocoon. A quiet Midnight was rather tolerable wasn’t she?

“Well that’s over.” Quick walked towards the cocoon with a knife at hoof. It took her one second, one second to cut five straight times and break Midnight free, the vines falling to the floor lifelessly, “And hey, what a surprise. Midnight had almost no time to shine, again.”

“Fuck you all,” Midnight muttered. “So Archer, you finally yourself again?”

“Yes, and my actions have been most regrettable,” he nodded. “Sorry for nearly killing you a few times. At least I wasn’t at full strength.”

“Yeah, there’s that,” Midnight nodded. She looked at the fallen Breezie and snorted. “She’s been a complete pain in my ass. Can I arrest her now? I have a marefriend to get back to and have amazing apology sex.”

“Apologies Specialist Midnight, but seeing as Miss Aroma was caught inside my organisation, she belongs to us now. That was the deal me and Celestia had anyways, so it doesn’t matter much in the end.” The griffon said, looking back to Quick Step, “Oh, by the way, you’re fired.”

“Really?” Quick deapdanned.

“The rules are the rules, only agents are allowed in here. You brought in an outsider, and even though she did help us, a punishment is due where it’s due.” He nodded and pulled his sword back, clenching his claw around the breezy, “Alright you can all…” He froze, his ears twitching, his eyes closing. He could feel something, a great, immeasurable power…

And Midnight could feel it as well. This is why the two of them dashed out of the way as soon as the door that lead to the vault was blown up out of its place, almost crashing against Archer. Five orbs of pure dark magic were fired out, chasing every single one of them. It immediately caught Quick Step, Archer, and Lancer, the orbs expanding and keeping them inside, smoke filling their lungs and relieving them of their oxygen.

Gold Quill and Midnight were far more difficult to contain though, as their swift movements and amazing reflexes allowed them to dodge, albeit barely, the orbs that followed without abandon. Yet it was Golden who made the first mistake, trying to slash the orb in two yet only managing to get his sword stuck in it, the arcane sphere being harder than steel itself. It quickly expanded and engulfed the griffon, putting him with the others.

“What the fuck are these things!?’ Midnight screeched, dodging to the right as it flew by. She stepped back, and ducked underneath, running up the wall and then hopping out of the way. Stunt after stunt, she tried to lose the orb, yet it was all for naught. And then there was the sixth orb…

She was caught off guard, the two orbs flanking her and taking hold of the thestral, who was now in the same state as the other four. Breathless, unable to move, and angry. It was then when she caught the sight of three figures walking out of the vault. Two thestrals and a pegasus mare. The youngest thestral she managed to recognise as the thief who attacked her at her parents’ house. Yet the other stallion and the pegasus mare she had never seen before. Yet one thing was for certain, whoever the unknown bat pony was, he now held an incredible power. And it all came from the strange goat-head shaped amulet that hanged from his neck.

He walked up to the shadow orbs, and chuckled in pity at the sight before him, “Two agents of the mighty Golden Swords, and three Specialists of the royal guard. One of them Midnight Song herself, who is said to be one of the most powerful mares alive. The other one Golden Quill, he who can break entire countries with just a few words.” He hummed and his gaze kept wandering over the other three, the two Specialists meaning nothing to him. It was the final orb, the vanilla pegasus mare, who caught his attention, “And of course, Lust, former member of the Seven Deadly Sins. You… you have something that belongs to me.”

Quick’s scream was muffled by the smoke, as a small blue bag that had been around her neck was forcefully pulled out of the orb, floating over to the thestral, “There we go. Two more to go, and I know exactly who can help me get another one.” He turned to Aroma and pulled her closer with his magic, the Breezie most definitely frightened at the sight, her eyes fixed on the amulet that hanged from his neck, “Wrath, where is he?”

“He… he’s hidden. I… I can take you to where I took the amulet!” She squeaked out, missing her breath.

“Good girl, you’ll be an excellent sin once I educate you. Greed is looking for a new host after all.” He threw the Breezie at the pegasus without caring for any pain that she might had felt, looking back at the orbs, specifically, at Midnight’s, “Now Specialist, I have a little message for our dear Princess. Tell her that Aka Manah is back for what it’s rightfully his. If she does not surrender in three days, I shall attack the castle alongside my generals, and show no mercy to her or her armies.” He walked back to Quick Step and sighed, “And you, Quick Step, wasn’t it? I hope that you’re proud of me. Look at this, look… at what your son has achieved!” He stomped on the ground, and the orb exploded, causing Quick Step to screech in pain, a pain that caused her to black out completely. He turned and looked at the rest, before doing exactly the same thing.

A pain that could only be described as a thousand knives cutting through their skin invaded them, leaving everyone in a great deal of pain and agony. Then, once he was done, Midnight looked at him, the only one still conscious…

And made a very offensive gesture with a wing.

The thestral chuckled in amusement, before extending his wings and calling for a vortex of magic that surrounded his allies. And when the vortex died down, they were all gone.

Well everything seemed to be going horribly. With the weird ass thieves, the creepy cousin, and now freaking demons… yeah suddenly dealing with a corrupt mayor didn’t sound so bad. And of course, being stuck in Canterlot unable to do crap, while her marefriend was who knew where kicking some major flank, it was understandable Pockets could have been feeling a tad down.

But she wasn’t.

No, Pockets was tired of just sulking and weeping over the most absurd of things. No! She was going to make the best out of this, and be the best freaking marefriend ever. After all, the one saving Equestria at least deserved that much. And that is exactly why, with some monetary help from Celestia, she set off with just one mission in mind. To buy a gift for Midnight!

A upbeat tune started to play as she bobbed along, looking left and right.

And it was going to be the greatest gift ever!

So she strolled down the streets of Canterlot, looking from shop to shop in search for the ultimate gift.

“🎝What to give… what to give… for the mare that is made for me. Maybe candy, letters, mangoes or a little toy is the gift to be…♪”

“🎝So many choices, I don’t know what to pick. Oh, maybe a cake shaped like a di—♪”

A shopkeep piped up to her song with his own voice. “Hey there Miss, I have one for you. A bouquet of flowers will steer you true.” A beautiful bouquet of roses in his magical aura

“🎝No thanks Mister, I think that’s a little boring don’t you?♪”

“🎝I need a gift that’s special, something to show I care. What oh what do I get, for that sexy, batty mare?♪”

A fancy unicorn mare stepped out from her store. “I think this makeup kit, so chic!”

An older stallion holding out his wares. “Perhaps a necklace? A lovely antique?”

“🎝All these things, they just aren’t her. I need something that’ll make her purr.♪”

“🎝Maybe a picnic in the park? Under the stars and moon in the dark. I could take her on a fancy date. I need something that she won’t hate.♪”

A prench pony held out a gift-wrapped bottle “Maybe a fancy bottle of wine?

A jeweller smiled at her. “A lovely ring to say you’re mine?”

“🎝I don’t want to look desperate, something… ♪”

Pockets stooped in front of a quaint little store. Something in the window ceasing her Heart Song as the other went back about their business. She stepped closer, peering through the glass at the object of her fascination.

A small smile crossed her muzzle.

“It’s perfect~”

Pockets giggled like a child as she walked up to the throne room. She knew Midnight was bound to return sooner or later and in case she was early, she’d surprise her with the gift, otherwise she would just break in and give Midnight a good ol’ hug and then the gift!

Hopefully she was on a better mood by then…

So she climbed up the stairs and didn’t even care about how many there were. She reached the door and pressed her ear against it. She heard voices, wait… Midnight was already there? Awesome! She hummed in thought and decided to make the surprise even more surprising! So she carefully opened the door, just a tiny lil’ bit, and then teleported inside behind a pillar. It was time for a sneak.

“I… couldn’t do a thing,” she heard Midnight say. She sounded… hurt? “They took the amulets… the Breezie… everything! I’m a failure as a guard, as-as a pony!”

Pockets held back her need to just go out there and hug Midnight. She needed to hear the whole story first.

“You’re not a failure, you did your best, we all did. But… we weren’t expecting anyone else to be there. It was a distraction, one so good that not even Aroma knew about it.” Quick said coldly, just as hurt as Midnight, “And I know enough about those amulets to know that… not even you could have dealt with Aka Manah back there. None of us could have.”

“I could have dealt with him though—”

“NO!” Celestia’s shout echoed throughout the room. “Midnight Song. Let me make myself perfectly clear. You are to never use that! Do you understand?”

“But I—”

“Do. You. Understand!” Celestia said again, each word packing the force of a thunderclap.

Midnight lowered her head. “Yes… your High...ness…” And with a loud clang of torn and dented armour against marble, she collapsed. She was so utterly spent right now…

The faint sound of hooves walking towards her caught a bit of her attention, yet not enough to make her look at the source. What did, was the soft thump that was made when a rather odd looking box fell to the floor inches away from her. The chocolate brown envelope and the vibrant green ribbon didn’t match that well, and it was obvious it could have been made with a little more care. If she had to be honest it looked like if a filly had been in charge of wrapping the box up. Then, a familiar navy blue muzzle pushed the box closer, not saying a word, before laying down and looking at her with cute, expecting eyes.

When she saw that Midnight didn’t react at first, the unicorn just pushed the box a little closer with her muzzle, and went back into her curious position.

“Aww, m’lil filly brought me a present,” Midnight said softly as she tried reaching out. “I wish I didn’t hurt so much…”

“Being that cute should be illegal,” Celestia chuckled as she started casting healing magicks on Midnight and Quick Step. Lancer and Archer were already in the medical wing, so it was just these two. “Pockets dear? Why don’t you open it for her.”

Pockets moved closer and gently bit the ribbon, pulling it back until the envelop itself also fell down, and it was just the cardboard box. The unicorn’s horn glowed, and the box was opened, and a small, black little bat plushie came out of it and was gently placed in front of Midnight’s face. And then, she returned to her previous position, her expectant patient eyes locked on Midnight’s face.

Midnight looked at the toy, and despite her weariness, the absolute agony that wracked her form…

She pulled the toy close and hugged it, nuzzling it and smiling.

“I love it,” she said quietly. Pockets let out a cute squeak and then nuzzled the thestral in the most loving, caring way possible.

“Don’t ever say that you’ve failed. Because as a guard, you caught one of the most sneaky thieves in Tall Tale. And as a pony, you caught her heart. And I know that I may be a tad crazy, and that I’m way too emotional for her own good, and that I just bring trouble wherever I go… but I like to believe I’m at least worth it.” She smiled playfully and gave her cheek a kiss, “You failed one task, so what? We just got to fix it, together. Whether it be me on the play field, or in the back cheering you up, I will never, ever leave your side, and for as long as I’m alive, I will never let you feel like you’re worth nothing. Because for me, you’re worth the world, and even more.”

“Sappy,” Midnight murmured. “M’sorry for bein’a Dumbat.”

“Hey, I’m a Dumbpone from time to time as well.” She giggled softly, “It’s part of the whole ‘marefriend’ deal, we got to deal with each other’s dumbness.”

“Yaaay,’ Midnight sighed and tried hugging her. “Oooowwww… Dark magic sucks. Imma kick that bat’s ass…”

“You found another bat?” Pockets chuckled, hugging Midnight with the utmost care to make sure it didn’t hurt much, “A bat pony that can use dark magic, well ain’t that edgy.”

“Mhm… he got edgy alright,” Midnight sighed as she finally removed her armour, showing the countless cuts all over her body… and the blood that had been pooling inside. “Aww… I’m bleeding all over the floor. Sorry Princess.”

“Medic!” Celestia shouted. “To me! Now!”

“Wait!” Pockets called out and got closer to Midnight, “I… I wanna try something out! If Midnight lets me that is.”

“Dying… dun care…” Midnight said woozily. “Ooohh, I see pretty Angels. Come here… I don’t bite… unless ya want me too~” she made grabby motions with her hooves. “Soooo soft~”

“Yeahp, no time for doctors!” Pockets said and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, “Okay Pockets… just like Tall Tale taught you. You managed to revive a freaking flower, healing some cuts ain’t crap. Come on… focus, focus on your love for her.” A faint pink glow began surrounding Pockets’ body as she tried to focus. Yet Midnight kept on bleeding. The unicorn knew what she had to do, think back to all the good memories, to all the little things, all the moments she spent with Midnight. When they laughed, when they cried, when they had fun and when they just relaxed. When they kicked Grumble’s butt, when they went shopping and met her parents. When they did… that, multiple times.

Celestia could not believe her eyes. With every new memory that flashed past Pockets’ mind, one new cut began to glow as well, and soon, Midnight’s entire body was enveloped in a powerful pink aura. A scent of flowers filled the room, and every single one of Midnight’s wounds began to slowly close, not even leaving a scar behind. Soon, the thestral’s very own bones which had suffered a lot during the battle, felt brand new, her tense muscles relaxes like if she was receiving the best of massages anyone could ever give her. And it sure felt like it… soothing, calming, as if everything was alright, and it was going to remain like that forever.

Pockets gasped for air and Midnight fell to the floor with a thud, she hadn’t even noticed Pockets’ magic had caused her to levitate. “Okay… not doing that for a looong while… my head hurts.”

“Incredible…” Celestia gasped as she scanned Midnight. “Not a single injury remains. Now or otherwise.” She lifted her mare’s wing and even the scar that Dead Drop gave her years ago was gone. “And she’s not suffering from magical poisoning either.”

“She could have done me too,” Quick Step pouted, feeling just as crap as the thestral.

“I’ll do you later…” Midnight muttered.

Pockets walked up to Quick and closed her eyes, focusing on the mare… And then single strand of magic shoot out of her horn and fell on Quick’s face, vanishing into the air.

“Well that’s just straight up insulting.” Quick muttered and rolled over. Luckily she was used to being stabbed, and the fact that she wasn’t bleeding may or may not have something to do with the demon living inside her.

“Sorry, I guess I can only do it with Midnight for now.” Pockets shrugged with an awkward grin, “I have to work on it.”

“You can work her, I’ll watch,” Midnight said, already feeling miles better as she pounced on the unicorn, nibbling her ear.

The unicorn giggled and turned to peck Midnight’s lips, her smile the cutest thing ever, “Now let’s go back to our room for a good, long, blissful session of sss-sleeping!”

“Only sleeping?” Midnight cooed and looked at Celestia and Quick. “Any takers for ‘just sleeping’?”

Celestia just sighed and shook her head.

“And see, that is why I cannot die,” Midnight said to Pockets. “I haven’t banged a Princess yet.”

“I thought I was your Princess!” Pockets pouted.

“You are,” Midnight rolled her eyes and kissed her forehead. “But seriously. Imagine Cadance? I bet she’s real flexible~”

“Ohh, and she probably has a crap ton of kinky spells!” Pockets nodded, “Hmm, do you think she’d know a spell that could get me a dー”

“And that is quite enough of that,’ Celestia said, muzzling Pockets with a spell. “Midnight, be a dear and take your perverted little marefriend away.”

“As you command,” Midnight saluted and slung Pockets over her back, trotting off with her. Once they left, Celestia let out a long sigh.

“I swear,” she said to Quick. “I don’t know how well that would have turned out if Cadance overheard that.”

“Something tells me a spell like that exists somewhere.” Quick chuckled softly, resting her head against a pillow. Her pain, it meant nothing considering the storm of emotions that invaded her head at that moment. What she heard back there… could it really be true?

“Is something wrong dear?” Celestia said. “Seeing as how you haven’t noticed you’re on my throne.”

Quick’s eyes widened, and she slowly backed up in an extremely awkward fashion, “Oh, sorry about that. It’s… nothing really, just a bad thought, a few unpleasant memories. Not much besides that. Nothing you should worry about.”

“Come here,” Celestia said, taking a seat and unfurling one of her wings. “Come on now.”

Quick begrudgingly did so, she didn’t want to bother Celestia with her problems. But who was she to say no to the Princess? She walked up to her and sat down next to the alicorn, just standing there, silent. Then a golden glow surrounded her as she was pulled up against the alicorn’s side, a wing wrapped around her like a protective blanket.

The sensation was amazing. She felt invincible inside here, like even her own retched memories couldn’t hurt her.

“You’ve had to deal with a lot in such a short time, haven’t you?” she said softly.

“At this point, I’m used to it.” Quick mumbled, letting herself melt on Celestia’s embrace, “Shouldn’t even affect me really, but it does…”

“Nopony is perfect,” Celestia said, stroking her back with magic. “Even myself… especially myself. I’m more surprised you’ve kept your sanity after everything's said and done. You’re a far better mare than I, Quick Step.”

Quick couldn’t help but chuckle at this, now she was speaking nonsense, “Believe me your majesty, I would have lost my sanity a long time ago if it wasn’t for Cereza. She saved me, you know? Both physically and mentally. Seeing her fight for her country, for what she thought was right, being so bold and straightforward… it was refreshing seeing someone fighting for what’s right care about me, after all the things I’ve done. All… the things I abandoned.” Her words turned softer and far more pained when she said that last part, whatever was bothering her clearly had something to do with that.

“Your son?” Celestia asked bluntly. “And before you ask, Midnight told me.”

Quick’s eyes widened, before closing down with a pained sob. The calm and collected mare, the professional assassin, she broke into tears, sobbing loudly and losing all control of herself. Celestia just remained there, rubbing her back as she held her close.

“Believe me,” she said quietly. “I know a thing or two about losing family.”

“He… he was just so young, so innocent.” Quick whispered between sobs, “I didn’t even care that he was different, I… I loved him nonetheless, we both did.”

“Who was the father?” Celestia asked. “Is he… still with us?”

Quick nodded slowly, her eyes watering even more, “He never knew… I kept it away from him.” She muttered, “The father… is Chitin.”

Celestia blinked slowly. She looked down at the mare. “Midnight said… your son was a thestral. But if Chitin is… does that mean?”

“It’s just a disguise…” She nodded, “He’s a changeling, a special kind. A hybrid... “

“I am thousands of years old, you’d have thought I’d have heard it all by now,” Celestia chuckled. “And yet, my little ponies keep surprising me.” She leaned down and nuzzled her. “Circumstances outside your control made you do what you did. And those amulets. Nothing good comes from the demon inside. He prays on the weak-willed. The anger, regret, sadness and hatred inside the heart and soul. There is a chance… a slim chance, that your son is not the one at fault here.”

Quick pressed herself closer to Celestia and nodded, “I know… and I really hope the one at fault isn’t me or Chitin. I… hope there’s a reason behind all of this.”

“I hope so as well,” Celestia nodded and hugged her closer. “I’m not optimistic enough to believe it’s all going to be okay. The future will not be easy, and he has a lot to answer for.”

“Still, having a glimpse of hope is enough for me.” Quick said softly, “Thanks, your highness. And I assure you that I’ll bring my son back even if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do. He deserves as much.”

“Do not make it your last,” Celestia said. “He’ll need his mother once this is all said and done. Now… get some rest. Tomorrow, something very rare will occur and you will want to see it.”

Quick quirked a brow at her, “I am both excited and terrified now.” Yet she shook her head and decided not to dwell on it. Instead, she stood up and ruffled her feathers, her injuries no longer hurting, “Again, thank you your Highness. I…. I appreciate all you’ve done for me, even if I haven’t been the best of subjects.”

“Perhaps, but everypony deserves a second chance,” Celestia nodded and released her from her hug. “Now be careful, Midnight’s in a mood. Try not to get caught by her~”

“Like I would mind, did you forget who you’re speaking with? Thanks to you, I got a certain lusty demon inside me.” She smirked, hopping down and walking away with a little sway of her hips, and… that booty though.

Then she felt something pinch that flank, Celestia whistling innocently as her horn glow faded.

Midnight strode down the halls of the castle, heading for the throne room. “Okay Pockets,’ she said softly. “Now, you have to promise me, don’t spaz out alright. At least try and remain calm and collected?”

“Aye aye captain!” She gave a super forced salute, “But question, captain!”

“Yes Cadet?” Midnight said. “And if it’s a silly question. I’m tossing your behind in a room of thestral males, covered in mango juice.”

“I’m not against it captain, but still I have a question, an actually important one!” She said with that same tone, before grinning awkwardly, “What exactly are we doing again?”

“We’re meeting with the princess and some important guests,” Midnight smiled and pet her on the head. “You ready to meet the biggest collection of awesome in all of Equestria?”

“We’re meeting the Giggles?” Pockets quirked a brow. What? They were her heroes when she was little, “The Power Colts? The Powerpuff Mares?”

“How old are you again?” Midnight deadpanned.

“Uhm… this many!” Pockets said jokingly with a dumb grin as she raised her hooves. Then again she was twenty, so it was half right.

“I have no words…” Midnight sighed and grabbed Pocket’s tail, dragging her along. “Just… ah forget it, you’re gonna act like a dork regardless.”

“Wooo, silliness wins again!” Pockets waved her hooves in the air, “Go Pockets!”

Midnight just rolled her eyes and once they reached the throne room, she spit out her tail and put a hoof on the door. Might as well make the most of this.

“Are you ready for this?” Midnight said with a smirk. “Do you think you can handle the awesome contained in the room?”

“Please, I can deal with all the awesome of the world! Show me whatcha got!” She said confidently and nodded.

“Are you sure?” Midnight said. “This much awesome hasn’t gathered in years! They say if you aren’t awesome enough yourself, your eyes will melt. Your brain would explode! All to try and perceive the sheer amount of awesome in one space!”

“I’m really starting to believe you got the Power Colts in there…” Pockets mused before nodding in slight annoyance, “Yes! Show me, come on! I am ready for the awesomeness!”

“I dunno… you don’t sound very convincing,” Midnight hummed, taking her hoof away from the door.

“No!” Pockets stopped her, “I am super duper ready, I swear! Look…” She took a piece of cloth from who knew where, and somehow managed to put it on as if it was a pair of jeans, “I got my awesome pants on! I can do this.”

“Hmm, I dunno,” Midnight said and tapped her chin. She wisely decided not to question that cloth. “Let me hear it. Let me hear that you’re ready!”

“I am ready!” She exclaimed, “I am ready!” Her tone became louder, and she stomped on the ground, “I… AM… READY!”

“Louder!” Midnight yelled.

“I AM READY!!!” Pockets shouted and stormed inside, “BRING IT ON AWESOMENESS, POCKETS IS HEー”

“—Eeerrree…” in a totally empty room as Midnight leaned against the doorframe, cackling to herself.

Pockets deapdanned, “I hate you.” Was the only thing she said.

“You love me,” Midnight smiled and walked past her, kissing her cheek.

“I do and I hate it.” Pockets mumbled and walked behind the thestral, “So what’s the plan? Why’d you bring me here?”

“That would be because I summoned you,” Celestia said as she walked up behind Pockets, ruffling her mane with magic. “How are you dear Pickett? Feeling better?”

“Not anymore.” Pockets mumbled and shot Midnight a death stare, “I was expecting the Power Colts or something like that! Now I’m sad...” She pouted, crossing her forelegs.

“Um… Power Colts?” Celestia blinked. “What’s that?”

Pockets’ eyes shined in excitement. She stood up and did a super ridiculous pose, a confident, shameless grin now on her muzzle, “Only the most amazing group of heroes of Future City! Six powerful ponies with super awesome different-coloured tech suits, fighting against monsters with their giant animal robots! Which, hear me out, turn into an even BIGGER robot! The fights are top notch, super realistic explosions, and they even do karate and everything!”

“I see, that sounds very interesting,” Celestia smiled and rubbed her head again. “We should see it sometime once this is all done.”

Yep, that happened. Princess Celestia. Princess FREAKING Celestia. Wants to go and see Power Colts with her.

Pockets took every bit of self control to not freak out.

She failed. And thus, the unicorn giggled like a filly and bounced happily, most definitely looking forward to this.

“Princess?” Midnight said in a worried tone. “Can we find a birth certificate for her? I’m starting to get worried I actually seduced a foal.”

“Fun fact, my certificate has my birthdate wrong by two days! May have to do with the fact that I’m an orphan.” She chuckled and finally calmed down, bumping Midnight’s flank with her own, “I’m an adult, don’t worry. Just that I don’t like acting mature all the time, plus you know I’m adorable when I do that.”

“Yes, yes you are,” Midnight rolled her eyes. “So, are they here Celestia?”

“Hmm, they are,” the mare smiled. “It's not every day we get a new one after all. This is breaking hundreds of years of tradition.”

“A new what?” Pockets tilted her head curiously, “What’s going on?”

The throneroom door opened again. And a familiar Minotaur walked in, followed by Archer and Lancer. The spear-wielding pegasus wasted no time in moving up next to Pockets.

“Well hello there~” he hummed. “Fancy seeing you here pet.”

Pockets smirked and looked at him with devilish little eyes, checking him out and oh yes, that’ll do~ “Why hello yourself handsome. What brings such a cutie around these parts of the castle? Don’t tell me you came here just to meet lil ol’ me.”

“Not my first reason, but it is now,” Lancer hummed, wait, why was he looking at the ceiling? Oh… Midnight had flipped him.

“Not now Lancer,” Midnight growled.

“Heh, moron,” Archer scoffed.

“Team killer!” Lancer shouted back.

“Philanderer!”

“Lonely virgin!”

“Toothpick using winged rat!”

“Boys~” Midnight said and Pockets shivered, did it suddenly get colder in here? “Are you going to keep fighting? Or do I have to punish you~?”

“NO MA’AM!” They saluted. Punishment Time meant going a round with Aerial Ace. Only Berserker liked Punishment Time. The otherwise silent Minotaur grinned widely.

Another mare walked up next to Pockets. She was a pale tan coat and a stunning blonde mane and tail. She almost mistook her for Moon Song for a moment, save for the fact she was clad in silver armour, a blue dress worked around it, seemingly part of the armour itself.

“Why hello there~” Pockets purred and eyed the mare, “I’m liking this little event already and we haven’t even started yet.”

“If thou wishes to keep thy tongue…” the mare started to draw a long golden sword with her magic, a cold look in her green eyes. “Then thou will’st keep in in thy mouth.”

Pockets gulped and stepped back. She didn’t understand half of that, but she understood that this mare meant business. So… yeah, silence, sounded like a good idea.

“Well, it seems almost all of us are here then?” Another mare asked as she stepped out of literal thin air. The space around her rippled as she appeared. Her coat was a light lavender and her mane a stunning metallic silver. She wore a long, layered cloak as a large ebony staff tipped with a pulsing red ruby floated in the crescent-shaped notch at the top. She looked at Celestia and frowned.

“Alright you sun-addled idiot! What did you do this time!?”

“Woah, feisty!” Pockets whistled, yet judging from her experience with Sabre, she just said that to herself.

“I heard that you little whelp!” Surrounded in a dark purple aura, Pockets was dragged over to the unicorn mare. “So, who’s this? She’s not a unicorn, I can tell that much.”

“Uhm…” Okay now Pockets was completely and utterly terrified. She just pointed at her horn and smiled nervously, “Horn? Pony body? I… I think I’m a unicorn yeah.”

“Then why do you reek of Breezie magic?” the mare hummed and her horn shone. Then… everything around Pockets grew much larger.

Pockets began panicking and looked around nervously. Her body was shrinking! Oh my gosh her body was shrinking! She felt a sharp pain running over her back and head, her legs shrinking just to then stretch out, and her mind became hazy. She tried to go upwards, she tried and kept on trying, but only remained in place.

And before she knew it, she was hovering above the ground, her squinting face trying to go higher and higher to no avail. Yup, she was screwed. She looked below, and eeped in shock and fear and surprise between several other things.

Her body was similar to Tall Tale and Aroma’s, yet at the same time quite different. Her colour scheme matched her pony form, each hoof was clad in a little metal shoe, and a tiny crown adorned her head. She bore a mane and tail similar to a pony instead of a breezie, flowing on a non-existent breeze. Then there was the fact of the giant fairy wings sprouting from her back.

She was the very definition of a fairy princess.

And she hated it. “Help! Help!” She squealed out in an extremely squeaky yet adorable voice, “Turn me back! It’s scary down here!”

Everypony stared wide-eyed, until Midnight gently picked her up with a wing. “She’s… she’s…” Midnight worked her jaw, trying to get the words right to describe her marefriend.

“She’s SO CUTE!” She squealed and nuzzled her.

“Midnight!” Pockets called out, trying to squeeze her way out of the nuzzle that was currently suffocating her, “Stahp it, and tell your friend to fix this!”

“Caster, turn her back,” Celestia sighed. “I’ll explain the magic, but she’s not supposed to actually be a Breezie.”

“Aww, can we keep her like this for a while?” Midnight pouted. “She’s sooo cutesy-wootsy!”

“Call me that one more time and I’ll punch you…” Pockets looked at her dangly arms and waved them around, before sighing, “With my noodle arms I guess? I don’t give a buck just help me out! I was already pretty small before but this is ridiculous!”

Caster rolled her eyes and recast her polymorph spell, returning Pockets to her unicorn form and squishing Midnight under her.

“...ow,” the bat groaned. “Thanks Caster. Bucking bitch…”

“I second that…” Pockets groaned as everything, and she meant everything, hurt. Compared to a moment ago, she felt as big as Celestia now. The size difference was ridiculous.

“Lay off the ice-cream,” Midnight groaned as she stood up and set Pockets upright. “Now you’ve finished… oh hey, where’s Cereza?”

“Right above you.” Came the griffon’s sultry voice before all of Midnight’s senses were fired off, signalling danger. Cereza fell down with a screech and a dagger in her claw, a cocky grin across her beak. And just in case there was plan B, which was falling back and diving back in. And plan C, throwing the dagger. Plan D, and Plan E were still a work in progress. But no matter what, this bat was going down!

Midnight moved. At least… she thought Midnight moved. She wasn’t sure because she didn’t bucking see it! All she knew was that her back was now pinned to the floor and Midnight smirked as she leaned down and stole her prize of a rather deep and sensual kiss.

“Mmmm, missed ya catbird,” the bat hummed and stepped back so Cereza could process what the buck just happened. Luckily, being the sharp griffon she was, she processed her defeat rather easily and shrugged it off. At least Midnight’s lips were as delightful as always~

“Morning everyone, hope I’m not too late.” She greeted the rest with a nod, getting her chained blades back in place and cleaning the dust off her feathers, “Had to deal with some family business.”

“Well now, so you filled Assassin’s position hmm?” Caster looked her over. “A little green, but I guess she’ll do. So, I take it she needs a Celestial Arte?”

“Yes, and out other new member,’ Celestia nodded. Now that got their attention and Pockets finally noticed something.

Archer. Lancer. Saber. Caster. Berserker. Assassin. Conductor…

They were ALL here. The entire roster of Specialists in a single room.

“Wait… new member? What are you talking about?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow. And then she panicked, “Wait, waitwaitwait you aren’t thinking about firing Midnight right!? I mean come on! It was just one failed task and she didn’t even have a chance to fight!”

Everyone’s gaze drifted to her and Pockets realised that she’d just yelled at the most powerful ponies in Equestria…

“I’ll shut up.” Pockets sat down and looked down, biting her lower lip to avoid splurting out more nonsense.

“It’s alright,” Celestia giggled. “But yes, it's been a long time since all the Specialists have been summoned together in one place. All to welcome our new Assassin, as well as a new Class.”

“A new Class?” Caster said, even she was surprised by this news. “Can… can you even do that?”

“Why not?” Celestia shrugged. “Our opponents aren’t playing fair. And neither shall I.”

Pockets opened her muzzle, and immediately closed it. Nope, she was not going to say anything else in front of anyone. All those ponies could slash/blast/stab/curse the hell out of her, and she wasn’t risking it.

She was going to remain shut…. Yup, not a single word… nothing… zero… zilch… nada… “Wait! But wouldn’t that mean getting a new specialist?” Stars dammit Pockets’ brain…

“I believe that’s the idea,’ Celestia smiled and turned to the others. “Everypony. I would like to introduce our newest Specialist. Pickett Midnight Penumbra. The Rouge.”

And again, everypony turned to stare at Pockets.

And the pressure of all their eyes on her made Pockets entire world collapse and her stomach tremble. Oh wait no… that’s the ice cream she ate earlier. She wanted to puke…

Well crap.

The former thief just stood there speechless, having no idea of what to say or do. This was just… it was… it was just too much! She didn’t have nearly half the abilities any of the other Specialists had!

“Tch, this brat?” Caster said. “What the hell Celestia? Have you been hitting the cider? What can she possibly do.”

“Pockets?” Midnight whispered to her and motioned at Caster. “Steal.”

The unicorn gulped and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. No time to panic, nope, if she wanted to do this she had to prove herself.

Goodbye nervous Pockets, hellooo Rogue~

A flash of her horn, and she was gone. Another flash, and she was back. And hey, what a nice little wizard staff she had on her hooves, and ooh, was that a spellbook?

“Oh wow, heavy.” Pockets chuckled and balanced the staff on her muzzle, “How do you go around with this all day and not break your spine?”

“G-Give that back!” Caster roared and went to step forward, but somepony had also tied the laces of her boots together… Caster let out a high-pitched yelp and fell flat on her face.

“Ahh, Classic Pockets,” Midnight smiled.

Pockets was looking through the book. Hmm… Polymorph spell. Genderswap? Time Travel?!

“Ooh, I’m keeping this.” Pockets giggled and went through the pages. And… she found something quite peculiar. Time for sweet, sweet revenge. She took hold of the staff and grinned, before chanting something none but Caster managed to understand. Something that ended with an accented, smirked “Reducto!”

Caster’s horn flashed and there was a bright light…

Then came a high-pitched voice.

A Midnight-sounding high-pitched voice.

“Are. You. Fucking. Kidding!?!?” the mini-bat roared, Caster’s Mirror Force spell reflecting the blast.

“Well I seem to have activated her trap card.” Pockets mused and just tossed the book and staff away, just in time for Caster to grab them. She leaned down and smirked, “Oh gosh you’re just adorable! Now I see what all the fuzz was about before.” She pressed her hoof on the miniature thestral and giggled, trying to tickle the little bat.

“Don’t you dare touch meeee,” Midnight roared in her squeaky voice. “I AM THE NIGHT”

*Chomp!*

“Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouchouchouch OUCH!” Pockets shook Midnight off and then grabbed her by her hooves, blowing her a raspberry onto her tiny tummy. Midnight squealed with laughter as the Specialists saw their mighty leader reduced to a foal’s plaything.

Celestia cleared her throat and sighed. “Miss Pickett, we are in the middle of something quite serious you realise.”

“Oh right, right. Silly me.” Pockets cleared her throat and nodded, “I accept this assignment your highness. I'm ready!”

“Like hell you are.” The doors broke open and in walked Front Lines with no regard for formalities or manners, “You are fragile, ungraceful, just a street thief who got this high by sheer luck.” And before anypony could say anything, he whistled.

“I'm coming, I'm coming! Geeze, you cranky old geezer.“ Secure Lines followed after her father, pulling a clothing cart that was covered by a large black piece of plastic.

“Yes you're but a puny, tiny, fragile thief. One blast and poof you're gone for. Heck, one blast from Aka Manah and you'll all be history!” He grabbed the piece of plastic and pulled it away, revealing eight sets of brand new armour of different kinds, “Time to change that.”

“Sweet Celestia you're such a drama queen.” Secure rolled her eyes. Celestia herself smiled.

“You think I’m sweet? Why, thank you Lieutenant Lines.” Celestia smiled at her, making Secure blush and look away.

Tiny Midnight looked at the new armour. No, she wasn’t drooling a large puddle onto the floor. It was… uh, raining inside.

Yeah Pockets wasn't even going to hide it, she was most definitely drooling, “That is…”

“The brand new Lines Co. Zero Armour Suits. Equipped with the latest of offensive and defensive magitek devices. Each was tailored to fit each one of you perfectly and holds functions that your specific abilities will be augmented.”

As he spoke, Caster returned Midnight to her proper size and took back her book and staff while Pockets was distracted by shiny things.

“Alright,” Front hummed. “Take Caster here for instance. Not only is her armour lightweight, it’s lined with Etherite stones. You can charge them with magic and use them for quick recharges when your own gets low in the middle of battle. It’s also rather resistant to crossbow bolts so a sniper doesn’t pick off the White Mage first.”

“Interesting,” Caster mused. She have to make her own enchantments to it. But she liked what she saw so far.

“And Saber?” Front presented her new armour. It was similar in design to her current set, only instead of silver and blue, this one was a striking mix of crimson red and gold. “This one is from the same material. Lightweight and durable. It also has an antihex inlay so that little fairy problem of yours can’t control anypony anymore. Ah, and as well as Caster, yours had an Overcharge Mode. You’ll feel like crud afterwards, but you can boost your magic to what I think should be near alicorn levels for a brief moment.”

“Curious,” the sword-wielding mare mused.

“Oh, oh, what about mine?” Pockets hopped up and down excitedly.

And then Front threw her a simple chainmail armor used for training.

Pockets deadpanned, raising a brow, “Really?”

“Dad, stop being a dick.” Quick hit her snickering father’s shoulder, grabbing a pitch black and midnight blue set of armour unlike any they had ever seen before. It looked more like a metallic robe than anything, “Here you go.” She threw the armoured clothing to Pockets, whose eyes shone in awe.

“What does it do?” She asked, approaching it slowly.

“Basically? It turns you into the ultimate thief.” He said, motioning to the set, “Draconic fortified scales that change colours to blend with its environment. Four different pouches containing a charge of smoke pellets each, and don't worry, the mouthpiece will filter the air. Chainmesh base to avoid hindering your mobility. And a pretty nifty utility belt.” He explained, “I'll explain the other sets later but for now, I want to direct your attention to my Magnum Opus, my greatest work of art yet. Miss Midnight Song, do you want to meet your brand new best friend in the battlefield?”

The thestral raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. “Oh? For me? You shouldn’t have darling.”

“Just the best for one of the most gorgeously deadly mares around.” He winked at her, causing Quick to groan again. She could barely believe that they were family.

Midnight smiled back and licked her lips. “Oh, you know just what to say you rouge. So… what new toys do I have cause…” her mind wandered to her battered and beaten armour in her room. “Yeeaahhh…. Kinda trashed the last set. Oops?”

He chuckled and shook his head and hoof, “I made that for you three years ago, it's outdated and rusty! The one apologising should be me. So why don't I show you my… apology~”

“Mmm, I like the sound of that,” Midnight hummed, tracing a hoof over his chest. “You know me, I’m a little rough with my toys~”

“Well good thing I'm an expert in making sturdier, stronger, powerful toys.” He whispered into her ear. Midnight cooed and smiled back.

“Wanna play with me then~?”

“Oh I'll show you—”

And then he got bonked on the head by Secure who dragged him away, “Armour!”

“Right, right. First work, then pleasure~” He eyed the thestral, practically devouring her with his gaze.

“Aww,” Midnight sauntered over to Secure and gazed into her eyes, those hypnotic, emerald orbs looking onto hers. “No need to be jealous Cure~” She leaned in close and whispered huskily into her ear. “If you want a spanking, just ask~”

Secure’s angry blush and very cute nervou-excited eyes were just the most adorable of things~

And then Midnight was bonked in the head by the blushing mare’s spear. She stormed out of the room, mumbling under her breath, something along the lines of “B-Baka…”

“Well there goes my assistant.” Front Lines chucked. He took Midnight's suit, and if just screamed badassery.

It was a suit of deep ebony platemail, etched with decorative gold trim. The suit covered most of the body, from the neck all the way down to her hindquarters. A red crimson skirt flowed down the left side of the hindlegs, and had the same woven gold decorative etching. The forehooves were spiked from the knee joint down, and when Midnight inspected the hoof, she saw it had retractable golden claws. These could be manipulated using a pony’s own internal magic, thus allowing her to flex and even grips things with them, much like a Griffon’s talons. There was a space to slot her wings through, nicely padded so the mail wouldn’t pinch when she flew. Attached to the sides and running down past the flank was a pair of scabbards, two brand new swords could be placed in those.

“Conductor Midnight, I present to you, the Blood Moon Armour.” He knelt down and presented it to Midnight with a smirk, “Don't get too much blood on it, will you?”

Midnight just stared at this vision of loveliness. This divine being of carnage and chaos. “Oooh~ I think I just…” She shuddered and smiled blissfully. “I loveit!”

“Good because I used a good tenth of the crown’s resources just on this one.” He grinned and threw Celestia the key she had given him, “Love you Tia!”

Celestia’s eyes widened. That… A tenth!? “That… that…” Celestia stammered. “That is a twenty five MILLION bit suit!?”

“Did I say that I love you already?” Front blew her a kiss, which made Pockets chuckle in amusement, “Just look at Midnight, look how happy she is! Can you say that she's not worth it?”

Celestia sighed, she knew it was a mistake to give him that key. But, she had to admit it was a very nice suit. “You’re unbelievable.”

“I try.” He said before turning to Lancer and narrowing his eyes. He said nothing, he just looked at the pegasus with a very, very judgemental stare…

Before bonking him on the head with a helmet, “That’s for letting yourself get hypnotised.” And then another bonk, “And that’s because you aren’t married yet.” And then another bonk, “And that’s just because this is fun.”

“Dad… please,” Lancer sighed, long since used to this. “Not in front of my friends.”

“Idiots…” Caster groaned. “They’re all idiots. Every. Single. One of them…”

Front Lines grinned as he turned to the unicorn mare. “Oh come now Ultima. I remember you calling me something completely different while I lic—”

With a pop of light, he vanished.

“Oops, guess I need to work out the kink in that teleportation spell,” Caster whistled innocently. “Now the idiocy in the room has been halved. Shall I start the ritual?”

“Please do,” Celestia nodded. Oh, she’d teleported him into the center of the hedgemaze. Good aim…

“So, if I may ask.” Pockets walked up to Celestia, keeping her tone low just so she didn’t look like a fool in front of her now co-workers, “What exactly is the ritual for?”

Celestia cleared her throat. “Each of my Specialists is given an ability. One only to be used under dire circumstances. A circumstance like we find ourselves in now. The spell varies, depending on whom it is cast upon. In a way—”

“Allow me before you butcher that explanation any further,” Caster sighed. “Now, to explain in a way your limited intellect can comprehend, it’s like giving a physical manifestation to your Cutie Mark, as that is the base for this spell. For you? Who knows? Perhaps invisibility? Duplication? I guess we’ll see.’

“I feel like I should be insulted by that previous statement, but at the same time, YES! ALL MY YES!” Pockets grinned excitedly and nodded, ready to do this, “So what do I gotta do?”

“Stand still, provided that is physically possible you foal,” Caster said. “And not to worry… this won’t hurt. At first~”

And before Pockets could argue that point. A magic glyph appeared under her, tendrils of magic reaching up and touching her Cutie Mark. She just stared with wide eyes and the need to pee her non-existent pants. A strange tingling sensation began running from her flank throughout her entire body, and it would have been kinda pleasant if it wasn’t for the fact that it grew and grew in intensity. Oh gods, this was not going to be pretty was it?

No, no it was not. It stung quite a bit actually… and then started to feel really good. Kinda like that one time Middy…

OH! Oh that hurt a little! Ok yeah it calmed down… eh it wasn’t that ba一 OH CRAP! Ok, ok that really hurt. But it was over… right?

Yeah it was all right now.

And now there was an incredible, unbearable, body-twisting pain that took control of her body. It was like her Cutie Marks were torn off while the rest of her was turned around and inside out. She wondered if this was what a pretzel felt like. She happened a glance back.

Okayohmycelestia! WHY were her Cutie Marks floating in the air… NOT attached to her flanks!?!?

Then with a bright flash, all that was gone. Pockets was standing there, looking like she hadn’t just gone through all that. Her horn was itchy, her butt was itchy, her everything was itchy. And she felt like hugging a pillow forever and never going back outside, with only a penny, a used napkin, and a potato chip as friends.

“It is done,” Caster sighed, looking rather haggard after that. “Would have been a lot easier if your own magic wasn’t fighting me the whole way.”

“I… feel dizzy.” Pockets mumbled, looking around and narrowing her eyes, “Middy… I need a hug..” She threw herself into the mare’s arms, and hugged her tight, giving her cheek a kiss.

Except for the fact that this wasn’t Midnight, but Caster herself.

The unicorn snorted and stepped to one side, letting Pockets fall to the floor with a loud thump. “Idiot.”

“Did it work?” Celestia asked. “That look rather rough, moreso than usual.”

“Yes, I had to brute force the enchantment in, so she’ll be a little dizzy and more than a little sore for a while,” Caster said then turned her gaze to Cereza. “Now… your turn~”

Cereza hummed and walked up to the middle of the room, “Now I do have one question before we commence. How is this supposed to work for me if I lack a Cutie Mark, or pony magic in general?”

“Like Titan there, your magic is different. And before you even ask, every creature on this planet has magic of some kind. You’re a Pure Blood griffon, so this ought to be an interesting experiment indeed. You lack a Mark, yes. But do you know what a Cutie Mark is?”

Cereza quirked a brow, “I was not born yesterday dear. A physical manifestation of one’s being, everything from their special talent to personality and even their life force. All concentrated in one nice artistic picture.”

“Hmm, close. You might actually be a decent being to converse with,” Ultima hummed, clearly impressed. “However, that’s not entirely accurate. Yes, they show our talent. Our… destiny for lack of a better word that the rest of them will understand. But ask yourself this. How does it know? How does a Mark appear, and know what we’re good at?”

“Well…” She hummed in thought, now this was quite the difficult question, “I must be honest with you, I have no idea. Being a griffon, I never quite dwelled much in those topics.”

“The answer is simple dear.” Caster said with a wry smile as the magic circle appeared under the griffon. “It’s the soul. Our very soul gives our Marks power. And that’s where I place this little gift of mine~”

Cereza’s eyes widened in surprise, why she wasn’t quite expecting that, “But that would mean… oh… You are no regular sage now are you?” Her town deepened, of all the different kinds of magic in this world, there was one she trusted the least…

“A little necromancy never hurt anypony… except for when it does,” Ultima hummed. Ahh, this one was much more smooth. The griffon should barely feel a thing. “You see dear, there are two types of necromancy. First there’s the sort that talks to spirits, mends flesh, researches the frailty of life and the mysteries of death…”

“I’ve had my fair share with those.” Cereza muttered under her breath, her eyes not leaving the unicorn. Flashbacks of the civil war came back to her, of seeing her fallen comrades rise from below, look at her with soulless eyes… it was horrid, disgusting, and infuriating.

“And then there's the sort that just goes batshit insane and attacks mortals to make an undead army,” Ultima continued. “I’m in the former. While I can summon spirits and dabble in Soul Magic, I have not and never will revive the dead in physical form. That, my dear, is an aberration to Magic itself.”

“A part of me, the part that saw her friends and loved ones come back to life and be used as mere pawns… it wants to shred you to pieces. But a much larger part of me knows that Celestia wouldn’t be so foolish as to have somepony like the being I encountered working for her, so sure, I shall trust you Caster.” Cereza nodded somewhat reluctantly, relaxing her muscles and taking a deep breath, “Do it.”

Caster powered her magic down and smiled. “It’s already done. You were talking too much to notice~”

Cereza blinked, and looked at her body for a good while, before giggling and shaking her head, “And here I was doubting you. Apologies Caster, and thank you for this little gift. I am sure it will be quite useful~” She turned around in the blink of an eye and threw a knife at Midnight with a small confident smirk across her beak…

Midnight’s tail flicked, making a whip crack sound as she bat the knife aside.

“Really?” the thestral deadpanned. “Why exactly are you trying to kill me today? Is this because Quick got hurt?”

Cereza sighed and tapped her chin, “No, not precisely. I just believe that if I’m now part of this little team as the ‘Assassin’, the best way of honing my skills is by trying to assassinate the only mare I know I can never really hurt, even if I tried.” She winked and flapped her wings, moving away, “I take it I’m not needed anymore. I shall take my leave and continue with my very own little projects, I have a mate and a son who are waiting for me for lunch. See you later dears,” She nodded at Midnight, Pockets, and Celestia, “And to the rest of you, I hope we get along well, Lancer dear stop looking at my flank if you will.” She glanced at the pegasus with an amused smirk.

“What? I’m not allowed to admire perfection?” he replied with absolutely no shame.

Cereza giggled softly and took off, slamming the door open as she did.

“At least it wasn’t the window this time," Celestia sighed. “Well, I suppose this meeting is adjourned for now. Take a little time to decompress and test your new equipment. We’ll have a strategy meeting tonight okay?”

“Aye aye captain!” Pockets saluted with the sweetest, most confident of smiles.

Celestia saluted back as each member took their suit of armour and new weapons if they were given one.

“Hey Pockets, think you can teleport us?” Midnight said.

“Sure!” Pockets nodded and hopped onto Midnight’s back, closing her eyes and picturing the nice little castle room where they were staying at… oh how she missed the bed, the little fireplace, the comfiness of snuggling Midnight…

The cold air and smell of dust and sulfur…

Wait what?

“Pockets…” Midnight said slowly, her brain feeling like it went a round with a cheese grater. “Where. Are. We?”

The thief just looked around with a seemingly eternal “Uuuuh….” Yeah she had no idea what was going on. And if it wasn’t for the angry shouts and the sounds of wings flapping, they would have never known. Where did the shouts come from? Why the angry griffons with pitchforks of course.

“We can afford dinner tonight boys, rob those ponies blind!” One of them cried, wearing nothing but a heavily damaged military vest and a plastic bag on his head.

Midnight’s eyes narrowed and she stepped forward.

A minute later, they’d all been hogtied by their own garments as Midnight dusted her hooves. She looked up, noting the position of the sun, then the lay of the land.

“Pockets,” she finally said. “This isn’t our room. This is Griffonstone.”

“Huh… WAIT WHAT!?” Okay now she was even more confused, “B-But… how did I teleport us so far away from home!?”

“Well I don’t know,” Midnight said calmly as she pet Pocket’s mane. “I’m not the one with a horn on my head. Now… care to try again? This place smells rank.”

“That’s griffon poop lassie.” The tied up griffon chuckled, “Good for yer health, just breath it in and let it work wonders!”

“Get. Us. Out of here!” Midnight almost yelled.

“Okay! Yes! We’re leaving!” Pockets hopped onto Midnight’s back again and closed her eyes.

First she was in Griffinstone…

Now she was thousands of hooves above Neighara Falls.

“POCKETS!!!” Midnight yelled, flapping hard to keep her grip on a unicorn and two suits of armour.

“I CAN FIX THIS!” Pockets yelped and hugged her tight, and then she was gone again. And now she was somewhere else entirely.

Huh, it smelled of lavender, and books. And there was a lavender alicorn reading a book right in front of them. And she was utterly confused by the fact that a thestral, a shortie unicorn, and two sets of heavy armour were now between her and Starswirl’s ‘Linimals: Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them.’

“Huh? Wha?” Twilight blinked as she looked at the odd sight. “Wait, Midnight Song?”

“Starbutt!” Midnight waved. “Sup?”

“Ohmigosh Princess Twilight!” Pockets’ jaw dropped to the floor. And then the two world-travelling mares the teleported heck out of there before she started fangirling and hugging the heck out of Twilight.

And now they were in Celestia’s office. Hey, at least they were back in Canterlot!

And Pockets’ butt was now soaked in hot steamy tea!

“AHHH!” She squeaked out and held onto her butt, rubbing it to try and cool it off.

“Ah, I finally found you,” Celestia said and tapped her horn’s against Pockets’ one. A gentle flow of magic streaming down and stabilised her wonky spells. “Honestly, you just can’t sit still, can you dear?”

“It’s my blessing and my curse.” Pockets sighed blissfully, Celestia’s magic always felt super nice, “It feels good to be home…”

“I imagine so,” the alicorn chuckled and pulled back. “There we go. Your magic should be calming down. But no teleporting until tomorrow alright?”

“Yeah I’ve had enough teleporting for an entire year!” She said with a half-hearted groan, frigging magical rituals messing her up, “So, what did you need us for?”

“Oh, I sensed you botched that first teleport and have trying to call you back since.” Celestia said. “Now, go and get some rest and I’ll—”

There was a small flash and a scroll appeared. Celestia lifted the scroll and opened it, her eyes flicking back and forth as she read the document. “Hmm… oh, you met Twilight?”

“U-Uhm… I may or may not have interrupted her studying session?” Pockets’ incredibly unconvincing innocent smile was utterly adorable, “She’s probably weirded out by me isn’t she?”

“She seems more surprised… and wants to study you,” Celestia giggled. “Well no matter, you’ll be meeting her and the rest of the Elements of Harmony tomorrow.”

“WHAT!?” And now Pockets was hyperventilating, “Th-The Elements of… the… the most famous heroes in Equestria… the super… awesome... “ And with a final gasp, she fainted. All that teleporting and the fangirling had drained her out.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, my marefriend,” Midnight took a bow.

The Midnight Mares - Crazy Canterlot Catastrophe.

by Ausbrony

Chapter One - I didn't sign up for this!

Chapter Two - Meet the parents

Chapter Three - This home is not alone.

Chapter Four - Old Faces, New Tricks

Chapter Five - Emotions

Chapter Six - Desperate Times, Peaceful Times

Chapter Seven - Old and Older Friends

Chapter Eight - Foals and Griffons and Zombies! Oh my!

Chapter Nine - Just an Average day...

Chapter Ten - Date Night, Ladies Night

Chapter Eleven - Specialists.

Chapter Twelve - Sins

Chapter Thirteen - Special Reprise